A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

blogging

Podcast review: Overview

I’ve gotten into podcasts quite heavily as of late. 

Over the past several months as I’ve started walking more and trying to get the health under control, podcasts have been what I use. As much as I love music, sometimes the tunes aren’t enough for me. Insert podcasts, which I’ve always liked but I’ve always kept just a few. 

There’s one or two geocaching ones; a board games one; and a couple of professional wrestling ones. 

Some of them are just too long, though. As much as I like listening to them, I’m not into it taking me 3-4 days worth of walking to get through a podcast (and my walks, for the record, are usually in the 30-50 minute range). That made me search for others – ones that I could finish over the course of a day (I usually take two walks a day). 

Podcasts are definitely not everybody’s cup of tea, so to speak. Some people love them, some hate them. The big part is having to download them, or remember to. I don’t like everything on my phone, for example, so all of mine go to my iPod. 

This series is basically going to be my thoughts on podcasts I listen to. These reviews could be monthly, or a little more often, all depending. There won’t be any set days, so basically when I can sit down with my thoughts. I’ll give my positives, negatives, and anything else about the ones I’ve listened to, or tried to listen to. Most of them will be positive reviews, however, being if I am going to listen to something, I need to like it at least a little!

Currently, I’m deep into some true crime ones. I love true crime stories, especially when they are cases and such you might not know a lot about. There’s a few other “real life” ones I’ve been into as well, which have made my walks a bit more fun.

I also have been listening in the car to and from work, though once baseball season really takes over, that won’t happen as often. 

But with this, I’m interested in what some of you might listen to when it comes to podcasts. Despite not having a ton of extra time to add podcasts, I am interested in what might be out there that might draw me in. I’m not into the ones that are very current event-like, if not just for the fact that I tend to like to be able to get to them when I can. 

I’ve also learned a lot from these podcasts, which has been good as well. The world is a crazy place, as I’m sure most of us would agree. So, it’s nice that we can kind of see a different slice of it in other areas. 

I always wanted to start my own podcast. I thought it would be cool as I had friends who did them, but didn’t garner huge followings. I now realize, though, the amount of work podcasters put into these things. From the research to the recording, to editing and everything else, it’s crazy. There’s no way I would have the time or drive to do a podcast. Truthfully told, I likely wouldn’t have enough to say about one subject to get people interested in it anyway. 

Instead, I’ll keep listening. There are some great ones out there and I love the ones I’m subscribed to, and I can’t wait to find more that interest me. 

How about you? Do you listen to podcasts? And what are your favorites?

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!

Masks and beads and food and drinks OH MY!

In all the years I’ve been on Earth, Mardi Gras is … not something I’ve known much about. 

Sure, you heard it every year. 

And supposedly it’s one hell of a party each year in New Orleans. 

There are beads. And colors. And drinks. And food. 

So.

Much.

Stuff. 

A bit on the backside of this – when I was younger, I didn’t mind going out for drinks and basic shenanigans. But I wasn’t much on massive parties and craziness. I never wanted to go somewhere south for spring break and I had no interest in places where the main objective was partying and getting, well, shitfaced. 

As I’ve gotten older, I look at things differently. I’m not into that shitfaced part, still, but I look at the whole Mardi Gras thing as an experience. And though I’m sure I’ll never do it, it’s still a bit more interesting to me, even if just for photography purposes. 

But what the hell is Mardi Gras? 

And why do I care about beads? 

I set out to find out, in easy terms what this day is and what kind of things you might be able to expect. 

So what is Mardi Gras? 

Also known as Fat Tuesday, it’s the day before Ash Wednesday and is the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before Lent season. 

Basically, stuff your face and live it up before giving up certain things for lent. 

This is not something observed throughout the United States (it’s different throughout the world, but being I’m in the States, I’ll stick with that), it is something you see in traditionally ethnic French cities and regions. New Orleans is one of the biggest and probably best known. 

Costumes are often part of these celebrations. Masks, costumes, and bright colors – often yellows, purples, and greens. Nowadays, the costumes can become elaborate, using feathers and capes as well. There sometimes are themes with the costumes. 

I know a few people who have done the Mardi Gras trip in New Orleans and one thing they pointed out is that some ladies like to go topless, which apparently has been documented since 1889 according Wikipedia. The French Quarter is seemingly a big place for this, where people will expose themselves on balconies, getting a crowd to form on the street below. 

And this is where the beads and trinkets apparently come into play. I was always curious about this and what the point was. Again, according to Wikipedia, it seems the rise of producing commercial videos catering to voyeurs has helped this, so the tradition is women bare their breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets. A study in 1991 found 1,200 instances of this happening!

Yowza!

So let’s flip this a little – to something a little more tame. 

Food and drinks. 

When I was originally looking at something for this challenge, my initial thought was to find a recipe and make it. One thing I noticed, though, is what the foods that seem to go with Mardi Gras are like – and that would be not very kind on my blood sugar! Have you seen the King’s Cake? It looks divine, but … it wouldn’t be good for me! 

The drinks… they look strong but tasty. Try a hurricane. I’d say it would be super delicious!

Mardi Gras is an interesting holiday. I honestly can’t say I’d head to New Orleans for this celebration, but I’d like to try some of the food and drinks. 

How about any of you? Have you been part of anything with Mardi Gras in the past? This year it is Tuesday, February 25.

Blog With Friends: February 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 Mardi Gras. Links to their posts can be found below the image!

Check out what the others did with Mardi Gras!

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen here, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! Starting up is the Food Photo Challenge 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: The new position

The 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 “You get to bypass the job application process and start your new position with your favorite company, which is …” and it was submitted by Tamara over at https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/.

This is my first time taking part in the Secret Subject Swap. It’s an interesting concept for blogging and it really can make you think outside the box. 

Of course, my first theme is by a blogger I know, so a bit more interesting. And the theme is a bit longer than my headline … it is “You get to bypass the job application process and start your new position with your favorite company, which is …” 

Interesting, right?

This can go so many ways. Think about when you were a kid. What did you want to be when you grew up? What did you want to do? 

Did you want to be a fireman or a policeman? Go to the moon? My imagination as a kid likely had me doing different things every day. I know I wanted to do all the things most kids wanted to do and I wanted to drive a school bus or a garbage truck; I wanted at one point to be a teacher or a baker; there were so many things. Heck, being a professional wrestler was high on my list, so much so that I looked into training schools for it when I was a junior and senior in high school!

But I always wanted to be a baseball player. 

Keeping score… this would be my type of job!

My skills, of course, never matched up with that one. I was average – at best – in high school and when I graduated, I didn’t want to attempt to be a bench guy on the local two-year college team because they practiced at 6 a.m. 

No thanks!

It’s almost ironic now that as I get older, I find myself up at 5 am most days to go for a walk that ranges from 1.5 to 2 miles … 

Anyway, I digress. 

When I was younger, I found my talent somewhat was in writing and photography. Maybe that’s the imagination thing again. I loved newspapers and the whole news thing. My first story, along with a photo I took, appeared in a newspaper for the first time when I was in seventh grade. 

I always dreamed of being in public relations. A sports information director at a college was the ultimate goal. Note – I never reached it. But it was one of those things I aimed for. Believe me, over the years, I applied for these positions but they never panned out. 

Now, I like where I landed. It’s in PR and there are massive amounts of benefits that go along with where I am. 

That being said, if I could skip the interview process and such … 

I’d be heading to the Philadelphia Phillies. Baseball is my sport. The Phillies are my team. And that would be the place I’d consider my favorite company. The position? Could be in public relations, or it could be some sort of in-game announcing. But I’d truly love it to be the scorekeeper. That, to me, would be where it was at. I love the nuances of scoring and have done it for years and years. 

Especially if I could skip the process and start right up. 

Alas, we know it’s a dream world. So, I’ll have to stick to my amateur scorekeeping and carry my book along with me when I go to games. The dream never dies!

Eight 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 here, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! Starting up is the Food Photo Challenge 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!

20 Days of Chill: Sign it in ink (Day 15)

So many ways to take this theme. 

For me, in the past, thinking of ink would have made me look back to my time in newspapers and having the chance to see the press run. It was always a cool experience and I tried to go back and watch it every couple of months just because it seemed magical. 

If you’ve never seen a press run up close and personal, it’s truly amazing. 

But lately for me, ink is thought of in a different way, namely fountain pens. 

I’ve always been a fan of fountain pens and in recent years had a few disposable ones. But over the past year or so, I’ve gotten much more into the fountain pen world. 

Especially ink. 

It’s truly amazing what ink can do. There are so many color variations and the colors can do different things – such as shimmer, or glisten, or have sparkles, or have different looks as you write. 

It’s crazy cool. 

My fountain pen collection has grown quite a bit from my start and I have pens that have a wide range of price, including limited edition pens that are even cooler. 

Nibs on the pens also vary, so you can have an extra fine and range all the way to broad and flex nibs. Each one will write differently, with some inks coming out a lot faster than others based on that nib. That will give you a different look and feel as you write. 

One of the latest pens I’ve inked up.

It’s way cool. 

What’s even more with this is the aspect of actually writing again. It’s funny that as I am blogging about fountain pens and ink, I’m doing it on a computer. Our society goes a lot more in this direction now. So, I’ve tried to work more into actually writing (and improving my handwriting) once again. For one, I’m prepping to start a bullet journal in February (I will have a post about this), though I might not do much with the fountain pens in that – though I have other pens. 

One thing I do like doing is making sure I have swatches of all the inks I use. That gives me an idea of what I have and what the colors look like. Recently, I’ve also started a notebook where after I ink a pen, I write a bit in the notebook so I can see how things flow and look. 

It’s nice to document the colors. 

On Instagram lately, I’ve been looking at so many accounts of people who are back into writing letters. It seems February is “InCoWriMo.” Now, that confused me when I saw it at first, but it seems to stand for International Correspondence Writing Month. From its website, “ InCoWriMo challenges you to hand-write and mail/deliver one letter, card, note or postcard every day during the month of February.”

That’s a pretty hefty challenge and not one I’m likely up for this February, but maybe next year. What I like is seeing people out there reaching out to people looking to send letters and possibly become penpals. 

How cool is that?

The amount of time and effort and creativity people put into their letters and envelopes etc., is pretty wild. I’m impressed all around and am not sure I could be that creative. 

That being said… it’s fascinating that the art of writing is still there and I’ve noticed my own handwriting improving over the past year. I’ve dabbled with papers and many different inks and pens etc. It’s nice to see some things don’t lose their touch. 

How many of you are still ones who appreciate pens and writing in a nice way? I’m glad I found my way back to it and it also has me thinking about a project I wanted to do years ago that never got off the ground. I still have the items needed, so maybe I’ll revisit it sometime in the next few months to see if anybody would be willing to be part of it once again. 

Maybe even some of you!

This post is part of the 2020 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! 

20 Days of Chill: 2020 Day 15

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!

20 Days of Chill: Last meal (Day 13)

Have you ever thought about this?

If you had the chance to have one last meal before leaving this Earth … what would you select?

There’s always a big thing with those on death row – their final meal. And it’s often something crazy, such as a steak, potatoes, something else and like two pints of ice cream. 

But, I guess if it’s going to be the final one, you may as well gorge until you can’t. 

I tend to look at this question differently. I’m not looking at it like I’m on death row. Rather, it’s more of a … what would you do if you knew a meal was your last? 

Where would you have it? Who would it be with? What would you eat? 

And I’m not sure I could have a definitive answer with this. There are so many things I think I could eat. 

I know this much, I’d want it to be a feast with family and friends. And I’d probably want it to be multiple courses of some sort. 

Well, the beauty of this challenge is we can interpret. And though it says last meal … I’m going to build up to it. I think it would be a final day of food and festivities. Get me there and I can plan. 

This is all subject to change as it’s what’s on my mind at this point. 

That final day would be all about some fun and chatter. And the meals would be divine, at least in my eyes. 

Breakfast

This is easy. Eggs Benedict, some hash browns, toast (have to sop up all the extra hollandaise sauce!) and a side of scrapple (and bacon). 

Late morning snack

Cheese and fruit

Lunch

A ham and cheese sub on great bread. A side of chips and a few pickles. And a slice of pizza, just because. Maybe an apple to finish it off. 

Late afternoon appetizer

Poutine. Just because, I’d have to have one whopping serving of this somewhere with the final meals! 

Dinner

Around a nice large area with friends and family and enjoying the company of others. Several courses would have to be done. And I’m not saying this “menu” makes a lot of sense with  pairing, but hey… 

  • New England clam chowder
  • An excellent salad
  • Steak and lobster with some roasted potatoes
  • Corn on the cob
  • Crème Brûlée

I’m sure I’m leaving some things out. I’d love to find a way to mix in some fish and chips and a few other favorites, but that is how things go. I’m sure if this theme came up later in the week, I’d have different thoughts. But for now, this is the way I’d look at it. 

How about you? What would your final meal look like?

This post is part of the 2020 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! 

20 Days of Chill: 2020 Day 13

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!