bloggers

Linking up: It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3!

~ memeethemuse ~ 18 Comments

I love it when I see people linking up to my linky parties!

So you like the idea of my poetry party but think it is probably beyond your scope of ability to actually participate. The truth is, in fact, that it is remarkable easy to add a link, but extremely time consuming to put a linky party together and spread the word around, which is why I feel thankful for every single link brought to my punchbowl each month.  I get an email telling me when a new link has been added and I feel a burst of excitement and an energetic surge of satisfaction knowing that I am helping them to find new, inspiring blogging friends, increased traffic and, I hope, it generates an excitement in them as well.

You see, I find there are a ton of people writing poetry on the Internet but no real spot where they can come together and meet, share and inspire one another. And that is the hole I have been trying to fill ever since.  Please take a look at this wonderful infographic made my Rhondaa over at Oombawka Design. It shows you all there is too linking up: You add the link to your post, you supply your email address, and you choose your thumbnail. It’s that simple!  Continue reading →

So I guess I am warming up to these blogging awards.

~ memeethemuse ~ 6 Comments

I used to hate the chain-like quality of blogging awards, but now I am understanding more and more the importance of the nomination process. It allows us to get more eyes on the blogs that we ourselves appreciate and/or take inspiration from, whether in our writing or our life.

And so, I guess I have to find a way to nominate without allowing the nomination process to take away from the sincerity of my feelings. And in this moment I can only really see doing it in the manner I did when I received the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. In that case we were “required” to nominate 15 people. I did not nominate 15 people. I wasn’t inspired by 15 people. The awards I pass along must remain sincere. So like I did then, I will continue to nominate the people I feel do deserve the awards rather than generating a particular number of links.

And as for the inspiration for this particular post, it came from Chris who nominated me on July 19th for the Liebster Award. I want to take a moment to tell you briefly about Chris because he is someone who I find to be a remarkable human being.

As many of you know I live my life with a mental health label: Bipolar Disorder. And it is because of this label and how greatly misconstrued and misunderstood it is that I occasionally weave posts about it into my blog as well as follow a lot of other mental health blogs that I find to be useful in combating (external) social judgement and (internal) judgement.

Chris has one such blog. It is entitled, Surviving the Spector because as you will learn on his About page, he is a suicide survivor. He, like all of us, still has demons to face each day, however his past action has given him a new strength that each of us can learn and draw from. He is now a teacher among us and everyone can learn from him. So please, check out his blog and give him a follow. You’ll be glad you did! Thank you, Chris, for being YOU! And thank you for this nomination.

Now, on to my newest blogging award: The Liebster!

liebsterpic

 

Like 99% of the online blogging awards, this award comes with a set of rules to follow. Someone created a wonderful image so that they’ll really stand out on the page. I’d like to give that person credit but unfortunately I don’t know who did it. I will however use it (as I am sure they intended for its use to be carried forward) with gratitude and hope my nominees will do the same.

liebsterpic_001

 

Chris asked:

1.  In what state and/or country do you live (if outside the U.S.)?
A. Memee lives in Washington state but hopes to move to California in September.

2.  What is your favorite genre of music and THE band that goes with it?
A. Dating me huh? 80s pop! And as for “THE” band. I cannot really say there was one. I loved the women vocalists mostly. But, being that I said at the beginning of this post that I would strictly follow the rules I will identify Duran Duran because Girls on Film, Hungry Like the Wolf, Rio, Union of the Snake, The Reflex and The Wild Boys still gets me itching to dance!

3.  What is a life quote of yours?
A.  Well, Chris, I wasn’t sure if you meant one I created or one I live by.  I am going with the one I am trying to learn to live by.  It was originated by John Wayne:  “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

4.  Where do you find solace?
A.  with God.

5.  What are three triggers you have?
A. (1) Victimizing oneself (2) Patronizing words (3) Accusations (direct or alluded to)

6. Insert your favorite meme in the space below-

Koala

7.  What is a coping mechanism you use to combat your mental situation?
A.  Attending Group and/or seeking out time with friends because I have a tendency to isolate.

8.  When you sit down to write a blog post, where does your inspiration come from?
A.  Life, Death and the World around me. I thought you read my About page?! {snicker snicker}

9. Right here, right now, say something to the person who has hurt you the most, beginning with, “I promise to…”
A. I promise to keep trying to communicate my needs and feelings effectively with you.

10. What one regret do you hold onto that you wish you could let go of?
A. I am sorry but I am going to keep that one between, myself, my God, and my counselor.

11. What’s the most valuable piece of advice someone has given to you?
A. Accept yourself.

11 More Random Facts About Memee

1. I hate apple pie.
2. I love baseball.
3. I hate coffee.
4. I love coffee ice cream.
5. I prefer almond milk.
6. I don’t actually care for almonds themselves.
7. I lived in Mexico for a month during my 7th grade school year.
8. I lived in China for 1 month in 2004.
9. I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA for 3 months.
10. I lived in Boise, Idaho for 6 months.
11. I enjoy my Juice Plus+ every day.

Blogs Deserving Of Your Attention

1. Kokkewietblog.com She’s only begun her journey in July, but I see her humor and love her artistic strokes!

2. Thoughts of a Trainwrecked Pineapple I don’t know how many followers Carlos has, but I sure recognize myself in his blog and he started the same month I did. If you enjoy me, you’ll like him too!

3. Beatriz shares stories about plants and animals on her blog, gardeningB, where she shares her experiences with edible gardening in tropical Florida, sharing unique but delicious sounding recipes and highlighting her posts with gorgeous photography.

4. Carol has time to share her favorite recipes on Retired? No One Told Me! now that she has retired to “sunny Phuket where some will say I am living my dream ..well never wearing stiletto’s again is one of them realised..Long live bare feet and flip-flops!” Aside from the wonderful recipes, I have noticed that she loves chatting with her followers, helping them with the recipes and creating online friendships along the way.

5. Chad speaks of his extremely personal struggle with bipolar disorder while weaving in how his Mormon doctrines have guided him to a new discovery of a happier, healthier self on his website CMMcDonaldbooks and although I don’t think he will pass the award along, I think his journey can help others better understand what our lives can look like with mental illness and/or with God by their side.

6. Kelli Blogs “just not as often as she thinks she should,” which I find to be refreshing, honest and downright witty. And do you know what else she does? Kelli Cooks! But this blog is dedicated mostly to adoption, though she has music and food posts as well.

7. This one is for all the female bloggers out there. Anything and everything relevant to the emerging powerful woman within each of us can be found at I Blog For Us.

8. Chris posts the best motivational quotes! Everyone needs motivation: Students, Parents, Bloggers! The Motivational Mentalist

Yes, I am aware that was eight nominations and not eleven, but for the sake of sincerity of my appreciation these are the blogs I believe are deserving of your attention. Also, I am not sure I adhered strictly to the “less than 200 followers” rule as some of my nominees don’t have a stat count showing for followers and there may be one or two that, like me, had a few more than 200 at the time I began this article posting (last month).

Nominees, Your 11 Random Questions Are:

1. Do you believe in ghosts and if so have you seen any?
2. What animals, if any, do you currently reside with. Names too please!
3. Tell me, what is your favorite nickname and why?
4. Is there anyone that you would step in front of a train for? If yes, who is it?
5. Can you wiggle your ears?
6. Do you brush your teeth in the shower?
7. Why do you think drinking water from a bottle is a good idea?
8. Have you ever eaten anything that sounds gross but wasn’t?
9. Do you ever talk or walk in your sleep?
10. Are you easy to read?
11. Is there someone important to you that suffers from a mental illness (yourself included)?

ROOM 101 (award)

~ memeethemuse ~ 12 Comments

Room 101 (award) logo

 

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you.

2. Award 5 bloggers who fascinate, intrigue or tickle your curiosity with the Room 101 (award) badge logo on their About pages and linking to them in your post.

3. Tell us the 5 things you would banish to Room 101!

4. Attach these rules to your post.

5. Grab your badge above and enjoy adding it to your trophy case, but please be respectful of the creator of the award by never altering the logo and never changing the rules.

☀ ☀ ☀ ☀ ☀

Okay, so today is Sunday and as my minion army knows, it is set aside for Sunday Callers (guest writers). However, today I have created this brand new award which was inspired by Amanda Lyle, creator of Inside the Life of Moi… that qualifies, right?  She was nominated for the Liebster Award and noticed that it had changed from a previous time and so she went ahead and did her own thing. Explaining what she would banish to Room 101. Her answers were clever and quirky (as is true of her entire blog) and I thought to myself, FUN!

Amanda, I hope you don’t mind. I just so loved your answers and wanted to spread the challenge out to five individuals that I want to learn more about. And so I…

Thank:

Myself for being so clever this morning.

Nominate:

Divya at Another Teenager’s Time Capsule

Crystal at FatChick411

Carlos at Thoughts of a Trainwrecked Pineapple

Rachel Ann at Starts with Sparkles

Dennis at Breaking Well

Banish:

1.  Arrogant and narcissistic people: That’s right, I said it. You are my number one, número uno most annoying pet peeve in all the world. Of course I understand that Narcissistic Personality Disorder is not a choice yet I still find it difficult to tolerate your self-centered, egocentric behavior. I am sorry I have little patience for your problem. As for you, yes YOU, Arrogant son of a bitch, I have no apologies. You’re BANISHED!

2. Cockroaches: There must be a reason that God created cockroaches, but I don’t see what it is and cannot comprehend what it might be. It is certainly not an attempt to help us cut out sugary cereals from our diets because as everyone knows cockroaches pre-date Kelloggs, General Mills, and Post.  I also doubt it is to cause us nightmares or make us jump in movie theaters.. Sorry, Lord, on this one, extinction might be in order. But You know best. (Banish them, please?)

3. Brussel Sprouts: I know some of you love these little cabbage-like balls of nutrition, but no matter how you cook ’em, their taste is nasty and their odor even nastier, stanky really… They’re BANISHED!

4. Social Conflict: You know what I am talking about: hatred, prejudice, war, terror, abuse etc. Although I cannot banish it myself, I am so grateful that eventually that day will come (whether I am here on this earth or in Heaven) when peace will reign.

5. Human Contamination of the Planet: Pollution is killing our planet. It breaks my heart when I see people drinking bottled water, using Styrofoam, tossing garbage on the ground and just selfishly thinking of themselves with disregard to future generations, other living creatures and our living planet. Water bottles, Stryofoam, 6-pack plastic rings, you’re all BANISHED!

Thank you, Amanda Lyle, blogger extraordinaire, for sharing your inspired answers which inspired the creation of this award. I am definately a new fan of your blog! And of course, I cannot help but mention that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog banner; just adorable!

And thank you, nominees, for playing!

☀ Memee

How Do I Survive the Weekend?

~ memeethemuse ~ 1 Comment

via Brighton Bipolar
about the author

Brighton Bipolar header

This weekend my husband and I are heading off with another couple for two days in France. Triggered by my recent depressive slump, they thought it would ‘Cheer me Up’ to get away for a short break.

Whilst I appreciate the thought, words can’t express how terrified I am.

I’m in a depressive phase, which means I have very little energy and sleep A LOT. My moods are cycling rapidly and can turn from anger or confusion to deep sadness in a very short space of time. Today I didn’t Wake up until 2pm and am still exhausted. It’s the need for sleep/lack of energy issue that causes me the most concern with this weekend trip.

I have to be up and ready to leave at 5am Saturday morning – lack of sleep tends to make all my other symptoms worse and the couple we are traveling with could end up facing some of my more ‘Antisocial’ behaviours. I’m also not sure it’s safe for me to be on the back of a motorcycle for hours on end when feeling dizzy, confused and exhausted.

What happens if I have ‘An Episode’? – Usually a long depressive phase like the one I’m in now culminates in a huge meltdown, which is not pretty. It’s been almost a year since my last Episode and I’m terrified that I’m due another any time soon. Whilst my husband has seen me through many of these breakdowns before I’m positive his friends don’t want to be saddled with a screaming, crying, hallucinating harpy literally punching and kicking anyone within arms reach. Although I wouldn’t normally hurt a fly, my Episodes can often be very violent towards those around me as well as myself.

What if my mood turns Manic? – When in the clutches of Mania I come across as the life and soul of the party, talking a mile a minute and making very dubious choices. People would describe me as ‘Fun’ and ‘Bubbly’ as I throw caution to the wind and take dangerous risks without fear. During Manic phases, I am invincible and my naturally flirtatious personality turns into Hypersexuality. Yes, I become a slut. I’m not proud of my behaviour when in the throws of Mania but at the time, I’m feeling great and function on instinct rather than rationality. Hypersexuality is one of the myriad symptoms of Bipolar but isn’t really talked about, the shame and embarrassment we feel about these moments isn’t something that’s easily shared.

What happens if I have ‘An Episode’? – Usually a long depressive phase like the one I’m in now culminates in a huge meltdown, which is not pretty. It’s been almost a year since my last Episode and I’m terrified that I’m due another any time soon. Whilst my husband has seen me through many of these breakdowns before I’m positive his friends don’t want to be saddled with a screaming, crying, hallucinating harpy literally punching and kicking anyone within arms reach. Although I wouldn’t normally hurt a fly, my Episodes can often be very violent towards those around me as well as myself.

What if my mood turns Manic? – When in the clutches of Mania I come across as the life and soul of the party, talking a mile a minute and making very dubious choices. People would describe me as ‘Fun’ and ‘Bubbly’ as I throw caution to the wind and take dangerous risks without fear. During Manic phases, I am invincible and my naturally flirtatious personality turns into Hypersexuality. Yes, I become a slut. I’m not proud of my behaviour when in the throws of Mania but at the time, I’m feeling great and function on instinct rather than rationality. Hypersexuality is one of the myriad symptoms of Bipolar but isn’t really talked about, the shame and embarrassment we feel about these moments isn’t something that’s easily shared.

I don’t want to disappoint my husband and his friends, but am terrified they may get a glimpse of ‘The Real Me’ behind the mask I put on daily. People often THINK they know what living with this condition is like but are nowhere near prepared for the reality. I’ve scared off friends and family before and have lost count of the times I’ve been referred to as ‘Crazy’ or ‘Psychotic’. It breaks my heart that I am so terrified of ‘Me’.

 

 

Join Me in the Venture of Independent Filmmaking!

~ memeethemuse ~ 1 Comment

Okay, so you cannot really join me unless you walk away from your life, sacrificing all your sources of energy, time, income and working appliances to move here, however you can still help get an independent film “in the can” and “ready for bed.”

How? By helping to fund the production costs. Filmmaking is expensive, even the “low budget” stuff. This is independent, low budget and high quality. I’m not comparing Kimmy With It to Dirty Dancing, I only want to remind you that low budget does not necessarily equal bad results. I mean that little movie made a star out of Patrick Swayze and turned the already recognizable Jennifer Grey into a household name in the late 80s and even got a re-release in theaters for its 10-year anniversary — and that’s just talking about America. It’s continually being re-released in other countries, even as recently as this year! So toss away your erroneous thinking that small budgets and crowdfunding can only lead to garbage… I think I have just proven it just ain’t* so.

If you are interested in helping some starving artists produce a funny, funny film and then get to see your name in lights, okay well, not in the lights of a marquee, but pixellated lights on a television, telephone, computer screen or pad near you, then head on over to GoFundMe.

I did it and now I’m challenging each of you to be good little minions and do the same. It’s quick, it’s easy, and only a little painful. I’ll thank you now and the world will thank you later!

Tweet: Join me in the venture of independent #filmmaking http://ctt.ec/bGeID+ I am making #movies... are you? #kingcounty #actors #crew #extras

*And, by the way, “ain’t” is now in the dictionary so I guess it’s now a word. But I gotta say, it’s still a fun little pneumonic device: “Ain’t ain’t a word ’cause it ain’t in the dictionary!”

Four Minds of One Heart Blogging in Unity

~ memeethemuse ~ 4 Comments

Four Minds of One Heart Blogging inI am not a great fan of blogging “awards” simply because, for the most part, they are used as a gimmick for acquiring followers.  Mind you, I love being nominated and I love having followers, it’s just that being required to pass an award on to a particular number of bloggers stinks of chain letters with ill intent.  I have no ill will and I do accept all awards with the caveat that I do it on my terms.   Continue reading →

Spring Has Sprung at #Memeespoetryparties!

~ memeethemuse ~ Leave a comment

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has sprung and it is time for everyone to come visit another one of Memee’s Poetry Parties. So April’s poem challenge theme is Spring! Tell us about springtime where you live. Now, I know that here in the U.S. we define spring as April, May, and June. And in other parts of the world spring may well be celebrated at another time. So that’s the hardest part and the most interesting part of this linky party. Share with us your cultural differences or personal differences… Do you have special holidays or gorgeous flowers? Are there certain insects or animals that become prevalent during this time? However you want to tackle this challenge is up to you, please share Spring with us!

To learn the 5 easy rules please visit Memee’s Poetry Parties. You’ll find the party link lower down the post, it’ll be identified as, you guessed it, #springhassprung!

Submission dates for #springhassprung are: April 13 – April 19 (2015)

Voting for your favorite #springhassprung poems will occur: April 20 – April 23 (2015)

This month’s party ends April 24th. Door prizes will be announced in following days. And remember, the more the merrier so be sure and challenge your contemporaries, your followers and anyone else you hope to party with!

Participants must follow all rules to be eligible for door prizes.

Looking forward to seeing you at the punchbowl!

☀ Memee