Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!
I’ve been to quite a few zoos in my time. The ones I can remember off the top of my head are the London Zoo, the Toronto Zoo, and the African Lion Safari. The link for the latter one is here: http://www.lionsafari.com/ Just looking at their site makes me want to go back. I think I might do that this summer with the kids.
Strangely enough, the thing I remember most about the Toronto Zoo is that, when I went there with my friends when we were in high school, there was a McDonald’s in the park but they didn’t allow straws. Nor did they allow plastic cutlery. I assume it was because people would throw them into the animal enclosures and the animals would choke on them. (Stupid people.) But do you have any idea how hard it is to drink a McDonald’s milkshake without a straw… or a spoon?
Why do stupid people ruin things for everyone else? Do you ever wonder? We just accept the restrictions we have on ourselves – restrictions which we know are in place to protect stupid people and the things stupid people affect. For the life of me, I can’t think of another example, but you know what I mean. If you can think of one, mention it in the comments, would you? Thanks.
What if we had zoos full of stupid people? We could stare at them behind glass enclosures and laugh at the things they do. Maybe they could share the monkey exhibits… We could throw them straws and watch them stick them up their noses. Give them hot coffee to pour on themselves… oh wait. There are warnings on cups.
Actually, we already do this, in a way. We have America’s Funniest Videos.
I’d better stop before I get myself into trouble.
Have you ever noticed that this stream of consciousness thing is kind of like being drunk? You say whatever comes to mind…
It’s Friday! Already! That means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. It’s also the last day of April tomorrow, which means this is the final time this year that I’ll revolve the prompt around the letter of the day for those participating in the A to Z Challenge. I think it’s gone pretty well, despite that little inconvenience (or convenience as the case may be), don’t you? Here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “zoo.” Use the word zoo, or find a word that contains 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 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’m writing this short post to extend my warmest thank you to the people at WordPress who got our pingbacks working again after just twelve short days. In fact, I’d like to thank everyone, from the volunteers, to the Happiness Engineers, and all the way up to the developers! I mean honestly, what can be happier than a Happiness Engineer?
Won’t you join me in thanking them? After all, I’m certain that if all of us express our gratitude they’ll hear our collective voice and not change any more of our controls. Maybe they’ll even give us back some of the features they’ve already taken away to “help make our blogging experience better”!
Here’s to the great people at WordPress!!
P.S. Seriously, thanks for the pingbacks. Blogging prompts without them was annoying.
It’s been a while since I said thank you to all of you who visit my blogs, and all who participate in my prompts. When I started out, I said thank you in the comments of every participating post. Then I figured eventually everyone must be getting sick of saying, “You’re welcome,” so I stopped. One thing I haven’t meant to stop doing is visiting every post that’s linked on the day it’s posted, but I have. And I regret it, but I haven’t been able to keep up.
Truth is, I’ve been pretty tapped lately. Between the kids and all their issues, my mother who is losing it a bit more every day, problems with my house, the puppy, trying to edit my books, trying to actually get off the couch to stop the spreading of my ass, housework, appointments, shopping, endless paperwork for my kids’ services that never seems to get done… oh, and blogging. But the thing is, THIS is important to me. It feels as though it should be at the bottom of the list, but the truth is this place is one of the main things anchoring me to sanity. It’s the only writing I do, and I need to write.
And what’s wonderful about my blog that isn’t true of writing novels, is that I get to talk to all of you. You who inspire me. You who keep me going. You all who never ever let me down, who I can count on to make me smile.
So again, thank you for being here. Thank you for making my prompts a success. Thank you for your support.
As you probably know, having been informed by either your calendar or your internal almost-the-weekend clock, it’s Friday! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. The pingbacks are working again, which makes me very happy, and makes all of our jobs easier for the prompt. Again, I’m going to do my bit to potentially help you out if you’re participating in the A to Z Challenge. Here’ your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “ta.” The word, “ta,” is British slang for thank you: use it this way, or find any other word that starts with those two letters. 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.
I know I’ve mentioned before what it’s like when I visit Alex’s school for a special event. Walking down a hallway, jam-packed with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12, all of them chatting animatedly without a sound but the scuffing of shoes on the floor, is an experience not many hearing people are likely to have. I want to add that the shoe-scuffing is decidedly loud, however. I think that may be because Deaf parents aren’t constantly telling the kids to stop dragging their feet already, like the rest of us do. But I digress.
Unlike the above point, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned the first time I went with Alex for a playdate. It was back when we lived in the Ottawa area. We only went to a couple, hosted by a Deaf mom, for her kids and some of their friends, all of whom were Deaf. I was lucky to have found them: I was pointed in the right direction by one of my American Sign Language teachers.
My first impression at the playdate, once we got the kids organized and sitting around a table with building blocks, was how eerie it was. If I remember correctly, there were four adults and five or six children ranging in ages from two to six, and the room was dead quiet. What I remember the most was how happy Alex was. At the age of six, Alex was probably more fascinated watching the adults sign and the kids communicate with one another without excluding him than he was with the actual playing. It was at that moment that I realized these were his people and I was not. As happy as I was for him, and still am, that he’s part of that wonderful community, being unlike him is one of the most heartbreaking things I have to endure as his mother.
It’s very strange to give birth to someone whose first language isn’t the same as yours.
My A to Z theme concerns the joys and challenges of being the hearing mother of my Deaf son, Alex. To learn more about his beginnings in life, click here to go to my first A to Z entry.
Good news! The pingbacks were working yesterday. So go ahead and give it a try, but make sure you check a minute or two after you post to make sure your pingback is in the comments.
Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!
Buck-Tick is a Japanese band who I was so impressed with right from the first time I heard them, that I’ve traveled to Japan to see them in concert. Twice, in the case of the lead singer, Sakurai Atsushi.
I thought I’d share the first song I ever heard of theirs. It’s called “Long Distance Call,” and was written about Mr. Sakurai’s mother and the last time he talked to her before she died. The band was out on the road, and he couldn’t get home to see her. Honestly, I don’t know how he keeps it together when he sings it.
Unfortunately I’m not able to copy and paste the lyrics. It’s sung in Japanese, but the translation is available; the lady who translates them prefers to have a link back to her site, which is here. However, if you watch the video, the subtitles are there and easy to read. You just have to click on the settings button (the cogged wheel) at the bottom of the video and you’ll see how to access them.
lindaghill.com 