Russian Caravan tea (blend of black teas with Lapsang Souchang, a smoked tea from China)

Starting my story today. I think I have it mostly sketched out in my brain but we shall see how the writing goes.

Ugh. Two World Cup quarterfinals decided by penalties, with Croatia and Argentina advancing. Today we have Morocco-Portugal and England-France. I am running 50-50 in my quarter final picks so far. I picked Croatia but not Argentina. For today, my picks are Portugal and England. Let's see how I do.

Since the comp page hasn't gone up yet, I'll just drop the link to the announcement thread here again as a reminder that there is new comp happening here. I'm starting my story shortly.

https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/site-announcements-and-members-feedback/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words-competition

Got some dark roast Costa Rican in the coffee pot. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Russian Caravan. Hot water is on tap for other teas and hot chocolate.

And here we go again. Brazil lost to Croatia in penalties, now Netherlands - Argentina has gone to penalties. This is the one offputting thing with soccer at the top level. Too many bloody games decided on penalties.

Have fun in California, verbs. Wish I was joining you two down there.

Pancakes

With maple syrup or pancake syrup?

Oh no. Sad to hear, Gil. I am hearing about too many beloved pets taking their leave of the world these days.😢

Good afternoon. Throwing on a pot coffee and Red Rose tea. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages.

Meditating on the comp pictures but don't have a plan yet

With 2022 being the year we, sadly, lost Vangelis, I've been doing a listen through of the three albums he did with Jon Anderson of Yes under the name Jon & Vangelis. I think I owned all three on vinyl and/or cassette at one point. Some incredible music. This is from Short Stories (1980).

Some evil person brought McCafe muffins to work so I am well past my sugar quota already. Oh well, it's only going to get worse as December wears on. The brib...er...gifts from suppliers have started rolling in.

At least there's diabetic-friendly cookies in this place. snarfs a pecan divine

My office HVAC rumbling away above me.

Say "Hello" to my friend.

No idea. I'm in the office today and wife didn't say anything before I left. So I guess I get a surprise.

That better be "Sweet tea" because "Sweat tea" sounds totally gross, with or without lemon. 😜

Haven't decided on my afternoon tea yet. Probably Wakoucha (Japanese Red) but might go with a Sencha (Japanese Green)

Figure skating. I soured on hockey long ago. Though with local favourites Virtue & Moir (ice dance) retired from competition, I haven't watched much figure skating of late, either.

Ice Dance or Pairs?

Woo hoo! New competition! And I am fairly sure I can manage a thousand by December 30. Just need to meditate on those photos a bit.

Are they bringing a bottle of screech? ,🤪

And sorry to hear about your grandmother's situation. Scammers are scum. There's no two ways about it. The bigger the scammer, the scummier, too. I saw that in Germany, it is going to take 5 hours to read out all the charges against executives of a fraudulent company that went under.😲

Good morning. There's some dark roast Nicaraguan coffee in the coffee pot. Put some Scottish Breakfast and Green (for etairay and later me) in the teapots. Hot water is on tap for other hot beverages.

Later, alligators.

Irish Breakfast tea

In the darkness, a smile appeared. I shuddered and fled.

As I try to yank myself back into the world of reading, I am starting a short novel that's been on my radar for a while (actually it might be a novella, forget how long it actually is). Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a horror story set in a creepy old Japanese mansion. A wealthy young man gets a permit to hold a wedding for some friends in the mansion where terrible things (like people being buried alive) happened. The author is Cassandra Khaw (they/them), a Malaysian-born writer who has put out several acclaimed horror and dark fantasy pieces as well as writing for the videogame industry.

English choral group Voces8 with their first seasonal release of 2022, a traditional French carol.

Last night was catchup night on Youtube. Two episodes of SciShow (general coverage of all sciences), one of Scishow Space (astronomy and space travel), and one of PBS Eons (deep time and evolution).

6169 (counting this way is divine)

Quote by verbal
Talia is in Cali, and I am joining her on Saturday.

Have fun. I haven't been to California in a while. We looked at taking a cruise to Hawaii out of either LA or Frisco but went with a Bahamas cruise out of NOLA instead. Hawaii will happen eventually. My boss is taking the one out of LA this coming winter so waiting for his review and advice.

Tetley's OP for now. Probably have Buddha's Blend after lunch (white and jasmine green)

Quiet is sometimes quite calming.

Swim with either, really, but sea turtles might be fun. Wonderful beasts.

Football (soccer) or American football?

Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston were cousins.

Bit late but I am still first one in. Putting on a nice pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey. Hot water is ready for hot chocolate or other teas and hot beverages.

Need to reboot my writing process and refocus a bit. Actually got through two chapters of reading a novel last night, something that might get me back on track for writing, too. Pulling the plug on some social media (including a site beginning with L) for a while to help with focus.

Later, alligators.

Happy birthday to whoever is the December baby. My mother was a December baby but actually cut it fine. Born on New Year's Eve. Another 24 hours and she could have shaved a year off her age. 🤣