Tag: Blog Party
What a loss, since I’ve read it again and again, then bought the ebook, taking the magic mobile (same goes for her The Three Things Serial Story: A Little 1920s Story 
Teagan is a brilliant author/blogger – though I’ve never met her and she doesn’t pay me, I just feel like Anne of Green Gables, that we’re kindred souls, dear friends (another example, picture your first friend, did you think, no need to have more of those? The human heart is like the TARDIS, it’s bigger on the inside, infinite, and full of memories, twists and turns, but alive with wonder).
Courage is needed to take about subjects like: menopause, aging, and abuse and skill to make them memorable. Words We Carry; Meno-What? A Memoir: Memorable Moments of Menopause; Conflicted Hearts: A Daughter’s Quest for Solace from Emotional Guilt; P.S. I Forgive You…Debby’s books, like her blog, are the opposite of fake, they’re straightforward, sincere – you’ll laugh, cry, nod in understanding, ponder, wonder, smile, and mostly, you will breathe – can you ask more from the books you read?
12. What, another book of short stories? If I thought that I wouldn’t have read Glimpses by Hugh W. Roberts; I’d have missed out on tales that transported me above, beyond, and beneath life as we think we know it. In the grand tradition of Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Glimpses draws us into the shadows of life and makes us remember, what we know isn’t nearly as important as what we don’t know.
15. Or never read An Insider’s Guide to Building a Successful Blog, from the creator of Mostly Blogging, Janice Wald 
Dear Santa, I Can Explain…12 Links of Christmas Blog Party
With the Christmas lights on, it’s less dangerous. Here we are now, entertain us. I feel dazed, not contagious. Here we are now, entertain us…I’m worse at what I do best And for this gift, I feel blessed… Our little blogging group has always been. And always will until the end. HoHo, HoHo, HoHo, HoHo, HoHo, HoHo. Ummm, Smells like Christmas spirit?
In a kind of Welcome-to-the-Christmas-Jungle-type way, it’s been a strange few weeks, so Dear Santa, I Can Explain….
1. I’ve fought a prolonged battle with a vicious cold, it almost won, until I released my dragons, ok, it was chicken soup, but it was epic.
2. I overindulged in great gently used ‘finds’, tea with seniors, and raffles – if loving Christmas Bazaars is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
3. I fell out of bed (and not in a fun way), luckily no serious injuries, but it sure knocked the stuffing out of me.
4. I was baking for Christmas and I had to taste, right? I couldn’t serve it or give it away without tasting, right?
5. Got the results of my colonoscopy, turns out my colon is a trophy wife, looks beautiful but doesn’t work.
I love Christmas, always have, but things have changed, become confusing. I feel like I’m being visited by the ghosts of rampant, raging, unrestrained consumerism – past, present, and future. The wraiths of oblivious conspicuous consumption, the specters of overt displays of wealth swirling around, I feel chilled, haunted, saddened – what could all that money be used for, who could be saved, cured, comforted, how much joy could be spread to so many instead of so few? This time of year isn’t about gifts, lights, food, carols, it’s about people, everywhere, whether they celebrate the holiday or not. How can anyone admire, emulate, and/or trust those who consume without a care?
Having lost so many of those I love in the past few years, the holiday season has more and more become a time of remembrance. Most of the memories are wonderful, but some are tinged with regret and loss; I listen to the carols, the songs sing, yet part of my heart wishes for more as it swells with remembers.
Here’s my Christmas card to you, dear readers. Let’s share some tidings of comfort and joy. Please join my 12 Links of Christmas Blog Party. It’s ongoing (why put a time limit on fun?), so keep on coming back right up to and after Christmas! The posts you link to don’t have to be Christmas-related and I’m not going to ask you visit other bloggers, comment, or share, but please, if you feel so inclined, give to others: press Like, reblog, share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, etc. No badges (we don’t need no stinking badges).
If this is your first time joining a blog party, I’ll be gentle. Cut and paste your link. Then in the comment box below, paste that link and tell the readers and other bloggers a bit about your blog and/or yourself (if you wish, not necessary). Leave up to 12 links (one per box please). Here are my 12 Links of Christmas…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/12/11/the-christmas-carol-awakens/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/12/18/these-arent-the-gifts-youre-looking-for/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/18/go-home-christmas-youre-drunk/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/07/slightly-less-stupid/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/07/do-you-wanna-build-a-snowman/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/05/we-are-santas-elves/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/09/a-charlie-brown-christmas/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/22/how-to-get-away-with-christmas/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/19/love-actually/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/22/babe/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/14/enhanced-christmas-infusion-techniques/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/30/hello-its-me/
I’d also like you to tell us what brings you comfort and joy at Christmas or anytime. Here’s an example, I get comfort and joy from doing nice things for people, little things, they’re not truly selfless acts (anyone remember that Friends episode?), because I enjoy them. I also love Christmas movies, the one place in the world where I’m pretty sure everything is going to work out well. Reading, walking, baking, board games, and I find my joy of writing has returned, creeping in. Of course, I find comfort and joy in wonderful son, family and friends, including my amazing blogging family.
I know everyone is busy, but please, join my holly jolly Christmas Blogging Party!
Nog nog. Who’s there? Virtual eggnog or hot cocoa (with mini marshmallows), take a sip, dip a biscotti or cookie.
Happy Holidays and take time to enjoy what really counts.
Can’t You Just Pretend To Be Nice?
Life is choosing. Choosing to be happy or sad. Nice or mean. Hopeful or hopeless. Among the mass of expectations, concepts, beliefs, abstractions, and stereotypes swirls millions and millions of choices. We’re not always going to make the right choices. Sometimes we’re mean and feel sorry, sometimes we’re sorry we’re not more mean.
I recently rewatched Josie and the Pussycats, the movie, although I loved the cartoon also – https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/08/09/i-miss-saturday-morning-cartoons/ – it reminded me:
1) It’s hilarious, even 15 years later, maybe more so;
2) It’s wise and relevant, especially about how we’re brandwashed, er, brainwashed;
3) The words to the song keep echoing through my head, “Can’t you just pretend to be nice, can you at least pretend to be nice, if you could just pretend to be nice, then everything in my life would be alright.”
For me, people who pretend to be nice are pretty much as annoying as meanies. “A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.”- Dave Barry Yet there are still tons of genuinely nice people…but we’re designed to notice danger, it’s for survival. We notice loud stuff, outrageous stuff, bad stuff – it was meant to help us notice danger, pay attention to danger, to keep us safe and to keep our loved ones safe, but now, sigh, there’s the internet, you know the internet, like your neighbourhood gossip on steroids, virally, digitally frothing at the mouth.
Texts, tweets, memes, video, posts, gifs, statuses, chats, comments, updates, etc., blaming, blaming, blaming – basically blaming everyone – immigrants, women, social assistance recipients, minorities, religions, etc., well, that won’t get you a job, or make the rich stop screwing you (without consent or foreplay). Just as spewing vitriol won’t change your economic or socioeconomic status, or get you something you want, or bring back those you love. Sorry Grandma and Grandpa, sorry Mom and Dad, your famous, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” is stone cold dead. We’re all quickly learning you’re entitled to your own opinion and your own facts – just ask The Incredible Trump.
Maybe it’s easier to lash out than look in. Is it easier to yell at a clerk? Or scream at a receptionist (by the way, no one was paying any attention to your information until you screamed)? Or sharpen your claws: ‘You’re so brave to wear that shirt.’ Brave, really, I’m not running into a burning building to save babies and puppies, oh I see, you’re being catty. Than to just be nice?
When I asked an ex (note the word ‘ex’, for many, many reasons) why he couldn’t just be nice, his answer was, ‘it’s too much work’. Really? Could that possibly be it? Is it just easier to snark, snarl, sneer? Easier to mock, mimic, moan? Is meanness, ridicule, viciousness, derision a form of laziness?
Bad guys, bad boys, charismatic anti-heroes are cool on TV, in movies and books https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/06/charming-savage-events/ but in real life, not so much.
Then again, if you’re not: molesting, abusing, being racist, getting all mass murdery, killing serially or non-sequentially, making human skin coats, terrorizing, stealing, lying, raping (yes, creepy, horrible Stanford rapist and any other rapists, no still means no and to clarify, unconscious also means no; not difficult to understand), you probably still qualify as ‘nice’, but hopefully we can try to raise the bar way, way higher.
Speaking of nice, I’m thrilled (thank you kindly) to be one of the winners of the Blogger’s Pit Stop and The Pinterest Game – please drop by, visit, share, it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and lots of fun.
Julie http://juleskalpauli.com/bloggers-pit-stop-27/ featuring: https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/ and https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/01/04/so-youve-ruined-your-lifenow-what/
Kathleen https://www.kathleenaherne.com/the-blog/
Janice http://mostlyblogging.com/
Debbie http://coachdebbieruns.com/
https://www.kathleenaherne.com/pinterest-game-47a/ and
https://www.kathleenaherne.com/pinterest-game-47b/
Get out there, be a shameless social media self-promoting bloghussy (like me), most of all, enjoy!
Where I’m a complete twit: https://twitter.com/yadadarcyyada
Endlessly baffled by humanity: https://www.facebook.com/yadadarcyyada
The desert where I wander: http://www.pinterest.com/dpark2/
Where I google, not nearly as fun as it sounds: https://plus.google.com/112672588892199127381/posts
To the best of my knowledge, there’s no standardized testing for ignorance, intolerance, meanness, or unhappiness yet, but I’d buy stocks in that future booming business. Be nice, you don’t know what people have been through or are going through.
Is it too late to say sorry? ‘Cause I’m missing more than just your bloggy. Yeah, I know-oh-oh, I want to be a good neighbour bloggy (ok, perhaps I’m not going to be rapper anytime soon). I know it’s a busy time of year, but drop by whenever, dears, my blogdoor is always open. Please leave links in the comment box. Drop by often. Enjoy the virtual cake, chocolate, cupcakes, tarts, pies, cookies, and er, liquid refreshments. Meet and greet other bloggers. Introduce yourself. Be kind. Be nice. Have fun. Obvious now I’m from Canada, eh? Sorry.
Always On My Mind Blog Party
Decisions. The average person now makes more decisions in a day than most did in weeks, months, even years. Decisions can engulf us. Haunt us. Overwhelm us. Interrupt us. Even stalk us in our dreams, ummm, a Nightmare on Choice Street? Choices are great, but too many can make it difficult, or almost impossible to make and trust decisions. Then comes the morning after, littered with “Did I make the right choice?”, “What did I do?”, “Can I return this?”, “What was I thinking?”.
Even in blogging there are so many decisions. At first, it felt frightening, like I was that boy in Jurassic Park, when Dr. Grant was explaining how Velociraptors kill.
Now I’m more like Chris Pratt, on a motorcycle, riding with the Velociraptors in Jurassic World, which for me was an all-out, action-packed cheesefest (in a good way), but a noticeable lack of Jeff Goldblum.
And yes, we’ve all made the wrong decisions, like someone thinking it was a good idea to make a certain theme park ride that shall remain nameless, ok, Tomorrowland, into a movie. It had its moments, mainly involving George Clooney and Hugh Laurie – I do so enjoy when Laurie’s given a chance to rant.
Even after years of blogging I still have trouble making some decisions, and have more blank-I-just-can’t-make-this-decision-moments than would seem humanly possible..but mostly it’s much, much more like It’s A Small World After All.
Blogging has taken me to places I might never have gone:
1. Magical places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/03/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/
2. Hopeful places…
Thank you, Mary Smith http://www.marysmith.co.uk/ for your riveting novel, No More Mulberries and equally entrancing non-fiction offering, Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni: Real Stories of Afghan Women. Reminding us that so much of the stereotypes, drama, and propaganda are fabrications – to sell products, news, and government policies; that strength, compassion, and hope still blossoms, especially in the hearts of the oppressed.
3. Intriguing places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/09/you-may-say-im-a-dreamer/
4. Complex places…
Ever wonder what happened after? You know, after Darcy and Elizabeth, after Jane Eyre and Rochester? Some authors take up the challenge and continue the classic stories. It’s awfully daring, foolhardy, or just cashing in. In the case of Luccia Gray http://lucciagray.com/ – I’m going with daring. As a reader, I didn’t feel this was just to piggyback on the fame, but because Gray loves the enigmatic character, and wanted to continue Eyre’s story through her Eyre Hall Trilogy. The first book, All Hallows at Eyre Hall draws you in, and by the second, Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall you’re on tenterhooks, awaiting more.
5. Spacey places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/12/18/these-arent-the-gifts-youre-looking-for/
6. Even racey places…
Not in a tangible sense, but maybe that’s me, because my idea of a romantic Valentine’s Day is the return of The Walking Dead. Who knows? Love is a mystery.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-will-rule/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-wont-rule/
If you’re a writer, film, art, whatever, contact me at: iwanttobelieve@rogers.com I do reviews, honest opinions only.
One way or another, we’re all busy.
Finding blogs we enjoy is challenging enough, but making time to read them is daunting.
Why not put all the awesome blogs in one place?
I promised you a blog party https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/24/take-it-easy/
Here it is!
1. Mix and mingle, refreshments to your left beside the archives (what do you think of the new theme?).
2. Please leave your blog link or post link in the comment box below along with any introductions. One link per comment, but come back as often as you’d like.
3. Please reblog to spread the word or like, share on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, etc. Like, share, reblog, tell your family, friends and blogneighbours.
4. I will visit and respond asap (at the snail’s pace I’m moving these days, the next Star Wars film could be out before my asap…kidding ).
5. Have fun, it’s a great way to find bloggers and have them find you.
Thank you for coming to the party and for supporting my blog…You’ve made blogging a decision I’ll never regret.
Where I’m a complete twit: https://twitter.com/yadadarcyyada
Where I’m baffled by humanity: https://www.facebook.com/yadadarcyyada
The dark hole where I lose hours of my life: http://www.pinterest.com/dpark2/
Where I google (seriously, not nearly as fun as it sounds): https://plus.google.com/112672588892199127381/posts
Another place to BlogLove: https://www.bloglovin.com/people/donnaparker10-6312637
Maybe I didn’t blog love
Quite as often as I could
Maybe I didn’t treat posts
Quite as good as I should
If you felt like second best
Sorry, it’s just lack of time
You were always on my mind
(you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind
Take it Easy
Well I’m a-runnin’
(ok, walking quickly)
down the road,
tryin’ to loosen
my load
I’ve got seven
million things
on my mind
Four million that want to own me, two that want to stone me, one that could be a friend of mine.
Take it easy, take it easy.
Don’t let the sound of your own words drive you crazy. Lighten up while you still can. Don’t even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy…
yadadarcyyada 