Life in progress


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#JusJoJan prompt the 1st – “Fingertips”

(NOT FICTION)

Did you know today, January 4th, is World Braille Day? My friend and one of our fellow bloggers, Kerry Kijewski of the blog, Her Headache, informed me of the event to raise awareness for Braille. That was last year when I was looking for prompts for Just Jot It January, but we missed the date by a day or two.

Not knowing much about Braille myself other than seeing it in elevators, I went looking for info. I found that World Braille Day is organized by the World Blind Union, an organization that advocates for the rights of the Blind.

As the mother of a Deaf child, I understand (to an extent) what it means to fight for the rights of someone who communicates differently than more than 90% of the population. In this world that we’ve come to inhabit where we rely so much on technology to keep in touch with one another, the obstacles abound.

But I don’t know much about Braille, so rather than tell you what I found online, do yourself a favor and check out Kerry’s blog and especially this amazing podcast I found that Kerry and her brother Brian host. It’s a weekly show where the focus is on educating  sighted people on the obstacles blind people face. Here’s a short 1-minute spot and article on CBC news that explains what their podcast does far better than I can. And you get to see Kerry and Brian in the studio!

Enjoy!

Photo: Badge depicts a stick-figure person sitting on a stick-figure chair in front of a stick-figure desk with a badly drawn keyboard and a monitor with stick-figure flames coming out of it. The badge reads “Just Jot It January 2021.”


Here are the JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


43 Comments

#JusJoJan prompt the 3rd – “Servant”

(FICTION) (Thanks to Di at http://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/ for the idea for the story.)

Petra was practically dead on her feet. But working the New Year’s Eve party for the Jones’s did that to her every year.

Midnight had come and gone and the be-tied and be-gowned guests were showing no signs of wanting to go home. The men with their “haw-haw-haw” laughs and the women who gossiped about one another the moment they were out of earshot made Petra’s eyes roll so many times, she’d been able to count her own eyelashes.

So she was less than amused when she went into the kitchen with her umpteenth tray of dirty champagne glasses and Geeves, the elderly butler that looked like a fireplace poker in a waiter’s tux, turned to her and said, “‘Mother’ wants you upstairs.”

“Why me?” Petra asked, but Geeves just turned up his nose and walked out of the kitchen with a sniff in Petra’s direction and not much more. She was almost positive “Mother” hadn’t asked for her personally, but what was Petra to do? She needed the job.

So usually twinkletoed Petra weaved her way through the stuffiness of the living room full of guests and trudged up the massive, winding flights of stairs to “Mother”‘s room, passing portraits of “Mother” on her way.

(To be continued on Tuesday.)

(Di’s prompt was “Petra as a name, wine cellar as a setting, and ‘getting caught’ as your what if. “)


Here are the JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


60 Comments

The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2021 Daily Prompt – Jan. 2nd

Welcome to the Daily 2021 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for SATURDAY, JANUARY 2nd! I want to wish everyone a very happy new year! May 2021 be … uneventful.

For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole word. Much may be left up to your discretion: this week is no exception. Having said that, if you’re joining in from JusJoJan, don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you! If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in the corner.” Write about whatever the image or thought of “in the corner” brings to mind. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


65 Comments

#JusJoJan prompt the 1st – “Speech”

(FICTION)

*ahem*

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, theys and thems,

Thank you all so very much for being here. I’d like to start off by saying it’s not my fault. I know, I know. Calm down. I know you’re angry at me, but hear me out.

I’m not the one who brought you the fires and the murder hornets and the plague. I didn’t stick you in your homes and not let you out, and I’m certainly not the one who made you forget what day it was.

Random person from the crowd: Then what did you do for us?

I gave you the time you wanted. All those extra hours in a day you’ve been asking for? I might not have given you extra, but they sure felt longer, those days.

Random person from the crowd: You still suck!

Fine, fine. I suck. I’m leaving now. But know this: if you survived me, which you did, you can survive just about anything.

All of the crowd: You suck, 2020!

*2020 leaves the stage, mumbling, Thanks for being here.*


Here are the JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


25 Comments

Just Jot it January 2021 – The Rules!

Hey there! Welcome to the 8th annual Just Jot it January challenge! This year is going to be far simpler than the last couple of years. One prompt per day, link to that post, that’s it. Details below.

But why should you participate in this challenge? To keep the ol’ fingers warm and meet up with an awesome blogging community, that’s why! Just Jot it January, AKA JusJoJan, is a challenge to write a post every day of the month of January. We’ve grown from a handful of participants in 2014 to close to fifty for the past couple of years. Let’s see if we can make it to sixty this year!

Here are the JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


28 Comments

We did it! Just Jot it January 2020 edition

January is finished! Did you jot every day?

Whether or not you did, you deserve a pat on the back if you participated in Just Jot it January at least once. In celebration, I’d like to offer you two things:

A chance to write a reflection post on your JusJoJan journey of 2020 and post a link below … Yes! This is a bonus prompt for you! 😀

A badge to put on that post, and to keep if you’d like to add it to your blog. Here it is.

Just Jot it January isn’t just a reason to write, it’s an opportunity to find other like-minded bloggers to add to your online community. Don’t forget to keep in touch with one another!

It’s been a great run, though I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not getting around to visit your blogs more often. Unfortunately, I reached my limit just trying to participate this year. *makes a mental note not to take on as much next year*

I will endeavor to do my very best to come around and visit all your links today. If you don’t write your reflection post until tomorrow, no worry! I’ll still come and visit.

Thank you all for participating, and a special thank you to our guest prompters! I wouldn’t be here in this wonderful blogging community without you.

Love you all!


15 Comments

#JusJoJan 31/20 – Chaos

Parenting. Yep, I’m back to talking about that. Alex had a day off school today, and he was all set to go out with his respite worker for a fun day of bowling and the library. He’d been looking forward to it all week.

So what happened when it was time to get dressed to go?

The same thing that happens every time.

He didn’t want to go. I asked Alex a dozen times, and no. He wanted to stay home.

I knew it was a temporary decision. I knew he really wanted to go. But I’ve had enough of fighting to get him out the door every time he actually wants to go.

So I texted the respite worker and told her not to come.

And what happened as soon as I texted the respite worker?

He wanted to go.

So I put my foot down and said no. He’d made his decision. He no longer had a choice.

I’ve done this before, but I’ve let it slide since. It’s time to put an end to it.

The chaos of Alex’s decision making is driving me nuts. It prevents me from being able to work when he’s home, and if I need to go anywhere–really need to go, like I had to today to get groceries–I can’t go. I’m stuck at home with a 19-year-old who’s acting like a baby for no reason except that he enjoys pushing my buttons.

My buttons will no longer be pushed.

Because if I don’t do anything about this now, then when he finishes school for good in a year and a half, I’m going to end up being nothing but a babysitter for my adult son for the rest of my life. And the fact is, I need to work. I can’t keep us in the manner to which we’ve grown accustomed without it.

So this is less a matter of whining and more a public statement that I’ll change my ways. And Alex’s.

Wish us luck.

 

This proclamatory post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s the last day! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/31/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-31st-2020/


Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


34 Comments

Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 31st, 2020

It’s the last day of Just Jot it January 2020! Where has the month gone? Our final prompt comes from Robbie Ann who has nothing on her blog, so I won’t link to it. Thanks anyway, Robbie Ann!

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 31st, 2020, is “chaos.” Use the word “chaos” any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list, you can find it HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 31st, 2020.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


7 Comments

#JusJoJan 28/20 – Never Finished

I’ll start one more time with a warm thank you to our guest prompter. Lauren provided us with our prompt word of the day, “finished.” Thank you, Lauren! You can find Lauren’s Just Jot it January post here.  Go visit her and say hi, and give her a follow, if you’re not already!

It seems there are more things in my life that will never be finished than there are that I’ll be able to finish.

Dishes? There will always be more.

Same with laundry, sweeping up dog hair, shoveling snow …

Okay, the snow will melt. But will it be back in December?

Yes. It probably will.

But it’s those things we never finish that keep us going.

Where would we be without dishes?

Hungry.

Or cleaning up a really messy kitchen table.

Without laundry?

Naked.

Or smelly.

Without dog hair?

Dogless, of course.

Without snow?

Enjoying going outside.

I have no idea where I was going with this post.

 

 

This aimless, unfinished post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/30/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-30th-2020/


“…so engrossed in reading it almost missed getting off at my station on journey to work…” ~ Angela, Amazon reviewer

On sale until January 31st! Get it for 99 cents now!  → Click here


30 Comments

Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 30th, 2020

Welcome to your 30th prompt for Just Jot it January 2020! Today’s prompt comes to us compliments of Lauren. Thank you, Lauren! Please be sure to visit her blog to read her post and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already!

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 30th, 2020, is “finished.” Use the word “finished” any way you’d like. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list, you can find it HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 30th, 2020.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!