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 |   Here you will find my daily journal of small stones and inspiration! |
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I hope you will take the time to enjoy my blog! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Day 14 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge Talk Amongst Yourselves Tuesday! Encourage a conversation! When a situation such as a mass shooting occurs, a lot of people tend to throw out their own theories regarding what needs to take place in order to prevent them from happening again. Often you'll hear someone say there should be a better focus on mental health, but seldom does anyone saying this go into detail it seems. What do you think someone suggesting mental health as a solution to violence is referring to? I think they are referring to early diagnosis and treatment for individuals. Too many times a mass shooting occurs and the first thing you hear friends and neighbors say is on the order of 'always thought there was something wrong with that kid', 'yup, that kid has always had issues' ... Maybe if we all took the time to check into these kids before they became killers there would be a great deal less incidences... |
| Day 13 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge Music Monday! And don't forget to make use of "The Blog Board" . I'm not interested in your favorite song...I think that's an overused question with an often inconsistent answer. What then, in your opinion, is the worst song? Your least favorite? Something that gets stuck in your head and annoys the daylights out of you...tell us about it! I can't really think of a particular song but a can think of a whole bank of songs. It is the Musak piped into the store I work at. The songs are horrific and not popular ones at all. Well, some of them are mainstream but some are strange I mean really strange. We have endearing nicknames for them, like the goose song (the damn thing sounds like geese honking through the whole thing), the Chipmunk Tuesday song where they keep repeating the word Tuesday in a tone that is a cross between helium and chipmunk. We also have the mmm, mmm song. (Don't ask, I can;t explain). We even had a Christmas song, a sort of techno- Rudolph song...that played year round! Nope, I don't have a song I have eight hours of crap songs five days a week for forty hours! |
| Day 12 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge The Sunday News! The Rolling Stones are playing a concert tonight in my hometown, and it seems like everyone I used to know now is a fan. Who do you wish you could drop everything to see play live? Bonus points for your openers! Well, I am not going to list any openers for this giant beach jam session! These great acts could and have each headlined their own show but for my dream concert they would all play, maybe all be on stage together, each playing the other's songs or each would have a long concert session and then at the end they would all come out together and jam. You may be asking yourself where the venue for this awesome concert would be. There would be a stage set up on the beach on Galveston Island, Texas. The areas closest to the stage would be 21 and over. Tiki bars would flank the edges and it would be open bar (hell, if I am dreaming this massive concert up, I might as well take it to the limit!) Now, I bet you want to know who these awesome acts are! Well, wait no longer.... In no particular order... The one the only, the best country Tiki Bar man out there... KENNY CHESNEY.... THE PREMIER Summer sounds band of all time.... THE BEACH BOYS... And the King of the Parrotheads... JIMMY BUFFETT https://youtu.be/V6c8a90PWIM https://youtu.be/Y7wsuxSj728 https://youtu.be/dQf_Okz6qug |
| Day 11 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge Creation Saturday! Everyone always seems to want to be the hero, but no one wants to be the supervillian. Today, you're the bad guy. What's your backstory, and what's your lone weakness? Pandagirl - Public Enemy! Terrorizing, baring teeth up and down the city streets! Breaking and entering is my game I'm the bear too tough to tame! I break in homes to steal food all with vicious attitude; then the neighbors see me there in my fuzzy black and white hair. All of a sudden they begin to squeal and not because I was going to steal. They find me cute and try to cuddle all the time I avoid the muddle. How can I try to terrorize as I listen to all their cries? They find me adorable, think I'm cute; and I think I am going to puke! |
| Day Ten of 30 Day Blogging Challenge Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1832, United States President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States. In 2015, a movement has started to replace Jackson's face on the $20 bill with that of a woman's. Who do you think would be a good candidate to replace him? I think Juliette Gordon Low should be on the $20 bill. (I think it is the ten though) For inspiring generations of Girl Scouts to attain heights higher than the generation before! For founding the Girl Scouts and instilling in girls across the country values to guide them through womanhood. From learning homemaking skills to car repairs to rocketing into space! Thank you Juliette! http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/history/low_biography/ |
| Day Nine of 30 Day Blogging Challenge Thursday's prompt, from the War Chest: Which group/contest/activity on WDC is your favorite, and why? Okay, here I go again! I can not and WILL NOT be forced to choose only one! You can't make me and I won't let you! I will keep it to two choices though I would love to include about five! First,
 and the other leaders are some of the nicest people you will meet on WDC. I joined the group and began doing reviews right away. One of the incentives is gp's paid for the reviews but that is not why I joined or why I stay. The reviews our group submits are honest and helpful but also positive in every way. We may recommend edits to pieces that are written but our attempt is to present them in a kind loving manner and not patronizing at all. After I joined the group I asked about helping as a leader and they took me in with loving arms. We are a caring family and watch out and support each other like no other group I am involved in on the site.That being said, I am also thrilled to be a member of
 , Brother Nature and Fivesixer  are some of my best friends on the site! Hanging out at Andre's Blogging Banana Bar is a favorite activity of mine, though I have not visited recently. I hope everyone is being served their drinks in my absence! I love the latitude we are given with the prompts.Great Job one and all! |
| Day 8 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge From the War Chest... You have the power to rewind time by 10 seconds...but you can only use it three times. How would you use your extra 30 seconds? I hope this works... I am going to use all three of my 'rewinds' at the same time. My goal is to stop the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I would go to Logan International Airport and thwart the efforts of the terrorists that board the planes which hit the twin towers. By halting this attack my hope is that the attack on the Pentagon and the activity aboard Flight 93 will be abandoned. Think of all the lives that would be saved and then the US might not have been involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. We would be living in a completely safe world...or would we...? Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden would still be alive and reigning terror on not only their parts of the world but probably on ours as well. The cowards who planned 9/11 would still be out there, somewhere. If their plot didn't go down in 2001 who knows whether it would have been worse later on? Would we have thwarted future attacks had we not been attacked that day? How many attacks have been avoided because of what we learned? Please don't misinterpret what I am saying; I would love a world where 9/11 was just another day. But I don't think changing history would make it that much safer. There will always be cowards who think terrorism is the answer. |
| Day Seven of 30 Day Blogging Challenge Talk Tuesday! How important is self-promotion, and where does it draw the line between being informative and becoming "too much of one person" for you to handle? I think it depends on the circumstances. Online, like on Facebook or even here, self promotion is okay. Any one can keep scrolling past when it becomes annoying. Where it is a problem is at work or in committees and work groups. In these situations the self-praise turns from innocent self praise to self righteous brown nosing. There are a couple people guilty of this at my job and in a committee I just left. They make it very difficult on the others who work with them. I find it very difficult to work with people who are constantly praising themselves because they usually will drag those around them down to make themselves look good. |
| Day Six of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge Music Monday! Is there a particular song that usually energizes you or adds to your motivation? Tell us what it is. Honestly, I listen and love country music but the only song that came to mind was ..... [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] |
| Day Five of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge The Sunday News! This week the company that makes bubble wrap announced they'll be making a type of wrap that no longer pops. How do you feel about this? (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/02/new-bubble-wrap_n_7711274.html?ncid=fcb...) I am terribly disappointed at this news. I work in retail and every Friday I check in new merchandise. Bubble wrap usually protects this merchandise and I enjoy popping them as I check the merchandise in. I noticed a few weeks ago that some of the bubbles did not pop but knowing that someday NONE of the bubbles will pop is extremely disturbing. Popping those bubbles has always been a great way to relieve tension, taking those bubbles away has the potential of being a huge problem... https://youtu.be/s7IYR_rELyE |
| Day Four of 30 Day Blogging Challenge July 4th is Independence Day in the United States. What does it mean to you to have freedom? How do you celebrate freedom throughout the year? I began writing this prompt with a lovely patriotic poem about the freedom in this country and as a salute to the men and women who have fought to keep us free. Then I rethought my idea, I have done this before, the whole 'Salute to Troops' angle, and, while I find that a noble gesture, I decided that today I would give you my two cents worth and write a blog worth its being written...I hope you find it worth the reading. If it slightly pisses you off, well I am slightly sorry, but I need to get this off my chest! *Panda ascends soap box* In the United States we enjoy many freedoms and take many of these for granted. We also tend to push the envelope when exercising these freedoms. Many Americans abuse Freedom of Speech. This freedom does not allow you to post whatever you want and say whatever you want WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES! You have the right to tell people how you feel and to express your opinions but if you say something totally stupid then people have the right to tell you that your comment was stupid. You do not have the right to express YOUR opinions and then not let others express theirs. You do not have the right to purposely hurt other people's feeling with out being judged and held accountable! I have the right to tell you that your face is ugly, should I use that right, probably not! A child has the right to tell his parents that he thinks they are stupid, do the parents have the right to then send the kid to his room, oh yeah! There are responsibilities tied to our rights and it is about time we ponied up and started realizing it! Another thing, I am sick to death of the over-reaction of some to the Confederate battle flag. Yes, I agree the racial connotations behind it are offensive. I agree it should not be flown from government buildings. But, when you take a TV show off the air because the car on it has the flag on the top of it....REALLY????? This same network still airs Hogan's Heroes and it has Nazis in the show...Really, no one is offend by the Nazi's? While you are on Facebook either scrolling past the posts or clicking like, why don't you get off your lazy ass and do something about it. Do you support the Armed Forces of the US? Don't just click 'like' but go find out if there is something you can do to help. Have you been clicking 'like' thanking all the veterans who have given us our freedoms? Get off your fat ass and help them out, at homeless shelters, VA hospitals, Honor Flight, putting flags on their graves... Have you seen a political post that you liked or disliked and you left a comment, get your butt up and join a political party, help with a campaign, become a political leader! Hitting Like and leaving comments could be a start but it isn't going to make a large difference in the grand scheme, unless someone SEES an opportunity and then SEIZES it! If Facebook had been around 239 years ago do you think Jefferson would have written, "When in the course..." and all the signers would have clicked like and England would have been okay, have a good time...No it takes ACTIONS! Stop clicking and get motivated! Start using your INALIENABLE Rights...not just the Freedom of Speech one! Be Active, be vigilant, be vocal, be aware and beware! There will be consequences to your actions, but since when has doing the RIGHT thing meant doing the EASY thing? These are your rights in the United States of America, as guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution... First Amendment - Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government I challenge you to make a Fourth of July resolution and choose one of these to exercise, be creative with the free speech one, and then go do it... organize a peaceful rally, petition the government, exercise your religion...keep in mind the responsibilities and consequences tied to these rights! GO FORTH AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE! *Panda steps off soap box, awaits the crowd's reaction* ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Day Three of 30 Days of Blogging Challenge Fun Fact Friday! According to http://www.factslides.com/s-Cars, when Adolf Hitler was in prison he once wrote to a Mercedes dealership, begging for a car loan. What was the first car you ever owned, and do you have any interesting stories about it?real In 1993, after I graduated from college but before I got my first 'real' job Dad sold me his car. For eight hundred dollars I bought a maroon 1982 Pontiac Bonneville with matching maroon fabric interior. Classy... It even had intermittent wipers that Dad had installed by himself. We knew he had installed them because every time you opened the car door you shocked yourself because of faulty wiring... better than a cup of coffee in the morning... One day I took a ride in my car and needed to call Dad because it just stopped and it seemed to be out of gas. I told him the gauge was still on half full. Then he says, "Didn't I tell you, the gas gauge is broken." Really, I think that should have come up in a conversation, you know like when YOU SOLD ME THE CAR! I really can't complain too much about her though, she was built like a freakin' tank. Not like this plastic pieces of crap they build now. I rear-ended another car and dented that car and the one in front of it pretty bad, all I had was pushed the front end over the hood. The insurance company didn't even total it. I had that car for six months... yup six months, when I blew a cylinder and drove it to the mechanic with a trail of smoke billowing behind me.  TRUE STORY! |
| Day Two of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge Pick three people here on WDC who inspire you, and write a couple sentences about them. Wow! The most difficult task in this prompt is limiting my entry to only three friends. 🌕 HuntersMoon  - Not only a talented author and poet but a wonderful reviewer, Ken exhibits the best qualities of WDC. He inspires me to become a better poet by reading my poems and then honestly and kindly reviewing them. I don't quite remember how I found him on the site but we became friends right away. His skill in writing and his friendly nature inspire me to become a better writer!Marci Missing Everyone - Through her skilled writing and huge heart Marci has inspired many of us on WDC to test the boundaries of our abilities. She runs several marathon poetry writing contests and the NaPoWriMo in April. Her contests push us to write within her prompts not once but for a whole week or month! Her skills at writing extend to her reviewing and she also has pushed me to become a better writer! She also has wonderful fundraisers to help various groups and contests on the site.Lyn's a sly fox  - Though all her hardships Lyn remains a steadfast friend and advocate for the victims of Domestic Abuse. Instead of remaining silent or withdrawn Lyn exposes Domestic Violence for the cowardly act that it is. She has started a new group on WDC
and I am proud to call her friend! |
| Day One of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge Do you have a plan? Do you need a plan? Oh do I have a plan? I don't just have one plan I have many plans. I have a plan for my day, my week, my life. My career path has a plan, my writing has a plan, my weekly menus have a plan. I have a plan on how to negotiate the grocery store and how to do the laundry. I have tons of plans. If I followed all my plans life would be fantastic and simple... maybe. Unfortunately, I spend so much of my time planning that I lose the opportunity to carry out the plans. I leave no room for mishaps and fun. I leave no room for the "Hey do you want to..." I am not spontaneous because spontaneity would mess with my plans. Which makes me wonder... I am on vacation this week and I made all sorts of plans for my days, working in the garden, visiting my brother, making meals and doing the laundry. What would happen if I ditched my plans and just went with the flow? If I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was sleepy. Went outside when the rain stopped and maybe even went outside in the rain? I will still do the important stuff, like take Toby outside and give him his meds but I will play when HE wants to and I will smell the flowers and take a nap! I will also remember to credit the Simply Positive Reviews and work on my Khan Academy classes, but I will do this as I think of it. Just for the end of this week, just to see how it goes. Maybe I don't need to plan every minute. Maybe spontaneity would work too! Or maybe not! Did I just make a plan of not making plans?    |
| What song makes you think of a particularly fond memory? Jack and Diane by John Cougar or was it Mellencamp or was it Cougar Mellencamp...anyways. It reminds me of the sixth grade roller skating parties when I used to roller skate with my first crush. AWWWWWW! What is your favorite mis-heard or misunderstood song lyric? When you hear it now when you're with your friends do you purposefully sing it the wrong way just for the fun of it? George Strait's Check Yes or No...my mom thought it was Jackass or no... https://youtu.be/NHxS8wlDngI |
Can you describe a well-known song (from any era) for us, without quoting the lyrics or using any of the words in the title (besides "a", "and", "the", etc.)?  I don't know if this is what you are looking for but I enjoyed working on this... Dazzle Dazzle Tiny Astronomical Unit Stand by the arbor only with myself Up with the varmint Paddle Paddle Paddle the Canoe Shocker |
| What was your first musical love? Was it a band or artist? An instrument? A catchy commercial jingle? Tell us about it. (Unless you are over thirty you won't understand some of this) My first musical love of a song was Bachman Turner Overdrive's 'Takin' Care of Business'. I used to listen to my brother's K-tel, Dynamite Album ALL THE TIME. He would hate it when I would listen to the song and lift the needle and place it back on the record to listen again. More often than not it would drag across the vinyl making that terrible scratching noise.... My first musical love was David Soul (yup, of Starsky and Hutch fame - the original TV series not the crappy movie!. He sang "Don't Give Up on us Baby" on my Music Machine album...I used to listen to it on my Mickey Mouse record player.... Did I just age myself? https://youtu.be/r4sI5DG5sjc https://youtu.be/YY8APrYU2Gs |
| How do you feel about musicians who take direct political stances? Are you supportive of an artist's right to speak his or her mind about particular topics, even if you disagree with them, or would you rather they "shut up and play the hits"? Well, nothing like a blog prompt to reveal my hypocrisy. I have no problem with musicians, especially my red-necked, blue collar, flag waving Country Stars expressing their patriotism when they speak or sing. Take for example, Toby Keith, I mean "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" is one of my favorite songs. I believe in the United States, the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution, especially the part about freedom of speech. Yet, (yes, here comes the hypocrisy) when the Dixie Chicks opened their big mouths and began speaking ill of President Bush, (please, I know! I could not believe my ears! I was just as pissed as the next guy. I agreed with the local radio station when they 'boycotted' the Chicks and took their music off the air. How dare they voice their opinions and say unpopular things!It is amazing that I can speak so loudly about MY freedom of speech and MY opinions! UGH! |
| June 22 30DBC Prompt - Does music influence your writing at all? Can a particular artist, band, or genre shift the direction your blog entry is going in? I don't listen to music like I used to. My husband ( I know I am always blaming Papa Bear) likes to have the TV on, ALL THE TIME. He says he does it to keep the dog company but I think he just likes background noise. Even without the TV on I don;t think I would listen to music while I was writing. I don't like that much distraction while I am writing. I like peace and quiet, whether I am writing poems, short stories or my blog. Does anyone else hate distraction when they are writing, or is it just I can't multi-task? |
Friday, June 19, 2015: Share with the group one of your favorite poem that you have written. Then share a favorite poem written by another WDC poet. Why are these poem your favorites?
These are two of my favorites because of the sincerity and imagery of both. ~ Santa Sisco ~  's poem is beautifully written and I believe mine reflects the feelings many of us have post-9-11. I hope you enjoy them both. |
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