It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.
To visit the IWSG website, click here.
To become a member of the IWSG, click here.
Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.
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Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.
Remember the question is optional.
This month's optional question is:
If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?
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Happy April Fool's Day, Everyone!
I hope that you have had a happy, healthy, and fulfilling March!
This used to be such a fun day for me as a second and/or third grade teacher.
I'd be pulling pranks on my kiddos, and they'd be pulling pranks on me.
This year, not so much.
Terry and I are both flat with bad colds,
and that's no April Fool's Day joke.
With the wild, windy, and wet weather in Hawaii, colds hitting many people,
and the stress of a very long day flying home, some nasty bug got us.
So be it. I've never missed an IWSG Day post.
Last Glimpse of Hawaii This Time ~ The Beautiful Island of Molokai
Hawaii, USA
March 24, 2026
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
If I could zip out right now and order two steaming bowls of Nikutama
at Marugame Udon In Waikiki, I'd be there in a flash.
This soothing dish, with its handcrafted udon, savory simmered beef, sweet onions,
soft-boiled egg, scallions, tempura flakes, and signature Kake-dashi broth,
would fill and comfort us. I can smell its delectable aroma right now!
Next year in Waikiki, without a cold, for sure.
One day I'll master eating slippery udon noodles with chopsticks. π
Delectable Nikutama at Marugame Udon
Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
February 10, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
This month's question immediately makes me think of my brother-in-law Martin
who surely is the PlayList Master with a list for any artist, genre, theme, or occasion.
His winter home in Calgary and summer home in Smith's Cove are wired for music.
It would be shocking to visit his (and Donnie's) home and not hear music ~
well, except for when the Toronto Blue Jays or Raptors are playing.
The photo below is a favorite of mine.
The one thing Martin loves above all is family,
and family encompasses extended blood and non blood members.
Assorted "family" members are often gathered at my sister Donnie and Martin's home.
We like to do things in herds. π
Here we are watching our niece Natalie's fiancΓ© playing baseball for Nova Scotia.
After the game we went outside to a fire pit with a Martin playlist surrounding us.
Cheering On Jake and Nova Scotia
Center and Clockwise: Martin, Me, Krista, Olivia, Bertie, Natalie, Peter, and Dean
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
August 4, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
but music has been a constant throughout my life,
especially when I'm writing, studying, or working with photos.
I went through a number of music phases in my life:
listening to my parents' music,
listening to the radio,
listening to records I bought on a record player,
listening to music in all kinds of formats,
and finding the ultimate source for music.
When I grew up, I listened to my parents' choices on the radio,
mostly CFCY (630 AM), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island,
known as "The Friendly Voice of the Maritimes."
Its owners launched CFCY-TV on July 1, 1956, and television arrived in P.E.I.,
not that we had one.
I can remember a DJ saying, "Step right up to the mic and sing, Elvis."
I imagined all the singers and groups sitting in a circle around the mic
and coming up to the microphone when the DJ called on them to perform. π
Okay, I was sooo little my ambition was to grow up and marry Prince Charles.
Dodged a bullet there, whew!
When my parents had a little money to spare for buying records,
I started listening to their music: Elvis, Satchmo, Big Band, and bagpipes.
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The Great Satchmo ~ Louis Armstrong
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1955
Mom and Dad Dancing at Acadia University
Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
1946 or 1947
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
I began listening to my own music when we moved North into isolation in 1961.
My dad gave me his well-used blue transistor radio,
and this radio was my constant companion until I left university.
By the gift of atmospheric skip, I was able to receive WLS Chicago (890 AM)
during the night in Lansdowne House inland from James Bay in Northern Ontario.
I listened to their star DJ Dick Biondi spin platters throughout the early Sixties
wherever I was living in the North.
Biondi introduced me to such greats as the Moody Blues,
the Four Seasons, Chubby Checker, and the Beatles.
Btw, Biondi is considered the first American DJ to have played the Beatles on the radio.
He did so in February 1963 on Chicago's WLS 890 AM,
playing their song "Please Please Me."
I began choosing my own music when I was 12 and Dad gave me his old record player.
Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" was the first album I bought.
I had to put it on layaway at the drug store until I could earn enough money to buy it.
For almost 60 years I bought the music I loved in whatever format it existed in,
and I played it over and over and over.
Then, when the Pandemic hit, I discovered YouTube Music on my computer.
I no longer bother with all the forms of recorded music that stuff my house.
I listen to YouTube music ~ daily and a lot.
I'm listening to it now as I write this.
YouTube made me a ranked Recap of my Top 100 most played music videos in 2025
(music videos because I love to see the artists perform).
Wow! I have a personal playlist, and it continues beyond 100 videos if I get that far.
I have. π
I've played it countless times since YouTube compiled it in early January.
I've been really busy, and it's so easy and pleasing
to play my Recap rather than choose anything.
You can listen to it too:
Click on Sia - Breathe Me (Cover by Jonathan Roy) and the videos will start.
The list is eclectic and a little heavy on Teddy Swims,
but if you'd like to see or hear my playlist that gets me in the groove to write,
to do almost anything, feel free to check it out.
If you are also a member of our Facebook Group,
I invite you to visit and to provide a link to your IWSG post.
Facebook members are invited to answer our April question too.
Take care!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2026 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be Friday, April 10th. π€
Note: "Atmospheric "skip" (skywave propagation) allows AM radio signals to travel hundreds or thousands of miles at night by reflecting off the ionosphere. During the day, the sun creates the D layer, which absorbs AM signals, restricting range to a "ground wave". At night, the D layer vanishes, allowing signals to bounce off higher layers, creating long-distance reception often heard as distant, fading stations."
(Google AI Assistant).
(Google AI Assistant).
Skywave, Ground Wave, Skip Zone and Skip Distance – Electronics Technician – Volume 7 – Figure 1-8 – Larry D. Simmons Floyd L. Ace II (Public domain)
Just so you know, I monitor my comments before publishing them. This means your comment won't appear immediately. I will not publish mean spirited or commercial comments.
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