Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Scoop It Is Like Clipping Newspaper Articles!

An old newspaper clipping
 "Photograph by Moore"
 [CC-BY-SA-3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
I am enjoying my Spring Break this week, allowing myself inordinate amount of times online and for writing. During this luxury week, I would like to share with you a new thing I have found online lately.

I have really been getting into something called "Scoop It." I wrote an article on Hubpages, too, and I will share a bit of my personal experience with it.

I just love Scoop It, and here's why. It really reminds me of the old school experience of clipping newspaper and magazine articles. Remember doing that?

I used to love to clip stuff out, and I still do, once in a while. In fact, I had scrapbooks for different topics, and it was great. To me, Scoop It is a fantastic online version of this habit.

Scoop It is still pretty new, and it lets you "get the scoop," on some of your favourite topics, by "curating" items from across the Internet. That means you create a little box for that item, with a description, and with your own opinions and comments on it, making it your own item.

Wow! I find this so exciting! There's something I absolutely love about doing this. It is very much like my scrapbooks of old, only much neater and other people are reading them! My scrapbooks, unfortunately, never got read by anyone but me.
Screenshot of Beautiful Wednesday topic 
on Scoop.It. 

And this is so very cool to me. Scoop It, and content curation, is also good for building your credibility as a writer, too. People see what you are interested in, and make the connection that you must also have something to say. It makes sense.

So, that's my latest "thing." I find it intellectually stimulating and educational. It is also esthetically pleasing, with a beautiful interface. I curate topics about personality (INFP), writing, and about "beauty at all sizes," all topics that I believe in. I have also started curating local topics. 

I like it, and that's why I wanted to share it with you. Thanks!

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Thanks For A Good Man


Dear LORD,

Thanks for letting me marry the most wonderful man in the world  that loves me, five years ago this week. After spending time with men that used me and lied to me, thank you so much for sending me one that reminds me of you. He is not perfect ... but neither am I. But he loves me, the kids and You.  That is such a blessing to me. Please let him know how much I love him.

I know, LORD, that there are weightier matters in the world.  We are losing our lakes, terrorists still terrorize in other countries, and we are becoming a world of non-believers. I know that people I know are dealing with losing a spouse, losing a brother, and even losing a home. I feel guilty sometimes, about being so happy but I am! Thanks again, a million times over. Love is worth a million dollars!

Love,

Sharilee








Thanks for letting me marry a good man, LORD!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Love Chapter For Writers

Love Chapter For Writers


I Corinthians 13 Applied To Writers

Though .... 

Though I am eloquent on the page, with the words flowing like smooth water down the river, and have not love, my words are unpleasant, and grind on the nerves.

Though I am an excellent researcher, and have incredible intution, and have studied extensively in university, with a photographic memory, and have not love, I am nothing. 

And though I write about charity, and tell of all my good works, but have not love, it is of no use, and completely unprofitable. 



Love is ...

Love is patient, and is willing to write regularly, knowing it will take time, sometimes days, even years, before the words will be appreciated. 

Love is kind, and does not use words to put others down, or attack an enemy. It instead uses the written word to help and encourage others. 



Love does not...

Love does not envy. It does not begrudge the success of other writers who seem to be succeeding when we are not. It does not hold a secret wish that those who seem to be able to do it all, will fail, so we feel a bit better about ourselves. 

Love does not puff itself up. It does not do self-promotion without also appreciating other writers. It does not brag, and try to make others feel less. 

Love does not behave inappropriately. Love does not seek only things for itself. Love does not focus on evil and wrong. 

Love does not rejoice in sin. It does not secretly gloat when someone famous falls down, or when a competitor falls into disgrace. Love rejoices in truth. It loves to truth, and seeks truth in what it writes, and what it thinks. 



Love endures, believes and hopes all things ... 

Love endures all things. It does not give up on the call to write, and to express, even when things seem hopeless. It is willing to put up with rejection, knowing that rejection is part of the writing call. 

Love believes all things. It is believes the best in other people, and believes that life will get better, that joy does come in the morning. 

Love hopes all things. It is overflowing with hope, even when hope does seem present. It believes that hard work is worth it, and that there will be a reward, in time. 

Love never fails ...

Friday, March 1, 2013

Insecure Blogger Blogs Again!

This blogger is still alive! 

In case you have not noticed, I have not been around for a long time. It has been over three months since I touched this blog. Hi! To be honest, I have been scared of blogging, because of being really unsure of where to go next with this blog.

I started out on this blog writing focused almost exclusively on weight loss: my own weight loss journey, with its ups and downs. As I wrote about weight loss, I also started some other niche blogs: on teaching, on books, on Christianity, and on writing. 


I found that I had very little time for each blog, and so this year, I brought all of the blogs together, into this one. But after that, I rarely wrote. I think I felt self-conscious writing about weight loss to my writing contacts, and felt funny writing about writing to my weigh loss contacts, like I had abandoned them. And so, for the most part, I just stopped blogging. I still wrote in other places, but my blog sat there, almost dead. 

I started doing some research, looking for other bloggers who have done general blogs, and had some success. And so here I go again ... this is a general blog, and if people like it, they like it. I think I will just write about what I feel like writing about. 


This is the cabin where I have been staying
Truth be told, this is typical for me. I spend so much time  agonizing over what to write, that I do not write at all. I do the same thing in my life and it is why I have trouble getting things done: I worry so much about doing things the right way, that I often end up not doing it all. 

It is a way that I am insecure ... a big bag of insecurities, truth be told. But insecure or not, I will blog, I will blog, I will blog ... 


So, what I have been up to lately ... well, I have been teaching full-time, as I mentioned in a previous post. With the job, has come a big commute. 

To counteract the effects of the job, I have also been renting a cabin and staying there for part of the time during the week. I have fallen in love with Instagram. I have been losing at the weight loss game lately. And have managed to keep up with a bit of writing, on hubpages, and my own personal websites. 


And as I am busy teaching, I know that I miss writing full time. I feel more and more drawn to purse writing, and taking pictures, as more than simply hobbies, but as my life work. 


Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.