Category Archives: blogging

fourteen years?

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many thanks to all

who read, comment, suggest, browse, share and befriend me

near and far, all across the universe 

‘don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you, figure out what you want to say.’

-barbara kingsolver

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 14 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

wish I was here.

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What do you get when you mix young adult nerd romance, suspense, mystery, humor, sci-fi, and action? You get ‘Wish I Was Here’ the first book in author, Ilsa Rey’s series, The Wish Trilogy.

High school is a time when everyone tries to find themselves, but as you follow Ana and Isaac throughout the novel, they quite literally disappear, each in a different way. In this adventure, Ana, who has never had much confidence at all, has to muster all her courage to find a way to save Isaac before it’s too late. 

There are many ups and downs along the way, especially when an old flame enters the picture, along with their dysfunctional families, and things get even more complicated. The stakes get higher, there are secrets, hard decisions have to be made, and things get more dangerous. Who can be trusted? What to do next? Will Ana find her confidence and use her wit to outsmart everyone? Can things be solved in time? You’ll find yourself cheering her along, and even laughing at times, but there are no guarantees and everything is on the table. You won’t be able to put this down until the very end. It’s definitely a page-turner and a great escape!

Books go on sale today at the following locations:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Black Rose (Publisher) https://www.blackrosewriting.com/youngadult/p/wishiwashere

* About the Author: (blogging friend and martial arts master)

At age twenty-one, Ilsa Rey packed everything she owned into her little red Ford Focus and drove from Cleveland to California for good. She is now a recovering chicken owner and a martial artist with a black belt in Taekwondo and a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu. Her favorite things are writing, training, and teaching self-defense to young women. She lives in southern California with her husband, four children, and the ghosts of chickens past.Find her online: X: @IlsaReyAuthor; Instagram: @Ilsa_Rey; Blog: IlsaRey.com

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
-Albert Einstein

Wish I Was Here: Even When Invisible, There’s No Place to Hide

(Book 1 of The Wish Trilogy) for Teens and Young Adults

  • Publisher  :  Black Rose Writing
  • Publication date  :  December 23, 2025

more fun.

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(not me, but we both have glasses and enjoy candles, coffee, and blogging)

‘blogging is different from both journal-writing and writing for print. 

it’s more fun than either of those.

the freedom to write whatever I want

and the unmediated connection with readers are the payoff.’

*kate christensen

* Kate Christensen is an American novelist.  Her essays, articles, reviews, and stories have appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including The New York Times Book Review, Bookforum, Elle, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Food & Wine, Cherry Bombe, and The Jewish Daily Forward.

 

 

image credit: pinterest

 

tag!

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not me, nor my moose playmate, but i was caught equally unaware

have you ever played a game of tag and you didn’t even know you were in it?

this happened to me recently when a couple of bloggers/friends tagged me

inviting me to play a game of blogger tag and to then pass it on.

oh my, i didn’t have my glasses on! i should have looked behind me! now i see, i’m it!

i’m all in now, and i’ll start by answering a few questions:

how did you come up with your blog name? (beth kennedy – ididnthavemyglasseson.com)

it was something that my daughters have said to me, about me  –  that things in my life have happened or have not happened because i didn’t have my glasses on. so many possibilities. (good name for a future book?)

if your blog was a person (fictional or real), who would it be?,

my blog is a bit all over the place, but it’s always me. maybe pippi longstocking?  no stranger to counterculture, pippi can be seen around the world in tattoos, celebrity photographs, works of graffiti and on catwalks as a symbol of female strength, resilience, kindness, fairness and acceptance. while i’m not famous like pippi, and my dad was not a pirate like hers, i love that she had her own way of seeing and living in the world, and i try to embody all that she symbolizes.

what helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?

mostly just from being out in the world, with my eyes wide open and with glasses on. there are endless people, places, things, conversations, thoughts, and circumstances out there, and also right inside of me. i read lots of articles, especially the tiny almost forgotten ones, love the real newspaper and books and magazines. i’m drawn to the often-overlooked, the unusual, the details and nuances of life, and learn so many new things every day from endless sources. living is an inspiration in itself, and i’m still so excited when i wake up in the morning to see what each day will hold, just like when i was a little girl.

is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?

i am a huge fan of collaboration and enjoy working and creating ike that. everyone has a different perspective, experience, and has something to bring to the table. before i changed careers and became a teacher, i worked in the advertising world, and i’ve always loved to brainstorm, bounce ideas off of each other, and be open to all ideas. the world is so interesting because of the fact that we are all unique. together we can make each other even better.

is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?

yes! everything in the world of blogging has been mostly trial and error for me, heavy on the error, but somehow i’m doing it. i happened into blogging kind of  by accident, through a series of circumstances, and i have never looked back.

tech is an important part of blogging, and it seems to be my nemesis. while we continue to be at odds, tech and i are polite with each other most of the time. i learn a ton from other bloggers, how to do things, what not to do, and i’ve learned so many things along the way, especially that the connections made through blogging are what make it all a worthwhile enterprise. i have no financial motive in blogging, just a creative outlet for me, where i really enjoy the give and take of the readers and writers.

“i think one of the most beautiful gifts to self is: saying ‘i don’t know how, but I’m going to find a way for us to get through this.’-helen marie

do you have a specific style of blogging?

my blog is a jumble of lower case letters, (i love how they look on a page, they seem more poetic to me), stories, poems, quotes, photos, movies, news, nature, children, family and friends and pets, emotions, places, food, and everything else, all rolled into one. you never know what it will be. i often don’t even always know what it will be when i begin writing it and putting it together. i’m a bit of a minimalist, so they’re often quite short, but i love mixing things together that are generally not seen in one place. a collage of life. in the last number of years, i’ve tended to blog every day, and i like the rhythm of that.

here is how a blogger friend described it in response to one of my posts:

‘The Peanut Car looks like something that I would see passing by in a Parade. I expect the clowns (at least 50) to jump out any moment. In fact I always think of your blog as an entry in a Parade. Each different, yet in the same style. Not too long. Not too short. I’m always looking forward to the next float. ” (thanks, ladysighs)

now that i’ve finished the first part of the challenge,

the next part is to pick a few fellow bloggers/friends to play and to pass it on, so here goes:

(no worries for non-participation, there is always an option for a 3-day long marathon game of monopoly with people who each have their own set of rules, and my feelings won’t be hurt at all.)

so – tag, you’re it! and i hope you play:

Mark at: https://markbialczak.com

Joy at:  https://joyful2beeblogs.com

Roy at:  https://reelroyreviews.com

 this game of tag is a not so scary after all. 

 

‘blogger because badass isn’t an official job title’

-author unknown

 

 

image credits google.com

blogging is my cardio.

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so this happened:

 

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 12 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

push the button.

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i had one job.

push the button

so the blog will post

just noticed now

13-14 hours later

so here it is

i pushed the button.

 

 

“you push the button, we’ll do the rest.”

-*george eastman

*George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company

and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream.

“even if not one person read my blog, i’d still write it every day.” -seth godin

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(a happy note from WP yesterday)

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

 thanks to all who have taken this flight with me

11 years in the blink of an eye

faster than the speed of write. 

“even at eleven, he had observed that things turned out right a ridiculous amount of time.”

-stephen king

 

 

glowing.

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with my tiny home

loaded up

with bushels of nuts and piles of books

ready for the coming season

you’ll often find me sitting

in the quiet of the early morning

with a steaming cup of coffee

tapping away at my blog

telling the day’s story

reading others’ stories

smiling by the light of the screen.

“i blog because i’m not a good rapper.”

-gerry l’crow

resa.

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happy happy birthday to resa

https://artgowns.com/author/resamcconaghy/

costumer and designer extraordinaire

you are an amazing talent

telling stories with your styles

  making real life connections

between people in the realm of blogs

may you never stop creating art gowns, finding meaningful art in murals,

and being an incredibly creative and inspiring part of our story.

hello too from our whimsical blog circle who keep crossing paths:

gigi, dale, and holly –

art, poetry, nature, animals, peace, kindness, love, humor, style, stories –

compassionate creatives all.

“creative expression is not just a means of getting attention, although some have approached art that way. think of art as a way of connecting, of sharing your insights with others.”

-nita leland

 

inside edition.

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side eye and some intense discussion going on at a recent meeting

as co-editors in chief olive and yeti make the tough calls.

insider exclusive – behind the scenes backstory of ididnthavemyglasson.wordpress.com:

before each and every time i post a blog

i am subjected to the scrutiny of my photo editorial board

who can be

exacting and my most challenging critics

or

supportive and my most passionate champions

 often made to defend my choices

i am never sure how it will go.

“they can’t censor the gleam in my eye.”

charles laughton