#this is MY scrapbook journal personal blog and you WILL look at it unless you block tags or what have you

[canisonicscrewyou]

2022 Into 2023

2023 means a lot of things to me already, and the beginning of it means lots of planning. Something I excel at, clearly. Anyways. I know you shouldn’t go into meeting someone with prior expectations, but I can’t help but want her to be soft.

[fizzingwizard]

joking with bf about tumblr and realized I don't understand what people get out of social media anymore - like at all.

My first real "social media" was myspace. It was short-lived. But I liked that (back then) you had your own page, you filled it out with your information, you had your music and banners etc. Not so many images back then, but the point was your page was yours. Customizing your own space was fun.

Then I moved on to livejournal which was even more self-involved. You had your journal that was just yours. You could put anything in it, anything you wanted, and it wouldn't go away unless you chose to delete it. But other people could look at it and interact with you in the comments. And you could join communities where you'd meet other people with similar interests, which would then lead them to visit your journal and you to visit them.

When lj tanked I moved to tumblr, where once again, I have my own space, I can talk about whatever I want, people can choose to interact with me if they feel like it, plus there are visuals and video and a feed which delivers new posts from people I follow. It's easier than ever to just explore, meet people with similar interests, and make connections, while cultivating my own journal/scrapbook that is a record of myself over the years.

It seems to me that self-involved element just isn't interesting to many people anymore. Even though Instagram and Tiktok are definitely very invested in the self! I guess the argument is probably that no one reads text posts anyway, the best way is to post video or images and at most have a short quick to read blurb attached at the bottom. But the attraction of text posts, for me, was never the idea that other people were going to read them. It was simply self-expression. The enjoyment of talking about what's going on with me and working through it. It's nice to get comments, but sometimes the comments, well, make you feel worse, especially on a personal post.

On fandom posts I hoped for notes, but in general I liked to stew in anonymity. I thought about having separate blogs for fandom posts and personal ones. But you know why I didn't? Because I like going to someone's blog and seeing more there than just their art or fanfiction. I like knowing a thing or two about their lives. Not so I can judge them. Because it makes them feel real, relatable, like a friend. Someone I'm not meant to worship for their skill, but appreciate and support, by my own choice, as part of a community. When there's no info at all and it's just a fandom blog, it feels commercial to me. I'm always relieved when a fandom blog links to their personal blog, although I also find that much more jarring than if everything's just in one place and searchable by tags.

These days everyone tells me to be on Discord, Tiktok, or Instagram. But in none of those places can I develop my own personal space the way I like to. I can't even find groups with similar interests on them. Maybe some exist, but if they do they're nowhere near as easy to find as they used to be. When I was in my twenties I could always find people to chill with, no matter how tiny the fandom was. Now the point is to have a sleek, clean, specific persona so people know immediately what you're selling (even when no actual money is involved). You're selling art, you're selling fanfiction, you're selling meta, you're selling activism, you're selling witticisms. That's all great. And what we've all known, even since the days of myspace, is that what doesn't sell is personal posts. Talk about yourself = followers walk away. There's nothing for them here. Multi-fandom blog? Yeah but I only like one fandom you do, so clearly we have nothing in common and shouldn't interact. Lol. Honestly there are so many people here on tumblr I'd like to interact with, except when I visit their blogs they seem like they wouldn't want to interact with me. I'm only a little bit cottagecore, not 100% cottagecore. I sometimes post about books, but sometimes about anime. So the book-lovers who stick up their nose at anime don't want to hang out with me, and the anime-lovers who don't get classical literature maybe think I'm gonna be a snob toward them. Because they know "too much" about me. If they knew less, if they knew only what they'd feel comfortable knowing, because my blog is anime-only or something, then maybe we'd be friends. Not that I'd call that friendship :) but you know, in that shallow, hyper-specific social media sense of the word.

That's my theory. I never was popular on any social media site - personal blogs rarely are! Never wanted to be either (I've been here since I was in college and uhhh absolutely do not judge me please by anything I wrote when I was stupid nineteen). And it may be that very personal feature of tumblr which makes it less attractive to people than places where the point is to be a persona, instead of a person. Persona attracts, person not so much.

I just feel sad that this type of social media seems to be disappearing when I have no appreciation for the type that's replaced it. Believe it or not, I want to see y'all's novel-length text posts. Even when I don't read them, I still want to see them. I like having my little group that I follow and the only people I unfollow are blogs which self-promote more than I have a taste for. Small spaces are so underrated and I guess that's only to be expected.

[anxiouslyfred]

The Rainy Painting

Summary: Remus paints the memories he gets from his soulmate and posts them online. Since it’s Tumblr he posts to he never expects that his soulmate could actually find them though.

/\/\

Remus had leapt on the idea as soon as he encountered it, and ran away with it completely over the years that the internet and social media was growing in the world. At this point there were honestly a number of blogs convinced that he was actually the one to start the trend that picked up, rather than than he'd stolen the idea from classical artists.

True, it really was only speculation that some of the masterpieces of art were inspired by soulmate memories, but that had been enough for Remus to start posting his drawings online, eventually finding Tumblr as a home for them.

Drawing them had just been a way to make the memories feel more real to him. There were places he'd never been but could tell you everything that happened to his soulmate there and he kind of wished the memories were more solid sometimes. Place names would really be useful, but despite knowing it was possible to get them, his parents often mentioned that helping them meet, Remus's soulmate never seemed to focus on locations.

It wasn't really an attempt to locate his soulmate, as Roman was far to regularly pointing out he'd have a higher chance of managing that on something like Instagram, or Twitter, or just about any social media. He just wanted to post the art that came from the memory dreams, and see just how much of the emotions around the memories he could convey in them.

Something in the art must have at least resonated with people since his art filled the most popular posts under the #soulmate dreams tag.

/Another Approach to Memory Dreams\

There were journals spread over Virgil's shelves. Sometimes the pages had full memories he'd gained while dreaming recounted in them, but usually it was descriptions of the location, everything he could remember that would stand out if he ever found himself there. All of his soulmate's memories preserved on shelves to the right of his door.

He had journals and trinkets from things he thought could be the memories sent to his soulmate too. They were kept in books to the left of his door, with pen pots and extra scrapbooks holding identifying things for the locations. How could Virgil know if someone was talking about somewhere he'd visited without a pencil or postcard stating where that was? Place names just weren't that important to him to actually remember.

Sometimes, when Virgil was feeling extremely alone and unloved by everyone, he'd read and reread all the memories of his soulmate, just trying to figure out if he could find them. If there was actually a way he might manage it from the information he'd gotten.

He'd overheard some teens talking about memory art, or soulmate art while they'd been browsing in the art store he worked at and was wondering about looking it up. Virgil would never dare to post anything he drew online. The only thing that would happen was it'd get ignored, in the best instance, otherwise he'd probably face a lot of criticism.

Virgil had seen more than enough of that hate and criticism of anything when his cousins had convinced him to get a twitter for a while. That had only lasted a week before Patton had deleted his account as well as the app from his phone, refusing to watch Virgil panic over things happening a world away they could do nothing to help, or just freaking out over the amount of things people tried to claim made someone evil that were really just coping mechanisms for stressful situations.

If people describing or painting the memories they got from their soulmate was a thing though, surely any social media would have some people posting it?

That thought had Virgil hesitantly searching it on Tumblr while trying to get the idea out of his head.

He did not expect to see the store he worked in painted red and tilted on one side. Just the brashness of the brush strokes in the painting made it feel angry, a lot like the customer from 3 weeks ago that had argued over the size a top was labelled and started throwing things when he'd informed them that he was that days working manager.

Looking on the blog that had posted it, their most recent picture was also familiar to Virgil; a soaked city street, with a blue car driving away in the distance. That could have been taken from the day Patton had left for one of his family celebrations, leaving with the comment that possibly Virgil could try making a new friend while he was away. It had left Virgil feeling abandoned and guilty, as though his isolation from the world made him a burden upon his only real friend.

Holding his breathe and wishing to anything that was listening in the universe, Virgil opened their ask box and started typing out his memory of saying goodbye to Patton. He tried to play it off, pretend it was just a strange coincidence that he'd lived the scene the painting seemed to reveal, but had to know if this could be his soulmate, could be someone actually painting his memories and posting them.

/Returning to Remus\

It wasn't often people actually commented on the scenes he painted. Sure, occasionally someone would praise the emotions Remus worked to capture in paints, but the images wouldn't get asked about. They all knew it wasn't his memory to share and that he'd only post the stories if it was something that caught his interest in absurdity.

So when Remus had a message basically telling him the memory with some details that the dream hadn't included added, he was excited and very very confused.

The message just ended as though the person sending it didn't think they could be soulmates at all, “Just you know, the latest picture made me think of that, is all.”

He wasn't replying publically if he was about to get rejected. “O.o You got the entire bloody scene completely right and are saying it 'just made you think of it'??? Honey, unless you literally have your soulmate sat right the fuck beside you, I'm claiming that role right now!!! Wanna give me the shortest description of your last memory dream in a DM and see if I can fill in some details????”

Thank goodness they hadn't sent the ask in on anon so Remus could reply privately, but this felt huge, and like he'd explode if he didn't do something right now.

By the time the alert on his phone went off again, Remus had climbed out of the window of his apartment and up onto the roof. Sure there was a fire escape but that was taking the easy route, and never let it be said that Remus took the easy route to do anything.

The message on his phone simply read “angry red dude screaming and throwing paint.”

Whomever Anxietoid-Mess was, it was now confirmed that they were Remus's soulmate.

“My brother getting angry a week ago, because I pointed out the story he's been writing is all innocent and predictable with nothing really interesting for me to want to read it. We'd been painting together in an attempt to get along because his friend doesn't think families can be as dysfunctional as ours is.” Remus recited, bouncing in his seat.

The sun was setting on the city and as much as he'd love rain, or a thunderstorm, it was easier to use a phone in dry weather. And now he was messaging, and with a few clicks now he'd remembered following, his soulmates Tumblr, well Remus's future sure looked interesting. Perhaps he could even get some place names eventually.

[batsysims]

didnt wanna do an actual Simself Edit™ so have an arrested development reference

anyways

i was tagged by @0cherub & i tag any1 who hasnt done this yet bc who doesnt like answering 125 questions abt themselves oh also @flavortowne im forcing you to do this sry

get to know me tag

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? its batsy dont worry abt it

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? its batsy dont worry abt it

3. BIRTHDAY? september 15

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES?  what?? are books

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? ye both

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? ummmm idk lmfao i havent “read” a “book”” in like 5 years 

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? 35 & 36 on sirius are like basically the exact same station but that doesnt mean i dont constantly alternate between the two whenever im near a radio

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? pink is a v trustworthy flavor

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? *owen wilson voice* wrow

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? what kinda question is this wt f ive currently reobsessed myself w marina and the diamonds so honestly any of her discography

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? idk any words :^/ sry

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? wheels on the bus im exhausted

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? man in the high castle. man in the high castle. man in the high ca

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN? clerks al;dksfjf

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? almost exclusively sims and fallout but every once in a while some indie game i find on steam so. yea

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? never doing anything in my life and having nothing 2 look forward to!! yay

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? probably my resiliency, maybe?? idk

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? my habit of allowing bad things to happen to me lol

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? cats but im sorta kinda indifferent 2 both i think i might 1 of the 5 ppl on earth who dont like having pets

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? summer and fall

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? yea

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? not being lazy lmfao

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? @flavortowne eye emoji

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? blue

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? its natural brown but im thinkn abt going either red or blonde again

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? like 3 ppl irl and everyone on discord u guys legit

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? my person and @flavortowne eye emoji

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? tom hardy. what is his end goal

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? tbh going 2 basic lmfao im!! lame

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? as of right now,, spiderverse lol

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? teletubbies was fckn legit and so was old school spongebob

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? my person

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? im not superstitious,,, but i am a little stitious

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? i cant deal w fishing poles idk

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? in front babey

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? sims or stitching play foods 4 the kid to use on her play kitchen

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? stop asking book questions

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? spiderverse yeye

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? piano & i try 2 pretend i know what im doing w a ukulele

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? stingrays :^)

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? legit all my mutuals

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? i had an oc that could read ppls memories like a scrapbook if he touched them and i always honestly thought that was. cool

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? in my house!! the door b locked bitch!!!!

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? toddler being an idiot toddler

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY?  its not really,, a sport,, but i bike

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? cream soda in those glass bottles is top tier non-alcoholic beverage

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? i wrote a letter 2 my person telling him he was an idiot and by the time it was mailed 2 his house i was already living there lol

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? nah

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? either ppl blowing vape in my face or holding something so close to my face i cant see i just go ballistic

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? nope unless u count a sesame street liveshow like 10 years ago

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? nope!

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? a cop lmfao

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? this is horrible but the setting of new vegas i just feel like id be at home there, w the radiation and constant danger and dehydration

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? the kid

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? only when im looking in the mirror adlkfj start thinkn abt a different face showing up instead of mine idk

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? yea

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? skipped a whole year adlfkj

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? this is basic but i miss the tri-state area

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? this is basic but i miss nj

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? yea :^/ a dog, a cat, and uhhhh 14 fish

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? night owl but honestly im just always tired

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? sunsettttt

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? i do

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? headphones. they just work

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? nah but i need em

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? i listen to everything tbh

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? michael cera

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? i used to read them religiously but not so much any more. i am reading the TAZ graphic novel tho

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? having to repeat myself 20 times. or being an idiot when i wanna start a new hobby

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? idk how to read

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? honestly i had a blast in econ and my law enforcement class

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? a bro, another sibling, and a half-bro

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? food lmfao

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? every time i measure myself im 5′2″ but the government insists that i am 5′3″ so w/e

75. CAN YOU COOK? yeap

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? alcohol, bike riding, wearing stupid makeup

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? ppl holding me back, bird box, when my nail breaks before i can file it so its all oglee

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? uh idk?? i dont have,, many,,,, friends

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? bi

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? sc :’^(

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? my brother

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? 2 nights ago the kid pistol whipped me in the chin w her phone and it just hurt so bad it legit made me lose it

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? ok this is dumb as shit the kid is obsessed w Blippi and i have a mom crush on him afdslfkjs

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? ye

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? i am currently obsessed w L.O.L. Surprise! Pop but all in all probs Pocket Camp

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? bad as parents but theyre fine now that im an adult and they have a grandkid they can like

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? i dont like a majority of them lmfao but idk maybe uh?? irish

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? rly wanna go to nevada but im moving to the mojave soon anyways so

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 15

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? nope

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? i was raised christian but i dont rly give a shit abt any of that

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OR THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? outer space my dood the ocean is dumb and scary

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? im jus livin my life

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? i mean. im lactose intolerant but thats abt it

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? nope

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? no

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? when im wrong abt something

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? forest ig bad choices

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? i dont think i was ever given advice, ever. maybe thats why im like this

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? idk i try not 2 lie unless its like. an obvious exaggeration for the lols

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? wtf idk ok i just did one of those quizzes & im a slytherin?? what does that mean

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? yeah

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? more of an introvert but im ok w going out there if i gotta

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? i keep one for the kid but thats abt it

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? nah. unless it was something stupid like burning food like im not gonna ban u from the kitchen

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? if theres an id i guess mail it 2 the address on there?? idk ive never just. found a wallet. i think this happens a lot less than all the hypotheticals make it out to be

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? if theyre dedicated to it. i dont think ppl can just do it over night and i dont think its ever a 100% change

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? dont touch me

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? Yep

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? 2 in both ears but thats it

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? spidr...mna

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? no :^( once im cleared for them tho deffo

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? i hate that this is the answer but enlisting adlfkjs

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? yeah ig??

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? glasses

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? 2 late

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? we all b stupit

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? idk?? i get embarrassed but also get over it quick so like. idk

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? yea

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? black & red

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? mhm

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? i was on nickelodeon back when they had those cuts to the Live Studio Audience™

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 21

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? savory i almost never eat anything sweet

[dococonutsmigrate]

Self Care

Big breath, now let it all the way out.  Okay.  Caring for yourself is hopefully something you can come to with kindness and gentleness towards yourself and learning to do these things, and is something to learn to do without pressure or worry.  This is just for you, and just for you to make your life easier, and to help you feel better.

A few brief words about selfishness: You might be thinking that some, or even all, of the things on this list look selfish. That's probably because they are. But that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with doing them, that it's not okay to do them and take care of yourself, or that only you benefit from self-care. Taking care of ourselves, being selfish in that respect is essential to our health and well-being. Self-care and self-indulgence aren't the same things (but we feel like the latter is also okay, too). And if and when we don't take care of ourselves, and either neglect self-care, or set our lives up so that we only look to others to care for us, we can't be self-reliant and independent, we don't tend to do very well, especially through some of the harder parts of life, and it's also nigh unto impossible to have healthy relationships, too. So, this stuff? It's for you, and your life. Your life that is about you, but also your life that includes other people and relationships with them which are far richer and more multi-dimensional than someone being your caretaker or nursemaid.

Some self-care ideas and standbys:

Movement or exercise (the kind you enjoy and feels good, not something solely with the aim of weight loss or changing appearance or which you only do because you feel you should: think dancing like your pants are on fire vs. situps, or a mellow bike ride on a nice day rather than a trainer yelling at you in an air-conditioned gym)

Cooking or baking; eating things that are good for you, but also tasty

Doing something creative, like making music, writing, cooking, painting: you don't have to be an expert at it, you just need to pick something where you enjoy the process

Baths or showers (singing like you were at karaoke in the shower is often a good touch: pick a song that's a guilty pleasure for bonus happymaking points)

Getting outside/out of doors

Meditation or prayer

Watching a favorite movie, reading a good book (or a crappy one if that makes you feel better), listening to music

Slowing your breathing

Visiting a museum

Getting a haircut or getting your hair washed

Talking to friends or family you know you can trust and who are good to you

Hanging out with friends, family or other community for a distraction

Journaling

Turning off your phone ringer. Better yet, leaving the phone behind for a while, period.

Leaving love letters to yourself on the mirror with post-it notes

Gardening, growing or planting something

Take a day trip somewhere, by car, bus or bike: you can even be like a tourist in your own town or city, checking out things you wouldn't as a resident, but visitors usually want to see or do

Masturbation (Partnered sex tends to be a poor choice when we need self-care, since a) it's not just about ourselves and can add stress and b) tends to be a particularly bad fit when not with a partner well-known to us and in a sexual relationship that's going very well. And, of course, if sex is stressing you out, as with any of these things were they stressors, it'd be a truly poor choice for self-care.)

Counseling or support groups

Change up your transportation if it's stressful: if you drive, see about public transit, walking, biking or skating.  If public transit is making you anxious, look into carpooling

Clean up, spruce up or rearrange your room or apartment

Spending as much time as you want at the library or a bookstore

Sitting somewhere comfortable and relaxing. Seriously, just plain sitting.

Watch silly videos online. Like this one. Or this. Or this. Or this. And most certainly these or these. Or, you can watch some music videos from the 80's, which we thought were awesome, but you'll probably find painfully hilarious.

Visualizing something awesome

Making sure to leave school or work on time, rather than overworking or overachieving

Create a new Tumblr feed or blog about something that is fun for you, and is a way to play and relax (once when I needed some extra self-care charge, I made one called Something Small and Beautiful which was about nothing but small, simple things that made me happy)

Playing with toys, or do something else playful and child-like, like futzing with playdough, spending time playing on a playground, coloring in a coloring book (we strongly endorse Unicorns are Jerks) or with chalk on a sidewalk, or reading a favorite book from when you were a child.

Letting yourself cry, especially if you're a bottler

Doing something simple or small that gets you closer to a goal or dream

Volunteering

Scrapbooking (it's so not just for grannies anymore)

Saying nice things about yourself to yourself

Taking time to do something deeply silly or really frivolous

Playing with pets

Learning to do something you have always wanted to do: try something new

Window shopping, or cruising through Pinterest

Finding somewhere you can yell your head off and yelling like there's no tomorrow

Making a playlist of songs you know either cheer you up, soothe you or help you feel the things you're feeling

Having a picnic: can even be all by yourself

Manicures or pedicures

Make a space for yourself in your room that's dedicated to self-care

Taking a minute to recognize and acknowledge your strengths, talents or achievements

Saying no to someone or something: setting a limit

Helping other people in small ways that feel good, not stressful

Doing a face masque (extra bonus, this also ticks the "do something silly" box because everyone looks a fool with a face masque on)

Going to bed early or letting yourself sleep in for a change

Forgiving other people or letting go of anger or upset you have with someone, or more than one someone

Dressing in clothing that makes you feel comfortable, handsome, beautiful, sexy or all of the above!

Having a pillow fight

Massage (self-massage or a massage from someone else)

Daydreaming

Disappearing in the good way: leave your cell at home, unplug from the net, and go get yourself lost and quiet, all by yourself, somewhere you feel safe where no demands will be made of you

Taking yourself out to dinner or lunch

Insisting on self-care time and space with others as needed; insisting on self-care to yourself

When I do well with self-care for myself, I find one reason why is because I'm mixing up the kinds of self-care I'm doing, rather than only caring for one part of myself, or caring for myself in only one way. Your mileage may vary, but I find it works well to think about something I can do -- in a day, or even within the whole of a week -- with my body, a thing I can do for my body, a way I can be playful, a way I can really sit with and feel all my feelings, something I can do that's creative, something I can do to get outside, and something I can do socially. Of course, sometimes you can do something that combines a few of these -- like taking a photo walk with a camera, where you get to get outside, move your body and do something creative. Or, if it helps you to pare this down even more, see if you can't, in a day, do one thing for your body, one thing for your head, and one thing for your heart or spirit.

When we're freaking out, stressed out, or otherwise challenged and at loose ends, one of the ways we can do self-care is to simplify or relax our lives in some ways that we're able. It's probably obvious that when our proverbial load feels to heavy, lightening it tends to help.

Some ways you can lighten your burden and travel through life more lightly:

Do only one thing at a time when you can, rather than multitasking

If a courseload at school feels too tough to manage, see if you can't drop one of your classes, take an incomplete or audit instead

Get rid of stuff you don't need: sometimes clearing your space can help you clear your heart and head

If you're being super strict or rigorous about something you don't absolutely have to be -- like eating, exercise or a training schedule, studying -- see if you can't relax those things at least some. It's mighty stressful living with a drill sargeant

Taking things off your to-do list or out of your life you really don't need to be doing, can delegate to someone else, or can set aside and do later

Do what you can to take steps to move away from or leave from relationships that have gotten very stale, rarely make you happy, or which are controlling, manipulative, abusive or otherwise dysfunctional. Even if you aren't able to, or don't yet feel able to, leave them full-stop just yet, see if you can't start taking some steps to get there. And by all means, don't go to those relationships, or hang with those people, when you need self-care

Spend less time online, unless you limit yourself to sites and spaces you know are 100% good for your emotional well-being. (If nothing else, at least stop reading blog or article comments.)

Reassess your goals: if you're reaching for too much all at once, pare back, sticking with one or two goals at a time.

Try to stop overspending, whether it's money you spend more of than you've got, time or energy. Get a realistic sense of what you've got in these kinds of areas and what your limits are, and try and stay within them.

Pick a bedtime you usually stick to, and walk away from anything that you can that can pose new stresses an hour or two before: the internet, phone calls, television, talks with people who are stressing you out, homework, et cetera

Ask for help.  I know it's hard, believe me.  But just do it anyway. Sooner, rather than later.

On top of the things you can do, there are also some things we know tend to increase or encourage anxiety, depression, or just plain feeling lousy, that you should try and avoid or limit -- that you should try NOT to do -- to best care for yourself.

Some self-care frenemies:

Trying to stop or shut down hard or uncomfortable thoughts or feelings: not only does that not tend to work, and can even make those feelings or thoughts stronger, letting those thoughts or feelings out is really the way to go to best process and sort through them. You need to let those thoughts and feelings be what they are and accept them.

Booze, sugar, caffeine and other things you can put into your body, like junk food, that aren't good for you: when you want to nourish yourself, you've got to nourish yourself. Stimulating, empty or toxic stuff doesn't do that, and also often increases things like anxiety or depression, especially in the long run, so limiting those things when you need self-care is the way to go.

Validating fears: In other words, you are terrified of a thing, and want to find others who are also terrified, in order to basically make your fears seem more reasonable and not be alone in them.  That's all fine well; and good, except for the part where then you end up not just soaking in your own panic or angst, but the panic and angst of everyone else, which most typically will only exponentially increase yours, rather than dialing it down.

Obsessive Googling: Dr. Google is not your friend when you're freaking out. Neither is Yahoo! Answers (which I've started to call Boohoo! Answers, based on how users seem to be feeling when they come to us for help after going there first and how I feel after talking people off a ledge all day who went there then came to me for help after) or other random crowdsourcing sites, medical sites or apps where you punch in a bunch of symptoms and it tells you you might have cancer when, in fact, you just have a bad head cold. If you're going to go to the web when you're in a bad way, pick places you know, for sure, have a history of doing right by you when you're feeling like crap or needing sound information and support. This isn't the time to take chances.

Lazing about: Especially with depression, it can feel like all you should do is what you want to do, which is to lie down and never get up. But while getting enough rest is important, so is getting enough activity. Avoiding sleep or going without sleep is equally problematic. If you're having big troubles with sleep or activity in either direction, a visit to a healthcare provider is a good place to start to get help with that. Messed-up sleep -- way too much or too little -- really, really does a number on a person.

Isolation: It can feel really scary and vulnerable to be in a bad way around other people, especially if you are introverted or have any kind of social anxiety. But totally isolating for long periods of time isn't a sound answer either. See if you can't at least find some ways of being around other people -- even if you're not directly interacting with them -- when you're stressed. On the flip side, do remember the SELF part of self-care: never allowing yourself to be alone, and to care for yourself, by yourself, at all, isn't sage, either.

Stimulating fears or anxieties with things you know trigger those -- like continuing to engage in sex if it's freaking you out, watching movies about things you know scare you or make you upset, etc. One way of treating anxiety does involve exposure, but that is usually done with the help and care of a therapist, and with very specific instructions. DIYing that is rarely a good idea, and only tends to increase your discomfort and trigger more anxiety.

Negative or unsupportive people and, perhaps obviously, abusive, controlling or otherwise big-time unsafe people. P.S. You count. In other words, beating yourself up about things, talking trash about yourself to yourself, and engaging in other kinds of self-harm makes you the negative or unsupportive person. Be kind to you when you're in a bad way.

http://www.scarleteen.com/article/abuse_assault/selfcare_a_la_carte

[morganadventures]

Bullet Journaling

Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog! So I obviously use this blog to talk a lot about my life and the stuff I’m up to, but I also want to start posting a lot of your typical blog posts! So, what better way to start off a classic blog post then with a bullet journaling post?!

As some of you may or may not know, a newer trend this summer is bullet journaling! Bullet journaling is a journaling system designed by you towards your liking. What you do is you get any type of notebook and you basically put whatever you want in it! It can be used as a scrapbook, a journal, a planner, a sketchbook, and so much more! The point of bullet journal however, is to combine all of the topics you had separated to 50 different journals in the past, into one journal to provide for easy access and easier journaling, so you’re not spending three hours out of your day trying to locate and journal into a handful of different journals.

The best part is, you make the journal so that it works for you. You don’t have to do it this way or make certain pages look that way. It’s all yours and unless you decide to show it to someone, no one ever has to see it. So yours could be the craziest journal out there and the least organized to some, but if it’s what works for you, then who cares!!

Another really fun aspect of bullet journaling is that it has grown into a huge community of hundreds of different personalities of people! Sometimes when I’m trying to find some inspiration for my journal pages, all I have to do is search ‘bullet journaling’ on YouTube and wow! A whole flurry of videos of different artistic and organizational minds emerge into one fun community!

My bullet journaling experience has been so much fun! I’m not the most artistic person you’ll ever meet, but that’s the beauty of bullet journaling — I made it work for me!

So, if you have thought about taking up bullet journaling but you were still kind of on the edge, I suggest you try it out! Just get a cheap notebook from Target and start crafting away!

Here are a few of my favorite YouTube bullet journaling videos to check out if you want to get a better understanding of the craft or need some neat ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

◦https://youtu.be/EgA33PwqAPM ◦https://youtu.be/jB9tFGXur9A ◦https://youtu.be/qTcSWWcKyyU

And if you do decide to start up bullet journaling, DM me or post in the comments below your experience and what you thought of it! I would love to hear some other opinions!

Thank you all so much for reading and be sure to check out my YouTube channel and my Instagram!

Talk to you all soon!

Morgan

[maddiviner]

The World of Grimoires, Part II: Choose Your Weapons!

If you’re going to have your very own grimoire, you’ve got to start with some raw materials. These will vary depending on what style of grimoire you have in mind, how you’d like to organize, and what you want it to look like.

Fancy?

Many, many witches over the years have told me the held off on beginning a grimoire until they could find “just the right book” to write it in and just the right tools to write with. Nine times out of ten, the most coveted blank books for grimoires are giant leather (or faux-leather) tomes that resemble something you’d see in a fantasy novel about witches. 

Many also want to write in these books with quill pens dipped in magical scented ink, another old-fashioned technique normally seen nowadays in fantasy fiction. I’ll admit that I longed for such things myself when I was just starting my first grimoire, and have felt pangs of wonderment at the thought of owning them many times sense.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting that sort of setup, but anyone will tell you that it’s a bit impractical. Giant leather tomes are expensive and easy ruined by stray splotches of ink. Quill pens are difficult to work with at first, and require much practice to use correctly. Magical scented ink is nice, but can, again, be pricy, even if you make your own.

This is compounded by the fact that many new and experienced witches (including myself at times) have a sort of neatness obsession when it comes to their grimoire, wanting it to be perfect from the start and forever, with not a single splotch of ink out of place.

It often seems that, the nicer and more expensive the notebook or journal, the more perfect and neat we’d like it to be. Given how easy it is to completely ruin a new and expensive leather journal if you’re slinging around magical scented ink from a brand-new quill pen, you can see how this problem snowballs into quite a conundrum.

I won’t tell anyone not to buy an eldritch-looking leather-bound journal if they want, but I will say this: expect imperfections, especially in your very first grimoire. You’ll be getting your feet wet with the concept and are bound to make plenty of mistakes. 

Regardless of what notebook or journal you get (if any), make sure it’s something you’re comfortable making mistakes in. It’s pretty horrible to see someone get a nice notebook, spill some ink or rip a page, and shelve the entire thing, afraid to touch it again.

A far better option than a very expensive blank book would be a moderately-priced undated journal such as a Moleskine or other more elaborate creations.I’ve made it no secret which publisher of blank journals I prefer, and have written at length about why I tend to choose Peter Pauper Press journals. These undeniably won’t please everyone, though, and there are many other publishers creating beautiful blank journals.

If you choose something like that, don’t buy it for appearance alone - consider if it’s well-made and will stand the test of time. One thing I always check is that the price sticker is removable and doesn’t leave much residue on the cover. Not everyone will care about this, but I find it neater that way.  

I do recommend checking to see if the paper is of good quality.  Cheap paper can lead to pens bleeding through, doesn’t handle markers and other decorating tools well, and can overall ruin your grimoire. I’m not saying you need extremely expensive high-quality paper, but just check to make sure it’s thick enough not to experience bleed-through.

Utilitarian?

Many witches prefer a more utilitarian approach, out of necessity or other concerns. This can involve a wide range of materials, and is often quite a bit more discreet than a giant leather book and quill pen. This is advantageous for those who’d rather not attract unnecessary attention to their practices. In truth, a grimoire can look like whatever you want, provided it gets the job done, and this includes appearing completely ordinary, like a normal notebook where you’d find a shopping list or accounting information.

Some are fine using a simple spiral-bound notebook available at any dollar store as their grimoire. If discretion is the most pressing concern, a normal college rule notebook is likely the best bet, but I caution against buying something poorly-made or with very thin paper, especially if you plan on decorating the inside later on.

Another option would be a packet of binder paper and a three-ring binder with tabs. You can create sections in the binder according to subject or whatever other organizational feature you might want to use. A binder has the advantage of being easily reorganized, removing and adding pages when necessary to create the grimoire’s intended structure.

If you want this feature, but still crave an old-fashioned leather-ish look, some suppliers online sell elaborately-decorated binders to suit that aesthetic. Another option is to buy good-quality printer paper and a hole punch. Then, you can actually print digital grimoire pages from your computer and insert them into your binder. If you have a particularly good printer, you can even add elaborate images and colorful decorations with clipart, public domain paintings, and other available artwork. You can even make your own in Photoshop or another program.

Digital?

Printing a grimoire is a great option that plenty of witches use, but just as many prefer to keep their grimoire wholly digital, existing only on the computer itself. If you struggle with handwriting or are simply more comfortable typing, either of these are wonderful ideas.

For a wholly-digital grimoire, I recommend an app like Google Docs, and I also recommend that you separate each entry or section into its own file, and organize them into folders for easy sorting. Google Docs has the advantage of being accessible from almost anywhere.

Another idea would be to purchase a small but high-volume USB drive to contain your grimoire. Some shops even sell rather beautiful USB drives that can be worn as jewelry. I personally know a technowitch who chose this route, and now keeps their grimoire in a small USB locket around their neck.

Increasingly, some witches are using blog sites such as Tumblr to create digital grimoires. If you go this route, be sure that the site you choose has an option to password protect your blog or, if not, that you’re comfortable sharing everything you’ll be writing there with the world.

Open grimoire blogs are quite an amazing and useful trend to have developed recently, particularly on sites where it’s easy to share content, like Tumblr’s reblogging system. These are great because they allow for you to quickly consolidate information provided by others into a sort of digital scrapbook that can be studied later or as needed.

If you create an open grimoire blog, please give credit where credit is due in everything you post. If you copy an incantation from a book, cite the book and author. If you include content (such as spells and rituals) made by other witches online, be sure they’re okay with their work being included in your grimoire.

And, give them the courtesy of linking back to their site when you post it. After all, you’d want them to do the same for you, and, truth be told, you can get into legal trouble for plagiarism. It’s rare, but it can happen, so it’s best to be honest, ask bloggers for their permission if necessary, and always credit them.

One of the advantages of a digital grimoire is that it’s quite easy to add images, and there are many beautiful public domain works of art you can use to illustrate your entries. If you’re good with Photoshop or a similar program, you can also create your own images there, too. If you have any skill with HTML/CSS3 at all, or are just good at copying and pasting, you can style the overall layout of your digital blog grimoire to your heart’s content, as well, using custom theming options available for most blog platforms.

I Have a Pen…

Last but not least, it’s important to consider the writing utensil you’ll be using for your grimoire. You needn’t have one specifically dedicated to that purpose unless you want, but you want to choose a pen that flows nicely, is legible, and doesn’t splotch the pages. For many, a simple ballpoint will do, but I tend to prefer felt tip or fountain pens, myself. If you decide to dedicate a certain pen just for your grimoire, you’ll probably want one that’s refillable and not meant to be just tossed after the ink runs out.

If you’re interested in custom inks (including magical scented inks!), investing in a fountain pen could be a good decision. These pens are easy to use and leave your grimoire with lines similar to what you’d get from a quill pen. Look for one that specifies it comes with a “converter;” this is a small gizmo which will allow you to fill the pen with custom ink, including colors you could mix yourself.

You can purchase scented inks, including stock formulas like Dove’s Blood Ink, from many metaphysical shops. You can even try mixing your own! Many websites and books give instructions for doing so, and I in particular recommend the ink formulas described in Scott Cunningham’s book, The Complete Book of Incense, Oils, and Brews. Make sure whatever ink you’re getting doesn’t bleed through the paper.

Beyond pens, what else might you need? If you plan on illustrating your grimoire, art supplies are a must. If you’re already an artist, you probably have your favored medium on-hand already, but if not, I suggest researching various illustration tools and choosing the one best fitting your personal aesthetic.

Keep practicality in mind, though. I, for example, adore watercolor, but rarely use it in my grimoires because it causes the pages to curl. Instead, I use soft pastels to illustrate over and around what I’ve already written. I’ve only just recently started illustrating the pages at all - all of my previous grimoires stretching back to high school were strictly writing with an occasional diagram.

While I’m not much of an artist, I do find it very soothing to add color to the pages of my grimoire, and the pastels blend to the point where they leave my writing visible beneath them. It’s a bit like a coloring book, but with no lines to worry about, just endless gradients of relaxing colors. This is great for me, as I often need to de-stress and do something fun after I’ve finished studying or writing for the day.

I’ll sometimes draw small illustrations, but they’re quite simple so far. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, I have dyskinesia and my hands shake sometimes, making fine motions difficult. Still, I hope to learn more about art techniques in the future as I work further on these grimoires, and make them more adorned and beautiful as time goes on.

If you’re unsure what art medium is right for you, I suggest researching and, if possible, trying several. There are also a lot of resources for choosing markers, colored pencils, watercolors and other supplies to be found, oddly enough, on sites about bullet journaling. Bullet journaling, while normally quite simple, does often involve illustration, so the “bujo” crowd is knowledgeable about such things.

[plogan721]

Introductory to a new year and change

Hello, and welcome to 2020.  This post is in place of the Motivational Monday I usually have for a Monday post.  I will start back to regular Motivational Mondays next week.  There is so much to see and do in my life until I have to explain it along the way.  Before I get into today’s topic, let me revisit a few things:

2019 the year of mystery and misery…

Not true.  I will admit that I had a bad year, but who hasn’t.  I am going to tell you right now that as long as you are going to be alive, you are going to go through something.

2019 was a year of first-time losses in a very long time.  The last person I lost that was close in my family (meaning biological) was my grandmother.  This was 2003.  In 2019, I lost an aunt in Indianapolis, IN.  she just turned 84 in September.  She was my uncle’s wife, who is my mother’s brother.   The second person died Monday, December 30th.  She was my mother sister who lived in Bessemer, AL, she was 79. So, as my brother would tell me on the phone yesterday, it is starting.  My mother’s siblings are dying, but I do not look at it that way, as we are all dying.  We do not know when and how we are dying.  The moment that a baby takes its first breath, on second thought, when it is conceived, that baby is dying.  It may live to be born or not.  A friend of mines baby did that 6 years ago.  She died the moment she was born. Then again, that baby may live to be 100 years old or more.  It all depends on how it is taken care of by the parents and other caregivers, and how they decide to take care of themselves once they turn 18 years old.

Photos from Pixabay; Arranged by P. Lynne Designs (c) 2020

2019 was a year of self-discovery.  As I get older, I am learning what is tolerated by me, who I let into my life, and how I handle the situations that are thrown at me.  For instance, It has been a challenge to deal with my parents getting older, especially my mom.  She is holding on her own, but I feel that traveling is a challenge for me, rather I invite the family to come or not.

Back in May, I finally booked that Walt Disney World vacation I have been trying to get the family to go on for years since me, my parents, and my eldest nephew, who was 11 at the time, came back from Southern  That day in Anaheim was a blast.  While me, my mom, and nephew spend the day at Disneyland, my father, who is not a Disney fan spent time at a Dodger’s game.  Perfect timing. My brother nor sister did not go.  My sister could not go because my middle nephew was 3 months old and not cleared to fly.  My brother had to work.

California, and spending time in Temecula, Los Angeles, San Bernardino (where the family lived for 6 years), and Anaheim where Disneyland is located.

I decided to plan the Walt Disney World trip after the first of the year, 2010, but since then, things and situations had come up over the years, including my mother’s illness.  I had to continually cancel a booking after booking and even allowed Disney to cancel a couple for a lack of commitment on my part.  I made the announcement at the beginning of 2019 but kept putting it off.  This coupled with the opening of the Galaxy’s Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios, which drew a lot of people, I did not want to be standing in long lines for one ride.  So, I booked for us to go from December 15-20, 2019, in a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary Resort.  Everyone was excited, except dad, who I had to try to ask in a nice way if he wanted to go to Florida, which would automatically land him at Walt Disney World. Well, that did not pan so good.  I will mention in another blog post what happened (Hint- At Home with Tricia's Baskets)

It is little things like that which made me wonder if 2019 was a bad year, but really it was not.  No one has threatened me, threaten to take anything away from me, and so forth.  My health was pretty good. So I postponed one little trip?  A year is what you make it, good or bad.

Now finally for today’s topic 2020.

I want to take the last few moments to talk about this year 2020.

Business dealings 2019 and the coming 2020

I finally did it.  P. Lynne Designs is splitting up.  This is how that is going to happen.

P. Lynne Designs is going back to its roots.  I started this company as a creative company.  Creating stationery products such as greeting and note cards, invitations, business cards, bookmarkers, and anything related to them.  However, I am not going back to scrapbooking.  The reason is quite clear.  The industry itself has changed and has incorporated digital to its core lineup.  In the wake of Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tiktok, it is hard for me to keep up while handling these items and my other business.  If a person requests it, I will do one for them, but it is not going to be the main product of my business anymore.

Speaking of my other business.  I will admit that I have felt the loss of running two businesses.  Before it was being a Longaberger Home consultant (which is coming back in a new way for the moment via QVC), and P. Lynne Designs. It was fun doing the juggling act.  No, I will not be a consultant for another company.  Although it was fun, I was not getting commissions like I would want it too, because I had too few customers in comparison to other home consultants.  This has to do with my blogs and the freelance writing side of P. Lynne Designs. The new company is called The Writing Grove, and this is where I will take on clients who need something written for their business or personally.  I will also house the blogs, At Home with Tricia's Baskets and My Ambiance Life (which I am thinking about changing the name to The Writing Grove). The P. Lynne Designs blog will be with business, P. Lynne Designs.

There is a third business that will allow for affiliate marketing and content sponsorship, but it will serve both companies, so it is not an official company and it will not be registered with the State of Ohio.

Speaking of which, my name renewal for P. Lynne Designs is coming up in April, although I have up to that time to pay it, and I will be registering The Writing Grove at the same time.   Unless it has gone up, that is around $100 for both companies (or $50 each).

2020 personal

Lastly, my plans for me are simple.  I am finally going to try to adopt a child.  I know, dealing with a child and a business is going to be rough, but I am up for the challenge.  I also want to take home my friend’s babies.  I also hope to find a nice guy.  Yep, love life to which I currently do not have.

Photo by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

Personal buys I would like to make.  A new home and a new car.  About the new home, I have been talking about this since I moved out of my last apartment, which was 2002.  Yes, I live in this amazing condo that I did not intend to stay for more than 5 years, but it has been close to 20 years.  I want a home where I do not have to worry about stairs.  I want a larger kitchen, a dedicated room for my craftroom, which I will have in the current condo when my nephew and his girlfriend move out, but at the present moment, I have a corner in the dining area.  This is more than what the average crafter/business owner could ask for.  I also prefer not to share my garage space.  I am sharing mine with the neighbor upstairs, and sometimes they irritate me.  The other day, my nephew was unloading something from his car, and in the middle of his unloading, the neighbor’s father came down and closed the garage door, without asking.  I could not tell him to leave the garage door alone because my Spanish is rusty, and he does not speak English at all. Gone are the days when I could tell my neighbor to leave the garage door up.

As for the new car, I am currently driving a used 2008 Dodge Caliber.  This car was an emergency buy because I had an accident in 2015 with my 1998 Honda Accord.  This car was only supposed to get me through the fall and winter of 2015-16, but I elected to keep it for a while and shop for a car payment that I could handle.  For a while, I was dead set on getting a Honda CR-V, a year behind whatever current year.  So, if the current year is 2020, then I would get 2019.  Well, I rode in my friend’s car, and I could not help but think how big this car was.  I mean, the only thing riding with me would be my child (unless I get siblings), and my business, so I switched to an HR-V, which is much smaller, easier to handle, and it is still a Honda, plus it is the same size as my Caliber.  Next thing I knew after making the announcement that this is what I am going to purchase or lease, my father thinks that I am better off with a 2020 Hyundai Kona, like the one that one of the older ladies at my church drives.  I got irritated with that.  So, now, I am supposed to test drive both the Kona and the HR-V. My money is still on the HR-V, but I am open.  He also does not want me to lease, even though he has been leasing his cars for years.  OooKay?

2020 Blogs

I will tackle this in the next post.  I have spent too long talking about the other stuff, and I am close to the 2000 wordmark, which is a tip, this is actually small in comparison to what was the 1000 wordmark for most blog posts.  I will have the normal Motivational Mondays, only it will be on all three blogs.  My Ambiance Life blog, everything will be about the same for now.  I will mention on At Home with Tricia's Baskets what I am going to change on that blog, as well on the P. Lynne Designs blog as well.

Well, this is long and drawn out.  I hope I did not bore you.  I am really out to grab more readers and give you information on all things writing, creating blogs, journaling, and other things related, like planners.  This is going to be a fun year, I can tell.  Until then, check out the rest of my blog posts from 2019 and before.  May God bless you, and peace out.  

from Blogger http://bit.ly/37GbCiQ via IFTTT

[0225pm]

something random part 1

so i was trying to be less lazy and started deleting unwanted photos and videos in my camera roll and i stumbled upon a 100 questions tag i screenshot some time in dec 2016 and i never got round to doing it and since i’ve got some time now i’m gonna do them all here just for the fun of it and also to “train” my typing and visual skills :-) 

are you ready? here we goooooo~

////////

1. when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - more cereal than milk

2. do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? - singapore doesn’t have the 4 seasons, it’s constantly summer here with the occasional monsoon/rainy days but yes i do like the feeling of just air/wind in general on my cheeks and everywhere else really

3. what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - scrap pieces of paper, receipts

4. how do you take your coffee/tea? - i like semi-sweet black coffee for something hot/warm but i love cold drinks best

5. are you self-conscious of your smile? - currently, a little bit after i noticed how crooked one of my front tooth is and how there’s like this stain which as told by my dentist was probably caused by a medicine i wasn’t supposed to take when i was younger because it’s an irremovable stain even if i bleach my whole set of teeth white :-)

6. do you keep plants? - i don’t but the family has them, given by my uncle. my dad takes care of them every morning

7. do you name your plants? - um no

8. what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - it’s not very artistic but sometimes when i’m angry i’ll cry :-) LOL 

9. do you like singing/humming to yourself? - sometimes i do hum without realising it and who doesn’t like singing to themselves!! i do even though i know my voice is fucking gross and i have no singing talent, it’s a good way to destress 

10. do you sleep on your back, side or stomach? - i used to sleep on my stomach but after the surgery i got used to sleeping on my side and it’s been that way ever since then

11. what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? - if i tell you, then it’s not an inner joke anymore ;)

12. what’s your favorite planet? - i want to be cliche and say earth but i really like saturn 

13. what’s something that made you smile today? - a voice message han sent me asking if i’m ok or if i’m unwell just because i decided to sleep early yesterday night and then i went on his twitter and saw a tweet saying i should tell him if i’m sick and not keep it from him hahaha idk why but it made me smile because it was something so small but i guess it was quite out of the norm for me to want to sleep early which was why he was worried hahaha

14. if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - a huge mess because we’re both lazy bitches loool but i guess something we have in common is, the lesser the furniture the better! 

15. go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - venus has super powerful winds

16. what’s your favorite pasta dish? - seafood tom yum fusilli from 18chefs

17. what colour do you really want to dye your hair? - omg i really want to go back to silver/grey again :( 18. tell us something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - it isn’t always brought up but lmao when i was younger, my mom enrolled me into a childcare and we have this nap times in the schedule. i always volunteered to lay down the mattresses (we have our own mattresses to sleep on with our names on it) so i can lay down and nap beside this boy i was crushing on

19. do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw in it? - i used to but i can never get into the habit of writing daily as you can see, the same goes for blogs too lol but i had this scrapbook i bought and wrote down lame things like a mini biodata, and then i think in sec 2 i asked the whole class to sign their names in it 

20. what’s your favorite eye color? - brown like farhan’s ;) ayyyy HAHAHAHA i’ve always like green eyes that sometimes changes into dusty gray under different lights

21. talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - i would say my kanken bc it really has been with me to hell and back since i always had to carry my mac around but i’ve been really digging this black backpack my mom got me the other time and have since carried it every fucking where i go

22. are you a morning person? - i can be if i want to

23. what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - sleep? but too much sleep isn’t good either. i guess most time i’m on the internet just lurking

24. is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? - yes

25. what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? - um i wouldn’t really say broken into but i went in the men’s toilet to pee before because it was so urgent

26. what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - used to be my white nikes but now it’s just my trusty pair of the classic high cut chucks

27. what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? - watermelon

28. sunrise or sunset? - sunrise mainly because i don’t see it often

29. what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? - gushing over her boyfriend

30. think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - yeah a whole traumatic experience that gave me social anxiety

31. what’s your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really just talk about socks. - lol i think it’s something necessary with shoes ofc there are still a lot of people who probably don’t wear socks with their shoes. yes i like wearing weird socks and no i don’t sleep with socks on unless it’s super cold and instead of confining myself to white sock hell, it’s black sock hell.

32. tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3am when you were with friends. - i’m actually usually with farhan after 3am but um no story for the public because nsfw content HAHAHAHHAHA

33. what’s your fave pastry? - I REALLY LOVE A GOOD CROISSANT OR A BAGUETTE OMFG I REALLY 34. tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? - i keep a bantal busuk my late grandma made for me instead of a stuffed animal. it’s called bantal busuk and just looks like a bantal la duh hahaha it’s rectangular and has bear prints all over it, base color navy. yes i do HAAHHAHAHA it hasn’t been washed my whole life i love ittttt

35. do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - yes wtf i have a small thing for stationaries but i don’t use them often now. i used to spend my pocket money on a bunch of this rainbow pens that when you use to write has this really cool pearly rainbow tint i’m not sure if it’s even available in stores anymore

36. which bands sound would fit your mood right now? - i’m actually listening to dpr live - jasmine right now

37. do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - clean la obviously but it’ll always get messy so ya damn lazy to clean up hahah half clean half messy

38. tell us your pet peeves! - people littering like wtf stop it please, etc 

39. what color do you wear the most? - black isn’t a color but yeah black

40. think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? - a pair of mini hoop earrings farhan got me for my birthday! the most personal thing of/from him i have on me all the time hehe

[canisonicscrewyou]

Doctor Who itches my brain again, Carly Rae Jepsen released a new album, I can make a bangin risotto, and was very, really, impossibly gay this October. November, light me up.

October 2022;

The Loneliest Time- Carly Rae Jepsen & Rufus Wainwright

Whole Lotta Love- Led Zepplin

Dinner & Diatribes- Hozier

we fell in love in october- girl in red

Heel Turn 2- The Mountain Goats

Halloween- Phoebe Bridgers

You Are Going To Hate This- The Frights

Short Skirt/Long Jacket- CAKE

All Day and All of the Night- The Kinks

Hexagons and Other Fun Materials- Sidney Gish

Landscape- Demo- Florence + the Machine

I / Me / Myself - Will Wood

Mary On A Cross- Ghost

Sideways- Carly Rae Jepsen

Swan Upon Leda- Hozier

All I Want Is Nothing- Frank Iero

Lights Out- Mindless Self Indulgence

Against the Kitchen Floor- Will Wood

Friends- Bohdi (Lena, Nina, Claire, Jordan, Aaron, Earl, Liz, & Ben)

Foreign Object- The Mountain Goats

Rasputin- Boney M.

Drunk on Halloween- Wallows

Death of a Bachelor- Panic! At The Disco

Heretic Pride- The Mountain Goats

Bad Habit- The Kooks

Over at the Frankenstein Place- Rocky Horror Picture Show

High Tide Rising- Fox

Corsican Mastiff Stride- The Mountain Goats

Over the Garden Wall- Jack Jones, Over the Garden Wall, The Blasting Company

[plogan721]

I Am Looking Back and Remembering My First Blog Post as a Blogger

Photo byPixabay 

My very first post on my P. Lynne Designs blog.  My Ambiance Life is not the first blog I started.  The evolution of my blogs goes like this:  MDN Creates.  This started as a hodge-podge like a blog that covered topics such as “What heck am I doing” to “I got this, but it is time to split the blog because there are too many different topics on here”. That last topic I owe to my friend, who told me that I was covering too many topics on the blog.  The first post was an introduction to me and the blog itself, so I will not reminisce on that topic.  Nothing much to reflect on.  The next post, the one I will be commenting on was dated January 5, 2009, was titled Resolutions, and again, it was before I separated and divided the blog into the three blogs you know of today. 

Reflecting on Resolutions

As I am reading, I am first reflecting on how much I have grown as a writer in the past 10 years (January 1, was my anniversary).  In order to get anywhere, you need a starting point.  The only things I knew at the time in regard to blogging was;

1)      This blog had to be interesting to grab a reader’s attention to the point where the reader cannot wait until the writer puts in a new post. This means that I needed an interesting topic and the content of that topic is not of your typical, boring textbook variety

2)    Consistency is the key to all, even though I have not always reflected that consistency.  I am getting better.

I also had a moment or two, where I reflected:

·        I started the blog (now called P. Lynne Designs) at a time when Oprah was still on the air.  In fact, I referred to something she said on her show.

·        I mentioned that I had goals in 2009.  They were: 

o   To organize

o   To stop beating myself up

o   To love me more

o   To do more of what God asked of me

o   To scrapbook more

o   To take my business more seriously

o   To take time for me, to learn, and to grow.

·        I mentioned each goal and how I would do it.  Now I am finally going to give you an update on those goals in a moment.

·        Joel Olsteen came up in the conversation about never be still.

·        I submitted an article to Associated Content.  I am not sure what the results of that were, I am a terrible person in the art of follow-up.

Some of those moments made me cry.  Why?  I get extremely emotional at times or there is something in my eye?  I love gushy moments like this, and this is one of the reasons why I started blogging and journaling in the first place, to not hold it in.  I have gotten better on where to channel my anger, but that does not mean I do not get angry anymore.  That is like taking an emotion away from someone.  For someone like Abby Lee Miller to tell a dancer to save their tears for their pillow or to tell a boy that men do not cry does not do it for me.  Yes, there is a time and place to cry, but if you must cry, do it right there and get it over with.

So, back to my reflections on resolutions….

I mentioned that the post was long.  Why did I say that when the average post is supposed to be at least between 1,000-2,000 words?  Yes, back in 2009, “Resolutions” would be considered a long post.  No one knew exactly how long a blog post had to be at that time. Experts used to mention that anything blog post beyond 500-800 words is a fairly long post.  Another reason for that statement is back then the experts thought that such a lengthy post would give way to repeat phrases and ideas, and you cannot and should not repeat what you said 5 minutes ago unless you are summarizing.  

Summarizing a post

When I summarize, I call them TAKEAWAY MOMENTS.  During this time, I am telling you again what I said throughout the piece, or I am giving you little nuggets of information that should help you should you be going through what I have been through. I start out by reminding the reader of my topic then I sprinkle in the repeated information that was mentioned in my blog post.  When I repeat, I often remind the reader what is important, and I try not to sprinkle in the fluff.  Finally, I concluding with on a bit of advice to carry through.

What has changed since Resolutions?

This is an update to the goals I mentioned in “Resolutions”. Not only has my writing changed from that post, but the goals as well.  The most noticeable change is the blog name.  It is now P. Lynne Designs and it reflects that on the blog when you first click on the blog post.  It is about the change again soon because I am working on my website, P. Lynne Designs, and new posts will be going in the blog section on the website. It has been a good ride on Blogger, but I have grown, and my writing has grown. At the moment, I have a coming soon on the website, but you are welcome to signup to be on my mailing list to be notified when the website is coming.

Also, the niche has changed.  It is no longer a hodge-podge collection of what I feel like writing.  I own that splitting the blog up into bite-size pieces.  My Blessed Life (now known as My Ambiance Life) is part of the split.  So is At Home with Tricia's Baskets, a combo of former blogs Simply Organized Crafts (which is now ONLY a Facebook page), Traveling to the Mouse’s House, and Tricia’s Baskets.  These two blogs will also leave the Blogger Home for WordPress.  The foundation of the blogs are there, I need to start the final setup and launch.

Updating my goals since that date

Since I wrote that entry, here is what has transpired:

        To Organize:  well, I am not totally organized to that point.  I can receive company now, even though I was always able to receive company.  When you are in possession of things, even things that people agree you should have or not have, you want to make them presentable and so not messy.  I was on the side of messy, and even though people had places to sit, hold a conversation and eat my food without feeling ill to the pit of their stomachs, I did not feel comfortable without someone saying something.  That may have been my OCD kicking in at the time.  As my pastor puts it quite eloquently, I am an extrovert introvert.  More on that in another post.  If you do not understand, try not to overthink it for now.

         The next three I will tackle together; To not beat myself up, To love me more, To take time for me.  This does not mean I was harming myself.  When I do something that was a mistake, I am harder on myself more than anyone.  I am constantly saying why did you do that.  To love yourself means, do not get upset because you are not married, you do not have children, or you are not a certain status in life.  Just because you see someone who has those things that you desire does not mean you do not have to say things like, “I wish”, “Why did this happen”, “why was I not more intensive”, or “if only”.  That ship has sailed, or it has not come to you.

           Scrapbooking More.  Actually, that has slowed down a lot.  Since that time, I have created one scrapbook album for someone in 2018, a lady at church. The reason was around October 6, 2010, a little company called Instagram got started and paved the way for scrapbooking the traditional way obsolete.  Instead of sharing scrapbook pages you have made with the photos you took, you share them on an account.  No one was asking for an album to be made because they can make them on the phone and in an online account. Not only that, there were people who asked me at work why to make albums when all you are doing is wasting paper and making the world a bad place to live.  Please do not get me started for there are worst things a person can do to desecrate this world than making a project out of paper.  I shifted my focus more to making cards and learning how to turn my skills into freelance writing, graphic design, and projects.  This lead to;

         Taking my business more seriously.  No explanation there, except I am still learning.  This also leads to-

Photo by Pixabay

          I am still learning and growing to better myself and to teach others.  I keep mentioning that in a former career move, I was once a preschool teacher.  While I may never find myself teaching anyone (children or adults) full-time again, I enjoy learning more so I can teach.  Last month (June), I was thrown into being a teacher’s assistant for my church’s Vacation Bible School.  I actually had double-duty.  I was the assistant director and a teacher’s aide.  One of the teachers ended up in the hospital before VBS got started, and since no one volunteered to be a helper and substitute for her, I volunteered.  Even though it was for one week, I enjoyed listening to the children (ages 4-11), and it reminded me of why I chose to be a preschool teacher in the first place.  Every once in a while, take in the small moments on why you started something in the first place. For me, it was the love of children, and watching how they process things and ideas. I will have a whole blog post on why I quit my teaching job later

Conclusion and takeaways

If you are a blogger, I suggest that you take a look at your first blog post to see how much you have grown as a writer.  Even if your blog is only a few months old you will discover in that few months’ time how much you have grown as a writer.

If you are not a writer but do not know where to begin, start with journaling.  Once you are in your comfort zone, try to expand your writing.  It does not have to be a blog, but I can tell you right now that sharing in some compacity helps you to grow.  Also, sharing helps you to be mindful on your writing skills.  If it a journaling post you do not have to share every detail of your life. 

If you do start blogging, use a program like Grammarly (a program I use and love).  Grammarly is a free spell checker and grammar checker.  Grammarly also comes in a premium subscription too.

Finally, if you share things like goals, it makes you more accountable than to say them and forget them.  Work on those goals and update your readers.

Until next time, take care of those things that matter to you, which include those persons in your life that matter to you.  You matter to me, so, take care, and God Bless you and your week.

from Blogger http://bit.ly/2YUIjVI via IFTTT

[plogan721]

What does Your Journaling Process Look Like

It has been a minute since I wrote about journaling in this blog.  I have been busy prepping this blog for a transformation:  I am moving to SiteGround.  More on that as I prep for the move.  I am making a small announcement, and so far, I like what I see of the hosting site.

Today is about your journaling process, which is something that not too many people think of.  I was going to finally give you your first writing prompt of the year (even though by the time you are reading this it will be March), but it is more important that you think about how you process.  There are, in my opinion, two types of processes, one is how you write and one for writing routine.  It is the second one that I am talking about today.  Next week, I hope to get into the actual process, or what is your style of writing. 

I will talk about this as we go along on this journey together. Now on with today’s topic.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links within the post, I may receive a commission for your click and purchase. You do not have to make a purchase to enjoy this post, I only highlight products to help with the cost of running the blog, and I only post links to products relevant to the topic in that post and to companies I use and trust.”

What is your Journaling writing process?

First off, there is no right or wrong way to write in your journal.  Ok, I stand corrected.  The only wrong way is not doing it in the first place.  It is better to put something on paper, or in my case, computerize paper.

Your writing process goes beyond putting words on paper.  You may, in fact, have a whole routine surrounded by writing in your journal.  These are in particular order but think about these things as you write this writing prompt:

Location:  A little corner in your bedroom and a full-blown She-Shed?  Yes, your environment has a lot to do with how you write.  It is best to be in a completely silent place, no kids, no spouse. No internet, and most defiantly no social media.  Notice I did not say, no music.  Soft music is required for your choice.  Nothing loud or harsh, like head-banging music unless you like thinking in that environment.  No trying to tell you what type of music to listen to, but you do want something to quiet your mind as you formulate your words.  My location at the moment is one of two places: my bedroom, propped up against my pillow or at my computer desk in my little craft corner.

Time Limitations:  a quick 5-minute write up or 2-hours? Again, no judging here.  If you want to jot down a few notes, go ahead, but for writing prompts, you want to devote at least 15 minutes.  Same thing with any story you are trying to develop for book publishing.  It also depends on what time of day you decide to write.  There is no wrong way to the time: morning, noon, or night.  The wrong way is not being consistent with your time routine. I suggest that you do not write when sleepy.  I have gone back to look at some of my prompts and wonder what the heck was I thinking when I was writing while sleepy, but my routine lately has been for both my personal journal prompts, as well as blog posts is after midnight when everyone is asleep.  That way, I get no distractions, and all my work is done for the home and my business.

Libations:  a little wine with your prompts or a full course meal?  Yes, it is ok to eat and drink during this time.  It also depends on what you like.  In the mornings, I love me a good cup of coffee, but if I write around dinner time, I eat my meal.  Sometimes, I have a plain glass of water. Since the for mentioned late night writing schedule, I have been known to have a soothing cup of tea with my writings, lol. 

Seat:  Comfy chair or in bed.  Your seat of choice depends on your location and the setting up of your location.  In the case of having a She Shed (Man Cave for women), you would pick your favorite things to have in there, including your seating arrangements.  I have seen she sheds where there are couches (Oops, the correct term is sofa) for some guests, a lounge, or a big comfy chair.  Some people have a desk from their childhood (repurposed, of course).  Whatever makes you comfortable when you write.  One thing is for sure, I will say this in bold letters: LADIES, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE A SHE SHED, NO MATTER WHEN THE HUBS AND CHILD SAY!

With that being said, here is my version of the writing prompt today, January 29, 2019:

What is my Journaling Process? (feel free to change the title word from “Your” to “My”)

As a person who decided only 10 years ago to write for a living, I have been journaling longer than that.  I have officially been journaling off and on for 20 years.  I have said many times how I got started, which was through a friend of mine, who passed in 2002. 

I have many routines when it comes to writing, but the one that stands out is the one I am doing now.  I write at night when everyone has gone to bed.  This is my routine.

I write in my journal mainly to clear my head and to process the events of the day.  At least that is the way it was when I first got started.  I still do that for the most part.  It does not matter if I am mad at someone, upset with myself, contemplating something, or to write just to write, it is the same way:  I wait until the end of the day to write in my journal.  It is my way of getting out anger issues, find inspiration from it, and for the first time in a long time, try to find a lesson in the problem.  I want to devote a time where I do not carry my anger to bed with me, maybe not to solve that situation at that time, but to go to bed, empty, ready to tackle what lies ahead, good, bad, or indifferent.  If the writing does not help, and sometimes it does not, I have extra assurance in I go to God in prayer for that situation.

Now, everything is not always a problem. It might be something that I want to do, and the journaling helps me brainstorm it.  I write out what I want to do, write about the steps that I might have to take, how much money I may need to save in order to achieve it, and so forth.  Like for instance, I have been planning this trip to Disney World for the longest.  I type out what an ideal day at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot would be with my family.  Also, where we would stay, what we would eat, and how we would get around.  Other things I have journaled about in the past were: buying a new house, a new car, and how my business would run (the latter, I now have a dedicated business journal for that).

As for the actual routine, like I said, I mostly journal at night.  I have some coffee or water.  Sometimes I eat a little snack.  Not much, since I am heading to bed after I write.  Sometimes, I will try to write in it with my mini Ipad, but I find that sometimes the file will not sync with my desktop so I can note some changes (made by me), and I will not lose my place.  I now have a habit of re-reading my entries for clarification, and to keep me from doing the “what the heck was I typing” face before I go to bed.  If you can tell, I am sort of a “Grammar police” type of writer. I may not catch everything, but if I re-read my post before posting them to my blogs, I am going to re-read my journal entries.

After that, I save the file entry, which is automatically saved thanks to the new feature Microsoft programmed into the office programs (best feature ever), in case I forget.  I turn out all the lights, say goodnight to Gizmo, my niece-cat, and go upstairs.

As for my writing space.  No, She Shed.  I want one, but this condo does not allow me to have one.  No space for it, when you have 3 people and a cat living here. I am lucky I have a corner for both my journaling and crafting space.  It is made for a dining room, but my table is in the corner of a “bowling alley” shaped living room.  This is also where I do other business things, such as design graphic design products, such as business cards, letterheads, and invitations; scrapbook and card products, and my newest obsession, planner products (stickers and printables). I look at social media and make and watch YouTube videos in this corner.  Yes, one day I will have a She Shed.

So now it is your turn.  If you are looking to answer this question in your own journal, Do it.  It is not required that you send me a copy, but if you want to, send it plogan721@att.net. (No pressure).  If you have your own prompt for this week, that is OK too, as long as you write something, anything, even if it is a simple “Hello World, it’s me”. You have taken a baby step.

Some prompts I will come up with like this one.  Others will be from the internet or this book I got from Target yesterday called 300 Writing Prompts, but it is also available at Amazon if you want to follow along.  If there is a writing prompt or a question you have, please put them in the comments below.    In the meantime, thanks for being a part of today’s prompt, and I will talk to you later.

from Blogger http://bit.ly/2IEXYoF via IFTTT

[plogan721]

How to stay relevant in writing

Stats for My Abience Life.

On this day, it is not wordless Wednesday, it is Writing tip Wednesday.  I am starting to become less sporadic in my topics, trying to stay on topic, and trying not to write about the current and sometimes stupidity of topics of today.  Yes, I have had my moments (Black Lives Matter, the current new administration, and so on).  I have not written about Ms. Abby Lee Miller either. I can tell you this, unless you enjoy current topics, writing and arguing about your opinions to others, and other things like this, stay away.

When did I notice that I needed to change the writing of this blog?  There were two things that that alerted me to the problems I was having with this blog. Actually, three, but I will tackle the third on a later date. 

The first was a physical notice.  I was feeling more stressful when I wrote on certain topics.  My body would tense up and I would start to get uncomfortable.  I have often said to write outside your comfort zone, but Black Lives Matter and other topics like that made me so militant, and I am not that type of person.  Yes, I am concerned, and I want what is best for my race of people, but there are other ways of doing this topic without yelling protest and marching (which the next march in my downtown area I plan on going), but not on my writing blog.  If I choose to start a blog on these topics, this is where the platform will lie, and as of this date, I have not plan on starting a blog with that in mind.  (Too stressful)

I was more relaxed when I did topics such as telling a couple that their wedding day is their day and do not listen to anyone else, being a Dutiful Daughter, the fun aunt, or my opinion on a writing prompt from BlogHer. 

Tip #1:  Write on topics that relax you, not stress you out.

Individual blog post Numbers.

  The second thing I noticed it is something that I will go more into depth, later on, is a topic called “By the Numbers”.  Blogger is not the best judge with this, nor do I recommend it, but if you are a blogger and you use Blogger as your platform, you can still see the numbers.  There are better programs out there, including Google Analytics, which can track your pageviews better.  If you care about them.  In a later post, I will get into the numbers, and why you should care about them. 

Tip #2:  These numbers will help you monetarize your blog, get sponsorships, and more traffic.

Tip #3:  Reading your favorite blogs and finding out how they make money on their blog will also help inspire you to try their methods, but only try one or two.  All monetarizing techniques do not work for everyone.  Find what works best for you and your situation.

The last thing that I noticed and it goes along with the numbers game is to find out what the trends are for your niche (topic or subject of choice).

I want to pick on my own blog for the moment.  This time it is P. Lynne Designs the blog.  I have not written in it for a while because I am trying to transfer it over to the WordPress platform and make it part of my e-commerce site, which I am in the process of creating, through the teaching of Renae Christine. 

In case you are new to me and my blog/website, P. Lynne Designs is a stationery website, and I also have an Etsy store which I will attach to as well.  In the store, itself, I create greeting and note cards, scrapbook albums and pages, Notebooks and journals, and freelance writing.  Among this is also the wedding, graduation, and birthday invites and party favors.  On the blog, I talk about the subjects that back these products.

With the blog (as well as the website), I need to be on top of what is trending, questions being asked, and address them head on.  Yes, that question has been asked some zillion times on the internet, but a client may like my answer, or they may like a better answer. It is just my opinion, but I may have also answered for my readers, who may not use the search engine for that answer.  They could be thinking about it as they are reading.  I may never know.

This is how you can bring people to your website/blog.  Well, at least one way.  There is still the marketing aspect of bringing people to your blog. It is also another topic to cover soon.

Before I close, I want to point out two websites that will help you answer life’s burning topics for your blog/video/social media platforms.

Answer the Public

The first one is called Answer the Public.  This is geared towards the answers people have when searching on search engine websites like Google.  I am trying it for the first time, and already I love it.  (This is not a sponsored site).  When you go on Answer the Public, you want to type a Keyword.  For this example, I typed in the word, Mini Book, which I am starting to replenish on my Etsy site.

The results look like this:

As you see, it looks pretty much like a brainstorming session.   So, I am sold on it.  You can use this for when you are stuck, need more views, or want to get to the top of a search engine page (#1).

Keyword tool.IO

The next one is called Keyword tool.IO.  If you are familiar with keyword apps, you know that this type of app is also used for getting your post or video top ranking, but if you want to know how to gear your post or video towards a specific problem they are having, click on the tab, Questions, instead of keyword suggestions, and you will know which direction to point your post.   

I will go into more depth on these two at a later time.  There are many more websites that do this sort of work, and you do not need to pay for it too.  In fact, if they want payment or some sort of registration and this is a one-time search, leave.  But so far, there isn’t a charge for these two or two others that I use for my handmade business.  Marmalade, which you can sign up without being charged, a one other keyword tool, which I cannot think of right now.

The bottom line is that these are helpful IF you want to make money off your blogs, writings, videos, and handmade goods.  This is for your information.  I am not an expert on this and I give out information on things that have been helpful to me and what I like. 

If you do find this post helpful, please share, like or comment on this post.

from Blogger http://bit.ly/2muj6m3 via IFTTT