Day: January 14, 2024

JusJoJan — What to Write?

Fandango4 Comments

For today’s JusJoJan prompt, Linda has given us the word “writing,” as suggested by Joanne, who resides here.

So what I’m doing now is thinking about what I should write about. It’s as if someone has placed a blank piece of paper in front of me and commanded me to start writing. Of course, my mind is as blank as that piece of paper. I need to stop thinking and start writing. But about what?

Oh wait. I have an idea. Sadie has posted her Sunday Poser prompt. Let me go see what question she posed and I’ll start writing my response here. Sadje wants to know:

Do you like trying new things/technology? Do you change your phone or laptop, or your other devices when a newer model becomes available? Or do you keep on using the device till it just quits on you?

Sure, I like new technology when it comes out. Who doesn’t? But I don’t run out and buy the latest, greatest technology just because it’s there. My laptop is seven years old and it’s definitely showing its age. But I don’t use it all that much, so it meets my modest laptop needs. (I admit that I did buy a new laptop in November, but it was a disaster so I sent it back.)

We bought our Samsung 65” HDTV in 2016 and there have been a lot of advances since then, but our TV is still doing fine. If it ain’t broke, as they say, don’t fix it. And speaking about being broken, I did buy a new Apple Watch 7 at the end of 2022 when my Apple Watch 4 shit the bed.

I bought a new iPhone 15 Pro Max this year because my four-year-old iPhone 12 Pro Max was running very slow and the newer iPhone has significantly improved camera capabilities. But I’m not planning to buy a new iPhone 16 when it comes out next year. I probably won’t upgrade until the 17 or 18 is released. I must point out, though, that while I hardly use my laptop, I’m constantly on my iPhone. So if there is a compelling argument for an upgrade, I’ll probably go ahead with it.

So, bottom line, while I appreciate new technology, I don’t run out and buy it as soon as it’s on the market.

WDP — Online Communications

Fandango2 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
In what ways do you communicate online?
View all responses

My iPhone is the ultimate communications device and I use it for almost all of my online communications. When I want to each out to someone, I use my iPhone’s Wi-Fi or cellular service to connect with them. Nearly all of my communications are online. When I want to find out what my adult kids are up to, I look at their Facebook and Instagram pages. When I want to talk with them, I text them or send them an email. Our family has shared online messaging via Slack and SMS messaging.

I bank online, pay my bills online. I use chat if I have a question about a product or service, as many sellers these days offer chat help functionality. I buy most of the things I need online at Amazon or eBay or directly from sellers.

And of course, there’s WordPress, where literally all communications between members of our community is online.

About the only time I don’t use online communications is when I’m face-to-face with others.

So, in what ways do I communicate online? In most ways…via my iPhone, of course.

Cellpic Sunday — Up Close and Personal

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John Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile device. He invites us to participate in this cellphone photo prompt by creating our own CellPic Sunday post and linking it back to his.

I mentioned here, in my response to Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt yesterday, that my iPhone 15 Pro Max has a “macro” lens for taking super close-up photos and I haven’t used it all that much. So even though it was raining yesterday, I decided to experiment outside with my “Ultra Wide Camera” setting. This first shot was taken with the 13 mm lense at the f2.2 setting.

Can you guess what it is? Scroll down to find out.

Keep scrolling.

Keep scrolling

If you guessed a part of a mushroom covered with raindrops growing on top of a tree stump, congratulations. These next two shots were taken with the “Main Camera” (24 mm at F1.78).

By the way, in case you were wondering, I’m not manually setting the lens or the F-stop. My iPhone is doing that automagically. All I did with these photos is resized them so the page will load faster and they won’t take up a lot of space in my WordPress media folder.

MLMM Friday Faithfuls — Dogs

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For this week’s Mindlovemysery Menagerie Friday Faithfuls challenge, Jim is asking us to write anything about dogs.

I promised myself after we made that gut-wrenching decision in November 2020 to euthanize our beloved pet dog when the quality of her life, mostly due to old age and heath issues, had deteriorated to the point that she was suffering, that I would not get another dog. Besides, we still had our cat to keep us company. But we had to put him down in January 2022, leaving us without a pet.

And again, I promised myself we wouldn’t get another pet — cat or dog — because given our ages, chances are that if we got a young pet, it would outlive us, creating a whole series of challenges.

The picture above is our rescue dog that we brought home in March 2022, less than two months after our cat died. Our new dog was 14 months old at the time we brought her home and she just turned three a few days ago. We came to the realization that we are people who need pets. Our children are grown and are out on their own and so it’s just me and my wife. Having a pet, this time a dog, makes our lives fuller, especially since we are retired empty nesters.

Most importantly, our dog brings joy into our lives every day.

Song Lyric Sunday — Swedish Meatballs

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has asked us to find a Scandinavian song from Denmark, Norway, Finland or Sweden. My first thought was to go with the Swedish group, ABBA, but I figured a lot of people would choose them, as they are probably the most widely known Nordic group in America, particularly with the success of their musical “Mamma Mia” and the two movies of that same name.

But in doing my research, I came across the Swedish pop duo, Roxette. And the Roxette song I chose is “It Must Have Been Love.”

“It Must Have Been Love” was written by Roxette’s instrumentalist, Per Gessle and recorded by the duo, with Gessle, on vocals and guitar, and Marie Fredriksson, on vocals and keyboards. It became the duo’s third number one hit in the United States, and is one of their best selling releases, being certified gold or platinum in a number of countries.

The song was first released as “It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)” in December 1987. It was composed after EMI Germany asked the duo to “come up with an intelligent Christmas single.” It became a top five hit in Sweden, but was not released internationally.

In 1989, a slightly edited and overdubbed version, omitting the Christmas references, was created for the soundtrack to the 1990 film “Pretty Woman.” it was this version that was the biggest success for the duo. It was released at the end of March 1990 as part of the movie soundtrack album.

According to Gessle, “Pretty Woman” director Garry Marshall loved the song so much that he re-edited the movie so he could showcase the song in a scene without dialogue. Still, Gessle, who had never had a song placed in a film before, was initially disappointed when only about a minute of it was used. But there were no complaints when the movie and song became instant hits. “Nobody expected the movie to become such a smash and for us it was, of course, a jackpot,” Gessle said.

Here are the lyrics to “It Must Have Been Love.”

It must have been love
But it's over now

Lay a whisper on my pillow
Leave the winter on the ground
I wake up lonely, this air of silence
In the bedroom and all around

Touch me now
I close my eyes
And dream away

It must have been love
But it's over now
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow
It must have been love
But it's over now
From the moment we touched
'Til the time had run out

Make believing
We're together
That I'm sheltered
By your heart
But in and outside
I turn to water
Like a teardrop
In your palm

And it's a hard
Winter's day
I dream away

It must have been love (it must have been love)
But it's over now (but it's over now)
It was all that I wanted
Now I'm living without
It must have been love
But it's over now
It's where the water flows
It's where the wind blows

It must have been love (it must have been love)
But it's over now (but it's over now)
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow
It must have been love (it must have been love)
But it's over now (but it's over now)
From the moment we touched
'Til the time had run out

Yeah, It must have been love (it must have been love)
But it's over now (but it's over now)
It was all that I wanted
Now I'm living without
It must have been love
But it's over now
It's where the water flows
It's where the wind blows

Oh
It must have been love
But it's over now (but it's over now)
Now
Must have been love (it must have been love)
But it's over now (but it's over now)
Now