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| I just awoke from a nap feeling a sense of true accomplishment! Three of us spent three hours last night (10 p.m. - 1 a.m.) decorating a rented venue for our grandbaby's third birthday party. Baby Shark was the theme. The party today went beautifully! I took quite a few photos and videos. After the party, we spent two hours undecorating and cleaning up. Then, I spent 45 minutes or an hour with my grandbaby and her mom, playing at an outdoor, holiday play area before walking home. I doubt I've ever spent a finer forty-eight hours! I love those two more than words could possibly convey. What gives you, my fellow WdC members, a sense of accomplishment? |
| I love books, especially real ones which require no power source but a reader. One type of book has always puzzled me though. I can't seem to find a use for 'idea books'. I can see a purpose for 'how-to books'. They teach things like how to use certain tools & materials. The idea of needing ideas is a bit foreign to me. If I were a millionaire and stepped into a small hobby shop for a respite from rain or cold weather, I would probably emerge penniless without browsing beyond the first aisle. |
| Nearly all writers speak (and write) of their muses. I actually have a residue of muses. They're all on hazard pay, of course. At one time, I had more muses than I have now, but even my generosity failed to induce them to stay on. I find the situation amusing and I plan to write about. I'll get started on it as soon as I get inspiration to draw a deep breath and begin. I'd love to hear what anyone has to say about what I've said. |
I have stories bouncing around my head all the time, the main problem is connecting my fingers to my mind at same time. For some reason I can go through the whole story in my head but not put it to paper  and looking a the Muse Wiki there are numerous muses. I suppose those are the voices I hear all the time, huh? |
| The Monkees' song, Pleasnt Valley Sunday, has been playing in my head this morn. It brought up a question in my mind. In common speech and writing, we oft use structure like that found in the line, "The local rock group down the street is trying hard to learn their song." "Group" is singular but "their" is generally plural except when used in a gender-neutral situation. So, is such sentence structure grammaticaly incorrect, or is it just an exception to a rule, a quirk in the English language? |
| The word group is a collective noun and is treated as singular when discussing something as a whole entity even though it consists of many people or things. |
| It happens incessantly in sport, e.g. "Are Team X in with a chance of winning?", "Team X are leading Team Y 2-1 at half-time." etc. You get funny looks if you point it out. |
Once in Ryan David's City  - The plural verb generally works in situations like that in your second example, since the names of many sports teams are inherently plural. So, "The Cowboys are...", "The Steelers are...", etc would be correct, but the rare team with a singular collective name like Magic would require a singular verb. I only mention these teams as examples because I hear those names names often enough to remember them. I'm not much of a sports fan but I hear about a few teams from family and friends. |
| It suddenly occured to me that in some fonts, the name Al (as in Weird Al) looks like "AI", the abbreviation for artificial intelligence (or "articicial infringement" depending on one's POV). What're we to make of that? |
| Bren & I begin this month in a spirit of triumph, a spirit of accomplishment, and a spirit of sadness. In ten days, we will formally honor the many individuals who have given so much, often their very lives, to preserve the ideals of liberty and to protect the lives and interests of Americans since the birth of this nation well over 200 years ago. Certainly, this represents a triumph. I have been honoured by my literary peers on WdC several times this year. Just this morning, I learned that my poem Lub dub, Lub dub was selected as the 2nd Place winner in the Structured Poetry Contest. Certainly, this is an accomplishment in the community of remarkably talented authors/poets which is WdC. In these next few days, Bren & I say farewell to a longtime friend who passed away on the evening before last after a relatively brief illness. In addition to having our friendship, he has also our respect and our gratitude for his military service to these United States of America. Certainly, we feel a sense of loss and of sadness. Through it all, the cadence of life goes on, and we rejoice with hope. |
| I just posted a new item to my portfolio. It's a strange combination of short-short story and Rondeau poem combined. (Total word count 250). It's titled. "The Legend of Rondeau, the Gunfighter"  and it's not exactly serious and not exactly humourous. NOTE: I do have access restricted to "Registered Users and Above." |
| It occured to me that a short story I wrote a while back mihht be approriate to the season. It's a frightfully funny story about some paranormal (or ABnormal) research Bren & I are alleged to have conducted. I just doubl-checked to make sure it's visible, and it is but only to Registered Users and higher. If you like paranormal and you like to laugh, give it a wee keek!
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| Maybe I should find a *real* vampyre and ask to be bitten. Being immortal is the only way I'll have enough time to study all the things I want to study, discover all I hope to discover, and learn all I aspire to learn. Someone may quote me on that. Just leave off the vampyre bite bit.  |
I've thought about this. At 72 I have realized that my first time seeing some place or someone may be my last.  |
Kåre เลียม Enga  - I never trouble myself about whether something is a first or a last. Nothing lasts, so everything is a first. What I said about needing a vampyre was actually foolish and a bit flippant. It would only apply to this present perception, for I AM immortal. I not only know the Creator, I know that I am made a creator as well, taught by the master and charged with constantly gathering inspiration and bringing forth good things. Everything I create is a new part of myself, even as I am a new part of my Creator, and the act of creation is a bond between myself, my Creator, and every other person who lives, has lived, and will live. As I write, I do more than put words into an order. I put my thoughts, my feelings, my very being into that poem or story. I am part of it and it's part of me. I do the same when I paint, design, build, or bring forth any new idea. The greatest creation of all is the bond between myself and every other being. Your greatest creation is the bond you are creating with others, including me. These bonds are timeless and therefore ageless. |
| For some time now, I've been working extra hard toward getting Achievement Badges. The one that I'm having the most difficulty getting is the Account Anniversary Achievement badge. It's the flux capacitor that's slowing me down. These Klingon crystals just can't handle the strain. I'm afraid something might go wrong and leave me horribly stranded in the 21st century with Raquel Welch (no offense to Ms. Welch, who is a grape actress). Anachronisms can be a bit of a pain at times! (But less so than my free-association humour. ) |
| A few days ago, I happened across the sudio files I recorded years ago of one of my early (read that "truly lousy") chapbooks of pseudo-poetry. Now, I'm of a mind to record more of my chapbooks, or better yet, get someone with a good voice to record them. As funds become available, I want to register more of my work, now that some of it is actually readable, and publish same. Meanwhile, Bren ( justareader ) wants me to record (in my best Scot's brogue) The Bogle, a Hallowe'en poem I wrote for her a few years ago. |
| What lifts you out of a doldrum or 'the dumps'? I've been in a dumpy doldrum all day --- until a fellow WdC member helped (just by being) me start climbing out. innerlight   reminded me of these lines from a favourite song of mine: "Without looking out of my window, I can know the ways of heaven. The farther one travels, the less one knows; the less one really knows." ---The Beatles--- Now, I'm out of my bed and listening to music (many different styles). Thank you --- all five of you. Humble_Poet |
| Reasonables: The Jeep corporation gives me the willies. If a Spanish speaking person cooks ham in a pressure-cooker, could we call the device a "puercolator?" Unreasonable? "Pacific Ocean" contains three "C"s, but no two are pronounced alike. |
| I have a question for mystery writers, especially (but not exclusively) those who have written in this genre for a long time. Has 'crime-proofing technology' affected your writing? If so, in what way(s)? For instance, has the classic image of someone standing in the shadows and picking the lock on someone's back door been made a less believable element now that there are cell-phone connected door-cams, elaborate lighting and alarm systems, and such literally *everywhere*. |
| If I had to write a mystery, which I seem to write far less of than I would have expected judging by how many I’ve read, I would probably set it in an earlier and simpler time. I’m not even entirely familiar with the new smart gadgets which are so commonplace nowadays. In "The Name’s Daisy" , I included smartphones and Facebook, but neglected to consider smart cameras and in-home surveillance, so it would be set perhaps ten years back from now. I think this would be a good topic for a newsletter… Carol St.Ann  ? |
| That would be a yes. My current story takes place in 1998, so I need to pay attention to what technology was actually in mainstream use by then. In current writing there’s no way to avoid the surveillance options both inside and outside of commercial establishments, offices, homes, even parks and recreation, not to mention drones and satellites. Then there is the reality our TVs and phones monitor our every word and move. Today’ mystery must certainly come up with clever ways to maneuver all that. Perps must be very knowledgeable indeed. |
Amethyst Snow Angel  - Thanks for tagging me. It’s a great idea, and I’ll take you up on the suggestion.    |
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As for hobby/ craft stores, not really as I'm not very crafty and don't have an actual hobby (other than reading).