S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 65
June 19, 2019
Featuring HIS FIRST LADY By Beth Fred
As always, I enjoy bringing new authors to the blog! This is a new romance from Beth Fred, and I thought you all love it for some poolside or summer reading.
I asked Beth, “What inspired HIS FIRST LADY?”
Beth replied…
I actually wrote this book as therapy for myself during the 2015 primary season with no real plan of publishing it. I had so much fun being completely outlandish because I wasn’t going to publish. I couldn’t come up with anything more insane than what was happening anyway, so I started planning a series.
Real life is stranger than fiction, no? Lol.
My campaign manager says no one wants a bachelor in the White House and this election is drawing near. The solution? To hold a cattle call, and what’s up for auction? Me.
Lucky for me I cross paths with Mandy Buchanan—a feisty blonde who isn’t afraid to call me a jerk to my face. But she’s in quite the predicament herself. Mandy needs money since her dad refuses to pay for a frivolous degree. So, we strike a bargain.
I get a wife, and she gets her degree.
The deal was simple. No complications. No problems.
While Mandy pretends to be the perfect First Lady, I start noticing her in a way that has nothing to do with politics or practicality. Those curves. Her eyes. The way her face lights up when she talks about her work. She’s beautiful.
Suddenly she’s no longer just a pawn to help me get into the White House. She’s more than that, and I no longer want to play pretend. I want her to be mine in every way.
Now I just need to convince her that our sham marriage might just be the real deal.
Check out HIS FIRST LADY on…
Amazon
Find This Author Online
Learn more about Beth Fred on…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethfred08/
Website: http://bethfred.blogspot.com/
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June 16, 2019
Sunday Update – June 16, 2019
What a great and busy week we had around here! And the good news is that even though I had some painful days, my pain was less this week than the previous week.
On Monday, we had some chill time. I had to be at the school in the afternoon to visit with my youngest daughter’s teachers. Nothing serious or anything. Just normal end-of-year conferences. I love our school and how dedicated they are to education. Super love for them!
Tuesday, I had physical therapy in the morning and a a chiropractor appointment early in the morning. I came home, rested, then ate and went to work my first shift for the CSA! For those just joining me on the blog, my family participates in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share every summer and fall. We pay a set fee at the beginning of the growing season and we get vegetables every week from June to November. This farm we support is local and organic too. We never know what we’re going to get until we get it, so it’s also fun and exciting. Lol. At least I think so. I have to work three shifts over the course of the season, and I do most of my shifts right away in June and July. So I worked my shift on Tuesday and then went to the school to see my youngest daughter bridge from Brownies to Juniors in Girl Scouts.
Wednesday, we had another super busy day. I worked at home in the morning and afternoon, then my oldest daughter had auditions for the summer musical. We went right from that to the local theater to see Beauty and the Beast on stage! It was a lot of fun and a very late night.
Thursday, I had physical therapy again in the morning and then went to pottery to pick up my last bowl I made. Then my dentist called. I thought they were going to tell me that my new nightguard, the one I had impressions taken for last week, was ready. Nope. My dentist had accidentally dropped my mold and it shattered into a million pieces. I had to go back and do the impression again! I hate impressions SO MUCH. They give me major anxiety because they almost always make me gag. Ugh. So I went back in and got it done. My dentist felt really bad about it. He made sure not to overfill the impression tray, and he talked me through the breathing so I wouldn’t freak out and puke (it has happened before). After this, I went home and worked. I was tired from the night before so I took it easy.
On Friday, my husband worked from home and I went to the school in the afternoon to see a fashion show from my youngest. She spent some after school time learning how to sew and modify clothing. It was really cute and she had a great time. In the evening, we tried to watch THE OUTLAW KING on Netflix and it was horrible. We turned it off after 30 minutes.
Saturday was spent at the pool. It was a beautiful day! Sunny and just hot enough. Our friends were all there and I was able to sit and read or write for most of the day. In the evening, we watched ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE on Netflix. I loved it! It was so funny and perfect. Plus I love seeing Asian-American actors in lead roles.
Sunday, today, was Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in the house! My husband wanted Indian food for lunch so we went out for buffet. Then we shopped at the Asian grocery store for some essentials. I took the youngest to the pool for two hours and there was NO ONE there. Like there was a time when my child was the ONLY one in the pool! Lol. It had threatened to rain all day, and with the holiday, most people stayed home. I got in some writing and my youngest burned some calories swimming around. We had dinner at home.
What else happened this week?
So many deer just hanging out in our yard.
I made pasta sauce this week and I hope it’ll last a month or so.
We really enjoyed our night at the theater seeing Beauty and the Beast.
I finished an audiobook and an ebook this week! Did you miss my Book Chat? Go check it out!
Yummy vegetables from our first CSA share of the season!
Got some knitting done while cooking.
Here’s the last bowl I made in pottery class. I love it. It turned out beautiful!
I’m trying to learn the shakuhachi, which is a Japanese bamboo flute. It’s really hard and I can barely get a note out of the darned thing. My husband is better at it than I am!
It was great to have Indian food again! We found a new place to get buffet. It was decent. Not as great as our old restaurant that shut down though. We’re still trying to find THE PLACE.
Went to the Asian grocery store and I passed on the dried jellyfish.
And a scene from the pool. Me and my kindle, on a gorgeous day.
Have a great week everyone!
Viber
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June 14, 2019
Book Chat #47 – Diana Logan, Becky Chambers, Scott Westerfeld, and Claudia Gray
It’s time for another Book Chat! With my time spent knitting or reading instead of cruising social media, I’m getting a lot more books read under my belt! Let’s get straight to the goodies.
COMMANDER’S TRADE by Diana Logan
This is the second book in this scifi romance series, and it was a great follow-up. I really enjoyed learning more about this universe and seeing where the story is going. Once again, the mysteries were intriguing and the sexy times were fun and hot. I really love the dynamic between Katy and Grix. The side characters and aliens are all interesting too. This book had me engaged from beginning to end! I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
RECORD OF A SPACEBORN FEW by Becky Chambers
Why are there not more books in this series?! *cries* This series is one of my new favorites. It’s the kind of scifi I really love, focusing on the people instead of the technology. I could have spent forever with Eyas, Isabel, Kip, and everyone else. I wanted to just sit in the hex and listen to their stories. I really hope this book is not the end of this world! Becky Chambers is now an insta-buy author for me.
It took me a while to get through this audiobook but only because I don’t have walking time anymore. And this was the first book I listened to after breaking my leg. I now have focused on listening while knitting until I can walk long distance again. Anyway, it does not diminish how much I enjoyed being back in the world of Tally Youngblood, even if she was long gone from the actual story. The UGLIES series was one on my favorites! And this new adventure was just as good. I loved the play of twin sisters covering for each other. It kept me thinking about the moral implications of such a situation. Thanks for bringing back all the crazy-making fun, Scott Westerfeld!
DEFY THE FATES by Claudia Gray
I jumped on this audiobook as soon as I could! I have so enjoyed the adventures of Noemi and Abel, and I was excited to get back to this world. This last book in the series did not disappoint. The story just kept turning and surprising me! And I was really happy with the ending. I can’t tell you how many books totally let me down in the last act, but this one was superb right to the last sentence. Also, on the audiobook front, this was one of the better narrator duos I’ve experienced. Fantastic performances from both!
What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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June 13, 2019
How I Stopped My Social Media Addiction
I recently got a message from a friend saying that she wished she had my discipline to stay off social media. That she got in a fight with a friend over something trivial and it was all because she can’t give up Facebook. I feel this sentiment hard, and so I wanted to share my journey to becoming less obsessed with Facebook.
Social media can be an addiction, yes, it can. Like anything out there, you can become compelled to spend all your time on it, even NEED it. All you have to do is google “social media addiction” and you’ll see all the resources out there for understanding this new phenomenon.
I have an addictive personality for things that aren’t drugs. (During my recent broken leg trauma, I was so adamant about not becoming addicted to morphine or oxycodone that I powered through most everything post-surgery on Tylenol.) Chocolate, tea, coffee, that new book I want? Yep, I love that rush I get from things that make me feel good. And in the beginning, social media felt good too. It was helping me connect with friends! It helped me make connections for jobs or my writing! It kept me in the loop about world events! In the beginning, everything was great. Now?
The downhill slide all started, as it has for most people, with politics. Without getting into details because most of you already know that I’m pretty far left, the elections ruined me. I was checking Facebook constantly. Watching people be horrible to each other became like watching a car crash. I was both repulsed and fascinated by the anger and vitriol. In a way, I felt like it was validating everything I believed about humanity. That we are all terrible and don’t deserve this planet, nor each other.
Social media began to sour. It was no longer about feeling good. It was about feeling guilty or not special enough. Yet, I couldn’t walk away from it because I remembered the feelings of happiness. I kept thinking, “If I just mute these news stories or this or that person, it’ll get better.” And I tried all of that.
It didn’t get better. It only got worse.
So I took some definitive steps to ending my social media addiction…
I made a “farewell for now” post on Facebook. By putting it out there that I was taking a step back from social media, I made myself accountable. I set a period of time, this summer, to be on vacation from social media. I promised everyone I would just upload a few photos here and there, but I wouldn’t be commenting on their posts.
I didn’t delete the FB app from my phone, I set limits. Deleting the app would only mean I check it via the browser. Been there, done that. Instead, I used the iPhone settings to set a Screen Time limit on the Facebook app. 1 hour per day. That’s all I get. It’s enough to check in on my groups, pop onto my Pages, cancel out any notifications. Etc. And my phone stops me from overusing the app. My phone would not stop me if I just resorted to the browser.
I turned off all phone notifications. I went into the Settings > Notifications, and I turned off Facebook from sending me notifications, period. In fact, I did this with most of my apps. My phone only buzzes and alerts me to texts and a few other things now. It’s much quieter and not asking for my attention all the time, just when it’s really needed.
When I go to the Facebook app, I do not click on the Home/Newsfeed button at all. This requires some willpower. I clicked on it last week and immediately saw a flame war about gun control, another about abortions, an author lamenting a bad review, and another author describing their writing pet peeves. I noped out of there tout suite.
I redirected my energy elsewhere. Sometimes I just have five minutes to look at something, so I look at Instagram now. With mostly friends and celebrities on IG, I can look at some photos, make a few comments, share to my Story, and then get out of there without too much trouble. If I have longer moments I can spend on social media, I choose instead to read or knit or listen to a podcast or audiobook. These are things I SHOULD be doing instead of endlessly scrolling through the muck on social media.
After two weeks of this, I feel like I’m finally breaking the habits that always brought me to Facebook first and foremost every time I picked up my phone. Now, I’m much calmer. I’m clearer. I’m definitely more happy than I used to be. I hope to come back here to the blog after the summer and say that I’ve successfully broken my bad habits and made newer healthier ones in their place.
Tell me, do you think you’re addicted to social media? Have you done anything to curb your addiction? Or are you happy with things the way they are? (I was for a long time, so I get it.)
Viber
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June 9, 2019
Sunday Update – June 9, 2019
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This week legit tried to kill me y’all. It was my busiest week of the year!! Dear Flying Spaghetti Monster, I’m so glad it’s over. Lol.
Monday started out great. My youngest had pizza lunch at school so that meant I didn’t have to pack anything. And I spent the morning reading. I love doing this on Monday mornings. I might try to make it a habit. It’s a good way to slide into the week. But then I had to go get my teeth cleaned at the dentist including getting an impression done for a new night guard because my old one broke. Impressions STRESS ME OUT. I have a sensitive gag reflex and these things always make me want to throw up. My dentist was great though because he talked me through some meditative breathing and I made it through the whole thing without wanting to puke! Amazing. In the evening, my youngest had her softball pool party, so it was a late night.
Tuesday was rocking and started out with physical therapy in the late morning and then acupuncture. I love acupuncture but it’s going to take a long time to get back to pain-free Stephanie. In the evening, I fed the kids then went to the final softball game of the season. The girls did so well and they almost won their game. After, there was ice cream but my husband handled that because I needed to go home and ice my leg.
Wednesday was my most hectic day. Cleaning ladies in the morning and working till school ended. Then it was the Girl Scout pool party and my oldest daughter’s band concert RIGHT after. Since I knew I wasn’t going to eat a real dinner, I had two slices of pizza at the pool party. Big mistake because then I woke up with heartburn at 2am. Ugh. I already lose enough sleep from pain!
Thursday was the big day for the orthopedist checkup. He always keeps me waiting so I couldn’t do either PT or pottery. Yes, I did wait 1.5 hours to be seen. Yes, my leg is still broken (check out my broken leg update). Yes, I’m healing. The kids had half days so I had to run home from the doctor’s appointment to be here for them. I took them to get their haircuts and then there was tutoring in the afternoon.
Friday was busy for others but not too bad for me. My oldest had to be at school at 5am to get on a bus for a huge field trip. And though the day was chill at home, she was gone all day and my thoughts were with her and how she was doing.
Saturday was a big day. I had physical therapy in the morning then a cousins’ reunion in the afternoon. This required some skill too because both kids had birthday parties to go to. So we had to take separate cars in order to get where we needed to be. I enjoyed hanging out with my family, talking, laughing, and eating. Plus, looking at old photos! A have two of them below for you.
Today, we went to the pool when it opened and stayed until late afternoon. We had beautiful weather all weekend!
In writing and working news, I lost my way in my book for a little bit, but I think I fixed everything today and I’m ready to pick it back up tomorrow. Blood, sweat, and tears, baby! I gotta get it done.
What else happened this week?
Monday morning tea and Kindle.
I really love my micro green kits I get from Hamama. I have fresh sprouts and micro greens every week! They’re so easy! Even for a plant-killer like me. Water and wait. They go on salads, bagels with cream cheese, sandwiches… whatever! I’ve already passively convinced others to try them out so if you want to give them a go, order through my affiliate link! Buy Hamama micro greens and use the code SUPERGREENS to get 10% off!
We accidentally got someone else’s bananas in our grocery delivery so I put them to use with some peanut butter!
Sometimes I don’t know what to eat for lunch so this old standby is good. Eaten outside, naturally.
I’m making progress on my current writing WIP but then I got lost and wasn’t sure where to go next with the story. So I sat down to knit and watch Women’s World Cup and the solution came to me!
Hanging at the pool for the Girl Scout Pool Party!
If you missed the update about my broken leg, you should go check it out!
Hanging out with my family for cousins’ reunion is the best!!
Here’s a photo of me from 2000, 19 years ago. I was mumble-mumble (24) years old and the maid of honor at my cousin’s wedding. Geez, look how skinny and young I was!
And this is me and my BFF cousin, Kate, in 1987 (maybe 1989?) down the shore in Stone Harbor, NJ. Kate and I used to ride the waves all day in the ocean. ALL DAY. I remember that bathing suit. It was one of my favorites.
Have a great week everyone!
Viber
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June 7, 2019
Broken Leg Update
June is a super busy month, and this week has been trying to kill me. There are so many end-of-school-year meetings, pool parties, BBQs, birthday parties, reunions, and concerts, along with all the every day stuff like tutoring, piano lessons, dentist visits, and haircuts. I suspect the blog will be lacking in posts until Mid July, so let’s update about my broken leg!
We are now 11 weeks post accident and surgery. Have you ever broken a bone? I hadn’t but my daughter had. I know kids recover quickly, but I swear her arm bone healed in like a month. It was amazing. Me? I have a long road of recovery ahead of me. My tibia is still pretty busted but the bone is filling in. The fibula is also starting to fill in, but it’s doubtful it’ll ever be fully healed. That’s okay, though, because, did you know that the fibula doesn’t bear any weight? Strange, right? So I’m obviously not recovering as fast as a 5-year old. Lol. That’s to be expected when one is 43 years old.
Let’s go to the x-ray photos!
Here, I annotated this photo so you can clearly see where the break is. The break hasn’t shifted at all and the fuzziness in the x-ray is bone regrowth. So even though you can still see that huge gash, there is healing happening.
Right now the most pain I feel is from this area on the inside of my left leg, right above my ankle, where the screws are. This area is painful and tender most days. It’s what I end up icing the most. I have a huge scar on the back of my leg from where they put the plate for the fibula and that is totally fine, crazy enough.
After a long day of hobbling around and just being a parent, I am in a lot of pain usually in this one spot. I hope someday that pain comes to an end.
And here are two more views from the top of my leg to my bottom. I still can’t believe I have so much hardware in me, and it will be in me for the rest of my life. THE REST OF MY LIFE. Just wow.
So, on the home front, I’m getting by. I have a handicap parking placard which allows me to use the handicap parking spots when I can get them. They are a life saver! I’m trying to not walk long distances yet, and I’m doing some physical therapy 3-4 times per week. If you add in just all the regular exercise I do as a parent, it’s more than enough to get me healthy again.
My original goal was to walk in the park by June, but that was before I saw how long it really takes to heal. Now, my goal with physical therapy is to walk in the park by September and I hope to make it there!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Viber
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June 2, 2019
Sunday Update – June 2, 2019
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
Oh my god, y’all. IT’S JUNE. Where has the year gone? I’m glad it’s June. Don’t get me wrong. This is one of my favorite months of the year, with July in a close second place. I’m just really surprised at how fast time is moving.
The one thing I don’t like about this June is that I’m still really healing from my broken leg. I thought I’d be walking in the park by June. HA! Lololololol. Not. Even. Close. I’m slowly getting by with some small distances of walking, but when I walk too much (and it’s not even a lot, folks) I am in a lot of pain. My new hope is that I’ll be walking in the park by September. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
This week was super busy!
Monday was Memorial Day, and we spent it at the pool with friends. We really enjoyed the day and had a great time. No complaints there!
Tuesday, it was back to school and regular life. I went to physical therapy in the morning and then ran errands in the rain. We needed more sunscreen and some other things so I went to our local beauty supply chain and then hit Dunkin Donuts for some much needed iced coffee.
Wednesday, I got some cooking done at home. I made frozen lunches for me and some stewed seaweed (kombu no tsukudani).
Thursday was one of my last pottery days since I won’t be able to go this week. I had one bowl left to paint, so I went in and painted that after physical therapy, then returned home to rest. I was in a lot of pain this day so I took pain killers and kept my feet up for the evening.
Friday was busy. I got some work done at home then got my hair cut at noon. I love having it super short again! I then enjoyed some rice balls for lunch and worked outside for the rest of the afternoon. Then my husband made it home early which was nice! We went to my youngest daughter’s softball game and went to bed late.
Saturday and Sunday were pool days. I got reading, writing, and knitting done. I got to relax. I got to have some time with friends and time alone. It was great.
In writing news, I am plugging along at Flyght 3 and figuring it out as I go. I hope to be done with it this month. In other news, I’m really IN LOVE with Instagram and I’m spending less time on FB. All in all, I think the change has been good for me. I’m also finding ways to deal with pain and take it easy.
What else happened this week?
Mmmm, food at the pool. Funnel cake, salads, and ice cream. I see a lot of all of these in my future.
My knitting is going well. I’m making great progress because there are all these little times when I can pull out my knitting now.
Our dogwood is blooming and it’s lovely!
I enjoyed some onigiri (rice balls) this week. They were super tasty!
I made up some frozen lunches for me. Rice and lentils, sweet potatoes, kale, seaweed, and baked tofu. Mmmm.
I painted my last bowl in pottery class. This week I’ll be unable to attend class and next week is the last one. I didn’t get much done this semester due to my broken leg. I hope to do better in the fall.
Treated myself to some iced coffee after running errands.
I made sure to work outside as long as the weather was nice.
And finally, I got my hair cut on Friday and I’m super happy to have it short again.
Have a great week everyone!
Viber
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May 31, 2019
June 2019 Goals
I’m posting this a day early since the weekly emails go out on Friday! May was such a busy month! We did a lot and I feel like I did decent with my goals. So, let’s take a look…
What Happened With May’s Goals?
Continue working on the SFR Station website. Done! All the content updates are done. The backend is all moving along well. I’ve started posting old, legacy content to the FB Page and Twitter accounts again via an awesome plugin I got that hooks up to Buffer. I have one last piece to the website to put together, the email subscription plugin, and then the site is done and ready for new content. I have half the implementation done on the email plugin. I hope to finish it over the weekend.
Finish the paperbacks for the Nogiku Series. Done! They are all up and for sale!
Keep up with my Facebook Page. This is going great! I’m utilizing my Instagram account to put more content there and using Stories too.
Keep writing Flyght 3. I’m almost at the mid-point of this book which I hope to write today. Making good, not great, progress. But I had a big revelation for the series yesterday! And that felt great.
Plan and execute a Harry Potter birthday party for my oldest. Done! She had a great time and the party was a huge success.
Start outpatient physical therapy. I’m in PT and it’s going well. It’s not as aggressive as I thought it was going to be, but it is just as painful. It’s these little moments that throw me for a loop when I’m trying to do something I’ve always done, and damn. I can’t do it. Sigh. I have to remind myself that I’m still healing and I have a long way to go.
Reading and knitting. Both of these are happening! I’m making progress with both knitting, reading, and audiobooks.
Pick up intermittent fasting again. I have decided to put this off to September when the kids go back to school. This is too much to add back into my life right now. I do miss it a whole lot, but I need patience. It needs to wait.
A Look Back At May
Business Goals For June
Open SFR Station for business. This month I have to make the announcement that SFR Station is open for submissions. Take those submissions and come up with a posting schedule. The emails to subscribers will go out Saturday mornings, so I would like to have postings Mon-Fri on the site.
Keep writing and finish Flyght 3. I want to finish this book before I leave for Charleston at the end of June. This way I can take a week off to just stare into space and daydream. Then I can come back in July and start writing Book 4.
Personal Goals For June
Keep up outpatient physical therapy. I am going 2-3 times per week and then also doing exercises on my own. It’s a lot but it needs to be done.
Start treadmill walking again. Even if it’s only 10 minutes twice a week, I need to get this back in my life. I wanted to be walking in the park again by June. That’s obviously not happening, and I’m bummed about that. My new goal is September. I can accomplish that if I get my walking legs back before then.
Reading and knitting. Continue on with this! Pool season is upon us and I can get a lot done there if I get my words in.
Try to just chill. June is always a busy month. Next week is actually going to be brutal. We have plans EVERY DAMNED DAY. So I really need to take the moments I can to sit or relax!
Have a great June everyone!
Viber
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May 29, 2019
Instagram Experimentation
So, last week I did something pretty drastic with my social media life. I cut myself off from a good majority of it.
Twitter? I’m done over there, and it’s been a long time coming. I had turned it into a place to push automated content about two or three years ago, and I wasn’t doing any interaction there except to reply to people’s tags. Over the last six months, I decided to pay attention to the numbers and see if my automated content was getting any retweets or engagement. The analytics don’t lie. None of it was reaching people. So, I killed it. I put up one last tweet and turned off all the channels that lead to Twitter.
LinkedIn? I don’t know many people that actually use it for social media. So I disconnected it from Buffer and I stopped sending it blog posts. Done!
My personal Facebook? This was a tough one. I could spend HOURS on Facebook, looking at my timeline, reading depressing stories about the state of our country or planet, and agonizing over the depressing, uninformed, and frightening comments from people who are dumber than boxes of rocks. It got sad at times, and I noticed how it was bringing me down. So, I put up a notice there that I’m taking the summer off. I’ll pop back in and share photos on Sunday, like I do here, but that will be about it for now. I’m staying away from my timeline and just checking in on groups. I even set a daily limit of 1hr 30min for the Facebook app, and I’m staying way below that threshold.
What am I concentrating on?
This paring down of social media has led me to double my efforts on two other channels: my Facebook Page and Instagram. I’ll come back to my Facebook Page some other time, but today, I want to talk about Instagram.
I’m really enjoying Instagram! I have enjoyed Instagram for the past few years, but recently, spending more time there and concentrating on content for it, I realize just how much better it is for someone like me.
The pluses of Instagram include…
Fewer news stories. Yes, I can follow news organizations like NBC or CNN or NPR, but I don’t. And since reposting those stories is not something that people easily do on Instagram, I’m a lot less likely to run across them. I use Flipboard for news. It’s out of my social media.
Everything is more personal. Social media was supposed to be about connecting with other people. Facebook started out that way and quickly evolved into something else. Now, on IG, I can concentrate on my friends or celebrities or hobbies where everything pertains to our lives and our passions.
Everything is visual. Sure you can put text on an image, but that’s less likely to click with people. What connects with people are photographs and videos. This reminds me of my Flickr days, and it’s something that speaks to the filmmaker inside of me.
This minuses of Instagram include…
Too many sponsored posts. I am quick to hide ads on Instagram, especially if they are poorly done. I don’t want to see them and I try not to give them my eyeballs unless it’s really engaging. I’m much more likely to ignore a sponsored post on IG than on FB.
Too many “influencers.” I unfollow all the fake people or the accounts masquerading as celebrity accounts, but they really sell t-shirts. Look, we see through this shit. We are not dumb. I can tell when you’re faking your life and you’re trying to sell me on a resort or a product. “Real” is what counts on IG.
Too many people flooding hashtags with irrelevant content. I follow a few #knitting hashtags, and I can’t tell you how many non-knitting posts I see in there. Guess what? I block you if I keep seeing you post sewing or makeup posts in the knitting hashtag. BE RELEVANT!
What am I doing on Instagram?
I’ve decided to approach Instagram in a new way for me.
First, I made it a business account and hooked it up to my Facebook Page so I could finally bring my personal posts to my S. J. Pajonas Facebook presence. That was a big shift for me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, even. Instagram had always been “just for fun.” But I ran a trial period over February to May of sharing my Instagram posts on my Facebook Page to see how they did, and people liked them! It seemed that my FB audience wanted something more personal from me, and Instagram was the way to go.
For my photo feed on Instagram, I’m sharing personal pics that show what I get up to including writing, cooking, knitting, running errands, and anything I might spy while out and about. This is not much different than what was there to begin with, and it’s what you all see in the Sunday Updates.
For my Stories on Instagram, this is new territory. I’ve never really used them before and also never paid attention to them. But now, I’m turning a more critical eye to them. I’m watching what other people are doing, and I’m taking notes. IG Stories almost feel like “live blogging” so that’s how I’m going to approach them. When I used to jump on FB and tell people what I was doing or thinking, I’m now going to use Stories for that. Today, I was simmering up some seaweed and I wanted to show it, so I put it on my Stories. I need to figure out better ways to edit these things and show that they’re mine, like with a branded color scheme or something, but I’ll figure that out, I’m sure.
Are you on Instagram?
I have a ton of friends who are on Instagram but I haven’t really connected with my blogger friends or my readers. If you’re on Instagram, I’d love to connect!
I’m at –> http://www.instagram.com/spajonas/
My Japan pics are at –> http://www.instagram.com/sjpinpajapan/
Over the next few months, I’ll be experimenting a lot there. Please let me know if you love something I’ve done, and I’ll be sure to add it to my arsenal to do again!
Viber
The post Instagram Experimentation appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 26, 2019
Sunday Update – May 26, 2019
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
It was a busy week around here! Let’s get to it…
Monday it was back to usual life but I took the day off to recover from the birthday party from the day before. I went back to sleep in the morning and then watched INTERSTELLAR for the rest of my kid-free time. This is one of my favorite movies and I’ve seen it at least 4 or 5 times now, and it’s not enough. I need to see it again. There’s something about this movie that gets me every time. The science. The emotions. The amazing soundtrack. If you haven’t seen it, do so NOW.
Tuesday, it was a long day of PT, then chiropractor and acupuncture. I was gone from the house from 11-1:30. The afternoon and evening, though, were chill.
Wednesday was a busy day. Cleaning ladies came in the morning, and I went grocery shopping for the first time since I broke my leg. It was tiring and a little stressful, but I got through it. Baby steps! I then worked through lunch and until the kids came home. Then it was our last tennis, and my youngest had a softball game where I sat and knit. By the time I got home, I was BEAT, and I had to ice my leg.
Thursday, it was PT again and then pottery. I showed up late to pottery because of PT, and I didn’t manage to throw anything because the clay was not behaving. There were air bubbles and I even found a large piece of plastic in it! We use a lot of recycled clay in the beginners class so this sometimes happens. I did manage to trim something that I can paint next week, and then I think I’m done because my next doctor’s appointment will be on the last Thursday class. Oh well. I’m glad I got to do ANY pottery this session with the broken leg.
Friday was a day off. We had leftover snow days from the winter, so the school district gave the kids the day off. My husband went golfing, and I slept in. Then the kids and I watched The Flash Season 5 in the morning because this season just came to Netflix. We all hung out in the afternoon.
Saturday was an easy day at home. We could’ve gone to the pool but it was only 70ºF outside which is pretty cool for the pool. Instead we stayed home and took the day off.
Today, we spent the day at the pool! Our first day for the season! YAY! Y’all know how much I love the pool, so it was a lovely day. I got a little too much sun on my legs, but otherwise it was perfect. I’m so glad I was able to walk in and walk out without too much difficulty.
I have been writing! I got a lot of admin tasks done during the week, then I got down to business. I re-plotted out some chapters that just weren’t making sense to me, and then they clicked. I wrote and did a little revision. I hope to get in more words tonight before bed.
I also did some social media cleanup this week. I shut down my Twitter almost completely. After doing all the math and looking at analytics, there was no purpose for me to be tweeting or spending any energy on making sure Twitter got content. So I closed up shop, put up a final tweet, and washed my hands of it.
Then I declared a Facebook Summer Shutdown. I have been spending WAY too much time on Facebook and it was showing in my mental state. So I cut back my time to less than an hour a day there, and I am staying off my timeline. Instead, I’m spending more time on Instagram and learning about stories there and how to use them. This has been great! I love taking photos, so it’s a good place for me.
What else happened this week?
If you’re squeamish, look away. My youngest daughter saw this and made a fake puking noise. But the biggest scar after the one on my knee is healing well. I hope it will fade with time.
We got some rain during a sunny period and the rainbows came out!
By staying off social media, I got a lot of reading done in the mornings.
Here I am grocery shopping! Woo! I did something normal!
I got some knitting done while watching my youngest daughter’s softball game.
Writing did happen! Once I sat my butt down and got it done.
And finally, from our first day at the pool today! It was a beautiful day!
I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Viber
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