In My World

Did you smile or frown more today?

Journal Prompt: Have you ever received a mean comment from someone you don't even know on social media? I have. This link was posted to Facebook and a challenge was made to choose the most trustworthy face . . .  http://www.upworthy.com/a-guy-with-a-twisted-sense-of-humor-explains-how-your-brain-is-quicker-to-judge-than-your-eyes?c=ufb3 I don't usually join in on these conversations but I must have been almost bored for a minute and I joined in.   Pam Matthews Hedden the guy with the resting bitch face . . . A few people commented and more people Liked my answer.  In my world, there is just something smarmy and too happyish about the guy on the left.  Yes, a snap judgement, but that's what they were asking for. Anyway, someone decided to try and be mean to me.  Obviously they don't know that I have survived marriage for 41 years and the raising of two boys and much more.  Not much scares me anymore . . . LOL.  So here is his mean post . . ....

Journal Prompt:  How can I make a difference? Well here's one idea. Keeping clean is an important part of remaining healthy, but families who have fled their homes because of disaster or war often struggle to afford these necessary supplies. Hygiene kits also are given through schools or orphanages to encourage healthy habits for children. There is always a way to help. For more information . . . http://mcccanada.ca/get-involved/kits/hygiene?utm_content=buffer84222&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Today's Writing Prompt: Good News There have been a heck of a lot of terrible things happening in the news lately. Counteract it, tell me something great that has happened in your world recently!

Today's Writing Prompt: Winter Wonderland It is not much of a winter wonderland today. Above zero and heavy rain here this morning. What does your Winter Wonderland look like? (Or summer wonderland, I suppose, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere?) On the bright side, it's scrapbooking season.   I do not like winter.  The worst things about winter are freezing rain and ice.  I can live with just about anything else but those two little items strike fear and loathing in my heart. My winter wonderland involves warm and cosy, in my pyjamas, scrapbooking . . . 

Christmas Memories A few years ago my daughter-in-law started a new tradition and I absolutely love it.  She decorated Christmas ornaments and added photos of all our family living and past.  We all added the decorations to a special tree put up just for these ornaments.  It was especially touching watching the younger relatives.  I'm looking forward to continuing this tradition this year.

Happy Publication to Tim Bowling and his new poetry collection, In the Capital City of Autumn, published with Wolsak & Wynn! Tim Bowling is in top form in his latest collection of poetry, In the Capital City of Autumn. Threading through autumnal themes such as the loss of his mother and the demolition of his childhood home, his children growing and the inevitable passage of time, Bowling writes with rich lyricism and imagery. Sweet William and loosely woven woollen mitts for his mother, the moon as “an egg in the pocket of a running thief” for time, salmon for eternity. In the Capital City of Autumn, the characters of The Great Gatsby come to life, and three a.m. brings wisdom. These are masterful poems, lightened with a touch of whimsy, poems to sink into on a quiet evening. @wolsakandwynn @river_street_writes #canlit #poetry #publicationday #bookbirthday #poetrycollection #nationalpoetrymonth #poetsofig #bookishcanadians #bookstagramcanada #canadianpoet #canadianpoets #canadianpo...

Sunset Lake Resort, is an equally captivating narrative full of thrilling twists, exciting reveals, and gorgeously drawn women characters. When Ruby’s father passes away, but fails to leave her the millions some expected, Steve, her husband of 35 years, moves out. Alone, but in control of her own affairs for the first time in her life, Ruby is torn between panic and relief. When she investigates the remote beach cabin her father had left her instead of his estate, she discovers a dilapidated beach resort in a remote location, seemingly untouched since its former owner, Cecelia Johansen, died under mysterious circumstances. Despite the condition of the property and rumours it is haunted, Ruby decides to move to Sunset Lake Resort, determined to find out why her father bought it, and why he left it to her. Sunset Lake Resort is now available wherever books are sold. @joannejacksonauthor @river_street_writes @stonehousepublishing #canlit #canadianbooks #bookishcanadians #bookstagramcanada...

One Word Story Cozy. I know it is cold out . . . we actually had a wee bit of snow this morning. The superintendants always turn on the boiler system October 15.  You would think I would be happy about that.  I am currently wearing a tank top and all the windows are open in the apartment.  It is a little too cozy . . . which is actually spelled cosy in Canada . . . LOL.

Happy Publication to Melanie Marttila’s debut poetry collection, The Art of Floating, published by Latitude 46. The Art of Floating is Melanie Marttila’s debut poetry collection, and a result of and testament to years of honing her craft. The collection of five sections of free verse poems is wide ranging and eclectic, bringing to life her deep connection with the earth and sky of Ontario. The aptly named collection describes her learned ability to ride the unpredictable waves of mental illness  and prevent herself from drowning within it, while seeking solace in the natural world around her. These lyric poems are stunning and transportative, absorbing the reader with captivating imagery, complex diction, and highly relatable themes most pivotal in life, such as loss, grief, and hope.  The Art of Floating is an elegant and beautifully crafted debut collection of poetry by Sudbury’s Melanie Marttila. Her poems are mirrors to the tiny, often quiet, and supposedly insignificant m...

Today's Writing Prompt: Halloween Candy In honor of Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, today tell me about your favorite candy! I know a lot of people will think I am crazy . . . but I have always loved Hallowe'en taffy.  I really can't be the only one or why would they keep making it every year?

Today's Writing Prompt: Scars What sorts of serious injuries did you ever do to yourself as a child? Do you carry any scars from your childhood adventures today?

Today's Writing Prompt: Coupons Have you ever purchased a deal online, like via Groupon? What was it for? I've actually used Groupon a few times and have always had a very positive experience with them.  Here are a few of our experiences: http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2012/01/mad-hatter-tea-room-orwell-on.html http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2012/03/we-ran-away-from-home-to-embassy-suites.html http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2012/08/sailing-seven-seas-okay-lake-ontario.html http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2012/09/a-customer-service-rant.html

Happy Publication Day to Ellen Chang-Richardson and their extraordinary debut poetry collection, Blood Belies (Wolsak & Wynn, 2024). Chang-Richardson writes of race, of injury and of belonging in stunning poems that fade in and out of the page. History swirls through this collection like a summer storm, as she brings her father’s, and her own, stories to light, writing against the background of the institutional racism of Canada, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the head tax and more. From Taiwan in the early 1990s to Oakville in the late 1990s, Toronto in the 2010s, Cambodia in the mid-1970s and Ottawa in the 2020s, Blood Belies takes the reader through time, asking them what it means to look the way we do? To carry scars? To persevere? To hope? Ellen Chang-Richardson (they/them) is an award-winning poet of Taiwanese and Chinese Cambodian descent whose multi-genre writing has appeared in Augur, The Ex-Puritan, The Fiddlehead, Grain, third coast magazine, Vallum Contemporary, Watch Your ...

Today's Writing Prompt: Books What was the last book you read?

Happy Publication Day to Robin Pacific and her scrappy and sensational memoir in fragments, Skater Girl! (Guernica Editions) Skater Girl is a collection of intensely personal essays, an archaeology of the self. Robin Pacific sifts through the midden of consciousness to find shells, potsherds, a broken piece of mirror. Themes of art, spirituality and social justice run like a current through otherwise disconnected pieces and fragments, many as short as one paragraph. Further, ideas about aging, loss and mortality colour many of them. The book is about the formation of Robin Pacific's many selves, about creativity, spiritual seeking, and the dream of a more equal society. Robin Pacific‘s work has spanned thirty years and a wide variety of media. In addition to writing personal and critical essays, she has produced artworks in a variety of media, encompassing painting, drawing, video, installations, performance, and numerous community based collaborations. Robin holds a PhD in  Englis...