Good to hear that she's getting along with her recovery. And that grandpa is still helping out.😊 We're a bit far to help them much but if I'm retired by the time they have kids, we'll probably move closer.
And a haunted garbage disposal? Sounds more horror comedy than straight horror. Unless it got that way by someone being fed down it in pieces. 😲
I would like to do Route 66 someday, I think, but I'm getting a stiff and cranky for those sorts of drives. I drove a bit of it on one of my US trips. To be frank, if I am speeding to a destination in the US other than maybe Michigan or Ohio, it's usually by plane. Driving is because I want to do the scenic route.
Team sport (e.g. soccer, hockey) or individual sport (e.g. tennis, badminton)?
Quote by WriterGirl
I do love brick, though.
Our builder offered brick and it looks nice so we went with it. My history was with asphalt (parents' place) and concrete (my first house) and in retrospect, I should have gone with one of those. Both are more practical, esp. up here in the land of ice and snow.
I can't really believe I wrote that. I blame my state of mind.
Good morning and welcome. Coffee and tea are refreshed and hot. How are things in your world?
I'm getting a new driveway. Bricks are too much of a pain so instead of getting them relaid again (2nd time in the house's 25 year history), I'm ditching them in favour of concrete. Not cheap but it's supposed to be good for 30-40 years and I'll be happy if I'm still breathing then (I'd be 90-100).
Yeesh. That'll be the first story in almost 3 weeks and only the fourth in May. Wish I could get something going that I can get out quickly. Current projects are all running long and won't be done any time soon.
Sunny here for a couple days after a fairly nice weekend. Hope Americans are having decent weather for their long weekend.
There's some Deathwish Dark Roast on for coffee. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Black Currant. Cold beverages are lookin' good.
I am almost old enough to remember when this song originally came out. Alice Cooper has been a fixture in rock almost my entire life and is still going strong at 77. And his backing band is one of the best in the business to boot. Here he is at Hellfest 2022 telling the audience in no uncertain terms that "School's out for Summer".
So, I am once again toying with how to get an e-book together for self-publication. I know a few here have done so already. Love to hear about your experiences, tips, tricks, what worked, what store you used (Kindle, Smashwords, etc.) and so on. To be frank, I don't know much myself, just some broad ideas.
Right now, I am just experimenting with compiling my horror stories (all currently on here) into a collection. Not sure if it's really something I would publish or just a way to figure out how to do things. At the very least, my goal would be end up with an epub of them. Then I can decide if it's at all marketable. Big problem I see is artwork. I would rather not use AI for this but not sure I want to sink money into engaging an artist, either. So maybe hunt around for some royalty-free stock that works and then do some monkeying about with it in GIMP.
FYI, my current toolset is all open source. LibreOffice and GIMP running on Linux Mint. I've looked at Scribus, an open source DTP package, for doing the final assembly but it does not yet export epub and seems like it will need some time to learn. LibreOffice might just be enough, too.
So here's a thread on self-publishing. Anything related to the hows and whats of it is on topic. Plugging your book belongs in Sing Your Own Praises, though, unless you're also talking about how you put it together or marketed and sold it.
Sunday!! And it really is SUNday here. Not a cloud in the sky for once. Though the forecast suggests that won't last.
It's a housework day and maybe cut the grass. Oh, and I was slinging pancakes this morning. So there's some out for anyone needing some yummies. For coffee I've put on on Kicking Horse Three Sisters. Tea is Assam Organic. Fresh lemonade and iced tea are in the fridge. Sodas are stocked up.
Hope folks are having a nice weekend and have a nice week ahead.
Later, alligators.
It continues to astound me that people can see a basic service like medical care as a commodity, not as an essential service. Even here with our public healthcare system, I see that attitude around, esp. in our Conservative Party. There's actual resistance to extending it to cover dental, drug, mental health, and home/longterm care, even though those should be part and parcel of a comprehensive health system.
Sorry to hear, Gil. It just seems to keep coming at you, doesn't it? Vibes to you and your family.
We just lost my dad's sister a couple weeks ago after a short hospice stay. Late 80s and had a rough ride healthwise in recent years, including a nasty bout with C-19. Still, she seemed pretty good when I saw her last summer at her son's place. That's basically the end of that generation in my family tree. Her husband is still alive but that's a relative by marriage. He turns 91 this year and is still in good shape last I heard.
Coffee and tea are refreshed as are the goodies. Rainy and a bit miserable here until the weekend.
Pondering whether I can find something to write for here that won't tie me down in endless convolutions like my three or so current projects have kind of done (all are headed for novella territory or so). Something I can put to bed in 4-5K words.
New day, new week. Survived the long weekend and got stuff done so all is well.
Coffee of the week is Kicking Horse Grizzly Claw. For teas we have Yorkshire Gold and Earl Grey Cream. Fresh pitchers of iced tea and lemonade are in the fridge along with an assortment of sodas. Kettle is hot and ready if you're wanting some other hot beverages. And there's fresh plates of brownies and cookies.
I'm not generally a big fan of the kind of music that comes out of Eurovision but there always seems to be at least one performer or song that catches my interest. This year, it happens to be the winner, "Wasted Love" by Austrian singer JJ. The song itself is decent, but JJ's voice is stunning. This is a male countertenor who sings as high as or higher than some female sopranos.
Quote by gillianleeza
He's happy where he is. I received the best news: his long-term health care has finally approved his claim and will pay almost all of the monthly fees. It only took six months to get it approved. It's a huge weight off my mind.
Holy hell, what a crap show, though. Six months? At least it's settled and they're taking care of the fees.
Hope your recovery goes well, too. And Jeff's daughter.
It being Victoria Day, we went plant shopping. Picked up a new patio umbrella for the table I use when I work on the deck. Old one was probably letting more light through than it was stopping. It's the original we bought with the set so overdue for replacement, I guess.
How about some cute, fun metal for Saturday afternoon? I mean, Baby Metal are definitely an acquired taste but who can argue with a song called "Gimme Chocolate."?
The amazing thing is that the crowd in the pit are just as lively for them as for any more serious, heavier band.
Heading into a long weekend here and in much of Canada. "Victoria Day", celebrating our first monarch (Confederation happened during Victoria's reign) and our relationship to the monarchy. To be honest, it's mostly the first long weekend of the summer. People open their cottages, take their first camping trips, high schools have their proms, people plant their flower beds, and so on. Weather looks mixed but today is nice at least. I'm working in my alternate home office, aka the deck.
Quote by verbal
My daughter can now stand up and sit down without assistance.
That's great. Progress is always good when recovering.
Never read Moby Dick. Not sure if I ever will. My ability to read much of anything seems limited these days.
I'll put on some Fire-Roasted St. Drogo coffee. There's Assam and Raspberry Royale in the teapots. Pitchers have been washed and refilled with lemonade and iced tea. Still plenty of cookies and brownies to go around.
Auri is a trio consisting of Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards, songwriting), Troy Donockley (various winds, guitar, vocals), and Johanna Kurkela (vocals). The first two are bandmates in the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, Johanna is Tuomas' spouse and has her own career as a singer going. For their upcoming third album, Auri have added a drummer and, no surprise, it is Nightwish drummer Kai Hahto. So half of Nightwish is now in Auri as well. With Nightwish on hiatus for this year, they are also able to do a fairly extensive tour, something Auri has not always been able to do given all members have other musical lives.
Trivia: The name is taken from a character in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, a favourite of Tuomas. He has also written songs based on the books for both Nightwish and Auri.
So you want to get paid for your writing? Really? Well, here's some possible markets. This list is heavier on "literary fiction", i.e. general fiction not aligned to a specific genre, and has less of the genre markets that tend to dominate the monthly lists. Still, markets like Clarkesworld and Escape Artists (who have several fiction podcasts and sites geared to various genres) are here, too. See what you think. Maybe your next publication is in here someplace.
I actually think that I have been to more National than State Parks in my journeys around the US. However, provincial parks up here can be quite nice, so I imagine your state parks can be, too. Still, most of the famous ones are national parks so that.
Hike or mountain bike a trail?
I think I would prefer The Mavericks to Dwight, truth be told. Not that either is my usual anyhow. Always find it interesting when a supporting act outshines the leads.
Glad your daughter's surgery went okay. Wishing her a good and speedy (as possible) recovery.
Good morning!! After a run of nice days, we've got cloud and a chance of showers in my world today. Oh well, the grass and other greenery will appreciate it.
Coffee is on. Went with Tobermory Flowerpot Island. Teas are Earl Grey and Yorkshire. Fresh pitchers of lemonade and iced tea await in the fridge along with restocked sodas. And I'll put a plate of cookies out.
Ugh. Sick plus jet lag sounds quite unpleasant. Though I have been there, done that myself. Glad you had a good trip. Germany is a nice country.
Throwing on some coffee and tea just in case others happen by. Got my housework done. On to cutting the grass next. Tomorrow, maybe we'll do some hiking or biking for Mother's Day. Depends on what we feel like.
Later, alligators.
