Want to play a game?

Haunted house. Our neighbourhood is undergoing renewal right now (empty nesters leaving and new families starting to arrive) so trick or treat has been rather, um, dead the last decade or so. Basically since my son's crowd left for university.

Scary costume or fun costume?

Quote by JamesPBear
Glad we're no longer living here

One of my life goals is to never, ever live in the GTA. Hamilton was as close as I got and it was peripheral to the GTA at best in the 90s when I was there. Could get to downtown Toronto in under an hour by GO or (if you were lucky) even driving but far enough away to avoid most of the chaos. Hamilton had it's own brand of chaos, of course, but was better than Toronto.

But I grew up in Kitchener in the 70s and 80s when K-W was still fairly small (Waterloo region is now over 600K population) so acquired a taste for smaller cities. London at 400K is about right and might be getting near my upper limit. I love visiting big cities (after all, my in-laws live in a city with a population approaching that of Canada😲) but prefer living in smaller ones.

Sending good vibes Kat's way. She was the one I specifically had in mind but I know it affected some areas further inland, too.

Coffee du jour is Deathwish Dark Roast. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Raspberry Royale.

Have a great day!!!

Lights is a multitalented performer from Timmins, Ontario who for some reason has been flying under my radar since I came across her early in her career but her latest video came up in my recommendations yesterday. Besides music, she's also a writer and illustrator of the comic series Skin & Earth, which has tied into her music at times. Oh, and she directed this video.

German hurdy-gurdy player and singer Patty Gurdy has been posting vlogs about the progress of her next album for a while now. The first video came out yesterday and has her performing in a medieval tavern with great fun and frolic.

BIt grey in my world today. Oh well, could be worse. New Asian grocery to check out today. It's a national chain that we've shopped at in other cities but we finally to one local.

Coffee is Tobermory Flowerpot Island. Teas are Sunday Tea and Vinyl Cafe. Washed the pitchers and mixed up fresh iced tea and lemonade.

Hope those who may in the path of Hurricane Helene are okay or taking shelter. Sounds like a bad one.

Banned for making funny faces at me (see emoji)

LOL. Saw this on the New Posts list. It fits.

APE COOKIES!!!!!!!

beats chest and roars

Oh, um, yes. Coffee today is Jamaican Blue Mountain. Teas are Assam and Buddha's Blend.

And there's APE COOKIES!!!!!!! courtesy of Cora.🦍

Quote by AnnaMayZing
An early Spielberg movie, featuring several unknown (then) youngsters, American Graffiti

Wrong director. American Graffiti was George Lucas' second (and first well-known) film. 😊Interestingly, Harrison Ford had a small role in it but apparently his casting as Han Solo didn't really come out of that.

Banned for banning an endangered species (gorilla).😊

Banned for only doing baseball-themed cookies in Inspirations. 😉😊

Quote by verbal
Almost time for Halloween month! We should have a just-for-fun scary story contest. Micros or flash or something.

I have coins that I can award and thought about putting out a Halloween challenge. However, with my current mood and energy level, not sure I'm up to doing something like the one WriterGirl did a while ago. I'm in the throes of depression or something. Even blew up at work yesterday, which is absolutely not my usual style. Might just watch and see if any interesting Halloween-ish stories go up and give coins to ones I like or something.

Quote by Cora
Mendalla, on a completely random note, congratulations on keeping Inspirations going strong since 2018

Yowzers, has it been that long? (checks) Yep, as of Nov. 3 this place will be 6 years old. For some reason I thought it started closer to the pandemic for some reason so was only maybe 4. Thanks for the kind words but I have had lots of help over the years, including you, verbs, and the white furry one. 😊

pours a darjeeling and scarfs a random cookie

Too busy in life to do much more with my 2024 Halloween tale but there's a first draft that just needs a revised ending and then my usual endless editing passes. Thought it might end up a Flash but it's going to be enough over 1000 words that I've kind abandoned that idea. A hint about the Halloween element below.

Hydrated people are healthier people.

Good morning! Since Cora's got the coffee and teapots filled up, I'll do the cold drinks. Stocked up the sodas, washed the pitchers, and made fresh iced tea and lemonade.

takes a tea and a cookie from each team

Hey, I don't have a horse in the race so I'll just spread the love. 😊

Quote by Molly
I'm in Europe without my laptop.

Been there, done that. I rarely take my laptop on trips though there's a couple we are thinking about where I will (cruises with lots of sea days so writing time). Hope it's a vacay and not work. Take care.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I guess I'm luckier'n them cause my person and I live in the same state - they're in SoCal and I'm in NorCal - but we text and talk on the phone 'n video chat as much as we can.

I met the great love of my life when phones were plugged into the wall and "chat" was something you did with friends over coffee. None of this newfangled Intarwebs stuff. (end oldtimer rant) 🤣

Geez, get going. Those badges won't award themselves. 🤣(Kidding. As a forum admin myself, I appreciate the work you do on here.)

Oldboy

Water makes a nice drink.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Tommy makes an amazing wingman, y'all. I met someone through one of the Tommy groups I'm in on fb and we've been a thing for a few weeks now.

I can totally see that happening. A couple members on the fansite I'm on for Dutch singer Floor Jansen have a thing going. Well, as much of a thing as possible when one is in the US and the other is in Finland.😊

Quote by verbal
My Weird Western story is coming out on Halloween!

Now that is good timing. 😎

Quote by JamesPBear

Lady Jay and I are going to Stratford (Ontario) to see La Cage au Folles tonight, and staying with friends.

Have fun. I didn't even check the playbill for this year so didn't know they were mounting La Cage. Weird that I hardly ever go when I can drive to Stratford in an hour or less on a good day.

And thanks for getting things going. I'll take a Darjeeling tea (coincidentally, I just brewed some for my morning work tea).

2024 Halloween story is progressing nicely. Might end up as a Flash since it's a bit short and might have a bit of a punchline to it. We shall see.

This week's is a collection of specialized publishers. That is, publishers who focus on a single subject or fairly tight group. They range from small presses to some decent sized ones. One example is Shambhala, a long running publisher of books on meditation and Eastern religion. There's publishers for women, health, and some very focussed fiction publishers (e.g. Dragonblade, who specialize in historical fiction with a romance angle). Obviously, this list is geared more to folks writing books but, hey, some of us are or are thinking of it.

https://authorspublish.com/61-specialized-publishers-open-to-manuscript-submissions/

Quote by JamesPBear
I have barely written a lick since the last comp.

I usually write words and lick popsicles but you do you. 😉🤣

Master of the World.

Peace is needed on Earth.

PS. Has anyone heard from Anna lately? She's been scarce for a month or so now. Hope she is well and just occupied with other things.

Quote by JamesPBear
Instead, there's social media – which I don't particularly enjoy or approve of.

Funnily enough, that seems to be the case in the music world now, too. And, yeah, different musicians definitely take to it differently. I know musicians who avoid it like the plague and let others handle it for them and others who take to it like a fish to water. A lot of millennial and Gen Z indie musicians are building their whole careers around it.