Life in progress


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 21st, 2024

Hey there! We’re back to your regularly scheduled Just Jot it January 2024 prompts, and this one is from J-dub. Thanks so much, J-dub! Please be sure to visit J-dub’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 21st, 2024 is “plants.” Use it as a noun or a verb, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for Sunday, January 21st, 2024.

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 JusJoJan24 and/or #JusJoJan24.

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!


22 Comments

JusJoJan24 & #SoCS the 20th – The hardest thing

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

So I can write a novel of 50,000 words. I’ve even written one of 300,000 words.

But to create a tagline for one of those novels?

To boil the story down in a nutshell?

So very hard.

It’s easier to write the novel.

This surprisingly brief post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

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

 


15 Comments

JusJoJan24 the 19th – Tenaciousness pays off

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and today’s prompt is courtesy of Cheryl. Check out her blog here!

I did it! I managed to authenticate my email address without breaking my blog!

It took a lot of determination and more than a little confusion over all those acronyms, but it is done.

You see, Google and Yahoo are changing what they’ll accept and what they’re going to send to spam in regards to email addresses with endings that aren’t from Google (@gmail dot com) or Yahoo (@yahoo, etc.). So there was a good chance that a great majority of the lovely people who subscribe to my newsletter wouldn’t get it after February 1st, since my email address is linda@lindaghill.com.

All this to say the job had to be done.

And I did it!

This celebratory post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Much appreciation once again to Cheryl for the prompt!


42 Comments

The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2024 Daily Prompt – Jan. 20th

Friday has arrived, and so have I with your combination Daily 2024 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This one is for SATURDAY, JANUARY 20th. Phew! We’re on the home stretch now.

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 or single word. If you’re joining in from JusJoJan and 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 the 20th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in a nutshell.” Use it as an idiom or use it literally. Enjoy!

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!


31 Comments

Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 19th, 2024

Welcome to the nineteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2024. Today’s prompt was kindly given to us by Cheryl. Thanks so much, Cheryl! Please be sure to visit Cheryl’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 19th, 2024 is “tenacious.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for Friday, January 19th, 2024.

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 JusJoJan24 and/or #JusJoJan24.

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!


19 Comments

JusJoJan24 the 18th – Ahhh!!

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt for today comes to us from Carol Anne. Check out her blog here!

It’s been an interesting day for my blog. And by interesting, I mean scary. You may have noticed it kinda went down for a while.

I spent most of the morning trying to authenticate the email address that’s associated with my domain. I still don’t know whether it worked, but whatever I did in the attempt made me despair for the coming days and weeks of Just Jot it January!

Anyway, in changing the DKIM and the SPF and DNS, I apparently DNR the instructions ASAP and ended up UN-securing my website. I cried. I screamed, I … Okay, I didn’t do either of those things, but I might have yelled “WHAT THE HELL?”

And then I emailed WordPress. And they got back to me three minutes later with a fix.

So my despair was short-lived. For now. But the authentication thing? Still not happening.

If my website disappears again, know it’s just me fiddling around with things I probably shouldn’t be touching.

TYFL to my rant.

This decidedly UNcomfortable post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Carol Anne for the prompt!


27 Comments

Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 18th, 2024

Hi there! We’re back with your eighteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2024. Today’s prompt comes to us courtesy of Carol Anne. Thank you, Carol Anne! Please be sure to visit Carol Anne’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 18th, 2024 is “despair.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for Thursday, January 18th, 2024.

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 JusJoJan24 and/or #JusJoJan24.

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!


27 Comments

Prompt Me Part 2 of 2 – #JusJoJan 2024

First half of the month – January 18-30, 2024

I’m once again looking for prompt words for Just Jot it January. This is your last chance to inspire other people and have your blog linked to the Daily Prompt post for this year’s month of prompts.

Read the rules carefully! I need 10 single words to use in the last half of the Just Jot It January challenge—January 18th through to the 30th, not including Saturdays and Wednesdays. This is how you can be included:

  • If your prompt was included in the first half of this month, you won’t get another go. One prompt per year is the limit so we can let everyone have a chance.
  • I’m looking for a single word, plus a link to your blog, plus the name you wish me to use when I post your prompt (your name or the name you blog by). So for example, mine would be “antidisestablishmentarianism lindaghill.com Linda”
  • If you write more than what I’m asking for in your comment, for example, “My word is antidisestablishmentarianism, and my link is (this) and my name is (my given name or the name I blog by),” I’ll tell you to try again. Same thing if you try to slip in two prompts, even in two different comments—I’ll only accept the first. If I get the same word twice, I’ll only accept the first person who got to it. If you’re the second, I’ll let you know so you can try again. And please, remember this is a relatively G-rated blog, so nothing too risque.
  • The first 10 comments on this post that include a single word (plus link and name) will be the prompts for the second half of January.
  • These prompts will go up on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 2am EST. I’ll take care of One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday myself.
  • I’ll link back to the blog of whomever gives me a prompt on the day I use it.
  • Make sure you get your comment in early. You don’t want to miss out!
  • Please don’t bother entering a prompt if your blog is inactive or if it exists only to sell things. If you haven’t posted in over a month and you’re only looking for clicks, your prompt word will be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re planning to use JusJoJan to inspire you to get back into the swing of things, let me know immediately in a second comment — NOT the one you give your prompt word in. Remember, that’s ONE word plus your link and your name only. If I can’t find a reasonable number of posts written in the last month that aren’t trying to sell a product, your prompt word will be rejected.
  • I’ve found over the years that prompt words that are negative in nature don’t get as much participation as more positive words. I don’t want to limit you, but please keep in mind that if your word is on the sadder or angrier side, your prompt may not get as many responses.
  • If you provide a prompt, I encourage you to join in as much as possible throughout the  rest of the month.
  • NOTE: Please count the number of correctly formatted comments ahead of yours. If there are already 10, save yours for 2025!

Please see the “Rules” post for a complete list of the prompt words. I’ll populate it as the words come in. Here’s the link.

Okay. Are you ready? Aaaaand … prompt! One word, one link, one name!


42 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan24 the 17th – Grateful

There’s nothing like setting your alarm for 4am three days a week to make you feel grateful for getting to sleep in ’til 7:30.

Photo: A screenshot of my many alarms, beginning with 4:03am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.


If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure.

Here are the simple 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.

2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

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 JusJoJan24 and/or #JusJoJan24.

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!


18 Comments

JusJoJan24 the 16th – Little variation

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt for today is courtesy of John Holton. Check out his blog here!

I’m finding myself more and more becoming a creature of habit, and I’m comfortable with that.

Some of it comes as a result of COVID. I used to go to the grocery store whenever I needed something. But when the lockdowns started, I chose a day of the week, first thing in the morning, and got everything I needed for the entire week in one go.

And I’m still doing it almost four years later.

But it has gone beyond that.

Because I always go to the same store, there are always the same things on the shelves. Which has made it difficult to get inspired to buy different things to eat.

So I pick up the same things with little variation every week.

And most of the time, I’m comfortable with that.

This decidedly comfortable post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to John for the prompt!