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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
reference: {link:https://www.decodedscience.org/topics/science-news) I was reading a different website this morning for science news. Most of the news was about a series of earthquakes on the earth during March 2017. I haven't read anything about earthquakes in news articles this month. There have been lots of storms sweeping across the Great Lakes. It is causing our weather to bounce around one day cold, the next day warm. Yesterday, it tried to snow about 4 p. m. but, then turned quickly to rain. April showers, I'm looking for spring flowers. Have a great day. ![Merit Badge in New Horizons Academy
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The Wildcard Round! This Week's winner, as selected from all eligible entries by the Virtual Dice, will receive an Inquisitive MB! Have you ever been on tv, the radio, or in your local newspaper before? Tell us about it! If not, tell us about someone you know who has. I am not sure of the exact year. Possibly, very early 80's. I'll have to get out some old paperwork and check it out. Anyway, I was working at a dog kennel. The kennel help had a group picture taken which was printed in a small news circular for advertisement purposes. Does college count? (1999-2005) I wrote and directed a skit for an advertisement, about how trees give us clean air. The skit was recorded. Our teacher was suppose to give us CD copies but he reneged and did not give them out. I also ran the TV camera for a different skit by a classmate. That is a job I loved. Running the camera is purely a great way to work. They were older type cameras. A big bulky black box on wheels. You had to watch as you rolled it around because there were huge round cables attached that needed to be kept straight and clear as you moved in for shots. Looking through the lenses was like watching a different world. Plus, I starred in a Pizza commercial for someone in a different class. I was the dying Italian mother of a Pizza shop owner who was suppose to be my son. I had to get a teacher to show me how to add a rough Italian accent to the scripted words. It was recorded. I might have a copy somewhere. Since my major was print journalism, the print journalism students were allowed to drop this class even though it was a required journalism class. I went through it for the insight. I wanted to know how television programs are produced. It was in my last year and I had a lot of fun in this class. I actually worked on every type of equipment used to send these programs, that we watch, out into peoples homes. Later in life, I saw one of the other students, who was from this class on a local television commercial. He wanted to become an actor. I don't know if he made it or not. It would be nice to know if he actually ever got more parts than the commercial. Never be afraid to know something new. My dad used to tell me, Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back. Life should be full of joy. Things you can look back on and be happy about.  ![Merit Badge in Blogging
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| War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger...March 29/2017 Some people start making or buying Christmas presents in January and by October they're all wrapped and ready to go. Others hit the shops on Christmas Eve, frantically buying presents for everyone. Which are you? Tell us about the best Christmas present you ever gave anyone.  I like to buy presents all year long. I like to mix them in with buying birthday gifts. At the end of the year, I’m ready for any thing. Money and circumstances do not always allow me to accomplish my goals. Some years I am rushing right up to Christmas. If I get the family cared for early it gives us more cash at Christmas to give ourselves some extra gifts. Plus, buying one gift at a time through out the year I spend more per person. I enjoy giving more thoughtful gifts. Sometimes it takes me awhile to decide what to buy. Last year I gave K a desktop computer. He has wanted one for a couple years. One year the children all needed winter coats. I don’t like to give those kinds of gifts at Christmas but I bought each a feather down heavy coat. It was a really cold year. WE had been very poor all year so the coats were a blessing. I know they enjoyed them. Over the years I have been able to give someone something I thought they needed. Each year can be different. Quote: “Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart tags: give, giving, inspiration, inspirational, inspirational-quotes, inspire, inspiring, kindness, life, life-quotes, living Read more quotes from Roy T. Bennett at http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7727101 |
Talk Tuesday! What do you do when you can't sleep? Most of the time I read. I always have more than one book handy so I can reach out to a night stand to pick one. I can't read just one type of book at a time. Usually, I am part way through a fiction and part way through a nonfiction so I can pick according to what I feel like reading. This is because I have a fire HD and a Kindle White. Both, are stocked with books waiting to be read. I also read the bible, and books about religions of all kinds. In the last few years I have also stocked some unconventional music and sounds. I find classical guitar can be soothing. Zen Garden music, Tibetan Bowls, and Jewish Cantor Music actually bring calm to our household. If I can find sounds that resonate with my brain it drives out other thoughts that, maybe nothing more than, just meaningless noise. Sleep has never been a real problem, there is just to much every day busyness along with regular exercise. I usually sleep well. Unless I'm having a bout of sleep deprivation where sounds in the night wake me at regular intervals several nights in a span of time. Presently reading The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi, Under Fire by Fred Burton and Samuel M Katz. Quote: "a bed may mean a place of rest for someone who sleeps well, for someone who rarely sleeps it may be a place of torment." From: Dreams and Visions by Kenneth Jackson   |
| 03/27/17 Motivational Monday! Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan , born on this day in 1924, once said, "When I sing, trouble can sit right on my shoulder and I don't even notice." What affect does writing have for you when trouble sits on your shoulder? Trouble has been sitting on my shoulder since I was born. I can sit and stare out the window and trouble happens. It often happens when someone else suggests I do something I wasn't thinking of doing. I was writing and watching out my window Saturday. K was surfing. He found a dog on Craig's List. It was a nice dog that needed re homed. He convinced me I should call the number which seems to have turned out to be some kind of scam. I figure he was just trying to help trouble along a little. When I’m writing, I try to have presence of mind. I try to keep a perspective. It’s easier to know what reality is presenting itself, when you are living in the now moment. Mindfulness is the ability to train your brain to live in the moment. I did not start mindfulness until late in my life. Sometime in my 40’s. I started with Yoga. It teaches special breathing techniques which I needed. Then the yoga exercises and how to use them daily were a help. Since, I’ve had at least two times in life when I was pushed to the over stressed limit. Writing is easier than jumping horses over fences. But, horses have a calming affect on riders as well. Riding horses is a strenuous sport. One rider told me he did not know a real rider that wasn’t tired most of the time. Tired people live in the moment. People have multiple abilities. Aggressive people like to push their way into the lives of the meek. They make suggestions or try to influence weaker personalities to live by their concepts of life. If you aren’t careful you will find yourself bedeviled by some life force that wasn’t your own idea. Living in the moment is a great defense against personality destruction. As for Sarah Vaughan, she was living Jazz music in the 20’s. Trouble was probably always looking for a way to run her life. Music can be a good influence or a bad influence. It can be used for motivation or intoxication. Musical people need to run music not let music run them. Some of these suggestions only make sense as a person ages. Trouble sits on the shoulder of every youngster. As every parent knows. |
| The Sunday News! This week, a self-driving car was involved in an accident in Arizona. What are your thoughts on autonomous vehicles? Cool new tech of the future? Too many unknowns and variables to be considered safe? Or do you fall somewhere in the middle? Tell us what you think. If there was an Uber self-driving car available to take me to town once in awhile or just to McDonald's I'd say Yay! There are too many unknowns and variables to make a decision presently about their worth. The video said the cars don't have to be registered in the states they are being tested in and the states are not notified about test results. This particular accident doesn't say if the car was being guided by the person sitting behind the wheel or if it crashed on its own. Normal cars driving down a road in a safe manner don't crash. Drivers doing strange things crash cars. Watch Emergency or Chips on METV. Another thought, was the accident deliberate since someone came out of a side street and hit the autonomous car? They are very small so my guess is they won't be around here in winter weather. The accident was not blamed on the car. It was a driver who did not yield properly at a cross street. For years they have been putting out movies and stories about robotics in airplanes, space flights, or other tech guided plots. The human driver takes control and brings the baby home. The human driver is always the hero. If they send me one for free I'll test it for them with everyday use?  If they can make it here, they are probably on their way to world domination. |
Creation Saturday! Expand on or finish up a dream you've had. If you woke up before it was over, how do you think it ended? If this isn't something that has happened to you lately, come up with a sequel to a recent dream. About Dreams http://steinbock.org/writings/4-steps-to-conscious-dreaming/ I cannot finish a dream that is not mine. Psychological pressure, PTSD, Stockholm syndrome, nuerolinquistic programming these all contribute to the types of dreams a person has. Using psychology to influence someone else to do something you want them to do may harm people emotionally. Was it the 90’s when there was a guru out west forming a cult? He could reportedly cause people to be overcome, faint or lose consciousness during assembly's. He was eventually run out of the USA. What he was doing is also practiced within some types of religious meetings in the USA. In 2010 the movie Inception was released. Since then a lot of people have attempted to give mental suggestions to people. If you know something is evil you at least have a chance to overcome the evil. Personally, since the 80’s I have spent time writing down dreams. In order to protect myself from unwanted mental suggestions I have stumbled unto the ability to have lucid dreams. Maybe it comes from aging and bad experiences. Or, maybe some people never develop this ability. Seriously, in the years to come news will make people aware, how influence outside of yourself from other people’s thoughts, about you, or actions, toward you are revealed in your dream world. I only gave you one reference. There are a lot of others on the net. Of course, things about psychology and dreams can be found on Wikipedia. A doctor once told me the only dream you need to worry about is one, that is a constant recurring dream? He isn't around any more but he gave me more good advice, than all the other doctors I have ever gone too. Giving people the freedom to live lives that are not harming others is going to mean not unduly influencing someone. This is not a straightforward answer to the prompt. However, I live in a society, that actually tries to cause people to be influenced by dreams or mental suggestions. |
Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1973, musician Lou Reed was bitten on his rear end by a fan during a concert in Buffalo, NY....the male fan was ejected from the show. Do you have any fun or interesting concert stories involving bands you've seen that you'd like to share with us? Alternately, you can share any fun concert story you've heard if you don't have one from experience.   A few years ago some relatives were running a bowling alley with a fairly large restaurant attached. Once a month they set up a corner for local bands to come in and play. Other than high school chorus this is the only live band I seem to have stored in memory. It was all country western music. I don't know the name of the band. There were four musicians. They took requests and played a long time. I'm not a fan of country western music, but they were pretty good. The room seemed small because the tables were packed. A couple people who knew the band got up and sang some music that was requested. I liked the atmosphere of listening to a band in a place where you could sit at a table and just tap your feet. When I was a young teenager some friends of my Dad had just got a small black and white TV. They stopped by and asked our family to come over to view a concert that Elvis was doing for Ed Sullivan. My step mother and the lady of the house were talking just before the program started. This lady was exclaiming about how teens were being influenced by Elvis's music. She was fairly outraged by the fact that news papers were proclaiming the effects of the music were causing teen girls to scream when Elvis played. I spoke up and said, "Well I won't be screaming." The concert was pretty fun to watch. I was sitting in the back of the room. I'm not sure which songs he was singing but he was swinging his guitar and his body all over the stage as he sang. The camera panned the screaming crowd and back to Elvis. All of a sudden I let out a high pitched screech to join in with the sounds coming from the little black and white TV. All the adults in the room lept up out of their chairs. The hostess turned on me and was yelling, "I thought you said you wouldn't scream?" I was as startled as the other people there and I had no answer. Somehow I was not particularly bothered by the outrage directed at me by the adults.In the 70's I watched a PBS special about Elvis's rise to fame. It was a really interesting show and clips from the three Ed Sullivan appearances were shown. Elvis had a charisma that was different. I've watched other performers on TV and now on Youtube. I've listened to really special music from lots of performers. We have had some really excellent musicians in this country but Elvis really was the only king of rock and roll because of his charisma and his outstanding personality, that was always taking over when he played. Garth Brooks displayed some of this draw when he took country music for a ride.  |
| The Wildcard Round! Today's winner, determined by the Virtual Dice from all eligible entries, will receive five tickets to "Spring Into Spring Raffle" . Good luck! What are some of your favorite things about springtime? Quote from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/aging “The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” ― Robert Frost Sunshine is my very favorite thing about Spring. Even when the sun shines in winter it is farther away from the earth. So, it does not blast us with heat. For instance, I have to bring water buckets inside in winter each time I do chores, to thaw out ice, that forms around the insides of the buckets. Today, the sun in shining. I put the buckets upside down in the sun. Within 10 minutes the ice thaws and drops out onto the ground. I don't have to take them in the house.  Our nighttime temperatures last night was 14 degrees.Next, the summer birds return. The Turkey Buzzards sail around on the air currents. The Blue Herons visit the pond for frog munchies. The Red Winged Blackbirds sit in the trees and sing songs. Chipmunks wake up, actually, wild life, even the ones, who live around here all winter, begin to move around and make the world seem lively instead of quietly sleeping. We live on a dirt road. the roads thaw out. Driving is less hazardous. The township grades the roads then, cars traveling on them causes the road to become flat and smooth. Except for the occasional pot hole, they are better for driving than snow, ice and mud. Another nice thing to think about is the time which is early spring. Insects are still not in their fullness yet. The horses lay down on the hillside in the sun and sleep. I always thought the sudden plunging night temperatures of spring were killing off some of the insects, that hatch early. I like to watch for the first blooming crocuses, daffodils and lilacs. Also, the first days that are so warm I need to open windows instead of burn fuel. Just thinking of spring wakes me up. My dog and I have already been out on the field for a few long walks. The dogs go outside into the pen willingly, where they can watch traffic and sleep on the porch. Soon, I will be able to move a lot of the inside plants to the porch. When it stops freezing at night. Spring here is like taking something out of the freezer, thawing it out, so you can use it. |
| War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger... Are you in any writing groups outside of WDC (like in your school or your community)? Have you/would you share blog entries in that group? How would you go about doing it, given the logistics of trying to share something that is on the internet in a physical group setting? In 1972 ? (I think the year is right if it isn't 1972 is close) there was a writing group in a town nearby, that I was a part of at the time. The leaders were writing plays and they were very helpful. They were encouraging. Then, I somehow drifted away from the group. I recall hearing that a lot of the poets in the group got together and published a book. I was very happy to hear about it. I don't know of any writing groups in the area. If there was one and they would allow me to join I would probably be happy to do so. Sure, I would share my blog entries and other writings. I have given my blog address to several people. Plus, depending on the arrangement of the group I would or could print out written blogs to share. We use to share things we wrote every week in the previous groups I joined. I thought about printing out one of the WDC flyers and pinning it up on the bulletin boards of the two libraries I use most. I haven't done it because I don't go to the library very often any more. For one thing. I don't just get in the car and go places like I used to when I had my own car. And, since I became a kindle user in 2013 I depend on the internet more for reading. This is a small town area. It isn't good to become closed off from society in a small town sphere You can become fairly isolated quickly when that happens. I tried several years ago to join a book club but that did not work out. The internet is a wonderful place but it does not meet all the social needs that clubs and meetings with real people provide. If you want to gain knowledge about writing New Horizons Academy is the place to visit. |
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