So, our house isn't sliding down the slope of the hill, so that we will all die in some crazy mudslide in the middle of the night. We just had a guy come out and confirm there's been no more slippage (we had to add 5 anchor points to the foundation of the house a couple years back, at MUCHO cost). So, yay to that!

Physical therapy today. See if we can't loosen up a few of the nerves in my neck to see if that helps things.

And, I will write, I will walk, and I will watch baseball. I'm nothing if not a creature of habit.

Coffee please. AND A COOKIE!

Morning all!

Gorgeous day here today. And today I should be able to make time to write and walk. Yay!

It's therapy day. Other than that, it's a pretty boring day.

Coffee and a fox cookie please.

Hey, looks like we've got some comp entries to read!

Today? Acupuncture and going out to eat with my daughter tonight. In the meantime I'm trying to ret-con a story about mind-controlling plants into a story about mind-controlling fungi, for an anthology call.

Gorgeous day today, but I sadly will not have time to take a walk OR watch the hapless Mets play.

I'll have some of the that kick-y coffee. AND WHERE ARE THE COOKIES?!?!

Hey I'll have some of that Las Chicas!

My LORD but the Mets suck. There's talk they'll break up the team and look to next year.

Got some nice love from the Internet yesterday about a recent publication. It felt good, and I needed it. Today, back to the salt mines.

Nice day outside, with dramatic thunderstorms tumbling over the mountains.

Coffee!!!

Hey, my memoir just got a shout out from Memoirland in a Best of the Web roundup! I’m pretty excited. https://memoirland.substack.com/p/a-bakers-dozen-of-great-personal-0a4

Nice to see a new batch of stories! Looking forward to reading them.

And congrats on the Girl and Bear book, James. I enjoyed those stories.

Not much new here. Critique group tonight, which means I am reading and critique most of the day. It does get in the way of a productive day.

Time to make the donuts. I’d love a coffee.

Morning all.

Have an appointment today I got last second with a new neurologist. Let's hope this one has a little more intellectual curiosity about what might be happening to me. I'm a little nervous.

Sold another story! That Weird Western (yes, it's a genre) I wrote was accepted! So that's a nice way to start the day.

I hope everyone is well.

Coffee and a cookie please.

Quote by redwriter

Pleased to hear you've come through your health problem, Verbal, --at least one of them!

Talking of movies, if I'm not too late, "Where the crawdad sings," is one of the best films I've ever seen on Netflix

I'll look for it, Red.

I can't believe I couldn't figure out how to start a new thread. Brain fart.

I have a bit of memoir coming out today. I won't post a link, but if you look up Split Lip Magazine, it's there.

Other than that, woke up too early, and so am kind of irritable. Hopefully that burns off - it looks to be a nice day.

In case I haven't mentioned it yet this year, the Mets again suck. Sorry Red.

Coffee please.

Hey, didn't we use to have a "movies" thread? I can't find it and can't figure out how to create a new thread.

Anyway, the movie "The Idea of You" is really good. Anne Hathaway is really good (and really hot), and the script is solid - real adults having real conversations. It's a movie about grown-ups (even if the male lead's character is a boy band). BIG recommend from Talia and I. AND it has the song "Dance Hall Days" at a crucial moment, and I love that song.

Whoo boy, just slept abut 10 hours, and am officially done with all this colonoscopy stuff for...three years. They found two polyps I love that word) meaning I can't do the every-10-years things.

But I am well-rested and about to be well-fed, so no complaints. Back--finally--to the old template: write, walk, watch baseball. Life is good.

Talia sez hi.

I'd love a coffee.

Quote by gillianleeza

Hello everyone, I've been offline for a bit to deal with our backyard wedding. I am happy to say everything went very well, but it was hectic with all the visitors and guests and keeping track of all the details. The day was lovely, if a bit cold. The days before were warm and sunny, and rain was predicted for the wedding day. Luckily, the rain held off, so the ceremony could take place outside and not in the tent. My son and daughter-in-law looked beautiful and very happy. That made everything all worthwhile. But now I need some serious rest.

I hope everyone's week gets off to a good start. Cheers!

A couple of pictures of my backyard. My husband's shop door never looked so good.

That looks wonderful, and I'm so glad the rain held off. Now go sleep for a month.

Me, I'm off to get a camera shoved up my butt. See you on the other side!

No coffee for me. I'm going to be scarfing down Taco Bell in about three hours.

Labyrinth is such a fun movie.

T minus 48 hours til I begin the colon cleanse for the colonoscopy. Man, I am not looking forward to this. At least I won’t have to get another one for 10 years. Or maybe ever: you can—I am not making this up—mail your poop into some testing facility and have your colon checked that way.

Okay, way too much TMI there, Sorry about all the colon talk.

Coffee please.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I - I was listenin' to David Bowie earlier and all I can think about is listenin' to more later. Him kinda grew on me and...yeah.

My favorite Bowie song. Life on Mars.

Quote by Cora

Hey everyone.

Not having the best day. Some things are weighing heavily on my heart.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful day.

Sorry to hear that Cora. I hope tomorrow is better for you.

Sold another chunk odd the memoir today: chapter two! The title is "Mom's Dead," so you can imagine the content is pretty intense. I think that makes it a harder sale, so I feel good.

From the sublime to the ridiculous: I have a colonoscopy on Monday, so on Sunday I'm fasting all day and taking those horrible laxative drinks. Ew. NOT looking forward to this.

A coffee pleaae?

Quote by Cora

Mendalla, as I was reading your post, Frankenstein came to mind. Are you, or anyone else, a fan of that classic novel?

And thank you for your encouraging words, especially, "The ending is only part of the story. How the author gets you there is sometimes a majority of the fun." 😊

I wrote a paper comparing Frankenstein to Grendel (which is a modern retelling of Beowulf). It really is a good book (both books, actually).

Long day. I haven't written a darn word today. Hopefully I can get a little free time now.

Coffee and a cookie would be cool.

Quote by Mendalla

Makes it hard for the bee to walk, doesn't it? 😉

🤣

Thus the wings!

Cora, yes, I've noticed that pet names have a certain sort of stickiness - after a certain point the name has chosen them!

Acupuncture today. Yay! Mostly it means relaxing for a half hour on a heated bed, but I think the needles really do help!

Other than that, writing and walking.

A coffee and a cookie would be the bee's knees!

Good morning everyone!

Crazy night! 75 mph winds came blowing through, all night long. The house was shaking. I went and secured things as best I could at like 4 a.m. and almost blew away! Our front glass door was shattered and we lost 4 sections of fence! Lots of trash and debris in the yard too. Gonna be a long day, clearing the yard and calling insurance and setting up handyman calls. Arg.

Anyway. I could use a gallon or so of coffee - didn't get a lot of sleep.

Benedryled

Quote by Mendalla

Wonder no more!! Spend that wondering time writing!!

😊

And while I am committed to this comp, I am finding this a real uphill battle. I thought writing for a comp would help me focus things and get my writing back on track but, dang it, I'm still having trouble getting past the first few hundred words. Basically I start a story but can't get past the opening. Latest attempt is past 1000 words, though, so maybe I have this licked now.

Start in the middle, with a good scene, one you know will be good, then work your way back.

Talia's back! Yay!

Otherwise things are pretty chill here. Cats are happy, I am happy, and Talia is happy. Sun is out. I have a story coming out next week in a cool mag. So, I'm choosing this fine day to write about all my dead friends in NYC.

I'll have a cup of that Deathwish.

I'll have some of that Muskoka Lumberjack.

Talia is stuck on the runway right now, worried she'll miss her connecting flight. Send punctual thoughts!

Me, I'm writing A Personal History of Shea Stadium. It braids together the fate of the Mets and the fate of me, back when I lived there. It's a memoir that uses Shea Stadium as a structure; there's not much baseball in it.

I've have coffee and fifteen cookies please. Need that sugar high.

Cookies! All is right with the world again.

Acupuncture day today. I'm also finishing cleaning the house for Talia's return tomorrow. The cats will be relieved.

Hi Millie! Woof!

I'd love a coffee

Quote by gillianleeza

I haven't had much time for movies. Hosting a wedding in your backyard is a bit stressful, but our yard is shaping up and the deck looks great. Our house is quite busy and will be pretty full this weekend. It's a bit warm now, and it will be around 90 degrees each day and cool off by the weekend. There is a chance of rain on Saturday, but hopefully, it will be clear.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Cheers.

The wedding is THIS weekend!? I hadn't realized. You have a lot of work to do, but I am sure everything will be fine. Are we invited?

Write and clean day. Want to have the place spotless for Talia's return. Try telling that to the cats ...

Coffee would be wonderful. Where are the cookies?

Quote by Cora

Good morning, everyone.

It’s a dreary Sunday here. There were mild lightening and thunderstorms last night. I watched “Blackhawk Down” last night with my family. I’ve seen it before long ago but it was nice to watch again. A lot of notable actors in that movie. Another true war story, in addition to last week.

Drinking coffee with my family now and chilling with the dogs. Mass is in a few hours. I hope you all have a beautiful Sunday.

Cora, to expand on a movie I suggested to you last week, Greyhound is a Tom Hank’s movie about a battleship hunting submarines and the Battle of the Atlantic. Old school filmmaking, and I got the sense it was pretty accurate. More detailed than most. I LOVE submarine movies. Run Silent Run Deep comes to mind. Crimson Tide. And Red October of course.

Cleaning the house today as I watch the game. Preparing for Talia’s return. I am SO looking forward to it.

A lotta coffee would be wonderful.

Yeah, the downside to editing after submitting is that the story disappears into a hole for awhile. That said, I think I’ve edited every story I’ve ever posted - my proofing skills are poor, and I never know when to stop rewriting.

Woke up too early again. Thank God Talia is home soon.

I have several friends back in my NYC days that succumbed to drugs and liquor - I’ve been writing about them the past few days. Tough work, but worthwhile, I think.

Anyway. Another thousand gallons of coffee please.

Quote by WriterGirl

Uh oh, I spotted a typo in comp piece where I called character by wrong name. I pulled it up in edit, changed name, hit Republish and story just sits in Drafts. It doesn’t say pending or anything. Did I mess up? Have I now lost votes and comments I had? I sent Molly a note. Darn it!!! It’s first time I’ve tried to edit a published story on this site.

I've gone in and edited stories a ton, both here and at a similar site. All the votes and comments stay. The only downside s the story being down while it's being re-modded.

Glad to see you are pressing forward Red. And congrats to Ms. Girl for being a first one out of the gate.

Still waking up too early every day. Wah. I can’t wait for Talia’s return.

The beautiful weather is leaving today, slowly transitioning over to thunderstorms. I can dig it. I love watching storms swoop over the mountains and across the Eastern plains.

A TON of coffee please.

Great visual writing prompts WG! Looking forward to reading your entry. Should be a good comp.

I woke up too early yet again. The result of Talia being gone, I think. Oh well. I’ll kick out errands early and try to take a nap. Early game today too. That helps.

Frick, I’m tired. Coffee would be wonderful.

I just posted the first in a three part series about working at the Band Box Diner, back in the day. I'm really proud of this, and so am putting the link up here. Feel free to subscribe to the newsletter, The Oort Cloud! But read the article if you find the time.

https://jeffwood.substack.com/p/always-answer-a-ringing-phone-part