Life in progress


50 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS July 4/15

Friday, Friday comes around, and when it does, let SoCS abound! That’s right – it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I was thinking it might be cool to get a hashtag going for SoCS. #SoCS seems to make the most sense. As with One-Liner Wednesday, (#1lineWed) hopefully it will generate a few more views for everyone. So tag away! I’ll add it to the rules (suggestions) below. So I guess you’re waiting for your prompt, eh? Here it is:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “is”  Use the word “is” to begin your post – bonus points for using it (as a word on its own or at the end of your final word, i.e. “metamorphosis”) at the end of your post as well. 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!!

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,” “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.

8. Have fun!


53 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Really Texas?

Sometimes you have to travel to discover cultural differences in faraway places; sometimes you can learn right in your own kitchen ~

hot dog

(click on the image to read the label)

~ then there are those things you really have to question…

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyone who would like to try it out, 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. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


64 Comments

SoCS – Some Respect, WordPress?

I haven’t been online much in the last 12 hours so this might be the dozenth post you’ve read about the subject of the banner pasted at the top of your stats page here on WordPress. If you’re already sick of hearing about it, by all means skip this. I just feel like saying something.

When Canada passed the same law to allow same-sex marriage nationwide ten years ago I was both happy for gay couples and proud of my country. That lasted about five minutes – it’s not a decision that affects me personally. And yet today I’m stuck with a reminder of something that still doesn’t matter to me on a personal level. Yes, it may seem petty to complain but it’s such a non-issue. Fantastic – people who are deserved of rights are given it. Yay! But why should I be forced to be reminded of it? And what about the hundreds of thousands of people who don’t agree?? I can easily see bloggers dropping WordPress like flies over this – where’s the sense, WordPress?

Let’s put it in a bit of perspective, shall we? What if they decided once and for all to abolish abortion nationwide in the U.S.? Would we be forced to look between the legs of women giving birth for the sake of those it desperately matters to? Or if Quebec chose finally to separate from Canada – how would Americans feel about having the Fleur de Lis plastered atop their stats page? It would be, after all, a huge deal to a certain percentage of North America.

To be honest, I go through the same sort of feeling during election time in the U.S., having to scroll past news of who said what about whom on my Facebook page – but at least I can scroll past it. At least the very site I belong to (Facebook) isn’t putting it there themselves. What’s more, I don’t pay to have a site on Facebook as I DO on WordPress.

Get rid of the rainbow, WordPress!

This rant is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/06/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2715/ Please join in and write whatever comes to mind!

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions


35 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 27/15

Friday’s here! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It’s also summer holiday time for the kiddies – wasn’t it just Christmas? How time flies. Anyhoo, here’s your prompt for this week. Drumroll please:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “some/sum.”  Use either or both words, or choose a word in which either are used as a prefix or suffix. Have an awesome time with it!

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!!

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

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 20/15

Hey, is it Friday? If so, then it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I just discovered it’s easier to drink coffee if you put water and coffee grounds in the coffee maker before you turn it on. This amazing revelation came to me right after I slept through my alarm – five times. It goes off five times before it gives up and this morning it got nary the flutter of an eyelid out of me. I’m just waiting for my next bone-headed move… ‘coz you know there have to be three. So, with that little rant out of the way, let’s get on with the prompt. It is Friday, right?

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “bone.”  Do with it whatever comes to mind. 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!!

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!


29 Comments

SoCS – Plonk

I have a best friend who, if you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know goes by the name of John (mostly because that’s his name) but I’ve thought about changing it. I already have, on occasion.

John is a fan of making sound effects. I don’t know if he really realizes he’s doing it, but often when he sits down across from me at my kitchen table he says “plonk” as his butt comes in contact with the chair. So I’ve started calling him Batman.

I wonder sometimes about my seeming obsession with grammar. Where some people may hear a “sound effect” when someone does what my BFF does, I identify it with onomatopoeia. Does that equal obsession? Or is it simply because I’m in the throes of editing that it’s with me constantly? I can tell you, it’s killing me that I’m not able to edit this.

My concentration is shot – Alex’s friend just came over to play video games. With the sound on. (Normally I don’t have to listen to movies, shows, and games since Alex is Deaf – his friend is hearing.) So my world is full of sound effects. Whoopie!

This all-over-the-place post is part of SoCS. Go here: https://lindaghill.com/2015/06/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1315/ and see how easy it is to join in the fun! Sock it to ’em!

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions


52 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 13/15

Did someone say Friday? Yes! It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I can’t think of a thing to say to lead up to today’s prompt, so here we go, short and sweet:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “onomatopoeia.”  An onomatopoeia is “the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.” (Source: Google) Find an onomatopoeic word of your own to base your post on or, as a last resort, use the word “drip.” You don’t have to use the word “onomatopoeia” in your post. 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!!

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!


39 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Would you like fries with that?

You know you’ve been editing too much when:

You’re upset that you can’t back up and correct the improper grammar you uttered into the drive-through speaker at McDonald’s. True story.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyone who would like to try it out, 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. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


53 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 6/15

It’s that time again; the moment you’ve all been waiting for… It’s Friday! And time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! This morning as I was getting dressed and wondering, as I do, what I might post for the prompt, I did something distinctly different: I put my left leg in my jeans before the right and it felt so weird! Too much information? Right, onto the reason we’re here:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “information.”  Use it as your theme or use the word itself – it’s all up to you. 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!!

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!


222 Comments

The HarsH ReaLiTy (another one bites the dust)

So soon on the heels of the demise of the WordPress site “Mindful Digressions,” hosted by the amazing Doobster, comes the closure of HarsH ReaLiTy, brainchild of our beloved Opinionated Man, Jason Chandler Cushman.

I met Jason shortly after I started writing here on Life in Progress – I commented on one of his posts and was flabbergasted when he responded. From that day forward I knew what it took to gain a following, and quickly learned that there is a community at WordPress – one that is supportive, caring, and friendly. I thought about deleting my post “Save HarsH ReaLiTy,” but I think I’ll keep it open – it illustrates more than anything I’ve seen so far what a fantastic place we have here. You can view it here: https://lindaghill.com/2015/01/14/save-harsh-reality/ Most of all, read the comments. They are inspiring and heartwarming both.

Belinda at Idiot Writing – https://idiotwriting.wordpress.com/ – and I received an email:

If you have the chance please let people know that HarsH ReaLiTy is closed and is set to private until it can be deleted. I wish everyone the best and appreciate the connections I made over the past two years.

Jason
-OM

He, like Doobster, is closing his site for personal reasons. Here is Belinda’s post: https://idiotwriting.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/all-the-best-in-a-harsh-reality/

For all the lessons you taught us, for all the support you gave us with re-blogs, challenges, and posts to share our own sites, for all the lively and entertaining discussions, I wish to say thank you, Cush. It was a real pleasure to get to know you. Your footprints in the sand (or snow) of my memory will remain.

In the spirit of OM’s mission on WordPress, please feel free to leave your tribute to Jason in the comments, or a link to your own post about him and what he meant to you. And check out each other’s sites. Let’s make Jason proud of what he accomplished!

As we remember all the wonderful, humorous articles and lists, the amusing one-liners, the controversial opinion pieces, and the loving photos of his family, let us lift a glass to our friend.

Cheers, Jason! May you and your beautiful family live a long and prosperous life!