This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Life Is Good: A Guest Post From Tina



       Many of you have already received a visit from Tina of Life Is Good or Shannon from The Warrior Muse as they attempt the massive undertaking of visiting all of the participants listed on the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge list of 2011.   Shannon will be my guest on August 3rd, but today Tina is joining us to tell a little about herself, her blog, and the Post A to Z Challenge Challenge.


My Photo
Life Is Good


HI.  My name is Tina and I'm competitive.  And stubborn.  And not one to back off from a dare.  Let alone a triple dog dare.  But to be honest, this wasn't a dare.  It was just me being stubborn and competitive.  I'll admit that.  After all, isn't the blogging community one big group of supportive friends, no matter what we need to confess to?  That's what I've found in the last year or so.  So yeah, I decided that I was going to visit every one of the 1282 registered participants in the AZ Challenge.  Call me Julie of “Julie and Julia”.  Although she had a much tougher challenge.  She was cooking 524 recipes in 365 days.  I'm just reading and commenting with no particular deadline.

I found the original AZ Challenge sorta tangentially.  (Yes, self-professed math nerd.  But the only time I ever used that degree was for tutoring.  My eight years of 7th grade math and English students never needed M424: Abstract Number Theory or the  M317: Calculus of One Variable notes I so carefully saved.  ((For non-math types: in that course you write proofs to show why calculus works.  Not for sissies.  In fact, most people have to take it numerous times to get the required C for math majors.  I'm just enough of a snob to tell you I got an A the first time.)) (And I over-use parentheses and even though I taught English, that isn't part of the 7th grade curriculum and my English education was “only” a minor.)  And I just watched Inception.  Makes me realize I had parenth's within parenths...somebody teach me this!  Or take the red pill and stay in the rabbit hole with me.  (Movie quoting is an Olympic sport in our family.  Feel free to compete.)  Ok, back to the tangent thing.

So there I was, blogging to practice writing, and to get constructive feedback.  “Life is Good” is mostly me telling stories from my childhood, or crazy college antics, some tortured love-lorn poetry for prompts, and I was participating in a meme a day, just about.  So I signed up for A-Z Challenge because I'd hit some doldrums in my blogging.  I've been reading Rayna M. Iyer's “Coffee Rings Everywhere and that led me to Alex J. Cavanaugh and the challenge. (If you're with me on the tangent thing, explain it to me in the comments.  First nerd, whether math or otherwise, gets a prize.)  See, there I go.  Competitive.

This challenge came at a really good time in my blogging journey.  I started “Life is Good” in 2009 with the intention of practicing my skill and getting HONEST, constructive criticism in order to improve.  However,  only a few brave souls, aka my friends, ever read anything.    At that point I knew nothing about blog-hops or weekly prompts, or anything about the etiquette assumptions in Blogland.  But there have been many wonderful mentors in this new world I found, and many faithful readers who have helped me, by their presence and support, through one of the toughest times in my life.  I've told some of the stories in posts, in poetry, and in rambling diatribes which probably shouldn't have gotten the “publish post” button pushed.  But it's all me, and I'm not shy.  I'm Swedish.  (Nudity is no big deal there.)  The A-Z Challenge shook me loose from the doldrums  and I met new, wonderful, supportive bloggers.

I didn't really have anything planned for HOW I was going to complete it like some of you clever folks who picked a theme for the month.  I just knew I needed a challenge to feed my competitive nature and get the blog back in gear after sitting on the side of the road feeling sorry for myself for a while.  It worked.  (For a full reflection of the challenge go to “How to Fix Your Sex Life: AZ Challenge  Reflections")   Yes, that's what I called it.  Kinda goes with the nudity...

Ok, now that you're all caught up (or going to be, once you hit the links above ;-) I do want to say a bit about the Post Challenge-Challenge.  Like I said in the opening paragraph, it's for me a competetive thing.  When Shannon commented to me that she was doing the same thing, I thought that being stubborn and competitive is a lot easier with a friend.  So we went from there. 

It's been a great ride so far, and I'm looking forward to more friendships built as those of us who hopped on this Post-Challenge Challenge train continue our travels.  Who knows what will happen next year.  I, for one, will be on that ride, too.  Maybe with a theme...



           My special thanks to Tina.   I hope you will stop by her blog and say hello.  While you're there you might even want to click the follow button so you can keep up with Tina's future posts and if you're up to the Challenge, join the fun by adding your blog to the Challenge list.

           Over the next several Wednesdays I will be hosting special guests here at Tossing It Out.  Next week my special guest will be Karen Walker from Following the Whispers.  Please come back for some great advice about memoir writing.



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28 comments:

  1. Thanks Lee for hosting Tina she sure is a wonderful writer.I loved her style and look forward to other guests you're going to have in the future.

    Have a good day.
    Yvonne.

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  2. Tina is awesome - she always drops by to leave a smile on my page!

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  3. i enjoyed tina's post and could relate with her especially on needing the challenge. the challenge has give aplenty.

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  4. That is a challenge! To visit every blog, I don't know how she did it.

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  5. Karen Walker is a fabulous person!

    I liked your reference to the triple dog dare. :)

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  6. Hi, Tina and Lee. The A-Z challenge is something to be proud of.

    You hafta love a girl who answers any triple dog dare!

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  7. Good morning, Lee! Thanks so much for letting me guest post! I'm hoping many others will join the new challenge. A world of great writers is out there just waiting for us to find them. I'm so grateful many have found me.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  8. nice...tina is good peeps...and a good writer for sure...

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  9. This is a great guest post, thanks for hosting, Lee!

    I'm so glad you and Shannon decided on the A-Z follow-up, Tina! I'm enjoying it so much. The April Challenge made a huge difference in my blogging as well, I can really relate to your post.

    I totally loved the triple dog dare reference! :D

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  10. I can feel Tina's energy jumping off the screen. Love hearing about the benefits of the challenge. Popping over to Tina's blog now.

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  11. JULIE AND JULIA was a great movie--I was so impressed w/ their culinary skills.

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  12. Stubbornness and competitiveness are definitely more fun with a friend! Plus, it can be boring to compete with yourself ;-p I'm happy to have come on the ride!

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  13. Good Luck on hitting all the blogs on A-Z, Tina! I'm sorry I missed your posts...They sound beneficial. (wink and blush)

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  14. So glad that competitive spirit is being channelled. It is a force to be reckoned with!

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  15. Just wanted to drop in once today to say a big thank you to Tina for guesting on my blog today and to all who have commented so far. Look forward to the additional comments that are yet to come.

    Lee

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  16. Thanks for hosting Tina! So much was gained during the challenge and I look forward to visiting many that I didn't get around to the first time! Julie

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  17. Good luck with the challenge you've set yourself Tina. Thanks for hopping by my blog. :O)

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  18. That's great. Thanks for sharing with us!
    www.rebeccabany.com

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  19. Hi Lee .. and Tina .. doing the Challenge is one big 'congratulations' .. but actually going round to everyone's blog is pretty amazing - that's one large challenge in itself ..

    Enjoy the tour around .. and meeting so many new people ..

    Fun post .. thanks - Hilary

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  20. Hehehe *sniff* a tangent is a line that makes contact with a curve at only one point. The gradient of a tangent is the gradient of the curve at that specific point... (former math nerd)

    Also... I hit 1000 of the entered blog (and commented on them all) in April. Want to see if you can beat that? ;-P

    Best of luck with getting through all the blogs. ^_^

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  21. Wow! What a great challenge! Good luck!

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  22. What a great guest post, thank you to Lee and to Tina for sharing :)

    Lee - look for a reply later tonight or tomorrow, thanks so very much :)

    A to Z ROCKED this year and so looking forward to signing up (officially) next year :)

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  23. It's good to read posts from positive people:-)

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  24. I applaud Tina's determination and commitment!

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  25. Hello dear commenters~ I've made my way around to visit those who I could find, and I've emailed those of you gave me that option. If I've missed you, it's not for lack of trying! I'd love to go see you all and thank you for your support, and leave my footprints at your blog. You can drop me an email and invite me! It's
    tndowney at gmail dot com.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  26. P.S To Arlee. Thanks for letting me borrow your playground and meet so many wonderful new people.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  27. Tina -- I was more than happy to have you visit Tossing It Out. Thank you for following up to all those who commented. Good luck with the ongoing Challenge.


    And to those who left comments-- Thank you for stopping by to Tina's guest post. As always your comments are appreciated.

    Lee

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  28. Nice post by Tina. She rocks and I'm glad that this is an enjoyable and progressive journey for everyone involved.


    Can someone tell me what the Post-challenge is though? Did I miss the memo?

    The Madlab Post

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