I can string words together and have fairly good grammar. I have ideas and information to share. I started with eHow and learned a lot there but they shut us down. So, I moved some of my articles to Helium.
I liked Helium and had a very good time with new writing friends. I practiced my craft at article writing and actually made some money but they also shut down. I moved some of those articles to my computer and the rest found their way to Squidoo. I have enough articles on camping to write my own book which I may do someday.
I had a great time on Squidoo but we were told that they were closing their doors too. It was discouraging but Squidoo had made arrangements with HubPages to take all our lenses and make them hubs. Before the transfer, I deleted more than 50 articles because I knew they weren't going to make it on HubPages. That left about 150 which I edited to conform with their rules. I was enjoying my time until yesterday when all of a sudden some of my hubs became "unfeatured" for quality. I took a hard look at the three of them and could see where they needed to be updated.
However, I am tired of trying to fit what I want to say into other people's rules. It appears that the hubs that were former lenses are being dealt a deathblow. We (those from Squidoo) think HubPages is regretting its decision to take our lenses and this is their way of weeding them out. I updated a healthy lens today only to have it drop into unfeatured for quality. It's about baseball with lots of original photos and even more information on how to be a good baseball parent, including what not to buy.
That will be the first one that I post here next week. Our grandson has been playing baseball since he was five and now that he's got one more year in Junior High, we know a great deal about youth baseball. That information is worth sharing for other parents who might be starting out.
I will not spend any more time complaining about eHow, Helium, Squidoo, and HubPages. What I post now is only me sharing what I know and saying what I want to say.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Death of a friend - Ruth's story
This was written on August 29, 2010 on Helium. Helium is closing down but the story is still important to me so I am re-posting it here. All 300 of my articles on Helium will disappear at the end of the year and like this one, there are many I want to save.
Ruth's story
The tubes and the heart monitor had become part of the background. The constant beeping, annoying at first, now seemed to offer comfort and hope. I watched her from the doorway, too young to be allowed in the room.
The fifteen-year-old girl on the bed was often asleep when I came to visit. I would call her name softly when I arrived. “Ruthie”, I said quietly, “Are you awake?” Sometimes her mom would be there and gently touch a spot on her shoulder that was not wrapped in bandages.
The smile that erupted when she saw me standing in the doorway was contagious. “Hi”, she would say cheerfully, “I just had the best dream”. Not believing that anything bad could come from this I said, “Tell me about it”.
“We were little. We had those old-fashioned clippers and were playing barber in the empty house next to mine. We cut off all of Jackpot’s hair”.
Laughter erupted from the doorway. “That wasn’t a dream, that was a memory”, I said. I watched her on the bed, seeing her eyes crinkle in laughter. Loving her as much as I did, I did not see the bandages or the parts of burned skin that were visible. What I saw was the curly brown hair, sometimes wispy around her face. I saw dark brown eyes that viewed the world with wonder. I remembered the two little girls, one light and one dark, cheerfully cutting the hair of the 6-yr-old boy. We had been in so much trouble.
“Do you remember that we were not allowed to ever go to the empty house again?” I asked?
Ruthie glanced up and gave what would be the equivalent of a nod. She looked tired all of a sudden. Drained from the exchange, she drifted off to sleep. Her mother, looking worried came from the room. Pulling my mom and me from the doorway, she looked for a place to talk.
“She’s had a bad day today”, Ruthie's mom said. “The skin graft under her arm didn’t take. They also had to remove three fingers from her right hand”. Ruthie's mom glanced at me.
I was horrified. How could this be happening? We were best friends. We had our lives planned. Ruthie wanted to be a nurse. Ruthie was boy-crazy. Ruthie and I were always together and had been since we were three-yrs-old. People loved to be around her, she seem to draw people to her like a magnet. She loved everyone in turn and only saw the good in people.
Ruthie was the ringleader. She had an amazing imagination and we were often in trouble. Knowing each other as well as we did, we would often start giggling in class, knowing what the other was thinking. Ruthie saw the world with humor and did not take much seriously.
I looked up at Ruthie's mother. “What!” I said. It was as if the information had just made sense. “What!” I said again, “Does she know?” Her mother shook her head no. “Are you going to tell her?” I demanded.
“No”, her mother replied, “Not now, it’s just been a rough day. When she feels stronger, we will tell her. Right now, we are letting her get as much rest as she can. The drugs help with the pain and she needs to sleep”.
“OK, I’ll go in and say goodbye”.
It was a long slow walk back to the room. Ruthie was sleeping. From the doorway I said, “Hi Ruthie”. Ruthie opened her eyes. “Hi”, she said weakly. “Did you know my mom said when I get out of here, she will let me have piano lessons?”
“Wow, that’s great”, I said enthusiastically.
“I can’t wait”, Ruthie said.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. See ya’ later, alligator”, I said
“After while, crocodile”, Ruthie replied.
Walking out of the hospital, I had a fleeting thought that it might have been better if Ruthie had not survived the fire. After two weeks of intense pain and unbearable suffering, losing the fingers would just be too much for her to bear. Ruthie had always wanted to play the piano and although I had tried to teach her, we were both too silly to make a real effort.
The whole thing was unreal. Ruthie was not the person in the bed. Ruthie was light itself, shining on everyone. Ruthie would be a nurse and share her generous spirit with those who most needed her help. That was who she was.
As we walked into the house after the hour drive from Los Angeles, the phone started ringing. My mom picked it up. She listened for a minute than said, “I’m sorry”. Turning to me she said, “Ruthie just passed away”.
The sun lost part of its light that day. Without Ruthie to share it with others, it never regained its former glory.
Ruth's story
The tubes and the heart monitor had become part of the background. The constant beeping, annoying at first, now seemed to offer comfort and hope. I watched her from the doorway, too young to be allowed in the room.
The fifteen-year-old girl on the bed was often asleep when I came to visit. I would call her name softly when I arrived. “Ruthie”, I said quietly, “Are you awake?” Sometimes her mom would be there and gently touch a spot on her shoulder that was not wrapped in bandages.
The smile that erupted when she saw me standing in the doorway was contagious. “Hi”, she would say cheerfully, “I just had the best dream”. Not believing that anything bad could come from this I said, “Tell me about it”.
“We were little. We had those old-fashioned clippers and were playing barber in the empty house next to mine. We cut off all of Jackpot’s hair”.
Laughter erupted from the doorway. “That wasn’t a dream, that was a memory”, I said. I watched her on the bed, seeing her eyes crinkle in laughter. Loving her as much as I did, I did not see the bandages or the parts of burned skin that were visible. What I saw was the curly brown hair, sometimes wispy around her face. I saw dark brown eyes that viewed the world with wonder. I remembered the two little girls, one light and one dark, cheerfully cutting the hair of the 6-yr-old boy. We had been in so much trouble.
“Do you remember that we were not allowed to ever go to the empty house again?” I asked?
Ruthie glanced up and gave what would be the equivalent of a nod. She looked tired all of a sudden. Drained from the exchange, she drifted off to sleep. Her mother, looking worried came from the room. Pulling my mom and me from the doorway, she looked for a place to talk.
“She’s had a bad day today”, Ruthie's mom said. “The skin graft under her arm didn’t take. They also had to remove three fingers from her right hand”. Ruthie's mom glanced at me.
I was horrified. How could this be happening? We were best friends. We had our lives planned. Ruthie wanted to be a nurse. Ruthie was boy-crazy. Ruthie and I were always together and had been since we were three-yrs-old. People loved to be around her, she seem to draw people to her like a magnet. She loved everyone in turn and only saw the good in people.
Ruthie was the ringleader. She had an amazing imagination and we were often in trouble. Knowing each other as well as we did, we would often start giggling in class, knowing what the other was thinking. Ruthie saw the world with humor and did not take much seriously.
I looked up at Ruthie's mother. “What!” I said. It was as if the information had just made sense. “What!” I said again, “Does she know?” Her mother shook her head no. “Are you going to tell her?” I demanded.
“No”, her mother replied, “Not now, it’s just been a rough day. When she feels stronger, we will tell her. Right now, we are letting her get as much rest as she can. The drugs help with the pain and she needs to sleep”.
“OK, I’ll go in and say goodbye”.
It was a long slow walk back to the room. Ruthie was sleeping. From the doorway I said, “Hi Ruthie”. Ruthie opened her eyes. “Hi”, she said weakly. “Did you know my mom said when I get out of here, she will let me have piano lessons?”
“Wow, that’s great”, I said enthusiastically.
“I can’t wait”, Ruthie said.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. See ya’ later, alligator”, I said
“After while, crocodile”, Ruthie replied.
Walking out of the hospital, I had a fleeting thought that it might have been better if Ruthie had not survived the fire. After two weeks of intense pain and unbearable suffering, losing the fingers would just be too much for her to bear. Ruthie had always wanted to play the piano and although I had tried to teach her, we were both too silly to make a real effort.
The whole thing was unreal. Ruthie was not the person in the bed. Ruthie was light itself, shining on everyone. Ruthie would be a nurse and share her generous spirit with those who most needed her help. That was who she was.
As we walked into the house after the hour drive from Los Angeles, the phone started ringing. My mom picked it up. She listened for a minute than said, “I’m sorry”. Turning to me she said, “Ruthie just passed away”.
The sun lost part of its light that day. Without Ruthie to share it with others, it never regained its former glory.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
A collection of writing prompts
Reinventing the wheel is what writer's do. It is not necessary when the Internet has many sites with prompts to beat writer's block. You have better things to do than try to come up with prompts when the work has been done for you. As a writer who gets stuck or just doesn't feel like writing, these sites not only have great prompts but are entertaining as well.
One Word
Click “go”, and a word pops up. You have 60 seconds to write about it. You will need to think fast but it is a great exercise to get your mind working.
911 Writers Block
This is really fun. Who says you can't have fun while trying to get your sluggish brain to work. The website shows a touch-tone phone that you dial for prompts.
Brainstormer
Spin the wheel and see what you get. The prompts are almost abstract and it is a mental stretching exercise.
Creative writing prompts
This is another fun page to play with. Pick a number and write what it says. This could probably stop you form any serious writing because once you do one; you just have to do another.
English 50- Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers
These are not writing prompts but a collection of exercises to get the brain moving. Although it is set for writing fiction, it will still good exercise.
There are those who believe that writer's block is all in the mind and have a simple suggestion. Sit in the chair and just write. Once you sit down, it doesn't matter what you write as long as you're writing. Put words down. Just close your eyes and start typing nonsense. Write anything.
It doesn't matter what prompts you use. Find one that works for you. Just don’t get so caught up playing with the prompts that you forget why you were there in the first place.
One Word
Click “go”, and a word pops up. You have 60 seconds to write about it. You will need to think fast but it is a great exercise to get your mind working.
911 Writers Block
This is really fun. Who says you can't have fun while trying to get your sluggish brain to work. The website shows a touch-tone phone that you dial for prompts.
Brainstormer
Spin the wheel and see what you get. The prompts are almost abstract and it is a mental stretching exercise.
Creative writing prompts
This is another fun page to play with. Pick a number and write what it says. This could probably stop you form any serious writing because once you do one; you just have to do another.
English 50- Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers
These are not writing prompts but a collection of exercises to get the brain moving. Although it is set for writing fiction, it will still good exercise.
There are those who believe that writer's block is all in the mind and have a simple suggestion. Sit in the chair and just write. Once you sit down, it doesn't matter what you write as long as you're writing. Put words down. Just close your eyes and start typing nonsense. Write anything.
It doesn't matter what prompts you use. Find one that works for you. Just don’t get so caught up playing with the prompts that you forget why you were there in the first place.
New direction - Helium is calling it quits - where does it leave me?
When I joined Helium long ago, I was new to writing on-line. It was a wonderful experience where I met new people, learned a lot more about writing, and made a little money. A couple of years ago, they changed directions and I decided not to follow. While my 100+ articles made a little money, I stopped writing for them.
Instead, I migrated to Squidoo along with some of those from Helium where we continued to learn from each other. I have enjoyed watching people grow.
Now, Helium is shutting down and I have a problem. A lot of my Helium articles are linked to other sites. When they shut down, those links will not work anymore. I haven't worked with this blog in a long time. I have been really busy with family history and those blogs get all my attention. However, I need a home for my helium articles.
I am not going to post all of them here. I have more than 70 on camping and might turn it into some sort of book. I have some on raising a grandchild I will add to a blog I had started a while back. However, I think this is where some of my memoirs and off-topic pieces will go. Fortunately, I started this blog about writing so it seems appropriate that I use it for what I originally intended.
I loved Helium in its heyday. It was exciting and I couldn't wait to get started each day. I enjoyed the interaction with my new friends. There has not been anything quite like it since. The old staff at Helium, the original people, were helpful and made it a treat. Thanks to them for several years of motivation and encouragement. I wish it had continued but at least I had the experience and I am better for it.
Instead, I migrated to Squidoo along with some of those from Helium where we continued to learn from each other. I have enjoyed watching people grow.
Now, Helium is shutting down and I have a problem. A lot of my Helium articles are linked to other sites. When they shut down, those links will not work anymore. I haven't worked with this blog in a long time. I have been really busy with family history and those blogs get all my attention. However, I need a home for my helium articles.
I am not going to post all of them here. I have more than 70 on camping and might turn it into some sort of book. I have some on raising a grandchild I will add to a blog I had started a while back. However, I think this is where some of my memoirs and off-topic pieces will go. Fortunately, I started this blog about writing so it seems appropriate that I use it for what I originally intended.
I loved Helium in its heyday. It was exciting and I couldn't wait to get started each day. I enjoyed the interaction with my new friends. There has not been anything quite like it since. The old staff at Helium, the original people, were helpful and made it a treat. Thanks to them for several years of motivation and encouragement. I wish it had continued but at least I had the experience and I am better for it.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Random Acts of Kindness Blogfest - A Tennessee story
This is a five-day or one-day fest depending on your time limits. For most of the five days, I've been on a family history quest coming home just in time to do at least two days.
I originally planned to share one story but on my travels, I found a group of people who are doing random acts of kindness for a region in our country that is in need of help.
Reverend Sheldon Livesay founded Of One Accord, an "ever-evolving, non-profit organization that helps to meet the needs of low-income families and individuals in this two-county Appalachian region and beyond. "
I made the trip to Tennessee to search for family roots. While not finding the information I wanted, I did have the opportunity to meet Sheldon, my 2nd cousin. My cousin Patty and I were able to spend some time with him as he shared this portion of Tennessee where our family was from but we also learned about his ministry to those in need.
While these acts of kindness are not random for him, they certainly are for the families they help. He related one story that stayed with me.
They repair or restore home for those who need the most help. They had chosen to repair the home of an eighty-year old woman who live in a falling down shack. The shack was no bigger than a 10 by 10 room. The floor was rotting and uneven and the roof, caving in so that it leaked water. She had an outhouse. There was no electricity, running water or way to heat food or the house except for a wood burning stove.
They decided it was impossible to repair the shack to make it livable so they purchased a used mobile home. They installed a septic tank and ran electricity from the road. They brought in the water lines and added a propane tank.
This is a much longer story but what caught my attention and tugged at my heart was the ending of the story. When the older woman fixed lunch for her daughter who had come by to check out the new home, she got up from the table and filled a pot with water from her new sink. She put the pot on the new stove and turned it on. Her daughter asked her what she was doing. She told her that she was boiling water to wash the dishes.
I don't know about you but not understanding that hot water comes from a tap is heart breaking. Her daughter was able to show her that she would never have to boil water to wash dishes again and turned on the hot water for her mother.
I originally planned to share one story but on my travels, I found a group of people who are doing random acts of kindness for a region in our country that is in need of help.
Reverend Sheldon Livesay founded Of One Accord, an "ever-evolving, non-profit organization that helps to meet the needs of low-income families and individuals in this two-county Appalachian region and beyond. "
I made the trip to Tennessee to search for family roots. While not finding the information I wanted, I did have the opportunity to meet Sheldon, my 2nd cousin. My cousin Patty and I were able to spend some time with him as he shared this portion of Tennessee where our family was from but we also learned about his ministry to those in need.
While these acts of kindness are not random for him, they certainly are for the families they help. He related one story that stayed with me.
They repair or restore home for those who need the most help. They had chosen to repair the home of an eighty-year old woman who live in a falling down shack. The shack was no bigger than a 10 by 10 room. The floor was rotting and uneven and the roof, caving in so that it leaked water. She had an outhouse. There was no electricity, running water or way to heat food or the house except for a wood burning stove.
They decided it was impossible to repair the shack to make it livable so they purchased a used mobile home. They installed a septic tank and ran electricity from the road. They brought in the water lines and added a propane tank.
This is a much longer story but what caught my attention and tugged at my heart was the ending of the story. When the older woman fixed lunch for her daughter who had come by to check out the new home, she got up from the table and filled a pot with water from her new sink. She put the pot on the new stove and turned it on. Her daughter asked her what she was doing. She told her that she was boiling water to wash the dishes.
I don't know about you but not understanding that hot water comes from a tap is heart breaking. Her daughter was able to show her that she would never have to boil water to wash dishes again and turned on the hot water for her mother.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Random Acts of Kindness BlogFest
I think that I have been blessed more than most people. That doesn't mean I have health or wealth but I do have peace and forgiveness. When I found this on M. J. Joachim's blog, Being Catholic, I thought it was a great idea.
May 27-31, 2013 - share a random act of kindness you have received. The requirements are simple. Post each day or just do one.
Buy any of Wayman Publishing's books—some only 99 cents—and automatically be entered into our iPad Mini Sweepstakes! Visit this link for more info: ow.ly/jsQVv
May 27-31, 2013 - share a random act of kindness you have received. The requirements are simple. Post each day or just do one.
Buy any of Wayman Publishing's books—some only 99 cents—and automatically be entered into our iPad Mini Sweepstakes! Visit this link for more info: ow.ly/jsQVv
Want to join the blogfest? Go HERE to sign up!
I have a new direction
Yesterday I posted that I didn't know what to do with this blog. I gave some thought to deleting it but now I find myself in need of an all-purpose blog where I can take advantage of different blogging challenges.
Today I will write my reflection post for the A to Z April Challenge. When reading the post explaining the procedure, it mentions a new A to Z Challenge for road trips. I love road trips but if I am not doing California I need a place to play
I am still deciding if I want to change the blog name but for now it will stay the same. I'm much happier with the decision to keep it alive.
Today I will write my reflection post for the A to Z April Challenge. When reading the post explaining the procedure, it mentions a new A to Z Challenge for road trips. I love road trips but if I am not doing California I need a place to play
I am still deciding if I want to change the blog name but for now it will stay the same. I'm much happier with the decision to keep it alive.
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