Category: blogging

The Lusitania

Thanks to (the award-winning) Tric of (the award-winning blog) My Thoughts on a Page for commemorating the sinking of the Lusitania and the many Irish townsfolk who went out to rescue the victims.

tric's avatarMy thoughts on a page.

This day 100 years ago, eighteen kilometres from the Irish coast, a German submarine sunk the luxury cruise liner the Lusitania. 1,198 drowned, 761 survived.

In the weeks leading up to her departure from New York, the German embassy in Washington posted a Sinking of the lusitaniawarning to prospective passengers in fifty newspapers. Many passengers were worried but travelled regardless, comforted by the knowledge that wealthy members of society were on board.

On May 1st the ship left New York. Arriving off the coast of Ireland on May 7th, look outs were in position on board, as it was known that submarines were in the area. At 14.10 a torpedo struck. There were forty eight lifeboats on board, only six were successfully launched. Eighteen minutes after being hit the Lusitania sank (it took the Titanic three hours).

The word went out around Queenstown (now known as Cobh) and rescue vessels of all sizes…

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One-Liner Wednesday: Mystery

“The greatest mystery of all is the human heart.”
– P. D. James

Join us for Linda’s One Liner Wednesdays:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/05/06/one-liner-wednesday-keepin-it-simple/

SoCS: Accepting compliments

It seems that it should be the easiest thing in the word to graciously accept compliments. Someone says something nice about you or something you have done and you smile and say thank you.

Somehow though, if you tend to be the self-deprecating, or perfectionistic, or even the humble sort, it can be difficult not to go on with a “but” … it was really a team effort, or I made a mistake in the third movement, or it was just a little something – or it was nothing at all.

Sometimes, we don’t feel worthy of the compliment. It may help to look from the point of view of the complimenter instead of reflexively rejecting the substance of the compliment.

Next time, maybe, it will be just “Thank you.”  With maybe an extension of the gratitude, like, “I’m so glad you liked it.”  “It means so much to me to hear you say that.”

A gracious acceptance of the compliment with no “but”s.
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The prompt for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is: “compliment/complement.”  Anyone can join in!  Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/05/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-215/

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One-Liner Wednesday: Chittister quote

“To live is to be slowly born.”
– Sister Joan Chittister

Update:  I found out later that this quote originated with Antoine de Saint Exupéry. The interview that I saw with the graphic of the quote didn’t give the attribution so I didn’t realize that Sister Joan was quoting.

Please join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/04/29/one-liner-wednesday-aha/

SoCS: very, very, very

I am very, very, very tired so this is likely to be very short.

I am also very, very, very behind on posting – and most everything else. My mom was in the hospital for blood transfusions this week; there is a backstory there, which I’ll get to tell at some point. And also a story about my poetry appearing in print. And about half a dozen other things I’ve been meaning to write.

Part of my brain fatigue is that I attended the first two sessions of this conference today. (Sorry – writing on Friday evening and scheduling for Saturday again.) It is fascinating but takes concentration, which is very tiring and came on top of not a lot of sleep this week. Two more sessions on Saturday and maybe a church service on Sunday, which would be in addition to early Mass. If I’m not too tired….  And I’ll try to write about the conference at some point, too. If I can wrap my head around everything enough to be cogent…
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is vary/very. Join us! Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/04/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-2515/ .

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One-Liner Wednesday – compassion

“Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.”
– Albert Schweitzer

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/04/22/one-liner-wednesday-like-a-rolling-stone/

13 Ways to Get More Blog Comments Without Swearing

I am slowly growing my readership and commenting base. I appreciate these tips which involve not swearing or being confrontational, neither of which fit who I am. I found this post through a re-blog by Rowena at https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/ and am happy to pass it along to my readers. I’m also thrilled to find this blog to follow, too! And thanks so much to all my readers and commenters! As this post reminds us all, gratitude is important!

Sue Slaght's avatarTravel Tales of Life

Reading an article recently on how to get comments on a blog my eyes bulged out of my head. To my horror such suggestions as ‘curse often’, ‘attack somebody’ and ‘buy comments’ were included as the ‘best ever’ ways to ensure blog comments were acquired.

Is this what blogging is about? This is the best advice available to millions who have a blog?

Call me old fashioned, naive and definitely call me disheartened. In particular to every young blogger who may have done the same internet search I did, this old girl can tell you you don’t need to be a nasty person or pay to have readers give you feedback.

Camogli Italy colored buildings

Below are my top, and might I say gentle, 13 tips for getting more comments on your blog while being a decent human being. The suggestions are based on reading other blogs with pages of comments and on my…

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SoCS: peace through justice

I’ve recently joined a new organization, the Catholic Peace Community of the Southern Tier. There are people from several different parishes and we are hoping to build peace through working on different social justice areas.

Our first activities are dealing with the environment and climate change. One of the main tenets of Catholic social justice teaching is care of creation. Also involved are other tenets, such as the protection of the most vulnerable. Those who are living in poverty are much more likely to be subjected to pollutants and also more likely to be impacted by severe weather and sea level rise, as they live in vulnerable areas without strong shelter and do not have the means to relocate out of harm’s way.

We are looking forward to Pope Francis’s upcoming encyclical on the environment and will study the document when it is released in the late spring or early summer. Then we hope to get the word out about the encyclical not only to Catholic parishes but also to the general public in advance of the Paris climate summit in December.

Our first public event is on the 25th of this month when we will have a table at EarthFest.  Pope Paul VI said, “If you want peace, work for justice.” We hope to build peace by working on various justice issues, but I am glad that we are starting with this timely work for ecojustice.
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness this Saturday is: “piece/peace.” To join in the fun, visit here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/04/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-1815/

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record likes on 4/17

Thanks in large part to lots of “likes” from new follower Dominique and the fact that I put out two posts yesterday, I have set a new record for likes in one day – 48!  This far surpasses my old record of 30. Thanks, Dominique and all my visitors yesterday!

One-Liner Wednesday: Ignorance

“Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.”
– Albert Einstein

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/04/15/one-liner-wednesday-end-of-story/