When I had my first child, I was told it was best to rock him about 60 beats per minute – the same as the average heart rate. I paid attention to that, and now it’s funny how I use that habit. Having a child (my third) with a heart condition makes it necessary to check his pulse occasionally. I can usually tell without looking at a clock if it’s fast or slow. Makes you wonder how they came up with how many seconds there should be in a minute, doesn’t it? And how it works out that our hearts beat, on average, the same number of times the clock ticks by the seconds in an hour, a day, a month, and a year. It’s like we power the universe!!!
Mind blown yet? Mine is.
My first child flew the coop today for the first time. Literally. He’s gone to Florida to see his girlfriend. It was his third time on a plane (we went to England together in 2007) and his first time on one alone. He must get that from me. So I’m looking after his cats for the next week. He didn’t ask about them when he texted me to say he’d made it. Girlfriend. Right.
My second son has the travel bug too. He wants to go everywhere, but he can’t go alone. That darned Autism thing. And my third son – I’m sure he’d love to go places too. But with his health conditions, insurance would be astronomical. Which leaves him with going only one way… up.
To the moon, Alex! Haha. I actually make myself laugh sometimes.
Today is Friday! Welcome to your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Things are sure heating up in these parts. We’re expecting a high temperature here in my part of Southern Ontario of 40C. That’s 104F, for those of you down south. How’s the weather where you are? I bet it’s pretty warm. Unless you’re in the southern hemisphere of course… Now, where was I? Oh yes! The heat must be getting to me. Here is your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “second.” Use it any way you’d like. 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 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!!
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.
“If you let the dog out of his crate, you’re not getting your lemonade stand today.”
That’s how today’s disaster started. Over and over again I tell my mentally delayed son that if he doesn’t do as he’s told, he’ll suffer the consequences. And over and over he goes ahead and does the opposite anyway. And then we all suffer the consequences.
I’m sure he understands the “if/then” concept. But like a two-year-old (he’s 15), he enjoys pushing his boundaries. He is, in fact, caught somewhere between the terrible twos and puberty. The “what ifs” and “I can do what I want.” And it’s scary.
It’s been so long since I’ve raised a child in a normal situation, that I don’t really remember how long it usually takes a child to understand consequences. It’s normally after a few failures, isn’t it? I’m asking the parents of “normal” toddlers and young kids. If you add the deafness and the fact that Alex and I don’t speak the same language to the mental delay, my situation is hardly “normal.” I want to add to this that I am very consistent. If I say there will be a consequence, I stick to it, no matter how long the screaming, hitting, and breaking things goes on. Him, not me. But I’m tempted sometimes. 😛
To be fair, it’s not a very good day for a lemonade stand today anyway. It’s cool, cloudy, and there aren’t many people about. I promised him next week, if he can be good.
So instead he’s gone with his brother for a ride on the city bus. On the way back home I was listening to the radio in the car (from dropping them at the bus station) and the announcer said the following:
“Get your face painted or get your kids’ faces painted. It don’t matter.”
This in regards to a festival going on in the next town. Wouldn’t you think they’d hire people at a radio station with maybe not impeccable, but at least good grammar? Am I being too picky?
So anyhoo, if I’m not around too much next weekend, you’ll know I’m outside in my driveway selling lemonade. We’ll see what the weather’s like then.
Friday? Did someone say it’s Friday? Of course it is, and that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I feel an obligation to let you all know that I’m realizing I can’t keep up with post-reading. The stress is beginning to affect my health, which means everything and everyone around me is suffering. I’m happy to continue with my prompts, and when I find I have time, I’ll be by to read what you’ve written, but I must stop pretending that I have the energy to promise I’ll get there eventually. To be perfectly honest, I miss reading all the responses every week, so what I can promise is that I’ll try. I hope you can understand, and please, until I get my time/sanity back, visit each other! The success of this prompt depends on the community it builds. 🙂 Now, your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “if/then.” Begin your post with the word “If.” For bonus points, end your post with a phrase containing the word “then.” 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 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!!
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.
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.
For some reason my powers of concentration are failing me at the moment. Maybe it’s because I’m in a dorm room (rented out for the summer as a motel set-up) in Kingston and I’m in room 1106. Why is the number significant, you ask? It’s because I was originally in room 1105, but when I turned the lock on the door, a woman poked her head out and asked me what I was doing. Yes, they gave me the key for an occupied room. It’s funny, because every single time I enter a hotel room I wonder if there’s someone in there (when I enter it for the first time that is). And finally, it happened. So I went back to the front desk with the woman in tow and they apologized profusely. The woman was totally shaken up though, and I can’t say I blame her. I’m sitting here wondering if someone is going to walk into my room. Before you ask, no, there’s no chain, nor is there any other kind of device that’s only accessible from the inside. It’s just the lock on the knob. The woman is going to complain to the manager on Monday. She’s here for the month. Any bets that she’ll find other accommodations?
But today hasn’t been all bad. Despite the rain…
I got an email this afternoon to inform me that a short story I wrote has been accepted into an anthology. 😀 I won’t say what it is yet – I want to wait until the contract is signed. So I’ll be self-published and traditionally published! I’m looking forward to working with the editor on it. And an editor I don’t have to pay – imagine that!
There’s something comforting to me, strangely enough, about sitting alone in a hotel room. The quiet is profound right now. I think it must have something to do with the fact that I know I won’t be disturbed. Barring the possibility of a fire alarm of course. At least here in Canada there’s not much chance of an earthquake. When I was in Japan I was constantly aware that my room could begin to sway at any given moment. The literature in the rooms all said something to the effect of “Don’t panic, get under the desk (there is always a desk) and wait for further instructions.” I could easily imagine not being able to understand them. Ah, but we could get a tornado here…
I should probably concentrate on writing my novel, eh? Yeah.
This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the rules to join in here and then do it! It’s fun!!
Hello, hello. ‘Tis Friday, hence the Friday reminder and prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday. The media these days has been the bane of my existence, the fly in my free-flowing ointment, the keeper of my concentrative (is that a word?) efforts. So, without further ado, nor attempts to carry forth additional ornamentation, here is your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “concentration.” Use it any way you see fit. 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 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!!
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.
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.
I think it’s going to be a long month. I signed up for NaNo Camp but I haven’t written a word yet. I haven’t even opened the story that I want to finish off for the NaNo project. I’m kind of at that paralised stage at the moment, where there’s so much to do I don’t know where to start so instead I play a mindless casual game in order to escape the pressure. And so I got this image in my head that I wrote about on my fiction blog about half an hour ago as my SoCS post over there for today. It’s fiction, but only in the sense that I’m not quite at that stage yet. I might be, before August gets here. You’ll find the link to that post in the comments below the link for this one – it’s not a long piece.
I sometimes wonder where I belong, you see. I belong to my family and to myself, to the extent that I have my own interests to pursue. I signed up for the editing course I’ve been talking about forever. It’s online at Simon Fraser University in BC, Canada. If I can earn the certificate I will have the opportunity to get into Editors Canada, the highest qualification in the land. From there I may start working toward my English degree. But that’s a long way off. I need the editing courses to freelance and earn the money I’ll need to get my BA.
At times I feel as though I belong to the world of literature. I thrive there. At times I feel like I’m biding my time, waiting to get there. But my responsibilities will always be at home, to my kids. Now I have to decide what Chris, my middle son will do with the rest of his life. He’s ambitious but autistic and largely unable to secure a position anywhere for himself. He, too, would like to go back to school, to college, but he’s never been without one-on-one help. It’s scary for me to contemplate.
So many decisions, so little time. So much to do, and not long enough to do it. And yet, July will take forever to be over. What a paradox.
It’s Friday today, and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Today has been a bit of a mess for me, not least because I have a bite on my ring finger that has my whole hand swollen to the wrist. Anti-histamines don’t seem to be making a dent. Ah well. I’m here, and so is your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “long.” Use the word “long,” any definition. 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 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!!
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.
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.
What am I doing here when i’m too tired to be here? I just came to say I ate so much tonight, I feel like a snake who swallowed an elephant whole. i may not move for the next three days. Also, while i was out, my son was using my laptop and now my left shift key doesn’t work. Which is why some of my “i”s aren’t capitalized.
i usually take a glass of wine up to bed with me, but tonight it will be water. I hope i’m feeling better enough by the morning that I’ll be able to drink coffee.
Holy Workweek, Batman! It’s Friday! I’ve been so busy today, I didn’t think I’d make it in time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Whew! I think I need a coffee. But first, here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “drink.” Use it as a noun or a verb. 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 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!!
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.
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.
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