Wednesday, May 6, 2015

IWSG and A to Z Reflections



I am not sure if I am cheating but even if I am, oh well as my saying goes.  This is the first Insecure Writer's Support Group run by The Ninja, Alex J. Cavanaugh, after the A to Z Challenge in April. The A to Z was the brainchild of Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out. I have to say, I was invigorated, enthused, passionate and just plating gung-ho at the beginning and by the end, I may have been tired and my ass may have spread wider that than the parting of the Red Sea but I was still enthused and passionate about it. I wanted to read as much as I could.

There were so many that joined and it was a sheer pleasure to read the blogs where some discussed writing, enhancing one's abilities in that field, stretching one's imagination to just enjoying humour in every form. I know, next year, I will put more than just my name in the title so people will know what I am writing about. My wacky little brain didn't have the dim bulb go off until half way through this challenge. 

I tried to keep my posts as short as possible since I can talketh too mucheth. I know when I found a blog with lots of writing I just moved on and felt guilty about it because the blog person put a lot of effort behind this.  I want to thank the people who visited my blog and enjoyed the film people of times gone by. Many commented on the sad lives they had led and how many died of cancer.  These are film people so most of them are screwed up anyway:) Cancer and heart disease are the major reasons death keeps calling. Think about it...how many do you know who have died from cancer, either family, close friends or just people you know. Ok onward to happier things...

I loved reading some great blogs that I love following or have met just this past month.

Maryann Holloway at If I Only Had A Time Machine, writes about history, flash fiction, Amazing women etc... Her A to Z was on World War 2 and this is one blog you need to check out.

Sharon Himsl at Shells, Tales and Sails, wrote about Women Inventors. I learned so much about what women have accomplished and wish this would be taught in schools.

Vidya Sury at Going A-Musing, Inspiring Happiness, Collecting Smiles, wrote letters to her son which were empowering, positive and worth it to read and be inspired.

 Sandy at Bridge and Beyond spoke about her passion for helping the homeless and how she tries to bring them warm clothes by donations etc...-a truly selfless person.

Denise Hammond at Yes Virginia, There is Life after retirement wrote about Russia this year and to see the photos of the cities made me want to wiggle my nose and go there.

Sheila Milne at A Postcard a Day, was so much fun to see the interesting postcards that she has found or received from all over the world.

There was humour, Disney, films, books, animals, plus so much more.  I know I missed out on some other great blogs. The fun thing is one can go to that list and just keep looking if we have nothing else to do even if our asses get sore from sitting.... and wider:)

Thank you all!!

64 comments:

  1. I need to go check out the first blog you mentioned. And thanks for mentioning mine.

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  2. I'm glad you had fun during the Challenge. It's a fun way to meet other people for sure. I had to do the same thing during the Challenge last year, skip those really long posts and I felt guilty too. But, if it looked interesting, I bookmarked it for another day. Glad you got it finished!!

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    1. I am glad and happy to have accomplished this and met more blogs

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  3. It was fun...but we bought a house halfway through the month. Luckily I'd scheduled all of mine the month before. I was surprised how exhausting commenting and replying to comments was.

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    1. Oh wow! I don't think I could have kept up if I had bought a house...or done anything like that in the middle of it all.

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  4. Great post! You did such a great job with the A-Z challenge! Nice of you to link the blogs you enjoyed checking out in the process as well.

    But now I'm afraid my blog is too wordy...EEK!

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    1. No you're blog is great-don't touch a thing

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  5. You did a great job on the challenge. I'm amazed that people can do this and not get completely burned out! And keep up with all the following and commenting. I'll be checking out the blogs you mentioned...

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    1. It is actually exciting to see who looks at your blog and reads it and to look at others and see what they have written

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  6. There are so many out there that are great. Hard to get to them all during the challenge some days though.

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    1. It is very tough to check out all or some even-all ...nope can't see all 1,800

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  7. You're not cheating with doing A to Z and IWSG Day together. Because if you are, I am. ;P

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  8. Soooooooo sweet of you to mention me and my blog, Bridge and Beyond. I truly appreciate it. Enjoyed visiting here and plan to continue to do so.

    Popping back to everyone to say thank you for the sweet supportive comments!

    Sandy at Bridge and Beyond

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    1. You are very welcome-I think you do a great thing so it will be nice if more see your blog

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  9. Your blog was so fun to read during the challenge. It definitely kept me coming back every day to see what your latest post was!

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  10. I loved Sharon's woman inventors too! I learned so much from her posts. I didn't see the others you mentioned to will have to check them out.
    Your blog was a treat to read as always.

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    1. Thank you! Yes loved Sharon's and the others are great

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  11. Yeah, I think my ass got wider, too, last month. I finally had to sit on a pillow for sitting so much more. lol.

    I was impressed with If I Only Had a Time Machine, Too. Her blog is amazing.

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    1. I hope to buy a tablet this year and then maybe I can do this sitting on the couch:) My ass will still get wider but it won't be sore

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  12. Really enjoyed your posts again - hope there are enough film stars left for a 3rd round!
    Anabel's Travel Blog
    Adventures of a retired librarian

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    1. Thank you! There are always more stars if people want to see it a 3rd time round

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  13. You created an amazing level of interest in film stars during the blogfest, Birgit. Your challenge took us back into such interesting Hollwood lives. Great stories, I loved reading them.

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  14. LOL, I love your humor :) There were lots of great blogs out there; I followed some you mentioned above during the challenge :) I too agree that the ones that had longs posts I just moved on with, I'm sure brilliantly written, but when someone only has a little amount of time, one has to do what one has to do.

    I did love your theme!

    betty

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    1. Glad you loved my theme and hopefully some will write shorter posts next time:)

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  15. I too need to check out the World War II blog. Sounds interesting, especially as I lived through it. I enjoyed your film stars Birgit.

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    1. Oh yes since you experienced WW2, you can relate more than most of us.

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  16. I had loads of friends who participated in the A-Z challenge also. I simply didn't have the time. Keeping up with all my friends who did it though was really entertaining!

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    1. It was fun to do and read even though it is time consuming...you never know-maybe next year you will join:)

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  17. Glad you had a good time with it! Your theme was mentioned as a favorite by several others.

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    1. Oh wow...That is so nice to hear and humbling

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  18. Maybe you talketh to mucheth, but you also cracketh me upeth, so keep chattering away as far as I'm concerned ;) Congrats on getting through the challenge again! I'm so sorry I was MIA. I'm going to go back and read all about cancer and addictions - I mean, your A-Z posts. I might not comment, but I'll read 'em!

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    1. Oh thank you! You can let me know which ones were your favourites. Next year maybe you will join again:)

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  19. You did a great job on your posts. I learned so much about famous actors that I'd never known. Very interesting.

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    1. Thank you and glad you got something out of it

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  20. Although I didn't participate- it was such fun to read as many of the A-Z posts as I could. I learned so much about movie stars here! Glad you had so much fun doing the posts!
    ~Jess

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    1. I did and glad you read mine and others-it's fun

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  21. I visited some of the A-Z blogs. Yours was one of the themes I liked best -- I'm a sucker for old movies and movie stars. Congrats on completing it and finding many new, cool blogs in the process!

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    1. Thank you so very much and also glad you enjoyed my posts

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  22. Yeah, it's great the list remains for the year, so if we ever find we need to meet some new bloggers, we can find them.

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    1. That's right! I have gone back over time and checked others out

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  23. Your blog was the perfect length. I'm going to miss the Hollywood info.

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    1. I will post Hollywood stuff here from time to time

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  24. I really enjoy reading your blog. You had a really good theme for the A-Z challenge.

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  25. You have me rolling around over the ass spread wider than the parting of the Red Sea, Birgit! I dare not even talk about mine. I love how we met during last year's A to Z and thanks to you, have stayed closely connected. You're a shining star in this year's A to Z for me and I am always humbled at how you constantly support me. Love you! Hugs!

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    1. That is just the sweetest thing Vidya. I loved your posts and I know your son will treasure it. Thank you so much, your words mean a lot-Hugs

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  26. Waving hello Birgit, wanted to pop back and tell you about the hyper link thing, thats what you call the signature I use when leaving a comment. When name and url isn't an option for signatures it's great, and when a person has multiple blogs it's great because it keeps someone from having to go to your profile and guess which blog you visited from. Saves time.

    I'll break this up, otherwise you won't see the code you need to use
    <a href=" always start with that, then with a cut and paste of your url...most generally people use the url of their recent blog post which is helpful vs the general blog url when you're involved in meme's linky's and people may not visit in the same day.

    So for me today that would be this http://homelessbridge.blogspot.com/2015/05/puppets-food-for-thought.html

    Now leaving the url isn't a live link and you'd have to copy and paste which is a pain, so you add that url directly after the beginning I gave you without a space.

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    1. You have to close it to make it a link by using this "> immediately after your cut and paste url from above, no space and then you add whatever words you want your signature to say, Like I always put Sandy at Bridge and Beyond, you could put your name, your blog name, or both..you could even put your name and a-z for example so people know you're visiting through a-z

      Again without a space immediately follow whatever words you want your signature to be you add this <, then this a, then this /, then this >

      you add the last part without spaces or comma's but I had to type it that way or blogger tells me it's an incomplete code. Let me know if you need more help

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  27. You did an awesome job of being funny and informative. It was sad too...all the talents who faced so many struggles and died so young. But we have their legacy to appreciate. Thanks, BB.

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  28. Oophs got that last part out of order when I added the words and space, sorry it;s
    <
    /
    a
    >

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  29. You? Talketh too mucheth? Never! haha. Your words are always filled with humor and wit, so your verbosity matters not-eth. :)

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  30. Birgit, I'm glad the A to Z Linky List will be up for a while as there are lots of blogs I still want to visit.

    Stephen Tremp
    IWSG Co-host

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  31. Thank you so much for mentioning my blog. Thank you also for visiting. I enjoyed your posts and learned about starts I never knew.

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  32. I really enjoyed your A to Z theme on film stars! Sandy and Sharon also did a great job, and I look forward to meeting some of the others on your list!

    Julie

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  33. You had a wonderful topic that I need to go back over since it's something dear to my heart. Love the old classic films!

    Your Reflections shows a good spirit but then that's what you are about. Thanks for being so supportive.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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  34. Just now getting around to visiting the blogs in the challenge. April was a busy month for me. Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!

    Mary
    www.JingleJangleJungle.net

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  35. Rosie and Xiara died of cancer too...and they're not in show biz! :) Well done on completing the A-Z... sorry I did comment on most of it. But I did go back and read.
    hugs, Asha

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  36. Hello there.
    Congratulations on completing the challenge! Thanks for visiting em along the way too. I'm popping over again today from the Road Trip/Reflections linky.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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