A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

challenges

Food Photo Challenge (March 2020): Lunch

So this month has been a whirlwind of everything. And I’m sure most of you are feeling it as well. That being said, despite being later in the day, the challenges go on and I hope that it somehow helps you with the current situation throughout the world. 

Mmmm food. 

The first month was breakfast. And this much is lunch. I’m sure you can see the direction we are heading. If you are new to the Food Photo Challenge, check out this post, which explains everything. Also, the linkup for this month’s theme will stay live for about a week. 

Food Photo Challenge logo

Simply put, though, each month there will be a theme (announced at the end of this post) and on the 28th of each month, come back and link up.

Onward we go!

I’m sticking with my quest for using my iPhone more and learning different things about it. This photo was done with my iPhone 11 pro. I also again used a light box, which I think really helped. 

Let’s check out this month. 

Theme: Lunch

I do love lunch. The thing is, though, I am pretty zoned in with lunch. By that I mean I truly love sandwiches and subs. I would eat them most of the time if I could, but .. bread. That being said, most lunches I do have them. 

So a sandwich is a part of this photo, and I knew I needed a little more to it. 

What accompanies a sandwich? Well, often chips of some sort. And a pickle!

This was a fantastic lunch. A mixed-meat sandwich on rye. Some regular potato chips (I had thought about Doritos for color, or even veggie straws, but I went the traditional route), and a small pickle. I took a few different angles and distances, but this I thought captured it well. 

And it was tasty!

That’s my submission for the month and I am looking forward to seeing who else is taking part in this challenge and what they have to offer!

If you took part in the challenge, please make sure to link up below. Also, make sure you visit everybody else’s posts (and do come back to see who may have linked up after you!)! 

Let’s, too, try and grow this challenge. Tell others and invite them. And, as always, one can check out the Facebook group for this challenge and others as well. You can access the group here. 

The linkup is below, but how about March?

The theme for April is: Dinner. Come back on April 28 to link up!

Food Photo Challenge: March 2020

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Can of Corn 2: Spring training

This post has taken a different meaning. 

When I originally came up with these themes, there were some ideas bouncing in my head. But this year, this is totally different. 

The scare going around the world has changed everyday life for the near future, and even the escape of sports – which for many people is just that – has been taken away. 

And though spring training standings aren’t really worth much, the Phillies had the best record in baseball. And that at least had me excited. Baseball was coming soon. 

Can of Corn Challenge logo

And then this pandemic has shut down the world. 

Believe me, I fully understand the ramifications of what is happening. And though I may wonder about the lengths we are going, I also realize a couple months (give or take) of inconvenience to make sure people are healthy is the least of my concerns. It’s part of life and hopefully, as a people, we will get through this. 

That being said. 

When there are things wrong with the world, often the way to escape is with sports. 

Alas, event sports have stopped. 

And here we are, in the middle of March… when those of us who love baseball would be gearing up for opening day. Spring training cuts and such would be happening and teams would start shaping up to what we would expect. 

My hope is that will still happen, even if a month or so down the road. Technically, spring didn’t even start until March 19. Then it runs through June 20. 

But for the sake of not having everything go to this virus overtaking the world, I’ll go back a couple of years when I had the chance to attend spring training for the first time. It was quite exciting, I will note. The only issue? Back problems. Several weeks before the trip to Florida, I pulled my back at some point. I think it was caused by shoveling snow, but it was a gradual pain. Eventually, it got really bad. I went and saw the doctor. They took an MRI on it (that might have been after the trip). I went and saw an acupuncturist. 

Nothing worked. 

I went to Florida in some serious pain. So bad that I couldn’t walk far without going into a catcher’s crouch to relieve the pain. Let’s just say it wasn’t a great thing. 

So spring training was cool. Watching games down there was nice. But I couldn’t get out and explore the stadiums and areas like I would have wanted to. 

Some day, I’ll likely go back. 

Oh – the back issue. When I got home, I finally went and saw a chiropractor. And I went several times a week for a few weeks. In time, things improved. The MRI came back without anything major, thus meaning the doctor said no surgery. Instead … I just went to the chiropractor. 

It kept improving. 

I needed fewer visits. 

And now? Fine. I think part of the reason is I go back every 4-6 weeks to get myself lined up. Preventative really does work. To think I could have gone to Florida in better shape if I had just gone to the chiropractor in the first place!

Back to 2020. Baseball’s on hold … but it’s my hope spring training will resume and we’ll get some regular season games eventually. 

Can of Corn Challenge 2: Spring training! linkup

The Can of Corn Challenge is a monthly blogging challenge that runs from February-October. You can see all information, as well as themes for 2020 by visiting this blog post. Feel free to join us for any and all themes! The linkup will remain live each month for about seven days.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Reading, writing, and learning to journal in middle age

Throughout my life, I’ve always been a writer.

Sometimes it was professionally. Sometimes it was personal stuff. But I’ve always been that writer.

The one thing I haven’t been good at … was journaling.

That being said, one could argue that blogging is a way to journal — but I wanted it a little more traditional. The idea of bullet journaling has interested me for a while. I love seeing spreads and ideas on what people do. What I like about it is how it can work not just as a version of a traditional journal, but as a guide for life. I don’t look at it as a planner as many might. I look at it as a tool to document your doings, while still kind of keeping with your current life and staying on task. 

It’s funny, though. Sometimes one has to watch where they say things like this. Much like every other thing a person can do, when you get out in social media, things can get rather nasty – even with something like a bullet journal. Not to get on a soapbox – and I will keep this brief – but as I was learning about the different aspects and facets of bullet journaling, there are people who get downright forceful in their belief that their way; or maybe that of the originator’s way; or some other way – is the only way to do this. And if you go off that path, you are doing it wrong and so many internet people will lash into you over it. 

It’s a journal. Nothing more, nothing less. People will make it their own and do it their own way. Deal with it and move on. Better yet, if you feel the need to slam people over how they do things – move along. 

Anyway, I digress. 

I don’t need a lot of room for daily thoughts. I just need to make sure I stick with it!

I’ve never been successful with journals. I didn’t keep up or I didn’t get a flow. A bullet journal seemed to be something that could help me. (I have been working on a larger post about my path in bullet journaling in more detail and that will be coming out soon). I think it’s more about sitting down and trying to put personal thoughts to pen and paper more than anything, 

Reality is, the world is a crazy place, It can be amazingly good or shockingly bad. There’s a lot of middle ground, too. There’s heartbreak and joy. So much goes right and wrong in this world. But in the end, it’s not a bad time to be alive. Keeping that in mind, it’s also a time when the world needs to focus on people, be it good or be it topics like mental health. 

I work in schools and see a lot about mental health issues and what we can do about it. I’m very cognizant of my own mental health and realize sometimes you can’t keep things bottled up. I also know there needs to be an outlet of sorts where I can get thoughts out and understand my own path in life. 

Hence the journal. 

I like other aspects of journaling, which theoretically should help keep me on task.

Let me say that I’m a bit jealous of people who have journaled for years and who have created their own style and way of doing things. I’d love to go back and read my own writing about issues or successes in the past. I’d love to see my thoughts on a more personal level, and not just on my blog. Though I’ve shared some life-altering things in life on this blog, I tend not to get way too personal with a lot of other things. 

So this journey for me, is just starting. I read a lot about how journaling has helped. I’m trying to define a style and a schedule to keep. I haven’t done too well, so far. February was OK, but I haven’t done basically anything in March. April will be a new month and I’ll try to find that flow once again. So far, reading how others have done this is helping, but then I need to get to the doing part of things. 

It’s even harder doing this, though, as a middle age guy. I have so many other things I’m invested in, at times it feels like a burden, and that’s something I don’t want this to be. I’d like it to be something good. Just like anything else, I know I need to make it a routine and find a rhythm. I think if I can do that, I’ll start to feel that flow more. It might be where I need to do it every other day. My memory is good enough where I won’t forget all the good from the day before if I do it every couple of days. I’m not one who wants to do it whenever I think about something as it will then consume me. It needs to be real and organic for it to really work for me. 

I do feel that rhythm will be found, eventually, A few months from now, I’m sure I will look back and know there were just a few speed bumps in the way of getting things the way I need them to be. 

So how about all of you out there? Do you journal (and what form? Regular, BUJO) and, if so, how long have you been doing it? And what kind of routine do you have for journaling?

Blog With Friends: March 2020

Blog with Friends is a themed collaboration challenge where a group of bloggers get together and publish a project based on a theme. Please see the others who have taken part for this month’s theme “Read Across America.” Links to their posts can be found below the image!

Check out what the others did with Read Across America!

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Secret Subject Swap: Life as a musical

This post is for the Secret Subject Swap, a monthly blog challenge. Information about the swap can be viewed at the end of this post, as well as links to all others taking part. Have a peek at some of the other bloggers and see what they had to come up with. If you are a blogger, consider joining up for future months!

My theme is “If your life was a musical, what genre of music would it be and what songs would be featured on the soundtrack?” and it was submitted by Southern Belle Charm.

This is a tough one. 

First, allow me to say, I’m a fan of musicals. Alas, I’m not sure there’s any musical I am a fan of that would allow me to say “that’s my life.” 

I’m a fan of more classic musicals – ones such as Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, and Damn Yankees. It’s not that I don’t like more modern ones – I just haven’t seen many. 

So trying to put me in a classical musical might be hard. 

The same goes for genre. 

Much like a human personality, it’s hard to stick to one set track. I couldn’t, for example, say I’m all rock. My musical tastes and likes are a wide range – anything from a little classical to rock to country to modern pop to 80s anything and then some. 

It’s just how I am when it comes to music. 

So to have a soundtrack would be a wide range as well, and one I’m not sure I could fully come up with. 

Instead, my soundtrack would vary quite a bit. Keeping that in mind, I’ve opted to find a soundtrack of songs that either might be part of my world as an explanation of who I am, or songs that might have been important during a time in my life.

I’m not going to go too deep into what the songs mean to me and such, rather I’m just going to link up some YouTube videos and let you all (if you want) listen to the songs that have been important to me at one point or another during my life – and yes, songs I would thing would find a way to be on the soundtrack of my personal musical. 

1. Pachelbel’s Canon 

2. Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole 

3. Bittersweet – Big Head Todd and the Monsters (Live version)

4. Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane 

This is just a short selection of songs that might be in a musical about my life. I’m sure I’ll think of more later in the day or this weekend and just be like “d’oh! That is one!” But this is a good clip on the start. 

A musical, of course, isn’t just about the music though. I’m not sure I’d want to attack the other parts of a musical if it was about my life – that would be a hard thing to make sense of!

Six others have taken part in this challenge, so go check out the other posts and have some fun reading their secret subjects!

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Photo Blogging Challenge: March 2020’s theme is …

March?

Yikes! Next thing you know, we’ll be moving our clocks ahead and having longer days! That means more time for taking photos and, hopefully, other things for you!

PBC logo

March, each year, is a good time for this challenge as it marks another year we have been doing it. Of course over the years, we’ve seen fewer people take part. That being said, I do enjoy doing it, so we keep moving along and see what happens with it.

So as we celebrate our anniversary, let’s hope we find a way to grow the challenge and maybe get other people involved. I know there are a lot of challenges out there and people take part, but the beauty of this one is it’s all about interpretation and very open-ended. So let your blogging friends know and maybe we can grow!

Here’s the thing to always remember about this challenge: It doesn’t matter what you use to take the photos. It can be a DSLR, your phone, a compact camera, or heck, if you can get things set and scanned in time, a film camera! Just have fun and try and challenge yourself.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the monthly “group” challenges:

Challenge 1: Tell others about this photo blogging challenge and get some friends to come join us.  Let’s see if we can get people interested in the challenge again.

Challenge 2: Make friends with your camera and see what you can come up with. Have fun!

Challenge 3 is at the end of this post (the theme!).

Before this, here’s some housekeeping items. For those who might be new to the challenge, here’s how it works.

  • See the theme (first day of the month);
  • Take photos throughout the month (don’t use old ones!);
  • Select five photos and create a blog post;
  • Come back here and link up on the final day of the month;
  • Use the official hashtag — #Photoblogchal — on social media posts;
  • Hopefully go visit and comment on other blogs.

That’s it. There’s no rules on equipment or anything else. Blog posts can be short and to the point, or in-depth. Interpret the themes as you see fit.

The one big rule?

Have fun!

This month’s theme? Seven. If you’ve been with us for a while, I’m sure you had an idea what was coming for this month’s theme! Please make sure your blog post publishes Tuesday, March 31. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

There is also a Facebook group for those who are interested.

If you would like to visit the history of the challenge, which started in 2013, please go to the Photo Blogging Challenge page for more!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!