Day: August 25, 2020

Road Trip

Fandango23 Comments

“I’ve decided,” Craig said.

“Decided what?” asked his wife, Jenny.

“Well, you know how much I love traveling, right?” Craig said. “And you know much I love to ride my motorcycle, too.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So I thought,” Craig said, “that the two of us might hop on my cycle and take a road trip somewhere cool for our summer vacation.”

“Oh Craig,” Jenny said, “your child-like innocence and naivety never ceases to amaze me.”

“What are you talking about, Jenny?” Craig asked. “Why do you always repudiate my great ideas?”

“Craig,” Jenny said, “if you’re dead set on taking a motorcycle trip, then go right ahead, but there’s not a tittynope chance in hell that I’ll be going with you.”

Written for these daily prompts: Jibber Jabber (traveling), Ragtag Daily Prompt (cycle), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (somewhere), The Daily Spur (innocence), Your Daily Word Prompt (repudiate), and Word of the Day Challenge (tittynope, which Melanie assures us is not a dirty word).

Fandango’s Dog Days of August #25

Fandango19 Comments

Fandango’s Dog Days of AugustDo you need a muse to get your creative juices flowing during these hot, sultry days of August? Try a dose of Fandango’s Dog Days of August prompt.

At 6:00 am Pacific time each day this month, I will be posting a new theme. Today’s theme is “thank your followers.” As bloggers (and writers), we all appreciate having followers. What would you like to say to your followers to thank them for following you blog (or some other online presence)? Share a story, a poem, a photo, a drawing, some music, or whatever you wish to share about how you would thank your followers.

If you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FDDA, and create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

And, of course, take some time to read the other responses to this prompt. See how other bloggers are coping with the dog days of August.

WordPress Wants Your Business

Fandango53 Comments

So you don’t think that the WordPress Block editor is geared toward business users rather than casual users who blog for fun? Well read on my friends.

When I opened my browser on my iPhone and logged on to WordPress.com to write a post, the Block editor opened up with instructions to “Start writing or type / to choose a block” as shown here.I tapped the + icon and this screen showed up.Blogging is a hobby for me. I don’t run a business or blog for commercial purposes. Yet the first “blocks” I see displayed are “Business Hours,” something called “Calendly,” “Contact Form,” “Newsletter Sign-up,” “RSVP Form,” “Registration Form,” “Appointment Form,” and “Feedback Form.” Why are these blocks, which are clearly meant for business users, presented first? I have zero need for any of them.

I have to scroll down the screen until I see “Browse All,” tap that, and continue to scroll down until I find any blocks that I would find even remotely relevant.

Of course, if you’re using a laptop or a desktop computer, your screen is much larger than it is on a smartphone, so maybe you don’t have to do all of that scrolling to find a block that would be useful to you.

I am retired. I don’t have a business. I don’t try to sell anything on my blog or to make money from it. Blogging is just something I do because I enjoy writing and interacting with other bloggers. But now we hobby bloggers are being forced to use the Block editor or to jump through hoops to use the WP-Admin classic editor, which is actually an older version of the recently decommissioned classic editor that many of us preferred.

It appears that WordPress doesn’t really care about casual bloggers like me. WordPress wants business bloggers. The rest of us can just go fuck off. As a result, for me, anyway, blogging on WordPress using the business-oriented Block editor is no longer fun and enjoyable, so why bother?

Okay. I am sure that all of you are probably tired of reading my whiny rants about how WordPress is screwing those of us who blog for fun and not for profit. So I promise that this is my last whiny rant on this topic.

I’m sure Donald Trump and his Republican ass-kissers will provide me with plenty of other juicy topics to whine and rant about.

FOWC with Fandango — Somewhere

Fandango28 Comments

FOWCWelcome to August 25, 2020 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “somewhere.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.