Friday, March 20, 2026

1st Quarter Potluck Recap


Image: White board drawing of a Sockmonkey and the words "Welcome Sockmonkey Writers!" in purple

Hello again, Sockmonkeys!

Another quarterly potluck has come and gone. Two of this session's attendees, Anna and Erin, drew a Sockmonkey and greeting on the white board to let people know who we were. It is pictured above.


Image: Two tables under a bulletin board. Assorted disposable dishes, a crock pot and prepackaged desserts are spread out along both tables.

Even with a small group, a decent amount of food is brought to share, so if you want to come but can't afford to bring anything, don't worry about that. Please attend so we can get to know you and grow our little gathering from the larger community of Sockmonkey writers. You can see the items from the first quarter potluck pictured above.

Image: Horseshoe arrangement of tables with chairs at them. Two attendees at the table on the right and one at the table on the left. An empty chair with a coat and backpack at the table closest to the camera.


Image: Horseshoe arrangement of tables from the other side of the room. Washington State and US flags in the back corner next to a tv and the decorated white board on the back wall of the room. Attendees are seated at each of the tables.

Thank you to Tina for taking the above photos to share and for helping to set up and tear down when the event was over!

Image: Smiling selfie of Jen Edwards and her travelling hot beverage set up.

Image: Closer view of three attendees with the Washington flag on the right and some windows in the background.

Image: Three attendees at their shared table with windows in the background. The attendee on the left is posing with her hands at an angle under her chin.


Many thanks, as well, to Jen for agreeing to set up and take down, as well as being the replacement contact person with the library since I ended up getting sick and being unable to attend. Thank you to her, also, for sharing these photos with me to post and for posting her recipe for the Red Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup she brought to the potluck. 

We have a small group of semi-regular attendees and, once again, would love to meet more of you if you're able to attend a future potluck. There was a recent post about updates to the blog which included information about our Google Calendar, but you can get to the direct calendar link and that information on this page

Hope you're all doing well and refilling your creative well in a way that works for you.


Wednesday, March 18, 2026

March 2026 Blog Updates!

Image: White calendar page background with abbreviated days of the week at the top, the one in the upper left covered by the PCSockmonkey Writers Est 2009 Polly Esther and Pierson logo. A torn piece of green paper is stuck to the calendar with a yellow headed pin. The text on the paper reads: BLOG UPDATE Check the latest post on the blog for details on the changes and a new way to access our calendar! writinginpierce.blogspot.com. There are two doodled stars in the lower left corner of the green paper.

 


Hey Sockmonkeys!

I've been peeking and poking at things as I have time and have been slowly making some changes here on the blog.

Image: Screenshot of newly recolored header with accessible font

One was to change the header background to a more high-contrast color and change the title font to a more visually accessible one. (I haven't found a way to change the subheading yet.) It may change again in the future, but this is a start with the options available to me in the blog controls. I am open to suggestions and feedback, as this is a work in progress.

Image: Screenshot of Sockmonkey Google Calendar on the March 2026 page at the bottom of the blog

Also, since many use their phones to access the calendar and, for whatever reason, often our shared Google Calendar won't open for them to view events properly, I found a way to add a visual Google Calendar to the blog! For more information on this, please see this tabbed page:  https://writinginpierce.blogspot.com/p/sockmonkey-writing-calendars.html . This means you should be able to scroll to the calendar page via the blog, click the event link you're interested in, and it should open the description for you, if you aren't able to access it any other way. 

I'm hoping to integrate Google Calendar into our Discord somehow as well, but I'm still researching options.

In the meantime, I hope this helps with scheduling if you're interested in attending any write-ins or Regional get-togethers.

Our April Potluck is up on the calendar now, and a post with details will be up shortly. Hope you can join us!