Porthole

July 11 - July 17

A weekly blog that starts skinny on Saturday and fattens up by Tuesday and is ready for slaughter by Friday ... if not before.

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  ███████          PORTHOLE           ███████

SUMMER: JULY 2020

"Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent." - The Bab

MY THOUGHTS

July 11: My friend's son's birthday. Happy 14th, Caleb! No clue what that's like these days.
July 12: Not in the mood to 'exist' much less write. Fading like a spent flower-of-one-day.
July 13: I'm moving through each day like a slug.
July 14: My connection is slow. It's amazing how spoiled I am! This is tedious.
July 15: Do I connect with people? Are those connections good? Self doubts.
July 16: Depressed, overwhelmed, worn out. Slight headache doesn't help.
July 17: I'm okay today but still feeling vulnerable. I put on clean clothes and went out!

WEATHER

July 11: 28° and warming at 3 p.m.; 22° and raining in Buffalo.
July 12: 23° and cloudy; 27° in Pape'ete, French Polynesia. This week 29/23 and daily rain.
July 13: 22° and sunny dry week ahead; 33° in Lawrence, Kansas and hotter-than-hell forecast.
July 14: 19° clear and calm; 11° and windy rainy in Hay River, NT, Canada.
July 15: 21° clear and warming; 14° damp and dreary in Hayfiled, Derbyshire, UK.
July 16: 26° and heating up to 33; 33° and miserable in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
July 17: 20° and not quite as hot today; 21° and a rainy evening in Tbilisi, Georgia.

IMAGES

July 11: Orange daylilies, yellow tape, pink and white roses.
July 12: Foxglove, cantebury bells, spicy carnations; raspberries, black currant.
July 13: Shade. At noonish I seek the shade. Banana-allspice-milk.
July 14: Bicycles flying; sparrow chirping; dappled shade as a breeze plays with the birch.
July 15: Linden in bloom. Hum of a lawn mower. Smoke from a grill.
July 16: didn't go out
July 17: Hollyhocks blooming. Overcast. Not as hot as I expected. Alpenglow

CONTESTS

It's increasingly obvious that I will NOT do all of these in any given month. Priorities are given to sporadic contest. Blink and I may have to wait 3 months!

FICTION:
"No Dialogue Contest-CLOSED"  SS <700. No dialogue. HEAT by 7/31. B/E
"Invalid Item"  FF < 300 Flash Fiction Romance/Erotica by 7/14(Freedom) B/E "Before the showing (300 words) [139] (13.July.2020)" 
"The Dialogue 500"  SS <500. July: A Dialogue with your Doctor at the Sanitarium.{bitem:}
"The Science Fiction Short Story Contest"  SS <2000. July: {bitem:}
"WEIRD TALES CONTEST "  SS <1000, July: invaders from outside. {bitem:}

POETRY:
"Poetic Traditions Poetry Contest "  <50. Old or new not awarded. Limited to 20. "First drum set" 
"Write from the Heart Poetry Contest"  Romance.
"Shadows and Light Poetry Contest"  Round 85 to 14th Old or new. Free verse <40 lines. "One ... Mississippi ... Two" 
"Shadows and Light Poetry Contest"  Round 86 15th to July 31st. Old or new. Free verse <40 lines.
1 "Invalid Item"  Round 74: mondo. "White rosebuds [123]" 
2 "Invalid Item"  Round 75: syair. "2020 unmasked [159] "  closed
"Invalid Item"  New or old <50 lines

Whenever: "The Random Poetry Contest" 
August: "Invalid Item"  <60. It's a dark month...
September: "Verdant Poetry Contest"  Nature. Autumn. Form and words by Sept. 30.
September: "The Humorous Poetry Contest"  <15 Humor. Round 33. B/E

BOTH:
"The Writer's Cramp"  Daily noon-noon WDC = 10 a.m. MTT. Must be item.
"The Taboo Words Contest ~ On Hiatus"  Monthly. <750 <40 July: FIREWORKS In progress: "Comforting Sophie (taboo) [113]" 
"Kittiara's Writing Contest"  1 ss, 1 poem. Theme: renewal
"Second Time Around ~ Birthday Special"  Old non-winners! Got lots of those (poem/ss) June 15th-July 14th"Thunder" 

EITHER/OR:
"Butter My Buns Contest"  Erotica! 500 words or 15 lines. July: DEVOTIONNot posted yet"Unhappy without you (12 lines)" 
"Inner Strength Contest "  July theme: RESOLVE <500 or poem 15 line max.
"The PET NEWS CONTEST"  SS <2500, P <40. July: A REAL WILD PET

NEITHER:
"The 4 Controversies Contest"  Opinionated non-fiction essay >1200. By July 17: COVID-19Ran out of steam
VARIES:
"Share Your Faith"  until June 30. Story or poem. Prompt: dealing with anger. "Opening the garden ... of the heart [109] (36 lines)" 
"The Contest Challenge"  A contest of contests... every month.
"The Bard's Hall Contest"  SS <1000 GC+ Sizzle! July 31. {bitem:}

"Journey Through Genres: Official Contest" 

POULTRY

DAILY for JULY: "The Daily Poem"  by 4 p.m. WDC by: 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th
THREE DAYS A WEEK: "Invalid Item"  by midnight WDC by: 13th 15th 17th

"Consideration [131] " 

"Daylilies [132] (20 lines)" 

"Black poplar rising [134] (12 lines)" 

"Interlude [135]" 

"Muh Freedom [136]" 

"At Sally's Diner [137]" 

"Baskets of lavender [138]" 

"Perennial [140]" 

"Come here boy [142]" 

"Fabrications [141] " 

Boiling:

"Wind, where do you take me? [133]" 

"Våren [143]" 

Cracked:

"But in the end, a passing thing [183.zm]" 

Not yet laid:

PORK

DAILY: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 

July 14:

STATIC

Mary-of-the-Snows [140] (269 words)  (18+) < 300 words. Prompt: apple, lamp, curtain #2226800 by Kåre Enga in Montana

Contest: "Before the showing (300 words) [139] (13.July.2020)" 

Baking:

READING

MOVIETIME

I can't focus on audio-visual! I need to finish one movie and find one that works for me. I have 200 to choose from. May need to go on-line and watch some East Asian love story serials.

LEARNING NORWEGIAN

NoW: 3K

MARKET SENIOR CENTER COFFEEHOUSE

July 11th: Bought 3 potatoes for $1. Tangerine and cardamom milkshake. Bought 3 postcards. Wrote. Spoke to Cathy Mae and Landon.
July 13th: Sat and talked with Laxmi. Westerners can be very miserly at times as everything has a price attached.
July 15th: Only one man not wearing a mask at the grocery store. Huge improvement. Bought less than $10 worth. Very few sales and ended up with cheap wheat bread. Chcolate milk and doughnuts though and pork. I won't starve but prices are going up.
July 17th: Sat with Dalton and Kerry. Hotdogs. Arrived late. Few around.

MY FORMER LIFE

July, 1974: 'lost' my passport in Lima, Peru.
July, 2009: visited Costa Rica after 35 years.

WATT'S GNUS

Seattle Police Department Says They’ll Fire Most of Their Non-White Officers If the City Cuts Police Budget (Law & Order) Last hired, first fired? I'm afraid the police chief may have to go.
Madeline Swegle has become the US Navy's first Black female tactical aircraft pilot (CNN) An alomost excusive White male club.
Trump's attacks on mail-in voting could lead to nightmare scenario, election expert warns (Yahoo) Very frightening because DJT's rhetoric is consistent with 'president for life'. If he declares himself winner before mail-in votes are counted we may have a Constitutional crisis brewing.

WATT'S GNUS INTERNATIONAL

Erdogan rejects global criticism over Hagia Sophia decision (Al Jezeera) Mentioned in US press but more important elswhere.
Senegal resumes international flights after four months (AFP) The economy wins. At what price?
Teenage boy dies from bubonic plague in Mongolia after eating marmot (CNN) Jealous of covid? Making a comeback? Not just an isolated case.

OPINIONS

"Gen Z good and bad "  closed
"why do i write"  closed

SPACEBOOK quotes (you can guess context):

Irish Mike Sager: "My Spirit Guides told me your address and your phone number."
Celia Farran: "Irish Mike Sager, I wish *I* knew my address! Still “home free”! Lol"

BLOGVILLE

Reference to challenges, contest and prompts (not all appearing on the same week):
BC: "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  (daily) (I'm not a member)
BCOF: "Blogging Circle of Friends "  using my Nlog (nature blog) "Nurture your Nature"  and "Hoarfrosts from Hell"  (daily)
JAFBG: "JAFBG"  (open rants)
JI: "Journalistic Intentions"  using my Blog "Enga mellom fjella"  (8 blogs from 16 prompts) "June post. I'm finished. "  
30DBC: "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  (July)
MHA: "Invalid Item"  weekly prompts starting June 14th.
OP: "Invalid Item"  using my Plog "L'aura del Campo" 
PP: "Promptly Poetry Challenge (2023-2024)"  my Plog response to prompts as I missed the sign-up date.
Real: "Welcome To My Reality Forum"  75 prompts
SB: "Space Blog" 

July 11 SB & 30DBC: "4157 26 and Fairy Dust (Space Cadet)" 
July 12 SB: "4157 28" 
July 13 30DBC: "Summer Daze at The Shallot" 
July 13 SB: ""What are we afraid of if not ourselves?" 4146 200" 
July 14 SB: "Freedom... is just another word for... dying 4146 223" 
July 15 30DBC: "I'm not a ha-ha-ha person" 
July 16 30DBC & SB: "Aball of ice"  closed
July 17 SB: "Blood of ages—flows through me" 


Visited this week so far and commented: Alexi queenkissy Lostwordsmith Brian K Compton WakeUpAndLive️~scary 2024 Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008 skeason Sumojo SusanFarmer Charity Marie - <3 runningwolf04 Apondia Kell Willsen Mighty amy-Has a great future ahead Cheddah IceSkatingSugarCube BlueMoon QueenNormaJean 4th's Loud Here Sorji Prosperous Snow celebrating Joy Veritas Princess Megan Rose 22 Years Chris Breva Elle - on hiatus QPdoll SB Musing Debi Wharton 💙 Carly jabberwocky Sum1 Is Home! Kit_Carmelite Osirantinous Bernie bought first house! tah2o Cappucine Eric Wharton bobturn SandraLynn Team Florent! SB Musing Pumpkin Charlie ~ Elisa: Middle Aged Stik Robert Waltz Lyn's a Witchy Woman
Trying to keep up on blogs. Over 40 last week but 15-20 is a better goal.

I commented to Lyn: "I should write a dead me poem ... if only to get it all out. Might help with some of my angst. Afterall, all angst is past when my big toe's sticking out, a tag attached."

Postcards:

I moved to Missoula July 2008 and the mountain burned:

                                                                                                                                           

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