Quote by DenimAngel

Today is LIBRARY day !!

Music to this old librarian's ears.😎

Fun day tomorrow. In-person town hall with all the other IT people from my employer's corporate group. My first time at a large gathering since March 2020. Vaccine passports and masks mandatory (except during lunch), of course. Excited but also feeling a bit of trepidation. After all, COVID is on a bit of a surge in Ontario right now, even if my area has been somewhat spared so far relative to some neighbouring regions.

Grabs a couple pecan divines from Big Bird

Putting on the kettle for an evening tea. Going with Coronation Street Green myself. Anyone else?

Been watching Ken Burns bio of Thomas Jefferson with Mrs. Mendalla. Hits all the big notes like the Declaration of Independence and his presidency, but also works hard at painting a picture of Jefferson as a person, especially the sometimes contradictory nature of the man. He was a patrician who was an ardent advocate for democracy and a slave owner who argued for emancipation. Sounds like he was also a doting grandpa in his twilight years. His relationship with John Adams is touched on quite a bit, too. Style-wise, it's Ken Burns. Not sure I can describe it better than that. If you've seen Civil War or Jazz or any of Burns other documentaries, you pretty much know what you're getting.

We have a tablet that is being flaky, but not as bad as yours. Just spontaneously reboots at inopportune moments.

I have got coffee in the coffee pot and Earl Grey in the teapot. God help me if I ever mix those up. Hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate.

Have a good one!

One of my favorite Youtubers right now is alto rock singer Violet Orlandi. Terrific voice and a lively personality that comes across in her vlogs. Here she teams with Russian cover band Shershen & Zaritskaya, whose lead singer Daria Zaritskaya is no slouch in the vocal department herself, for an eighties hard rock classic.

We actually learned Dominique in school. I remember nun of it. 😀 Didn't realize (or had forgotten) that it predated my existence by a couple years.

Discovered Citizen Queen this morning. Not sure why they didn't come up in my recommendations earlier given that they seem to have a connection to Pentatonix (and certainly come across as an all-female Pentatonix on first blush), who I have subscribed to and followed for years. Five terrific voices that work beautifully together.

It's morning and that means fresh coffee in the coffee pot, fresh tea in the teapot (Irish Breakfast today, and hot water for whatever other hot beverages people may desire.

Housecleaning, writing, and staying warm are the order of the day here. 2C high with snow expected later where I am.

And since I am doing some writing at some point today, a couple of those writing themed cookies would be good fuel, I think. A pen and a typewriter, perhaps.

Not usually a big fan of Swedish metal band Sabaton. In fact, I only discovered them because their drummer is married to one of my favorite singers. But this song really does a lovely job with the famous story of the 1914 Christmas Truce.

Reworking the basic idea. The one I did last night did not stand up in the cold light of day. It was like "ghost story mark 2". Very bland and nothing really outstanding. Probably based on something I've heard or read before.

Goooooooooooooooooooooood Morning, StoriesSpace!! The celebration of our comp continues!!

Coffee is brewing, there's lemon tea in the teapot, and hot water for whatever other hot beverages you may want. Checked the mini marshmallow supply and Sara's secret stash.

Mixed weather here. Cloudy, chance of showers, but getting some sun peeking through. Still hammering away, trying to get a story together for the Ghost Orchid Press comp. One of my ideas will definitely be too long once I flesh it out properly so will probably circle back and develop it further for here.

Dang, this is hard. I am used to doing a slow burn build-up in my ghost stories but with only 500 words available ... yeah, it's not easy. But I have something at least.

Quote by verbal
No Talia Friday. Not making this up: I haven't seen the cats since I woke up. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall.

Perhaps you should be glancing over your shoulder more often...😈

And congratulations again, Ping. That story was a bit trigger-y for me, to be honest, but that's just a sign of how good it is. I have been reading and watching horror long enough that it takes some effort to trigger me.

Quote by JamesPBear

So, the Spooky Story winners have been posted – and there are a number of Inspiration regulars among them!

Ping is the Big Enchilada, taking 1st prize

Violent the Virtuous gets 2nd place, and

Writer Girl the Amazing gets 3rd!

1st Place: Innocent Until Proven Gullible by  Ping

2nd Place: The Wonderful World of Wally Weasel by  Violet_the_Verbose

3rd Place: Just a Girl Who Loves Cats by  WriterGirl

Runners Up:

• After The Curtain Fell by  Welshdreamer42

• Eidolon by  Tams

• Out Of The Lake by  redwriter

• The Empty Office by  Mendalla

• Dark Image by  TomEccleston

• A Village in Cornwall by  Verity

• A Matter of Time by  AnnaMayZing

.

Congratulations to you all! I expect Ping will be buying hot chocolate all around!

You neglected to mention the "honorable mention" that went to a certain white, fuzzy Inspirations regular. Congratulations, James. Personally, I thought yours was top ten material but then I would have to figure out who of that group wasn't and I'm not going there. As Molly said in her announcement post, it must have been a tough one to judge.

Anyhow, I picked up some nice Ethiopian beans from my son's old coffee roastery so those are ground and brewing. The coffee plant actually originated in East Africa so Kenyan and Ethiopian coffees are as close as you can get to the "original" I suppose.

And there's some nice English Breakfast in the teapot for the tea crowd. Hot water is on standby in case Ping comes through with that hot chocolate or someone wants a different tea (including gerbil teas). Mini marshmallows available for them who wants 'em. I've hidden some in a special place for Sara to make sure she always has some. 😇

Quote by Welshdreamer42

Quote by verbal

As a side note, I have friends doing NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month--churning out thousands of words a day, anyone doing that?

I keep seeing posts from people who are taking part, they’re hysterical, lol. It’s a crazy idea but one I’d love to try one day. Not this year, though. I’m having one of those years when it takes me a month to write a Drabble 😂

I would love to take one of my longer story ideas and do NaNoWriMo with it but a full-time job makes it hard to even get short stories out at the pace I'd like, let alone tackling a novel in a month. But retirement is not far off...😉

Oo, pretty close to how I would have called it.

Congratulations to Ping, Violet, and Writergirl on their top finishes. All well-deserved.

And congratulations to all for a wonderful slate of comp entries! What a wonderful way to celebrate Halloween.

The comp page still says the announcement is due tomorrow. So one day more...

One day more
Another day, another destiny

Quote by DenimAngel
Scott I'm picturing Gerbils hanging out in the tea cupboard..

Dang. I thought those were mice and put out traps. 😳 Hope the cat doesn't find out.

Quote by redwriter
Mendalla, excuse my blind ignorance but I note that most contributors on this site take the opportunity to plug their most recent work at the foot of their piece: eg. You have shown 'The Healer's Secret--which led me to that very fine tale.

That's called a "Signature" or "sig" for short. You set it as follows:

• Go to the main forums page (where all the forums are listed)

• There should be a "More" option after Search on the right end. Click it

• Click Forum Settings and there is an editor box where you can create your signature

• When Done, click Save and then find one of your posts in the forum to see what it looks like

To get the links for your stories, just go to the desired story and copy what appears in your browser's address bar, then paste it in the editor box. You can also add text (as I did in mine) for the title, blurb, whatever. Some people just put favorite sayings in their sig.

As for stronger than hot chocolate, I'm sure the coffee is just dripping with caffeine though I cannot say for sure since I don't drink the stuff. I am currently drinking good old-fashioned Tetley's Orange Pekoe for a midday fix.

"Gerbil tea" brings some pretty horrific images to my mind but I'm warped that way I guess.😈

Good morning!! Coffee is brewing, kettle is hot, there's some Scottish Breakfast in the teapot and lots of other option waiting for you in the tea cupboard including some herbal ones and maybe even some gerbil ones. And, of course, hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. 😊

I am writing a story that might go in the Ghost Orchid Press comp mentioned in another thread but I am already thinking 500 words is not enough for it so it may end up here instead. Need to decide soon so I can try something else for that.

Quote by verbal

Quote by Mendalla
Found a tin in my work credenza and I am not even sure what type it is. Smells stronger than my senchas so maybe some Chinese green tea I had kicking around, though I thought I had finished that.

Clearly it's weed.

Nope, definitely green tea. Have had two cups. Just not sure what kind. Could still try smoking it, though, I suppose. Though the irony of someone working for a respiratory care company smoking anything in their office might cause the universe to collapse. Or that person to dust off their resume. 😨

And I note that we are getting close to the big day. Shudders with tense excitement

I hope we all take a moment when the results come out to promote them on our social media. Good way to get the site some positive attention. I'm only on Twitter plus some other boards but I imagine some of us must be on FB, , and whatever else passes for communication these days.

Quote by verbal
Today the cats and I are staging the fight scene in Godzilla vs. Mothra.

That would be a sight to behold, I am thinking. One of my favorite of the "vs." movies.

First time eating out for work lunch since March 2020. Falafel was the choice. There's regional chain here called Osmow's (I think they operate in like three Canadian provinces) that makes terrific falafel, shawarma, etc.

Putting on a fresh pot of joe and boiling the kettle for some green tea. Found a tin in my work credenza and I am not even sure what type it is. Smells stronger than my senchas so maybe some Chinese green tea I had kicking around, though I thought I had finished that.

And here I thought no one had noticed my little joke. 😉

(okay, it was unintended so I'll have to blame my subconscious 😳)

Gooooood morning, StoriesSpace!

Yeah, I am up early. Had a vicious headache yesterday and then got really sleepy once it cleared so I flakes out early. Probably not totally adjusted to the time change, either.

Coffee is on, tea in pot is Earl Grey, hot water is available for hot chocolate or other teas.

Seeing an opthalmologist for a consultation about my cataract next week so maybe soon.

Quote by gillianleeza
All my in-law's joke that the world will end, but it will end half an hour later in Newfoundland.

Yep, that is the all-time classic Canadian joke.

And as for Red Rose, the commercial said it all back when I was younger: "Only in Canada, you say. Pity."

Though in my experience, English folks who move here aren't fond of it

Not going there yet myself, but the presenters at the Microsoft conference I attended (virtually) last week were mostly using 11 and I love the taskbar icons and Start button being centered. Bottom left worked well in the days of small, 4:3 screen but on a 27" widescreen like I use these days, it puts them a bit out of the way so centering them seems like a good solution.

I am not sure what a "white chocolate pumpkin dream" is but I am so having a couple.

We were up hiking in a provincial park North of here alleged to have some of the world's finest sunsets. We have been there many times before but had never stayed for the sunset because we only recently heard about them. Allegation confirmed. Gorgeous sunset. It helped that the weather was perfect. Clear sky with just a hint of cloud.

Quote by redwriter

But you were talking 'breakfast' when it is three o'clock here on a grubby cold afternoon.

Heh heh. At least your country is all in the same time zone. Canada spans 6 with one a quirky half hour ahead of the next one so we have to worry about this stuff even when dealing with other Canadians (James and I are in the same time zone, but Ping is 2 hours behind us). And the US is similar (I think they might span more if you count Hawaii). Nice to hear from you, though.

It's chilly here, but not grubby. I'm actually headed out to a local provincial park for a bit of fresh air and hiking.

And the run of nice weather in ape-land continues. 😊

Got a day off for some family stuff, so will get to enjoy it, too.

Coffee is on, tea in the pot is Irish Breakfast, kettle is hot for those in need of other teas or hot beverages.

Later, alligators.

First album of new original material from Ian Anderson and company to use the Jethro Tull name in eighteen years is coming in January and the first single dropped this week.

You know things are bad when your grocery list is more exciting than your latest story.