Porthole

Toosday again

Toosday again.

March is rainging down upon us mere mortals. It's a slippery wet world that will soon turn to mud. Montana sucks during Mud Season.

My mind has been dulled by fighting with the internet. Perhaps I have snacked on too much cheese? It's 00:22 and I'm drowsy.

Only 48 views and 7 comments in February. Not even 2 views/day. Why bother?

Posted today in various contests:

"They call the wind Mariah"  "Hope on the run"  "Unrestrained"  "Gala Intergalactica "  "Mad Fashion Designer [year162.ff]" 

"You were never my valentine "  "In the garden " 

I had great difficulty with internet connections. Almost missed deadlines.

I wrote on the Newsfeed:

March is being ushered in by rain and fog with possible flakes later this week. Gloomy out there.

Inside however... I already wrote something for "Verdant Poetry Contest" . The Verdent Contest isn't difficult; it doesn't have a long list of rules; it would be nice to see at least 10 entries. With a theme of spring and renewal I thought of the March-April-May season in places like Costa Rica (especially Guanacaste) and Thailand (think Isaan) Kansas (think the Flint Hills) where fields are burnt off, the land is parched, the heat is rising and we all wait for the rains (not floods) and pray that we don't have a drought. Others will think tulips and nature's babies. Plenty to work on.

My March contest goal will be to write as many poems or stories by the Ides, then edit, spell check, count words, rewrite (or trash). The 15th gives enough time to start over again, Starling . Then to post when ready or by the 28th as this month I had written to quite a few contests figuring I could edit and post on the last day. Alack, poor internet led to a personal meltdown. I did get everything posted but I shudder at what mistakes I didn't have time to correct.

I would ask that those running contests do a last minute check to catch any almost-late entries. Over the years I've had entries that were entered on-time but weren't read (perhaps not seen). If "closed" means that you will stop reading at "midnight" then please make that obvious (in big red letters) and make the posting deadline before then. I propose that midnight is fine as it's easy. Then read and judge in a timely matter. If it took me time (a day, a month) to write something then I can patiently wait for results.

We writers need to respect the work done by contest owners and judges but it is a courtesy to respect our offerings as well.

I scored lasagna and two maple bars at the Senior Center! For some reason I don't feel hungry.

I don't write limericks "CLOSED - Lucky Limerick Contest"  so...

There once was a lady named Alice
who lived in a white marble palace
with fine art to impress
like young David's broad chest;
she lamented over his phallus.

© Copyright 2022 Kåre Enga [178.375a] (1.mars.2022)

And it's companion poem:

There once was a valet named Dallas
who worked in a white marble palace
with fine art to impress
like young David's broad chest;
he lamented over Dave's phallus.

© Copyright 2022 Kåre Enga [178.375b] (1.mars.2022)

Perhaps "he sobbed over David's wee phallus" would be better?


I think LGBTQI+ can be written at the E level.

There once was a lady named Bunny
who lived with her bestest friend Honey;
         they made cookies to bake,
         oat muffins and cheesecake;
together each new day dawned sunny.

© Copyright 2022 Kåre Enga [178.375c] (1.mars.2022)

I responded to an email from Rhymer Reisen:

I really don't think the Quills reflect my work. I cringed when I was nominated. My first thought was... Really? The poetry book nomination makes some sense though. That p-log has over 105,000 views. But these days nobody reads and comments.

I could do a piece on poetry. LGBTQI+ genre is not welcomed here at WdC and it's problematic when choosing an audience. Only so much can be approached with metaphor and double entendres. The *ick* factor turns off American Christians en masse.

Trolliver's grave eyes  (18+) He'll always have jobs as long as there're sidewalks to work. #1537818 by Kåre เลียม Enga

poem from 2009 has 329 views and 1 review.

Letter to Little-Bear  (GC) Lyrical letter to a friend: Get a clue,/ it's not the wastelands of Kansas I miss! #1507009 by Kåre เลียม Enga

poem from 2008 has 24 views and 2 reviews.

Lipstick  (18+) Carol lines her lips with gloss / coral lambdas leaning towards her lady #1260171 by Kåre เลียม Enga

poem from 2007 has 778 views and 28 reviews.

STATIC

Diamond bracelet [154] (298 words)  (18+) Flash fiction under 300 words. Prompt: it was just a joke #2196210 by Kåre เลียม Enga

flash from 2019 has 15 views and 0 reviews.

STATIC

Quentin, Queen of the Kumquats  (13+) Quentin finds himself in a land where his self-identity disappears. #2172092 by Kåre เลียม Enga

linked micros from 2018 has 24 views and 0 reviews.

STATIC

Jays [93] (300 words)  (18+) < 300 words flash fiction; prompts: birds, book, shoe [177.93] #2224312 by Kåre เลียม Enga

flash from 2020 has 18 views and 1 review.

I wanted to comment... but thought better of it: "Me too. I'll be 70 this year and I'm starting to have mental slippage. Minor things, but still... You're not the only one to miss an entry that came in just before the deadline. It's happened to me before. The worse? When there's no communication. I've seen contests close with no explanation. Just 'poof'.

March 2nd: 45 degrees and very damp. It wants to snow but can't. But on the mountaintops?

Biscuits with gravy and a killer supersize donut. I think I overate.

March 3rd: Damp. I did get to sit with Angie and Billie Jo, took the garbage out, met with Nancy, Ginny and others at St. Paul. Shopped.

March Forth: Sunny, 42 degrees. Will not get warm today but the winds will hold off till evening. The river is running free and although it may get down to 1 degree next week winter is losing its hold. We usually get a "sun-bump" around the 15th and that helps. Spring will arrive a bit late however.

A note left at QotD regarding clutter/neat:

Utter clutter.

Not to be confused with an udder mudder. Cows shouldn't be brought into the kitchen.

When I was in Costa Rica 10 years ago I lived as a quasi minimalist. I kept everything clean. Swept. Mopped.

Now? At home? Don't ask nor look too close. The Dust is Ancient.

That said... I don't leave a mess when I travel.

March 5th; It's Kathleen's birthday today. We met when we were 13... oh so long ago. At our age it's a question of whether we're still breathing.

I am trying to fast. Normally that would mean no food or water sunrise to sunset; but, I'm doing the best I can. I wake up, eat, then abstain. Better than nothing. I'm also trying to sit with myself daily and 'introspect'. Also better than nothing.

There's been a whole lot of nothing in my life.

New contest:

FORUM

Personify Writing Contest-CLOSED  (E) A contest that gives life to inanimate things. #2268646 by GERVIC

Speaking of toilet paper... what kind of voice does it have? Smooth, soft, rough, wet?

Mundy the Seventh:

1. Keep trying to make weekly goals.
2. Try to remember them and assess by Sunday.

3.

4. Consolidate items. Delete about 10 a.s.a.p.
5. Write to current contests and remember deadlines.
6. Call my sister.

Also... been doing dordle. I have a winnning streak of 16. 21/24. Clue: choose two words that cover all the vowels to start (for wordle; for dordle I recommend three). One present dordle list: bland, wiper, ghost, mucky (great/doily will do for wordle). Don't forget double letters. Last winner was 'sassy'. Remember 'y'. Know common (and rare) consonant combinations with 'l', 'r', 'n'. I won (barely) with 'kneed'; luckily I haven't come across 'gnome' or worse 'vivid'. 'h' changes the sound... if you're audial instead of visual; as in 'sh', 'th', 'ch', 'ph', (or not... in infrequent: rh, gh, kh, zh, nh); don't forget 'wh'. 's' forms clusters at the beginning and end of words. In dordle you must guess one word correctly by step 6 as there are two words.

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