For the record, I’m not the only one who is skeleton-happy these days. I found myself behind this motorcycle for much of my Wednesday commute home. I was very subtle when snapping the pic because I didn’t want the biker to give me a sternum look.
Good thing no cops were around. He might have been ticketed for exceeding the maxilla speed limit.
Sorry, but skeleton puns tickle my funny bone. You probably don’t find them as humerus as I do. I’ll stop now.
What I won’t stop doing is decorating. Yesterday, I was hanging a bunch of ghosts in trees, as one does, when a neighbor driving by stopped and rolled down her window.
“I love all your decorations!” she gushed. “You’re very spirited. Makes me smile every time I drive by.”
Which, of course, only makes me want to do MOREMOREMORE. Maybe we’re not as far off from being a Destination House as I’d thought.
Lest you think I’m the only one into this over-the-top display, I’ll have you know this is totally a MarTar joint. Just this morning, Tara texted, Idea for the skeletons next year? Line them up walking a’la Abbey Road.
Excellent idea, babe! I’m sure we can work it out, we can work it out.
Birds of a feather photo together.
A few months ago, my Bird Buddy stopped working. Specifically, the charging cable would no longer connect to the camera, so essentially I had a $150 plastic bird feeder.
Honestly, I’d long ago stopped scrolling through my photo feed on a daily basis. There are only so many pics of birds one can look at, y’know? But then, a funny thing happened: I started to miss looking at those bird pics.
Further proof that you always want what you can’t have.
It’s fun to keep tabs on our birds seasonally. Harry and Sally (our Northern Cardinal pair) are year-round residents; we believe they’re nesting in our Alberta spruce. Likewise, the sparrows, finches, and wrens are regulars, always stopping by for a bite to eat. But the blue jays, goldfinches, grosbeaks, white-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, orioles, and others are only around for a short time based on their migratory patterns. You snooze, you lose, and with a camera that no longer worked–the whole point of the Bird Buddy–I was doing a lot of snoozing and losing.
But there’s one defining character trait I am proud of: my stubbornness. I’m your classic Taurus, unwilling to ever let anything go without a fight. Like the time I got a refund on a non-refundable hotel room. Call it persistence or manifestation or whatever you want, but the bottom line is, I am not one to give up when things don’t go my way.
(I’d make a helluva stalker, come to think of it…)
So, I reached out to Bird Buddy directly. Explained my issue and asked for advice. They had me try a few things, like cleaning out the camera port and using a different cable, all to no avail.
And then they sent me a replacement camera, free of charge.
Was I secretly hoping this might happen? I’d be lying if I said no. But I certainly didn’t expect it. I’m sure the warranty had long since expired. So, hats off to these guys for their excellent customer service! They were friendly, patient, and prompt, never asking for a proof of purchase, and they didn’t make me jump through hoops. They just had me send the dysfunctional camera back and replaced it at no cost.
More companies should take a cue from the BB folks, don’tcha think?
To weekly or not to weekly, that is the question…
Ohio’s own Ally Bean wrote an interesting post recently in which she talked about bloggers who write using a self-created prompt on a specific day of the week. A bunch of my favorite bloggers do this (usually on Fridays) and I always enjoy their posts. It takes a certain discipline to regularly follow prompts.
I’ve toyed with the idea myself, though I worry that being forced to follow a prompt might limit my creativity. I’m rarely at a loss for things to say already! But I’ve (almost) never met a challenge I haven’t embraced, so I asked Ally what my self-created prompt should be and which day of the week I should choose. Her response?
You could do a Wonderful [or Weird or Wacky] Wisconsin Wednesday dealio. Or a Tipsy Tuesday wherein you share how to make all the great cocktails you drink.
I like both those ideas. A lot! But doing them every week would be a recipe for burnout. It got the gears turning, though. I thought, why not come up with a different theme for every day and alternate them weekly? Could be fun, and only having to use the same prompt every sixth week would keep things fresh. Here’s what I’m thinking:
- Mundane Monday. I could do a snapshot of my day, like I did randomly in July. Or talk about books I’m reading, TV shows I’m into, recipes I like, songs in heavy rotation on my iPod or Spotify…pretty much any topic that fits the definition of mundane (“dull and ordinary”).
- Tipsy Tuesday. In addition to cocktail recipes, I could write about favorite dive bars, memorable drinking experiences, go-to appetizers, jukebox heroes, etc.
- Wisco Wednesday. All about my Wisconsin experiences and discoveries: the wonderful, the weird, and the wacky, like Ally suggested.
- Throwback Thursday. A throwback itself to the #TBT social media trend where people share old photos, memories, and other nostalgic content.
- Foto Friday. One photograph from any time in my life and the story behind it. And yes, substituting foto for photo bugs me, but it’s all about the alliteration.
No weekends. I’m way too busy with yard work, and even if I’m not, daddy needs his rest, kids.
I’m still mulling this over. I could always try it out and decide after the first five weeks whether to keep it going. So, help a brother blogger out…
Do you look forward to posts from bloggers who use daily or weekly prompts? Are you one of those bloggers? Should I give this a try? If so, would you suggest any changes to my list? I’m open to more ideas!
Mark My Words 
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