January 1, 2012

10 Comments

Welcome!

If you are looking for my regular blog, it has moved to Living The Seasons. A Daily Life is intended as a resource for bloggers, diarists, and writers.  Its purpose is to provide writing prompts, book reviews, idea for writing, and encouragement on creativity. It will be a mix of original material, links and reposted material, and guest bloggers. […]

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July 8, 2013

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Two Step Authentication

WordPress has announced implementation of the two step authentication process for logging in. It provides greater security for blogs by preventing remote log-ins and hijacking by hackers. This is becoming a greater problem and bloggers can lose everything when someone has hacked their blog, changed the password, and messed with its content. For those who use […]

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February 18, 2013

9 Comments

Using lynda.com

Last year I began using Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 for processing my photographs.  I also started shooting in raw, as that gives me the best chance to recover data should I make an error while snapping the photo (such as too light, too dark or too red). My favorite boy toy does one-on-one instruction in […]

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January 18, 2013

7 Comments

Cell Phone Security

I love having an iPhone and iPad.  It gives me wonderful portability for my e-mails, blog, Kindle books, and surfing the Internet.  But as with anything portable, it can get lost or stolen. Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), posted an article on LinkedIn about securing your cell phone.  He gave a […]

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January 7, 2013

12 Comments

Some Prompts to Help

Having trouble figuring out what to write?  Try using some prompts.  I find that often it helps keep me going until I start generating my own ideas again. The other great thing about using prompts or participating in a challenge is meeting other bloggers.  I’ve read a number of new blogs that I wouldn’t have […]

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January 1, 2013

8 Comments

Instagram Terms of Usage – Act Before January 19

For those of you who use Instagram, they recently changed their policy to include some ambiguous wording that could allow them to use and sell your photos without your permission or payment to you. According to Reuters, they have now reverted to the original wording for photo usage, but other terms still remain applicable, including […]

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December 29, 2012

3 Comments

4 Year End Blog Post Ideas

Over at A Cool Site, TimeThief has a great post with four ideas for some year end ideas. The ideas include a summary post, a best of reads and feeds, annual appreciation post, and a humorous year end post.  She ends with a suggestion for those without enough time to do much on their blog. Click here […]

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December 26, 2012

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Year In Review

As the year quickly winds down, I do several things in my personal journals to memorialize the year.  I’ve been doing this for a while now and it’s usually fun to go back and see what’s changed or not changed over the years. Here’s the format I’m currently using: List 25 Accomplishments from last year […]

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December 16, 2012

9 Comments

Multiple Pings Listed in a Post

Over at Spirit Lights The Way, a recent post commented on the growing trend of bloggers who list links back to multiple blogs – many, many blogs.  Some bloggers are genuine in their desire to share, but for many it’s a way to drive traffic and increase advertising revenue.  In other words, it’s a form […]

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July 30, 2012

2 Comments

Using Photos To Record Life

Recently on Pinterest, I found several ideas for recording the stages of a child’s life.  I think they’re really cool and easily adaptable to other events in life, such as travel, sports, rehearsals or a new pet. Jennifer Bacher, in her blog post 10 Tips For Photographing Your Baby, encourages new mothers to plan ahead and take a […]

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July 20, 2012

3 Comments

Recording Your Child’s Life

** UPDATE ** I greatly expanded this topic in a later post.  Click here to see the post. Thanks for visiting!

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May 9, 2012

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May Joy Dare

I enjoy using prompts for finding ideas to write in my blogs and journals, as well for my daily devotions and even conversation starters. One of the prompts I’ve been enjoying each month has been the joy dares from Ann Voskamp, author of the book “One Thousand Gifts”.  I’ve shared in different posts how I’ve […]

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April 1, 2012

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A to Z Challenge

The A to Z Challenge for 2012 starts today.  The goal is to blog a different letter of the alphabet (sequentially) in the month of April.  You can use a unifying theme or not.  You chose the word.  It’s that simple. Over 1600 people have signed up to participate!  It’s a great way to make new […]

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March 14, 2012

3 Comments

Get Over Guilt About Your Passion

Ollin Morales, at Courage 2 Create, had a great post titled, “11 Ways To Get Over Feeling Guilty About Following Your Passion“.  I found it to contain valuable advice and when I contacted Olin, he granted me permission to publish it in its entirety. Ollin posts about creativity, writing technique and inspirational topics.  If you haven’t […]

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March 13, 2012

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March Joy Dare (February Link Also)

I believe that prompts have their place for the diarist and blogger.  One of the prompts I’ve particularly enjoyed this year has been the Joy Dares by Ann Voskamp, author of the book “One Thousand Gifts”. The purpose of the Joy Dares is to find three gifts a day from God in everyday, ordinary life.  The […]

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March 9, 2012

9 Comments

Women’s History Month

Looking for a challenge to celebrate women’s achievements?  Paige at The Authentic Me has a challenge going, inviting her readers to “remember the contributions of notable and ordinary women“.  I’ve already posted links to stories about my grandmothers & great-grandmother, whose ordinary lives shaped the generations after them. Here’s what Paige is inviting you to […]

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March 7, 2012

6 Comments

Why Do A Daily Challenge

In hindsight, I’ve done challenges prior to last year’s daily blogging and photography.  I did a daily challenge when I was seriously into my needlepoint.  I improved my skill, learned new techniques, and made new friends just like with my blogging. I also did a daily challenge putting together a family history book, coordinating and organizing […]

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March 6, 2012

11 Comments

Saving Your Drafts in WordPress

Today’s guest post is by Val Erde, an extraordinary artist who lives in Wales and shares her work at Art By Val Erde.  Val is an experienced blogger and recently went through my posts at A Daily Life and left a number of comments, clarifying or showing better ways of doing things (thanks Val!). Val […]

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February 29, 2012

12 Comments

Scrivener Software Review & Computer Back-Ups

I’ve been experimenting with a piece of software for writers called “Scrivener“.  It’s got a number of advantages over Microsoft Word for writing a book and I think it will make my process less frustrating.  At the bottom I also have a brief discussion about backing up your hard drive. There are several things I […]

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February 29, 2012

7 Comments

Thoughts On Using Prompts

Ollin Morales, over at Courage 2 Create, has a great blog for writer’s and creative people.  He recently had a post in which he explained why he doesn’t think writer’s should use prompts.  It’s worth checking out.  To sum up, his reasons are: It only works because it’s acting as a mirror to what is […]

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February 24, 2012

16 Comments

Changing E-Mail Addresses

When I changed my E-mail account, WordPress began sending me duplicate E-mails of my subscriptions as well as duplicates of some comments.  This did not help my desire to simplify my life by getting all my blog activity into an E-mail account separate from my regular E-mails (you can throw in a few expletives at […]

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