Life in progress


55 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS November 8/14

Hello, and welcome once again to the Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday! It’s been a while since I presented a choice for the prompt between one thing and another – today I thought I’d expand on that and give a few.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “bat, bet, bit, bot, but.” Focus on one, use them all, or simply include one of these words in your post. It’s up to you!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!


32 Comments

Speaking of Masochism

Why do I set such high goals for myself? Okay yes, it feels great when I achieve them, and usually I do because I don’t like giving up on a challenge I set for myself. But the downside is that I end up getting stressed when I have too many things to do.

The latest goal of course is NaBloPoMo – write a post every day during the month of November. Together with Nano Poblano which gives me the extra challenge to make my posts spicy, I’m thinking by the end of the month my posts will be unreadable garbles of swear words. That should be fun!

Yet there’s something extra I’m contemplating to drive myself crazy reach for, and that is to extend my Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right series to 365. An entire year. I’m working on getting ahead of myself to cover the period in December when I won’t be around. They’re already scheduled a day or two in advance, so what’s two weeks? Nuthin’! My eventual goal with the series is to turn it into a calendar. I’m not sure exactly how that would work as an e-pub, but I’m sure I can figure something out. The idea came up a while ago, and I spoke to another blogger about possibly animating it, but that sorta fizzled out into nothing. So far. I should re-visit the idea and see if there’s any interest, though the 365th episode is still 300 away from being completed.

Any thoughts? Anyone who’s reading it think it might be a good idea? Click here for a link to one of the scenes that stands alone (meaning it has no back-story nor any follow-up so far) if you’ve never read one. You may just be amused.


46 Comments

Random-after-a-glass-of-wine-type-Team-Pepper-post

Well this should be interesting.

First off, what the hell is going on with WordPress today? I woke up and this blog’s “best ever” day has gone up by nine views, and my fiction blog’s has gone down by four. Has this happened to anyone else or are they just screwing with me?

Second, I really am going to finish replying to all my comments soon. Tomorrow, if all goes well. But when does it ever? Can anyone answer me this question?

Third, I need another glass of wine.

Fourth, … oh yeah! Another WTF WordPress. I scheduled my 63rd Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right post for 11am this morning but it went live at 10. Did WordPress not get the memo that the time changed last night? Was it only Canada that changed? I’m confuddled.

Fifth, what do I do with all these Hallowe’en candies?

Sixth, if anyone can answer the above questions to my satisfaction and (as always) with humour, you get a point. Extra points if you send me a bottle of wine.

Go!


60 Comments

No More Slacking!

It’s true. I’ve been slacking off on my blog. Two days this past week I failed to post. My excuse? Life. What kind of excuse is that? A terrible one, if you ask me.

So I’ve decided to join in to not one, but two events to keep me on track for the rest of the month. I won’t be able to participate in Every Damned Day December this year, so I’m gonna make up for it ahead of time.

So what, you might ask, are these events? Let me show you.

The first is NaBloPoMo (or National Blog Posting Month I assume, since NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. …shouldn’t that be INTERnational by now?). The sign-up form can be found here if you’re interested in joining me: http://www.blogher.com/joining-nablopomo-november-add-your-blog-2014-blogroll-now Here’s the official logo:

NaBloPoMo_1114_465x287_blogroll

Nice, eh?

The second event is Nano Poblano, hosted by Mr. Mark Bialczak. Join Team Pepper, here: http://markbialczak.com/2014/10/27/team-pepper-gets-spicy-right-here-nano-poblano/ and get the cool banner!

nanoPoblano14

To be part of Team Pepper, we have to include the tags, Nano Poblano and Team Pepper in our posts. As well as NaBloPoMo of course.

So that’s that! I have my work cut out for me for the rest of the month. How about you? Are you up for a little spice and a couple of tongue twisters?


50 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS November 1/14

It’s Friday!! What with Hallowe’en and the chaos that comes with it, I totally forgot about your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Thanks so much for the reminder, John! So what to do…? Oh, I know!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “memory.” That’s it! Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!


28 Comments

SoCS – On English and Taking a Break

The English language amazes me. I’m sure many other languages are equally amazing, but English is the one I’m most familiar with, so it’s the one I’ll talk about.

When I came up with this week’s prompt, “degree(s),” I had one thing in mind. The temperature. But then I thought about how many different things it could mean and I was astounded. So many words in the English language are like this. It must be so confusing for people learning it. At the same time it opens up so many possibilities for things like the SoCS prompt.

In my mind right at this moment is the worry about what will happen with SoCS when I take some time off from my blog in December, and since this is stream of consciousness, that’s what I’ll write about.

I won’t be around for perhaps three weekends in December. I can handle this in a number of ways: I can just not put up prompts and let SoCS go for that time; I can pre-schedule the prompts and let SoCS run on its own, or I can get someone to guest-post for me. If that is the case, I can either leave it up to the guest poster to come up with the prompts or I can leave them myself for the guest to put up.

I suppose I need to know if anyone would be interested in doing it. I’m leaning toward this way of doing things, as sometimes participating bloggers need a helping hand with the pingbacks, and because I like to ensure that everything is being read. It’s a big job.

I realize that it’s still a long way off, so if you want to let me know that you might be interested, I won’t hold you to it. I merely want a feel at this point if there’s anyone at all who’s interested. Please comment below.

Thanks!

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

This post is part of SoCS – click the link and join in now! https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-2514/


52 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 25/14

Friday is here and with it comes your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I’m hella tired today – two mornings in a row of being dragged out of bed by a grumpy kid with a sore throat at 4am will do that. So no preamble or explanation today, just a prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “degree/degrees.” Have at it!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!


35 Comments

What has Stream of Consciousness Done for You?

It’s been an amazingly successful week for SoCS! We’ve had a record number of participants and quite a few new bloggers join us, which makes me very happy. 😀

After months of writing stream of consciousness posts, I’m finding that it has loosened me up in most of my writing. I’m not quite as anxious when I begin to write a blog post. I’m wondering if anyone else who participates in stream of consciousness writing (whether here on WordPress or elsewhere) has discovered the same thing.

What is the best part for you about writing this way? For me I have to say it’s the speed in which I can get a post out. Not having to edit–something I usually do to a fault–makes it much easier to write a blog post on Saturday, which happens to be one of my two busiest days of the week in most cases.

I’d love to hear from everyone who has tried writing a stream of consciousness blog post! I’m still working on getting caught up with reading everyone’s posts from yesterday and replying to comments. I’ll be reading though, and will reply as soon as I can.

 


42 Comments

SoCS – When Things Go Pear-Shaped

I like circular. What comes around, goes around and what you give, you get back. Rectangular things are better than trapezoids, but not better than squares. I suppose I’m a little obsessed with order, though you wouldn’t know it looking at my house. Tidying up is at the bottom of my list of things to do.

Order in the way of plans are also important to me. When things go pear-shaped I get stressed. Not that I need to stick to a schedule – it’s more for my kids than me. Both of them are obsessed with schedules.

Today will be a busy day. If things don’t go as planned it will result in a late night.

This post sucks.

But that’s Stream of consciousness for you. Pear-shaped indeed. Show, don’t tell, right? Haha.

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

If you’d like to participate in Stream of Consciousness Saturday, click here to get the details! https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-1814/


64 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 18/14

Would you look at that – it’s Friday again! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It ‘s been a fun week for me in blogland, though I’m still trying to catch up with last week’s SoCS posts. I’ll get there though! Have no fear. I did want to mention to everyone, since the pingbacks aren’t always reliable, to check to make sure your link is in the comments after you post. And don’t forget to visit the other participants! Getting to know one another is what it’s all about! So, without further ado:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “shape.” Use it as a noun or a verb, put the word in your post or simply use it as your theme – whatever comes off the top of your head!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

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. Have fun!