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Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “Z” END! Finally some peace.

Dictation: ‘Zzzzzz.’

Zen: a form of Buddhism seeking wisdom through meditation. Here I am sitting back in my chair, closing my eyes, focussing on my breathing, and waiting for my muse to fill me with

creative thought as to what to write about for my “Z” piece.

A multitude of words flood my mind…well, actually only a few; there are not many words that start with Z. I had the same problem with X but didn’t meditate that time. Let’s see now, zucchini, zap, zoos, zoom-in (already did that in 2016 and 2017), zilch…

Whiplash!

Zero. Did you ever notice how useful the number zero (0) is? You can add or subtract it to anything and it doesn’t change what you started with. You can multiply it by anything and you’re left with it alone…zero!

If you‘ve been worked really hard, finished what you were working on, and you’re lucky, you’ll have nothing (zero) left to do and you can relax enjoy the day.

It’s a great price to pay for things. “This is provided to you at no cost.”

It makes you feel good when you have done something and get zero complaints.

It’s a great income to have when you tack it onto other numbers; the more the merrier. “Yesterday I spent $1 on a lottery ticket but today I was told I would get $1,000,000 for it!”

Your computers heavily depend on it. Remember binary code is just made up of 1s and 0s.

Zero – that’s nothing to scoff at.

Whiplash!

Zelda never knew what hit her. She had been minding her own business when she heard a buzzing in the air that got louder and louder. The noise stopped as she felt a zap on the side of her head. Every nerve in her body tingled; then all went black.

The next thing she knew she was lying on her back. There was a blinding, bright light shining in her eyes. There were unfamiliar voices that she could hear. They were very low and garbled. She struggled to decipher what was being said. As her mind cleared, she could distinguish words. They sounded like, “Yes, she’ll do. Zoron will be pleased. Put her in the cage with the other specimens.

As she was wheeled away, the light dimmed so she could see an open night sky. But something was different. There were two moons!

She was taken to an enclosure where she could hear the voices of other people. The sign on the enclosure was in some foreign writing. It looked ancient, or better yet, unearthly. There was however an English translation written beneath the unknown writing:

Welcome to the Intergalactic Zoo.

Planet of origin: Earth

Species: Human

Do not put your appendages inside the cage

Whiplash!

‘Where’s everybody?’

You have now completed your final reading for the 2019 A to Z Challenge. We hope you’ve enjoyed your journey. We are not responsible for any whiplash injuries that have occurred. We hope your own insurance covers them. Feel free to leave any comments, tips, and suggestions to the author for future reference. We do plan to return next year where we’ll try to stick to one topic, but with this author’s mind…you never know!

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “Y” can’t he stick to one topic!

It’s been said, “Don’t dwell on the past; Don’t worry about the future; Live in the Present.” Cute, but not the way I want to think about life. I believe that you should cherish your yesterdays. They are what made you who you are. From them, you have learned the ways of the world and built the knowledge base that was necessary to “Live in the present”.  If you only live in the present, you risk doing the same errors you’ve already made that gave you useable knowledge. (Check out some more of my thoughts on mistakes in last year’s and this year’s A to Z Blogs: 2018 “M” Mistakes…I hate them!, 2019 Whiplash! “M” ) Yesterdays are important.

As to, don’t worry about the future, sometimes a little worry helps direct you in what you need to pursue today. Even if it’s not worrying, thinking about the future and its potential and the goals you seek for yourself, makes a better you, today. The future provides you with direction.

So yesterday, today, and tomorrow are not separate entities that you should only focus on one at a time. They are a flowing river that you exist in. They are who you are. Make sure you live in them all.

Whiplash!

Why is it that so many drivers on the road, when they see a sign that says “Yield” choose to read it as “Merge”.  Every time I drive to my local high school I pass the exit ramp of a parkway that ends just before the high school entrance. The sign on exiting the parkway clearly says “Yield”, yet if you are on the road that those parkway cars are yielding from, you better be prepared for them not to give you any right of way. They just pull in right in front of you at highway speeds. These are accidents looking for a place to happen.

Whiplash!

I AM NOT WHAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER A YELLER. Sorry about that. If you ever find me yelling, it is either because someone can’t hear what I’m saying (a noisy crowded restaurant, or at a sporting event where the home team just scored) or I am completely frustrated and whatever was done in my presence sent me over the edge. You should note that that rarely happens and if it does, I’m usually quick to realize it and stop yelling, or I was aware of it from the start and was yelling on purpose for effect (sometimes in a classroom of rowdy students who are ignoring you).

Needless to say, I’m not a great fan of yelling. I find that doing the opposite can be more effective than yelling. A number of people have commented to me that they get very frustrated when they’re angry, want to have a shouting match with me and I speak calmly. Yelling at each other would release a lot of their anger, and I don’t give them that opportunity.  I don’t necessarily do that to frustrate them; I just don’t like to yell. For that matter, I don’t particularly care to be yelled at either.

Whiplash!

So where do you live? In the past, present or future? How do you react to those drivers that think they own the road and don’t yield the right of way to you? What makes you yell? And if you don’t yell, what do you do to release your anger when you are in strong disagreement with someone?

Next up, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… “Z” END! Finally some peace.

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “X” cuses, that’s all that is given for these changes.

With high eXpectations, I attempt to find things with an “X” in them to write about. That is not an easy task. In the past three years of A to Z Challenge, I’ve written about Xanadu (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=635), future X-Ray technology (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=939), and not to do what is eXpected (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=1243). There are not many good “X” words out there, which is why one has to start using words that begin with the sound of “X” as in eXperience. Clearly, this is not a problem that only I face. The solution is clear; we must start creating new words that begin with “X”. There’s plenty of room in the “X” section of the dictionary. My son created the word XSpring when he was young. He defined it as, “it looks and feels like Spring, but it’s not really Spring.” It usually occurs during Winter. How about using Sniglets (Sniglet = Any word which should be in the dictionary but isn’t.) Here’s one I found using a “sniglet” search: xiidigitation (ksi dig TAY shun) – n.  The practice of trying to determine the year a movie was made by deciphering the Roman numerals at the end of the credits.

Sesame Street presents the letter X

Click here: Sesame Street presents the letter X

So come on people. Make our lives easier as A to Z bloggers and come up with more new and creative “X” words!

Whiplash!

Xenophobia – That’s not a word that appeared in the standard dictionary until after I was born, I believe. I have a copy of the Oxford Universal Dictionary copyright 1955 and with all the X words that are in it, xenophobia was only added to the dictionary for that edition; it wasn’t in the 1952 edition.

Now it is so popular, that in 2016, xenophobia was made the “Word of the Year” by Dictionary.com.

If you happen to be a hermit or don’t pay much attention to what is happening in the world around us you may not know what the definition of xenophobia is. Google’s definition is: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries. Its synonyms include racism, racial hatred, prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and bias.

Now that you are familiar with what it means, look around you, watch the news, read the newspapers; You’ll see why it is such a popular word.

I don’t get it. Each of us is unique. We have our own personalities, our own looks  (though some are inherited) and our own beliefs. That makes us all different. That’s what makes what we are as a people great. Our diversity is what gives us strength. What we can’t do, is able to be done by someone else. Where we struggle, others help. If we were all blind and not able to see our physical differences, we would probably be perceived as the same.

So does that mean to solve the problem of xenophobia and hatred of those different from you, everyone should poke their eyes out?

I would think that most of our belief systems believe in being kind and helpful to all those that are like us. Maybe we need to expand the definition of who “us” is. We’re not black or white, Jewish or Muslim, gay or straight, and so on. We are people. Why is it that dog or cat lovers love that species regardless of what the individual dog/cat looks like? They certainly are different. Why can’t we all just be people lovers.

I’m probably thinking very small at this point. Surely there are other species out there in the universe that undoubtedly are different from us. We’ll just have to wait until we contact each other and then redefine “us” again.

Whiplash!

Feel free to invent/create any “X” words that you like. Send them to me or put them in the comment section. Who knows maybe next year for A to Z I’ll write about one of your “X” words. Do you have a doable solution to the rise and proliferation of xenophobia? Do tell.

He’s not giving up; Till next week… “Y” can’t he stick to one topic!

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “W”, double ‘a’, double ‘t’…What gives?

What is with all these double letters? What purpose do they serve? Wouldn’t Aaron be pronounced the same as “Aron”? What about words like better, attempt, ammonia, and inning? Wouldn’t they sound the same without doubling the letters?  I can understand the double “o” in Balloon because “oo” is pronounced differently than just one “o”, but why the double “l”? And the big question…why is the letter “W” pronounced “double-u”? Shouldn’t it be “double-v”? That’s what it is in French and even German pronounces it “V”.

Whiplash!

A teacher colleague once said to me, “Worry is interest paid on things that never happen.” Some people spend their lives worrying and prevent themselves from enjoying what is happening right in front of them. I’m not saying that worrying is a bad thing necessarily. There are times when worrying about something helps you. If I’m worried about getting sick, I can take measures to prevent that from happening. If I’m worried about driving on a road, where there have been many accidents, I can take precautions and be more aware of other drivers around me.

It’s when you constantly worry that you are doing damage to yourself. Constant worry, takes a toll on your body, whether it be increased stress or ulcers or an inability to think straight. It’s very hard to be optimistic if you are a perpetual worrier because there is no positive outlook.

So think about your worries and what they’re doing to you. I told someone recently who was worried about what was going to occur tomorrow, “Tomorrow is tomorrow’s worry, not today’s.”  Remember the words of the Bobby McFerrin song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

Whiplash!

How much water do you drink a day? You’re supposed to have at least 8 – 8oz.  glasses of it according to all the health experts. That to me is a lot of water. I usually have a large cup of green tea every morning, which is about 16 ozs. When I’m teaching, I have that 16 oz. mug with me and usually fill it up constantly with water until the end of my teaching day. In those cases, I might have my 8 – 8oz. glasses of liquid, if you add what I drink at lunch and the milk I drink at supper. But when I’m not teaching, it is only the breakfast, lunch and dinner liquids. If I work on the lawn or clean the house, I’m liable to drink a glass of juice afterward, or if I feel a cold coming on, I’ll drink a lot to try and flush whatever I’m getting out of my system faster. Does it help me? I guess so; at least that’s what all the experts say.

What about you? How many glasses of water do you have a day and how many glasses of other liquids do you drink? Do you feel helped by it?

Whiplash!

Challenge: Try and write a sentence that uses a lot of words spelled with double letters. Take out one of each of the double letters and let someone else read it. Does it sound the same? Are you a worrier? How much do you let it affect your day? Do you consider all the other liquids you drink an acceptable replacement for the water you don’t drink?

The final countdown…“X” cuses, that’s all that is given for these changes.

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “R” we ever going to stick to one topic?

I was the last of my generation to be born into our family. Generationally, the age difference between me and my closest relative (a cousin on my father’s side) is 2 ½ years and my difference from my oldest relative  (a cousin on my mother’s side) is 14 years. Even in my immediate family, my closest in age sister is 5 ½ years older than me and my half-brother is 12 years older. I was the baby and usually treated as such. Since my grandparents had passed away prior to my birth, all I had were aunts, uncles, and cousins. We only got together periodically, so I never became very close to any of them. My cousins were more involved with each other than me due to the age gap and where they lived.

Now that I’m much older and even though I’m kind of the family genealogist, I still don’t have much interaction with them, other than with my sisters and sister-in-law. My parents and all of my aunts and uncles are gone, which makes it difficult to find any genealogical information. However, there’s this thing called the Internet, I’ve heard about. And somehow through it, I’ve managed to find (or they found me) a number of relatives that I didn’t know I had. That includes my half-brother, from my father, and a third cousin from my mother’s side of the family (both who live in France), and possibly some more distant cousins through DNA testing. These new sources have provided me with more information on my ancestry than I had before and new connections in my family, that I actually do interact with. We should probably keep this Internet thing around.

Whiplash!

Don’t you just love a good rumor? I don’t. I like information about people I know, but I

prefer it to be factual and in most cases from the people themselves rather than through someone else’s interpretation of it. I would like to say that when I hear rumors from a source, I do listen and never share. I generally don’t. If I do (and I know sharing is wrong) I always point out that it is an unverifiable rumor or I don’t share it at all usually by the person’s request. I can keep secrets and in that respect I’m quite reliable. If you tell me in confidence something and say, don’t share this with anyone, I don’t. There are stories I could tell you, like the time when…oops forget I said that.

Whiplash!

There are times when one should follow the rules and then there are times that breaking the rules can lead to improvement and new ideas. As a teacher that was important to know. There were many times in my career that I chose to break some of the rules in how I was supposed to teach something, that led to a new way of thinking about how we were teaching. This worked a lot in math and writing. Eventually, I would begin to share what I was doing and others adopted my way. Over time some of those rules about what and how we taught were changed. Of course, that didn’t always work. When someone, like my principal, saw how I was teaching something, like spelling or reading, and didn’t see it the way I did, I had to conform back to the given rules, mostly just to appease him or save myself from the potential of grieve he might have had from parents, had my way not worked out.

Rules sometimes provide you with a crutch to lean on to keep you in your comfort zone. They allow you not to rock the boat. Unfortunately, I’m a boat rocker. I will follow the rules that I am given, for the most part, however, don’t be surprised if you don’t find me trying to tweak them a bit.

Whiplash!

So where do you find out information and stories about your relatives? Do you continue rumors, or are there a select number of them you keep secret? When you hear a rumor, do you try to verify it? How many rules have you broken today?

Till we meet again…“S” this the last day? I think not!

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “Q” up and wait for the next topic in this line of writing.

It starts with just the letter Q

Where I must think what must I do

I think I’ll just go on a quest

For words that rhyme, I’ll do my best

I’ll try to keep my writing cheery

As I commence to make my query

What begins with “Q”? now that’s the question

I must make things up, revise, refreshen

But this is hard it makes me queasy

To write with so much “q” ain’t easy

But I’ll prevail, I will not Quit!

I’d like to keep on bit by bit

I hope this writing was a smash

For here it comes, ta-ta Whiplash!

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I love to collect quotes. I’ve been collecting them since I started teaching. I started a list in one of my first writer’s notebooks.  I even designed an eBoard where I can store all of my collected quotes online. Check out https://tinyurl.com/y4t4ts7c There’s even a section on that site where you can add favorite quotes of your own.

There are a number of quotes that I have also saved as signatures in my email responses. I let the computer randomly decided which quote to add to my letters when I’m using my MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, my other devices don’t allow me to choose random quotes from a list, so you only get the same one.

I was reading the other day that a good source for writing is by using an ‘epigram’ (quote). I see a lot of them as chapter starters in books that I read.  So,

“Be one with pen and paper and let your thoughts explode thereon. For it is in the mind and imagination whereupon your story will come to life.” – Harvey Heilbrun (2019)

Whiplash!

I know I write and talk a lot about listening to stories and podcasts and TV, etc. But sometimes I really enjoy listening to “Quiet”. Quiet is not always silence. For quiet can be the steady pour of a summer shower. The chirp of a distant bird calling to its mate. The wind as it blows through the branches of the trees like a low hum.

Quiet is best heard with your eyes closed and your mind clear so that your imagination is free to fly and both relax and stimulate you. Quiet is good.

Whiplash!

More questions to think about and answer. Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share? You can add it to my eBoard or just share it here. How do you define “quiet”? Do you have a special place to find it?

TTFN – Our next installment is tomorrow…“R” we ever going to stick to one topic?