Life in progress


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#SoCS – Noticed?

You might have noticed that I am, once again, late for my own party. Two weeks (has it been two, or three?) in a row I’ve posted a Stream of Consciousness Sunday.  Today’s excuse is all about editing. There’s a new anthology coming out in October that I’ll also (as well as copyediting it) have a story in. Paranormal romance … so exciting!

(By the way, anyone studying this post for grammar mistakes–the rules include NO EDITING for SoCS posts. Don’t judge me by this post.)

This is the raw me. The unedited me. Have you noticed how … conversational Stream of Consciousness Saturday posts seem? That’s what I love about them. It’s that not-being-able-to-take-it-back-once-it’s-out-of-your-mouth thing. (Spellcheck really didn’t like that.) Where was I? Oh yeah.

Wine. Wine is good. I’m having a glass now after a full day of work. I can’t edit and drink, which is doing wonders for my weight sobriety. Not that I have a problem with staying sober. But wine is good, isn’t it?

Speaking of sobriety, I found a bag of potatoes today that was slowly but surely becoming vodka in my cupboard. Only it smelled more like fish. Not a good scent for potatoes, I thought, so they’re in the garbage now. *hic*

Speaking of gross things, my next sip of wine tasted like dish soap. I don’t know if it was the fact that the wine had had a chance to dilute whatever wasn’t washed out of the glass the last time it was washed, but I had to get rid of the rest of it.

So I opened a new bottle. *hic*

Where was I?

Oh yeah. There’s no way I’m going to get my colouring project done for the month of August. So I’m going to be late for that party too. I’ll still post the prompt, but with an unfinished page. I suck.

But wine is good.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This *hic* post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday Sunday Saturday. Join in, won’t you? *hic* https://lindaghill.com/2018/08/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-25-18/


51 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 25/18

Happy Friday! It’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’ve had a busy week, what with organizing our new SoCS badge. Today’s its first day! Yay! Here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “notice.” 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 pretty, new 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!!

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.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!


17 Comments

We Have a Winner! #SoCS Badge, 2018-2019

The voting is finished and you have chosen our wonderful new badge! As always, the winning design will represent Stream of Consciousness Saturday for the next year.

But first, lets give one last big round of applause for our outgoing 2017-2018 badge.

Thanks so much, Jill!

Now, our runners-up. Drum roll please …

In second place, we have JoAnna, with Ripples.

In a close third (it’s been neck and neck all day), we have Bethany, with Sunset.

In a quick fourth, fifth and sixth, it’s Fandango, with Shining Clouds, Jill, with Mushrooms, and Jim, with Thinking Cap in that order.

And our final two placements were ties. In seventh we have John, with Binary, and Melanie, with Rainbow

and last but certainly not least, came Ritu, with Silhouette, and Ellen, with Mind.

So that means our winner, is

Pamela, with Leafy Stream!

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

Congratulations, Pamela!! Your badge will be featured for the first time tomorrow in the Friday Reminder post.

And thank you once again to all who entered the contest. Your badges were all amazing!


24 Comments

Vote Here for the 2018-2019 SoCS Badge

Voting day is finally here, and we have a record TEN designs in the running for our 2018-2019 Stream of Consciousness Saturday Badge! Our new winner will have his or her badge displayed both here and all around the Internet by whomever participates in the weekly SoCS prompt.

Before we get started, I’d like to say thank you one more time to Jill for her wonderful 2017-2018 badge.

I’m pleased Jill’s back in the running with a new one for this year! Thanks, Jill!

So here we go. The links below will take you to the contestant’s sites, to the posts on which their badges are displayed. Please make sure you have a look at all of them before you vote! I’ll give each a descriptive name which you’ll find both with the link and on the poll for easier voting. I’m not going to vote unless there’s a tie, so it’s all up to you!

Here are the badges in the order they entered the contest:

Ritu, with Silhouette

Pamela, with Leafy Stream

Jim, with Thinking Cap

Fandango, with Shining Clouds

Bethany, with Sunset

John, with Binary

Jill, with Mushrooms

JoAnna, with Ripples

Melanie, with Rainbow

Ellen, with Mind

Thanks again to all the contestants! You’re a creative bunch, and all your badges are lovely. It’s going to be a tough decision!

The poll will be open for 24 hours–all of Thursday, August 23rd, -5GMT. Vote once, vote carefully, and be sure to tell your friends!

 

Best of luck, and may the best badge win!

 


10 Comments

Update on the 2018-2019 SoCS Badge Contest

Normally about now I’d be reminding everyone to hurry up and get their entries in for the Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge contest before the deadline. But there’s no need! Ten bloggers were so quick this year, I had to cut off the contest early.

If you’d like to go and have a look at all the lovely badges, here’s the link to the post: you’ll find the individual links in the comment section. I cleaned it up a bit so there’s only one of each.

I’ll write a post with links to them all on Thursday, along with a poll so everyone can vote on their favourite.

Thanks to all the contestants for your awesome badges! Best of luck to all!


23 Comments

#SoCS – Logical English

I’m a huge fan of logic. It might be my star sign (Aquarius) or it might be just good ol’ learnin’, but logic makes more sense to me than stuff like intuition.

Though I do trust my intuition a lot. But not when there’s logic to be had.

Then there are some things I’ve just learned to accept. There’s really no fighting things like the English language, and its refusal to conjugate, for instance, “specific” into “specifical” when “magic” is “magical” and, well, “logic” is “logical.”

So, I’ve had to memorize these illogical instances, as we do. Or we don’t if we never get good at spelling. I think one of the worst things invented is spellcheck. It, like modern checkout machines at cash registers has made us lazy. I’VE become a bit lazy. Imagine that! Illogical, if you ask me.

What’s most logical on my mind currently is getting this post posted. I keep losing my Internet connection, and I want to send it off before I go to bed. Maybe even while it’s still Saturday!

Hope everyone had a good one. 🙂

A fond farewell to our SoCS badge! I’ll miss that little stream. ❤

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click on the link to find all the other awesome posts in the comment section, and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2018/08/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-18-18/


71 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 18/18

It’s Friday! And time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. It’s the last week for our lovely SoCS badge by Jill. Thanks, Jill! I’ve loved using your badge for the past year.

Don’t forget, the contest is open now for the new badge. Get your entry in early! Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “-ic or -ical.” Find a word that uses the suffix “-ic” or “-ical.” Bonus points if you use both. 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 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!!

 

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!


18 Comments

It’s Time for the 5th Annual SoCS Badge Contest – Contest Closed!

It never gets easier, retiring a badge. It’s a decision I deal with every year. But alas, it’s that time once again.

Our lovely 2017-2018 Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge by Jill, aka J-Dub, has served us well. I’ll be sad to see it go. This weekend will see its final sharing.

But perhaps she’ll enter the contest again! Either way, thank you for your year’s worth of beauty to grace our SoCS posts, Jill!

And now the excitement begins. I’ll be taking entries for the next seven days (today included) for Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge designs.

Here are the contest guidelines: please read them carefully before entering:

1. The design can be anything you want it to be, but it must include either “Stream of Consciousness Saturday” or “SoCS” and your name and/or the name of your website.

2. Any pictures (art or photo) must be your own.

3. All entries will be posted here on my blog on Thursday August 23rd, 2018, along with a poll that will close the next day, on Friday the 24th. I would ask that each of the entrants make a blog post on their own website with their artwork so I can post links for voters to check them out, and that they link their post back HERE in the comment section no later than Wednesday, August 22nd, midnight EDT (GMT -5 hours). No entry posted after that time will qualify. All links included here within the specified timeframe will be added to the voting list.

4. The winner’s badge will be available for anyone who participates in Stream of Consciousness Saturday to post permanently on their website as a widget and/or to embed in each weekly SoCS post.

5. One entry per person. The contest is open to anyone with an active blog, WordPress or otherwise. I reserve the right to disqualify any blogger from the contest who regularly posts material that may be offensive to others, i.e. porn, highly political posts, or blogs that only exist to sell something.

6. Poll results will not be available while the poll is open. If there is a tie, I will choose the winner myself.

7. Entries are restricted to the first ten linked below (just in case we’re bombarded), so get yours in early.

8. If I’ve missed anything, or if you have any questions, please ask in the comment section below.

9. Have fun and best of luck!

Note: The posting of the winning badge with a SoCS post/on a participant’s website will not be a requirement. It’s purely for entertainment/recognition purposes.


44 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS August 11/18

Hello Friday! And hello you! It’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’ve been crazy busy this week with Alex home. We went bowling yesterday, where I discovered muscles I’d forgotten I had. Who knew bowling could be a workout? Here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “bodily function.” Decide on one or write about a whole bunch of bodily functions. Bonus inspiration: here’s a website. 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 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!!

 

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!


28 Comments

#SoCS – Call

If I could call my dad, he’d be amazed that I was using a wireless phone, because he died in 1978. Or maybe he wouldn’t, if he’s really watching over me.

If I could call my dad, he’d say he wishes he could meet his grandkids. Though two of them are too big to dandle on his knee.

If I could call my dad, I think he’d be proud of me for continuing his love of telling stories.

If I could call my dad, he’d be happy that I kept my sense of humour, even through all the shit I’ve been through.

If I could call my dad, he might or might not think I’m doing enough for my mother. He may just acknowledge that I’ve got enough to do already.

If I could call my dad, I’d be grateful for one last chance to give him the opportunity to make me spit tea through my nose …

If I could call my dad, I’d tell him I’m doing my best.

If I could call my dad, I’d tell him I miss him.

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to find all the other posts in the comments, and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2018/08/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-4-18/