Tag Archives: #Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Women Of Letters

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In the Regency Period of England, when Jane Austen was writing, people wrote with quill pens and ink. Good penmanship was important. The quill pens were made from bird feathers, usually goose or swan, with sharpened tips to be dipped in an inkwell. The ink was applied to the paper with light pressure. It must have taken a lot of practice to get it right. Jane Austen published her books anonymously because it was not acceptable for women to be writers in her time.

Glad that women can write in their own names nowadays.

Jane Austen writing sample via Wikimedia.org

It would’ve been wonderful to receive a letter from Jane.  🙂

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt ‘letter’. Use it in your post or theme your post on any meaning of the word “letter.”

 

 

 

 

Yard Birds

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Amateur backyard birdwatchers my husband and I. We have noticed a little bird on our patio the past couple of days. It seemed pretty bold coming up to perch on our patio table chairs and tweeting its head off at us. It was making quite a ruckus this morning. I may have discovered why. I saw a pair of birds flying back and forth from the large Echeveria plant near the edge of our patio with pieces of wild grass in their beaks.  Are they building a nest inside the plant?  Is the bird on our patio standing guard?

Our little lookout could be a chickadee because he fits the discriptions with a black head. The sound he was making at us was like that warning alarm sound you hear in the last part of the little video above. Why are you sending up the alarm? We were minding our own business inside our kitchen when you happened to spot us.

I read that in California you are called the Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee by VJ Anderson

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt is ‘Why/Y.’ Chickadee video by LesleytheBirdNerd on You Tube.

Uptight About My Writing

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This funny little thing ( from Nanea Hoffman on Sweatpants and Coffee.com) popped up on my Facebook page yesterday and I wanted to share it. Don’t get the idea I am so compulsive about folding socks but I know some people who are compulsive about things like this and I will not mention names.

One thing that has been bugging me lately is that I have been looking for a new writing group on WordPress or elsewhere where I can contribute Flash Fiction and I found a couple of new places and I think they went out of business right after I posted some stuff. I hope I wasn’t the cause of this but it was disappointing.

Another thing is: Don’t you hate it after completing a post and thinking you have checked it thoroughly for errors and submitted it, you are reading it again and find errors, like you left out a word that totally changes the meaning of a sentence. And you didn’t notice it before.

It’s something about the brain seeing what is supposed to be there and it really isn’t. “You only thought you were reading the passage perfectly, because you automatically (and subconsciously) went back and filled in any gaps in your knowledge based on subsequent context — the words that came later.” (Live Science) from the post “Breaking the Code:

Why Yuor Barin Can Raed Tihs

The above post demonstrates how words can even be jumbled and numbers substituted for letters and we can still raed (read) the text. I was kind of hoping that a person reading my submission would automatically fill in the gaps but I did send them an email and fess up to it.

Is it because I think my writing should always be perfect? Everyone makes these kind of mistakes don’t they? What are you supposed to do if your brain is automatically correcting  errors and filling in words that aren’t there. Please tell me everything is going to turn out just fine.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “fine.” Use it any way you’d like, bonus points if you use it as the last word of your post. Have fun!” GIFs via Giphy.com. Featured image by www_slon_pics on Pixabay.com

 

Walking Through Doors

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Walking through doors that are not your own could be a metaphor for entering into unfamiliar territory or something that is outside your comfort zone. I do that a lot in my fiction writing. My characters do things, say things, and get into situations that I would probably not want to do. I just wrote a flash fiction piece where the main characters decided to go caving which involved rappelling into a deep cavern. In another story one of my characters used special gear to climb up 150 feet to the top of a redwood tree. It is fun to research what I need to make these situations real and I like imagining someone (else) doing these things. That is what is so fun about fiction writing. You can imagine people doing so many interesting things and create their worlds. The writer stands at the door to these worlds and holds the key.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt is “door.” Write about a door you walked through this week that wasn’t your own. Enjoy!

‘Walking through door’ GIF by giphy.com

His And Hers Skating

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His arms lift her above it all, spin, and then release her.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt is: “his/her(s).” Use one, use both, bonus points if you start your post with one and end with the other. Have fun!  Slide show of Sarah Rose and Joseph Goodpaster at Lillehammer 2016 by Clément Bucco-Lechat on wikimedia.org, Sarah Rose and Ian Meyh at US Nationals 2018 by icenetwork on You Tube.

 

Tiger Tale

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I read that Chile has banished Tony the Tiger as part of their campaign to change the dietary habits of their country. I grew up with Tony the Tiger, Frosted Flakes, and other too sweet cereals myself. I can’t blame Tony for any bad eating habits I have acquired over the years.

Tony the Tiger via giphy.com

There were so many choices when I was growing up: Sugar Pops, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs. But I wasn’t “Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs”,

via giphy.com

or even for Lucky Charms and the Leprechaun.

But the ads probably do influence kids. I remember the commercials were shown during the times when kids shows were on, like Saturday morning cartoons. I do think I miss Tony the Tiger saying “Frosted Flakes are GRRRREAT!!!! And that’s the end of my tale.

Did you have any favorite, too sugarly, cereals when you were a kid or even now?

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt words: tail/tale. Use one or both. Featured image ‘tiger meme’ by Meme Binge on Flickr. Gifs via giphy.com

Images And Words

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“One picture is worth a thousand words”

In other words, an image can have a tremendous impact…much greater than writing.  A photographer can capture an image that speaks in a universal language understood by everyone. Pretty hard for the written word to compete with that.

Child Laborer 1908
Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange
Marcel Marceau via Pixabay
Kissing the War Goodbye by Lt Victor Jorgensen

Lewis Hine: Exposing Child Labor early 20th Century US via US Capitol Visitor Center

To read more about Lewis Hine.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt ‘in other words.’

Fast and Slow Motion

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Even though I can appear stationary, I have been racing around inside. A restlessness because of feeling at loose ends. I think it is related to my moving into a new stage of life. I have been transitioning away from having a work life. And now that I don’t have a lot of stuff I have to do,  to distract me, I have to come face to face with myself. I have decided that is what this part of my journey is about. Taking stock of what my life has been and now setting off on a new adventure… the exploration of this new, unknown territory. But I think I am ready to begin. There are no guideposts, maps, or operating instructions. You have to figure it out for yourself. So I am taking it one step at a time.

Spider Meadows, Glacier Peak by Andy Porter

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today ‘movement’ However, don’t use the word “movement.” Choose some sort of movement, and base your post on that. Enjoy!

Featured image “Lipan Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park” by Adam Schallau US Dept of the Interior on Flickr. Spider Meadows Image from US Dept of State on Flickr. Both images part of National Wilderness Month Album from 9/2017.

 

Flapjack

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Octopuses occasionally occupy the ocean floor.

“While diving off the central California coast, the team of E/V Nautilus encountered this Flapjack Octopus (named for its ear flaps) lingering on the sea floor.”- EVNautilus via You Tube

Flapjack or Opisthoteuthis californiana via Monterey Bay Aquarium on You Tube. The octopus looks red because it is being illuminated by a red light which it can’t see and thinks it is in the dark. This little octopus is a rare find in the ocean.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s  “prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “oc.” Find a word that starts with “oc” and use it in your post. Bonus points if you start and end with your post with an “oc” word.”

Art Deco

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Los Angeles Union Station is done in Art Deco design as are other buildings like the City Hall, my featured image of the Eastern Columbia Building, Griffith Observatory, and more. So much was created in Art Deco design… buildings, furniture, jewelry, art, trains, cars, screens, doors, theaters. Elegant Art Deco.

LA Union Station waiting room
LA Union Station old ticket room
Kim Novak at LA Union Station 1956
Super Chief
California Zephyr
California Zephyr 1949
Pacific Shasta Daylight
Spirit of the Wind ‘Victoire’ by Lalique
Griffith Observatory

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Prompt for today is -eco. Featured image is The 1930 Eastern Columbia Building in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District of Los Angeles via Visitor 7 on Wikimedia.