SoCS: Note to Self – Don’t Call That Number!

Today‘s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “dict.” Find a word that contains “dict” and use it in your post. Have fun!

Dictionary… Dictation…Dictator…vindictive… Going in a negative direction here. I try not to be vindictive or to write too much political stuff here. It’s obvious to me that a recent former president desperately wanted (wants?) to be a dictator. Yuck. I don’t want to write about that. What are some other words… Sigh.

Dictionary. Who still has one on a shelf? I do! Diction. I took a class in college called, Voice and Diction. That class, along with acting class, helped me get over some natural shyness and allowed me to speak clearly in front of people. Not that I want to do that now, but if there’s a good reason, it comes in handy. I’ve always had pretty good diction, but the college class gave me the ability to speak “Standard American English” if it was appropriate. Of course, it’s also good to have something relevant and true to say. Speaking from the heart is more important that diction.

It’s a good skill, speaking clearly, but not that necessary, like speaking to scammers is not necessary. It’s best not to speak to scammers at all. I made the stupid mistake of calling a number in an email that said it was from Paypal. As soon as the speaker mentioned that I had invested in bitcoin, I knew it was a mistake. I said the words “No” and “Never” very clearly. I’m not entirely sure what bitcoin is and, no, I don’t want to know.

Now I feel a bit paranoid. Sigh.

Getting back to topic of college, the first years at the community college were fun – being a big fish in a little pond and all that. Then I transferred to the university and got serious about finishing. I’ve never taken dictation, but I was good at taking notes. That was so long ago. Now, I’m retired. Yay!!! I only take notes if I feel like it or really want to remember something. If I start asking the same questions over and over again, say like 10 or 20 years from now, I’ve asked my husband to encourage me to write stuff in a notebook and carry it with me. But we’re not there yet.

Exercise is good for the brain as well as the body. After the scammer incident, I went to the Y where I recently started back with a personal trainer on Fridays, just for 30 minutes. It felt good and helped with the paranoia. Maybe exercise will help my memory and save on notebooks.

Note to self: DON’T CALL THAT NUMBER!

Sometimes we get to learn the same lessons over and over again. I will forgive myself for the mistakes and remember the lessons:

DONT CALL THAT NUMBER!

Now, move on! Find a pretty picture.

Here’s just one of my favorite Christmas ornaments from a musical friend:

David made the smaller one on the lower right from wood

~~~

For details on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

and more streams, visit out host, Linda G Hill

by clicking HERE.

My Brain Runneth Over

“ad/add/AD (Anno Domini).” Use one, use ’em all–bonus points if you fit them all into your post. Have fun!  That’s our prompt for today.

I looked up Anno Domini: In the year of our Lord, abbreviated as AD. I knew that once. There are a lot of things I knew once, like a lot of French words. French was one of my favorite subjects in high school. I used to could speak it well. Not fluently, but I coulda got by in France at the age of 19. Now, I could say please and thank you, and “Where is the library?” Maybe it would come back to me quickly. Spanish would have been more practical to take and maybe some day I’ll learn it. It’s one of those many things I’d like to do, but not on the top of the list.

The more stuff I add to my brain, the more likely it is to get lost. (The stuff I add, not my brain, necessarily. Somebody’s brain got lost on Star Trek once. Probably Spock’s.)

All that French is still in there with algebra and history, but finding it is another matter. But I don’t use algebra except to help my kids with their homework which is not necessary now since they’re grown.

My brain can get addled. I’ve thought I had a little ADD which I believe is on a spectrum like autism. Learning differences. Best thing I can do now is have a sense of humor about it. Plus, get exercise, learn new things, and do crossword puzzles which I am NOT going to get addicted to because there are other things I want to do. Like take a self-defense class. That would be good for my brain. If I can find someone who has experience teaching self-defense to people over 60, that might keep me from hurting myself. Better take my bone medicine for osteoporosis. Don’t want to fall and break a hip.

Don’t know how to work ad into this. I’m not going to start with ads for self-defense classes but might ask around. I’ve heard the sheriff’s department teaches a basic one, so I’ll start there. I have to be careful not to add too much to my plate, literally and figuratively. First I need to get back to my permanent address and finish with my parent’s house. Making progress on the attic. Finding all kinds of stuff up there. Someday I’ll do a post on that.

Do you think the brain can actually get full? Like a file cabinet? I guess it’s more like a computer. There is a limit to what you can add. Which comes back to de-cluttering – not adding more clothes to my closet until I donate some. Not buying any more stuff from thrift stores (my weakness). Not adding. Subtracting. Less is more room, more space, more freedom. But that only works with stuff. It’s okay to add more love and time – quality time, and memories. Can we add memory to our brains?

Yep. It was Spock’s brain that got lost. Here’s the condensed version:

 

Join us every Saturday for the Stream of Consciousness adventure! You might just end up going where no one has gone before.

For more information, visit Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/25/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-26th/  

Here are the rules for SoCS:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Remembering the Lessons

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Post Prompt is: Memory.

My memory isn’t what it used to be. It makes me worry a little about that illness that old people get that starts with an A. But I’m not going to worry too much about that. Memory is a funny thing. We can remember some things so well: the long term memories or those big mistakes we want to forget, but then we get to focus on remembering the LESSONS from those mistakes.

I do want to remember how lonely I was a few years ago when I wanted a partner, but not the wrong partner. Lots of bad memories about the wrong partners. But were they really wrong at the time? Or did they teach me things I needed to learn to appreciate the partner I have now? First,  I learned how to be alone and love myself. Now I’m learning how to be in a healthy relationship.

Memories are such fleeting, fuzzy things sometimes. In writing our memoir, we keep getting the feedback to add more detail. Somethings we remember very clearly even from out high school romance in the early 70s. But many things are fuzzy. Dang, I already used the word fuzzy. This is Stream of Consciousness, it’s okay. Where was I? So, in writing a memoir, sometimes you have to re-create the details and dialogue. We’re keeping honest with the feelings and moods we do remember. But how much detail can anyone remember from conversations that took place 40 years ago?

I do love refreshing these memories. I love knowing that even though there have been some really sad memories, things have worked out. There have been so many challenges that I saw no way out of, but I got through them. We all do. That is the value of memories. Even if we make the same mistake more than once, we learn. We get better.

 

If you’d like to be part of the Saturday Stream of Consciousness prompt, visit

http://lindaghill.com/2014/10/31/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-november-114/

It’s fun and easy!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!