#FridayThoughts: Rhythm of lives far away.

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Travel, at least for me, seems unlikely for a very long while. But I’ve found a much less expensive way to go around the world.

Foreign-language television.

I’ve darted from Korea to Denmark and back, with my eye to France as I wait for the next season of Candice Renoir on Acorn. And meanwhile, I’ve lost myself in the rhythm of lives far away.

When you have a show with subtitles, unless you’re fluent, you have to pay attention. Some countries make it easier than others, with the pace of conversation slower, the words more measured.

But once you’ve settled into the idea of watching something from somewhere else, you can find yourself transported to tiny corners of countries you wouldn’t see even if you took an actual trip.

One of the things I love about watching foreign language is absorbing tiny bits of culture, observing the interactions you’d never have as a foreigner. Seeing the interiors, knowing they’re supposed to convey specifics about the characters.

Checking out the clothes.

And the shows know what they’re doing, they offer long, lingering looks at stunning landscapes, sweeping views of glittering cities.

All from your couch at the price of a streaming service. No TSA required.

That’s it for me this week, have a fantastic Friday and a lovely weekend. Anywhere in the world is as close as your remote.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#ThursdayThoughts ten word photo prompt: Joy

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Photo by Godisable Jacob on Pexels.com

It’s Thursday! You know what THAT means! It’s time for our #ThursdayTen!

Using the image above as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

References to today’s historic event are absolutely welcome.

I’ll embed the tweet once I’ve posted it!

Ready? Here’s mine:

Another gatekeeper slain; another ceiling shattered. The future’s wide open.

#WednesdayWisdom: Limits are good.

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So I thought about jumping into the A to Z Blogging Challenge as TheDreamGirlWrites (Hi!!) very kindly told me the list is still open.

And I decided against.

The A to Z Challenge is a blast, and you meet so many fantastic people (Hi!!). Most of us have met that way, over past years.

But I’m just not up to participating fully. While I’m sure I’d get the posts done, especially since I already blog five days a week, I am not sure that I’d get all my visits in. And not visiting is not doing the challenge.

An organism as lively as A to Z survives only through reciprocity. Right now, visiting and commenting feels a little beyond me.

So I’m not going to push.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we need a little push. Sometimes, we need to make ourselves do things out of our routine.

Learning to hear yourself, to truly know which is best for you right now, is the trick.

And with that, I leave you to enjoy your Wednesday, completely out of alphabetical order.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#TuesdayThoughts: Anyway.

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It’s Tuesday, so if you’re interested, here’s my Mom Update. And now Tuesday.

It’s foggy again today, and I guess that’s how this spring wants to introduce itself. Every spring is different.

Or so it seems.

It can’t help but feel a little literal though, to be honest. Given all that’s going on at the moment, a constant fog feels a little on the nose.

Ah, well, anyway.

I had a great workout this morning, but I’m feeling the buzz get stripped away, bit by bit. Reality will do that to you sometimes.

I guess.

If only we could bottle that feeling. Now that would be a bestseller.

Anyway that’s it for me today. Have a great Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#MondayThoughts: We won’t make THAT mistake again.

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It was sunny, but it turned gray this morning. It’s possible it will go sunny again.

I guess you never know.

After a long week of being reminded that opposing abuse of women is the real crime, it was all topped off with an award for an abuser. Just in case we started to think we were real people or something.

Well, they taught us. We won’t make THAT mistake again.

Still doing the yoga, but this month I’m taking it day by day, rather than committing to the full month. So far I’ve wanted to do it every day, but that could change.

Yesterday I realized I hadn’t even considered the A to Z Blogging Challenge where you blog the alphabet, that April 1 came and went and I didn’t think twice about it. It’s too late now, of course.

Alas.

I don’t think I was up to it anyway. There’s a lot going on.

Anyway, that’s it for me this Monday. Have a great day.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#FridayThoughts: My own personal April Fools.

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So from a deep sleep, I heard a noise. Brief. Kind of squeaky. It stopped.

And then I heard it again.

Eventually I got up to investigate. It was the smoke detector, the battery low.

When we put the time forward, I forgot to change it. My mind has been elsewhere.

I changed it, went back to bed, but that battery must have been low too, because then it started again.

My own personal April Fools joke courtesy of my smoke alarm. I need more batteries.

Sigh.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson from Phoebe on Friends.

I went back to sleep but everything has been out of order today. I woke up late, I exercised late.

I’m blogging late.

Anyway, have a lovely Friday, and may all your April Fools be humorous and lighthearted, and may none none of your appliances try to get in on the fun.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#ThursdayThoughts ten word photo prompt: Spill!

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Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

It’s THURSDAY! That means it’s time for a ten word story!

Also known as our #ThursdayTen.

Using the above image as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

And in a new twist, when this post is live, I’ll update with the twitter link so you can see the stories over there!

Which makes me hope there will be stories this week, you never know.

ANYWAY, ready? Here’s mine:

Silent debate over. Time to tell Jeannie the good news!

Here’s the tweet:

#WednesdayWisdom: A little of both.

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Rainy again today, and much warmer than it was, like a real spring soggy day. There’s a uniform grayness to the sky.

Maybe I should watch it rain for a while.

Sometimes that’s all you need, a little break to see nature do its thing, whatever it is. Because nature is going to do what it’s going to do, and we can’t stop it.

It’s far, far bigger than us.

I’m not sure if that’s a reassuring thought or a depressing one.

Maybe a little of both.

But isn’t that all of life? It’s rarely one thing or another. More often, it’s a messy jumble that clumps together all at once.

And with that, I am off. Have a great Wednesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#TuesdayThoughts: A wordy bumble bee.

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It’s Tuesday, so here is my Mom Update, if you’re interested. And on to Tuesday.

Today is overcast, it might rain. It’s supposed to do that around now. Spring flowers and all that.

Trying to be light in serious times is not the easiest thing to do. Here I chat about what’s on my mind and while I usually like to give you a little bit of fluff for your day, the weight of everything globally is definitely squashing down the fluff.

Well that’s a terrible metaphor.

But if you want more of my take the world and what’s happening in it, my twitter is a good place to go. Though most of you probably just came from there.

Make up my mind, am I right?!

Here. There. Everywhere.

But despite all that, my brain is in a floaty place. You only need to look at how it flitted through this post like a wordy bumble bee.

Huh.

Maybe I just found my brand.

Anyway, that’s it for me. Have a great Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

#MondayThoughts: It’s got to warm up one of these days.

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Here we are, all the way around again. It doesn’t feel like a new week to me, just one long, continuous conveyor belt of days.

I wouldn’t call my energy level high or my mood great today.

It is Monday though. That’s all very acceptable on a Monday.

Ugh my coffee is cold.

I reheated it. I know people hold very, very strong opinions on that subject.

It’s very sunny, that cloudless kind of sunny, but I think it’s still pretty cold.

It’s got to warm up one of these days.

I think.

Anyway, I’m going to try to make this Monday into something. Have a great day.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.