Life in progress

Tag Archives: SoCS


by 38 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 25/2020

Hey! Friday’s here! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It’s the last week for the prompt word to line up with the A to Z Challenge. If you want to do two prompts in one, this is the place to be. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “val.” Find a word that starts with “val” or if you’re not doing the A to Z Challenge, find a word that just has “val” in it, and use that word any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful 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/

Here are the rules:

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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 all of them! 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 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!


by 20 Comments

AtoZ/What Day is it Anyway? #SoCS Edition Saturday, April 18th, 2020

 

Aaaand, I didn’t do any better today at getting my post written early.

But I’m motivated now. I’ve decided after I publish this that I’ll open a bottle of wine. Because I’m celebrating! I’m not finished my final proofread of my new book, but I did get the description written, which is huge!

I’m definitely finding that practice makes perfect (okay, maybe not perfect, but not too bad) when writing blurbs. I’m hoping this will turn out to be a good one. One that’ll sell some books.

Proofreading is another thing I find I’ve become much better at with practice. Where to stick in a comma has become automatic, for instance. I used to have to think so hard.

Practice is the word of the day for Saturday, but I had no idea what I’d write when I came up with it, and I still don’t have any idea what to write. It seems all my idea energy went into my blurb earlier, and now I’m out of them. Bereft. Blank.

I didn’t make it out of my PJs today, so I didn’t get any packing done at the retirement home. My mother called me this afternoon to let me know she’d be having supper at the hospital. As though she hasn’t had every meal there for the last month, almost.

Dementia really sucks.

I’m going to try to go around to the hospital and call her from my cell in hopes of waving to her. Me on the ground, her on the fifth floor.

Better than nothing.

Everything sucks.

Except my new book!

Gotta focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t.

That’s a good mindset to practice, don’t you think?

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

This adaptation of #AtoZ2020, #WDIIA and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you by all three. To join us in the SoCS tradition, click the following link where you’ll find all the instructions and the other participants’ posts in the comments. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/04/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-18-2020/ Or you can link to this post if you just want to write a What Day is it Anyway? post.


by 44 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 18/2020

According to the calendar, it’s Friday. The good news? That means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I’ll be sure the prompt word lines up with the A to Z Challenge every week in April, so if you want to do a two-in-one, this is the place to be. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “practice/practise.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful 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/

Here are the rules:

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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 all of them! 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 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!


by 23 Comments

AtoZ/What Day is it Anyway? #SoCS Edition Saturday, April 11th, 2020

 

It’s been a tough, stressful day today. We all have them once in a while. Some of us are lucky and they’re few and far between. Some of us have them often, some constantly. Whatever the case, we’re all in crisis.

We–mankind–are battling a common enemy for the first time in our lives, unless we’re a hundred years old or more. Which is why it needs to be a joint effort.

And when you think about it, it’s the first time in human history that we’ve all been able to fight together. To really come to one others’ aid, to educate one another, to support one another, and to face the same fear together.

This connection we have with one another is so very powerful. One might say we’ve all, on the earth, always been connected somehow. That events and actions are able to change lives on the other side of the world. But never like this: in real time.

Which is why we’re so powerful to beat this new enemy.

Even though we’re not physically able to visit one another all over the world the way we did last year, we’re able to communicate. To empathize. To uplift and to hold one another in our hearts.

Humanity has never had such a gift.

We need to use it for good.

Even if we can’t touch each other physically. Even though we can’t heal one another in person. We can reach out and comfort each other’s souls.

It’s a joint effort.

 

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

This adaptation of #AtoZ2020, #WDIIA and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you by all three. To join us in the SoCS tradition, click the following link where you’ll find all the instructions and the other participants’ posts in the comments. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/04/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-11-2020/ Or you can link to this post if you just want to write a What Day is it Anyway? post.


by 60 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 11/2020

Guess what? It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’ll be sure the prompt word lines up with the A to Z Challenge every week in April, so if you want to do a two-in-one, this is the place to be. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “joint.” Use it as a noun, an adjective, or a verb–use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful 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/

Here are the rules:

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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 all of them! 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 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!


by 20 Comments

AtoZ/What Day is it Anyway? #SoCS Edition Saturday, April 4th, 2020

 

Started off my day telling Alex to throw away a calendar page that he had stuck to the fridge. It’s a little calendar that I get from my real estate broker every year. Problem was (and why he looked at me as if I was nuts), I told him to throw out April. Because I forgot April hasn’t already passed.

This staying at home thing is affecting me on a deep level. On the surface, I’m okay. Just flying through the days like they were nothing. (Which is part of the problem, I guess–they consist of nothing.) But it’s the underlying stuff. The effect it has going on under the rug, so to speak, that I don’t think we’ll find out about until this is all over.

Or I could just be thinking too much.

Still, I think it will be a generation or two before we forget all the lessons we learned from this, whether good or bad.

Let’s hang on to the good ones.

My mum sounded good on the phone earlier. Still very forgetful, of course, but I find she’s more “with it” when she’s craving a cigarette. It’s like all her mental energy goes into finding a way to get one, and she’s clearer than ever. She can’t have one, being in the hospital, and she can’t leave her room since there’s a Covid-19 outbreak on the floor she’s on.

At this point, I think it’s fate. One way or another, with her smoking and having to go out to a bench close to the sidewalk at the home, she was probably as likely if not more likely to catch it there. Right now she’s in a place where they’re taking every precaution known to man.

And hey, she survived literally breaking her neck …

Going out for a walk now. I need to clear these deep thoughts out of the cobwebs of my grey matter.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I’ll try to reply when I’m not quite as overwhelmed.

Love to all. ❤

 

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

This adaptation of #AtoZ2020, #WDIIA and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you by all three. To join us in the SoCS tradition, click the following link where you’ll find all the instructions and the other participants’ posts in the comments. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/04/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-4-2020/ Or you can link to this post if you just want to write a What Day is it Anyway? post.


by 44 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 4/2020

Friday is here and what difference does it make? Well, Friday means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, so there’s that. I’ll be sure the prompt word lines up with the A to Z Challenge every week in April, so if you want to do a two-in-one, this is the place to be. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “deep.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful 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/

Here are the rules:

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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 all of them! 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 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!


by 25 Comments

What Day is it Anyway? #SoCS Edition Saturday, March 28th, 2020

Straying from the setup of my usual #WDIIA posts because I don’t want to box myself in while writing stream of consciousness style. We’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow.

Sitting beside me now (because it would be cheating just as much for me to have sat down beside something in particular to post the prompt as it was for me to sit beside something now just to write about it–but I didn’t cheat! Honest!) is a package of old photos. This is the first one I pulled out of the package:


Alex must have been less than six months old in this photo, because he was still feeding through a tube in his nose. The g-tube that’s still in his stomach was put there when he was half a year old. Judging by his size, this photo might have been taken before his open-heart surgery. And judging by the rocking chair I was sitting in, it was probably taken in the NICU at CHEO. Definitely CHEO. (The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.)

Back then we were living one day at a time, not knowing what the next day or even the next hour would bring. Kind of like now.

I braved the store again today. No TP, but I did get everything else. Except Kraft Dinner. There wasn’t a single box left. I asked, because of Alex and his heart condition, if I could come in the morning to the store when the seniors did, but the cashier wasn’t sure. I have to call the store later and ask. I wore a mask–people stayed far away from me and didn’t even look at me, at least not directly.

What a strange world we live in now. It’s amazing, to me at least, to think that just a month ago we were going about our lives as we always did. Remember the crowds in the malls at Christmas? That was only three months and a bit ago! It feels like years. Makes you wonder what Christmas shopping is going to look like this year, doesn’t it? Amazon will be booming, methinks.

Yesterday … What did I do yesterday? Ah, right. Went out for two walks with Alex. Plus, I recruited his brother to watch him while I went off alone and worked in the back seat of my car. Good news! I got my edit done, so I can send my book out to beta readers.

Moving forward. It’s all we can do.

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

This adaptation of #WDIIA and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you by both. To join us in the SoCS tradition, click the following link where you’ll find all the instructions and the other participants’ posts in the comments. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-28-2020/ Or you can link to this post if you just want to write a What Day is it Anyway? post.


by 57 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 28/2020

Had to double check again and make sure it’s actually Friday and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. What’s new? Not much around these parts. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “beside you.” Write about whatever is beside you when you read this prompt. Not when you sit down to write, but whatever is beside you right now. Take note of it if you think you might forget. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful 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/

Here are the rules:

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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 all of them! 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 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!


by 22 Comments

What Day is it Anyway? #SoCS Edition Saturday, March 21st, 2020

Straying from the setup of my usual #WDIIA posts because I don’t want to box myself in while writing stream of consciousness style. We’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow.

Regular programming, eh? That’s taken on a whole new meaning. I realized this morning that I couldn’t remember which day I went to the pharmacy to get my prescription this week because everything is the same. I hadn’t realized until now that I remember things mostly in relation to other things I do. Like, for instance, I might have known it was Thursday because it’s the same day Alex goes to his family swim night at the school.

One day blends into the next.

Oh, hey! I discovered something new today. It might be old news to everyone else, but did you know you can have a Netflix party with your distant friends and family? Here’s the link to the site. I haven’t tried it, obviously, but it’s an interesting concept.

It’s a beautiful day, cold but sunny, so we’ll be going out for walks today. I’m not allowed to visit my mother–they’ve closed the home off to everyone but essential workers and families of people who are dying. The good news, I suppose, is that my mother only seems to remember I exist when she needs cigarettes these days, so as long as I keep her in supply, she won’t miss me. I’m assuming this of course, because she never phones me. I’m hesitant to call her, because she’s going to ask me to come and see her, and won’t remember from one minute to the next that I can’t. At least I know she’s safe, which is the main thing.

This social distancing thing is far from welcome, especially since I resolved a few weeks ago to get out more and people-watch for inspiration. But it’s really not so bad. We’ve settled into a boring yet as stimulating-as-possible routine.

We’re adapting, which is, I suppose, the best thing we can possibly do. Do you find the same yet?

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

This adaptation of #WDIIA and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you by both. To join us in the SoCS tradition, click the following link where you’ll find all the instructions and the other participants’ posts in the comments. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-21-2020/