Quote by Molly

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Would you raise a ticket on this?

Seems fine now. Having issues elsewhere but SS is behaving.

Coffee coffee toil and trouble

Cauldron boil and cauldron bubble

Yeah, that's going to be some right strong coffee. Tea is Russian Caravan and Scottish Breakfast. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages. Unsweet iced tea and lemonade are fresh and ready. Soda stock is check and replenished.

Good morning, inspirators!

Winter is officially over. Meaning my cars are now both running on all season tires and no more ice or snow is hence allowed. In fact, the weather here in Southwestern Ontario is downright summer-y.

My home Internet is down. Thank heaven for phones with hotspots. I think cable layers working on our street likely buggered it up but we won't have a tech on site until tomorrow to find out (this started c. 2pm yesterday). 😠

Quote by Molly

There have been a few things running in the background. Mine did it too a few times, but it seems to be doing just fine now.

Login seems better but 4 of the 5 images are broken on my desktop (but not on mobile, interestingly). I am using Edge on desktop so maybe that's somehow a factor???

Quote by verbal
I've been taking long wandering walks on these beautiful last few days, and I'm sure I have another one ahead of me today.

Ditto here in Ontario. Should last until Sunday, it appears from the forecast.

To the hot beverages verbs got going (thanks, man) I have refreshed the lemonade and iced tea (unsweet, there's lemon and sugar available if you need 'em) in the fridge.

Writing is very haphazard right now. Got stuff going but just not having the energy or motivation to stick to it. Trying, though.

Have there been any updates recently (like the past week or so)? I am having problems with the "Remember Me" switch on login not working again (I will try dumping cache since that sometimes fixes this) and the images for the Top Categories on the home page are broken. Just wondering if something borked something. And if it is just me or if these are happening to others.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

Deceiver of Fools - Within Temptation and the Metropole Orchestra

From Black Symphony, I guess? Love that performance.

I was listening to a contemporary of theirs on my walk today. My Winter Storm was Tarja Turunen's second solo album after she parted ways with Nightwish. This song also made its way on to her "best of" compilation last year.

Good morning! Sunny here and warming up as we move through the Easter weekend.

Coffee is hot and in the pot. There's Red Rose and Lemon tea. Hot water is on for other teas or hot chocolate. Sodas, lemonade, and iced tea await you in the fridge.

And look what the bunny left. 😊

Hey, look who's hanging out in my backyard. Anyone for chocolate eggs?

So I've started a new story about my priestly adventure party, this one moving the action far from the part of the world where I started into an older Southern region that draws heavily on Mesopotamia and Egypt. So the story opens in a city called Al'risa where the ancient emperors are buried in tombs around the city, which itself was created to house the workers, priests, etc. needed for the funerary and tomb industry. I am trying to make it a bit strange and exotic relative to the Iron Age and later European sheen of the Tana stories and the first story about the new characters.

I think Anna? posted about Natalia Tsarikova upthread a while ago. She's a Russian soprano who trained in Italy and now resides in Finland. Excellent voice. She is probably best known for covers of bands like Nightwish but this is an original song by Finnish songwriter Juha Alanampa who also produced.

Depends on the cake. For what we usually call "cake" here, fork. Too soft and loose for fingers. But for something like a fruitcake that's more dense and bread-like, fingers are preferred.

Walk or bike for exercise?

Oddly, for one not really actively Christian, The Gospels. I am a leader on a discussion forum called Bible Passage of the Week on another site and we've been doing stories related to Easter and Holy Week recently.

Ape wanders in. Ape sees brownies. Ape starts swiping.😊

Good morning, all. Here's some nice hot java to go with those brownies. Tea, too, Assam and English Breakfast.

I've put both lemonade and iced tea in the fridge. Help yourselves.

Bright and sunny here and looking good for the whole weekend.

Good morning! Ape here. Worked until 10pm last night (grumble). Oh well, last day of work before a long weekend.

Coffee is a Blue Mountain from Jamaica. For teas we have English Breakfast and Wakoucha (Japanese red/black). Hot water is one for other hot bevvies. Iced tea is in the fridge for those in need of something cool. Restocked the sodas, too.

Shun

It's morning! Good morning!

Wet here. Rain, chance of thunderstorms.

Coffee is ready, as are pots of Earl Grey and Red Rose tea. Hot water is ready. There's fresh lemonade in the fridge.

Later, alligators.

Even as I work on my fantasy tales, I am meditating on doing some space s-f. There's a whole bunch of different world-building questions with that genre. Like,

Is there faster-than-light travel? (the answer to this one affects the answer to the rest, since if there is no FTL, travel is confined to one system unless another system is quite close by)

Are civilizations common or rare?

Are there multiple civilizations, an overarching galactic "Federation" or "Empire", individual systems?

Are the aliens "alien" or just humans with pointy ears and extra bumps on their heads?

Is there lots of unknown space so that exploring that space is important (Star Trek) or is it a well-settled, well-traveled galaxy where conflicts, politics, etc. are more important (Star Wars)?

Probably more, but that's a start.

Quote by verbal
saying goodbye to Talia, who will be leaving tomorrow for a little while.

Been there, done that. But I had a kid to look after, too, when she was travelling for her academic conferences and such.

Quote by verbal
Mets lost last night, and lost first place to the Braves.

Oh well, Sara will be happy, at least.

Quote by JamesPBear
It's not your deodorant

You're assuming gorillas use deodorant. 😲😉

It's the usual mixed bag. Seaside gothic, women and werewolves (open only to women), mysteries with a twist, superheroes saving the planet, and so much more. Got a story idea? Have a look and see if it fits any of them.

» 35 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for April 2023 (authorspublish.com)

And lest you think I have gone soft, here's German rockers Feuerschwanz with some help from Swiss singer Fabienne Erni of the band Eluveite.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I just listened to the whole album. I have a feeling it may just be getting ordered! 👌

Visions are amazing. They do have a bit of a revolving door lineup, unfortunately. Clementine (female singer) has been around a while now but I think Pirates last year was Michele's (male singer) first studio album with them. I am hoping he sticks around a while. I like how his voice works with Clementine's. Rather like Marko Hietala's work with the female leads in Nightwish.

In much different vein, English choral group Voces8 do a range of music from Renaissance through to modern. Here they team up with American composer Eric Whitacre for one of his works with Whitacre himself conducting.

Quote by elizabethblack

A day in the life...

LOL. Maybe it's not his cat. Maybe it's the cop's cat. 🤣

Good morning, fellow writers, readers, and literati. The coffee is hot and ready. There's a couple pots of tea, Russian Caravan and English Breakfast. Hot water is on for other teas and hot beverages. And there's a pitcher of iced tea chilling in the fridge.

Had a hellish day at work yesterday and other things are bothering me, too. Events at another site I am on are making me rather glad this place is quiet. Still, we need some more life and oomph around here, I think. Maybe I'll try posting here more to see if I can draw some folks out of the woodwork.

New live album from Austrian-based band Visions of Atlantis and it is a beauty. I got into this band last year when their album Pirates came out. This is a live version of my favorite song off the album and one of my faves of 2022 period.

That sounds like fun, I think. Maybe we should have another wedding someday (30 years now).

Gak. I hate blood. Take care, Jim, and hope they can find a med that works without these issues.

Good morning, Putting on a pot of coffee from the Jamaican Blue Mountains. Teas are Assam Bukhiel and Red Rose. Hot water is ready for other hot drinks. There's a pitcher of lemonade in the fridge, too. Bit chilly to need it here, but I imagine it is warming up in other parts.

Oh, and here's a little something for breakfast. Hot off the ape's stove. Help yerself.

Quote by gillianleeza
it felt at times they were trying to cram in all the tropes that would appeal to the Oscar voters.

God, I hate movies that are blatant Oscar bait. Make a movie based on the story and characters and let the awards come if they come. Some of my favorite movies would never get within a mile of an Oscar but are much better movies, IMHO, than some of the movies made with award potential in mind.

Look up the s-f movie The Quiet Earth. Marvelous, moody, character-driven post-apoc story with only a few, very pointed and relevant sfx.

/End Rant

Want - wand

So I am trying to flesh out my world's religion now that I have a priestess (a "Lorn" in the parlance of this society) and her apprentice as characters. I have settled on making it monothestic, but also working to make it somewhat different from Western monotheism in our world. There are some elements clearly with Jewish or Christian roots, but there is no "Bible" or salvation in their beliefs (maybe there will be a sect like that later, but so far not). Really, it is more like a pagan tradition that has evolved into a kind of monotheism or henotheism (multiple deities but one is supreme above the others). So far I have:

Denith - "God"

Denith An - "Angels" or maybe lesser deities, basically spirit priest(esse)s

Denith Lorn - the human priesthood

Denith Sha - lay order who provide protection and other aid to the Denith Lorn

Tan Denatha - the Denith Lorn "Vatican", basically a huge palace complex where the leaders of the religion live and work

Colleges - sects within the Denith Lorn focused on particular things (e.g. Elera in my latest story is from the College of Spirits, which studies spirits, sorcery, etc.)

Good morning, Stories Space. Sunny here for now, but the weather is supposed to turn crappy (rain with possible thunderstorms) later in the day.

I've put on a pot of Ethiopian Yirgcheffe for the coffee set. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Wakucha (Japanese black tea). Hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate. Since I've been a bit scarce, I have checked and restocked sodas, marshmallows, and other such goodies. Bit early to start making lemonade and iced tea but since it really is Spring, I'll make a pitcher of the latter and put it in the fridge.

Trying to write but my mood has seriously sucked of late so it is hard to focus on a story.