Prompts 58-59

Prompt 58: What is the last thing (or one of the last things) you searched for on the internet?

I believe it is a burden of all writers to have a bizarre internet search history. I admit, this prompt gave me a little anxiety when I realized I would have to open and review mine. Alas, nothing untoward or damning popped up in the last few days.

I had some routine searches of words, mainly to assure myself I was using the right word, although in a few cases I used Google as a spellcheck. I primarily use Google to search for words or phrases that pop into my head to be sure they mean what I think they mean. Or to uncover the origin of a phrase. Etymology fascinates me.

I had also looked up the shrug text emoji to copy and paste into a text message. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s so smug. I love it.

Honestly the weirdest thing I searched for in the last few days was a kid’s show my sister used to watch when she was a baby. While I was home over the weekend spending time with my family, we spent a good portion of the first evening reminiscing about the various shows we would watch that are either still going or have been revamped and, in our opinion, ruined. Veggie Tales was a big point of the night and my sisters and I started singing all our favorites.

My youngest sister was too young for our Veggie Tales, but then we got talking about the shows she used to watch and how good some of them were. Like the Wiggles. And also how utterly bizarre they were. Like the Boobahs. We were trying to remember some of the human story characters so I Googled “boobah” to pull up the character list (Mrs. Lady, Grandmama, Grandpapa, etc).

Now Pinterest, that’s a whole different story. You can pretty much plot my daily/weekly obsessions by following my Pinterest search history. Though, just cause I search for it, doesn’t mean I pin it. Then again, secret boards exist. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, what’s YOUR search history look like?

Prompt 59: What do you love doing that you wish you could get paid for?

I’d love to get paid for this. As something I do on a daily basis, devoting many hours of my personal time, it would be my dream to get paid to write whatever I want. Mostly I write for myself, because I have stories I want to tell, and because there are so many ideas buzzing around my head that I will go insane if I don’t at least write them down.

But I’m very critical of my own writing. (Ha, aren’t we all?) Imposter syndrome I guess. I don’t really think the stuff I write is worth much. I can’t actually imagine anyone wanting to pay money for the word vomit that falls out of my skull.

Part of that is a lack of polish. I’ve never been to a writing workshop, conference, or anything resembling a gathering of other writers. The NaNoWriMo forums are the closest I got. Didn’t make any of the write-ins because of my work schedule, but I wanted to. The only writing class I’ve taken since high school was a creative writing course in my freshman year at my community college which was, holy crow, 10 years ago.

For now, this is just a hobby. I enjoy writing. It would be nice to get paid to write, but I also fear that I would come to hate it if it was my job. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get ambitious and give freelancing a go. Attend a writing workshop or networking event. Meet people. (Yikes. People? Perish the thought!) Until or unless I become unemployed by my current job, I think I’ll just stick to writing for free in my spare time.

Other things I would love to get paid to do: reading, watching anime, sleeping, tanning. Pretty sure none of those are career options, but hey, I love doing all those things and would really love being paid to do them! What about you?