Category: You Asked

Sharing my world- 5/16/22

Melanie, our gracious host of SYW, has posed these interesting questions today;

Love this new badge Melanie!

The image today is courtesy of the fantastic
Sadje with subtle changes by MBC!

QUESTIONS

Do you become discouraged by the annual “Blogging Ennui” phenomenon that comes around every year? (it’s early this year IMO) (blogging ennui means (to me) a distinct slow down in writing and participation, which lasts an indefinite period of time).

Not really! In fact, it gives me a breathing space. I agree that the usual number of posts has fallen down and many bloggers are missing in action. But I guess they have their reasons. One thing that I suspect is that not all posts are showing from all the bloggers in my reader. Maybe another WP glitch?

If you were in a room filled with you and your doppelganger (someone who looks exactly like you do. Supposedly everyone has at least one out there in the world) and 2 billion dollars, what would you do? What do you think your doppelganger would do?

A very interesting question. I’d split the money with my doppelgänger and leave as soon as possible. The doppelgänger may look like me but how can I trust her? She may want all the money for herself.

A building is burning. You have time to either save a child trapped inside or a valuable painting which you would then sell, using the money to save 20 children from starvation. What would you do and why?

Of course, I’ll save the child. Saving a child from certain death is more important than a painting, no matter how valuable it may be. As for saving 20 kids from starvation, we don’t need to sell paintings for that. It takes very little to feed a child; an open heart and a generous mind can do that without going to those limits.

What’s your opinion of yams or sweet potatoes?

I love them. Not the way people eat them in the west but the way we eat them here. After roasting them in coals with skin on, it is peeled, and cubed. It’s them drenched in chat masala and lemon juice. Yummy!

GRATITUDE SECTION

Please feel free to share an image of something that makes you smile!

Full moon on 5/15/22
My phone decided to change the full moon into something dramatic!

Thanks Melanie for once again posing very interesting questions.

#Keepitalive

#SYW

Sharing my world- 5/9/22

Melanie, our gracious host has posed the following questions this week in SYW

QUESTIONS;

What two totally normal things become really weird if you do them back to back?

I really am struggling to find an example here except what Melanie suggested herself, eating a big meal and going for a weigh-in at a dietitian’s clinic. Or perhaps brushing your teeth after dinner and then eating a piece of dark chocolate!

What is something that you just recently realized that you are embarrassed by, that you didn’t realize embarrassed you?

I used to be embarrassed by the faux pas I committed frequently but now I just laugh them off. Quite the reverse of this question asked.

If Australia (including New Zealand and Tasmania – which I KNOW are different countries); the UK, Ireland, Germany, the USA, and Brazil or Italy were represented by one food, which would it be for each?

I’d say Pizza for Italy, a hamburger for USA, fish and chips for UK! For the rest I have no idea.

What might happen if Goldilocks and the Three Bears were set in modern times?

Goldilocks would be strictly prohibited from wandering the forest on her own but if she did, she’d have her cell phone and GPS to guide her. The bears would in any case be afraid of humans and wouldn’t approach her at all.

Where was the most most embarrassing or inappropriate place you’ve passed audible gas?

Do you think I’d tell!

GRATITUDE SECTION:

If you celebrate it, how was your Mother’s Day?  What did you do?   If you don’t (because you’re a single guy or it’s not in your culture) please share something fun you did recently.

On Mother’s Day, we were traveling so we have plans to celebrate it later in the week or the next weekend. Last week was Eid and the whole week was off from school and work. We had a very pleasant time with family and friends. Even managed to see a couple of movies; Dr. Strange and Sonic the hedgehog!

A view of the mall on the Chand raat ( eve before Eid)

Thank you Melanie, for these very interesting questions.

#Keepitalive

#SYW

Experience is important when we write?

This week Dr. Tanya has asked our opinion about Hemingway’s quote;

TODAY’S QUOTE;

“In order to write about life first you must live it.”

Ernest Hemingway

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I think that this quote is true in context of emotions because if we haven’t experienced the ups and downs of life, it’ll be difficult for us to capture those emotions.

Whereas the human mind has been gifted with a very fertile imagination that helps people to create stories that they themselves have never lived. Many genres of story telling would never be possible if we only wrote what we have experienced.

In blogging, when I write about something I’ve personally experienced, It generates more interest in my readers. Perhaps, because there is an element of relatability which pulls their attention. The recent A to Z challenge I did was an example of this.

In summing it up, I think one needs to have experienced the highs and lows of emotions in life to write convincingly about them but as far as the story is concerned, people have ample imagination to write of things they have never experienced or have ever happened.

In blogging, however, personal experiences always create more connectivity as others may also have experienced those situations in life.

Written for Blogging Insights NF – 38, hosted by Tanya

#Keepitalive

#BloggingInsights

Blogging- A means to connect

Dr Tanya has resumed her Blogging Insight series after the hiatus

Blogging Insights returns today after a month’s hiatus. I posted almost daily for theA to Z Blogging Challenge 2022 last month and couldn’t keep up with my prompts. So here goes :

TODAY’S QUOTE 

“I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume.” – Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

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I agree with this quote 100%. The only thing I’d add more is that blogging is not only a means to write and read but also to connect.

One person writes a blog post which is read by many others. This completes the stated purpose of this quote, but what comes after is the real joy of blogging: The connections formed with others in the community.

For myself, this connection is the reason I blog. When I write something, be it a story, an informative post, or a poem, I get instant feedback on it. I get to know what people think of my effort and this gives me a chance to improve on my writing skill. In fact, this has actually helped me to write better, to improve my grammar and by reading the posts/ poems of my fellow bloggers, I’ve learned a lot about writing better.

Thank you Dr.Tanya for restarting Blogging insight series again.

#Keepitalive

#BloggingInsights

Revisited- Fandango’s Provocative Question #106

Fandango is reposting a few of his FPQs for the month of April As I’ve already answered this question last year, I am re-posting my response;

Fandango is the host of Fandango Provocative Question

FPQWelcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question.

Blogging is a medium of words. All of us who blog are wordsmiths. We use words almost exclusively to express ourselves, to tell our stories, to weave our tales, to write our poems, to help others to understand and possibly even appreciate our perspectives.

In the real world, words can take on different meanings depending on context, inflection, facial expressions, body language, and other countless factors. But in blogging, such visual cues are, for the most part, absent. Thus, the challenge of conveying your intended tone and the underlying meaning of what you write can be daunting. It gets down to the age-old writer’s dilemma. Is the content what matters, or how the content is portrayed or presented?

So, as we are all writers who use words to paint pictures, my provocative question is simply this:

In the context of blogging and writing, what do you think is more important: what you say or how you say it?

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I think this question is very pertinent to the bloggers. What we write is equally important as how we word it. Unless the language is very simple and the expression totally bald, it can be misconstrued by the reader in many instances.

For this very reason, I use simple language, stating what I want to say as clearly as possible. It is correct that I mostly write poetry and in a poem sometimes the meaning is lost in phrases. But I do try to be as concise as possible.

It does take a good writer to reach the heart and engage the mind of their readers all the time and I am not one of those. I have started writing my blog just above 2 years ago and am still learning to communicate well. But as most good writers advise, use as few words as possible and make the meaning clear.

I myself have experienced this issue that even after reading a post or poem many times, I wasn’t able to get a clear sense of what the writer is saying.

So my 2 cents worth of advice is to be as simple and clear as possible so that we can convey our thoughts and opinions without them being misunderstood.

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#Keepitalive

#FPQ

Earth Month Share

Melanie is our gracious host for SYW

Credit for partial image goes to Katy (amoralegreia@wordpress.com) . It was added to and gently ‘tweaked’ by me.

Welcome to Share Your World – The Earth Month Edition! 


QUESTIONS;

In your opinion, how are we affecting our planet?

Our biggest crime is polluting our environment. Air, water, oceans, and soil, all are bearing the brunt of human ‘civilization’.


What solutions would you offer to stem the multiple problems we face vis a vis the destruction of our planet home?

I think the best, most doable solution is to switch to renewable sources of energy, like solar energy and wind energy. This will take fossil fuels out of the equation and save our environment. Another most vital step should be to ban the use of plastic packaging.


Do you think it’s already too late and we could just do exactly as we’re doing now and things would turn out the very same?

It’s not too late to do something even now. Any doubts people have should be removed by observing the beneficial effects of the lockdowns in 2020. There was less pollution because people weren’t burning fossil fuels.


Do you participate in things like “Arbor Day” (a U.S. Holiday dedicated to planting new trees) or Earth Day or Earth Month?

We don’t have these days here but we do have plantation movement in monsoon season. Lately one billion new trees were planted all over the country. Government provides pieces of land for tree plantation.

Is any of it important in the ‘Big Picture’?

Of course, any step in the right direction, however small will have a positive impact in the bigger picture.

GRATITUDE SECTION

What can you personally do to participate in the “Clean Earth” movement?

Don’t use plastic bags, don’t use plastic bottles, use solar energy, use less fuel, walk to your destination if it’s nearby, plant more trees, conserve water and be a caring tenant of this place we call home.

Thank you Melanie for these questions and for making us think about our environment.

#Keepitalive

#SYW

Repost- Blogging Insights- Organizing your blog

Due to A to Z challenge, Tanya has suspended her blogging insight series. Today I’m sharing a post from 2020!

Tanya is the host of Blogging Insights

TODAY’S QUESTIONS;

How organized are you when it comes to blogging? Do you have a blog schedule or do you play it by the ear?

Though I am not a stickler for schedules, I am pretty well organized regarding the postings on my blog. I post three posts daily and they are pre-scheduled to be posted every day. I usually write them the day before and schedule them. Sometimes if I have free time, I schedule posts for a couple of days in advance.

As far as my two prompts are concerned, those too are pre-planned and are scheduled at least a couple of days ahead.

How often do you’ tidy up’ your blog? e.g. go through your Drafts Folder, or go through old posts checking for broken links, etc.?

I do keep on going through my drafts and whenever I get time and inspiration, I complete them and post them as and when appropriate. I have never checked my old posts for broken links etc! I didn’t know that I was supposed to do that.

And this question also reminds me that I should tidy up my site. I haven’t touched it since at least a year. The reason is quite simple. I blog solely from my phone and for organizing, I’d need to go to my site via my laptop. Call me lazy or phobic, but I avoid doing that on all sorts of excuses. But I must do it sooner rather than later.

Maybe have a new header image or rearrange the menu or just refresh in general.

Thank you Tanya, for hosting this series and keeping the conversation going.

#Keepitalive

#BloggingInsights

Sharing my world- 4/18/22

QUESTIONS

In your opinion, what do you buy way more of than most people?

Chocolate?

Skin care products? Clothes? I do buy many things that I shouldn’t! But perhaps the most things that I buy are edibles, specially when I go shopping when I’m hungry.

Which workers have the worst jobs?

Anyone who hates their job would have the worst job. They could be earning millions but if the hate going to work everyday, they shouldn’t be doing what they do.

Opinion. John Cage is a composer who composed a piece named 4’33” for any instrument. The performance are instructed not to play their instrument for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Is this music or is this art? A combination of the two? Neither, it’s stupid. Your opinion?

Perhaps it’s art! Perhaps he wanted to teach the appreciation of silence? I don’t have any opinion on this because;

• I never went and paid to listen to a live orchestra

• I don’t understand the nuances of subtle art.

How good are you at drawing?

I recently drew a picture from a picture and it was liked by more than 100 people. It gives me the confidence to say, “ not bad”

GRATITUDE SECTION (as always optional)

Feel free to share one amazing thing you’ve experienced (any time frame).

Waking up every day and being able to enjoy this feeling is to me an ongoing miracle. We have no guarantee that we will live another day or another moment, so every new day is a gift to be enjoyed.

Enjoy life as it comes

Written in response to SYW, hosted by Melanie

#Keepitalive

#SYW

Sharing my world- Guest hosting

This week instead of Melanie, Share Your World is being hosted by Tena Carr, of Jottings and writings

Questions

Do You Prefer Salty Foods or Sweet Foods?

It totally depends on my mood. When I’m hungry I like salty food, not a snack but a proper meal. But most days after dinner I crave something sweet. Even a piece of chocolate would satisfy my cravings.

Would you rather be in a place where it is excessively hot or excessively cold?

I would prefer a moderate climate, but if very hot or very cold are the only choices, I’d prefer cold as we already live in a country where the summers are very hot and almost 9 months long.

Favorite Mode of long distance travel (Bus, Plane, Train, Automobile, or other).

Definitely a plane. I get fed up sitting in one place for a long time and I can walk around in a plane. And a plane gets to the destination faster.

What was your favorite holiday growing up? (You can also use american holidays or appropriate holidays from your country)

I like Eid-ul-Fitr which comes after the month of Ramadan. After fasting for one month, the idea of eating whenever you can is very attractive. Plus we also receive and give gifts so it’s a bit like Christmas.

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Gratitude Section

What gave you the most gratification this week?

I’ve shared in a previous post that it was the birthday of my granddaughter last Saturday. We all traveled to Lahore and had a wonderful time. My grandson also turned 3 on Sunday but we couldn’t attend his birthday as we had to be back in Islamabad. But it was a joyful weekend.

Thanks Tena for hosting this week.

#Keepitalive

#SYW

First share of April

Melanie, our gracious host of SYW, has asked us these questions this week;

QUESTIONS

Are you more productive at night or in the morning? Do you think it’s possible to change and get used to another schedule?

I’m a morning person. I like getting up early and tackling my to-do list. Sleeping in last makes me feel like I’m chasing my tail the whole day. I only relax when I’ve done all my chores, read all the pending blogs, and written my posts for the day.

I guess I can change my routine if HAVE to but I’m sure I won’t be happy doing it in the reverse.

What’s the biggest vehicle you’ve driven? If you don’t drive, what’s the biggest vehicle you’ve ridden in?

I’m not a keen driver and prefer to be driven. So the biggest can I’ve driven would be my husband’s new Altis (Corrolla). The biggest vehicle I was driven in would be the luxury coach traveling between Islamabad and Lahore. I loved traveling by bus but Covid put a stop to it. In fact, the pandemic has adversely affected the service.

What songs would be played on a loop in hell? (Suspend disbelief for this one, it’s cool not to believe in Hell, but let’s use our imaginations to answer. Of course one can always skip the questions they find odd too. And yes, I took into account that individual tastes will influence individual choices.)

Any song played constantly on the loop will drive the already damned souls mad, and up the wall! Will there be walls in hell?

(Deep and chewy philosophical question): What does it mean to be a person? What constitutes “personhood?” (there may be some diverse opinions, but we’re all mature adults in here, so be respectful of others please).

Any and every human is a person. A person who possesses a good heart is good, while a bad person is devoid of good feelings towards their fellow humans.

GRATITUDE SECTION (Always Optional)

How were your spirits (mood) over the past week?

The past week was the last one before Ramadan. It was hectic because I wanted to be well prepared for this holy month. With month-long fasting, I like to have my home in order, sheets changed, and all stuff spick and span. So it was a “ get everything done” week. But I’m glad I’ve done it and now I can relax, concentrate on reading Quran daily, and be peaceful, and try to catch up with my sleep.

Some pics from a place we visited
Tiny pansies!

Thank you Melanie for these lovely questions.

#Keepitalive

#SYW