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 |   Theses are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call life. |
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These are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call Life. I blog with these groups:     "Blogging Circle of Friends "  [E] 
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30 Day Blogging Challenge How is your online persona different from your real world persona? How much attention do you pay to your personal privacy when communicating with others online? I think I try to put the best of myself out there as my online persona. Although I think that is pretty close to who I really am. I try to lean to the more positive and upbeat, but in writing I can still access the darker side of my personality. When it comes to personal privacy... I share, but I think I remain careful. I am not a tell all book, but I am also not a closed off fish. I aim for authentic and real. I share my vulnerability and am open particularly when I feel comfortable. I also hope that, in the sharing of my experience I am able to help others and let them know they are not alone. We are all human and sharing takes away some of the shame that we tend to shuffle off into a corner. Shining a light on the darker parts of our life, illuminates the experience and makes the shame shrink. I think it is easier to share online, especially in an environment I feel comfortable in. In an environment where sharing among all members is prized and seen as a badge of honour. A caring and compassionate setting which is what WDC is all about. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge You and several friends are marooned on a desert island. Everyone is looking to you to lead. What are your first actions? (List at least 2 please) Sum1 will award a MB for his favorite entry today. Frist of all, I have to say, being marooned on a desert Island today would be okay. I would gladly part with the wind chill and freezing rain. Nasty day. Desert Island - sun, sand and surf. Much better. So if everyone is looking towards me to lead... I am thinking we need to consider our resources. We need to build shelter and find food and water. We need protection and the shelter will give us that. Get us out of the blaring sun and up off the sand, if at all possible. What are our options for food - fish and coconuts? We need to figure out a way to fish... maybe sharpen some sticks and wade out into the surf to spear some tasty morsels. Does anyone know how to start a fire without matches? One of my friends was a Girl Guide and she payed attention so I think we have that covered. I will try my hand at fishing after I help build the shelter with my other friend. Once we get a home base set up, we can explore a little. See what kind of food we can scavenge for - berries, coconuts.... anything edible and not poisonous. And is there a fresh water source anywhere on the island? If not we'll have to rig up some kind of system to capture water when it rains. Things will take time, but if we remain calm, we should be all right. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge What was the biggest news in your life from last year? I guess it would have to be that my cousin Elizabeth (Zee) and her husband, Brett were expecting their first baby. They told my aunt and uncle in January. The rest of us got told later and even though my aunt did spill the beans, Zee thinks my aunt was able to keep the secret because we all acted surprised when she told us. The family was also taking bets as to whether the baby would be Zee-sized or Brett-sized. Brett is 6'4" and Zee is barely 5'. I joking said Zee would get about 5 years and then the baby would be taller than her. As it turned out, Addy is more Zee sized. Baby Adelaide was born on August 31. A bit early, but healthy. She was supposed to be born on September 9 and Zee was worried she would be closer to her own birthday on September 19. Zee didn't want to share the birthday. She's always been one to celebrate and she did not want two things on one day. I have gotten to see her twice - the first time at Thanksgiving (in October) and the second time at Christmas. Zee is a good, wee mother. The funny thing is she never wanted to babysit as a kid. Babies and children were not her thing. When she was born even the nurses were calling her Maddy Addy because she was very good at crying. Stella, Zee's niece, calls Addy Lemonade instead of Adelaide.... but then she is only three and a half. I seems odd that my younger cousins are married and having kids, but such is life. Things never stay the same. Besides children are fun to have around, especially when they aren't yours and you can spoil them all you want and give them back when they start to fuss. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge Write about a time you learned something new. Use and highlight at least 3 words in your entry that are not part of your normal vocabulary and provide your readers with definitions for those words. I am not finding this prompt as inspiring as the first few days. Something new.... with new terminology. Definitions. Ugh. What have I learned that is new and has new vocabulary. I can't think of anything. I am seriously drawing a blank. Much of what I have been reading has been from Writing Resources... and the terminology has not been new. I have also been doing a lot of my own writing. Nothing new there, either. While researching cool gifts for a graphic artist - for a character in my novel - I found these: 1. The Moleskine Smart Notebook - this creates vector SVG files from your sketches. It uses special markings on the page, alongside it’s custom app to optimize the process, and to ensure you get the best results with less effort than would normally be required. To top it off, it integrates with Creative Cloud for seamless file uploads. Apparently, it's a real time saver. 2. Wacom Intuos - a graphics tablet that is a fun and easy way to introduce yourself to the world of digital doodles, illustrations and lettering. Since designing with a mouse can be somewhat limiting at times. This looks kinda fun. 3. 3Doodler - is the world's first 3D printing pen. Finally, you can draw in 3D. Nope, this is not the future, this is happening now. The idea is to be able to quickly “sketch” in 3D to visualise ideas, or create fun little models. 4. The Artist Brush & Stylus by Sensu works on a variety of devices and it makes painting on your tablet or mobile that touch more authentic. The device promises to give you real-life brush control that you just don’t get elsewhere. Not only that, there’s also a second standard stylus nib for you to use when the brush isn’t needed. Two devices in one for just $40. Now this seems pretty cool! https://creativemarket.com/blog/28-awesome-holiday-gift-ideas-for-designers I know this is not what you probably expected but for me it helps with a section of story I was writing today. I wrote a lot earlier today and my brain is done for the day. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge High schoolers graduating this year, in May 2019, are as old as the first iPod. Make a prediction for how technology will advance in the next 18 years. This has me thinking about Gene Rodenberry, the creator of Star Trek (I believe). He created things in those early shows that now have some form in our day and age. Whose to say we won't be able to move from place to place by having our molecules scrambled and reformulated in another spot. Teleporting. We now have cars that are starting to drive and park for us... reminding of I Robot - the movie version with Will Smith. It seems real inventions seem to follow Sci-fi leanings. I don't know if that is scary, insane or just nerving. Either way it is unsettling. I have already lived almost 52 years in this world. I have seen a lot of changes. I remember doing a timeline up of all the changes that happened in my Grandmother's life when she had her eightieth birthday and again for her ninetieth. It was amazing to see the changes. She went from rural horse drawn carriages to riding in cars, trains, and airplanes. She went from cooking at a wood stove to using a microwave. So many things happened from 1904 onward for her and she took them all in stride. I just hope I can be as open to the changes as she was. I was born the year that had more spaceflights than any other - 1967. Technology is always changing. The question is... is it for the betterment of society? All the gadgets we have are great, but I sometimes worry that these conveniences are not really doing us any great thing. Cell phones and social media may seem to connect us to more people, but the quality of those interactions is diminished. I would prefer less is more. A few close friends that I can have true heart to heart conversations with that thousands of 'followers'. I think if we don't handle things well, we will ultimately ruin the world we have. Not just wildlife will go extinct.... society, as we know it, will deteriorate. I would hope new technologies would be developed to help our world not break it down. Better prosthetics for amputees. Ways to clean up our oceans and save our wildlife and natural resources. Cures for cancer and MD and MS and Aids and other various epidemics that wreck havoc. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge Are you an introvert or an extrovert? How do you recharge your batteries? I see myself as mostly an introvert who has learned to be extroverted when it comes to functioning in this world. I remember listening to a Ted talk with Susan Cain who discussed this idea that we live in a world that prizes extrovertism and those of us not so extroverted have to buck up. But she also purports to shine as who you are. Group work is great, but so is solitude and working autonomously. Both have merit. https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts Teaching requires me to put on my extrovert armour and face the day. I love the involvement, but at the end of the day I don't want to talk to anyone. I am done. I need a nap and some time to recharge by finding quiet solitude. Reading and writing help me regain my center. Writing also helps me clarify and slow the world down so I can process it. On days when I don't teach I find I am okay, but sometimes I need to get out and write in a cafe. Being around others without having to interact is a good place for me. That is why I like writing in cafes. The opportunity is there to interact, but it is also 'acceptable' to stay in your own little bubble. I also like to sit back and observe others around me. Being an observer is great for my writing. You are there, but on the edge of the action. Often catching it to mine later in a story or poem or any other such thing. I talk more to others if I haven't had a teaching day. It's almost like I have a certain number of words that need daily expression. Teaching exhausts my daily word count. I found it it interesting that during NaNoWriMo I found writing my words out often left my speaking quota diminished or distorted. Distorted in that I was not always able to convey my message without jumbling or tripping over my wordage. I would often laugh and tell people my words were all used up... written down. Most people seemed to understand... particularly my Nano friends who were experiencing the same speech slip ups. Whatever your makeup or how you need to recharge, I hope you honour that way. Don't let others dictate what it 'best'. I think a sign of maturity is being able to follow your own path and interact with the world the way you need to and in doing so you bring your light and shine far greater than simply flickering for someone else. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge I’m 24 today! Write about your most memorable birthday. My favorite entry (or entries ) today will receive a Birthday MB! Well, happy birthday my January friend. My birthday is in 10 days - the 12th of January. Oh how wonderful it would be to be 24 again. I am significantly higher in age... with many more birthday experiences. The problem is trying to remember one... a favourite one. To be completely honest birthdays are not really my thing. Celebrating other people's is great, celebrating my own... not so much. I am not a big fan of being centered out, but I do like the acknowledgment of the day. I remember going skating with my two best friends... but I can't remember if that was my birthday when I got new skates or if it was just Christmas break. I remember a very indulgent chocolate cheesecake and enjoying my friend's one year old daughter go to town on her wee piece. That was a nice get together. It was at my mother's place and I had invited my two best friends. Debbie's daughter had come along. There were probably only 6 of us... or 8 if my aunt and uncle came. It was before any of us had serious boyfriends or husbands. Life was simpler then. It could have been my 23 or 24th birthday. When I think back on things, I have a tendency to remember wonderful things, but they are not tied to birthdays. Most of them involve my two best girl friends and my family. Simple and easy. Good food and plenty of good laughter. Getting older is just a number. I think the best thing is the people and the connections to others. That's what stays with me. Have a fabulous birthday! Make memories and most importantly, enjoy the friendships and family that are part of the celebration. Cheers! Blog City - Day 1843 Prompt: "Open a volume and next comes fragrance: fresh, green and inky if it's new or a bit dusty and aged like a grandfather's cozy den" Which do you like better, new books or old books? Books, old or new are both loved equally in my world.... though I prefer paperbacks over hard covers. Paperbacks can be carried about and read anytime and anywhere. Hard covers don't give me that luxury. I carry a lot in my back pack and the lighter the books, the better. One of my favourite bookshops, now closed, was the old Cobalt Highway Bookshop. It was full, floor to ceiling with lots of old books. The fragrance was heavenly. I would spend hours there. It is closed now, but New Liskeard has a newer shop - Chat Noir Books and they have taken in some of The Cobalt Bookshop's stock as well as plenty of new books. They also have a gaming room and a coffee shop. these newer shops have to have so much more to pull in people. Personally, I prefer books over any Kindle or Kobo devise. They have their place, I suppose, but I am quite happy to have a book open in front of me. The experience is far more intimate and connected than one of those things. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge What is your opinion of New Year’s Resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them? I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I tend to make goals for the year, that way I can reassess and pick myself up and start again if I fall. My goals are similar to resolutions in that they are set at the new year and are hopeful, but unlike resolutions, I don't beat myself up if I 'fail' at them. I expect their will be days when I topple and don't measure up, but I pick myself up and try again. Each day is a new day. By making goals instead of resolutions I can track my progress in a way. I don't just let an unmet resolution go, I reassess and try again. Goals set them in my mind. Resolutions feel flat to me - like they are unattainable wisps in the air. They are something said each year without real power behind them. For instance, staring a new workout regime is not good at this time of year. Everybody is doing it and gyms become clogged with new comers that will not be there in a month.... hence, I find ways to workout that don't include any huge crowds and go later when things get back to 'normal'. I tend to prefer to make small changes and build on them. A radical change, that resolutions tend to encompass are easy to overwhelm the system.... I have found I get a wicket cold whenever I start some new nutritional or workout program and I get sidetracked when I take time to get better. That is why smaller, more manageable goals work for me. Yes, I want to loose weight. Yes, I want to get in better shape and be healthier. But I find making generalities tend to lose there power. It is better to make smaller, more concrete or measurable goals, like drinking 2 liters of water a day. This way I can DO the goal and track the progress. I also want to write and review more. Get my writing out there. But those are far too general. I need to keep them more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound - SMART. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm I like to take this time of year to reflect on the past year, then refocus my intentions and remind myself what is important to me.... as a complete individual. This is a selection of questions put for by Sarah Selecky. I will be working on this over the next few days. Writing Inventory, Intentions and Reminders for the New Year – Sarah Selecky https://www.sarahseleckywritingschool.com/set-intentions-for-your-writing-in-the... Set intentions for your writing in the new year DECEMBER 30, 2018 BY SARAH SELECKY These are the same reflections I ask my teachers to do every year at our Intensive retreat. My dear friend Hannah shared these questions with me for my 40th birthday, and I still use them every year. They’re kind of like a first aid kit for for my life. And if you share your answers on your own blog, please let me know and leave a link in the comments below. I’d love to see what you’re up to.  Writing Inventory, Intentions, and Reminders for the New Year LAST YEAR A pitfall from this year, and how going through it made me into the writer I am now: A success from this year, and how going through it made me into the writer I am now: Writing milestones. What actually happened, that mattered? What am I proud of doing this year? (Get out your diary/notebooks and reflect, month by month.) NEXT YEAR Next year, I’ll stop: Next year, I’ll start: I want more of: I want less of: I am totally done with: I am ready, so ready for: I expect… I believe… I desire… REMINDERS ABOUT MYSELF AND MY WRITING What inspires me, without fail? What grounds me, always? What strengthens me, reliably? What softens me, in just the right way? Happy New Year my friends. May 2019 be another step up the ladder of enlightenment and development of you as a productive, prolific writer and as a complete individual who contributes to this great world of ours. Blog City - Day 1842 “A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” Paulo Coelho How much of that child do you have inside you? Do you know anyone who does? Do you wish to be that child in 2019?/b} I think I try to keep this child alive and well in my life. Being demanding is not as strong as the other two.... that is the part I need to work on in 2019. It's okay to demand a little attention, especailly when it is in regads to writing or teaching. Pretending to hide your light and not shining as brightly is not a cool thing to do and I often find I tend to take a back seat and let others have the limelight when sometimes it's my turn. |
Blog City - Day 1760 Prompt: "We don't stop going to school when we graduate." Carol Burnett Do you agree with this quote? Most definitely. I believe learning is a life long pursuit. I believe if we continue to look to the world and wonder, we keep our brains younger than if we stagnate. We are not meant to stagnate. The world does not stay the same so we must adapt and to do that we make the world our classroom. In some ways, it is only after we graduate that our real learning happens. School tries to give kids real life examples and lessons, but it is never the same as real world experience. And you get that and a whole bunch more. The best learning happens when we make mistakes and learn from them. 'Life is not a dress rehearsal', I've heard it said and we must be ready to face the day to day. Don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Stretching beyond the expected is what makes life great. Messy, but great. Keep learning. Keep stretching. Life on. Strong, creative and in your right mind. I am a teacher. I am a huge fan of Carol Burnett. Good comedy requires intelligence - both to understand and to write it. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge - Toronto, Canada Lyn says: We're heading north today Ladies, hope your passport is up to date. Toronto has a population of 2,600,000 making it the biggest city in Ontario. It operates on the EDT time zone. We'll be here until Wednesday and doing lots of fun things together. https://www.songkick.com/artists/273059-beach-house#biography Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, ON, Canada https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g155019-d183090-Reviews-The_Westin_Harb... I hope you slept on the plane because we're going the Royal Conservatory of Music for three hours this afternoon before we hit the concert. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g155019-d2525570-Reviews-Royal_Con... Oh Canada. I can breath a sigh of relief... I am almost home... well, closer to home. I live about an hour and a half to the west, but I love Toronto so having a chance to stay over and explore is great. The Weston Harbour Castle... I believe I walked in there back in the 80's for a cup of coffee and got a tiny little cup for $2.50 without refills. I was in my early twenties at the time, still in university, and I thought that was way too exuberant for a single cup of coffee. That was thirty years ago... long before Starbucks and their $6 coffee creations. At least the $6 atrocity is 20 oz, that little cup was barely 250 ml.... 8 oz!!!! As for the Conservatory of Music... I may have been there.... years ago when I was part of a larger choir - our high school joined several choirs to perform Andrew Lloyd Weber's Requiem at Roy Thompson Hall - back in 1985?? I think we had a few practices in here... checking out the acoustics. Amazing, by the way. This is the song I picked, but to be honest, I did not listen to the whole thing.... because I did not care for it. |
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