Wednesday, March 3, 2021

SOL 3/31: My Slippery Slope

I wake at 5 am and congratulate myself. That's a decent time for waking up to write (until I remember that I didn't go to bed until after midnight). And this from a gal who's rarely awake until 11 pm. Whatever possessed me to stay up so late? I had worked most of the day on a project and stayed away from my computer. So, I picked up my computer to leave a few comments and was sucked into the vortex.

I know the post I'm planning to write and I make a promise to myself that I'll finish it by six. I have seven minutes left, so what the heck have I been doing? And why am I writing an entirely different post than the one I planned to write?

If you've known me on these pages for awhile, then you know that I love to meander and I'm easily distracted. When I settled myself in my favorite chair for writing, I remembered two friends' blogs that I needed to visit - Leigh Anne's and Margaret's. And when I read Leigh Ann's post, I knew that it belonged on my padlet of "Slices and Slicers I Love" (possible inspiration for future posts or prompts for our monthly family history writing group).

And then I remember that there are words I want to save from Fran's post. I was pretty sure it was in a link from her Always post. But I scan the post and can't find it. So I google the word abide on her blog and up it pops. I add her abide post to the padlet and stop to write down the words I love in my writing notebook. I have another padlet "Words that Delight" and think about copying and pasting it there. But instead, I decide to write it in my notebook and that's when I spy my own abcedarian (inspired by Fran again) that I've started with the words that pop into my head as possible future slices - awe, babies, cookies, dawn...

But I digress, while I was posting Fran's link to Slices and Slicers I Love, I remember why it's Slices and Slicers I Love. You see, there's a whole community of my slicing friends who leave comments, but when I click on their names, there's no link to their blogs. So I started putting them on the Slices I Love padlet so I can find them quickly. But I had totally forgotten  that (sometimes I wonder about my memory). So on Monday I started an excel sheet for the purpose of recording people's blogs that I can't find by clicking on their names (Leigh Ann, Margaret, Elizabeth, Joanne to name just a few). 

And I'm also including new slicers I encounter on this excel sheet. I see that they are quickly getting lost on the page, so I decide to highlight the links to their blogs in yellow. Which leads me to the plea that I pose every year to TWT: Please, please, pretty please provide participants with the names of bloggers and links to their blogs. (I'm sure it must be a privacy issue.)

And then I realize that I've violated my promise to post by 6, so I stop meandering, hit post, and promise to share the post I planned to write on another day. (I tend to write a "Come meander with me and see my distractable mind" post yearly so it's good to get it out of the way early in March.)

9 comments:

  1. You are such a gem! That is a very good idea with the spreadsheet! I lose track of people too or slices I want to go back to. I will have to check on the link from comments. I am sure there is a settin in there somewhere! I am so glad I came to meander with you!

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    1. I think I have it figured out. My blog is under a different email than when I reply with comments. I don't know how to merge the two.

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  2. At first I couldn't get past the idea that you get up so early to write. Then I was caught with the ways you organise and keep track of slicers and memorable slices. Finally, I admire how you you pull all of your thoughts together into an engaging slice.

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  3. Ha, I love this. Also, what a brilliant idea to compile using Padlet! I've come to love Padlet so much in the classroom.

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  4. Your post is full of brilliant ideas!

    Your padlet is SUCH a good idea. I just started my own Google doc with a similar list.

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  5. This post has all the truths!
    1. Start commenting and beware of the vortex.
    2. Why am I writing something different than I came here to write? (Preach!)
    3. Save the slices you love!

    So good to stop by to see what you're up to, Ramona.

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  6. Dear Ramona - so honest, practical, and full of heart. Your post illustrates the abiding value of community (see how I worked our word in there!). We learn from one another and lift each other up. The collation of blogs you want to find is a fantastic tip- thank you for sharing that. I am smiling about starting a post and writing a completely different one, and getting distracted - do I know! Sometimes I chase lots of rabbits while writing. Most of all I am thankful for you, your ideas, your warm and giving heart, and always, your words. I still hope you will write to yellow and I am loving the choices so far on your own abecedarian list!

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  7. Ha! I can so relate to the meandering and the distractible mind. Meandering among slices is one of my favorite things about the March challenge. I notice I am having a hard time finding all of my favorites. A padlet is a smart way to collect posts and blogs you want to remember.

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  8. So right there with you! I can easily blow an hour reading through posts! I love how you collect them on Padlet. I'm so bad about doing that stuff!

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