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Mendalla

13 hours ago

Canada

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8 Feb 2021

Good to hear he made it okay. Now he's on the right side of the border, all will be well. evil4

evil4

Good afternoon Inspirators. It's been a Monday here. Kind of blah, really. I'm trying my hand at writing these days but it's a tough slog for some reason. Lack of inspiration or something. A couple of the stories are pretty good, too, just having trouble sticking with them.

No Sara yet but there's plenty of football and helmet cookies left to go with an afternoon cup of your preferred hot beverage.

7 Feb 2021

Quote by henrietta_fielding

This side of the pond, the 6 Nations rugby tournament has started this weekend. Always exciting!

Funnily enough, I was trying to explain the difference between American football (which is descended from rugby) and rugby to a German member over on another board. She was asking because of references to the Super Bowl.

Good morning, everyone, on the day of the Big Game that I shall endeavour to ignore.

Coffee and kettle are on! Hopefully Sara will be along later with some football-appropriate goodies but for now, I've stocked the breakfast bar with an assortment of muffins and pastries.

6 Feb 2021

Quote by gillianleeza
Afternoon everyone.

My son who is traveling is very independent but when he's scared he still calls Mom. He called at eleven last night after white-knuckle driving in the mountains all day with occasional whiteout conditions. Today is not going to be any better. I wish he would wait it out but he has a timetable he wants to stick to. At least he texted me this morning that they are going to drive south and try to go around the worst mountain passes and the blizzard conditions. It will add four or five hours to his trip but is the safer course of action. Of course, I will be worried sick all day until I hear from him hopefully safe in Seattle tonight.

Ugh. I've driven some mountain passes in summer and my thought was, "Damn, glad I don't have to do this in January." Kids. angry7

angry7

6 Feb 2021

Quote by gillianleeza
Afternoon everyone.

My son who is traveling is very independent but when he's scared he still calls Mom. He called at eleven last night after white-knuckle driving in the mountains all day with occasional whiteout conditions. Today is not going to be any better. I wish he would wait it out but he has a timetable he wants to stick to. At least he texted me this morning that they are going to drive south and try to go around the worst mountain passes and the blizzard conditions. It will add four or five hours to his trip but is the safer course of action. Of course, I will be worried sick all day until I hear from him hopefully safe in Seattle tonight.

Ugh. I've driven some mountain passes in summer and my thought was, "Damn, glad I don't have to do this in January." Kids. angry7

angry7

6 Feb 2021

Are Heaven and Hell real places, or states of mind?

6 Feb 2021

Shovelling again. It was a bit icy, maybe from the freezing fog we had or maybe a bit of freezing drizzle got mixed in with the snowfall. -11C(12.2F) this morning so I was a wee bit chilled to say the least by the time I came in, even wearing heavy mitts, a parka, and my official company toque (yes, in Canada even companies have toques).

Hot tea and maybe a couple couple cookies should warm me up, though.

5 Feb 2021

Another week has flown by. Will time ever slow down for a bit? Oh well, it's a weekend and it is one more week until a long weekend here. So there's that to look forward to.

Green Tea and cookies time.

4 Feb 2021

Interesting Twitter thread by author Fonda Lee. Her Greenbone Saga trilogy is absolutely amazing, combining Chinese wuxia with Western gangster fiction in a fantasy world not entirely different from ours in many regards, save the existence of a form of jade that grants superpowers to those able to use it (the "Greenbones" of the series title). But, yeah, the Godfather is a clear influence so even the protagonists, a family that leads one of the Greenbone "clans", tend to exist in morally grey areas a lot.

https://twitter.com/FondaJLee/status/1357423017341509632?s=20

FYI, the books are Jade City, Jade War, and Jade Legacy (first two are out, last is due out this coming Fall, IIRC)

4 Feb 2021

Quote by gillianleeza
My empty nest is now permanent, I think, lol.

Mine, too, it seems. Little bugger snuck off and got hitched on the sly when he and his girlfriend moved in together on the weekend. There are family reasons on her side, or so I suspect from what we've been told about her clan. They are promising a celebration once pandemic allows (Right now, even weddings are limited to 5 people indoors and only a nut would do an outdoor wedding Ontario in February.). I mean, it's kind of cool to have a daughter-in-law (even if I barely know her) but would have preferred it go differently than this.

Quote by gillianleeza
I start physical therapy in two weeks for my collar bone injury. It will be nice to get out of the house for something other than grocery shopping. At least I can drive again.

Mrs. Mendalla had physio in the Fall for a shoulder injury and only the first couple sessions were in-person, then it was virtual. The clinic has a fairly nice virtual care app (and I say that as someone now involved in development of one).

Good evening, gang. Kettle is on for a green tea (less caffeine so better for late day drinking). * helps self to a couple butterscotch marshmallow cruches *

2 Feb 2021

Quote by DenimAngel

That groundhog Phil saw his shadow today!

So, too, did most of our Canadian groundhogs (the Canadian one is a subspecies that wears a togue, swills terrible beer, and cheers for the Maple Leafs).

Another day, another dollar (well, they do pay me better than that). Winding down as the day rolls to an end. Shall enjoy some lemon ginger herbal and a couple cookies as I rest by the fire.

* meow *

Oops. Sorry. Didn't see you there. cat

cat

1 Feb 2021

Raven.

Door stopper novel or a collection of short stories?

31 Jan 2021

(my little brother actually had one of these)

31 Jan 2021

Movie not based on a book

Comic book/graphic novel or text only?

31 Jan 2021

Quote by DenimAngel

A nap could be in order there is lots of napping places here if you overlook the napping cat (Miss Purr)

I have some history with napping cats, so I can probably manage. It's when they wake up on your lap and stretch and the claws slide out as they stretch...yeah.XQjO11GXfpdwH0Ru

31 Jan 2021

Depends what you're after. Paul's the better singer, but Davy's cuter. drunken

drunken

Prestige TV series or award-winning movie?

31 Jan 2021

Quote by DenimAngel

Do Apes and little monkeys get along?
Stay safe everyone!

Gorillas and little monkeys are fine. Chimps, on the other hand, have been known to hunt baboons, so little monkeys are probably best to be wary around them. I don't think there are any monkeys that live alongside orangutans but orangs seem to be pretty chill as primates go so probably get along with just about anyone. But oh, those chimps. angry7

angry7

I feel like I should be in bed. Finally shed most of my muscle tension and headache, but it's left me feeling kind of drained. Probably a pick me up in the form of some tea and cookies would help.

31 Jan 2021

Hey, if this place is going to the cats, I'm down with that. We apes like kitties.

Hope all are well. Larry's villanelle is highly recommended along with his nice commentary on the villanelle form.

I've been nursing a stiff upper back and neck since shovelling. It's weird because it's usually my lower back that gives me grief.

Anyhoo, kettle is on for some tea or cocoa, whatever your preference. I'm making some wakoucha myself.

29 Jan 2021

Whoever loves snow doesn't have to shovel. I'm sure of it. Yes, I just shovelled. We had probably a foot or so over the past 24 hours. At least my neighbour with a blower is dealing with the stuff the plow dumped in the end of the driveway.

So, now it is time to rest and get ready for the weekend. And drink some hot tea to warm up.

28 Jan 2021

Quote by Survivor

At this time I am only lacking the Moon Challenge put forward by AnnaMayZing. It has simply not responded to my brain prompts. But I'm pleased with what I've submitted up to this point.

I had an idea for the Moon Challenge but it was just an opening image (and a wonderful image it is). Never figured out where to go with it from there, though. Will have a look at your Literary Challenge entry at some point. Maybe it will finally kick my braincells into gear to write one.

Snowy day here. Squall warnings, even, though it isn't blowing that hard yet.

Enjoying a strawberry black tea after lunch.

27 Jan 2021

Any resemblance to Nightwish is not coincidental. The Dark Element is cut from the same cloth of Nordic symphonic metal and lead singer Anette Olzon fronted Nightwish from 2007 to 2012.

27 Jan 2021

I had to go out and do a quick pass on the driveway and walk but otherwise have stayed safely indoor today. It is cold here, though not as bad as it can sometimes get in January.

Haven't had maple walnut anything in a longtime so I'll take a couple of those with my evening tea. Evening tea these days is Vanilla rooibos (which technically is not tea, but a bush from South Africa that can be brewed in a similar fashion). 0 caffeine so perfect for late in the day.

26 Jan 2021

Fireplace is lit (by hitting a switch on the wall to turn on the clean, warm natural gas) as snow swirls beyond my window.

Tea is brewing. Nothing much exciting happening around here today. Good for you on getting a challenge story going, Larry. My own attempts at writing of late have been stalling so I have lots of fragments, but not many stories.

25 Jan 2021

Quote by DenimAngel
today is library day!

hello1

Every day should be library day! drunken

drunken

Says the librarian ape (no bias there).

Day is winding down and so am I. Time for some tea and cookies.

25 Jan 2021

Happy Monday!! Sunny but cold here. IOW, it's January.

Not much happening. I'm doing job interviews but, oddly, for someone else, a business partner who has no in-house IT to help vet the candidates.

Wakucha (Japanese Red Tea) is currently filling my mug.

24 Jan 2021

This trailer dropped today and I am a happy ape. I am a longtime fan of both monsters (and kaiju movies in general) and they have not been in a movie together since 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla. It was delayed from 2020 due to pandemic and even now, is combining a theatrical release with an online one since many will, or can, not go to theatres right now.

So what movies, bumped to or always planned for 2021, are you interested in?

24 Jan 2021

Quote by gillianleeza

I've been busy trying to rest my arm and simultaneously help my son get ready to move. He quit his job in December and went to Germany for five weeks to be with his girlfriend. While there he managed to land a job in Vancouver in his field. He will be driving there at the end of the month. It's 2900 miles from here. He's in a whirlwind of trying to get things ready and have a place rented ready for him to move into when he gets there. He has to quarantine for two weeks after he arrives. His job starts on March 1. He's cutting it close.

He'd better hurry up. I think our government might be getting ready to shut down travel altogether. It would be an unusually ballsy move for this government, but both the PM and the Transport Minister have talked about it. Good on him for getting a job there, though. If I was going to live in another part of Canada than where I am, the West Coast (either Vancouver or the Island) would be high on the list. Likely be a retirement move at this point though. I am getting a bit old to be doing major career changes.

24 Jan 2021

Quote by BillySoho
“Format your story into paragraphs of about four sentences or where the narrative should logically break.”

Let's not forget that Ulysses contains a single sentence of 3,687 words. If it's good enough for James Joyce....

Most writers, in fact very few writers, are James Joyce. And, frankly, Ulysses is not exactly the most readable of works even before you get to that part. It is one of those books that it is of more interest to academics than readers. I got about halfway and then switched back to The Dubliners, which is a far more readable work.

And that is likely why very few writers, even ones capable of it, have emulated Joyce's feat. It is revered as a linguistic exercise moreso than as great storytelling. Story is about character and plot, not verbal gymnastics.

And Joyce worked very hard to make that work. He didn't just blast a bunch of words on to a page and fart that out as a novel. It took something like 8 years to write and the idea goes back even further.

All of which is to say that beginning writers are fooling themselves if they think they can start with Ulysses. Start with a collection of great short stories and see how those people write. Read a great modern writer like Neil Gaiman or Margaret Atwood to see how they write. Those people know how to tell a story. Then, once you have mastered the basics of storytelling, you can start with the verbal gymnastics.

24 Jan 2021

Quote by BillySoho
Don't like any of these words. But I'm totally in favour of inventiveness and doing things that don't follow the traditional rules. Writers should make up their own words whenever they can, which won't, by definition, be in any dictionary. Did Brian Wilson make up "excitations"? Not sure. But it's not a word I've heard much outside Good Vibrations. Credit to him if he did.

No, he did not. "Excitation" is used, for instance, in physics to refer to when one adds energy to a particle or atom. And "sexual excitation", which is probably closer to what Brian was after, is a thing.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/excitation?s=t

Neologisms simply confuse unless the meaning is clear and should be used sparingly. Tolkien made up whole languages but mostly used them for names or short references. The actual text of his stories is in plain, if somewhat academic, English.

There have been writers who salted their writings with odd words, grammer, or neologisms but they are hardly the mainstream and it is definitely not where a new writer should be starting out. Your first story should not be The Naked Lunch, in other words.

23 Jan 2021

Quote by itsxanderkaidyn

That made me imagine Sue Sylvester as a lunch lady omg.

Hmmm. Jane showing up in a track suit with a rack of trays full of things like mac & cheese. I could get behind that. Of course, I would probably end up serving the lunches while you kept Jane busy.KY8xuF7uZpx8iaIt

23 Jan 2021

Twon't be me who beats you. I've toyed with several ideas for a story for this and none have seen the light of day yet.