Blog topic parameters & how it works over on WordPress HERE
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a lyric by Coldplay Easy Bonus: Include a stadium
Lights Electric!
Days turn into weeks, turn into months, turn into years at The Speed of Light. My ailments are catching up, we’ll see how this goes… hoping something busts loose. I hope to keep playing music for as long as this body of mine allows me to… Even after that, I’m still me, and my greatest accomplishment is being mom. I can’t cook so much anymore, but it would be nice to cook for the masses. My song is love – Love to the loveless shown – And it goes onA Message (Coldplay: X & Y album) You make my lights spark in Lambeau Field and the Packers win the Super Bowl.
Marvin Martian & his space dog, Commander K says: We want to thank you for joining in our weekly challenges! We greatly appreciate your participation, as we do want to continue – as long as we have enough writers contributing each week. So keep up the wonderful writing, all!!! As always, we at Marvin house look forward to reading your amazing writes this week. Join us at Blogophilia, the place for blogging, fun and friendship for 17 years!
Blogophilia group on Facebook HERE. Over on WordPress, blog topic parameters HERE and how it works right HERE. If you’d like to submit your own entry but don’t want to create a blog site, please either comment on Martien’s post on his page, on the blog in the group, or as a comment under the parameters. If you have Gmail, you automatically have Blogger, but make sure you post the link in the same area of your choice so other people can read yours, too.
Hard Bonus: Mention something you never take for granted Easy Bonus: Include something you may find at a Thanksgiving meal
Ripples & Rapids
Unless your grandparents live ‘out in the country’, I don’t know if people would understand the song Over the River and Through the Woods… Except that’s considering that the snow has already come, and the river is frozen… But I think in this case, everyone grab a pack because we’re going to have to hop, skip & jump over the water on the rocks… Or maybe just find a safe place to Row, Row, Row Your Boat across, and hope you don’t need more than one…
With all of the turmoil that’s going on, it’s easy to feel jilted by the situation because it’s multifaceted. Gone are the days when you could literally walk off one job & have another one lined up the same day. So, there’s the financial insecurity added to the rising cost of everything, health issues making it difficult to work full-time, and the available jobs are actually scarce. Depending on the type of job, there are often two candidates for each job opening, which may be for positions in factories, warehouses, or other similar settings. For white collar work, it’s higher. It seems that only in IT, engineering, etc., is there a shortage of workers due to the qualifications one needs to land a position. I’m not sure what’s exactly going on, but it seems like people that are my age & slightly older have a lot of health issues that when our parents were our age, they didn’t have them, and my grandparents were extremely healthy until the last year or so of their lives (99.5 & 100.5). I can’t blame it all on lifestyle, because I know that I, for one, was active ALL day… All of a sudden, boom… All I want to do is Feed the World, regardless of if there is a holiday or not… It’s hard to Give Thanks sometimes.
Something I’ll never take for granted… I know how to cook, so even if I need helpers, I can talk them through things. At my house, aside from stray people, you’ll find potato salad… The main entrees and a lot of the sides are hot, so something cold to go with. No need to be Puttin’ On the Ritz all the time. Just give your graces to the Spirit in the Sky. Happy Thanksgiving!
Blogophilia group on Facebook, HERE. Blog topic parameters on WordPress HERE. Writer’s choice means the blogger picks their own topics & bonuses.
Hard Bonus: WRITER’S CHOICE – games to play with a yellow ball Easy Bonus: WRITER’S CHOICE – mention romping around
Dog ball game
I’ve never heard of The Dog Days of Climatological Winter – that time of year in the areas that get snow, where technically it’s not winter yet according to the calendar, but it’s already snowed, so the weather says it could be winter. It’s JUST warm enough not to get hypothermia. While it’s a bit cool for my preferences, some love this to get moving – maybe have a yellow ball badminton challenge where your pet can help roll the ball back to you. Or just go romping around the woods & avoid other people.
From Marvin Martian & fellow blogophilians, Happy Veteran’s Day to those of you who have served in the Armed Forces of the USA!Thank you for your service!
Blogophilia on Facebook HERE and blog topic parameters & how it works on WordPress HERE
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a song title by Jethro Tull Easy Bonus: Mention a puzzle
Autumn Daybreak
Many soldiers ought to be here, but are In Absentia, as are so many others. It’s a puzzle as to why life has to be so difficult and getting worse… Health issues, income issues, and numerous applications for various things make it difficult to prioritize what needs to get done. “A Time for Everything“ is a naive thought, because we figure out eventually that there’s never enough time for everything.
From the spaceship of Martien Ecrits: Greetings, Dear Earthlings and Fellow Blogophilians!! This is Week 19 in Year 17 Blogophilia! We welcome November – also, for those of you in the USA, did you set your clocks back one hour for Daylight Savings Time?
Blogophilia Facebook group HERE and blog topic parameters on WordPress HERE
Hard Bonus: Incorporate an unforgettable dream Easy Bonus: Use a brand or flavor of coffee
Hugger of Tree
People seem to love excitement, and what else can be more exciting than Dangerous Attractions? The most dangerous attraction I’ve ever done is para-sailing once, but I was much younger & in better shape. I’m not sure standard roller coasters count.
I normally do not recall my dreams. It’s very rare, except for the 2 different recurring ones, and then the time the Emperor from Star Wars floated through my window, and I was trying to make scary ghost sounds to scare him off. Mike woke me up… Anyway… It’s weird how people have their morning routines. Aside from water (especially to take my medication), the first thing in my mouth is an orange of some type – whether it’s freshly squeezed juice, mandarin orange, naval orange, tangerine, and on rare occasion, a half a grapefruit… breakfast comes after, and when affordable, 8 O’clock hazelnut coffee, freshly ground just before brewing…
Blogophilia group on Facebook HERE and blog topic parameters on WordPress HERE
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a synonym for spirit ~ apparition, ghost, etc.
Easy Bonus: Include a Metallica song title
Ghost mansion
I dare to visit the Haunted Dollhouse. I doubt Casper or that type of phantom lord is present here, more like the darker shade of The Four Horsemen (Kill Them All 1983) are ready to show you the wrongs of your life & will have no remorse in doing unto you the evils we have done to others, regardless of human, animal, or nature.
Martien Ecrits, aka Marvin Martian the coordinator for Ecrits Blogophilia says “Greetings, Dear Earthlings and Fellow Blogophilians!! This is Week 17 in Year 17 Blogophilia! Halloween season is upon us – let’s take a walk on the spooky side!”
From the House of Marvin Martian: Greetings, Dear Earthlings and Fellow Blogophilians!! This is Week 16 in Year 17 Blogophilia! Where would we be without CYBERSPACE? This alien certainly would not have met all of you wonderful Earthlings, if not for this amazing technology. Alas, cyberspace can be both a blessing and a curse. Let’s explore how cyberspace brought positivity – opening up opportunities, creating bonds and friendships across space, forging unity within humanity, the list is endless… Alternatively, you can choose to write about negative aspects – time constraints, withdrawing from real life, strain on relationships, deception, fraud, identity theft, feeling inadequate comparing selves to others… the list goes on. So think about it, and get typing! We hope this inspires you to join us and write with us this week!!
Blogophilia group on Facebook HERE. On WordPress, blog topic parameters & how it works HERE
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a song title by King Crimson Easy Bonus: Mention a robot
Bionics Live
Cyberspace, a place to be or a place to do? Somewhere there’s a community; otherwise, it’s to be avoided. We can be In the Court of the Crimson King (1969 album, titled as the song) and hope that we aren’t falling Into the Frying Pan (2000 The Construkction of Light album). Maybe we could use the help of Rosie (The Jetsons’ housekeeper).
Wandering the field toward the pond, the sun is rising over the mountainous horizon. Fool’s gold cannot hold me in place. “There’s you, you’re sleeping over there, whilst me I’m sitting here, with so much sea between us” (Procol Harum, Too Much Between Us, A Salty Dog album 1969). Trip the Light Fantastic as I walk away.
How: Buy your tickets online or in person at the boxoffice
Why: Live concerts in person is always best, in this relaxed environment
The groups are under the graceful direction of the Director of Music, Dr. Laura Rexroth, at Parkside. Professor James Ripley, the director of Instrumental Music Activities, comes to be a guest conductor Jessie’s Well. We have a variety from a fanfare to an Afro-Cuban tribute. You won’t want to miss this one.
Marvin Martian, our fearless organizer says “We just want to take this opportunity to thank ALL of our Blogophilian friends for joining in the challenges each week! WE APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH! And to former Blogo writers, we sincerely invite ALL of you to return to Blogophilia and write with us again – we miss reading your amazing writes. Remember that it’s never too late to start writing again!!” And I encourage those who haven’t participated yet to come write with us, too.
Deep in the Night, artists dream, poets write, and neuroses often rise their ugly head. Creative streaks make it less lonely, in hopes that we don’t need to be a mendicant during the day to get through our troubles. Look What I Found, Under the foggy day, I’m looking for a light, And my only friend, Is working tonight (Lady Gaga, 2018 A Star Is Born soundtrack). It would be nice if we all could be mendi-can…
I’m with Marvin Martian when he says “Greetings, Dear Earthlings and Fellow Blogophilians!! This is Week 13 in Year 17 Blogophilia! And it is also the final week of Season 1 of Year 17 – and this week we welcome AUTUMN! Where has the time gone?”
Blogophilia group on Facebook HERE. Blog topic parameters on WordPress HERE. You are able to post your entry as a comment in either place, or in Facebook group as a post.
Hard Bonus: Include the title of a song with a color in it Easy Bonus: Incorporate the name of your favorite tree
Rainbow Trees
Time flies, but it didn’t help that spring was late… so it feels like we had a short summer, and autumn came early… It’s not quite Indian Summer, since we haven’t had our 1st frost yet, but it has gotten a little chill around here. With cooler weather, we have our sugar maples, which will start giving sap in several months, when nighttime temps are below freezing & daytime temps above freezing. That gets me thinking about fluffy pancakes with real maple syrup. This Brown Eyed Girl can get fuzzy inside with this & green tea to balance the sweetness out with savory bacon.
WHY: It’s good to get out of the house for things other than work, appointments, and errands, especially to hear great live music without having to spend a lot of money or go out of town!
Often, I feel like I’m the mistress of When All Else Fails. Or maybe I’ve been chasing Waterfalls all these years, and need to reassess. I never really wanted to work in health care anyway. However, I never had the opportunity to enter the legal field, and I’m not in good enough health to consider returning to school. Maybe my problem is that I refuse to Go Away. No one seems to have any money to buy my stuff, so I’m hoping to do some music coaching (I don’t have the teaching credentials to be a teacher). That could work. Although it would be cool if I could go to Japan to do some sessions or clinics. I’m feeling like, at this point, it seems as if stable income is like chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A full-time position should allow someone to support their family and afford healthcare. When you’re more broke, gainfully working, that’s an issue… So far, my options are to hope that my doctor helps me go on disability or somehow find that perfect part-time position.
Our Blogophilia organizer, Marvin Martian has a favor to ask: Greetings, Dear Earthlings and Fellow Blogophilians!! This is Week 11 in Year 17 Blogophilia!
ATTENTION: We are still needing some new prompts from Blogophilia participants. We’re having to dig way back into the archives, and we are rapidly using up all the prompts (in some cases probably duplicating some – if you feel like you’ve seen it before, it’s very possible.) Please Direct Message the following to Martian Ecrits:
* Topics – get creative! * Bonus Prompts – lyrics, song titles, phrases, quotes, movie titles, using specific words, items, situations, names of specific things or places, etc. Use our past prompts as a guideline for what works best! * Pictures – Only send photos that are NOT copyrighted and are Royalty Free. This would include your original photos, public domain images, or downloadable, royalty-free pics from sites like Pexels, Pixabay, Dreamstimes, Canva, etc. Please send only jpg or png format.
Blogophilia group on Facebook HERE. WordPress – blog topic parameters HERE & how blogophilia works HERE. Join us, it’ll be fun. At least donate some prompt ideas to keep the fun reads coming.
Hard Bonus: Mention an old diner or restaurant Easy Bonus: Incorporate jazz music
Picnic & Music In the Park
Dinner theaters are nice, where you get served dinner by the theater crew at tables outside of the stage, then go in to see a show, whether it’s a cabaret or Renaissance, or whatever. But I’ll take live music in a park any day of the week! Quaint burger shops, ice cream trucks, or something you get from Frank’s Diner (but you better be hungry & can comfortably eat), and free jazz music from the Racine Concert Band featuring fun songs like Them There Eyes,I’ll Meet You There, whether I’m playing or listening. For something closer to home, Kewpee’s is a great option.
Frank’s Diner is a dining car (think passenger train food car) built in Bayonne, NJ in 1926, transported via railroad to Kenosha. 6 horses pulled it to the current location in downtown Kenosha near the shore of Lake Michigan. Very few changes have happened, just some upgrades to ensure the longevity of the place. It’s lasted 100 years & still going strong.
Kewpee’s also opened in 1926 in downtown Racine, and is one of the very few restaurants left. It’s been through several owners, but still the same great burgers you just can’t get anywhere else. In 1957, a parking structure was built around it. In 1997, the city took the building by eminent domain and tore it down. With the lack of a better place to put it, the owner bought the empty lot & rebuilt on the old site. It still stands today, and is one of the most favorite burger joints in the city.
