Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

July 3, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Thoughts on Social Media

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Clean, clear water being poured into a glass cup. There are small puddles of water around the cup on the table it is sitting on. Social media is like water. Context matters.

If you drink unfiltered water from a stagnant pond, you just might also be drinking bacteria, viruses, and/or  pollutants that could make you violently ill.

If you drink too much water too quickly, you could upset the electrolyte balance in your body and likewise become dangerously sick.

If you drink clean, safe water, you’re doing a good thing for your health.

I have seen examples of social media harming people, but I’ve also seen it make life easier for others by allowing them to connect with folks in similar situations, teaching them things about the world they didn’t already know, and providing hours of free entertainment.

Generally speaking, I shy away from arguments that try to paint social media into a corner. Who you follow and what they’re saying makes all of the difference in the world when deciding whether having a TikTok, Instagram or other account is the right choice for you.

I tend to avoid celebrities, influencers, and large corporations online. There are exceptions for accounts that genuinely provide valuable information like weather updates, sneak peeks at upcoming speculative fiction books, or new dairy-free recipes or products for me to try, of course, but I usually find average people to be more interesting and useful individuals to follow because they’re not trying to sell me things I don’t need or make clickbait content.

(Your lists of things you want to hear about on social media might be completely different from mine, of course, and that’s totally okay. Not every sort of content should or even can appeal to every single person out there There’s a lot of perfectly good content out there that isn’t appealing to me but would be ideal for sports fans, new parents, or joggers, for example).

Many of the people I interact with regularly on social media are friends and relatives. We use it to keep in touch with each other, and I close those apps glowing with joy and feeling like I’m all caught up on their lives.

Under these circumstances, I think using those sites is a wonderful way to keep in contact with loved ones who live far away or who might have health problems or work schedules that can make even short trips for an in-person visit hard.

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June 26, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Skill I Wish More People Had and Why

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The phrase “keep your hope” has been spray painted onto the sidewalk in this black-and-white photo.I wish everyone had the ability to put themselves in other people’s shoes and sympathize with struggles we know little or even nothing about.

Some people assume that the things they find easy to do should also be effortless for others, but this is not how life works. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, many of which are dealt with behind the scenes without most folks being aware of what is going on.

Reading and writing are easy for me, for example. For someone who has untreated dyslexia or another learning disability, they can be incredibly challenging.

Not to sound like a modern-day Pollyanna, but world would be a better place if there were more sympathy and encouragement in it.

Therefore, I am cheering all of you on with whatever you find difficult or may be quietly struggling with right now. I believe in you!

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June 19, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things I Totally Misunderstood as a Kid

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Photo of a few hundred dollars bills crumpled up in the hands of a light-skinned person. The bills look like a bird’s nest. In the background of the image you can see a forest floor. Here are a few fun stories about things I misunderstood as a kid.

Story #1

There was a wooden box in the foyer of the church my family attended. I saw someone put money into it when I was about 3 or 4 years old and asked my parents what that person was doing.

”They’re giving it to God,” was the reply. As God was somewhere up in the sky so far as I knew, I wasn’t sure how the money was going to make it from that box all the way up past the clouds.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided the church ushers probably unlocked the box, took the money outside, and threw it up really high so God could catch it once everyone had cleared the parking lot and it was safe to stand out there for a while.

 

Story #2

”My doctor recommends Dr. Pepper” is a phrase that has echoed through my head since I was five. Did I see it on a commercial or billboard somewhere? Did someone tell it to me jokingly? I feel like I might have seen it on an old poster, possibly by the community swimming pool, but I don’t know if that part of the memory is accurate.

What I do remember is being very suspicious of any doctor who thought soda was something you should drink every day. He or she couldn’t possibly have known what they were talking about in my concrete 5-year-old worldview.

 

Story #3

My parents were making spaghetti and talking about prom in our family kitchen one evening. They disapproved of the things teenagers did after prom.

“What will they be doing?” I asked. I was about 5 at the time.

”Oh, acting like they’re married,” my parents said. What they meant is that there might be premarital sex after the dance, something that was strictly forbidden in our church.

But what I thought was, “what’s wrong with making spaghetti? Maybe they’re really hungry after all of that dancing?”

 

Story #4

Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E, was an American educational program that teaches elementary-aged students about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes in the hope that it would prevent them using any of those substances when they grew older. (So far as I can tell, it’s rarely taught these days although similar programs are still around).

I happened to switch schools at exactly the right stage in life to miss out on being part of this program. My old school gave these presentations to sixth graders, but I stopped attending it after the fifth grade due to a cross-country move my parents made that summer for a new job. The new school my family enrolled me in only taught it to fifth graders,  so little Lydia wasn’t eligible for it when she started the sixth grade that autumn.

My misunderstanding about the program was about its name. I thought each word in it signified a different step in the growth process:

First you did drugs.

Then came abuse.

Then came resistance to change.

Then came education and, I presumed, the end of the cycle and a healthier future.

It felt a little too dramatic in my mind, but I was sure the grownups had good intentions.

Honestly, I was about the last kid in the world who needed this class, though. No one in my family smoke, drank, or did drugs. Even when a few relatives dabbled in smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol when I was older, they only did so socially and occasionally. Nobody was addicted or anything, and I grew up to have zero interest in anything other than the very rare strawberry margarita or something before I gave up even that tiny amount of alcohol as well.

That class may have been more meaningful for kids whose friends or relatives had substance use disorders, though. I was very lucky to grow up in a family that was not tempted by such things.

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June 12, 2024 · 1:15 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Characters I See Differently Now Than I Used To

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Photo of a red barn and a red farmhouse. There is a grassy field in the foreground and a nice, big forest behind the house. The sky overhead is partly cloudy. I was only able to think of one answer this week.

Marilla Cuthbert

When I first read L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series as a child, I thought Marilla was far too stuck in her ways and strict with Anne.

I reread that series a year or two ago and was surprised by how much more I sympathize with her now. Marilla was a single, childless woman who had zero parenting experience and who had grown up during an era when children were supposed to be seen and not heard.

Of course she had some trouble adjusting to suddenly raising a stubborn, hyper, 11-year-old girl who never stopped talking! As much as I love Anne, I would be just as perplexed and overwhelmed as Marilla was in that situation. It would take time to figure out how to successfully parent a kid her age and with her past, especially in the 1800s when there were no social workers to call for advice and few if any parenting manuals to read.

 

 

 

 

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June 5, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Are Tearjerkers

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Photo of a biracial woman dabbing away tears from her cheek as she cries. She is wearing a white, longsleeved blouse and has a lovely Afro. I enjoyed tearjerkers a lot more when I was a kid than I do now as an adult. Or maybe my tastes in this genre have simply evolved over time?

If a book advertises itself as a tearjerker, I am generally less interested in reading it than I would have been at 8 or 10. (Perhaps this is why so many of the stories on my list are written for roughly that age group give or take a few years?)

But if a well-written story happens to have a few scenes that make me cry, I don’t mind it one bit.

Here are some tearjerkers I’ve enjoyed at various ages. As I haven’t reread most of them recently, I can’t say whether my opinion of them remains the same! Hopefully, they’re just as good as I recall, though.

1. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

3. Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan

4. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

5. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

6. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4) by Mildred D. Taylor

7. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

10. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

11. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Whistle Stop #1) by Fannie Flagg

12. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This last book is my one exception to the rule. I reread it last year and it was even better than it was the first time around. If you can handle something that talks about infertility, child loss, and grief in a 1920s-era but still fairytale-like format, I highly recommend it.

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May 29, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Museums I Want to Visit

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A photo of Stonehenge on an overcast day. The stones are covered in a thin, spotty layer of moss. My answer to this week’s question is basically all of them. It’s rare for me to hear of a museum or gallery and not want to see it! The Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario here in Toronto are both excellent. If any of you are ever in town, I highly recommend adding them to your itinerary and would visit them with you, too, if you’re interested.

With that being said,  here are the museums that are still at the top of my list to visit someday.

Stonehenge

It’s not a traditional sort of museum, but it’s a mysterious historical site that I’d love to visit. If only we knew more about who created it, how they managed to move such massive boulders, and what they used this location for!

. The rest of my answers will be of actual buildings one can visit to see art and exhibits.

 

The National Museum of Ethiopia

I have never been to Ethiopia, but this would be the first place I’d visit if I did go there. Not only do they have Lucy, the first Australopithecus Afarensis remains that were ever discovered, they also have multiple floors dedicated to Ethiopian history and culture. It would be amazing to soak up that knowledge and history.

 

Mütter Museum

This museum is in Philadelphia. Their exhibits explore advancements in the medical field that have saved countless lives, rare birth defects, bodies that were preserved in unusual ways after death, the history of how various diseases were treated, and so much more. I think this would be a fascinating place to spend a day.

 

Neanderthal Museum 

You all may remember how much I love learning about prehistory and Neanderthals. The name of this museum gives away what it’s about. It is located very close to the Neander Valley in Germany where the first Neanderthal remains were found in 1856. I wouldn’t want to leave until I’d read and examined every bit of every display there.

Louvre 

Imagine being able to see the Mona Lisa in person in France among the many other famous works of art to be found here.  That would be incredible.

 

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May 22, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: How I Feel About Staycations

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A photo looking down at someone’s legs as they stand on a porch next to a welcome mat that has the word “home” written on it in a thick black font. The “o” in the letter home has been replaced with a red heart. I have mixed feelings about staycations.

Sometimes they’re the perfect choice if you’re exhausted and/or don’t have the budget to travel elsewhere.

They can be a nice, relaxing way to recharge under those circumstances. There is definitely something to be said for keeping things low key and thrifty.

On the other hand, there’s the temptation to treat a staycation like any other time of the year and not make any fun memories during them at all.

This happened to my spouse and I years ago. We didn’t have the funds to travel anywhere that time, and I totally understood and accepted that.

The problem was that we didn’t do much stuff that was out of the ordinary for us during our staycation from what I can recall. I still washed the dishes and did the grocery shopping, (most of the) cooking, and laundry. We still ate out at the inexpensive fast food restaurants we’d normally visit if I’m not cooking that night for whatever reason.

Other than not working, it was completely like any other week. We didn’t try any new places from what I can recall, and I only remember going to one free place that I’d previously enjoyed. The rest of the time was spent watching tv and wandering around a local mall. (No offence meant to people who think that sounds like the perfect vacation, by the way! To each their own. It’s simply not my cup of tea.)

These days I’m more assertive about staycations. Yes, I’ll stick to whatever the budget is for the week, but I am going to break my daily routines and go to some nice dairy-free bakeries, parks I don’t get to visit very often, or free local events at the bare minimum! My spouse doesn’t have to accompany me, and I certainly won’t fill every day with long lists of places to visit or anything like that. A couple of hours every other day or so to spend on stuff I really love to do is enough to make me happy.  That leaves plenty of time for walking around the mall, watching tv, or doing nothing in particular, too. 😉

I simply need more from a vacation than doing the same things we always do and then going home to do chores. That’s not my idea of a good time.

Staycations can be a wonderful option if you treat your local community as if you’re a tourist there and go to places you normally don’t visit (or places you’ve visited before and already know are perfect for your tastes!)

They can also be disappointing, at least from my perspective, if you stick to the same old routines every day and don’t branch out at all.

So much depends on how you plan ahead for them and how much effort everyone puts into the experience.

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May 15, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Funny Things I’ve Googled

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A distinguished little Yorkshire Terrier is lying on a white surface. The puppy is wearing black glasses and a black and yellow striped scarf. There is an opened book in front the puppy, and he is looking up as if we’ve just interrupted his reading. Here is a quick snapshot into the funny sorts of things I look up online.

This post is making me miss the search engines from years ago. I feel like the results these days are so tainted by ads and content written by chat bots that it’s much harder than it used to be to find genuine content, especially from non-commercial sites like blogs or small, quirky websites about hobbies, local news, favourite authors, and the like. May that change someday soon!

 

What I Asked:  Why are some people so argumentative online?

Why I Asked It: I’m a peacekeeper by nature, so it’s odd to me to run across folks online who not only seem to enjoy getting into arguments about often inconsequential matters but also actively seek them out. Sharing cool nature photos or telling Dad jokes seems like a much more amusing way to spend your free time in my opinion, but I accept the fact that not everyone is wired the way I am.

With that being said, I also reserve the right to step away from fruitless conversations about, say, what the best condiment in the world is.

 

What I Asked: Do pigeons hold grudges?

Why I Asked It: Toronto has a pigeon problem. They are so well-fed and have so few predators that their population is much larger than it would be if the land up here was all still swamps, meadows, and forests. This means that not every interaction a pigeon has with a person, a dog, or another pigeon is necessarily going to be a positive one.

Seeing them fight over dropped food or fly away in a burst of energy when an untrained dog lunges at them makes me wonder if they remember who bothered them in those moments and if they feel a little grumpy the next time they see that particular pigeon or dog in the future.

(So far as I could tell, pigeons are not like crows in this regard).

 

What I Asked: Why does Google think everything is a symptom of a terminal illness?

Why I Asked It: The first time I googled a minor symptom and this happened, I was a little nervous. Now I just roll my eyes and try to find results for a hangnail, headache, runny nose or other temporary annoyances that don’t assume the worst. You’d think the algorithm would choose the most likely answers, though, instead of focusing on the tiny percentage of people who might be far sicker than they think they are.

 

What I Asked:  How can I stop dreaming about stressful high school math and science tests?

Why I Asked It: I was curious because I keep having dreams about surprise math, biology, or chemistry tests I am in no way prepared to take despite the fact that I graduated from high school quite a while ago. (I was an average student in math and science, but they were not my favourite subjects by any means). Brains can come up with such vivid dreams sometimes, although sadly there doesn’t seem to be any scientific answers about why we dream about the things we do.

 

What I Asked:  Do pets know that they are adorable?

Why I Asked It: Because this is obviously critical information that all animal lovers must know. Also, I was curious to find out if other people’s dogs understand it when I tell them they’re cute and wonderful little creatures. I hope they do.

 

What I Asked:  Will the United States ever take over Canada? Will they enjoy poutine if they do?

Why I Asked It: Your population is about ten times larger than ours, after all, and we do have large swaths of land in Northern Canada that are filled with fresh water lakes and wildlife but are only very sparsely populated by humans due to how cold it is up there. With droughts happening in so many parts of the world and growing seasons lengthening in colder areas now due to climate change, it makes me wonder if the U.S. is going to decide that 50 Nifty United States isn’t enough for them.

As for the poutine question, all of the Americans I’ve known who have tried it have loved it. But I promise you can enjoy it without invading us. 😉

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May 8, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Stories I Wouldn’t Revisit and Why

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A closeup photo of about a dozen DVD cases, including cases for Friends, Pulp Fiction, Django, and several other films that don’t have English titles. The original topic for this week asked about books, films, and TV shows that I wouldn’t revisit. I’ve decided to pick one answer from each category.

Book

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

Why? 

As much as I enjoyed seeing how everything ended, the pacing of this trilogy was too slow for me to ever revisit it. The long, flowery descriptions of the landscapes, settings, and characters painted a vivid picture in my mind, but they were also so numerous that I did find them a little tedious after a while given how much writing styles have evolved since this series was published.

(The films are still cool, though).

Film

Any action film ever.

Why? 

I do not enjoy this genre. On the rare occasion I watch one, it is usually to make my spouse happy instead of out of any innate desire to see a character break the laws of physics and defy the limits of human anatomy as often as tends to happen in these sorts of stories.

 

TV Show

Old sitcoms.

Why? 

The sexist and homophobic jokes in them. What may have been acceptable 30+ years ago doesn’t always age well in modern times. I do not judge others who can look past those things, by the way. I simply don’t find that sort of humour amusing and would rather watch something else instead.

 

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May 1, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Villains I’d Root for Instead of the Protagonists

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A topiary that’s been trimmed to look like a person. It has a big, round head and broad shoulders. Sometimes antagonists are more interesting than protagonists. I suspect it’s because, at least for some writers, villains have more freedom to say and do whatever they wish than characters who are supposed to set a good example for everyone.

Here are some villains that I liked better than the protagonists I was supposed to be rooting for in these stories and why I enjoyed them so much.

Spike from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

He was a creative, emotionally intelligent, and hilarious bad guy. I also enjoyed seeing his character development over the seasons as he slowly learned how to be a slightly better vampire than he’d been before thanks to the time he spent with humans he liked among other reasons.

 

Gollum/Smeagol from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings novels

As critical as it was for his gold ring to eventually end up in other hands for plot reasons, I felt terrible for Gollum when he was separated from his Precious. He’d lost everything else important to him in life, and the magical effects of the ring had warped his mind and body beyond repair over the many years he spent with it. The poor guy.

 

Wile E. Coyote from the 1950s children’s cartoon Looney Tunes 

I never wanted the roadrunner to be eaten, but I did wish that Wile E. could catch him just once!

 

The Blair Witch from the film The Blair Witch Project 

Think about it. The Blair Witch went off deep into the woods to live alone and would have been perfectly content to not have any contact with the outside world at all until the protagonists of this film decided to invade her territory and steal her possessions. This happened after the main characters had been warned by local townspeople to stay out of the woods, so it’s not like they were unaware they were wandering into danger.

While I certainly didn’t want anyone to get hurt, everyone would have been better off if this camping trip never happened. There was never any need for the Blair Witch’s privacy to be invaded, and I would have been annoyed, too, if I were in her shoes!

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