Life in progress

Tag Archives: SoCS


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 22/16

Holy Days of the Week, Batman, it’s Friday! Time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt!  It’s my youngest’s 16th birthday on Sunday and he’s having 3–count ’em–3 parties in four days. I’ve been partying like a mad-mom for the last two days and it ain’t been pretty. Anyway, that’s my excuse for being so late, and I’m sticking to it. So. This week’s prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “ho.” Find a word with the two letters–“ho”–in that order, and use it in your post. 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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!!

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. 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!


by 28 Comments

#SoCS – Screen

“Experience is the screen through which we see the world.” ~ Linda G. Hill

I just came up with that. Someone else probably has as well, but just in case I’m not subconsciously plagiarizing it, I’ll leave it up there all by itself.

It’s always been true, I think. The whole nature vs. nurture thing may be something we’ll never all agree on – I believe there’s a balance there somewhere. There’s no doubt our experiences shape us, whether to turn us into what we’ve seen or give us the determination to be the opposite. Either way, our experiences colour how we perceive things, how we judge things to be true or false, comforting or scary, acceptable or not.

If the above statement has always been true, isn’t it more literally true now? When almost all we see of the world is through a physical screen, compounded by opinions that read as facts, and facts that are difficult to believe, it’s no wonder we’re often confused. Or maybe I just speak for myself.

With the world on the brink of change (if my screen is to be believed), we are witnessing history, close up and from afar at the same time. Will we always have this medium to express our thoughts and connect with one another? Loss of this is what I fear the most.

Note: I looked up my “quote” – this is the closest I came to it: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/483575-we-don-t-see-the-world-as-it-is-we-see So I’m sticking quotation marks around it and calling it mine. I’ll await the claim of whomever beat me to it.

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This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to join in: https://lindaghill.com/2016/10/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-1516/


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 15/16

It’s Friday once again, and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. The fall weather is starting to settle in, the trees are changing colour, and there’s a fresh feeling in the air. I’m not sure if my optimism is real, or if it’s a mixture of denial that winter is coming and nervousness about never completing all the things I need to do in time, but whichever, I’ll take it. In other news, here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “screen.” Use it any way you’d like. 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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!!

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. 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!


by 19 Comments

#SoCS – Jagged

It’s strange, the edge upon which we exist here on earth. Half-way between life and death, birth and life. Full of ups and downs, we tip this way and that. Joy and sorrow, anxiousness and contentment. If we’re lucky enough to find a balance, we can make it through without much fuss.

I’ve been teetering today. Thrown off balance by the news of a friend’s passing. We, many of us, knew him well. He saw the joy in life through most of what he went through. He was always there with his own brand of encouragement and support. His friend contacted me through my comments on Facebook, to say that he talked about this world here in blogland often. That blogging had become his life.

Our friend’s name is Paul Curran. I like to think of him looking down on us, knowing we’re thinking of him, as he knows we have before. And that, to coin his favourite interjection, he’s pointing down and saying “Ha! I actually made an impression.”

You certainly did, Paul. And a good one at that.

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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 8/16


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 8/16

Hey ho it’s Friday, and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.  It’s been a busy time ’round these parts, but I hope to get caught up with you all soon. Yeah, how many times have I said that? *sigh* I’ll do my best. Anyway, here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “coin.” Use it any way you’d like. 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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!!

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. 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!


by 12 Comments

#SoCS – Awkward

Don’t you hate awkward exchanges between yourself and a stranger? They talk to you and the conversation finishes but you’re not sure how to walk away? I’ve had a couple of those this weekend. It’s been an exhausting one, mentally and emotionally. I’ve cried, I’ve laughed, I’ve learned, I’ve read my work out loud (something I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do), and I’ve met some people who’ve inspired me. In all, I’d say it has been a good time. But now I’m about ready to shut down.

I had an awful conversation by text with my ex. If you know my pseudonym, you can find my rant on that blog. The rant helped, but the conversation helped to drain me. I think now I’ll go look for something to just zone out with. I’ll write more about my weekend later, if I have a chance.

Thanks again to Joey for hosting this week. Please, everyone, stand and applaud. She won’t think it’s awkward AT ALL. 😀

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This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday: https://lindaghill.com/2016/09/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-116/ Click the link to join in!


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 1/16

Welcome to the Friday prompt for Saturday’s SoCS, I’m your guest host, Joey of Joeyfully Stated, aka, NotLindaGHill.

As I write this post, I am feeling even more awkward and nervous than usual. Writing on someone else’s blog is kinda like cookin in someone else’s kitchen.

Y’all, Linda told you I’d be an exciting guest-poster, and now I’m feelin a lot of pressure to be exciting, which is difficult under normal circumstances but especially since she didn’t leave any tequila here for me.

I think the best thing you could do to help me, the best way to comfort me in this strange time, would be to bring me tequila write about things that are awkward. ‘Awkward’ is your prompt. You can write about feeling awkward like me right now or the awkward silences we often find ourselves in, like staring at a blank page only sometimes that blank page is a person’s face, or even trying to fill the awkward silence — just make it awkward. Do your best to out-awkward me.

After you’ve written your Stream of Consciousness Saturday post, 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 it. All are welcome to participate.

To make your post more visible, use the 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!!

socsbadge2016-17

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. 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!


by 23 Comments

#SoCS – Bussing

If a busser bussing tables runs into you in a restaurant, is it like getting hit by a bus? I’ve always wondered why they call it “bussing.” And why does my spell-check not like the word? Does it like “busing” better? Yes, it does. When I finish this post, I’ll check to see if it’s a Canadian spelling. Spell-check also doesn’t like “colour,” after all.

I never took a bus to school. It was only half a mile to walk, so they let me walk. Even when I was five and six, I was walking to school by myself. There weren’t many crazies about. But I do remember sitting on the curb on the way home from school one day with a friend, and we were throwing stones under cars as they went by. One woman stopped and yelled at us, even though we didn’t actually hit her car. By then we were getting good at clearing the wheels before the car got past. We stopped after the lady yelled at us… until the next day. I think I eventually got bored with it.

What I did do when I was little was make up stories in my head. All the time. That is something I still haven’t gotten bored with.

My kids have always taken the bus to school. When we lived in Gatineau, Quebec, the school board payed a student $5/day to sit with my Autistic son, Chris, on the bus. The first year a student we didn’t know did it, but after that they let his brother do it. Years later, I still have all that money sitting in a bank account for him, for when/if he decides to go to college.

I’m actually appalled at the fact that they no longer have an aide on the bus my Deaf son, Alex, takes to and from school. The bus driver doesn’t know sign language, and the kids, by the time June comes, are up to all kinds of antics. I should probably advocate for an aide.

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This post is brought (not by bus) to you as a response to Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link for the prompt and join in today! https://lindaghill.com/2016/09/23/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-2416/


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 24/16

Hello, long-lost friends! Welcome to the Friday post for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. You may have noticed my presence has been scarce around WordPress of late, but there’s a good reason. I’ve been working hard to get my manuscript ready for the release of my next book before the end of the year. Having said that, there may be complications: I’ll update when I can. On top of my recent busyness, I’m going away next weekend. The good news is, I have an exciting guest-poster lined up for next week’s prompt! Stay tuned. In the meantime, here is your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “bus.” Use it as it is, or find a word with the letters “bus” in it. 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 Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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!!

socsbadge2016-17

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. 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!


by 68 Comments

Angriest, a #SoCS Rant (with swear words and everything)

There are a few things that annoy me about people, but what gets me angriest is when people get annoyed at my kids. This rant is brought on by a trip to the grocery store earlier today and a woman behind us in line. There isn’t much room once you’ve paid for your groceries and you’re packing your own bags. Alex, my Deaf son, was helping me – I was standing at the end of the belt and he was moving things closer to me while standing in the lane where we came out after paying. There was a woman there with a cart who had just paid for her groceries. All she had was a cart full of cases of pop (soda, for those of you in the U.S.). When I turned, after she had raised her voice (I didn’t know she was there) she was saying to Alex that she just needed to get out, that she didn’t have to pack anything, she would just very much appreciate it if we’d excuse her.

Normally an “excuse me” doesn’t require that much explanation, so it occurred to me that she’d probably been saying it to Alex for a while. He had his back turned to her, so he didn’t know she was there. As she walked away, she looked at me and said, “Thank you very much for moving out of the way.” Waaay over the top, even for a Canadian. So I said, “Sorry he didn’t move right away, he’s Deaf.” Or I tried to say that, but she cut me off: “No, no, no, no, I really appreciate it!”

Fuck you, sarcastic bitch.

I want to say I wish people wouldn’t judge, but I realize I’m judging her. Maybe she’d been having a really hard day? But does she need to take it out on us?

I always say that you can make someone’s day with a smile, no matter who they are. Even if they’re a stranger. You can also ruin someone’s day by being sarcastic and jumping to conclusions. Or rather jumping to conclusions and then being sarcastic.  Or maybe I’m just overreacting because I want to protect my son.

One way or another, be nice out there. And be patient.

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This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Check out the rules and join in here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/09/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1716/