Quote by Molly
I'm not sure how this can be seen as a negative for our writers.

Never said it was a negative, just not sure how much it accomplishes in a community this small vs. the very large one across the virtual street.

I would love it to work, but I need to be sold by more than words. Let's see how it goes.

Quote by Molly
New members signing up will receive coins as part of their membership fee,

So does this mean paid memberships are coming? If not how will this work here? Buying coins seems like a kind of stealth paid upgrade to me.

Given our small numbers, I do not see this being as advantageous here as there but it will be interesting to see how it works out.

Quote by verbal
Fire Protection Board, Parks and Rec Board, Water District Board.

You elect those? Here, those are a mix of councillors and citizens with a nomination process ending in a slate approved by Council. Library board is like that, too. Only municipal councils and school boards (which are independent of local councils) are directly elected.

The snow has begun...🌨️😲

But it's warm and cozy in the cafe. Stoked the fire and put out fresh, clean blankets.

Coffee is Costa Rican medium roast. Teas are Russian Caravan and English Breakfast. Hot water is ready for hot chocolate or mother teas.

Hunker down and have a nice (warm) day. Sadly, I must venture out. Medical consultation for my hernia.

Gratefully enjoy what nature offers.

Good morning, Gil and all.

Snow on the ground and more on the way if the weather geeks are to be believed. I am half-inclined to head back South until March. After going in fits and starts, seems like winter is starting to happen in earnest.

Coffee is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Teas are English Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey. Hot water is ready for hot chocolate or other teas.

Roman ruins if I am in a place that has them (holds up Classics degree😎). But modern museums can be interesting, too. Killed a day in the National WWII Museum in New Orleans last week.

Snail mail or email to send a letter?

The "Made in New Orleans" playlist on Amazon Music. Both for inspiration and to remind of my time there.

10, 000 words but my reality is such that the 10 flashes is probably more realistic.

Go sightseeing or lounge at a resort?

Quote by verbal
It time for my all feline production of Bat Boy: the Musical!

I would watch that, I think.😹

Seems to be fixed now. And I see the new logo style has been applied here. Really like it.👍

Boo boo. He's smaller. Yogi could be scary if he went full-on bear.

Write a story or paint a picture?

Quote by verbal

It was really good. Talia had an omelet, I went for the turkey melt. Yumsters.

I ate more eggs on the cruise than I normally do in a quarter, I think. I don't really like eggs on their own, just as something like an omelette. Carnival has on the spot omelette bars on their breakfast buffet with a nice assortment of add-ins.

Good morning. No omelettes here. Back to work so no time to cook them

However, we do have a pot of nice strong coffee, and pots of Red Rose and Sunday Tea. And, as always, there's hot water ready for other teas and hot chocolate. Mini-marshmallows and other add-ons checked and refilled, too.

Have a good one!

Interesting. We were just discussing electronic music in a thread on another site I frequent and Oxygene was the example of Jarre posted, IIRC.

Not really listening to anything right now but I can hear Mrs. M watching TV as she exercises.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

Just watched Season 1, Episode 1 of Star Trek: Next Generation. Wow, it looks almost as dated as the original series! Where has all that time gone? 😲

I think that if I was going to watch it again, I would skip season 1. Dated or not, it really took a couple seasons for that show to get up to speed. But then seasons 3-5 or 6 were the best Trek I have seen (didn't watch much of the later series).

I have only shot a bow, not a crossbow, and was terrible at it. But I suspect a crossbow would actually work better for me so that.

Target shooting or actual hunting?

Quote by TaliaRussell

Good morning, all - tough week ahead - my usual hybrid schedule won’t be in effect due to a team member’s vacation. I have to be in the office by 8 every day! Wah!! On the plus side, Verbal and I will be heading to IHOP soon!

I am on hybrid (2 days at home, 3 in office) but that's partly due to juggling a car with my wife. Once my new car arrives (should be end of the month per my sales guy), then it may become more variable.

But in by 8? Eek! I go in for 8:30 but largely stems from history. I used to be the sole IT support for the company so being in early was a good thing in case something barfed overnight or there was a run of calls first thing. Now that I am the department head and others take most of the calls, I don't really need be in early.

(Also our VP insists on having bi-weekly management team meetings at 8:30am every other Wednesday, which is a day I go in)

I was remarking to my wife in NOLA that I have not been in an IHOP since I was a kid. We had breakfast there (still International House of Pancakes then) when my family visited Florida. A lot of US chains are starting to come up here right now so maybe we'll have one here someday.

Gift bag. Wrapping gifts is a pain and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Glasses or contacts?

Good morning! Putting on some Nicaraguan dark roast from Las Chicas for the coffee crowd. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Black Currant. Hot water is ready for other fine hot beverages, like hot chocolate and other teas.

I have this opening paragraph for a Mardi Gras story that is going nowhere. There has to be a story there, but I am not finding it. So might dump it for now and meditate on possible stories. Mardi Gras is quite old, though its modern form in more recent, so maybe delving into the history again as I did in the museum will help.

Makes a green tea and takes a lion and bear. Wanders away chuckling

Not usually a fan of Leann Rimes, but this one really grabbed me when she dropped the original video. This is a live performance from Luke Evans : Showtime, a concert video that she was a guest on.

Quote by gillianleeza

I had the exact same thoughts. The idea of a fungus seemed interesting at first but it quickly turned into another, survive an event only to realize that the infected are a small part of the problem. Terrible human beings are the other. I'm not sure if I'll watch the next episode.

It's based on a videogame, rarely an auspicious start for originality. Interestingly, the reviews I have seen have been fairly positive. The fundamental problem is how long can you keep people being stalked by the living dead interesting. The people being terrible thing is more interesting to a lot of watchers than the zombies, I think.

I think the whole genre is kind of played out and was never overly fond of it to start with. I like Night of the Living Dead (the 1968 black and white B-movie that started the genre) and a few others have been interesting but overall, not my thing.

Quote by JamesPBear
I went to bed last night with ZERO ideas for the Mardi Gras comp, and woke up with a rather unsettling one. We'll see if it settles or not.

I am toying with a basic premise but have not got far with it so not sure where it leads. It all starts in a bar on Bourbon Street (it's NOLA, where else would you start but Bourbon?)

Thanks for getting the goodies going, Bear.

Quote by CuriousAnnie
Mardi Gras is synonymous with a celebration of the rainbow community cumulating in the LGBTQI Mardi Gras Parade

There are LGBTQ+ krewes in New Orleans' Mardi Gras, too. The museum had artifacts from some of them.

Quote by verbal

I did spend a night in jail during Mardi Gras, back in the day....

That might make a better story than anything I come up with. 😜 Or was it a boring thing you did to get the NOPD pissed at you.

I actually visited the Mardi Gras exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum on Tuesday so have some inspiration in hand. This should be a fun comp.

Quote by verbal
Current writing issue: my antagonist is way more interesting than my protagonist.

Not a new issue, is it? How many Bond villains have been more interesting characters than Bond? And I think Darth Vader is much more interesting than Luke (Honestly, Luke is a rather dull protagonist when it comes right down to it. Han is the more interesting character among the heroes.) especially now that his history has been fleshed out in the prequels and TV shows.

Quote by Molly

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. I'm leaving cookies and an announcement.

https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/site-announcements-and-members-feedback/mardi-gras-competition

And me just back from NOLA. We actually thought about going for Mardi Gras (the cruise we took has a departure around that time) but airfare and hotels get pretty pricey for that week so we decided to avoid it.

Ideas churning in my brain already and I don't have much on between now and the deadline so I might just have something.

Sunset, though I have seen beautiful examples of both.

Rise early or sleep in?

Ape wanders in and cleans up balloons, streamers, and other detritus from Larry's b-day party

Good morning, folks! Kind of gray and meh here, especially after 10 days in the South and Bahamas. Oh well, once I retire, I can most somewhere nicer. And then get bored of the nice weather. 🙄

Coffee is ready. Teas are English Breakfast and Duke of Earl (Earl Grey + vanilla). Hot water is on for hot chocolate or other teas. And there's still beignets for those in a N'awlins kind of mood.