Sunday, August 4, 2013

Think I'm going blind. Figure out these funny writing notes.

Bored beyond belief one Sunday(today), due to the unseasonably awful summer we are having, I started looking over my writing notes looking for something to write about. What's so interesting about that?

 How's this; it keeps me from complaining to my family and on Facebook about the cold, dreary, fall like weather we have been having during July and August. While looking over my notes, I noticed that I couldn't read what the heck I wrote, or is that scribbled in my notebook?
I couldn't see the writing due to it being dark outside, my lack of decent lighting---I'm not climbing a chair to fix that overhead light!

So I started laughing out loud with my family all doing what we always do when we are home together---ignore each other by going online to write stuff and talk to total strangers.
My notes were what I could read in a darkened room, with the curtains pulled back allowing the dismal outside light into the room. Here are my notes on writing ideas:
" Don't tell birds something wrong with them."
"Blog entry; listen to nature early mornings listening to birds."
"Why older women should not wear skinny jeans at the fair." I really don't know what this one means, because I haven't been to a fair in years.
"APRIL SHOWERS."
"YAHOO password= Oops, can't tell you this one."
"Think about business PLAN. "
"article or book idea." After that was a blank space.

There were tons more writing notes, but I have to say I couldn't read them in the darkened room where I believe I am going slowly blind. You know it's bad when you have to hold your glasses up to your eyes to see any of the print which looks too small to your eyes. Still my kids say, "Mom, I can read what you are writing across the room. Blind much?"

So I'm ending this blog entry with this last writing note for you to figure out:
"George was Queen's father's name." This was written on the side of the page. "freshmen orientation blog about new baby and tourism."
Okay, obviously my copious notes were written together to save time , space and money.
Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns a professional writer.





Friday, May 31, 2013

Deeply touched by Facebook friends acts of kindness

So, you think Facebook is a waste of time, right? You think Facebook is not the real world, and you are too busy dealing with "real people", in the "real world," to make Facebook friends and talk to them right?
Well, guess what, Facebook is a worthwhile venture, and it's like everything else in life; if you put the time in to make friends, you will make them. It's kind of like the movie, "Field of Dreams", when Kevin Costner's character heard the voice telling him, "If you build it, they will come." Well, it's the same thing with making friends, and having a good time. You can make friends in "real life", and you can utilize a social network like Facebook to make new friends, contact old friends, keep up with friends, or play games like Farmville, or just view what everyone else says. Or you could do what my husband does saying, "I don't have time for stupid Facebook, I've got too much to do." You could even do what a relative of mine said her husband does, by avoiding Facebook altogether by saying, "I don't need Facebook, I have enough friends."
I've always been the kind of person who always wanted to have more friends. I never was the kind of outgoing, vivacious, charismatic type, but with facebook I can talk to all of my friends, complain, make statements, and guess what people actually listen, except for my son, who is too busy to call his mother!
By joining Facebook, I have done just what I set out to do. I made more friends. And along the way lost a few, and de-friended a few too. But, even though I complain, (way too much for my family members), and I complain about Facebook too, I've been deeply touched by two different things that happened on Facebook. One was the more regular members of Facebook wishing me happy birthday, (by the way----February 11). Having moved to a new town and staying home to write, it made me feel extraoridinailly awesome that day when about, oh I don't know about 100 of my almost 200 Facebook friends wished me happy birthday all day long. I felt kind of like a rock star must feel for one dreary winter day.
Then, just the other day, I asked my Facebook friends to wish my mom a happy birthday. She turned 84, and I couldn't be there to wish her a happy birthday in person due to living 200 miles away, and my husband having bronchitis. Sure, I guess I could have driven for four hours, spent the night, and driven home the next day, but after having a stroke, it is a scary thought for me to drive for longer than an hour.
Well, the most amazing thing happened, about nine all too unselfish people wished my mom a happy birthday. It was awesome. This made my mom feel really good, and made me feel like there are decent people out there in the real world.
I am deeply touched, and just wanted to thank all nine of you, for saying Happy Birthday to my mom. (All except for my 20 year old son, who is too busy to say Happy birthday to his relatives.)
So, thank you Facebook friends for extending your best wishes to my mom on her birthday!Copyright(c) 2012, written by Kate Johns a freelance author since 2004.

Funny Look at Facebook Status Updates

Facebook needs to change it's status updates again to something more imaginative. I adored when Facebook asked everyone to talk about themselves in third person.
Ellen De Generes had a hilarious comment one day about how she misses Facebook's old way of people talking to each other in third person. Then she said, "Ellen De Generes misses that."

When I first logged onto Facebook a little over two years ago, I couldn't understand why people were talking to each other in third person. It sounded very impersonal and lofty to me.It made people sound like they were all talking like a highly paid, basketball player.

I would laugh my butt off, reading other people's comments on how they were talking to one another, like "Ellen is at a bar getting drunk." When Facebook was in the throes of a hormonal overload, admittedly having growing pains, Facebook would ask for your status.
Personally, I always thought that meant, Facebook was asking if you were single, married, in a relationship, or something like it's complicated.

Then like all good things coming to an end, Facebook changed status updates to I believe "comment here." I remember that as being rather confusing, because I thought what do you want me to comment on? That's when I started commenting on everything that I noticed, and did all day long. That was seriously dull, so Facebook changed their status updates to what they are currently of:"What's on your mind?"
What's on your mind is even worse, because I am the person who will tell you what is really on my mind. But from what I've noticed on Facebook, people hardly ever say what is really on their minds.

Maybe it is time for Facebook to change it's status updates again to something else like; perhaps a funnier message of "What you talking'bout Willis?"
Perhaps for all senior citizens Facebook could ask the question of: "What day is it?" How about a question for baby boomers like: "Having a senior moment?"
Or strictly just for women like :"Do these jeans make my butt look big?"

Maybe Facebook could change it's status updates to what Facebook really thinks about it's users like, "We don't really care, but leave a comment anyways."Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns, a freelance author since 2004.

Facebook is manipulating you

At first you were probably not happy with the most recent, major changes at Facebook.
You noticed the new changes at Facebook adding a news scroll, which is either irritating or super helpful to you. You probably also noticed other changes where Facebook is saying "recent updates," which brings you to the most up to date comments made by your friends. Although, super helpful, I'm finding it annoying to see my own post still there hours later.
But I've discovered something about Facebook that you may have already figured out. Facebook is manipulating you.

 I've been saying all along that being on Facebook is like being at a party. You wander around engaging in conversations, perhaps staying at one that is interesting, looking at other comments making a few comments, and then you see others that are uninteresting.

What you may have noticed is that Facebook has mixed things up. Your party has been mixed up. It's similar to a person in charge of the party suddenly making an announcement of, "Okay everyone, you have to walk over to the next group and start a conversation." Even though, you may be comfortable with your old group, finding interesting things to say, the party designer, this being Facebook, has suddenly changed the game plan.

You must have noticed by now, unless you don't go on Facebook very often, that your comfortable group of friends are suddenly gone. You have to search for them. People you don't talk to as often as others have been pushed to the forefront, and you are now seeing their comments more often. You are not seeing your comfortable group of friend's comments anymore.

You are being manipulated by Facebook.You are being forced to talk to people you didn't talk to much before. You are therefore searching for your older friends. Did you notice this one----you have been unintentionally making new friends?

You are being manipulated by Facebook.

Facebook is pushing people to make new friends, to mix it up. You are being led to change your lists of friends, relatives, and to making new friends. This leads this social network into eventually obtaining one of it's ultimate goals-----gaining one billion users. Then they can brag to potential clients that they are the biggest online social networking site.

Facebook is banking on you staying right where you are. Facebook is manipulating you into making many more new friends, reading the side news scroll thingee, and buying the products advertised on the side. Facebook has also added more ads. They look like regular posts , but are paid for ads, asking you to LIKE them. Facebook also wants you to pay to promote your posts. You will be asked to pay from a dollar to ten dollars to promote your posts. Don't hit that promote prompt that's all. Oh yeah, and you will be asked to buy your friends gifts when you try to say happy birthday.

With the irritating news scroll taking place on the side, you will find your eyes wandering over to the right side, reading what your friends are doing. Facebook wants you to stay on for as long as possible, using up your valuable daily time looking at what your friends say, and using Facebook more often, They are counting on you staying at the party. Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns, a freelance author since 2004.

What is your Internet Image?

Who really are your Internet friends?

Perusing the Internet the other day, I started thinking about what images people can project onto the Internet. You really do not know who or what you are dealing with, do you?

You could have become best friends with some pervert, or a really awesome, terrific, but cynical person like me. Perhaps, you have social networked yourself into a relationship with a total geek, who has projected an image of being a sports-minded guy, who is very muscular, and attractive.
Do you really know who you are talking to when you connect with, comment, blog, or e-mail a friend you made on the Internet?

You can't see who you are really talking to, so there is no way you can tell what this person is really like. That's a scary proposition when you work at home and conduct almost all of your business on the Internet. It's not like doing business before Al Gore invented the Internet, where people talked to each other on phones or conducted their business in person.
Therefore, you and I can project images of ourselves on the Internet establishing ourselves as different people. This can either be a really good thing, really weird, or simply; just plain creepy.

But what I'm going to do is post a picture of Giselle Bunchden on my Facebook profile, on my writing sites and everywhere else. So, from now on you may refer to me as Giselle, (the super supermodel). That means I am married to a wealthy, muscular, good looking hunk of a football player. I am a beautiful woman with a great body, that makes millions of dollars a year, even more than my husband, and I don't do housework or change diapers. This also means I am too good for Victoria's Secret lingerie and I am too gorgeous for this blog. Copyright2012(c), written by Kate john sa freelance author since 2004.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Are you giving out too much information online(TMI)?

There is a recent trend afoot that is irritating.  People are telling their social media friends what they are doing all day and all night long. It's called TMI---too much information, and we don't want to really know every move you make.

Do we really need to know your every move?
Let's say you have 2,000 Facebook friends, and 3,000 Twitter followers. Do you realize that all of those people can follow what you are doing at any minute? Well, silly me, of course you do, otherwise you wouldn't be on Twitter or Facebook broadcasting your every move, gaining FREE advertising, promotional value, and FREE marketing!
But do you also realize that ALL of those social media people are not your friends?
Many people just signed up with social media to be in on the action. And then there are the other people who are certifiable nutjobs. They will follow your every move, becoming your new nightmare. They might become your new stalking friend. (Remember the Police song, "Every Breathe You Take?")
There are also the people out there in the cyber world, who are just using Facebook and Twitter to make money. They will act like your friend, or possibly you are already friends with them. They want your business. Therefore, they will be very friendly, throwing in what they did today, and cleverly weaving a business quip into the mix, so that they can do more business , thus making more money.

Watch out for the dangers!
Just to make you aware, when you post something to an online audience, you can potentially reach millions of people. Facebook posts your likes in the sidebar. Friends of friends are able to read what you said. Okay, at least they used to do this, my sidebar is currently filled with boring ads. This means , many people who you do not know are potentially able to read, see, look at what you just said. So if you create a funny, sexy, titillating comment, someone you really do not know at all, will be seeing your post.
If you say, "We are going to Aruba two months from now." Well, some people will be happy for you, some will become jealous and a few, more dangerous types will find out where you live, and steal anything of value from your house. For all you know you may have had your so-called Internet friends living it up in your house for a fun filled two weeks.

Then of course, there's always the scammers, spammers, and email thieves who are just making friends with everyone they can to get more email addresses, Facebook information and online information to scam, spam and steal from you. So, be careful out there, my friend!

Why does nearly everyone think they are a star, baby?
What makes everyone think they have become celebrities? Realizing that celebrities are all over Twitter gaining thousands of followers, their lives certainly are more interesting than ours. Celebrities make millions to make a movie. We don't so all I'm saying is do we have to act like we are celebrities?
Do we really care, or really need to know that you got up early, went shopping, dropped the kids off at daycare, and have a full day ahead of you? Chances are----probably not.
Do we social media friends of yours need to know that you are currently sitting at a local pub with your spouse, drinking a certain alcoholic beverage? No, we don't!

Be responsible with your Internet media socializing. Don't bully your classmates, old friends, new friends. Perhaps the best advice I can give you is don't tell everyone what you are doing all day long. Don't tell your Internet friends when and where you are going on vacation--because--- oh hell they might want to go with you!And please don't tell anyone you had great sex last night (TMI!), or what time you're leaving to go on that vacation of a lifetime----because my friend, I might just show up at your house while you are gone! Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns, a professional author since 2004.


Dressing like a slob: It's the way to dress today.

Has anyone noticed how people are dressing like slobs? Something must be said for the 1950's and 1960's when people walked out of their homes, and looked in a mirror before going out. People dressed up to go out!

People dressed nicely, oftentimes wearing dressy clothing to go to a restaurant. Entire families were told to wear church clothing to go to Sunday mass. Men didn't wear hats indoors. Men took their hats off inside public places, and held it in their hands. It was expected of men not to wear hats inside of buildings---unless it was an igloo,  a fishing ice hut, or an unheated garage.
When women went to the grocery store to purchase their weekly groceries they dressed decently, and wore makeup.

I noticed a growing, alarming trend of people dressing like slobs to go to restaurants. I started noticing this downwards slide of not dressing up to go out to eat in the late 1990's. Even though I was working full time, and had a small child, I always put on makeup, changed my clothes, and had my child clean, looking decent when we went out to eat---even if it was just to a pizzeria.
I've also noticed in the small town we live in that men and women are dressing like slobs. I'm seeing guys wearing caps, hunting hats, camo gear, work boots, ugly neon t-shirts, and what looks like we just got out of bed, complete with wrinkled clothing.
I understand that you may have just gotten out of work, and you drive a truck, but hello you're wearing a camo hat in a nice restaurant!

Have you noticed the recent trend where people are allowed to dress down to go to work now? Dressing like slobs must be the work handbook handed out when people are hired into their professional work places. I noticed while at my daughter's school for a teacher parent conference, the teachers were dressed like the students were. With younger student teachers gaining experience at high schools, sometimes it's hard to tell the students apart from the teachers. I was kind of grossed out to see a female teacher wearing a super tight top, with those low cut jeans.
 Can you tell the salespeople from the customers at most retail stores anymore like J. C. Penny's Kohl's or Sears? Everyone looks the same, with retail workers dressing like customers. They don't have badges on telling who they are. Twenty years ago, J. C. Penney's employees were told to wear suits, and dressy clothing. Now retail employees can dress like slobs.

Teen girls are dressing all slobby-slutty. Must be the new thing where they all Facebook each other saying, "Tomorrow we are wearing our skinny jeans, and see through, low cut tops."And if they don't dress slobby-slutty, then they are dismissed from the group. For awhile teen girls were wearing pajama pants to school with flip flops. Now they're wearing super short shorts, revealing way too much skin. What makes these dressing all slobby-slutty is the I'm trying to be hip, and I'm my daughter's sister moms, dress like their daughters. Double grossness!! Does anyone need to see a woman going through mid life crises dressing like her slobby-slutty daughter?

Teen boys are wearing jeans that fall off their butts. Yuck!! When are teen and young adult boys going to stop dressing like they live in the hood? Then when they get arrested, their pants fall down past their butts!! This is one slobby trend I really don't want to see grown men doing----especially  the ones with the fat stomach hanging over their pants.

If this recent disgusting trend doesn't start reversing itself, we are going to see men wearing pajama pants, flip flops, carrying their iPods, donning camo hats, construction hats, and see through construction vests, out in public places----like church or expensive restuarants! Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Stop wasting time watching TV

Recently I made a decision; I refuse to watch much, if any TV. It is not worth my time to waste being held captive watching some boring, stupid TV show.
Held captive is exactly what it is. Unless you are doing something else, like my kids do where they play handheld video games, do homework, or listen to music watching ANY TV show is no longer worth it.
It is a complete waste of time. An hour long TV show, is actually only about 40 minutes long. Just think what you can do in twenty minutes;wash the dishes, go for a walk, get a workout in, go to bed earlier.
What did it for me? I discovered I was wasting two hours or more every morning by turning on the TV. I also discovered I was watching two or three hours with my family every night. Can you say, boring? Can you say, we are in a rut? No thanks! If my husband wants to sit in front of the idiot box for two or more hours every night, that's fine. But I think it is a huge waste of time.
Watching a half hour show, actually comes out to 22 minutes of viewing time, sometimes less when the show is really popular like The Big Bang Theory. The other day, the deal was cemented for me when I got up late one Sunday morning. I nestled into my comfortable chair after getting some housework done. I started watching a Weather Channel show. It looked interesting, because it was about the myths surrounding tornadoes.
I'd rather read about science and history rather than having someone explain it to me. This show aggravated me into turning off the TV, getting a shower ,and going out of the house.
Thank you Weather Channel!
 Every new myth they mentioned had a long set up. They explained the myth, then toyed with it, introduced an  upcoming myth and went to five minutes of ads. The show was 60 minutes long. It could have been 30 minutes long. After watching for 30 minutes, I turned off the TV. I had enough of the set up, the explanation, a preview of another myth. Then they would go back to the myth, review it, talk about it, like we just tuned in and have no clue as to what is going on.
That was it for me, I turned it off and vowed to not watch any more TV shows I really did not want to watch. No wonder people fall asleep watching TV.
Many people do two or three things at once, like getting the kids ready for bed with their favorite show on. We have cable TV, with a DVR where the shows are recorded and within 24 hours. We can watch the show, without commercials. Another way around watching commercials, and wasting time is to watch your favorite TV shows on the Internet. In my house, we just discovered Netflix and are watching movies and TV series in much less time. We also discovered it is cheaper to pay the eight bucks a month than to go to the store to pick up a movie. We aren't tempted to go into the store picking up a few things. We are also watching TV shows we want to watch some of which are very well done.
It is also incredibly awesome to watch a TV show in fifty minutes instead of two hours.
Who has all that time to waste? There are many other things to do like getting housework done, doing homework, writing, reading a book, or watching what you really want on You Tube, or reading a blog post without commercial interruption. I am no longer held captive by lengthy, badly produced TV shows, long commercial breaks, and advertisers trying to make a buck.
Copyright(c) 2013, written by Kate Johns, a freelance author since 2004.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

New Morning Talk Show

My new morning talk show is really no talk show at all. Sounds kind of dull huh? Not really when you consider that I decided to take more control, initiative in my life and do more of what I want every day. That includes not watching any morning talk shows or boring, dull stupid TV shows where the hosts smile oh so happily, laughing about how happy they are.

We lived in a big city, moved 16 years ago to a mid sized city and now live in a small town in the country. We went from having bad talk radio and even worse local and national TV shows shoved down our throats every morning. I literally had no time to watch much if any TV when my kids were little and I was working full time; morning TV wasn't even a blip on my radar.
When we moved I started watching several morning TV shows, finding them dull as all hell. So I switched to local radio that was really horrid, until my husband got a seriously low paying job as program director/morning host and took down the other radio stations in town single handed.

When we moved to a small town I started flipping TV channels every morning attempting to find something interesting to watch while eating breakfast and starting my morning routine. I gave up. After seeing all of those happy smiling faces gab on about how happy they are on Good Morning America and seeing the demise of the Today show with Matt Lauer not talking to Ann Curry. Soon, I became depressed and started watching Morning Joe wondering why these people were even on TV. With the one guy blathering on taking over the show and the unprouncable female co host looking pissed off not saying a dang thing, I decided to not watch any morning TV.
No longer do I hold my TV in reverence. I do not watch any morning TV, because it is boring. To me it is a waste of time to sit watching other people babble incessantly about politics and how wonderful they think they are. Besides the morning radio in this town is so bad, and packed with local ads, I don't feel like wasting my time making them more money.
So after all of that ranting, my new morning talk show is no morning talk show. Instead, I jump online looking at my three favorite websites getting my morning news, breaking news, faster and more effectively than waiting for some talking head to throw another stupid teaser my way.
No thanks, I said months ago,  finding more time in my day to get more important things done than wasting my mornings watching highly overpaid untalented Morning Joe hosts and Today hosts banter on about nothing. Besides who really needs to see Jon Bon Jovi promote yet another new album?
Copyright 2013, written by Kate Johns, a freelance author since 2004.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

I gave up daytime TV to accomplish better things by Kate Johns

I decided to not watch ANY morning/daytime TV anymore. Every time I turned on the TV,  I was watching more Tv, thus wasting time. As a writer who works from home, I need to write to make money. Currently I am starting a new business with my husband, and I am writing a book, (isn't everyone?). So I made the BIG decision not to watch any more morning or daytime TV.

I realized that I was wasting time every morning watching the news, morning TV shows, and comedy later on. While eating meals I turned on the TV, ending up watching TV for an hour or two. At first I was doing great. I sat down to eat, watched 15 minutes of news and turned off the TV. I realized about that I had morphed into this super lazy person who was watching an hour or more of TV every morning. I discovered an entire world of bright, happy faces telling how wonderful life was. I started following Robin Roberts, (Good Morning America), cancer survivor story.I laughed, and cried at the funny things Ellen was saying. I started relating these funny, oh so happy stories to my husband at night after eating dinner. Essentially, I was not accomplishing anything major. What I discovered may help you accomplish more in your life:

1. I was wasting several hours a day watching TV.
2. I was not reaching my goals.
3. I was not writing anything I really wanted, and needed to.
4. I was gaining weight---in all the wrong places.
5. I felt stupid.
6. I knew all the Infomercials by heart----how sad is that!
7. I was not accomplishing anything positive everyday.
8. I knew what every morning show was on between 7 and 11 every morning.
9. I discovered I was complaining everyday about my crappy life to my husband.
10, NOT watching the morning news, complete with people arguing I feet happier.
11. I started setting REAL life goals for myself.
12. I feel better about myself----already!

Now that I am happily upstairs writing and working all day, I feel better. I am accomplishing more real life goals. I am not watching hours of mindless TV. I do not miss TV news. I do not miss anchors and authors of new books arguing with each other. I realized I was helping Ellen De Generes's career grow, while ignoring mine.

I am spending less time watching TV and less time  chattering incessantly with my Facebook friends. Instead I am currently planning, and working towards a new marketing/advertising business. And yes, I'm still writing my book. Isn't everyone?
COPYRIGHT 2013!!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Is your name too sexy for your sexy self?

Is your name so sexy the opposite sex is instantly attracted to you? A sexy sounding name can be a great conversation starter, a great way to get to know people, and a name that people will always remember. If nothing else, it'll get you a ton of dates. Take this quiz to find out if you have a super sexy name like Marissa, or Jon:

1.Do YOU think your name is sexy?

Of course my name is sexy. I'm a model!
My name is too sexy for this quiz.
HA- Ha, are you serious?
No, and I'm going to change it to something French sounding.

2.Do people you just meet, remember your name?

Always! I give them cologne -scented cards with my name on them.
Who cares about names, when there is love?
Sometimes they actually forget it.
My name is too sexy for them. They are stupid fools.

3.Do people tell you your name is very sexy sounding?

My mother says I was named after a Greek God
Yes, and they say it is very meaningful.
Yea, when they're drunk.
My name is too short to be sexy.

4. Does your name sound mysterious?

My name is Mystery
My name is too sexy to be mysterious.
Mystery surrounds my very aura.
No, I hate my name!

5. Do your friends have sexy names?

No, my name is the sexiest
Yes, and they all sound similar.
No, but they love my name,
No, they're too boring to have sexy names.

6. After taking this quiz, do you want to change your name?

Why? My name is perfect the way it is.
Yes, I want my name to be totally unique.
No, but I'm changing my hair color.
Yes, I want a really sexy name!

Results for the answers to the questions:

Your name is in the top ten of SEXY names of all time. You are a sexy beast and everyone you meet knows it right away. You feel great about your self and everybody remembers your name. In fact, your name is so sexy, they should write a song about how sexy you really are. Your name totally fits your personality and you don't need to change anything!

Your name is sexy, but you need to let people know it. Sell yourself baby and things will happen for you. Wear sexier clothing, spell your name a little differently and then your already sexy sounding name will take on even more sexiness and everyone will remember whom you are. People will gravitate to you at any party.

Your name sounds more mysterious than sexy. And what's wrong with that? Nothing, having a mysterious sounding name just makes you more interesting to the opposite sex. They not only will remember your mysterious sounding name, they will follow you to the ends of the earth.

Your name is very original and it makes you who you are. But, sorry to say it's not a sexy name. Everybody can't have a sexy name, then life would be boring. Your parents gave you a totally different, original name with special meaning so stick with it and you will love to accept the real you. Copyright 2010, (c), written by Kate Johns, a professional author since 2004.