Category Archives: Blogging Community

Soapbox Sound Off-The Grammar Police

“There are people who embrace the Oxford comma and those that don’t, and I’ll just say this: never get between these people when drink has been taken.”–Lynn Truss

Unsolicited corrections of others writing is not a helpful thing. I am happy that I have not experienced it very much. But this came home to me when I read another blogger apologizing for his grammar mistakes. He went on to say something like he was learning and to cut him some slack. I interpreted this as telling the grammar police, to back off ,in a nice way. Another blogger referred to these critics as “Grammar Nazis.” I believe it is a type of trolling.

Even though I have not been “corrected” often, I did find the experience caused me to hesitate when writing and wonder if I was making mistakes.

This is wrong. We are not writing essays for an English class. If we are going to be published in a magazine, newspaper or book the editors can advise us.

I have a blogging friend who is a grammar expert and writes a blog criticizing grammar mistakes in well-known publications. I did say to her once, that I felt I could be making grammar mistakes and, as she was one of my readers, was a bit self-conscious. She said I did not have a staff of editors like a big newspaper and therefore should not worry. I hope she meant that in a good way. Not that I was making tons of mistakes but, after all, I do not have an editor. 🙂 She has liked my writing.

Blogging lends itself to a stream of consciousness style of writing. If I am truly writing that way, I am probably making errors. Sometimes I catch them and sometimes I don’t. And sometimes I don’t realize I am making them. If my writing is truly unclear, the reader can ask for clarification.

I read that Jack Kerouac did not use periods, wrote on a long scroll, and did not edit himself. I have read a few quotes from his writing and feel, if I could write as good as he did, I would feel fine about leaving out a few periods

Blogging can be a format for experimentation and play. Bloggers are creating something out of their unique perspectives and engaged in exploration. I don’t think they should be held back and made self-conscious by having their grammar mistakes pointed out on their blogs.

I did a bit of experimentation myself with this verse:

To the Nitpickers

So parsimonious,

sanctimonious,

They claim your grammar is erroneous,

Though they claim to be platonic,

Their effect on you is so kryptonic,

When they say your writing is synonymous,

with everything that is cryptonymous,

In reality their critiques are very pompous,

And it sticks in my esophagus,

Piddly, diddly,

Picayune

And

Small potatoes

And one more thing by College Humor on You Tube:

|JusJoJan|

JJJ 2015

Stream Of Consciousness Saturday-Seabiscuit

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A most inspiring true story. The story of a courageous race horse named Seabiscuit.

Seabiscuit is one of the most famous race horses in America. He was ranked one of the top ten race horses in the 20th century. I first read the whole story about Seabiscuit in Laura Hillenbrand’s book of the same name. It is a wonderfully inspiring story about an unlikely race horse hero and his entrepreneurial owner, horse whisperer trainer, and slightly overweight and partially blind jockey. Seabiscuit captured my imagination when I read his story and that of the American public during the dark times of the Depression. Laura Hillenbrand’s story is pretty inspiring as well. She suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and is often confined to her home. She wrote another book about an unstoppable WWII hero Louis Zamperini called, “Unbroken.” It is the amazing story of his survival as a POW of the Japanese after his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Both books are highly recommended by me.

Here is an interesting documentary about Seabiscuit via Horse Racing on you tube:

|LindaGHill|

Writer’s Quote Wednesday-Faulkner

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“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
― William Faulkner

Well I should be able to write pretty good by now because I do read so much. I agree with this quote because I think you can pick up how to be more articulate in writing by reading others work. I read a bit of Faulkner’s biography and learned he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. He never graduated from high school. He used some of his Nobel Prize money to help establish the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. I like the part in the quote where he says if the writing is not good you can throw it out the window. He developed his unique style. I think all writers need to develop their own style. Try not to compare yourself to others or copy others.

|SilverThreadingWriter’s QuoteWednesday|

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One Liner Wednesday

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“There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy.”
― Mark Twain

We can not tell from the outside what a person’s life has been. When we reach out and talk to people we never know what we may find out. So many turn away from the elderly. Just think of all the interesting stories that are missed by not engaging with them. Stories from a long-lived life with lessons learned. Do we think they have nothing worth sharing? What can we learn from them?

|LindaGHill|

Free Time

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“I really think I write about everyday life. I don’t think I’m quite as odd as others say I am. Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that’s what makes it so boring.”

–Edward Gorey

I really like Edward Gorey’s illustrations. I am most familiar with the ones he did for PBS Mystery. I want to read his books. Reading about him makes me smile. He used funny pen names that were a play on his name like Ogdred Weary and Dogear Wryde. If someone so wonderfully creative could say that he was bored sometimes I think I am in great company.

It has been hard being semi-retired. But I realize, at the least in recent years when I worked full-time, I spent my life doing a lot of work that just kept me distracted and busy. It used up a good part of my life. Now that I have been rudely excluded from that work I am at a loss. With a bit too much free time. What to do with it. The problem is that my prior jobs and parenthood structured my existence for me and I now I have to structure my own.

People can say go get busy. Do volunteer work. Devote yourself to service. A lot of my life has been taken up taking care of other people already. I am doing some volunteer work and tutoring part-time but that is not enough. I think I must find work or an activity that is truly engaging for me not just busy making or a distraction.

“A lot of impulsive mistakes are made by people who simply aren’t willing to stay bored a little longer.”
― Paul Aurandt

Not a good idea just to jump into the first thing that comes along.

I mentioned PBS Mystery. We do not have cable and I do not watch a lot of television. But I do enjoy PBS Mystery. I have written before that I have really enjoyed Endeavor and the Wallander series. Masterpiece is another PBS production I really like. I am still watching Downton Abbey although I think the earlier seasons were the best. I like Call the Midwife as well. It is great learning about Nurses in England who were midwives and made home visits.

I am glad that I do not have regular television service here because I can see how I might end up sitting in front of it watching a bunch of garbage to fill the time. So from what I have seen of Reality TV, I don’t think it is for me. Especially The Housewives of You Fill in the Blank.

|Katgotyourtongue|

Stream of Consciousness Saturday-To Heal

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“Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing.”
― Linda Hogan

There are many synonyms for the word heal. Recover, be out of the woods, get back on your feet, bounce back, feel oneself again, pull through, and restore, are some. I have felt wonder and gratitude for my body’s ability to heal. There is nothing better, after having a bought of illness, than to feel myself gaining strength and feeling good again.

I have had some major challenges to my health and had to undergo major surgery two times and literally gone off a cliff in a car. So I have some good examples of our body’s ability to heal. I feel vulnerable writing about this because I do not want to be seen as damaged. I know people turn away from those of us who have had cancer.

I underwent major surgery for lung cancer two times in a 4 year period. In between those times my husband and I were in a major car accident which could have easily killed us both. I was terribly wrenched and bruised with 3 broken ribs from that accident. Each time I underwent surgery I was very frightened. Even though or maybe because I was a Nurse my fears were magnified. One brother-in-law, who is a MD, told me after the first surgery that this type of surgery is one of the most brutal and worse than cardiac bypass because of what they do to the body during the surgery. I am glad he did not tell me this before I went into surgery. I remember asking one of my RN friends about how they operate on the lung when you are breathing. I was not familiar with how the surgery was done and she worked in ICU and knew about these surgeries. She told me they put a tube in your windpipe and collapse the lung before they start. The recovery from this type of surgery is rough. But even a few days after I felt my strength and would get up by myself in the hospital at night to go to the bathroom.

About 4 years later, after the second surgery, there were several wild fires in the LA area. The location of one of the fires was not too far from the hospital I was in. During the second night, after surgery, I could smell the smoke coming into my room through an air vent. I thought this is so great for someone who has just undergone lung cancer surgery. I asked if something could be done. They could not move me or get ahold of anyone in engineering. Hospital beds are on wheels. So I got up and moved my own bed away from the vent.

The recovery from the second surgery was harder as I had been told it would be. I think part of that was my stomach does not tolerate pain medication. I really needed the medication but it wrecked my stomach and I ended up with trouble sleeping not only because of pain but because of terrible heart burn.

But I did recover from both of these surgeries. My body healed.

I do not have to go through major surgery to appreciate my body’s ability to heal. I do appreciate it even when it heals from minor illnesses and injuries. It is a kind of miraculous thing this great strength and ability to heal with which we are born.

My husband has pointed out to me that the visible scars of my lung surgeries have faded quite a bit. Another demonstration of the body’s healing powers.

|LindaGHill|

Writing Nerdy-About a Little Bug

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Monster 6 I can’t resist this guy or girl, so whimsical. This is a prompt from Nerd in the Brain. Where does he/she come from? What is his/her world like? What happened to cause him/her to have that look on his/her face? What was for dinner last night? Just what is he/she up to, eh?

Ode to the Flu Bug

I am qualmish,

Not so hot,

Under the weather,

Indisposed,

Rocky,

Out of sorts,

Out of action,

Something is amiss,

I think I have been invaded by this little bug.

This is how I would feel if I caught something that looked like this guy/girl. I did feel like this a few weeks ago.

The little bug says in reply:

The Flu Bug’s Refrain

I have a crazy life,

Floating around from here to there,

Ejected forcefully from someone’s nose,

I am just trying to find a nice host,

A warm, cozy place,

To live out my short life,

Is that too much to ask?

Give me a break.

Writer’s Quote Wednesday

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“I used to think that eighty was a very old age. Now I am ninety. I do not think this any more. As long as you are able to admire and to love, you are young.”
― Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals was a world famous cellist and composer. I like this quote because I think it is true that our perception of age changes as we get older. I once had a patient I visited when I worked as a Home Health Nurse. She was 97 years old at the time. She was living in a Nursing Home and one time she said to me about her fellow residents, ” They think they’re old, but they are young. When I was their age I could do a lot of things.” The other residents were in their 80s. How do you think about age and aging?

Pablo Casals via Ishaia Gonzalez You Tube:

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|Silver Threading Writer’s Quote Wednesday|

One Liner Wednesday-Funny Lady

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“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”–Phyllis Diller

Early in her career Phyllis Diller did stand up comedy in San Francisco at a club called The Purple Onion in 1955. I never saw her there. I would have been too young at that time. I did go to The Purple Onion on a prom date several years later.

Phyllis Diller was one of the first female stand up comedians. She always made me laugh. Especially when she did skits that included her husband Fang.

|OneLinerWednesday|

Carmen Herrera Artist at 99

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I love reading a blog I subscribe to and get in my Email. It is from EngAGE. It is an organization based in Southern California that has created housing for older adults and runs all kinds of enrichment classes at their complexes. At their North Hollywood complex they have a full theatre available for the residents who can get involved in producing their own plays. In addition they have this uplifting blog to combat ageism. It features older adults doing all kinds of creative things. Senior Planet.org is another organization I love. They often feature similar articles as EngAGE and they discuss issues that impact older adults.

There are so many inspiring stories. One that was sent to me recently from EngAGE was about Carmen Herrera. She is an artist who was “discovered” at age 89 and now at age 99 her work is being featured at a famous museum and gallery. She is still working at age 99. I am sharing this information from the EngAGE blog and other articles about her. Here is one from the Guardian and another one here. Her art is now to be shown at The Whitney Museum Of American Art and the Lisson Gallery.

When I first read about Carmen Herrera I said fantastic! Here is an artist who is still creating. I love these stories about older people and their spirit to continue to create. Artists, writers, musicians often can all continue practicing their craft as long as they want. This inspires me and I envy them in that they have this wonderful work.

An alarming bit of information came up about women artists. I also get a newsletter from Hyperallergic.com which is about art. I read an essay “The Problem of the Overlooked Female Artist” by Ashton Cooper talking about how women and minority artists for many years were held back by a white male dominated art world. Or at least an art world that only respected white male artists. This is so disheartening to me. I did not realize this was again another field where this discrimination was going full force. Carmen Herrera mentions it in the interview above. How she was denied a show in a gallery because she was a woman. I don’t know how these artists did not completely despair. The essay from Hyperallergic links to several other articles on this topic of “overlooked” women artists. The author suggests the story of these artists lives should be explored in more depth to shine a light on what it was like to face this discrimination and how they coped with it all through the years before they were finally recognized. Some died before being recognized.

Carmen Herrera via Frederico Seve Gallery: