global

WDP — Why I Blog

Fandango14 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Why do you blog?
View all responses

I started blogging in 2005 when I mentioned to a work associate that I enjoyed writing short stories and also writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper, a number of which had been published. He suggest that I should consider blogging. So I did. First I blogged at Blogger. Then, in 2009, I migrated to TypePad. In 2013, I switched to WordPress, and by then I was addicted to blogging.

By 2015, I had become so preoccupied with blogging that my work was suffering, my marriage was suffering, and I knew I had to reassess my priorities. So in April of 2015, I abruptly quit blogging.

I retired at the end of 2016. By then my wife and I had sorted out our issues. And with the insanity of Donald Trump having been elected POTUS, I was itching to get back to blogging in order to express my outrage.

So on May 14, 2017, I published my first post on This, That, and the Other. Thus, with the exception of a brief hiatus from April 2015 to May 2017, I’ve been blogging for 18 years.

So why do I blog?

Well, I still like to write short stories (flash fiction). I still enjoy writing letter-to-the-editor-type post wherein I share my opinions, views, perspective, and outrage. But, as a retiree, I am into blogging for the same reason my wife is into crossword puzzles: to keep our minds sharp.

I do worry about the possibility of my mind deteriorating faster than my body, and for me, blogging is like taking my brain for a workout at the gym. When I blog, I exercise my brain — my creativity, my imagination, my ability to think and to express my thoughts.

And of course, I blog because it offers me an opportunity to interact daily with a wonderful, supportive, and global community of bloggers who encourage me to keep on blogging.

Five Word Weekly Challenge — Friendly Banter

Fandango11 Comments

“Where are you going?” Jerry asked Olivia.

“I’m sick of you two disagreeing over everything and anything,” Olivia said. “It’s a shame that the two of you can never see eye to eye on any matter. We’re on the precipice of a global catastrophe and you two idiots are arguing over whether Slipknot is heavy metal or hard rock.”

“Sheesh, Olivia,” Gary said, “Don’t get your bowels in such an uproar. We’re not arguing, we’re just engaging in some friendly, playful banter.”

“You know, Gary,” Olivia said, if you and your twin brother went through the same level of thoughtful machinations on important matters, you might get some respect, but the things you argue about are inconsequential.”

“Slipknot is not inconsequential, Olivia. It may just be the best heavy metal band ever,” Jerry said.

“No, Olivia is right,” Gary said. “We should be discussing something consequential, like climate change.”

Jerry laughed. “Climate change is a hoax made up by a bunch of environmental tree-huggers.”

Gary said, “The real hoax here is Slipknot billing itself as a heavy metal band.”

Olivia stood up, turned around, and walked out of the room, muttering to herself, “I tried. I really tried.”

Written for Greg’s Five Word Weekly Challenge. The words are shame, global, slipknot, machination, and banter. Photo credit: iStockphoto.com.

Blogging Insights — My Blogging Backstory

Fandango2 Comments

For this week’s Blogging Insights prompt, Dr. Tanya has asked what our “blogging backstory” is. She wants to know:

Why and how did you begin blogging?

Blogging is an important, integral, and meaningful part of my life. I first started blogging in 2005 and my plan is to continue to blog as long as I am mentally and physically able to do so.

With that said, just yesterday, Lorraine, aka blindzanygirl, asked us in her blog, “Why Do You Blog?” My response to her question is essentially the answer to Tonya’s question about why and how I began blogging. So rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m going to copy and paste my response to Lorraine’s question yesterday as my response to Tanya’s question today.

I started blogging in 2005 when I mentioned to a work associate that I enjoyed writing short stories and also writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper, a number of which had been published. He suggest that I should consider blogging. So I did. First I blogged at Blogger. Then, in 2009, I migrated to TypePad. In 2013, I switched to WordPress, and by then I was addicted to blogging.

By 2015, I had become so preoccupied with blogging that my work was suffering, my marriage was suffering, and I knew I had to reassess my priorities. So in April of 2015, I abruptly quit blogging.

I retired at the end of 2016. By then my wife and I had also sorted out our issues. And with the insanity of Donald Trump having been elected POTUS, I was itching to get back to blogging in order to express my outrage.

So on May 14, 2017, I published my first post on This, That, and the Other.

That is my blogging backstory. I still like to express myself creatively by writing short stories (flash fiction). I still enjoy writing letter-to-the-editor-type post wherein I share my opinions, views, perspective, and outrage. But most of all, what keeps me blogging is the ability to interact daily with a wonderful, supportive global community of bloggers who encourage me to keep on keeping on.

Why Do I Blog?

Fandango16 Comments

Lorraine, aka blindzanygirl, asked us today, “Why Do You Blog?”

I started blogging in 2005 when I mentioned to a work associate that I enjoyed writing short stories and also writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper, a number of which had been published. He suggest that I should consider blogging. So I did. First I blogged at Blogger. Then, in 2009, I migrated to TypePad. In 2013, I switched to WordPress, and by then I was addicted to blogging.

By 2015, I had become so preoccupied with blogging that my work was suffering, my marriage was suffering, and I knew I had to reassess my priorities. So in April of 2015, I abruptly quit blogging.

I retired at the end of 2016. By then my wife and I had also sorted out our issues. And with the insanity of Donald Trump having been elected POTUS, I was itching to get back to blogging in order to express my outrage.

So on May 14, 2017, I published my first post on This, That, and the Other.

So why do I blog? Well, I still like to write short stories (flash fiction). I still enjoy writing letter-to-the-editor-type post wherein I share my opinions, views, perspective, and outrage. But most of all, it’s my ability to interact daily with a wonderful, supportive, and global community of bloggers who encourage me to keep on blogging.

What about you? Why do you blog? Click on the link to Lorraine’s post at the beginning of this post and let her know.

WDP — Leisure Time

Fandango32 Comments

What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

I spent almost 50 years of my life getting up each and every day and going to work. A lot of my work involved writing proposals, presentations, analysis documents. I also interacted with coworkers, clients, prospective clients. I even tried to find some time on weekends to write The Great American Novel, but never got very far.

Then, at the end of 2016, I retired. No more proposals, presentations, coworkers, clients, prospective clients. Just me and my wife (and the kids when they found time in their own busy lives to visit with us). Suddenly I had an abundance of leisure time. An over abundance, actually.

So, what should I do with myself and all of this new found leisure time? I wondered. After a month or so into my retirement, my wife apparently got tired of me just hanging around and always being underfoot. She said to me, “Hey, you like to write. Why don’t you start a blog?” It was actually more of a demand than a question. Then she said, “That will keep you busy and out of my hair. You’re driving me crazy.”

I thought about that for a minute. Hmm, okay, I could express my points of view on the world around me and publish them on the internet, where they would be out there for anyone to stumble upon, virtually speaking. And maybe some people actually would stumble upon my blog posts and enjoy what I wrote. Maybe some would even responded to my posts. Comment on them.

Maybe not just my family and friends, whom I would tell about my new hobby, but total strangers from around the world would read, like, and comment on my posts. Maybe I could actually form connections with a large and vibrant community of other bloggers.

So I started blogging. It felt great to see my thoughts, perspectives, ideas, notions, and opinions “in print” for all the world to see. I discovered flash fiction and realized that, while I was unlikely to ever write the Great American Novel, I was a decent very short story writer and blogging allowed me to hone those skills and get almost immediate feedback from those who read them.

I discovered that there were writing prompts to help bloggers like me come up with something to write about and to post on our blogs. I even started creating prompts of my own to help nudge and inspire other bloggers to come up with ideas for their posts.

So, with all of what I just wrote as background, the short answer to today’s WordPress Daily Prompt is that what I enjoy doing most in my leisure time is blogging. And as the photo at the top of this post suggests, I do almost all of my blogging on my smartphone.