Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

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Writing. This spring I’ve been spending more time doing this. Thank goodness for renewed interest in writing and a sharp reduction in my writer’s block! There’s nothing like seeing your characters and worlds come alive. I’ll let you all know when I have a publication date for my next speculative fiction book.

This isn’t me, but this is something I’d do.

Snapping Photographs. 2020 wasn’t a great year for finding interesting things to photograph due to what we all experienced during it that I won’t go into any detail about here, but I’m hoping 2021 will provide more opportunities to capture beautiful moments. Maybe it will even be possible to photograph other places in the world in 2022.

Dancing. Thank goodness for all of the instructional videos online. I love learning new moves and styles of dance. They make me feel so free and happy.

Anthropomorphizing Everything.  I regularly say hello to the animals who live in my neighbourhood whether they are domesticated or wild creatures. I’ve hugged trees once or twice and am not afraid to call a building beautiful out loud if it thrills me. These things bring joy to the world, so why not bring attention to them? In my opinion, we should all appreciate harmless things that lift our spirits and give us hope.

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This is going to be an eclectic list.

Get All of My Dental Work Done at Once. It’s non-urgent and is being done slowly and as necessary. If I had a windfall of cash, I’d bite the bullet (metaphorically speaking) and get everything checked off the to-do list as soon as possible.

Buy Ethical, Local, and Eco-Friendly Stuff. I’d buy as much food, clothing, shoes, electronics, and other various household items from local merchants and farmers as is possible here in southern Ontario.   Buying local can be more ecologically friendly in general, so I’d keep an eye out for businesses that were cognizant of that as well. There’s something to be said for supporting small businesses and your local economy if you have the extra money to do so.

Donate Anonymously. For example, homeless shelters and food banks have always needed donations, and the demand for their services is sadly higher than ever. They should focus on the fact that they suddenly had more resources to help people going through tough times and not worry about giving me credit for anything. I’m too bashful to pose for photo-ops. LOL!

Hire A Housekeeper. I would pay them handsomely to come over for a couple of days a week to clean, shop for groceries, and do laundry. It would be wonderful to have the time I currently invest in that stuff freed up for other pursuits, although I do feel a little selfish to even mention this. It would be such a big splurge.

Buy an Annual Membership to My Local Art Museum. I used to go there occasionally before this darn pandemic began. I’d love to have the freedom to go as often as I pleased and during quiet times of the day when there aren’t any lines to see any of the paintings.

Treat My Family to a Vacation. That is to say, I’d take my spouse, parents, siblings, nephews, and sister-in-law on whatever sort of trip everyone agreed upon. I’d pay all expenses and try to convince them to accept some spending cash, too. Money is only as good as the memories it makes and the joy it brings to others.

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Cover designs can vary so much from one round of printing to the next that I decided to focus on titles this week. I included links to descriptions of the plots of these stories for anyone who needs them, and I also added a sentence or two about why each one grabbed my attention.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

I loved stuffed animals and dolls when I was a kid, so the idea of a velveteen rabbit appealed to me immediately.

The Kind of Girl I Am by Julia Watts

This title didn’t make sense to me at all when I first saw it, so I had to figure out what it was actually saying!

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

Isn’t that an attention-grabbing title? I sure thought it was good. Originally, I’d assumed he was adopted and wanted to see if my guess was correct there.

The Bigger Book of Lydia by Margaret Willey

This was one of the first times I ever remember seeing my name in a book title, and it made this a must-read for me. Luckily, it’s become a little more common to find characters who share my name these days.

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Generally, I prefer not to binge-watch shows. It’s easier for me to enjoy them when I take at least a few days between episodes, especially for shows that can be repetitive at times.

These are the exceptions to this preference of mine. Two are shows I finished ages ago, and the final one is something I recently started watching.

Show Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Why I Binge-Watched It: Just because vampires (or monsters, or teenage girls) behave a certain way in other universes doesn’t mean they’ll follow those rules in this universe. I loved the risks Joss Whedon took with the plots twists in this series.

Show: 30 Rock

Why I Binge-Watched It: The zany ensemble cast was hilarious. This show was set backstage on a fictional version of Saturday Night Life. It featured everyone from celebrities (both real and fictional) to the various long-suffering employees there who try to appease all sorts of ridiculous requests from their guests and sometimes coworkers as well.  I loved all of the funny references to previous storylines and guest stars they included later on.

Show Title: The Simpsons

Why I Binge-Watch It: A little while ago, I started watching The Simpsons from the beginning since I only ever saw random episodes of it when I was growing up. It’s 90% brain candy and 10% astute observations about western society. That’s the perfect combination of factors to make me want to see more than one episode a day.  The early seasons have held up well, too, if any of you are curious about watching or rewatching them!

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This week’s prompt was an easy one. I’m going with my favourite foods.

Lasagna (dairy-free, of course!)

Breadsticks

Chocolate almond milk

Lemon meringue pie

Dairy-free mint chocolate chip ice cream

Since it’s the last meal I’m going to eat, you’d better believe I’ll be picking two of my favourite sweets as dessert!

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I believe that hope is the most important ingredient of a theme song.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland.

Musicals generally aren’t my cup of tea, but Judy Garland did an excellent job with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. There is so much hope embedded in it even though Dorothy had no idea what twists and turns were coming in her life at this point, much less how she’d get through them.

I listen to this song when I’m having a bad day or am worried about something out of my control.  It’s been my experience that things often work out in the end even if you can’t currently see how everything will be resolved.

Holding onto hope in the meantime is so important!

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Saying no to people is my greatest weakness. Sometimes I also have trouble reinforcing boundaries with people who won’t take no for an answer.

This is tied into my strong desire for peaceful interactions and my belief that there is a solution for every conflict out there.

Due to that, I do have a tendency to err on the side of peacemaking at times when I should be sticking up for myself better instead.

I’m working on changing this part of my personality.

It’s hard!

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My greatest strengths are my diplomacy and ability to find the good in everyone. They’re so closely related that I thought it was okay to bind them together for the sake of this prompt.

I’m the sort of person who gets along with just about everyone. People are fascinating, and I enjoy getting to know them one-on-one or in small groups. You can learn all sorts of things about someone by quietly listening to what they do (and don’t) say about themselves, others, and the world in general.

My favourite sorts of people are the ones who love to talk but who also know how to turn the conversation back to us quieter folks after a little while. That is such a wonderful skill to possess!

If someone says something that could be interpreted in multiple ways, I’ll search for the most charitable interpretation possible and give them the benefit of the doubt. Until or unless someone gives me good reason to suspect otherwise, I assume the best of them. In my experience, that’s usually the most helpful way to approach interactions with folks you don’t know well yet.

Being kind and polite to everyone costs nothing, but it can go a long way to make social situations enjoyable for everyone.