Quote by verbal

Sick as a dog for 36 hours, and then fine. We think it was a norovirus, though it was over so fast, who knows? Talia luckily didn't get it. I puked HARD for 12 hours (TMI, I know), slept miserably for another 12, and then recovered. Nasty. But I woke up early this morning, and my first thought was, "I'm well!"

Yeah, that really sounds like norovirus. Brief and brutal. Been there, done that, didn't want the t-shirt (it needed to be washed anyhow).

Quote by gillianleeza
You can do it online, and after struggling to even comprehend what I was reading, I gave up and called my son. He accessed my computer remotely and helped me. Even with his expertise, it took over an hour because of the way the government insists you do things and the programs they require you to use.

Well, I guess that's sort of an improvement. Bureaucrats really do not know how to design effective online systems and should just specify the end goal and then leave it to the pros.

Good morning! We are back in the throes of winter here. Negative (Celsius) temps and chance of flurries basically everyday for the next week, or so says the forecast.

Based on experience, probably the hot tub but I've never really given a sauna a proper try, just a brief visit to one in Iceland when I was there.

For clearing ice: Salt or "Ice melter" (which is mostly just calcium chloride instead of sodium but whatever)?

Charlotte Wessels is a favourite of mine, a Dutch rock and metal singer who has been kicking around the scene in her homeland since her teens. She went solo in 2021 after 17 years in a band. New single out today with her band The Obsession. Since this doesn't appear on her last album or its recent deluxe edition, I'm hoping this signals the lead-up to a new album.

Charlotte trivia: she holds degrees in art history and women's studies so she's a smart one as well as a hell of a terrific singer.

Interesting tat. If I get one, maybe something like that would be good. Less inking involved than some of the wildly elaborate ones. Except with my crappy skin, it might be hard to tell what's a star and what's a blemish/lesion. 🙄

Another brief warm spell is ending here today and a squall warning is out for the next 24 hours. By tomorrow, it will be cold again. Hope it gets better by Friday. I have visitors at work from Newfoundland and they head home Friday morning.

Refreshed the coffee and tea and I'll put out a pie.

Quote by gillianleeza
Mark Hamill is in both films

He seems to be getting busier again, doesn't he? For a while there, unless you knew that he was the voice of the Joker in the various DC animated series, you could have been forgiven for thinking he had retired from acting.

Cycle. My legs and joints have never handled running well.

Shower or bath after a run/ride?

Vibes, Gil. There's nothing worse than a bureaucracy trying to make a minor correction in the 21st century. "Oh, we can just tell people to do it online, then we can hire fewer people" seems to be the attitude nowadays. That goes for government, finance, insurance, and a raft of other so-called "service" industries.

Snow is back here, though fairly light so far. No shoveling needed yet, anyhow.

I'll put on some Wild Goat (yes, that is the new name for local roaster Fire Roasted) Snow Day Dark Roast. Teas are Canadian Breakfast and Sunday Tea. Pitchers are washed and refilled with unsweet iced tea and lemonade. Soda stock is good. There's hot chocolate available with mini-marshmallows for a suitable garnish.

When I was in university, the whole fraternity/sorority thing was kind of on the outs here. Some existed but they by and large were not allowed on campuses and had to operate on their own without support from the universities or student organizations. So wasn't even a consideration back then. Not sure about today. In the end, getting into a school that had the program I wanted would be most important.

WYE spend a month by yourself on a retreat of some form?

Not much of a fisherperson period, but river/lake most likely. I have done that as a kid at the cottage.

Quality critically-acclaimed movie or wildly entertaining B-movie?

No snow falling here. We've actually lost most of ours after a couple warm (relatively) wet days. Been very windy today, though.

Hope you're all keeping well in spite of the continuing insanity from your side of the border.

And I keep forgetting to highlight it, but we do have some goodies in the freezer, too.

2026, like 2025 but worse. Oh gods, what a start to the year. You Americans need to rise up and march on the White House or something. Hey, tomorrow is January 6 so there is precedent. 😲😒

Anyhow, I've put on a fresh pot of coffee. Teas (Earl Grey and Assam) are steeped, too. Hot chocolate is available if you need a cocoa fix. Cold bevvies seem to be in good shape. And goodies are out.

Quote by gillianleeza
Wuthering Heights. It is one of my favorite books. I'll probably watch the new movie, but I don't care for the casting of Margo Robbie. Maybe I'll change my mind when I see the film.

I actually saw the Olivier film before I ever read the book (well, really, I heard Kate Bush's song* first). Did like the book when I finally read it but not sure I care for another film version. It's been filmed so many times another one seems almost redundant but an adaptation of a classic novel with an A-list cast is never going to have issues getting greenlit.

Footnote: Kate has admitted that not only had she not read the novel, but she hadn't even seen the full Olivier film. The song was inspired just by seeing the opening of the film. Doesn't stop it from being a fantastic Kate song, even if I prefer the re-recorded vocal she did for her "best of" album The Whole Story to the 1978 original. Her singing really improved over her first decade in the industry.

Quote by gillianleeza
I haven't heard, but is this the only movie, or will there be more? I have no idea how he will fit the story into a single film.

As far as I have heard, it's a one and done, albeit probably a long one. Nolan's only multi-part series is his Batman/The Dark Knight trilogy at this point. But you're right, the epic would actually lend itself to a duology or even trilogy (or a one or two season TV series for that matter).

Prog rock right now, a band called Moron Police that I found on a YouTube commentator's top prog of 2025 list. I'll find a video later.

If I could swim well enough to take up diving, yes. I love sharks.

WYE go to a "meet and greet" to meet a musician you are a fan of?

Used to be a "racer" but having problems even engaging with books right now.

Write pure fiction or thinly disguised real life?

Whoa, yeah, hello. It's 2026, do you know where your children are?

For coffee, we have a French Roast from Bridgehead (all their products are fair trade). For teas, we have their organic Assam Breakfast and Imperial Jasmine. Fridge pitchers are washed and refilled with the usual unsweet iced tea and lemonad. Hot chocolate (also fair trade) and mini marshmallows are available, too.

And there's cake!!

Death metal. Really heavy, brutal death metal from Poland. Band name is Dormant Ordeal, album is Tooth And Nail and that title kind of says it all. Here's a track to give you a sense of what this kind of metal sounds like.

And good morning, y'all. Had to dig out yet again. Not a huge accumulation yesterday but we had high winds so there was a drift across the drive right in front of the garage and the plow went through, creating another big drift at the street end. And the drive home last night was not pleasant, though it got better as I moved westward across the city.

Coffee and tea are hot and ready. There's cookies added to the remaining pie and brownies, too.

Quote by WriterGirl
My BiL is having major shoulder surgery New Year’s Eve. The surgeon kindly worked him in since their insurance deductible had been met for the year.

OTOH, ugh to surgery on New Year's Eve.

OTOH, yay for surgeons willing to work around insurance in your system.

With a degree in Classics under my belt and having studied the epic in a course during that program, I am always up for a new film version or adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey. It's a timeless tale of a man trying to get home against incredible odds and challenges. Christopher Nolan directs with Matt Damon as the hero, Anne Hathaway as his long-suffering wife Penelope, and Tom Holland as their son Telemachus along with a raft of other big names in other parts.

There's been some shade thrown at the fact Nolan has his Greek warriors dressed in Hellenic (so 6th-5th century BCE) rather than Mycenaean (c. 14th-12th century BCE) garb but I have my doubts even most ancient Greeks who read The Odyssey actually knew what their Bronze Age ancestors looked like. They probably pictured them as looking contemporary with themselves and that's borne out by vase paintings and other art based on the tales.

Cute casting note: Zendaya appears as the goddess Athene, which gives her some scenes with Tom Holland, who is her romantic partner in real life (and they've worked together in two, soon to be three, Spiderman films as well). I've long thought of her as a good choice for Aphrodite in something but she could make a good Athene, too.

As is her wont, Floor Jansen ended her year by knocking one out of the park. In an appearance on the Dutch holiday Top 2000, she sang a magnificent cover of "Old and Wise" by Alan Parsons Project. It's the closer from APP's 1982 album Eye In The Sky (she was 1 when it came out) and has never been big here but did chart in The Netherlands. Those wordless vocals at the end were a sax solo in the original and she really works wonders with it. As I longtime Alan Parsons fan, I love this performance, probably the best version of the song including the original.

Back to work and back to winter. Blowing snow here. Lovely weather if you're a polar bear, I guess.

Kind of wrestling with the new story. I kind of know where to go and what should happen but putting it together on the page is proving challenging. Hopefully in the new year I'll get it together.

Anyone have cool plans for New Year's Eve or Day?

For coffee, there's Wild Goat St. Drogo. For teas, there's Assam Organic and Yorkshire Gold. Hot chocolate available along with mini marshmallows. Washed the pitchers in the fridge and refilled them with unsweet iced tea and lemonade. Soda stock looks good. Still lots of pie and brownies if you're a mite peckish.

Belated Christmas music. "In The Bleak Mid-Winter" is a song with music by early 20th-century English composer Gustav Holst setting words by poet Christina Rossetti. This arrangement is by tenor and arranger Blake Morgan of the UK choral group Voces8. He sings and plays guitar, joined on vocals by former Voces8 first soprano Andrea Haines. Gorgeous arrangement of one of my favourite religious Christmas songs.

And since we have just passed the Solstice, there's some Wild Goat (formerly Fire-Roasted) Solstice coffee in the coffee pot. For teas, there's Scottish Breakfast and Darjeeling. Pitchers in the fridge are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Soda stock looks good. There's hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows for those craving that. And there's pie. No reason. Just because pie is yummy. And a plate of our fine brownies.

So I am sitting here in my home office looking out my window at a Japanese maple that now looks like some kind of glass sculpture. It's coated in a fairly heavy layer of ice after we got freezing rain for much of yesterday. Looks pretty as long you don't have to walk on it. I cleared some of my drive yesterday since we had company last night but the rest ain't looking too pretty.

New Year's is looming and I'm thinking my New Year's resolution, as much as I ever make one, is to get more writing done and out, including for here. I've been kind of caught up with writing some longer works but that means my output has dropped. I might target publishing a story a month across all sites that I publish with a focus on here, but we shall see how the year develops. I only had three stories go up on here this year and all were comp entries or came about because of comps. That kind of sucks but I know why it happened. I need to rectify that for sure.

Age is just another number.

Fresh if possible but if store-bought, at least from a bakery or a store with one in-store.

Epic fantasy series: book or TV/movie?

Quote by AnnaMayZing
Hopefully, next year, I will be here a little more with some new stories. take care and best wishes, Anna.

Yay! More Anna! And best wishes to you. Hope you're having a good holiday season.

And to all of you: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

One more week until 2026. Have a great holiday season. I've put on fresh coffee and tea and there's lots of our Christmas goodies, though I doubt anyone needs a sugar fix today.