Category — Friday Blog Roundup

My nibling’s camp allows letters — no phone calls or packages — which means we pull out the stationery every summer. I know I grew up with only letters — even phone calls were rare due to the cost — but it’s a weird sensation to write someone questions and know they will not be able to answer. Or tell them about something that won’t be important by the time they read it.

I also feel a compulsive need to confess all of my camp wrongdoings as I write them. Yes, I snuck out of my cabin at night. Yes, I made a phone call during the Harper’s Ferry trip even though it wasn’t permitted. Yes, I dumped tennis cans full of water over the top of the shower.

I am going to guess that my nibling is a better camper than I was.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The Last Onesies” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness has been taking care of her parents, and it’s turning her world upside down. She writes, “I made a promise to myself recently (in the last three weeks) that I would like to try and have a relationship with my parents and not spend my time fighting, bargaining and being run over.” She explains how this looks in practice, and I feel like it’s a good post for all to read and learn from. It’s a very heavy situation.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path deals with some picture books that came from a baby shower. It is time to give them to a child who can read them, but it’s still a heartbreaking post. She explains: “They brought to the forefront a reminder of an alternate life, a ghost life that never fleshed out. I felt it viscerally. Not because I want that life or am unhappy with my life now, but because of all the promise those books represented, and the heartbreak of a dream unrealized.” Go give her a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Writing letters. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between July 3 – July 10) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

I’m doing nothing for this weekend. I’m not going downtown to whatever is on the Mall. I’m not watching fireworks. I’ll read a book and bother the guinea pig, but that’s about it for this holiday weekend.

Do you have any plans?

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

A Half-Baked Life has a post about abiding. Being present and supporting a person is something that happened via her blog. She writes: “This space and the community I found through it have been so important to me for over fifteen years that it’s hard not to acknowledge; it’s also shaped the person I’ve become far beyond the page.” It’s a gorgeous post about how writing and reading can change who you are.

The roundup to the Roundup: No weekend plans. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 26 – July 3) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

Back in the day, I had a massive Candy Crush addiction, which was my gateway into other match-3 games. I got up to a disturbingly high level in Farm Heroes. It’s a little embarrassing. And then, like a fever, the hold that match-3 games had on me broke, and I was left shivering and wondering where all of my time went.

For whatever reason, many many many years later, I decided to Candy Crush Soda and start at the beginning. After downloading, I tore through the first 31 levels and finally made myself stop and read a book. It’s terrible. I’m glad they limit me to five lives.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The Priceless Gift of Being Part of Someone’s World” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Apron Strings for Emily is back with a story about a new dog (and a seal) after losing her sweet Kirby. She explains about that earlier loss: “Kirby found us at the time when Hubby & I were finally able to fully accept that human children were not in our future. I’ve said it before, but Kirby was the son I never had.” It is a very sweet post. Welcome, Kona.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix points out that how you present information plays a big role in how people receive it. She tells a great story of a time when someone acknowledged her as the listener before sending a photo.

The roundup to the Roundup: Why did I restart Candy Crush? Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 29 – June 26) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

Even though I love blogs because I love personal stories, I don’t read a lot of nonfiction. And I especially don’t read true crime. I love fictional mysteries, but not real-life mysteries. I felt uncomfortable when I listened to the first season of Serial. That was a real girl who was killed. That is a real boy (now man) in prison.

But I got sucked into London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, which is a true story about a British boy who pretended to be the son of an oligarch, fell in with the London underworld, and fell to his death into the Thames. The story intersects with the Brink’s-Mat theft, which Josh and I learned about from watching The Gold on PBS, and the string of Russian deaths, such as Litvinenko. I’ve been alternating between the audiobook and the e-book. Both are amazing pieces of storytelling.

But there is a part of me that feels uncomfortable enjoying the experience of listening/reading this story. It is this family’s worst moments, captured in words, and I’m gutted for them because there are so many “what if” moments where their story could have continued differently. I don’t know. I feel like I’m processing the story on two levels: the story itself and then the act of consuming the story.

We need a word for the feeling of discomfort that comes from the enjoyment of reading nonfiction that depicts a terrible moment.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Pics and Posts has a great reminder (through flowers) that your history is not your destiny. That just because something is one way now does not mean it will be that way forever. That something not working out in the moment doesn’t mean that it will never work out. There’s always next year for her lilies.

Lastly, every once in a while Grumpy Rumblings releases an old blog draft. This week, there were ideas from 2015. They’re little time capsules for what was occupying their brain at that time, and I snickered at a post about things they don’t understand because I also don’t understand the point of “3 course ‘quick weeknight meals’ that take more than 30 min to prepare.”

The roundup to the Roundup: Processing how I feel about nonfiction. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 22 – 29) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

The children are home… for a few days. We went up early in the week to help them move from their college spaces, and drove back so they could spend a few weeks here before they trot off to their summer plans. I feel lucky that I get a few weeks with them. I feel sad that the long summers where they are here for months may be coming to an end.

But I’m trying to put off feeling sad about that and instead enjoy the time I do have while I have it.

See, progress.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Finally Doing Less” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

A heavy week.

My heart hurts for Dear John, who lost her brother-in-law to suicide four years after her husband took his life. There are no words, but please go over and give support.

Lastly, The Barreness writes about caregiving: “I am overtaxed, overwhelmed, over run with emotions and haggard,” which led into her birthday, which was literally a journey of emotions. I cried with her. That’s the power of words.

The roundup to the Roundup: Welcome home. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 8 – 15) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.