Posted in In my humble opinion...

SoCS 5/20/23 -“Stick it in your ear!”

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “stick.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

It’s not the lies. People lie. It’s about the repeating of lies… the outright promotion of lies.
There are an awfully lot of people who run their mouths without filtering their words through the ‘grey matter’ they were given, and others are manipulators for their own gain. The prompt of “stick” made me immediately think of the retort “Stick it in your ear!”.
Sometimes, ‘being nice’ isn’t easy nor is it appropriate.
Silence has always felt like compliance to me. I choose to laugh at people more often than confront them because the message of “Don’t be ridiculous.” comes through loud and clear.
“Oh my! That’s not “nice.”, you may be thinking. No, it isn’t but “nice” isn’t my default setting. “Nice” is a coward’s cover for inaction in most cases IMHO. It’s a self-comforting excuse. Heaven forbid you’d have to defend your words or explain. LOL
Is it actually “nice” for people to insult your intelligence or present themselves as “truth tellers” that you aren’t allowed to confront or ignore?
I don’t want the ambiguous game of ‘nice’ anywhere near me. I don’t think it’s nice at all to lie to each other. To say you don’t know what you’re repeating is a lie doesn’t work either. There’s a thing called “personal responsibility” which also applies to knowing what you’re talking about. Facts don’t care about feelings. If you believe something is factual and it is revealed to be false, no worries. There’s also something known as an “apology” or a retraction. Nobody’s perfect and we’ve each been fooled. Isn’t it ‘nice’ to find out?

We all have good reasons to be cynical these days. It’s sad but unavoidable. Being gullible in the name of “Nice” is dangerous. No one ever died from being insulted but many, many, lives have fallen victim to “lies”. Speak up!

Happy Saturday Friends. “Don’t take any wooden nickels.” We’re all in this together!


https://lindaghill.com/2023/05/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-20-2023/

Posted in In my humble opinion...

The Garden Dawdler 3/26/23 -My Dog Has No Nose Hair

Rory’s asked us quite an assortment of questions.

Is the WHY to everything important?

It’s the most important one IMHO. But it’s the hardest one to answer.
When you consider that as the most frequently asked question by little kids, there’s obviously an innate need for us to ask it.
For people who retain the child’s inquisitive nature, it is THAT question that leads them to a belief in God. There’s a point at which the exhaustive layers associated with “Why?” can’t be answered any other way.

What would you list as your Top Five Fun Things?

Number One is to laugh, and number two, is to make others laugh.
There’s almost always a humorous thread to be found in most topics. It’s not that a topic isn’t serious or sad, it’s that the human element involved is , itself, almost always comical. I took an English class in High School with a unit on comedy. The most profound idea that I came away with was the knowledge of the thin line between comedy and tragedy.
If you are old enough to remember the “Chuckles the Clown” episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Here’s a clip but I’d recommend looking up the whole episode:

As for my number 3,4, and 5 favorite fun things they are;
3. Hanging out with kids.
4. Being around animals.
5. Doing something creative. (gardening, painting, writing, etc.)

Should we care about the dreams of others or only our own?

Our own dreams are the only ones meant for us to interpret but hearing about other people’s dreams is interesting. As an outside observer, we can sometimes help them to interpret them.

How well do you deal with criticism from others?
I do very well. I basically don’t care what others think. I love hearing “why?” others think certain things, though. There’s a lot of knowledge to be gained from that.

Do you say YES or NO more often, and which is it?

I’m notorious for always saying “yes”. Once while I was associated with a childcare center, the group who bought gag gifts for us at Christmas, found a book for me about 1001 ways to say “Yes” because I so rarely refuse anyone who asks for help.

What is nose hair for?

I can’t say for sure other than some kind of a filter for catching impurities BUT this question inspired me to examine my dog’s nose. What the heck? She has no visible nose hair. Ugh! Now I’m bound to explore this question more. Thanks for nothing. This is worse than an earworm. LOL

What is the funniest comment you have ever received?

Well, there are SO many, but my day care kids offered many off them. In order to be brief, here’s a cute one:

I was teasing a 4-year-old about the rivalry between our favorite football teams. I told him one Monday, “Sorry about my Giants kicking your Patriots’ butts on TV yesterday.” and his immediate response was, ” At MY house, on My TV, the Patriots won.”

Novels or Netflix?

I don’t very often (maybe 5 times) watch Netflix. So, I say “novels.” even though I enjoy a good movie now and then on TV or on an old VHS tape.

Do good things come to those who wait?

Yes, most definitely. I could go on and on about the lack of any ability to “delay gratification” in today’s society! It is actually the main ingredient in most of our current troubles, some of which are: debt, drug use, unwanted pregnancies, and jumping from one job to another.
Waiting and working for things gives all people a sense of purpose and satisfaction like no other.
And… if you’re a gardener, you already know that because gardening requires a belief in ‘tomorrow’.

Posted in In my humble opinion..., Unanswered Questions

Unanswered Question: Can’t we all admit that we’re silly?

I’ve had an ‘aftertaste’ that my recent posts were too repetitively ‘salty’. We all know too much of anything isn’t good for anyone. So, I decided to poke fun at myself and anyone else who may want to identify.

Gosh… there’s so much material.
My current most frequent ‘silly’ behavior is attempting to exit my car before I release the seatbelt. The gathering of my pocketbook, phone, and car keys, keeps jumping ahead of the basics. Every time I get that tug of “wait a minute pal” I start giggling. Then I spastically twist around trying not to put my ‘load’ down while gaining my freedom. In my head, that scene is hilarious.
Something I also do and immediately think, “DUH!” is stop at a railroad crossing with a single track, watch a train pass left to right, then proceed when the gates lift and look both ways before crossing. Um… a train could absolutely not be traveling right to left at that moment, silly.
How often we operate on what I call “autopilot” is something I find simultaneously frightening and comforting.
On occasion, I’ll drive a few miles (while in thought) and realize I have no visible memory of that part of my journey! My first instinct is to pull my truck over and slap myself. (I’ve yet to act on that one. lol) But not being fully aware of one’s surroundings is NOT a safe way to drive. It’s a “wake up” call when that happens.
Before you beautiful souls take up a collection for my incessant ‘thinking’ and do an intervention with “Overthinkers Anonymous”, I want you to know that my days hold a large amount of giggling precisely because of my affliction. It’s not all about “What ifs?”, it often times is “Look at that!” and takes on a humorous flavor actually more often than not. {I am a ‘silly frog’ don’t cha know.}

My granddaughter felt ill the other day and as she rushed to the bathroom to vomit, let’s say she ‘didn’t make it’. Knowing that ‘being sick’ is bad enough but being ill all over the back door is worse, I asked her what she’d had for lunch.
“Only a few blueberries and raspberries.” she gasped.
My answer was, “Wow! That’s what made this so colorful!”
Then we laughed together.

Yesterday, my mom sent me a photo of a quiche she had made labeled “Quiche Lorraine”. I responded with, “How were you able to tell it was a girl?”

You see? I’m able to annoy people with all kinds of questions and they don’t need to be the serious kind either.

Today, I would like to ask, “Can’t we all admit we’re silly?”
Incidentally, I don’t mind being ‘laughed at’. No one could do that more than I tend to do it to myself!

God bless.






Posted in In my humble opinion...

SoCS- Anyway- Merry Christmas

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “start your post or one paragraph with the word ‘anyway.’” Bonus points if you start your post with “anyway” and regular points if you use it in a paragraph somewhere else in your post. Enjoy!


Anyway, the first thing that popped into my head with this prompt was Rosanne Rosannadanna from the old Saturday Night Live. Her rants ending in “never mind” were hilarious. Truly a golden era of late-night TV.

Anyway, laughing is so much fun! Making others laugh is a beautiful feeling. It’s something I try to do. At small gatherings I don’t even realize I’m trying to do that but it’s like a switch goes off. If you listen to conversations with a comical attitude there’s a treasure trove of material. Patterns evolve and word play takes on a personal flavor. I’m asked, “Are you ever serious?” and realize that, in public, I rarely am serious. Fun is my game.

Anyway, talking about myself is easy but it makes me feel uncomfortable. We all know ourselves best but “who we are” really doesn’t have much to do with “who we think we are”. Have you noticed how we act differently around different people? I don’t think that’s usually an attempt at being phony. I think that comes from having a feeling about what those people expect. We are after all ‘complex animals’. There are layers of things that interest each of us and those who are better at recognizing what their ‘audience’ expects try to live up (or down) to it.

Anyway, the people that I feel most comfortable around are those who don’t seem to have any expectations. You might say that you haven’t become a typecast to them, as far as you know. Those people are few.

Anyway, Christmas is coming too quickly as usual. Isn’t anticipation the BEST feeling? I think so.

Anyway, I’m frequently thinking about how much I enjoy blogging. Creating something that’s all yours is exhilarating. But the people here are a large part of the experience. I’m hoping that each of you have a healthy, and creative New Year.



Anyway, I got through this post not making a political point. Consider that your Christmas miracle. LOL
Merry Christmas to you all!

https://lindaghill.com/category/prompt-2/
https://lindaghill.com/2022/12/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-17-2022/

Posted in In my humble opinion...

Mocking the Ridiculous is GOOD

It seems that our current news cycles are filled with ideas and concerns that I deem ridiculous.
The fact that ALL media organizations are eerily reporting these things in unison is my first concern.
Certainly, others can disagree with my label, but I fear the proposing of coordinated ridiculousness is on one level a media driven desensitization of our population to fact and reason.
In this wide world, which has more available topics and information than ever in human history, our attention is directed to myopic themes. Does that sound a bit like propaganda to you? It does to me.
Consider all the things ‘accepted’ as normal, or at least ordinary, today that 10 years ago would have made our chins hit the floor.
What? Boys can decide to be girls (or vice versa) and the medical community will dutifully mess with their healthy bodies.
What? A biological male is being considered as Woman Athlete of the Year.
What? We’re all gonna die in ten years from an ever so slight warming of the planet.
What? The marriage of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez is noteworthy because…
If you actually think those things make sense, fine.
But how should I react to you when my personal opinion of those things is “that’s ridiculous.”?
Here’s the ‘meat’ of my message today:
I laugh and sometimes poke fun at it.
Yikes! That isn’t “nice”.
Well, how might I otherwise express my opinion?
Should I shout at you or cancel you? Maybe attack you?
Or should I opt for “nice” silence when expressing my opinion might empower others to speak up, or at least, pause and think?
NO. I won’t do any of those things.
Laughing at, even mocking, perceived ridiculousness is not unkind, it’s actually pure honesty. Silence does nothing good. It denies who you are, and everyone’s opinion has value either as a good or bad example. [You decide which one it is. Don’t let the media or Twitter mob do that. 😉 ]
I want to know what you think, though I won’t guarantee that I won’t chuckle. 🙂
For those who think a humorous reaction of disapproval or disbelief is “hate”. Grow up.
You don’t need to care what others think but you’d be wise to get to know how others think.

There’s a silencing and redefining of our language and even our humanity going on and this isn’t going to end well if we buy the premise that expressing disapproval makes someone a ‘bad person’.
Don’t accept shame.
The same goes for blame.
Individual human opinions cannot destroy a civilization. But “group think”, which is inspired by a lack of diversity of ideas, certainly can.
Other people can label you all they want; you aren’t really talking to them once they do. You’re speaking for those who are hesitant or overwhelmed. You should especially protect the speech of those who you deem have ridiculous tendencies…It will test your ideas and should strengthen your opinions or possibly even change your mind. That’s how it works people.
I think we should express ourselves more, especially in person.
Don’t fully trust any media outlet to frame what’s real or important. THINK for yourself.
Remember, we’re all in this together! God bless.




Posted in Saturday Night Reminiscing

Saturday Night Reminiscing ~The Three Stooges

At a time, when the general population was regarded as intelligent, slapstick comedy ruled.
It doesn’t have to tickle everyone’s funny bone, as much as it does mine, but, ‘once upon a time’ fewer people were condescending enough to believe that lives could be ‘at risk’ just from watching it. I would guess that no one would have eaten Tide Pods back then, either.
The Three Stooges were comic geniuses, IMO. Ridiculousness deserves ridicule and laughing at it is human.
Laughing at the ridiculous has become, in a purposeful way, a modern taboo. Well, this gal won’t stop. Ridiculousness doesn’t go away when we are shamed into ignoring it. If nothing can be labeled ridiculous, then is everything supposed to be taken seriously? The media certainly thinks we should. lol

I’ve introduced my granddaughters to The Stooges and they’re able to roar with laughter. Not only are these comedians a part of our American heritage, they are perfectly suited to make fun of an overly uptight, narcissistic , often ridiculous, culture that is currently nearly humorless.
Hope you enjoy a few of my favorite classic clips.