TV Show #GreysAnatomy #AtoZChallenge Crossword Puzzle Reflections

My theme was based on the tv show Grey's Anatomy. I created a crossword puzzle. 

We put on our best ferryboat scrub caps and played!

Yesterday's answer was ZOLA

I'm so grateful to everyone who visited this month! And I had a lot of fun visiting others. 

As Grey's Anatomy is known for championing liberal causes, nine of my April posts (A,D,F,H,M,P,R,S,V) included tweets posted via Resistbot from letters I've sent to my elected officials, in the hopes of encouraging others to make their views heard. 

📬 I delivered this ✉️ from Jamie, a constituent in Allentown, Pa., to @SenBobCasey, @wildforcongress and Sen. Fetterman #PA7 #PApol 📝 Write your own: https://t.co/z5540KoPID pic.twitter.com/EW8VcSpWPS

— Open Letters (@openletterbot) April 26, 2023

"Please stand with Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, in banning hunger, not books, from schools. That should be a national priority. Keep students fed, safe, and well-educated in America. Don't let history, science, culture, and LGBTQIA+ life be erased. More truth, reality, and nourished children in American schools. Less violence, book bans, and child labor. We can do better and we must do better. 

Thank you."

💻
Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
a-to-zchallenge.com

#atozchallenge Uniquely Maladjusted but Fun Reflection 2022

Reflection: 

It was a pretty fun month. I visited a couple of cool blogs. 

Some of my posts were more like tv fan fiction than short fake episode descriptions.

Bones got 13 comments.

Family Guy was a full script with CURRENT EVENT humor that a commentator felt matched the show's humor.

Grey's Anatomy is my favorite show. I wrote an ending episode that would fit perfectly if this show ended this season. I may have predicted some things that have/will happened on the show. That's going to be my Road Trip link.

Nailed It! got no love, but Nicole is awesome.

Supernatural 2 Broke Girls (a completely impossible crossover episode) was so fun to write.

Veronica Mars was not the draw I expected.

West Wing, I did have a little rant because of current US events, but still, thought it would have been more popular. 

🤷‍♀️

I also did an Iron Chef 🇺🇸 episode. And today it was announced that show is BACK and going to be on Netflix. https://www.facebook.com/100044181828660/posts/542069623942427/

I definitely had more guests and comments than usual. That's why the challenge is awesome.

My theme came to me while scrolling for a binge-watch.

I did the #azchat on Instagram. I  am still banned from Twitter for threatening the negative voices of self-doubt, but maybe that will change with Musk?

Will America's future look more like Eureka and Star Trek, or have we plateaued into a permanent cycle of Roe v Wade and the Scopes Monkey Trial? I'll probably blog about that eventually. My state of Pennsylvania has a big election coming up. My blog doesn't usually feature tv shows, but rather fiction and rants. 

The team is great. The story on J's blog was cool. Easy to use Google spreadsheets and forms. The graphics match the usual, so that's cool. Looking forward to next year.

 

#atozchallenge Reflection 2021

My theme for 2021 was a Young Adult short story. A double-date in the 1990s. An established teen couple set up their best friends with each other, but it didn't go well.

---

What post should I use for the road trip?

A is Possibly for Assignation is where the story starts, so that's the most logical.

U is for Underwear got the second most views.

L is for Love, Lies, and Lori had a big cliff-hanger.

---

I LOVE the comments I got on the Y post! 💖 My writer's heart is overwhelmed with joy.

Maybe 90's YA should be the genre I write from now on? Is that a thing?

Should I finish the story as a novella? 

The thing I learned this year is that I shouldn't start taking a class online during April if I want to keep up with commenting. 😕

I ordered a shirt. Here it is against one my NaNoWriMo shirts of the same size. The A to Z shirt is cut a little smaller, especially in the arm/ chest area.

Reflection #AtoZchallenge 2020, Alton Brown Love, and a Short Story #FlashFiction LGBTQIA+

• I managed to get all my posts done this year! 
• I also entered WriteClub 2020. 🤞 
• I worked on my writing. 
• I entered a flash fiction contest (tied for second).
• I celebrated my 13th wedding anniversary – we even opened the wine we were saving.
• I fell behind on journaling. 
• I didn't keep up with my commenting. 
• I'm behind on email replies.
• I've had several arguments on Facebook with people who... don't share my belief in the seriousness of the pandemic. 

Our special drink to celebrate our anniversary.

Look what I spotted on an old episode of Desperate Housewives. A to Z Yellow Pages.

Biolidics, a company from Singapore, has a rapid test for the virus! Video: facebook.com/nasdaily



Wear a mask! Support the United States Postal Service! 📬 Follow Alton Brown's Quarantine Quitchen on YouTube because he, his wife, and their two dogs are adorable! 💑🐶🐕


That's the prompt and this is my entry (this was before I saw the show Upload). (Trigger warnings: current pandemic, LGBTQIA+)


Welcome to Third Life _ _ _

Username:
Password:

"You just pick your name and password to get started. Think to type," the sales representative says as she rearranges my bedside table.

"Right. But this isn't a regular website."

"The instructions are all on the screen. At any time, say 'exit' and an option to quit will appear."

"What happens if I quit?"

She gnaws on her lip before answering. "I've never seen that happen. But you are free to leave any time."

"Why did you pause?"

"Because I'm in the world. I had to cancel and close my box after saying the word. Any other questions you have are answered in the program," she says as she leaves.

I probably shouldn't do this. But she looked so real! I could smell her, and it wasn't a cleaning product scent, but perfume. Her skin felt real to my touch. That's what skin still feels like, right? Anyone who comes in here hides behind a biohazard suit, as do I. She didn’t need to.

I click the FAQ.

Do I have to use my real name?

—  No! In Third Life you can be your most true self, whoever you feel that is. Upgrades and changes for your avatar are purchasable. Usernames are permanent but in-game IDs can be altered for a fee.

I type a username and password. I've seen Avatar and the Matrix movies. And I played SecondLife for years. I know this isn't much different. Except those were movies and a game. This is real life.

Real life? I think that ended back in Nineteen or Twenty. Reality tumbled into a portal dimension of country-sized fires, quakes, sickness, and building-sized asteroids.

The screen starts with an avatar that looks like me. Or, at least, the me that was. Back when smiles weren't hidden behind masks. Hair that was cut and styled: what a memory!

This biohazard suit is like my closet. I dared not come out of it before. I've pretended to be Cis to survive. But the avatars that live in the world are without violence. I can be my real self now.

I scroll through base avatars until I find what I want. There. The body that reflects who I feel I look like.

Hours have passed by the time I've perfected making my avatar. I step out into the world for the first time as my true self.

What will happen to my birth body? They say the avatar never dies. But my birth body was about to expire. I survived the first two virus waves, but won't survive cardiomyopathy. If I exit, is that suicide?

When my birth body dies the biohazard suit, my closet, will be discarded. So I'm out. There's no going back. I'm going to have to live as my true self among the remaining thirty-million survivors. Is that a silver lining, or a tinfoil one?



How was your April? I hope you liked my story.

#AtoZChallenge Reflection 2019

1. I loved that I shared a story this year. In the past for A to Z, I've had themes of:
• animals
• American wedding planning
• April Holidays
• Coffee
2. If I could change something, I'd want people to appreciate the hosts more. They work SO HARD! (I'm biased because I know two of them.)
3. The best moment for me this year was posting the letter Z. "OMG, I'M DONE!" 😆😌
4. Some of the Best Comments I got this year:
• Powdered Toast Man (I love your name! Ren+Stimpy4ever💗) - Sorry the baking game wasn't real, but glad you wanted it!
• Cathy Kennedy - Liv doesn't eat a lot of steak. But probably medium well.
• Operation Awesome - Your response to the bad kiss made me laugh.
5. I will do the challenge again!
6. It was very well done. Our hosts are AWESOME and worthy of praise and candies.
   🍬🍭🍪🍰🍦
7. I grew because I shared a story this time. I usually just share a topic I hope will be useful. I did visit a few blogs. Not as many as I hoped to, I admit. It was a rough month for me.
8. I am on the Master List! And daily lists can suck it. I'm glad the hosts saved themselves from that nightmare and complaint train.
9. Keep A to Z alive! Best blog hop on Earth! 🌎🌏🌍
10. The co-hosts are awesome! Yes, again, I'm biased because one is my cousin-in-law, and the other is one of my best friends. But they are AMAZING people. I've seen them give their time. I've seen the dedication. So much love and caring goes into making the challenge happen. So I can tell you that you should be giving tons of love to the co-hosts. 💗💗💗💗💗💗 

Photo of me in my shirt taken by co-host Jayden!

Reflection on #AtoZchallenge 2018

a-to-zchallenge.com

View from my hospital room

Mirror selfie from hospital

This post might be a bit depressing. The challenge ended, and I managed all the posts. HOWEVER, I landed in the hospital by May 3, and was there for a few days. Yeah, I had a great view (once they found me a room... I spent the first night in the Emergency Room because there were no beds -- in a hospital with four wings and nine floors, there wasn't a telemetry bed). I am home now.

After the hospital stay, I was put on meds with "beta blockers." I've looked this up on the Internet, as well as discussing it with one of my doctors, and apparently I'm not alone in feeling depressed when taking these. Like I can't ignite my fire, can't find my passion, feel dead inside.

Which is why I hadn't written my reflection post.

Or done more commenting, as I had intended to do. (I wasn't doing so well before I went to the hospital, so that also put a kink in things.)

I feel like I'm behind on my goals. But hey, I'm writing this post now. And I took the survey. So one day at a time, right? First step in a journey or some quote for motivation and inspiration. I also can't keep a damn thought in my freaking head.

Only A to Z could use this word for me. Okay, I guess technically the hospital could too, since my blood pressure might have been above a lethal number. (Might, because I recently learned that the automatic cuffs tend to be off by 60 to 90 points on my top number, and that's what they used.) But I managed all of my posts, so that's something.

I spent the month of April writing about coffee, comparing different ones based on my flavor profile. The doctors now say I'm limited to ONE cup of caffeine a day. "It could be worse."

Yeah, it could. But add in the drugs that make me feel like a Dementor has moved into my body, plus less caffeine, and I'm not doing so great. Sorry. 

I can't think anymore thoughts, so I'm going to stop typing now. 

#AtoZchallenge 2017 Reflection Post

I had a great time in April! The A to Z Blogging challenge always increases my motivation. I went through several possible themes before deciding on the holidays one. I try to pick something that I think other challenge participants will find interesting (and shareable). If anyone stopped by my blog and picked up a fun fact in April, then my work here is done!

I want to thank the co-hosts for all their hard work. I know it's way more challenging on them than it is on the hundreds of people who take part. (And yes, that's my husband's cousin who went from participant, to helper, to co-host this year. Way to be awesome, J!)

I didn't get to leave as many comments on other blogs as I had hoped I would. I was very caught up in editing this month. But when I did take the time, I was never disappointed. For example, I learned about ugli fruit over at Reel Focus.

I didn't actually buy one. But I thought about it! The two reasons I didn't try it were:

1. I was unsure which to select. Ripeness isn't visual, it would seem. So it felt like a gamble, which leads to
2. Money. For the price of one of these (please just call it $2.50 instead of 2 for 5, sheesh), I could buy a bag of apples or oranges. That's several days of fruit versus one fruit. And I can't even be sure I'd get a good piece of the single fruit.

Please let the record show that I did at least LOOK FOR and CONSIDER something new because of an A to Z post.


And hey, I also played along with my own blog! I went out and got my free pretzel on letter V day. Here's a picture of the bag. That warm soft pretzel... it umm... it vanished... HEY LOOK, A BAG!
*hides*


As for the debate about linky versus comment on the A to Z blog:

I had more comments this year than last year. So either people like holidays more than weddings, or having a comment telling people what my posts were about brought in more viewers than just the name of my blog (uniquely maladjusted but fun) on a list. YAY to the new way.
My only issue, and it's of no real consequence, is that on my phone, clicking on a linky link opens a new tab/ window. But clicking on a regular hyperlink does not. (And clicking a non-hyperlink link doesn't do crap, and I only have so much finger-highlighting patience.) So I had to use an actual computer to make comments on certain blogs. This is directly related to the reason that the bulk of my commenting was done on blogs using the #atozchallenge hashtag on Twitter. It was the fastest and least annoying way to visit people for me.


I plan to do the challenge again next year. Do you? Thanks for stopping by.

The holidays of April was my #AtoZchallenge Theme.