Tired of "It's Complicated"

"It's complicated."

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase, I'd be a rich woman.

The phrase has become trite and clichéd and is beginning to elicit the same reaction from me as fingernails scraping down a blackboard.

Seems as if I hear that phrase a couple of times—if not more—every single day.

Talk shows, movies, television, conversations with friends, those two words are everywhere when talking about problematic relationships.

How on earth, I wondered, did those two words become part of our daily conversation in just about every country?

Origin of It's Complicated

Did it begin with the Meryl Streep/Alec Baldwin movie of the same name in 2009? That's the one where the now-divorced couple develop the hots for each other and embark on an affair.

No, it goes farther back than that according to an in-depth analysis of the phrase that appeared in The Cut. The article is quite witty as it details the history of this commonplace phrase.

Perhaps it came from responses to a Marie Claire poll in 1976 where 42 percent of French women bemoaned that juggling a spouse and a lover was "complicated?"

No, farther back than that because the phrase appeared in a 1919 newspaper article about a married entanglement where a married man married his girlfriend, without first divorcing his wife. The reporter described the situation as, "It's complicated."

In 1915, W. Somerset Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage used "complicated" to describe the situation facing the character of choosing between a wife and a mistress."

That still isn't as far back as the phrase goes. According to Kory Stamper, a Merriam-Webster lexicographer, who was quoted in the article from The Cut, the phrase dates from the late 1800's when used by Henry James in The Tragic Muse with a character saying, "...it’s awfully complicated."

Takeaway Truth

So there you have it. Even the origin of "it's complicated" is complicated.

I'd love it if we could express the bewildering entanglement of of a romantic relationship with a new phrase.

Got any ideas?

5 Tips: Great Blog Post Titles

How do you craft great blog post titles? Something that is compelling and incites interest?

Since I've been successfully blogging since 2005—OMG, that's 14 years of blogging!—I have a few tips for you.

1. Keep It Short, Sweetheart.

Yep, another KISS rule.

Many beginning bloggers write incredibly long titles. The problem is that your title becomes part of the URL. When your title is long, it ends up truncated in the URL.

Sure, you can create a custom permalink, but many of you don't know how to do that. Also, that takes some extra time.

2. Make it descriptive but compact.

Put some thought into making your short title also be a predictor of the content so your URL in itself can tell someone what the post is about.

3. Avoid URLs that are random letters and numbers.

People tend to distrust URLs that look like weird. They won't click them. That means your wonderful blog post won't get any traffic.

4. Use a Keyword in the title.

If at all possible, use a keyword in the title. Always think about the keywords someone would use to find your blog post. Brainstorm a short list.

Here's a bonus tip.

5. Use the same keyword in the first paragraph of your post.

Search engine spiders crawl websites from the URL to the text to the links in the post.

Utilizing these 5 tips will make it easy for those bots to crawl your site and give you good search traffic.

Takeaway Truth

In blogging or any internet writing, basic SEO, Search Engine Optimization, will increase the traffic to your content.

Review: Ear Bud Adapters

I bought a pack of these Ear Bud Adapters on Amazon Prime Day.

Thanks to these adapters, for the first time I can use ear buds in comfort and without constantly having to put them back in or adjust them.

They're such a great little invention and only $4.99 for a package of 4 pairs so I thought I'd write a review and tell everyone about them.

The actual title of this product is Ear Gel for iPhone Earpods, Ear Buds Tips, 4 Pair Anti-Slip Soft Silicone Replacement Earbud Tips for Earphone of iPhone 7/SE/6S/6S Plus/ 5S/ 5/ 5C (Black/White/Blue/Orange).

That's quite a mouthful for such a tiny device. The package has blue, white, orange, and black ear bud adapters.

How Do You Wear These?

They look like bunny rabbit profiles, don't they?

The round part covers the ear bud, of course. The curving part that looks like bunny ears fits snugly into the ear below the top of the ear. See this image I made. The curved part fits right in there between the arrows.

I guess I have small ears or something because ear buds never stayed in my ears until my daughter gave me a pair of these earbud tips.

Problem solved. The curved piece always keeps the ear buds in place—even the weight of the little on/off microphone on my ear bud cord won't pull it out even when I'm jogging.

So I bought this package of 4 so I could keep a pair in my purse, a pair in my laptop, a pair in my office, and a pair to spare just in case.

For me, ear buds aren't for entertainment. I use them and listen to classical music when I'm writing and need to block out room noise.

I listen to audio books (reference and/or research books) which no one else in the room wants to listen to so I can do it without annoying others.

Takeaway Truth

If you've had a problem wearing earbuds, try these cleverly designed Ear Bud Adapters. You'll love them.

Who Invented Ice Cream?

I was watching the documentary Italian Gardens with Monty Don, my favorite English gardener, and was surprised by what was said as he was purchasing a gelato, the popular Italian ice cream.

The woman serving Monty Don said ice cream was invented in Italy. That surprised me enough that I looked up the history of ice cream.

Unless Marco Polo brought it back to Italy along with noodles, ice cream is another food item invented in China.

History of Ice Cream

A frozen ice cream type of food was eaten in China in 618-97AD. In fact, Emperor Tang of Shang, had 94 ice men who helped make a dish of buffalo milk, flour and camphor, freezing the mixture by packing it in snow.

Camphor? That does NOT sound appetizing.

Even though history says the Roman emperors sent slaves to mountain tops to bring back fresh snow which was mixed with honey and nuts, I think the actual blending of milk into a frozen mixture can probably be attributed to Marco Polo (1254-1324) where it's believed he saw ice creams being made during his trip to China.

Favorite ice cream in the Reeves household.

Ice Cream was a huge hit in every place where it was introduced. Charles I of England supposedly offered his chef £500 a year to keep his ice-cream recipe a secret from the rest of England.

What About Sundaes?

In 1890, a church in the town of Evanston, Illinois succeeded in having ice cream sodas banned on Sunday because it didn't like the crowds drawn to the local soda fountains on the Sabbath Day.

To circumvent that problem, some resourceful merchant replaced the soda with syrup and called the dessert an Ice Cream Sunday, changing the Y in Sunday to an E so they wouldn't upset religious leaders.

Takeaway Truth

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Mystery, Thriller, Suspense Giveaway

Starting today, you can enter the Plotting Murder Giveaway.

If you love to read Mystery, Thriller & Romantic Suspense, then Plotting Murder, the last summer giveaway is for you.

Plotting Murder Giveaway runs from August 9-29.

How would you like to read that next bestseller on a Kindle Fire 7 tablet? Cool, right?

Or maybe you could win one of the Amazon gift cards, or a cool lamp that opens like a book, or a pack of ebooks that's on your TBR list.

Enter today—and enter often—through August 29, and you could be one of the winners.

Book Fair Too

Plus, don’t forget to shop our book fair and play the bonus scavenger hunt game, where we have a tea and brownie brittle bonus prize pack up for grabs. Plus, everyone scores a freebie, a short story download by C.J. Zahner exclusive to this event!

Photo by Kat Wilcox, Pexels #923681

Great Prizes

Kindle Fire 7 • Amazon Gift Cards • Ebook Packs • Maple Wood Folding Book Lamp • Ebook Bundles from Amazon.

Sponsored By These Fabulous Authors

Amanda Uhl • Anne McClane • Barbara Barrett • C.J. Zahner • Curtis Bausse • D.B. McNicol • Danielle M. Haas • Dawn Greenfield Ireland • Eichin Chang-Lim • Em Petrova • J.J. Cagney • Jacqueline Diamond • J.C. Andrijeski • Joan Reeves • Karen D. Bradley • Katherine Gilbert • Kerry Blaisdell • Kristy Tate • Lisa Lieberman • Mimi Barbour • Nancy C. Weeks • Naomi Bellina • Sierra Kay • Stephanie Queen • Susan D. Peters • Taylor Marsh • Tricia Tyler

Takeaway Truth

Books, authors, and prizes—all fabulous. Enter today and tell your friends too.

Enter the PLOTTING MURDER Rafflecopter Giveaway.

Still Alive But Disgruntled

Hello, world!

Since several asked how my chiropractic treatment was going, I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog about it.

This is kind of a good news/bad news thing.

Good News #1

My thoracic and lumbar vertebra that were out of alignment are holding the adjustment and staying in place for the most part in between appointments so that's a definite improvement even though there's associated muscle ache because the muscles have been used to being in a different position because of misalignment.

Bad News #1

The C2 vertebra which has the sole purpose of allowing your head to rotate side to side—simply won't stay in place. When it "pops out" I get excruciating pain in the back of my neck on the left side and down through my shoulder to the mid-back area.

This is because I've lived with it being out of place for the last couple of years so the muscles are accustomed to it being in a certain position. Just turning over in bed is enough to make it "pop out" and if you're a restless sleeper as I am, that means it's a certainty that it will pop out during the night.

Good News #2

Well, sort of good news.

If I can get the C2 to stay in place for 7 - 10 days, the muscles will "learn" the new position, so to speak, and will probably hold it in place.

Bad News #2

AGHHHH! (That's a scream of frustration in case you don't know.)

There's almost no way I can go longer than 2 days before C2 pops out.

Yesterday, it was pushed back into place. Today it's out. So now I have to deal with the pain until I go back to the doctor on Monday.

Good News #3

I've followed doctor's orders and stayed off the computer—mostly—for almost 3 weeks. I've determined that it's not working on the computer that's causing my extreme pain in neck and left shoulder. It's that damned C2 vertebra.

At least I know what causes the pain now, and it's not being at the computer. I will admit that spending hours on end at a computer probably doesn't help.

Bad News #3

I'm PO'd, disgruntled and wearing my cranky pants because I'm SO behind on everything after almost 3 weeks of being offline.

So I decided an hour ago that I might as well get back online and start playing that over-achievement game of Catch Up.

I won't even begin griping about the cost of a special pillow and a cervical Elasto Gel support.

I'm back at work but I won't be spending endless hours without a break at the computer. Behavior modification starts now.

Takeaway Truth

I'd rather be a warrior, not a worrier, even if my attitude is fueled by frustration and low-grade anger.

7 Best Twitter Changes

Did you notice the recent changes to Twitter?

They've redesigned their website because they want to bring users back to the computer since it seems most now tweet using a phone app.

7 Best Twitter Changes IMHO

1. Switch between accounts without logging out. Now you just select the account you want to use from the sidebar and tweet.

2. Reply to direct messages without having to open it in a pop-up window. Now you get a list of messages and can select the one you want which will expand to the right.

3. A redesigned web browser interface is a lot like Twitter on your phone app.

4. The web interface is streamlined and less cluttered with the navigation bar now on the left side.

6. Bookmarks and Lists are on the navigation bar so you can find the content with which you want to interact.

7. To see the interaction on your tweets, click the down arrow in the upper right corner of a tweet and select VIEW TWEET ACTIVITY. You can see how many saw your tweet, how many engaged, etc.

The one thing that did not change that I wish had was the ability to edit a tweet. That once was possible, but they removed that function a couple of years ago.

Takeaway Truth

It seems every month some website or software undergoes a major change. I don't mind the change when it makes it easier, but I really hate it when it's a software update that kills other software you run, or a website interface that's less user-friendly than the previous interface.