Sneak Preview

  

Three days ago, I participated in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Blogfest, "The Top Ten Movie Countdown".  I visited and commented on dozens of blogs and got a crazy number of comments here on the Back Porch.  Seriously; more than I've ever had on a post before.  I'm still trying to respond to all of them.

The month of April represents two rather large commitments I've made to writing.  The first is the "Blogging from A to Z April Challenge", also co-hosted by the Ninja Captain Alex.  (See the button in the right sidebar.)  The premise is to write on April 1 (a Sunday) on a topic beginning with the letter "A".  Then, on each weekday of the month, write on a subject with the rest of the letters of the alphabet, at the rate of one per day.  There are literally HUNDREDS of bloggers signed up for this month-long event.

So, Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic and David Macauley at Brits in the USA, came up with the brilliant idea to have a reveal hop where people could preview the themes they were going to use for the A to Z Challenge.  

I went through several possibilities for themes, but (think) I have settled on:

LIVE THEATRE!

I have loved acting my whole life.  I started out college in a Musical Theatre Program.  But I had self-esteem issues and could not bring myself to actually audition, which considering the line of work, could be a drawback.  At the end of my first year, I was told that I should find something else to do, because I had no future in live theatre.  And I listened to them.  I switched to "business" (which pleased my mother to no end), lost heart for studying a subject that did not fulfill me, and wound up dropping out of college ... for 10 years.

Every job I got, my mother had her brother give me the "you need to do something more important than that" speech.  (They weren't being intentionally mean.)  Finally I had a job in the International Department of a local bank.  I thought, finally they will approve.  *vile buzzer sound indicating a negative*  I decided I would not be able to progress much until I finished a degree, so I went back to college, and eventually did obtain a BS in Finance (magna cum laude).

One afternoon, I saw a sign up on a wall, telling of auditions for the play, "The Importance of Being Earnest".  I thought, "I should go do that."  Then I saw that the auditions were that afternoon.  Immediately my mind came up with all sorts of reasons why NOT to audition:  it's too soon, I'm not prepared...blah, blah, blah.  Then I figured, what did I have to lose?  If I sucked and the answer was "no", I'd be no worse of than I was at that moment.

I went.  I auditioned.  I got the part of Lady Bracknell.

Over the next 5-6 years I was involved with about 25-30 plays.  Half of these probably were acting, the rest in various tech positions (light or sound board operators, stage hands, directing one time, etc).  I still remember sitting at a light board one night before the show and having the stage manager come and hand me an envelope.  "What is this," I asked.  She responded, "Your check."  I was stunned.  "YOU MEAN I GET PAID FOR THIS???"  How cool is THAT?!?!?!

So for the letters of the alphabet have play titles in which I have acted or teched, etc., I will write about those plays.  On letters where I have not been involved with a play, I will write about one in which I would like to be involved, and/or maybe ideas for writing plays.

We'll all be finding out in about a week.  Hope to see you there!

National Wormhole Day

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EINEY!  In honor of Einstein's Birthday, I am participating in the National Wormhole Day blog hop hosted by Stephen Tremp, Laura Eno, and Luanne Smith (not to be confused with "LuAnn Smith", who I used to be before I got married!)

Also, shouting out for the Thirsty for Comments Thursdays hop (hosted by the Acting Balanced blog and DL Hammons' Blog Blitz group hosted at his Cruising Altitude blog.  Check them out too, you won't regret it.

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If I had a two-way ticket for a stable wormhole, and could make a single out-and-back trip to anywhere at any point in history ... I'd probably go back and meet Einstein.  He could figure out the formula for stabilizing wormholes at will and I could make him a webpage to distribute the process to the masses at no charge.  We would also have to make some sort of "failsafe" code to ensure the technology was not misused by haters and/or trolls.  

Alternatively, I'd like to go back and see either the Sermon on the Mount or hang out with the shepherds on the night of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.

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Little Known Mostly Useless Factoid:  This marks my 46th post of the year.  In the rest of my blogstory I've made a total of 136 posts.  That means I am 1/3 of the way to making this the year that I have as many posts as I made in the last SIX YEARS!

My Favorites

1.  Favorite Movie - Henry V (Brannagh version)

2.  Favorite TV Show - NCIS

3.  Favorite Author - William Shakespeare

4.  Favorite Color - Purple

5.  Favorite Car - Jaguar XJ-S

6.  Place I Most Want to Visit - Scotland

7.  Favorite Dessert - (tie) cheesecake & baklava

8.  Favorite Supernatural Character Type - vampire

9.  Favorite Bible Verse(s) - Psalm 23

10.  Favorite Soft Drink - Coke Zero

What are your favorites?

5-Minute Cures for Blogger's Block

I've had the hardest time coming up with a topic today.

I've got a list of topics for April, due to pre-planning for the "Blogging from A to Z" challenge. (Check back tomorrow for more information on that.)  I've also got a list of topics for February (with a theme of "love" - I know.  Original. Right?)  But today, I've been staring at the two graphics above, trying to figure out something of value to write.

Well, just about half an hour ago, I started thinking of things I could do in 5 minutes or less that would get my mind off a blank page and let my subconscious take over for a few while I was engaged in some fairly mundane task.

So, here's what I came up with, off the cuff:

1. nail care (paint, trim, file, etc.)
2. exercise (treadmill, jumping jacks, bicep curls ... whatever)
3. call a friend
4. pay a bill
5. pray or meditate
6. plan a meal
7. answer an email
8. take your dog outside.
9. wash your vehicle's windshield
10. stomp on some aluminum cans for recycling.

Not all earth-shattering, or even game-changing.  And I guess the closest I came to actually using one of these was the pray or meditate.  I went outside with my notebook and my husband's pen.

It was not as productive a session as yesterday, when reading a blog post about a Valentine's advent calendar inspired me to write a list of 100 occasions for which you could make an "advent calendar".  If you've never used a "list of 100" as a journaling technique, I highly recommend it.

My point is that in the process of coming up with a list of things I could to in five minutes to get out of my rut, it occurred to me that writing about the process of getting out of my rut would make a pretty good post!

So, what do you do when the ideas are not coming as fast as you would like?  Tell us in a comment.  You never know who may need the very idea that you post!

NOTE:  I don't know why going to the list changed the text alignment to center.  Any ideas?  Besides that, I like the way the list shows up when centered.  Kind of like a Christmas tree!

Thirsty for Comments Thursday

As this is the first time I have participated in this hop, I'm going to re-iterate the purposes and methods verbatim from the host site.

What is Thirsty for Comments?

This is a blog hop dedicated to giving good comment - please, when you are visiting, actually READ the post that is linked and make a thoughtful comment!

This is NOT a hop for "I'm here from the hop, follow me back" comments!

Link up your own SPECIFIC POST that you'd like comments on - remember - no giveaways!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!  

We are looking to add one or two new Co-Hosts to Thirsty For Comments!  All of the HTML is written and shared each week, so all you have to do is post... and participate!!!

If you're interested, please email Heather!

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The rules are simple -

1. Link up a SPECIFIC POST (NOT just your blog URL) that you'd like to have more comments on - NO  GIVEAWAYS or OTHER BLOG HOPS - they will be deleted

2. Visit AT LEAST THREE other blogs and READ the posts and then comment thoughtfully on the post.

Extras (nice but not required):

• Add the Thirsty for Comments button to your post
• Blog about Thirsty for Comments
• Add Thirsty for Comments to your Meme List!
• Leave a comment here on how we can improve Thirsty for Comments :)

This is a cause near and dear to my heart. I know quality commenting takes time and effort.  I've spent days just making comments on dozens of hop entries.  But if you're going to make the effort, and want reader-followers and repeat visits, not just to see that little # of followers go up by "1", it's SO worth it. We all have our good days and our bad days.  We all have "stuff" come up in our lives that needs dealing with - right now.  I deal with depression and some days it's all I can do to read posts, let alone make a comment.  On "those days" for me, I give my self credit for doing what I can, because I know that when I feel better, I will also do better. Like Shakespeare's Juliet said, "...the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite".  She was talking about love.  I'm talking about blog love.  It's a cosmic balance issue.  It's a golden rule issue. OK.  I'll step off my soapbox now. Two last things:

• Felicia Pratt started a group "Valuable Blog Commenting"  on the BloggyMoms.com site.  If you are not already a member, and you believe in giving and receiving valuable comments on your blog, I urge you to check it out.
• If I haven't worn y'all out already, check out my "Nobility of Motherhood" post available from the list on the right.  I feel like it is my best writing in a while.