My darling son, Alex, with whom many of you are familiar, is deathly afraid of the dentist. So much so, that the dentist refuses to clean his teeth for fear of harming him as he thrashes about.
A couple of months ago, the dentist put in a referral to a hospital in Kingston where he sometimes works, to have Alex seen by anaesthesia with the goal of having him put under for a cleaning. However, that particular hospital lacks the resources to look after Alex if something goes wrong with his heart — he has a heart condition. Result: denied.
Now we have to go back once again to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), which is about a three-hour drive each way, not once but three times. First for a consultation, then to see their anaesthesia department, and finally for the “surgery” itself. This last time, we’ll have to stay overnight, because they’ll want us there at 6:00am.
Don’t get me wrong – CHEO is a wonderful hospital. But this new thing of having to go there for teeth-cleaning every year is for the birds. Life was much easier when I could get there in 45 minutes from where I lived. …which was a good thing, since Alex lived there for the first eight months of his life. But many of you, as I said before, already knew this.
It’s Friday, and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This prompt will also be the one for tomorrow’s Just Jot It January post, so link back here even if you don’t write in Stream of Consciousness style. Here’s your prompt for this week:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Just Jot It January is: A word that starts with “P.” Find a word that begins with the letter “p,” and make it the theme of your post. Bonus points for starting and ending your post with a “p” word. 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 or JusJoJan 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.
You can also use the Just Jot It January badge! Here it is:
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.
Hi there, and welcome to Just Jot It January! Today is Friday the 13th of January. A day I refuse to get superstitious over… or maybe I shouldn’t say that because now something bad will happen…
Anyway, here’s your Just Jot It January prompt for today:
The Just Jot It January 13th prompt, brought to you by Charlene Bullard of FaithtoRaiseNate.com, is: “Hospital.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Charlene as well! Here’s her blog: http://faithtoraisenate.com/ .
The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.
One of the amazing things about writing a novel set in a real city is the opportunity to visit it. I went even further in my book, The Great Dagmaru, and had my main character, Stephen Dagmar, go to school at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. That I get tingles walking around the beautiful old campus is an understatement.
When I took these pictures, I thought of our dear departed friend, Paul Curran. He went to this school too. I hoped to show them to him, but I never had the chance.
Enjoy.
I took this picture not so much for the doors but to capture the reconstructive work they were doing. Note the missing bricks on the left.
Queen’s Theological Hall, east side
East side door.
Back of the Queen’s Theological building
…and the front.
Sign reads: “Same bat time, same bat channel.
“We’re awesome
you can be awesome too.”
Hi there! It’s me, Linda, back for a limited time to provide you with prompts. We’ll be having another guest poster on Sunday, but for now, you’re stuck with me.
How’s everyone doing with Just Jot It January this year? Having fun? I hope so.
Here’s your prompt for today:
The Just Jot It January 12th prompt, brought to you by Tessa of the blog Always A Writer, is: “Tingle.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Tessa as well! Here’s her blog: https://finallyawriter.com/
The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.
I think they may just have something here, marketing a shovel that looks happy to get your snow cleared:
even Winston is set to go!
However once the snow gets too deep, Shovel Buddy doesn’t look as enthusiastic:
and Winston agrees.
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
2a. Since today is Wednesday, I challenge you to make your JusJoJan post a one-liner. If you don’t care to, or if you’ve already written your post, no problem. Remember, with One-Liner Wednesday you can write anything – it’s only a prompt to write one line, not necessarily to keep to the same theme as mine. The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
(i) Make it one sentence.
(ii) Make it either funny or inspirational.
(iii) Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
(iv) Have fun!
(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge!
#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.
Yesterday was the first day back to school for Alex, aaaaand… today’s a snow day. And I’m in danger of losing my mind.
Surprisingly, it’s not in the way you’d think. Yes, I’m quite pissed off at the weather, but for some reason my emotions are leading me toward the crazier, more jump-around-and-be-silly bent. Maybe it’s a precursor to when I go postal later. Or maybe this is how I finally implode into a pile of mushy Mominess.
And thank you once again to Dan the magnificent, who has helped me for the past three days with Just Jot It January. I’m sure without him I’d have already imploded. You can visit Dan here: https://nofacilities.com/
Hi there, it’s Dan again from No Facilities. It looks like you guys have been having fun with #JusJoJan. This is my last day delivering the prompt for Linda. I’ve been surprised by my ability to stick to the prompt, without going off on a tangent. For example, I was thinking…
Let’s not ruin a good series. Now for your prompt:
The Just Jot It January 10th prompt, brought to you by Matthew over at MWLange is: “Danger.” Use it any way you like. Make sure you stop by Matthew’s website and say hello to him! https://singularfiction.wordpress.com/blog/
The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.
The power of words is incredible, isn’t it? I was on the phone this afternoon with my pharmacist, ordering a refill of my son’s heart medication. Most of the people at the pharmacy are pleasant, but this one pharmacist always sounds as though I dragged him out of bed with my phone call. This is how it went:
Him: (in Eeyore’s voice) Hello. How can I help you.
Me: I need a refill of a prescription.
Him: What’s the name?
Me: Alex (his last name).
Him: Is it the mixture?
Me: Yes, that’s right.
Him: I can’t have it ready for you before tomorrow night.
Me: Oh. I need it in the afternoon.
Him: We’re busy.
Me: Can you deliver it?
Him: I guess. If it’s ready before the 4:00 delivery goes out.
Me: Okay then.
Him: Okay, bye.
Ah, the power of words. And of attitude. I wanted to say, How the hell can you be so busy when your service is lousy and you sound so miserable all the time? Cheer the fuck up! But I didn’t. What I also didn’t say was that I needed a bunch of other stuff at the pharmacy tomorrow and I was going to get it all at once. But because of his bad service and his I’m-too-tired-for-this/busy-for-your-business attitude, I’ll go somewhere else to spend my money.
And, of course, very special thanks to Dan for hosting the prompt for me today! Make sure you go and visit his most excellent and entertaining blog here: http://nofacilities.com/
Hello again. Dan here, standing in for Linda. I normally blog over at No Facilities (http://nofacilities.com/2017/01/09/fight-or-flight-or), but I am happy to help Linda deliver the #JusJoJan prompts as a way of paying her back for all the help she gives me with #SoCS and #1linerWeds.
I enjoyed reading your posts yesterday, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with today. Now for your prompt:
The Just Jot It January 9th prompt, brought to you by Erica over at 20/20 hines sight is: “Power.” Use it any way you like. Make sure you stop by Erica’s website and say hello to her! https://2020hines-sight.com/
The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:
1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).
3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of theday. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.