Continue?

As I often do, I read all the wonderful posts by people I have come to admire and even love in that way you care for close friends.  I won’t list them here in full, so please forgive if you believe you are on that list and I don’t put your blog here.  I follow a great deal and read so few when compared, but there are those I try not to miss or to, at least, read when I can. Please the attached links only lead back to my blog.  If you want to visit (And I truly hope you do), use the search option on the name of the blog.

Bye the way, Truth and Cake is the very first blog I followed.  I haven’t seen her blogs in a long time, but she was given a prime spot blog link after just blogging a few weeks!  I was in on that and, I believe, I read posts from her engagement through her wedding.

After the name:

** – Close friends.  I try hard to read every post they post.

*-Friends.  I try to read most posts

@ – Past Friends.  I would read a post if they posted,

athingirldotcom  **

Boomie Bol **

Powered by Robots **

Sound Bite Fiction 

k. Rawson **

Sarah Potter Writes *

Pandora’s Box **

Reena Saxena*

Pam Grout**

“On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea” *

Arianna Merritt, MEd – Educator & Blogger.*

Momus News 

aghostdancer**

But I Smile Anyway… *

only bad chi @

Harvesting Hecate **

anelephantcant **

theinnerwildkat **

MOLLIE PLAYER *

I Survived a Murder Attack — My Family Didn’t @

Debra Kristi *

Renee Writes Here @

Go Jules Go **

Katrina Perkins **

This, that and the other thing **

brainsnorts inc. @

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple *

who is bert *

I think in comics. @

the news with nipples 

Blessed with a Star on the Forehead **

clotildajamcracker @

Mullberry Whine 

Girl Boner® **

4am Writer*

joeccombs2nd **

lazylauramaisey **

Grace for Rett Syndrome **

Orton Gillingham Online Academy **

Robin Coyle @

Hope* the happy hugger @

Pretty Feet, Pop Toe @

Alienhippy’s Blog @

Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride **

Dayna Lopez @

somkritya @

Everyday Asperger’s @

Truth and Cake @

As I look back on this list, I see 3 things.

First,  I have and have had a lot of friends, many of whom I still talk to after years of following.  I have only met 2 of them Dayna Lopez and Orton Gilliangham director – Marisa Bernard.

Second, There are a lot of past blogs I used to read, but who don’t post hardly at all.

Third, I really understand why I am online so very much with blogging.

Even though I may not blog often (I began blogging with doing so every single day for over a year), I have been blogging for over 10 years now (just got my attaboy from WordPress the other day).

People have helped me through difficult times since my stroke, giving me both friends to share with and answers and hopes when I post them.

This post did not go as I had in mind (big surprise there!), but I love where it went.  Thanks to everyone on that list and anyone I may have left out.  I, currently, follow 194 blogs and can’t read them all.  But it does tell me part of why my email inbox has a normal amount of 90-300 emails per day in it!

Love you all.  Namaste,

Scott

Giving Back!

Source: Google Image Search with license for reuse. Click pic for page THIS is, OF COURSE – LINKED DATA!!!

I have felt a bit remiss lately.  I have not visited many of your blogs to read all the fascinating stories and tales you spin and share.  They are well-worth the time; I simply have not had much of it.  I find that, by the time I get around to my blog (even before yours), it is very late and I am tired.  It is no fun reading the posts of others when your eyes keep falling shut (this also plays havoc with the keys as my head tilts forward and may strike the board!).  So, I decide to try tomorrow – yet the same thing occurs.  It is also my spotty recent memory that causes me to forget, sometimes even the most important items.  As of today, I have lost my cell phone.  I believe it to be in my home, but the “where” eludes me.  I will keep looking and, for what it is worth, I will keep thinking about it.

However, to help my feelings of guilt or whatever they are, I would like to propose that all of you who visit my post here and have your own – please link to your post in the comments so others may see all the great posts I am missing out on!  At least, then, I can feel a bit like I am passing on a bit of  you to all those who are following me!

Please link!!! Namaste,

Scott

A Short Collection of Catch-up Thoughts Early in the Morning

source: Google Image search with license for reuse. Click on pic for page.

I wasn’t going to write anything tonight (well, now, last night), but as I looked over the week and the writings and just my life in general, I decided I would do something short and, for me, to the point.  I decided just to let you in on what’s going on and what’s new.

First, I have taken to a new game.  No, not a video game this time (I am still on Skyrim and am at level 41.  I have never been here before).  No, I am talking about the old-fashioned “Dungeons and Dragons” – “D&D”.   I found a site, roll20 and fell in love with it.  The site has taken the board game and, instead of making a video of it, they have brought the table to the Internet.  They have a virtual table and dice and you play just like you used to – roll dice and move and talk in groups (via Raidcall and chat on the site and Skype).  It is addictive, once a week for me – Mondays 7pm-11pm.  I am a Rogue (thief in the older language) and help my group of 3 others through what may be months of playing.  Check out the site.  It is fun and educational.

My vegan diet is going well.  I have lost just under 10 pounds in 4 months and my blood sugar is doing well.  My blood pressure was around 104/48 several times and they may need to remove or reduce one of my meds!  Great!  I find out in December.

I am feeling better for the most part.  I still don’t sleep well, but manage to put in about 9 1/2 broken hours a night.  I still have some nights where I don’t get to sleep until dawn, but it all works out in a few days.  I have been sneezing today and have some sinus problems and a headache, but I don’t think I am getting sick, just tired and the weather is changing here – hard.

I am getting to read some of your posts, though not as many as I might have hoped.  Yes, I know it is a choice, but I need to do these other things.  Just know I think about a lot of you all the time and save the links so I can do, at least, some as time permits.

Finally, I am now doing about 1/2 – 2/3 of the cleaning of my house.  I still hope to have someone in once a month to give it a thorough going-through, but I am doing a lot of it on my own and that is a huge improvement.

By the way, I have taken a liking to Peanut butter (organic), sauerkraut, mustard, and Italian dressing or rye.  Don’t ask, but I do like it.

Guess that’s it.  Love you all…

Namaste,

Scott

“You Should Go to Church”

It doesn’t matter where you are.

The title was something my Mom said to me today.   Setting:  in the hospital, after their minister (mine, too, I guess) had visited Dad.  I was leaving for home; Mom was walking me out.  She said this, not in anger, just in passing.  I don’t remember the entire conversation, but here are my thoughts:

I don’t see anything wrong with going to church.  For many people it is a time to rejoice, be with friends, and celebrate God.  Nothing wrong with any of that.  For others, it is a time to be introspective, learn about their religion’s beliefs, and give them time to pray in public.  Nothing wrong with any of that.

For me, it would, mostly, be a waste of my time.  It’s not that I don’t have strong beliefs; I do.  It’s not that I don’t pray; I do – a lot.  It’s not that I don’t want to be introspective; I do and I am.

However, church does not hold much for me, anymore.  It’s isn’t that I have outgrown it or anything; I am just in a different place.   I enjoy all my time now, and all of it is with God to one degree or another.  I see church as a place to concentrate on God and to be with Him.  I do that at home or out anywhere else.  I pray when I feel like it; it is a communication for me; a talking, not a specific ritual.  God and I talk; we converse; I make my needs and thoughts known; He responds.  He “speaks” in my head, through my conscience, my inner discussions.  I learn through these and through experiences as well as through watching the world and listening.

You all are a part of my learning process.  I learn through each and every post you do; I see your worlds, your lives, your people, everything about you that you put out for me to see.  I learn from the short poem about the bridge to the 5-6 page thought-provoking tour of your psyche you might present each day.  It has to be that way or else I could never get through following 80+ blogs a week.

Your lives are important to me and though I can’t quote you or your stories well all the time, I still know who you are and what you are like when I am in the midst of your stories and truths and trials.  I immerse myself in life and in your lives.  Vicarious living is fun and exciting and a learning experience as well as anything else.

I play video games and I learn about life there, too.  The people who write those (at least, the ones I play) are people who create rules and environments and then allow you, through your character, to interact and live a life with consequences.  Dying means getting another chance to try – that is a learning experience, too.

So, without excuses, I don’t go to church.  Life is my church; I am kinda always there.  I like it this way.  I try to share back with you and with others whose lives I come into contact with.  I intend to increase all of this and extend both my reach and my learning.

If you aren’t getting all of this out of life, it’s not because it isn’t there – please just wake up and start.  Church or no church, life is there and is good and has all kinds of experiences for you.

Namaste,

Scott

Keeping You Posted

I have been trying to decide what to write on tonight.  I have been tired and a little out of ideas – I imagine you could tell by the last few I wrote anyway – but wanted to keep the process up.  I have been resting since last week’s illness and have fallen way behind in my post readings.  I read 25 of them today and, as they were from multiple bloggers, I got an insight into a lot of different minds.  It made me realize that what I should do is to write about the ones that stuck in my head.  Now, understand, I get the list from email and delete the email notification after I read the post, so I can’t easily take you back to those posts.  I will give you the person (blog) and you can go peek if you want.

1)  Rich – I read two of Rich’s today.  The first was part 13 of his road to ruin (his story of his teaching life) and the other was his version of this week’s horoscope (which was hilarious).

2)  Buckwheatsrisk – I also read two of her posts today.  She is having difficulty with her mom and her sister because of the abuse they all suffered from her narcissistic, sociopath father.  She has escaped, but it has cost her dearly because she has had to leave her family behind.  It has been a necessity, but rough on her.  I am proud of her, by the way.

3)  Boomie Bol – I read several of Boomie’s today.  She writes poetry and is, usually, short with it.  That’s mostly because she has 3(?) children who don’t allow her enough time to be long.

4)  I Think in Comics – Vy (pronounced “vee”) is a wonderful young woman who is majoring in Biology in college and loves to create comics.  I love her “Minus One” comic section.  Today, a fairly shy guy was trying to cook a meal for a girl he likes.  He was so nervous and I can identify with all that.

5) Joe C Combs 2nd –  Is a history author and buff and the only person, basically, that has made me enjoy reading a bit of history.  Today, he talked about sunsets and the moon, which was a little different for him.  Way to widen your horizons, Joe!

6)  R. L. King – Is a fine poet.  She writes constantly and turns out verse that, often, leaves me a bit speechless (quite a task for anyone).  Today, I set my record with her, I read 7 of her posts.  She posted a multi-post poem entitled “Villanelle”.  Each followed a slightly different rhyming pattern, but it all focused on the same topic and read smoothly from one to the next. My favorite was part II.  She wrote a multi-post “Sonnet”, too, but I haven’t read them all yet.

7)  The Adventures of Danda and YaYa – or LazyLauraMaisey is one of the more humor-filled blogs I read.  Today, she talked on “Pathways” and, though not necessarily humorous, the pics were great and thought-provoking.

8)  Hope-the Happy Hugger – It is this young woman who held the key for my post today.  I read several of hers, all good, but she wrote one entitled “No, I’m not Doing It Today” in which she said, in her post, that she wasn’t going to follow the photo prompt even though her OCD tendencies wanted her to.  Not only did I admire that, but it started the thought processes that led me to deciding to do a post on all the other posts.  Thanks, Dear.

9)  Alien Hippy – She will tell you she suffers with a mental handicap (or, at least, society calls it that), but she is such a wonderful person and I felt so sorry for her as I read her post for today.  She seems to be in a quandary as to what to do with a world that seems intent on telling her what to do without listening to her side.

10) Indira – Is a wonderful woman from India.  I found her blog by reading her daughter’s blog, which I still follow today.  She does quite a few photos from prompts and is quite a photographer.  We enjoy wonderful short conversations in the form of comments.

11)  JmMcDowell – An archeologist and writer of sci-fi novels, she is great.  I have read one of her novels and loved it.  She also writes stories divided by posts (currently, Megan Bode is thrilling us).  She has taught me a lot and, probably, doesn’t know it.  Today, she talked about the intercession that her characters had to help her with a problem.  Great idea – wow!

12)  Everyday Asperger’s – I can’t say enough about Sam.  She is one of those people who I just love dearly and admire greatly.  Though not the first blog I ever followed, hers was close.  We have been blog friends for nearly a year now and I am proud of that.  She has Asperger’s Syndrome and talks so openly about it that doctors would do well to read her posts and learn instead of reading those professional journals on the subject.

Okay, could I have left someone out?  Yes.  I am sorry if I did.  Are there others who I follow?  Oh my…I follow 129 blogs.  I don’t mind it anymore.  I decided that, if I don’t like it, I could simply quit reading all of them.  But, I learn so much and interact with so many people that I can’t imagine leaving any of them behind.

So to all of you who I follow and did not mention today…love you bunches!

If you are interested, I have a page entitled “Intriguing Posts I have Found”.  This page has links to some, well, intriguing posts!  Give it a look and tell me what you think.

How about you?  Besides your own post, who are your favs!?  Here is a chance to list them in the comments section and give them a plug!

Namaste,

Scott