Tooting Our Own Horns, in 6 Words

You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in my show. (Snowtrooper jubilation at Mill Mountain Park, Roanoke, Va.

Sometimes, you just have to represent.

Yourself, that is. None of this ‘aw shucks’ stuff. No, “no one reads my blog. I just mess around with words” business. It’s not usual fare for a blogger to boast (or is it?), so this month’s challenge proved … challenging to most.

I compile a post called 6 Words. Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he said any story can be told in six words. I ask bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends to respond to a prompt every month.

October is National Self-Promotion Month. In six words, tell us something good about your blog. 

Go Ask Daddy About Senior Rockers, Soil Properties and Lessons Learned the Hard Way

photo credit: Heart Of The Storm via photopin (license)

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Probably the journey Elise and I took from Charlotte through torrential rain and racetrack traffic along impossibly long I-95 a few weeks ago should be its own post. Or series of posts. The moments and gravity and mood of that trip will stick with us both for a long, long time.

And you helped to get us there – and back.

Response was so heartening for the Go Fund Me campaign. I gambled bill money on the chance to take my girl to Nova Southeastern, to let her have a shot at an ID camp at one of her dream schools.

On the Road Again: This Time at The Life Enthusiast Chronicles

Me, now? You sure, Britt?

That’s what I thought when Britt Skrabanek asked me to contribute to her series The Life Enthusiast Chronicles on her blog. It’s a collection of life-loving, inspiring people who see the world in a 64-count box of colors.

The box with the built-in crayon sharpener, even.

I felt I could have knocked out a Lost in the Universe Chronicles post with greater authority when she asked. I’d have to excavate to find the life enthusiasm she asked for. I nearly asked, “could you come back later?”

Our Requests for Kindness, in 6 Words

photo credit: May The Fourth Be With You – Day 123/365 via photopin (license)

We’re in the midst of kindness right now.

For humankind, at least. And at least for a week. You might have seen the hashtag #bk2hk on social media. There’s a specific kindness for each of seven days, from courteous driving to sacrifice of personal wants for others to Forgive Your Foe Friday.

[Learn all about #bk2hk week]

Every month, I compile a post called 6 Words. Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he said any story can be told in a six-word sentence. I ask bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends to respond to a prompt.

Go Ask Daddy About Fast Scores, Car Starts and Chocolate Candy History

photo credit: #47/366 Pirate Turn via photopin (license)

The greatest moments in sports often come in the waning moments.

Hayden sent her U8 Firecrackers team to the Cabarrus County Invitational final with a penalty kick back in the day. This, while coaches questioned out loud why in the world I’d put a girl on the spot with the game on the line.

Camdyn twice sent her team to overtime in playoff games with incredible shots. The first came to tie the game with less than a minute to play in a first-round match. She ripped a free kick from just inside the midway line right through the keeper’s hands.

Two seasons later, she did it again.

What We’d Say Without Fear, in 6 Words

photo credit: Weekend Warriors via photopin (license)

Forty times.

That’s how many times John Mayer says “say what you need to say” in the song Say What you Need to Say. (Elise and I counted on our drive home from Mars Hill and Lees-McRae for college visits.)

It’s good to speak your mind.

So good, in fact, that a handful of bloggers, friends, strangers and strange blogger friends I presented this month’s 6 words prompt to declined – because they say what they need to say.

How We’d Change Our Stars, in 6 Words

photo credit: San Diego Shooter via photopin cc

Changing your stars is kind of a big deal.

It’s like in Scrabble, when you’re saddled with Z, D, D, Y, R, R, L. You cash in your chips for a new set. Surrender up what you have, and trust that whatever you pull out of the bag is to be than what you had.

Every month, I compile a post called 6 Words. Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he claimed you can tell a story in a six-word sentence. I call on bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends. How will they respond to the prompt?

January is Change Your Stars month. What would you change in your life, sky’s the limit, in six words?

Something Shocking for Lightning Day, in 6 Words

EJP

We’ve all done something in our youth that might have wiped us off the face of the earth.

Or is that just me?

Only I wasn’t that young. I was in my 30s. It was a dark and stormy night. No really, it was. I worked as a copy editor at the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record. And a thunderstorm and high winds ripped through the downtown streets. Disarray reigned.

Or, just a lot of rainwater.

A Typical Day in the Life of a Parent, in 6 Words

photo credit: I think this is the gear we’re looking for via photopin (license)

Routine? Yeah right.

We parents know the drill: Every day is a circus. Every day is a carnival. Every day is a prison break wrapped in a mutiny dipped in dirty socks, cracker crumbs and lost homework.

Welcome to parenthood.

Everyone’s flavor is a little different, the smells wafting from the kitchen aren’t the same, and although the noise levels are probably pretty consistent across the board – with decibels that make a Concorde jet sound like a nose-hair trimmer – it’s not a life I’d ever, ever change.