**QUICKIE POST** If You Miss Pixlr Desktop

Once upon a time, I loved using the Pixlr desktop for prettying up the photos I use for the reviews here on the blog. And then Desktop Pixlr went away. This was way back in 2017. But I had the old download and it still worked. About 3 months ago, Windows ate the downloaded exe.

still have this un-usable thing on my PC

I still use the Pixlr phone app (until that goes away, maybe).

right next to some other phone faves

I do not like anything about the online version of Pixlr. Not one thing. What I loved about the old Pixlr for desktop was that it had so many easy to use tools for my simple mind. I don't need to do anything fancy for my photos. I don't want to do extensive image manipulations or deal with too many graphics choices. All I need is to be able to easily rotate, crop, add text, and make some minor adjustments to contrast, sharpen, etc.

I looked for alternatives but they were all either too limited or too complicated. I ended up using MS Paint for a while but it is kind of limited - plus, I heard it might be going away and I don't at all like that silly MS Paint 3D. I can't even figure out how to use it.

Anyway, I tried a bunch of different apps from the Windows Store and then I tried finding Pixlr alternatives. I went here and here for that. I tried GIMP (too much going on with the toolbars there) and Adobe (more than I need), and on and on. Every now and then, I would run across something that was almost as good as Pixlr, then I would notice something the program couldn't do - or didn't do as well. Finally, I lucked up on this in the Windows Store (of all places!):

Goodbye Pixlr.  Hello PhotoScape X!

Cue the heavenly choir. This is not only as good as Pixlr, it's so much better. SO much better.

One of the things I loved so much about Pixlr was the layout of the tools and how easily I could do basic things: add text, change text, choose colors, sharpen images, etc.

PhotoScape kicks Pixlr's butt. It does everything that Pixlr did and more. My favorite thing is being able to compare the Before and After photos that I am working with. Even better - the free version of PhotoScape X is better than anything Pixlr ever had.

I like this app so much that I want to support it. I am going to buy the paid version at some point even though I don't need it for most of what I do. I'm just so freaking happy to have something this good.

So, if you, like me, have been looking for a good photo editor... you're welcome.

Peace
--Free

Because I have always thought Joe Elliot was so hot. Tall too. Mercy.

Upcoming **GIVEAWAY** For My Blog Followers in May

For the month of May 2018, I will be doing a giveaway, choosing from among my blog followers. I just appreciate so much the people who hang with me even though I'm not a famous blogger.


                                                      *⁂((✪⥎✪))⁂*


I am still trying to find the right item for the giveaway and looking for something that will be of use to either gender.




                                                  *⁂((✪⥎✪))⁂*


By the middle of this month, I will have the chosen item and start preparing for the giveaway.

Thank you for being so lovely and loyal!

Peace
-Free

Life in the Sidebar: Archived Re-posts 1

Like I mentioned in the last post, I've gone through some changes as a blogger. My life has been through a lot of changes so, of course, my blogging style has changed. Here's the thing: I think I was a better blogger when I first started. I was more spontaneous and honest. Since those first good days, I've become more self-conscious and long-winded. I have to get back to the best part of me!

Hereare some of my favorite posts from ago...

• Bad Girl Karma
• What is Wrong With Folk?
• If You 'Country' and You Know It
• The Devil Is a Liar
• Memory Storm
• Handbasket Reservations
• Lessons Learned Watching "Haunted"
• I'm So Busted
• Mammy-made Rant Part 1 and Part 2
• Arizona's About to Piss Me OFF
• Life and Stuff
• I Got Told

For some reason, readers really loved a couple of post A LOT. One of them is the Devil Is a Liar post (my fave), and the other was one on Bailey Quarters (you know, from WKRP?) Wow. That one surprised me. 

What I have learned from looking back over my old posts these last few days is...

1. I need to get back to basics when it comes to blogging and leave the weighty stuff for the books.
2. I need to start having fun again with the blog.
3. I want to start connecting with other bloggers the way I used to.

Actually, I am thinking of leaving this blog as is (for the reviews that I do), and doing a FreeBeingFree revamp for everything else. I'm kind of undecided as of yet but, when I've made up my mind, y'all will be the first to know.

Peace

--Free

Life in the Sidebar (Part 3)

One of the sidebar items I think most people overlook is the Blog Archive listing. That's a shame because that's like a blogger's personal Wayback Machine. Every now and then, I look over some of my own older posts and I realize that the archive is a timeline of my life changes.

In prep for doing this series of posts, I glanced through some of my earlier ones. What I realize is that I was a better blogger when I wasn't trying so hard. Starting out, I wasn't really thinking about writing for anyone but myself. I need to get back to that. My older posts were funnier and more 'real'.

For people who do read my blog on a regular basis now, I think they would like the 'old' me. After I finish this Sidebar series, I'm going to literally copy/paste some of my favorite posts from the past.

If any of you do go back and check through the Archives, I'd love to know what you think about the way I used to write compared to now. For myself, the main thing I noticed is that (like everybody does), I've gone through stages that affect my attitude, outlook, and joy.

When I first started blogging - 11 years ago! -  I talked more about relationships and family. I guess that's because I was more interested in having a relationship back then. WAY back then (when I was ~gasp~ 45!), and I hadn't lost so many members of my family.

I did a lazy search and found out (on another blog, of course) that the average lifespan of a blog is around 100 days. I don't know how true that is. I told you I did a lazy search! But I know that most of the bloggers I started out following have since gone away. That's sad. I really, really loved a lot of blogs that are defunct now. I always wonder what happened to the blogger. Maybe they moved on to bigger projects? Only some of them still have Blogger profiles up. (When I looked up an old fave called The Brutha Code, all I could find was a page all in Japanese...??? So, WHERE are you, Brutha?)

I guess I should feel like a blogosphere survivor.

Anyway, if you get a chance, click back through the Archives. Like I said, I'll be re-posting some favorites soon.

Peace
Free

Life in the Sidebar (Part 1)

One of my blog readers emailed me recently to ask about the items in my sidebar.

Wow.

First of all, I was shocked that someone actually paid attention to the sidebar. Amazing. When I read someones blog, the sidebar is the first (or second) thing I check out. That's where I usually learn more about the blogger.

One of the very first bloggers I followed on a regular basis was a very talented poet/philosopher/empath who called herself Supa Sister. I adored her online persona and she was an inspiration to me as a new blogger. (Sadly, I have lost track of her and most of her sites seem to be dormant. I hope that, wherever she is, she is okay and that her talent continues to thrive.)

I've had many favorite bloggers and online "pals" over the years. My memory is crap for details, but I checked the Wayback Machine (cos nothing is ever lost on the internet) and was able to take a look at the past.

Of course, now that I'm reminded of all those good links, I'll be putting some back on the sidebar. (Thank you, Wayback Machine!)


When that one reader emailed me, I started wondering how many other readers bother to even look at the sidebar. The answer: probably not many.

The thing is, I want the my readers to pay attention to the sidebar. It's not there just for decoration. Not exactly. The top maybe 6 or 7 items are mostly for tracking, advertising, or some other non-fun reason. But the rest, well, that's where the good stuff is. At least, it's good stuff if you have any interest in this blog's author.

Anyway, I decided that for the next few (or more) posts, I was going to highlight parts of my sidebar. Maybe that's a little pushy of me, but... No, okay. It is definitely more than a little pushy. You can always ignore the posts, but I really hope you won't because they will be as much about you all as they are about me. My sidebar highlights things I'm interested in and I want to know what my readers are interested in as well.

So, thanks to the reader who emailed. Unfortunately (or maybe not), they chose not to include a return address. That's fine. At least they are reading the blog - and the sidebar.

Peace
--Free

Wow! Liebster Award

When I started blogging here at Being Free, I never expected that I would still be posting 9 years later. The blog has progressed in a lot of ways, but still has a limited following. Limited, but very loyal and supportive. (Thanks you guys! ~MUWAH~)

One of the most amazing ladies I have met is another blogger. I only use the word "amazing" because there's not a nicer one to describe her. Sandy authors the addictingly inspiring Sandy's POV. My blog wants to be her blog when it grows up! LOL

It is Sandy who nominated me for the Liebster Award and I cannot thank her enough.

Now comes the fun part. I'm going to share some information about myself via the following Q & A, then I will pay this honor forward by nominating 11 blogs of my choosing. (Don't worry, I will list the rules at the bottom of this post.)

Ready? Set. Go!

1. How did you decide on the name of your blog?

At that time of my life, I was going through a lot of personal changes. The blog was my way to connect and share with people in a safe way - like free therapy. I didn't want to use my actual name so I decided to call myself "Free" (as in breaking free) and I was temporarily wanting to be "free" of a lot of things. So... I decided on Free Being Free. Because of something to do with Blogger (I don't remember exactly), I ended up with just "Being Free". 

2. Where does your blogging inspiration come from?

At the start, I just wanted to express my own take on people I observed and things that were going on in my life. As I progressed, I started focusing on specific things that interested me. In the past year or so, I have been doing product reviews. Since I like using as many "natural" things as I can for nutrition and personal care, I really enjoy reviewing products and sharing information for that.

3 What is it that you love most about blogging?
Everything, especially since I was hit with a chronic disease that limits my life in other ways. I've "met" so many nice people through blogging. Also, blogging allows me to feel productive and useful during the times I am able to function well. I joke that blogging lets me exercise the parts of my brain that still works well!

4 What is your favorite food?
Pizza. Otherwise, I'm easy. I like just about anything that isn't spicy. My favorite snack is salami sandwiches. I like blended fruits and veggies. And smoke clams. I love smoked clams.

5 What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
Coffee. With sweetened creamer. I'm not much for alcohol, but I do like iced wines for special occasions. I'm recently drinking more water and trying to make it a habit.

6 What is an item you cannot live without?
My phone. That's because it contains just about everything else I need: my Bible, my address book, and so on. If I didn't have my phone, I'd want my Bible more than all else.

7 What are eleven random facts about yourself?

1. I like being a loner 90% of the time.
2. Blue jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes as a wardrobe make me very happy.
3. My writing spot is a tiny vintage travel trailer on the side of our house that I am attempting to pretty up. In about 2 weeks' time, I've managed to sand a 12-inch section of a wall. 
4. I don't have kids, but I helped raise four of my nieces and nephews. Now I have a "grandson" who I adore. He also adores me. Mostly because I make him PB&J "sammiches" every day.
5. My nickname is Penny, but my grandkid calls me "BooBoo". He calls people whatever they call him and I always called him "my little booboo". I'm lucky. He calls one of his aunts "Stinky" and a friend of ours is labeled "Juicy". I'm good with BooBoo.
6. I love playing Farmville 2 (and hate myself for it). It's the only way I can farm without being outdoors. 
7. I'm fiercely in love with my big, crazy, wonderful family and can't be happy when I'm too far away from them. I tried to live in England once and lasted about 3 months before I had to get back "home".
8. I was born in Texas, but raised in Alaska. I don't like extreme heat or cold. Go figure that one out.
9. My favorite colors are (currently) red and gold. Unless it's jewelry. I don't like gold jewelry. Unless there are pearls in it. Lots of pearls.
10. I have a piece of metal behind one eye. Don't know how it got there, but I can't have MRIs. I think it might have something to do with having 4 brothers. That's what my doctors have decided.
11. I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist and I don't think that's a bad thing. Conspiracies happen and I'm allowed to have a theory, right?

8 If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Just about anywhere with 4 seasons. And with family somewhere really close by. For now, I'll stick with Alaska because 1 out of 2 ain't bad.

9 If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
I'd really like to meet whoever designed freeway roundabouts. So I can smack the back of their head. If I can't have that, I'd like to meet my maternal grandmother because she died when I was a baby.
10 What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Walking. To get back indoors as fast as I can. I'm not an outdoors person.

11 Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Living happily in my "tiny house" travel trailer, finishing the novel I started about 9 years ago. I'll settle for just living happily.

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award:

1. Bama Blog
2. Seattle Amie Ryan
3. Gwen Sutton
4. Dacotah
5. Small Town Life
6. Samalexwrites 

THE RULES

For those who have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you: 

• Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. 
• Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
• Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
• Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
• Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
• List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
• Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

These are your 11 questions:

1. How did you decide on the name of your blog?
2. Where does your blogging inspiration come from?
3. What is it that you love most about blogging?
4. What is your favorite food?
5. What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
6. What is an item you cannot live without?
7. What are eleven random facts about yourself?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
9. If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
10. What is your favorite outdoor activity?
11. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Peace

--Free

Reading, Writing & Will I Flip?

No, I won't flip out, but I was driving myself a little batty the other day while trying to focus on writing.  I've had so much trouble concentrating since my bout with Sarc that I'm thinking of talking to my doctor about it. I mean, what's happened? Have I developed some sort of attention deficit problem?

Anyway, I did manage to concentrate long enough to figure out a way to battle my problem with keeping focus. I resorted to something my father once taught me about: background noise. I should say that my father taught me to choose my own background noise to rid myself of the distractions caused by random noises.

Can I stop here and say that there are wonderful benefits to living in this day and age? Back in the day when I needed some background noise, I had to plug my ears and listen to my heart beat. These days? Well, let's just give YouTube a standing ovation, shall we? This is one of several videos I found to provide some nerve-calming sounds to your situation:

Um, it was at least something like this one. There are a TON!

Of course, you know how I am - easily-distracted and attracted. I spent thirty minutes checking out my options. There were videos with rain, rain and thunder; rain, birds and thunder... I'm pretty sure that if I'd kept looking, I would have found something even more specific, like maybe rain from the summer or '69 at two in the afternoon. Seriously. Go take a look. 

Once I chose a video and got down to work on my writing, I couldn't believe how much more focused I was. I was so focused that I felt more creative than I had for a long time.

But you know me. Or maybe you don't.

After a couple of hours, I started to feel like there was something missing. Something that would complete my writing experience.

I found it in this little application: Qwertick.

Oh, boy. Once I had my laptop keys sounding like a real typewriter, Hemingway couldn't have told me Nah-thin!

Isn't it funny how the mind works? Or maybe it's just my mind. Something like a change in background noise or the sounds a keyboard makes can change up the whole writing situation.

At any rate, I thought that I'd tell you all about my experience. Especially my buddies over at G+, where I haven't been in so long that I'm offended no one has sent out a search party. 

Speaking of social networks, and since I am blogging, I need to mention just one more thing I ran across in the last couple of days. There is this blogging network called Glipho. It's described as a "social publishing engine." You will  have to check it out. I am on there now, but just feeling my way around. If you do join up, come by and say Hello to me.

Now I need to turn off my distractions, turn on my background sounds and get back to work. (Maybe after I run by G+ and say Hi to the folks over there!)

Peace

--Free

Thank You, BLOGGER GUIDE!!!

Just a quickie post to thank the the dude over at The Blogger Guide. What a life-saver.

I needed to widen the columns of my blogs - Being Free & Lotta Laughs. Well, this is no easy trick if you are a ME and have not a tech bone in your body... I went right over to Blogger Guide and he had the instructions (blessedly dummy-proof!) for changing the width of both templates (I use a Minima on one & a Scribe on the other) AND, get this: if I hadn't found the details for the templates I do have, I could email him for more. Whatta guy! Whatta nice, nice (and SMART) guy.

So, a big Thank you to The Blogger Guide Guy (BGG). He's the second person on my Tech-Hero list (Kim Komando was the very first).

If you need to fiddle with your blog, I suggest you go over and check out BGG. He's got info on adding and changing columns, customizing colors & fonts, and all kinds of other stuff to either jazz up your blog, promote it or keep track of what's happening with it. Go on over there and get schooled by the best!

Peace
--Free

Blogging & Family

I am SO shocked. My niece and most of my family have never been to my blog... Wow. Here I was, wondering why I didn't get more comments... (I even deleted the My Following feature because I wasn't getting any followers, & I wondered why. Well, NOW I know.)

Here's the hilarious thing: I've been having trouble with Technorati (Gabby, that's another site you might want to check out if you are going to start a blog), so I thought that was my whole problem. Not. I have a counter now and I can see that I am getting quite a bit of traffic, just not the kind of folks who like to comment.

For shame!

So. Now I am passing on the word to my fam 'n such. We'll see if those sorry buggers actually come around and check me out.

Peace
--Free