Quote by Meagananne1986
Would you feel the same way about the workweek if it were Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday with Wednesday and Saturday-Sunday off or it were simply one day on, one day off which gives the same work hours averaged over two weeks.

Breaking up the week that way seems to me to be problematic for some work (not necessarily mine). Moving to four consecutive days on then three off makes more sense, esp. on the personal side. However, I could live with a more fragmented approach, too.

Quote by Meagananne1986
Hot Dog or Hamburger during a cookout?

Hamburger, though a good hot dog or sausage can work, too.

Gas or charcoal BBQ?

What do you do when you're both a top metal singer and the mother of a young daughter who is into Disney's Frozen? Record a cover of "Let It Go" of course, but put a bit of a metal spin on it. Dutch rocker Floor Jansen covered the song as the first of her pandemic covers, then incorporated it into her solo setlists when she could start performing live again. This performance is from her "Live from AFAS Amsterdam" video and live album.

Lamb - Lamp

Yeeow. Storms can be so nasty. We lost a few poles here in a storm a couple years ago. Hit out in the East end, closer to my office than home. There's a research group at the local university who are Canada's national experts on tornadoes and they confirmed it was a small tornado. At least they did not have to travel far to study this one. It was about 15 minutes from the campus.

Good morning! Hope the weather is not too stormy out your way.

There's Jamaican Blue Mountain waiting in the coffee pot. Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Cold beverages are refreshed and ready.

Make - Mike

Quote by verbal

I’m listening to The Lonesome Jubilee by John Mellencamp a lot lately. It has aged well - I had forgotten how much I liked it.

I am not a huge fan but that's just a matter of style, not quality. He's a heck of a good songwriter.

Quote by verbal
we had THREE tornadoes just east of here,

My son has had a couple in his area this year. Nothing that's affected their place but near enough to have us texting them to make sure. Ottawa seems to be becoming a bit of a tornado magnet. They had a storm that spawned several the year after he moved there.

Ad Infinitum is a marvellous band that's now going on 4 years. It began as a solo project for lead singer Melissa Bonny when she was still in the Swiss trance metal band Rage of Light. They now have three studio albums (Chapter I, II, III) plus an acoustic remake of Chapter I (it's amazing in its own right, by the way). While they are definitely in the metal sphere, Melissa's smooth, almost R&B-esque at times, clean singing voice and the melodic style of the music should, I think, give them some appeal beyond the headbanger crowd. At the same, the heavy guitar and rhythm work and Melissa's occasional harsh vocals definitely give them some metalhead appeal.

From their first album:

And the leadoff track from their latest:

I actually did some writing as a kid. A lot was for school, but I did have some ideas that I pursued. Even did a script for an English project that was my own take on a sequel to Star Wars (only the original was out at the time). Taking up RPGs (e.g. Dungeons & Dragons) helped a lot, since I got into world-building and would plot out adventures much like an open-ended, choose-you-own-adventure type story. And eventually, probably in high school, I started actually writing stories. That continued on and off through university and early adulthood. However, having kids kind of kiboshed it for a while but now that I am an empty-nester, I have been able to take it up more consistently and seriously.

Seriously. Have you been writing for years? Is it something new? Is it a hobby or a retirement project? Were you interested in writing as a kid?

Let's hear how we started writing and tell our stories as writers.

Oo, we gots cookies!!!

To go with those, I'll put on some Las Chicas Nicaraguan Dark Roast. For teas, let's see, how about Assam and Sunday Tea. And, as always, we've iced tea, lemonade, and sundry sodas in the fridge. If you need them colder, I've got some trays of ice cubes in the freezer along with the ice cream, too.

Later, folks.

It is the first full week of the month and that means a new list of themed calls and markets from Author's publish. And it's the usual mixed bag. New Weird (think Annihilation) set in coastal regions, Weird Westerns, cosmic romance, and even, if you happen to live in British Columbia, stories about the BC wildfires. And a whole lot more. Some are, alas, too late (the first item on the list closes today) but there's also some future-looking timelines. There is also a list of open comps at the end.

https://authorspublish.com/30-themed-submission-calls-and-contests-for-august-2023/

Done and enjoy both. Next will be more cultural it seems.

Adventure in the wilderness or something tame?

Welp, it's a holiday here in the Great White North. Civic Holiday, Simcoe Day, and myriad other names are used. It's mostly just a day off in August, though, rather than having any real specific meaning.

I've put on some classic Canadian coffee. No, not Tim's. They suck apparently. We've got Kicking Horse Smart Ass on. For those not up on their Canadian history, the Kicking Horse Pass is the pass through the Rockies where the CPR, our first national railway, went through the mountains.

Teas are Canadian Breakfast (a blend from my local shop) and Earl Grey.

Cold beverage pitchers are washed and refilled with unsweet iced tea and lemonade. Pop is looking good.

Have a great one!

Well, I will just refresh everything from yesterday given how quiet it is here

Hope folks are having a good weekend (good long weekend if applicable). Been busy with yardwork and trip planning.

Quote by gillianleeza
My favorite Rendfield will always be Tom Waits in Coppola's version. I didn't realize for a long time that it was Tom Waits

Yeah, he doesn't act much but is actually pretty good when he does. The casting in that version was a real mixed bag. Keanu was a bad choice for Jonathan (would have been good for Quincey, I think) but Oldman and Hopkins were terrific, as was Waits.

Coffee is a perkin', some nice stuff from Nicaragua. Teas are on, too. We've got some Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey Cream. Of course, there's cold beverages for those battling the heat. We have unsweet iced tea and lemonade. There's sodas in the fridge but they don't seem to get drunk much. Did some restocking anyhow.

More from Laufey. "Bewitched" is the title track of her latest album. While there is an official video of the album version, I love this acoustic "Live from home" performance that she posted to her channel yesterday.

Quote by gillianleeza
But I have avoided Renfield with Nicolas Cage. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I found the trailers for Renfield offputting. It feels like Cage is playing it for laughs and doing his usual psycho over-the-top schtick. He'd actually be better as Renfield and that's who I thought he would play when I first heard he was in it.

Quote by gillianleeza

I never watched the series, but it is on my list. The reboot looks interesting.

I started watching "Good Omens 2" on Amazon. I loved the book and enjoyed season one. Hopefully, they did a good job on season two.

Apparently, season 2 is based on an actual sequel to the novel that Neil Gaiman (who is no longer showrunning but is still a producer, I think) and the late Terry Pratchett sketched out but never got around to writing, so it actually might be good.

I actually like the four-day work week in principle and might go for it if offered.

In office or work from home?

Maze - mace

Quote by verbal
Chicken and Beer

I take it the menu is fairly obvious? What kind of chicken, though? Roast, BBQ, fried, all of the above?

Quote by verbal
Talia's first week of work seems to be going pretty well, if a little overwhelming.

Sounds about right for first week on a new job. Hope it keeps going pretty well.

Good afternoon! Thanks to verbs for coffee and tea.

Weather is a okay going into our long weekend (Civic Holiday we call it but there's a variety of names across the parts of the country that have it). Might shower Monday. I plan to write plus have some housework to do. Have a comp entry for another site basically done, then hopefully tackle my long gestating sequel to Spirits of Tan Maldrin, which is now set in not-Iceland. Oh, a couple trips in various stages of planning, one a weekend getaway for our wedding anniversary, one a possible next big trip (assuming we don't push it off to next year, which is possible, in which case it might be our next next big trip).

6354, open windows close the door

Quote by verbal
Writing about…wait for it…spiders!

I hear you have some expertise on the subject. 😉

And don't worry, we won't reject you. Tease you, taunt you, and maybe gossip behind your back, but never reject. 😊

(And you do know I'm kidding, right?)

Gaze - Haze

Good morning!!!!!

Coffee is a special treat: McCafe. No, seriously. My son swears by it. Prefers it to Timmie's.

Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey.

Cold beverages, iced tea and lemonade, are refreshed.

Given the heat dogging so much of the world, I have put in a separate freezer and stocked it with Kawartha Dairy ice cream. Many flavours to choose from.

Later.

Game - Gale

One of my favourite metal bands (after Nightwish) is Blind Guardian. They are pretty old, having started when I was just finishing high school. Lead singer Hansi Kursch has an incredible voice both for screaming and clean singing. This is the title track of their fifth album, released in 1995, here done live in 2016. It is one of my favourite Guardian songs at present (though I am still working my way through their extensive catalogue).

One of my high school-university friends got married in his backyard (they were already living together). It makes for a nice ceremony but a lot of work, I think. Our son got married kind of "on the sly" (just them, witnesses, and the Imam from a mosque in their area since his wife is Muslim) during the pandemic so we kind of got off easy on that front.

Thanks for setting up, Verbs. Was busy this morning due to crap happening in life. I'll live but there's a guy who I will likely never know and never meet that I want to inflict serious bodily harm on. And I'm pretty mild mannered so me being that pissed off tells you how bad this is.

I have things to write but seem to be flailing for time. Things just keep coming up. I mean, we just got back from vacation and wife is already planning two more (one short one for our anniversary and one longer one for our next real vacay).