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30 Days Blogging Challenge |
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| What is the most fun you've had breaking a New Years resolution? And if you don't make resolutions, imagine making one, and then tell us how you'd most enjoy not keeping it. I don't really make New Year's Resolutions but if I did, it would be to give up chocolate. Now, let me put this into perspective, I don't eat a lot of chocolate, however, if it's in my house it gets eaten. So, I don't keep it in the house, hence, I don't eat much chocolate. So, how much fun could I have breaking a New Year's Resolution of giving up chocolate? I would look first to see if the shops were selling tubs of chocolates in the January Sales. Here in the UK, they sell chocolates every year in tubs, they aren't expensive. How much better would it be if they were selling them cheaper in the Sales, because then I could indulge in even more. I might add to that a little Chocolate Baileys and I would be all set for January, maybe February too, depending on how much chocolate I buy.  |
| Motivational Monday! Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, born on this day in 1882, once said: "I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues." How important to your success (in any part of your life) is it to surround yourself with talented, knowledgeable, and/or fun people? I hadn't had much chance as a writer to surround myself with other writers until I joined WDC. I do have the experience of being a musician and surrounding myself with those who have a wealth of experience. I never took any grades in music; I learnt to play the piano and the piano accordion and I've found that I've learnt more from those musicians around me than I ever learnt from being taught. Don't get me wrong, lessons are often necessary, I had piano lessons until I was eleven and accordion lessons from eleven for about three or four years. However, there is more to learning something that just the lessons themselves. Over the years, I've been in two Accordion Bands and I learnt so much from those in the bands. I have a friend who, when I met her, was leading Worship in our Church. Over the years she has encouraged me and I now, not only lead Worship but also I'm now the Worship Team Coordinator. I couldn't have come this far without her influence; she's one of those fun people too, which is a bonus. It's this fun side of her that has got me over some of my fears, one of them the idea of standing in front of a congregation as they hang on my every word. I've also had the opportunity to study under two very influential people within Church Worship circles; it's one of the reasons I'm now leading our Worship team. I think that we definitely should surround ourselves with people who are more experienced than we are in our field. We can learn so much just by being around them. |
| The Sunday News! Please, I don't care what you want to talk about today, just no politics. Find a story that makes you feel good about the world and tell us about it. 'Charlie, our puppy with a purpose, http://www.today.com/pets/how-can-i-help-you-here-are-all-skills-charlie-t107008... is learning to be a gentleman. In the future, he will open doors, carry a purse when necessary and even pay the cashier after a night out.' I am amazed to see what these dogs can do. This particular article is about dogs who help our Vets, who are suffering from PTSD, and other war-related issues. I personally suffer from Epilepsy. Luckily, for me, it's a form that doesn't cause blackouts, at this time I don't need a dog. I watched a programme a short while age about a young girl. She was struggling with several seizures a day. Her dog was able to tell her when she was going to have one. It gave her time to lie down and stopped her from being injured. I have a friend who had a hearing dog until the dog passed away. She's waiting for a replacement. These dogs are invaluable to their owners. Their senses are so much stronger than ours are. However, these dogs are not just aid dogs; they are part of the family too. The people who train these dogs are outstanding at their jobs. They have such a wide variety of skills to teach these dogs; it takes time and patience. They are to be admired for the work they do. |
| Creation Saturday! Pick one of the following scenarios and expand on it: 1) An animal you can humanely wear while it's still alive, or 2) A house you can live comfortably in that is made entirely of edible materials. Well, I have to say that out of these options I had to go for the second one. I remember when I was young my aunt made me a Gingerbread House. It had a doorway and windows iced onto it; the outside was covered in Smarties and it had a chimney. Therefore, if I had a house I could eat this would be it, a Gingerbread House, full sized. Can you imagine the size of the Smarties? It would put a completely new meaning to the phrase 'eating us out of house and home'. We'd all be overweight though by the time we'd finished it. It could also be quite expensive, we'd either have to keep cooking to keep up with repairs or buy a new house when it no longer served as a good enough shelter. |
| Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1926, a Scottish inventor named John Baird demonstrated a pictorial transmission machine called the television. Do you remember seeing your first television...the one your parents had when you were a kid? What were some of your favourite shows? Do you still watch any of the old programs you enjoyed as a teenager? I don't remember exactly when we got our first television but the programmes were all in black and white at first. I was only a child so all the programmes I remember are children's programmes. I watched Bill and Ben, about two men made of pots and a flower called Weed. There was Andy Pandy, a boy puppet in pyjamas with his teddy bear; both in Black and White. Later I know we had a colour television, then I watched Trumpton, about a town with a fire station and Pogle's Wood about a family who lived in the woods with a dog called Spot. Then there was the Herb Garden, where each character was a herb, eg. Lady Rosemary, Sir Basil etc. Mr Benn was a man who went into a little shop, entered the changing rooms, changing into costumes and went on adventures. Ivor the Engine was a little Welsh steam engine and his daily stories, of course alongside this was Thomas the Tank Engine, as many of us know, the story of a whole host of Engines. The Clangers were little animals who lived on Button Moon, spoke a language of their own, yet somehow you knew what they were saying to each other; The Moomins were strange animals too, they didn't speak at all. There were blue Smurfs and of course, there was Jackanory, a familiar face would tell us a story each day. The Clangers, The Moomins and The Smurfs are still on now, I've watched them with friends' children, but of course children's programmes have moved on and I doubt if many here on WDC will recognise many of these programmes as they were distinctly British! |
| Plug time! What are some of the WDC events you'll be taking part in during the month of February? I don't really take part in events if you mean Raffles and Game of Thrones type events very often. I do usually enter quite a lot of contests but I've been too busy with the Rising Stars Programme to enter any of these recently. I'm taking part in the Horizons Academy over the next six weeks, taking the Grammar Garden. I have a few challenges ahead such as the Dialogue 500, it's a challenge for me as it's one of the parts of writing that I struggle with, but you never know I may learn something from this. There are other challenges I have to complete alongside this, a Musical challenge plus more dialogue challenges. I intend to read a book from the Rising Stars Book Club and write a review for it. I loved the last book so I'm looking forward to the next one. So, this may not be the kind of events the question is asking but this is how I'm spending my time here on WDC for February and looking forward to the challenge. |
| Do you believe in miracles? Speculate on your idea of a miracle you'd like to see happen. I definitely believe in miracles. I had an experience at my Church a few years ago. A woman who attended our church had just had cataract surgery but it hadn't gone quite right. The doctors had told her that it was the best it was going to be and she'd said the other eye was much better and she was struggling to see out of this eye. She'd already had a cataract dealt with on her other eye. Without going into long details, it was decided because of an experience that I'd had, that I should be the one to pray for her and lay hands onto her eye. I laid my hands on her eye and I prayed, others prayed also. When this woman returned two weeks later, she said the sight in that eye was as good as in the other one. The doctors couldn't explain it at all, so I do believe in miracles. I've seen others and I hope in the future to see many more. We often think of miracles as physical healing but I think that miracles come in many forms. Freedom from addiction or mental health problems are miracles in themselves, whether in a Spiritual sense or not. These are so hard to overcome, so anyone that succeeds to do so can say that they have had a miracle in their lives. |
| If you had a "spirit animal" that wasn't an animal, what would yours be? (Pretty sure mine's a burrito in case anyone asks, but no one is and I could be totally wrong). And what would you think some of your fellow bloggers' "spirit animals (that aren't animals)" are? I was tied between my piano and my computer, it was such a hard choice but I think my piano would win. I love playing music, along with writing it is my passion. I've been playing the piano since I was four. I've also been playing the Piano Accordion since I was eleven. As for writing, I first wrote something substantial when I was about fourteen. It was a horror story; my teacher found out about it and asked if he could send it to a friend of his. This friend was an author; he told my teacher that if I finished it he could get it published, sadly I never finished it. Computers, for me, came along at fifteen. They didn't really exist much for homes before this; I've been fairly addicted since. So, I've grown up with them also. Music has been part of my life for longer than writing and computers have. Therefore, although I grew up with all of these things music definitely came first and has a high priority in my life. WakeUpAndLive would have an Egg as a Spirit Item because she loves eggs in whatever form they come, but especially fried. This is why I could see her having eggs as her Spirit Item. They'd float around her, tempting her, guiding her to the kitchen to cook more eggs. Kittiara would have a Disney Character who would just lead her into a place of joy, where she could explore her inner child. |
| Actress Tiffani Thiessen, born on this day in 1974, once said: "When you interact with someone you always take something from them." What is something you've been able to take with you from any of your fellow challengers so far this month, and how have you been inspired by each other? I find it interesting that when I was younger, I found it difficult to interact with people; this isn't unusual for someone with adhd. However, I wasn't aware that I had it, as I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my early thirties. Friends were few and far between and the internet hadn't been invented, I know it makes me sound old. To be honest home computers weren't invented either! I've had a few very precious friends over the years, I learnt to appreciate them because there haven't been many. With the invention of the internet, I've been able to connect with people from across the world, learn first-hand about other cultures. This opened up a completely new world for me. I found people who'd experienced things that I had, I no longer felt so alone. It opened up a world of information, showed me that I wasn't strange, well that's still debatable; that I was as normal as I could be under the circumstances. I am now free to be me! I found WDC ten years ago but had to leave for a while because I was studying for a degree, it took all of my time. I then returned to a place that I've fully embraced and that has fully embraced me. I'm not strange, or an outcast, I'm me. I fit in here, the creative person that I was made to be and I'm grateful for this place because here I feel normal. Please don't get me wrong, I have a life, two great children, a Church life that is amazing and I've just joined a Folk Band, music being my other passion. Life, though, can reach so much further with sites like this, caring, honest, encouraging, but also a place that gives you a chance to hone your skills. A couple of writers inspired me this month. First, SB Musing wrote a piece called 'Mind the Shark's Teeth' for the Time Capsule prompt. She wrote herself a letter, it was frank, honest and fun in places. At the end of the blog, she wrote this and I just thought it was inspiring. Question everything. Never stop learning about yourself, others, this world, science, species, and discover new things that fascinate you. This world is meant to be studied, enjoyed, lived in, and explore like your life depends on it. Your need for knowledge will never be quenched, and that's part of the beauty of living in this world. There's always more out there for you to find and uncover. Discover it all, and keep pushing to unravel more'. Second, was Apondia, she wrote a piece for the High School Reunion. We don't indulge so much in school reunions here in the UK. I was still able to put forward my reasons for not going to one. Apondia's experience of school reminded me of my own experience, even though we were from different countries. I felt that it goes to show you can understand each other as people wherever you come from. She quoted from a book that she's read and I related to this so much that it stuck with me. This is a quote from the story, "Anna was half convinced she'd been begotten by a passing alien life-form on a human woman. It was as good an explanation as any for the sense she had of being an outsider." This quote explained just how I've felt for most of my life. I have been challenged by this contest in so many ways but I've found it interesting and I've learnt a lot about the people involved in it. |
Seven WDC authors were just promoted to Moderator status! ("Note: Congratulations to...") Visit one of their ports and review one of their items...and in your entry here, now would be a good time to tell us what your goals are for being with WDC (whether you're a newbie or someone who's been around the block awhile). Make sure you include your review, using the Invalid Review  tag.When I first joined WDC, ten years ago I thought it was a place to showcase my work. Then I went away for a long time because I was studying and just didn’t have the time for anything else. It was after I finished studying that I eventually got the chance to return to the site. It took me a while to get used to it again and I joined the Newbies group because I felt like one. Once I got used to how to post things, where things were and what was going on, I started looking at contests. I have to say that I indulged in a lot of the contests and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them, I intend to continue to enjoy them. What I’ve discovered since coming back to WDC is that there is much more to this site than just having somewhere to put your work. This site is a place where you can improve your writing, explore new genres, and read the work of others. I feel privileged at this time to be part of the Rising Stars Programme; my first aim is to complete this programme. Within this is the Horizons Academy where I am currently attempting the Grammar Garden Course, attempting being the right word! Maybe my first aim should be to finish this first. I love to learn, this is probably as hard a challenge for me as my degree was that I studied for while I was away from the site. So, my overall aim is to improve my writing skills overall so that my work will improve, I would like to break into the magazine market. We will see! Review of ‘One of Life’s Unwanted’ by Andy feeling very blue Review of "One of Life’s Unwanted" |
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