JusJoJan#31: Facetious, Sarcastic, or Just Plain Silly with a Confession by Steve Martin

Today is the last day of Just Jot it January. I think I participated in all but a couple of days which is good for me. Thank you to our host Linda Hill for originating and organizing this annual event and thank you to Susan for today’s prompt: facetious.

Looking up the prompt, because I knew it meant funny, but wasn’t quite sure how, I found this definition:

“treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.”

Sometimes we need to be facetious so as to not take ourselves and the world too seriously. Humor is important. But we also have to be careful which serious issues we’re being facetious about.

I prefer facetious to sarcastic. Sarcasm often seems dishonest and confusing to me. Makes me wonder if I’m on some kind of a spectrum. Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, my favorite kind of humor is silly, like Steve Martin. I remember watching him make this difficult confession on Johnny Carson in 1978. 😉

For more facetious jottings and a link to Susan’s blog, click HERE.

#JusJoJan: Chocolate is a Vegetable

Don’t know where this came from. Thanks to whomever.

Dark chocolate is my favorite. 70% at least. I don’t even bother with regular milk chocolate. Not worth the calories or the sugar if I can barely taste the chocolate. Plus I don’t want to waste my 5% off being 95% vegan for regular old milk chocolate. Vegan chocolate is available sometimes. But there is some wiggle room in that 5%. Am I a chocolate snob? Maybe. To each her own. They say dark chocolate is good for you which makes sense since it’s a vegetable.

Hot chocolate in the mountains.
I miss the snow.

Thanks to Ritu for today’s prompt and to our host, Linda Hill for keeping us going with Just Jot it January!

Click here for more information on #JusJoJan!

The Unicorn who Rescued the Fairy from the Troll

My sketch from the 70s

I might not jot every day in January, but today’s Just Jot it January prompt from Astrid is UNICORN, so I had to jump in and jot something. Visit Linda’s post here for details and Astrid’s blog for a multitude of musings.

The sketch above is something I did in the mid to late 70s. I had forgotten about it then discovered it recently at my high school friend’s house in a frame. It had faded, so I offered to go over the lines again with a sharpie. I probably did not plan the content of the sketch, but it seems to tell a story anyway. Perhaps the unicorn is going to rescue the fairy. Maybe I can try my hand at some fantasy…

The lord of the trolls, knew the fairy was magic, but was clueless as to how to exploit her. He captured her and placed her in the terrarium that had been stolen from the elves. He kept her near his nest. He thought about pulling off her wings, but vaguely wondered if he could use her magic and thought it would be better if he kept the thing alive for a while. He fed her mushrooms, but she ate very little.

A winged unicorn called Jaden was peacefully munching clover, when he received a mysterious message through the underground mycelium network that someone needed help. His task was to find out who and how he could help.

Jaden is not used to spending so much time close to the ground but must do so to follow the mushroom trail. He overcomes earthbound challenges along the way. When he finally finds the fairy, he must face the lord of the trolls. In self-defense, Jaden stabs the troll in the heart spreading unicorn magic through the hulking form which puts him into a deep sleep of metamorphosis. A jade green cocoon grows the troll king. What will he become? We do not know.

Asking for help, the fairy raised her arms up to Jaden who sliced the top off the terrarium with his horn.

“Thank you, very much for coming to my rescue,” said the fairy. “You are rescuing me, right?”

“Of course, little one. I am Jaden.”

“I am Silluie,” said the fairy. “We should leave before more trolls come.”

“Certainly! I know you can fly, but we will go faster if you cling to my mane.”

Silluie flew up to Jaden’s head, secured herself in his forelock, and they flew away to more adventures.

~~~~~

My granddaughter’s is all about unicorns, so that was the theme of her last birthday party.

Here’s what I get when I search for more unicorns among my pictures:

From the birthday party

Yummy unicorn cake

Christmas card ? IDK

Be sure to click the links above to visit our host Linda and today’s prompt giver, Astrid.

Good News Tuesday for Jan. 4, 2022: Housing Rights, Food Waste Recycling, Glitter from Fruit, Elk Rescue, and a 14-Year-Old Runner Pushes Her Brother in a Wheelchair Cross-Country

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Today I have two videos! They are both about generosity through hard work. Generosity happens to be the prompt for today’s Just Jot it January. Thanks, Sadje for the prompt, and thanks to Linda Hill for hosting Just Jot it January. Learn more about #JusJoJan by clicking here.

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Housing Rights Protection in Lebanon

The nonprofit Housing Monitor in Lebanon offers support to tenants facing eviction through a hotline, legal representation, and community organizing. The service brings together refugees, migrants, and vulnerable Lebanese. Here’s more from GoodGoodGood.

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California Launches the Largest Food Waste Recycling Program in US

This month, California will implement the “largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the US.” The program will cut down on organic waste in landfills and reduce methane emissions. (This encourages me to keep on composting.) The Guardian has details

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Glitter Made from Fruit

Check out the story from GoodGoodGood on glitter made from fruit. It’s biodegradable and way less harmful to the environment.

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Families Save Six Elk on Christmas Eve

As a 95% vegan lover of animals, I find this story interesting. It happened Christmas Eve when a hunter alerted his friends about 12 elk that had fallen through the ice on a river. Families were able to save 6 out of the 12 elk, and the six elk who died will be food for the rescuers. The story clearly shows that the hunter families felt compassion for the elk, particularly for a special calf. I am thankful for their compassion. It makes me wonder about the possibilities.

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14-Year-Old Runner Pushes Brother in Wheelchair in Cross Country Races

Susan Bergeman, a fourteen-year-old from Wisconsin, pushes her brother Jeffery who has cerebral palsey in a wheelchair in cross-country races. Her strength, love, and generosity are phenomenal. Take a look:

Got good news?

Feel free to share your good news story or link in the comments!

Jusjojan One-Liner on What January is Good for this Wednesday

January is a great month for making soup, socks with slippers, and staying home, but I have to suck it up and go buy some slippers and soup stuff.

My fireplace doesn’t work but I pretend with a candle

Dropping in to Jusjojan and #1linerWeds since I’m not volunteering today. I hope it’s okay if I drop in from time to time.

For more info on both of these writing excursions, visit Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/03/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan-daily-prompt-january-3rd-2018/

Here are the general rules to follow for Just Jot it January:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post the daily prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5), every day except for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness (SoCS) prompt–you’ll find that one on Friday morning at 9:30am. That daily post (i.e. this one) will be where you leave your link for others to find in the comment section. There will be a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday.

2a. Since today is Wednesday, I challenge you to make your JusJoJan post a one-liner. If you don’t care to, or if you’ve already written your post, no problem. Remember, with One-Liner Wednesday you can write anything – it’s only a prompt to write one line, not necessarily to keep to the same theme as mine. The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

(i) Make it one sentence.

(ii) Make it either funny or inspirational.

(iii) Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

(iv) Enjoy yourself!

(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge.

I Always Come Back to Blue

Blue was my first favorite color as a child. Then I started liking purple around the time of puberty. In high school, it was green. Everything I wore was green from my ecology T shirt to my green woven Sagittarius purse. I like yellow and amber quite a lot, too. But when all is said and done, blue is still my favorite.

Here are a few attributes of blue that explain why I like it so much. Source: Artist Raetta Parker

• Blue is the color of the sky and sea.
• ¨ It is often associated with depth and stability.
• ¨ It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
• ¨ Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.
• ¨ Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.
• ¨ In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.
• ¨ You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water).
• ¨ Blue is linked to consciousness and intellect.
• ¨ Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males.
• ¨ Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.
• ¨ Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite.
• ¨ When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

Sounds good to me, except that I don’t need the corporate part anymore, and I don’t think blue’s necessarily a masculine color by nature. I think the blue/pink dichotomy is a learned thing. But I don’t want to get too serious, that’s where splashes of yellow help.

I didn’t realize that blue suppresses appetite! No wonder so many restaurants use red.

I love all blues: sky blue, blue-green, icy blue, true blue.

Can you imagine the world without blue? Without color? Color is a treasure.

What’s your favorite color? I’d love to know what you like about it and how it affects you.

Just Jot It January is brought to us by Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/30/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-30th17/

For today’s prompt, “Blue,” thanks to John Holton at https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/

The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.

An Extraordinary Man

It’s been an extraordinary week.

The trip to see my grandchildren started out as an adventure since I don’t travel much by myself these days. The first night I stayed with my friend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at her cozy house in the woods. Her sweet cat, Feather, slept with me. The next day was Saturday. I drove to the mountains to stay with my son in Boone. While my son was at work, I got the phone call from the pastor at my father’s church. He told me my father had passed away. They found him in bed, so I’m hoping he died peacefully.

My father served in the US Marine Corps for 20 years, and I knew he would want me to complete this mission to visit his great grandchildren. (He didn’t believe in calling children kids, because kids are baby goats.) So, I’ve been in Indiana making funeral arrangements by phone with help from my wonderful husband who’s back home holding down the fort. I’m so thankful to not have to go through this alone, though I could have.  As my father taught me: “Nothing is Impossible.”

It was good to have some time alone in my son’s apartment Saturday when I got the news. I went from cleaning his kitchen window, to crying, to cleaning something else, to crying some more. I thought of calling my dad’s older sister, Ruth who is 94 and in assisted living. But first, I called her friend Judy, who takes care of her fiances. Judy told me that Aunt Ruth had been more confused than usual that morning when Judy visited her. She said Ruth asked her, “Is my mother gone?” Judy told her, yes, her mother was gone.

“Is my sister, Margaret gone?”

“Yes, Margaret’s gone,” Judy said.

“Then I’m the only one left.”

“No, You still have your brother Jimmy.” she told her.

Maybe Aunt Ruth already knew, on some level, that her brother was gone. I wonder if he visited her.  Judy said she would go tell her in person the next morning.

Driving to Indiana with my son on Sunday, the clouds hung low in the Tennessee sky. The opening you see in the photo below made me think my dad was peeking through to tell me hello and that everything’s good.

On Sunday afternoon, I called Aunt Ruth. I told her who I was (she forgets things) and asked how she was. Then I told her my father had died. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said. A bit later she asked how Jimmy was. I told her Jimmy had passed away. I had to repeat myself and explain that her brother had died. She said how sorry she was like she was was trying to console me. His death wasn’t a big surprise to her; my father was not in good health. He had a lot of pain from his old war wounds and arthritis and being 85. Aunt Ruth asked me a few more times, “Jimmy’s gone?”  “Yes, Jimmy’s gone,” I told her. “He’s with his wife, Betty. He’s with the Lord. That’s where he wanted to be.” I told her she still had me and her other niece who lives in Wisconsin closer to her, and her friend Judy. Aunt Ruth wants to go be with the Lord, too and can’t understand why she’s still here. Physically, she’s in great shape for 94. Mentally, she gets pretty confused.

My father was an extraordinary man. After serving in Korea and Vietnam and while living with with the horrible memories that haunted him from those wars, he and mom volunteered at their local soup kitchen and drove disabled veterans to the VA hospital two hours away. They led the church youth group on camp outs. Dad sang in the church choir until his voice started squeaking on the high notes. He taught an adult Sunday school class until just a couple weeks ago. And he taught me, “Nothing is Impossible.”

Dad missed mom terribly after she died. I’m glad they’re finally together again.

Mom and Dad in Washington DC 1954

My visit with my grand kids, er… grand children, was a good one. I enjoyed the sweetness of holding little ones on my lap as we read picture books.  My dad is glad I’m was with them.

Just Jot It January is brought to you by Linda Hill. I’ve been waiting for today’s prompt, “Extraordinary,” from Jetgirlcos to get back to blogging by telling you about my father. This post is longer than most of mine, but he’s worth it.

Awesome Stories 302

Brad has a way of collecting the most awesome stories. No rubbish here! But I’m jotting about it for Just Jot It January. 🙂 One more impressive reason to give up beef, a powerful video on peace, increased awareness of food waste and how to stop it, and creativity are all topics dear to my heart. Thanks, Brad!

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Thanks to Wendy at Wendy’s Waffle for today’s prompt: rubbish.  You can read more jots at Linda’s place: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/19/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-19th17/

writing to freedom

This week Awesome Stories brings you less beef, mothers for peace, food waste, and creativity for kids.

Bailing on Beef

I’ve been all over the map on eating meat, from meat lover growing up to vegetarian for 12 years in my 30s, and then in my 40s returning to meat in small quantities. It might be time to completely ditch the beef. From an environmental perspective, growing and eating beef is a disaster, especially modern day methods of feeding them grains instead of natural grasses. Compared to other meats, beef is far worse on land use, water use and emissions from the methane gas they emit. And compared to eating the grains directly instead of feeding them to cattle, the numbers are really bad. Beef uses 160 times more land and produces 11 times more greenhouse gas. Scientists estimate that giving up beef would have a greater environmental impact than giving…

View original post 348 more words

Complaint-Free Day (with Progress, not Perfection)

Thank you to Willow at https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/ for today’s prompt: “Complaint,” brought to us by Shanjeniah for Just Jot it January. 

When I saw this prompt on the list, I thought, I’ll make that a complaint-free day. It’s an exercise, a goal, and my aim is progress, not perfection.

I’m already challenged, wait, is that a complaint? I already get to practice, since I woke up with a headache. Here’s the thing: if I do complain, I’ll forgive myself and balance the complaint with an expression or two of gratitude. I’m thankful experience has taught me that these morning headaches usually get better as the day goes on. I’m thankful that my body is so good at sending me messages. Maybe I’m dehydrated, maybe I’m hungry, maybe I stayed up too late on the computer, maybe I need to stretch more – these are all things I get to work on and completely possible to change. I’m thankful that I have more days when my head feels fine. I really don’t have a lot to complain about, though that doesn’t stop me, especially in my head. I think I will have better success at not complaining out loud.

I’m thankful that I can start my day over at any time.

 

https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/17/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-17th17/

The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.

 

 

Peace in the Stream of Consciousness

Peace.

The Peace that passes all understanding.

Peace that comes with a smile

Or a nod of understanding, or acceptance.

Peace like a river that flows freely

Nourishing life with sparkling waves

Peace of silence in an evening snowfall

When there is no wind – only the sound of snowflakes

Peace Will Come

An old song I loved in my youth.

 

Peace, Please.

PS: I’m planning to march in the MLK day parade Monday with a group I just joined: it’s called Grandmother’s for Peace.

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Peace was the first thing that popped in to my head when I read Linda’s SoCS prompt to use a word that begins with the letter P. I get bonus points for beginning and ending with a words that starts with the letter P.

Come play in the Saturday Stream of Consciousness persistently provided by Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-and-jusjojan-jan-1417/