Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: One Skill I Wish I Had But Don’t

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screen shot of HTML code.

My response to this week’s prompt can be summed up in one word: programming.

I’m fascinated by the various programming languages that have been developed in order to create websites.

There’s something incredible about seeing how the right commands can create eye-catching sites with enough patience and work.

A few months ago, I took a one-day introductory HTML course to this topic at my local library. It was fascinating to get that taste of that world. I’m dabbling with the idea of continuing my studies in this area (whether in HTML or in another programming language entirely).

What can I say? Computers are cool, and I want to learn more about how to build nice-looking websites for them.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Characters Who Remind Me of Myself and Why

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A Purple RoseI’m a quiet, gentle, shy person who has a mischievous streak that occasionally surprises people. Here are some characters who remind me of myself.

Matthew Cuthbert from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. 

I adored Anne, but kind and gentle Matthew was the character who really won my heart. I understood him on such a deep level and was thrilled by the way he warmly welcomed Anne into the family.

Beth March from Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women

She was the only March sister that I think I could spend time with regularly while coming away from those visits with an invigorated spirit. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Meg, Jo, and Amy quite a bit. But Beth had one of those mellow, easygoing personalities that both attracts my attention and reminds me of how I am, too.

There’s something to be said for peacemakers who try to find the good in everyone.

Allan Karlsson from Jonas Jonasson’s The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (The Hundred-Year-Old Man, #1)

Remember when I told you all I had a mischievous streak? I wasn’t joking.

90% of the time, I’m that calm, unassuming person who peacefully sits in the corner and finds amusement in the simple things in life.

The other 10% of the time, I’m quietly getting into mischief without giving anyone advanced warning. Only folks who know me incredibly well will be able to predict these moments before they happen.

If I make my childhood goal of living to see my one hundredth birthday, you just might catch me climbing out of a window at the retirement home on that day.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Favourite Memory and Why

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My family lived in Laramie, Wyoming for four years when I was a little girl. We were low income, so my parents came up with all sorts of creative ways to enjoy their days off without spending money. (I honestly didn’t even realize money was so tight for us during those years until I was much older. They made do with what they had really well).

The cool thing about living in Wyoming is that it’s filled with mountains, national parks, and other free places to take three small children who have boundless energy. For the cost of a little bit of gas and some sandwiches or other simple meals culled together from fridge leftovers, we could spend all day outdoors together.

One of our favourite places to visit was Vedauwoo National Park. It was a short drive from our home and was filled with rocks to climb, chipmunks to greet, and trails to conquer. There was nothing more exciting than hiking those trails with my parents and siblings.

A photo of Lydia Schoch, her parents, and two younger brothers at Vedauwoo National Park in the 1990s. My youngest brother was about two or three then, so sometimes he’d need a parent to carry him if we walked for a long distance. But the important thing was that we were together and we got to explore rocks that felt impossible large to me as a child.

I also remember picking and eating berries in a little patch of forest near the park. That was a wonderful treat! I think they were raspberries, and, yes, I did get permission from mom first.

I believe the picture I included in my post was the one my parents sent out to extended family as our Christmas card greeting that year? We’ll see if mom or dad can confirm this when they read this post

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Types of Exercise I Enjoy

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There are quite a few types of exercise I enjoy.

  1. Weightlifting
  2. Swimming
  3. Dancing
  4. Power Walking
  5. Canoing*
  6. Hiking*

Animated Figure lifting weights*Although I haven’t done either of these in a long time and definitely would need to recondition my body for them. That is to say, let’s pick the easiest versions of these things if you want to do them with me.

What all of these activities have in common is that they’re non-competitive, fairly easy on the joints in most cases, and can be done solo or in a group.

When I was a kid, the vast majority of my exposure to exercise was team sports.

I’ve never liked team sports, so it took me a while to realize how many forms of exercise are out there that don’t require competition, keeping score, or having winners and losers.

Kudos to those of you who thrive on competition and being the biggest, strongest, and/or fastest person in a group.

But to me, exercise is most enjoyable when it’s about doing something cool either by myself or with a few other laid-back people.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Reread in the Winter

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I am a creature of habit. This is especially true when it comes to what I reread and when I return to those old, friendly stories. Often my urge to reread things are tied to the seasons of the year and specific holidays.

Since we’re currently in the middle of winter, I tweaked this week’s topic a bit so I could talk about the books I’m most likely to reread at this time of the year.

Book cover for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë . Image on cover shows Jane teaching her pupil as another woman looks on.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I first read this book one winter when I was in high school. Cold, dark weather makes me feel sad and glum at times. There was something oddly comforting about reading about a character whose troubles were much bigger than my own.

The happy ending she eventually received is a nice mood lifter as well.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis book cover. Image on cover is of the lion Aslan.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis

There comes a time every March when I feel like winter will linger on until the end of time itself.

This is when I like to pull out the first Chronicles of Narnia book and read about an enchanted winter that lasted there for a century and never included a single Christmas to look forward to. Imagine how tired of the cold and snow the Narnians must have been by that final year! And yet spring did arrive for them eventually, so I can have hope that the same thing will happen for our completely non-magical winters, too.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey book cover. Image on cover is of a child hiding behind a tree on a snowy day.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

As much as I dislike winters in southern Ontario, there are places that are much colder, snowier, and darker than Toronto. The Snow Child is set in Alaska about a hundred years ago. Back then the people who lived there were basically snowed into their homes for months on end, especially if you lived out in the country away from any towns.

The main characters were a couple who had longed for a child for many years. When a little girl showed up in the middle of a fierce blizzard, they took her in while trying to figure out where on Earth she must have come from.

Figuring out what was happening with her and with the kind couple who looked after her is so engrossing. I could reread this book a dozen times and still want more.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Celebrity Crushes

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What a fun topic as we move closer to Valentine’s Day!

My celebrity crushes include:

Red carpet photo of actress Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles.

I’ve thought she was cute ever since I saw her in 10 Things I Hate About You back in the 90s. She tends to play characters who know what they want out of life and go for it.  I really like that.

Nina Dobrev on the set of Vampire Diaries playing the character Elena Gilbert

Nina Dobrev.

A few weeks ago, my spouse convinced me to start watching season one of The Vampire Diaries. Nina plays the main character, Elena Gilbert, on that show, and I immediately thought she was pretty. Obviously, I have no idea what the actor’s personality is like, but her character is so sweet that I can’t help but to have a crush on her.

William Jackson Harper as Chidi

Photo by: Robert Trachtenberg/NBC

William Jackson Harper.

One of my longterm goals with the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is to convince everyone else to give The Good Place a try. Yes, I’m joking there. (Probably 😉 ).

Not only is this show funny, many of the characters in it are quite attractive if any of you are looking for eye candy. Wlliam’s character, Chidi Anagonye, is a nerdy, intellectual guy which is something I find irresistible.

Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil

Jameela Jamil.

Jameela Jamil plays Tahani Al-Jamil in The Good Place. She plays her role as a wealthy, sheltered, but still incredibly likeable person extremely well. I was surprised by how quickly I developed a crush on her.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Best TV Couples

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I narrowed down this week’s prompt from best Book/Movie/TV Couples to Best TV Couples. There are some mild spoilers for these shows in the rest of this post.

David and Patrick from Schitt's Creek standing in their store and kissing.

David and Patrick from Schitt’s Creek

If you haven’t started watching Schitt’s Creek yet, I highly recommend checking it out! The storyline follows a wealthy family who moves to a small town after losing all of their money.

David was the spoiled adult son of this family. Patrick’s childhood had been full of hard work and thrifty choices. That is, it was the total opposite of David’s experiences in many ways! And yet somehow these two characters complement each other beautifully.

Chidi and Eleanor from The Good Place hugging each other

Chidi and Eleanor from The Good Place 

One of the things I love the most about Chidi and Eleanor is how similar their personalities. They both have a tendency to over-think things and spend more time brooding over their choices than actually picking one.

Chidi showed these traits immediately. Eleanor was more subtle about it, but I chuckled as soon as I realized that both of them were dealing with the same flaw (even if it wasn’t always expressed in identical ways in their lives).

Mr. and Mrs. Kim from Kim's Convenience. He says "I see everything" and she replies, "yeah, me too" in this gif.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim from Kim’s Convenience

Kim’s Convenience has become my favourite Canadian sitcom over the past few years. Many shows focus on the early years of a romantic relationship when everything is brand new and exciting. The cool thing about Mr. and Mrs. Kim is that they’ve been together for at least 25 years by the time the audience first meets them.

It’s wonderful to see how their relationship has matured and grown over time.

 

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: New Hobby I’m Trying

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Photography is my newest hobby. I picked it up last spring and have been dabbling in it ever since. January isn’t the best month for spending a lot of time outdoors taking pictures in Ontario, so I’ll share a few pictures I snapped last year when the weather was warmer.

Branch leaned up against a tree. The branch is covered in red leaves and propped up by twigs. Each one of the three arms of the branch is surrounded by red leaves. The red leaves are surrounded by yellow leaves.

This was a piece of environmental art I discovered at a local park last autumn. It was absolutely gorgeous! I only wish I knew who made it so I could credit them and thank them for creating it.

A winding path through a patch of autumn grass.

I liked the way this path provided a natural focal point for my photograph. The next time I shoot it, I’ll play around with how I frame the shot some more.

Painting of a robot's head. The head is filled with a geometric design that has all pieces connected by intersecting lines.

Toronto is filled with street art. Some of it is commissioned by the city, and other pieces just seem to randomly spring up. I think this might have been a commissioned piece. Either way, I like it.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2020

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There are plenty of books I’m curious about, but I can think of only one upcoming release that genuinely excites me at this point. (The year is still young, so this will almost certainly change over time!)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins book cover. Image on cover is of a gold mocking jay sitting on a branch. There is a target sign behind it.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games Prequel) by Suzanne Collins.

I’m thinking about rereading the Hunger Games trilogy before the prequel comes out in May. Here’s hoping that the prequel is well done and answers everyone’s questions about how Panem was created in the first place.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Goals for 2020

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My goals for 2020 are simple.

Woman sitting on a bench in an art museum looking at large paintings. Visit More Museums. It’s been too long since I stepped foot into a museum. That needs to change.

Try New Things. It could be as simple as visiting a new restaurant or as complicated as having a full-blown conversation in Spanish. I want to stretch my comfort zone this year.

Study Spanish Again. Speaking of foreign languages, I stopped studying Spanish last year. I want to pick it up again and hopefully get to a point where I can have conversations in that language. Learning a new language is hard,  and I deeply admire everyone who becomes fluent in a new language.

Spend More Time in Nature. While I love living in a big city, there’s something incredibly relaxing about spending time in nature. I want to do that more often.

Reply to Emails Faster.  I wasn’t always good at that in 2019. Let’s see if I can do better this year.

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