Say what???
Yeah, you read the title right, you smarty pants – YEP – it’s my turn to be silent.
I’m the one to go on rambling on Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Always sharing my thoughts. On, and on, and on. Pondering things.
And you know why?
Because –
I do so in order to take the first step in an effort to hear YOUR thoughts.
Every blogger does that. Right? Bloggers ramble.
We have a hard time shutting up.
Or politely stated, silencing our own thoughts. We prefer to hear someone tell us to be quiet in French…it just sounds prettier, or better? Right?
But, we ramble because…what every blogger REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wants is to find our way to feedback, comments, and connection with their readers.
When we don’t get that connection, it makes us sad.
It makes us mad. It makes us wanna give up. I don’t wanna give up. Nah…not yet. I’ve got too much to say, normally.
Today, though, I’m taking the self-imposed silent treatment.
Soon…at the end of the post…after I hand over the mic to you.
So…now what?
Go ahead, pick a photo (Options #’d), and tell me one of these 3 things:
- A caption for it – you be creative and tell me how you’d label the photo.
- A blog topic for it – when you see the picture, it makes you think of ______ so you tell me what you’d like to hear about and why that photo made you think of it.
- Your favorite photo, tell me what it is that made you pick it, what did you like about it or not like about it. Was it the composition, the colors, the lighting, the details. Or tell me that it sparked an idea for you!
I’ll shut up now. It is YOUR turn, YOU talk, in the comments below…I’ll be here waiting…trust me, I won’t tell you to shut-up!
Post Inspiration by Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Silence/Silent
PS – Thank you, I adore your comments :-)!
“We have a hard time shutting up.” At least I do.
I forgot the rules already, but I know that look in Option #1 – Maddie gets that look at one of two points. 1) (my choice for caption) “That’s where the bunny pooped.” – Yes, Maddie we can tell. 2) “That’s where I peed earlier.” She will show me where she peed while out with my wife and likewise if she pees when I take her out. I guess these things need to be noted in the big book of life.
LOL! Yes, you’ve got the looks down, that’s for sure. Copper has to check where he peed right after he pees and then before he comes back in…is it to verify or is he becoming forgetful? Not sure. Maybe he should read Maddie’s book?! Let me know when the Big Book is published. Thanks for playing along…your thoughts are always welcome!!
I’m not sure what the reason is but she does it all the time.
It’s a dog’s prerogative. 🙂
Shelley, you made this hard to choose! I re-read your instructions and discovered I am to pick only one photo — not three!!!
First, I loved the French lesson video. Made me smile.
My favorite photo is option #4. It is such a natural photo if you observe birds at all. I love the lighting and the contrast between the railing and the background. The focus and depth of field take your eye just where it needs to rest.
(I loved #11, too, but I will be silent now.)
Great take on SoCS.
Aw, sorry it was hard! But, truth be told, it was hard for me to pick just a few photos, too! Thank you for your votes and for your feedback, I appreciate hearing your thoughts about what struck you in the photo(s). That male bird is far from silent, he’s quite the character.
We just had a male and female cardinal land on the windowsill together. Such a rare signed fleeting sight. In an instant they were gone, chattering away.
Wow – that is rare, and so wonderful that you were there to witness it. Those are the moments I always wish I had my camera!
Too many good photos to pick just one. #6 is pretty, #11 is fascinating. # 7 Copper is saying give ME the Tostitos! I enjoyed the French lesson. Vaguely remember some of that from high school. Such a beautiful language to say shut up with.
Thank you for sharing your votes and your captions! I never took French, but my youngest did, I wonder how many times she wanted to tell me to shut-up? Maybe she did and I just smiled thinking what she was saying was beautiful! LOL!
🙂 I loved French and took three years in HS. Have forgotten a lot over the years….
It is such a lovely language to listen to. 🙂
Oui!
I know that one word!! LOL!!
🙂
The hummingbird and orange photo…says the hummingbird…
“Wow, that’s like breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire week!”
That’s all I have, Shelley. I have to be somewhat silent today…heading out for a busy morning. Happy Saturday!
LOL – I love it! That’s perfect, thank you for sharing, Mary! Happy Busy Saturday to you!!
You are so right. We blog to find common ground. It is the same way we find and create friendship. Common ground where we can enjoy each other. Liked all of your pictures but I have three favorites I think, 1 place is the house finch tilting his head asking you Wha’ ‘cha doin’, 2nd is the hummer sitting on the nail a and last is the massive storm cloud, amazing.
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Anita. And, like on your blog, kindness goes a long way! Your votes and your caption for the Mr. bird is appreciated, thank you for playing along. That storm cloud was amazing, I was surprised it didn’t amount to too much other than the beautiful photo. 😉 I hope you’re continuing to dry out from all the rain you’ve had! Keep smiling!
:0)
Aw man! I can’t pick just one! As per usual, breaking the rules: That first photo at the top…iris bud? I was thinking “Oh! I wonder what it’s going to look like! I hope Shelley gets a shot of it and shows us!” As for the options, I really love the one with Copper and the sparkling grass. And the one with the water droplets going along the edges of the leaves. It’s fascinating how they are all along just the edges. (and the one with the storm)
Aw, thank you – I’ll try to catch a shot of the iris when it opens up. I appreciate you sharing your vote and thoughts. You sure can relate to the storm photo – I hope the weather gets better for you soon. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.
Fun post, Shelley! Love the photos, especially the large roll cloud. I’ve seen a few of these before and they are awesome looking.
My vote would be for the cat on top of the chairs on top of the table! Looks like he (or she) is surveying their territory… I’m the King (or Queen) of the world up here. (sorry – don’t know if your kitty is a girl or boy) 🙂
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words of encouragement. And Tizzie (a queen bee cat) appreciates your vote for her photo! She is always on the hunt for the highest spot in the house. She climbs on those chairs when I wash the floor. I guess she’s supervising. 😉
What’s with the guy with the starfish?
He was the tour guide for the glass bottom boat we took in Jamaica. He was posing and telling jokes and he always does that pose with the star fish before he puts them back in the water. He definitely makes the tour a joy for the guests. Thank you for asking!
#11: title – “Cloud or UFO?” I like that one the best (although it was hard to choose) – very mysterious! A storm chaser’s favorite day perhaps. Okay, I’ll break the rules…and pick one more – #9: “Brain Food” with the topic covered: how to keep your keyboard crumb-free clean while blogging. 🙂
Yay – thanks for playing along and voting. That was a cloud formation, we get to see some pretty awesome clouds during the summer. That was from last summer. LOL #9 – that’s funny…I do have issues with keeping my keyboard clean while blogging. That photo always makes me smile – my daughter was here and we were sharing lunch together while watching The Office. She got me hooked on the re-runs. I was actually just hooked on spending time with her, but the show did get to be entertaining as well.
So, I scrolled through the images, and without over-thinking it picked #3 and #4. I like the tones and color of #3 and I like the story-telling aspect of #4.
Cheers, Amy
Thank you for viewing and voting and for sharing your feedback on why you liked those you chose. I like those photos for the same reasons you stated. I’m touched by your critique – your photos are always so beautiful and so well composed. I enjoy following you on Instagram – and your wrap up of the week photos on your blog – that’s a great idea! Thanks for stopping by to share your votes, much appreciated!
Thank you for also stopping by to see me on Instagram and my blog 🙂
That top pic, Shelley, I’d caption “potential,” because it hasn’t flowered yet–and I’d ramble on, about whether I’ve met my potential (the nuns in elementary school never thought I was) and the potential of my kids and the next generation in general–such potential for good and kindness. It’s graduation season, new seasons, new beginnings… Oh you know I can ramble…
That’s a great title for that flower. Way to show those nuns what you’re made of! The potential for all sorts of fun for the summer sounds wonderful – enjoy those moments and enjoy working poolside – I’m just a tad jealous. I can watch the birds in their little pools, though, so I’ve got that to look forward to. Happy Summer to you!
I like all the photos, but option #9 I’d label “Two-fisted Tostito eater” … (kind of like the old song about the “One-eyed, one-horned flyin’ purple people eater” and I took French in Canada and over here in college for three years. Regrettably, I haven’t spoken French in over 40 years, but I remember a few words/phrases … “shut the mouth” was one and I kept waiting to see if they said “fermez la bouche” (shut the mouth is how I learned it and they say it with the familiar and unfamiliar), the very end of the video.
LOL – yes, two-fisted Tostitos eater!! That’s me!! Unless our job requires we use a foreign language, we tend to just let that knowledge settle somewhere in the recesses of our brains. After listening to the video, I still think ‘shut the mouth’ sounds prettier in French ;-)!
I saw two Tostito bags so it had to be! Yes, French is languishing somewhere in my brain and when I read more back in the day, and French phrases were used, I was happy to translate them but no more. I had French in Canada – we learned very young with 8 1/2 by 11 inch laminated pictures which matched what the teacher had enlarged at the front of the class (think of a roll-down map) … we’d learn all the vocabulary words that way (and the masculine/feminine la/le) as well. Each word is either masculine or feminine – memorization up the wazoo. We had all the pictures of a barnyard, a house, different sceneries or parks and some stringing together of phrases by completion of Grade I. Conversational French did not teach me much as you just memorized words/phrases/grammar and then took tests on them, but at Wayne State University my class was only communicating in French and giving book reports, oral recitations, reports on a movie or TV show … no English spoken. Everything sounds prettier in French – I do believe I can still rattle off “I’d like to order a beefsteak and a side of french fries” and it sounds fabulous. I could never trill my Rs and thus it sounded like “book French” not authentic Parisienne French.