Rhyme and No Reason!

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Just Jot it January 11th – Effortless — January 11, 2016

Just Jot it January 11th – Effortless

jjj-2016

For Linda’s Just Jot it January today, the prompt word we have is ‘effortless.’ I thought I might do something a little different for me and write a list of things that I wish I could do effortlessly!

  • Walk up the stairs – my knees creak and groan in protest.
  • Look immaculately groomed – My hair always ends up looking bedraggled, and my makeup (when I wear it) gets rubbed off in places or smudged, where I have forgotten I am wearing it and rub my eye or something!
  • Sing – I love music, but can’t hold a tune and end up screeching along to my favourites songs, struggling to hit any of the right notes!
  • Read – yes I can still read, but half the time, I have to search for my glasses to be able to see properly! In fact, I have even resorted to wearing them most of the time now.
  • Go shopping without a shopping list! – My memory is not what it used to be and I can guarantee that if I don’t write it down, then I will forget it. Actually, sometimes, I forget to put it on the list in the first place!
  • Lose weight – now this, of course, is just wishful thinking, but it would be nice
  • Do the housework – Ah yes, I remember the days when I would zip around the house like a dynamo, getting all of the work done and then relaxing in my clean and sparkling home. Now it takes me half an hour to motivate myself to get the vacuum out!

Still, looking on the bright side, I wouldn’t have much to blog about if I were to walk through life effortlessly!

Just Jot it January 10th – Sane — January 10, 2016

Just Jot it January 10th – Sane

jjj-2016

Today we have ‘sane’ as our prompt word for Linda’s Just Jot it January Prompt. The more I think about this word, the trickier it becomes to write something about it.

Being sane is, of course, having a healthy rational mind, and being able to make sound decisions. Therefore, being insane is having an unhealthy mind, and being irrational at times? Hmmm, it seems it is not as simple as that.

Most of us at some point have joked about insanity, referring to ourselves or others as being mad, crazy, nutty, mental, gaga, off their rocker, or a lunatic, and think nothing of it. It is not really something we take seriously, in fact, we very often laugh about it.

We all make irrational decisions at times, or become overwhelmed with emotion and feel unable to deal with  everyday ‘life.’ This normally doesn’t last too long and we can continue on with our lives with no ill effects. sometimes, though, it does last for a long time and it becomes difficult to function.  Luckily, we are able to visit the GP and get the help we need, whether it be medicinal or counselling and therapy, or perhaps a combination of both.

Thankfully, over time, treatment for mental health problems have progressed, so that sufferers are no longer carted off to an asylum, as was the case not too long ago. Anyone from a ‘promiscuous’ woman (funny but I have never heard of a promiscuous man being considered insane) to a person who has learning difficulties, to menopausal women (we don’t half get a raw deal), have in the past, been incarcerated in institutions for the insane, never to get out again.

I, for one, am grateful that we live in an era where mental illness does not necessarily equate to insanity and having to be locked up!

 

 

 

Just Jot It January 9th – Title #SoCS — January 9, 2016

Just Jot It January 9th – Title #SoCS

jjj-2016

Today I am combining Linda’s Just Jot it January prompt with the one for Stream of Consciousness. Please check out her blog for instructions on how to participate.

The first title that came into my head of a movie was ‘Grease.’ It had to be really, as it is my all-time favourite film. When it came out in 1978, I was twelve years old. I remember wishing that my secondary school was like Rydell High instead of the stuffy girls’ grammar school that I attended.

I had a massive crush on John Travolta’s Danny, but Jeff Conaway’s Kenickie was my favourite. He seemed more the ‘bad boy’ which has always attracted me. Plus he was so good looking and could dance too.

Nearly everything about this film appealed to me. I love 1950s fashion and still do. They seemed so much more feminine and flattering for women, and, the men in their leather jackets, t-shirts and jeans, looked like they knew how to handle themselves, and no doubt, their women too!

The cars were cool, and the music was brilliant too! I loved all of the songs and the dancing as well. The film really brought together all of the best elements of the 50’s, and with such a wonderful cast, they were on to a winner.

Even Rizzo came good in the end, and joined in, That last scene at the fairground with everyone enjoying themselves, singing a few catchy songs, always lifts my spirits. I have to confess to watching this film every time it is on! It is definitely, ‘The One That I Want!’

 

Just Jot it January 8th – Honourable — January 8, 2016

Just Jot it January 8th – Honourable

Today we have quite a weighty prompt word for Linda’s Just Jot it January prompt, ‘honourable.’ Honour is very important to me and I like to think that I am a person who acts with decency and integrity. Although I don’t consider myself a naive person, I have been shocked a some of the practices people carry out, thinking nothing of it, yet for me, it is dishonourable and/or dishonest.

  • Whilst at university, handing in assignments that have either been proofread by an English teacher or looked over and corrected by a senior nurse!
  • Taking part in a fun office quiz in a group of about 20 where I was the only one  who had never tried any illegal drugs of any kind. (I smoked and drank alcohol though)!
  • Knowing that some people are working, and claiming benefit, and seeing them enjoy all their latest gadgets and going off on foreign holidays!
  • Listening to a conversation between two people where one of them takes credit for some of the things others have said or done.
  • People using the automated ‘scan and shop’ service at supermarkets and not scanning all their items.
  • Sitting in a room full of women at break time, and hearing them slag someone off as soon as they leave, yet they had been chatting with her two minutes before.
  • Hearing two stories recently of people stealing other blogger’s work and claiming it as their own.

I know that some of this stuff probably seems petty, and I am not trying to portray myself as better than anyone else, I have done my fair share of stupid things, but hopefully, I still have my,  ahem,  honour intact! 20150730_144606-1_wm

 

Just Jot It January 7th – Robust. — January 7, 2016

Just Jot It January 7th – Robust.

Strong.jpg

An interesting word for Linda’s Just Jot it January challenge today. Although it has several meanings, the one that I most associate with this word is strong, resilient and hard-wearing.

I think that this actually pretty much sums me up, even down to my physical build. I have been described in the past as ‘stocky’ which did not impress me at all, but I am quite solidly built and pretty strong, so robust would fit the bill much better.

I have never thought of myself as a strong woman in personality. In fact, I can be very emotional, a worrier, and take things very personally. That coupled with anxiety and depression made me consider myself extremely weak.

However, in a conversation with my younger sister this week when I was feeling pretty rotten, she told me that I could get through as I was a strong person. I disagreed, but then she reminded me of some pretty awful times in my past where I have had to drag myself back up, and carry on. I stand corrected. I suppose I am strong after all and despite being a bit bashed from life’s knocks, pretty hard-wearing to boot!

 

 

Just Jot It January 6th – Cloud — January 6, 2016

Just Jot It January 6th – Cloud

Clouds

Today’s prompt word is ‘cloud’ for Linda’s Just Jot It January. As you can see from my photo, today we have blue skies and puffy white clouds which make a change from all the awful rain that we have been having recently!

Anyway, I am not going to talk about that type of cloud, I am going to venture into the unknown (for me) and talk about storage clouds. I am not very tech savvy at all. I can use the computer to do roughly what I need to do, although there is still a lot more to learn. Thanks to some fellow bloggers, I can now use Picmonkey and Canva (the basics at least), and have learned over time more about some  of the WordPress features.

What I am now trying to get to grips with is this little cloud symbol I have on my laptop. I know it is ‘One Drive’ and that it saves everything to it from all of my devices which actually seems a great idea. The thing is I have got Dropbox and some Google photo thing where my photos go to as well! I know that Elizabeth was also talking about her cloud in this post and deleting photos from her phone, whether or not they would still be on the cloud.

What I want to know is, if I have got all these pics in all these places taking up all of my laptop memory, where is the best place for me to keep them, and is it safe to delete them from all the other places?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

 

 

 

Just Jot It January 5th – 2016 — January 5, 2016

Just Jot It January 5th – 2016

We have an interesting prompt for Linda’s Just Jot it January today, ‘2016.’ I don’t tend to think too far ahead ass regards to planning out my year, being more the type of person who sees where life takes me.However, there are a few things that I would like to this year. I

However, there are a few things that I would like to this year. I already have the idea for a follow-on novel to the one I wrote for NaNoWriMo, and it would be wonderful if I could manage to write that, bearing in mind, there is still a lot of work left to do on the original one.

I have my 50th birthday coming up next month and still have no clue of how I am going to celebrate that. I aam not one of those dare-devil types that wants to bungee jump or skydive or something. In fact, being terrified of heights, I can think of nothing worse. I would actually like to survive whatever experience I undertake!

I know I need to take more care of my health this year, both physical and mental. I have to face up to the fact that I need to stay on my meds for depression, and not to cut it right down when I think I am feeling better! I also need to keep my blood sugars under control. It still actually hasn’t sunk in properly that I am diabetic, and I really do have to watch what I eat!

I always enjoy new challenges so will continue to join in with whatever bloggy ones take my fancy. I also love taking the little mini courses run by ‘Open University’ to broaden my knowledge. I have an unquenchable thirst for learning new things, and I want to learn a bit about photography so that I can use mostly my own pictures on my blog.

Whatever this year brings, one thing is for sure, you will probably end up reading about it on my blog!

 

Just Jot It January 4th – Dachshund — January 4, 2016

Just Jot It January 4th – Dachshund

I have managed to stick with the prompts so far for Linda’s Just Jot It January challenge. Today’s however, is rather tricky as I do not have a dachshund, nor have I ever even met one!

Hmmm, I know, I will write a haiku about one!

Short legs, long body

Skilled in the art of hunting

Looks like a sausage!

Short-haired-Dachshund (1)
Iamge courtesy of Wikipedia
Just Jot It January 3rd – Frozen — January 3, 2016

Just Jot It January 3rd – Frozen

The following post is in response to Linda’s Just Jot It January. If you haven’t  already checked it out, please do so. It is a great way to get the blogging juices flowing!

One of the joys of a British winter is often waking up in the morning to a thick coating of frost everywhere. For many of us, this means  standing outside in the freezing cold with a scraper, scratching away with numb fingers. Poor Mr Grump, he did use to suffer out there  whilst I drank my tea, impatiently waiting for my car to be ready! Luckily this year has been much milder and we have only had the odd icy morning.

We took the decorations down on New Year’s Day, and Mr Grump was climbing up on furniture unpinning all the lights that were around the room. I meanwhile was undressing the poor old Christmas tree. I heard a loud ‘thud’ and a bit of swearing, and spun round wondering what had happened. Mr Grump was squatting on the chair clutching his head, frozen in pain. I however, was stuggling to control my lips from twitiching.

He is a bit of a drama  queen when he hurts himself, and was talking through clenched teeth, telling me he hit his head on the celing. I had already gathered this, but him crouching there statue-like, hands over his head was playing havoc with me trying to keep up a sympathetic wife face. I finally managed to prise his hands off his bald pate to see a pinhead sized piece of skin had been scraped off. How disappointing, I thought there might have at least been an egg sized lump after the fuss he made!

 

 

 

 

Just Jot It January 2nd – Pause/Paws #SoCS — January 2, 2016

Just Jot It January 2nd – Pause/Paws #SoCS

Today I am going for another ‘first.’ I have decided to join in with Linda’s Stream of Consciousness posts as well as the Just Jot It January one!! Please check these out as they are great fun, and I have already met some wonderful new bloggers.

It is not often that I actually pause to think about what I am doing, or where I am going. I am a worrier which means that I very often go over and over things worrying about how I might be interpreted or whether or not I have unintentionally offended anyone, but that is different.

It would be beneficial to me I am sure to have some direction, as I tend to just blunder on through each day not really thinking about what I am doing. I do things ‘off the cuff’ quite often without thinking too much about it.

Even starting my blog, I had no clue really about what I was going to write about or how often I would post. It just sort of evolved really. I suppose in many ways, I could be accused of being careless, as I rush through, going from one thing to another. I decide that I want to do something then go for it putting everything into it. Then I go on to something else.

Maybe I am searching for something, I don’t know because I never pause long enough to find out!

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