Storm rolling in here. Was brightening up for a while, then the West darkened. Now it's like dusk here and rain is pouring down with occasional rumbles of thunder.

Hello, all. I have been kind of neglecting this place and I will attempt to rectify that. I've done a good Spring cleaning. Fresh dark roast coffee is on, as are a couple pots of tea, one black and one green. And there's goodies, of course.

I am starting a new writing project in hopes of relighting my writing fires. It's framed as a sequel to my older piece "Songs To Keep Monsters Away", with the same pair of characters dealing with another supernatural crisis. Dang, it's hard to believe that story is almost 5 years old. I've had it my head ever since to do more in that universe.

Blue Medusa is a brand new, hot off the presses band founded by Canadian singer Alissa White-Gluz after she parted ways with her previous band, Swedish melodic death metal act Arch Enemy. Their second single came out today and it's a banger. Besides Blue Medusa, she is temporarily a member of power metal greats Dragonforce and working on solo material.

PUtting a cake out to celebrate the winners of WriterGirl's challenge. Dig in, folks.

Nice weather if a bit cool here. I am kind of swamped at work with a software rollout and work for a big project we are kicking off. Plus weekends are getting sucked up by spring cleaning and yardwork and such now that winter really is over (I think. I hope.).

Yay AAnna and TheGardener!! Congratulations. And thank you WG for doing these. Breathes a bit of life into the place.

And I am not gone, just not very active right now. Mentioned in another thread that a writing break seems to be in the offing. My heart just isn't in it right now. Of course, when I say something like that, I inevitably re-engage so we'll see.😊

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I'm not dead. Just been dealing with a lot irl.

Hey, nice to see you again. Sending vibes and good thoughts your way.

My heart just isn't in it for some reason. I haven't completely bowed out but for me to put out a story in two days other than a micro is unheard of. I'm just too fussy with my edits. Sorry, folks. I'm actually considering a writing break from both sites.

Quote by WriterGirl

Oh no! It’s not Covid, is it?

Feel better soon!

Rapid tests are not readily available around here anymore but I did not run a fever, which I did with both bouts of C-19, so I assume not. Cold or RSV seems most likely. Flu would have run a fever, too.

Don't count me out yet. I have something going. A week should be possible. We'll see. On the other hand, I'm busy looking for a lung I coughed up so that will tie me up for a bit. I haven't had something hang on like this since my first bout of COVID in 2022.

This performance from Bruce Springsteen's current tour is just wow. On a stop in Minneapolis, he paid tribute to Prince, a native of that city with a cover of "Purple Rain", title track from Prince's 1984 album and film.

Quote by verbal
Endoscopy on May 6. Wish me luck. I should be around more after that.

Vibes. Hope it goes well and they figure out what's ailing you.

I have a story for the challenge, or at least more of one than I had. Still a little unsure of where it goes but I have more to work with than my last couple ideas.

Well, I wrote three sentences of a Spring story. No idea where to go with it but at least it's a start. Unfortunately, this cold or whatever that I have isn't great for my creativity.

Probably small, cozy, on-off cafe. More likely to have the kind of oddball specialty teas that I enjoy.

Sit down a la carte meal or a buffet?

Local wines. Not a beer drinker.

For paying in person: cash or card?

Not sure I have it in me anymore but it strikes me as a fun idea.

WYE change a vacation plan for political, environmental, or social concerns?

Owls are so cute. Unless you're a mouse or similar. Then they are a demon from hell swooping down to feast upon thee body and soul.

Hi all. Been off vacationing and all I got was this lousy cold (or RSV or mild C-19 or whatever the f I have). Have an idea for the spring fling challenge but we shall how it goes when I start writing.

Alaska. Visited both on cruises and much preferred it, though I certainly wouldn't say no to doing Hawai'i in more depth someday.

Vacation trip or staycation at or close to home?

I am on a ship right now and not back home until Monday. Nice theme and I will definitely take a crack at it but my "at sea" writing time is almost over so won't be able to even start for probably a week. Spring is my second favourite season and lends itself to my weird, mystical fantasy so I imagine that I can pull this off.

Well, if we are talking Argentina, my favourite band from that country (and I am still mystified about why I got into them, they really are not my usual, even before I went all headbanger) are now on their first world tour. Sadly, they hit Toronto just as my vacation wraps so I'll have to take a miss. Pacifica are Ines Adam on guitar and Martina Nintzl on bass with the pair sharing vocals.

From their last studio LP, 2025's In Your Face!

And from a live performance version they did for their 2023 album Freak Scene

Martina is the short, dark-haired one, Ines is taller with lighter hair.

Hm. Probably Clue (as we call it here). Though both are fun.

Fix a household problem yourself or call in a pro?

I could see it happening. More likely to see them that way than by trekking at my age and physical condition.

WYE sleep under the stars, not even a tent?

Depends on where I am going and what I am doing. Guided is nice since you have someone who knows the lay of the land and, where needed, the local language. But sometimes just flying by the seat of your own pants is nice.

Card game or board game?

Safari would be nice but a good natural zoo is probably okay.

Revisit your teens or revisit your twenties?

Quote by verbal

Had ANOTHER stomach bug over the weekend. Yuck. Lots of pukiness and diarrhea (sp?).

Man, that stuff sure gets around. An online friend in the Netherlands had basically the same crap. 😊

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

No, I didn't die. I've just been busy with boring irl things as usual.

My boyfriend and I did celebrate a year and a half of being together on the first of March though.

Nice to hear that the relationship is going well. And sometimes, being busy with boring IRL things is the best way to be these day. I speak from experience here.

Hi everybody. Nothing much happening around here. Preparing for an upcoming trip, mostly. And work crap.

Well, the challenge is over and ... wow, I have lots of coins. Have to wait 14 days to cash out if that's what I am going to do (and I might, I tend to use winnings from these sites to support the site I admin). Congrats to all who entered and esp. to Meg and Anna, the other winner and the honourable mention.

Green beer and Irish coffee for all!! (hey, it was more or less a St. Patty's day comp).

For a book cover, I would likely commission an actual human artist (I have ideas, in fact). My prompting skills are fine for SS and (redacted) cover images but for a book cover, I would hold myself to a higher standard that I am not sure I could pull off. That's not to say good AI covers are not possible, just that I am not sure I am the one to pull it off. And, frankly, in an era where jobs may be on the line due to AI, if I was putting money into a project like a book, I would like to see a human get some of it.

That said, yours looks pretty dang good. I can definitely peg it as AI (women's faces generated by AI have a same-i-ness about them, for one thing) but it wouldn't put me off. I think part of the problem is writers thinking they don't need to put effort in, just write a prompt and use the results. So you get crappy covers that really give AI covers a bad name. I don't see that in yours, as I say, but you don't need to spend much time looking at Kindle or other e-pub services to realize a decent to good AI-generated cover is more of an exception than a norm.

What the ... ? I mean ... whoa. That's ... wow! Thank you! I am honoured and a little surprised.

Congratulations Meg and Anna. Well deserved.

Thanks and congratulations to all who got stories in. It's been an interesting challenge.

And, of course, thanks to Writergirl and her judge for making it all happen.

Green beer and Irish coffee for all in Inspirations. 😋

Not likely. I'm pretty happy where I am. Though Europe is kind of tempting at times. So much going on there that interests me, esp. musically.

WYE go back to school to get a new degree/diploma/certificate just for fun/interest, not career?

I wish the weather would make up it's freakin' mind. Spring-Winter-Sprinter (somewhere in between)-Winter-Spring... Got snow on the ground again here but not much. And it was cooooooold today, with a wind chill on top. But then by the weekend, it's spring again (as it should be given Friday is the Equinox). Sigh. I'm going to get whiplash reading the weather forecasts. Oh well, two weeks until vacay.

I'm all in. Both images covered. Bring on the judge(s).