Everyone is traveling! I will try to sling coffee in your absence Ape, but I only have the same old Kitty Zoomies to offer.

Brooks and Dunn was awesome - really blew the doors off the place, and they’re OLD. Like, in their 70s. The newbie pick of the night was Earnest - really good country songwriter. Wrote a bunch of tunes for Morgan Wallen (not the tune that caused all the controversy though).

Back to writing today. The Mets are breaking my heart. They lose at the last possible second, in the worst possible way.

Coffee and a cookie please.

Congrats to all the podium winners, and everyone who entered! It was a strong crop of stories. It sure is fun to see comps over here - it’s exciting!

We are off to Denver to see Brooks and Dunn in a few hours! Should be big fun. We are seeing Dierks Bentley in August - this is the Summer of Country Music!

Okay, way too many exclamation marks so far. Calm down Jeff. In other news, asking Talia to look at the Mets score before I watch is working. They actually won a a game!

Coffee please, and a cookie! Things to do!

Quote by JamesPBear

.

Why do the Mets always suck? For the same reason that the Jays suck – ownership. When a team that should win loses for a season or two, you can blame the manager. When they lose for 5-10 years, blame the GM and President. When they lose for longer than that, blame the owners.

Ever since Labatt's, the original owner of the Jays, was taken over by a foreign brewery that didn't care about baseball, the Jays have struggled to be relevant, save for one short period when they had Alex Anthropolous as the GM.

Alas, Edward Rogers fired him (effectively) in a year when Anthropolous won GM of the Year, so he went to the Braves – which is a big reason the Braves are as good as they are.

It takes persistence, patience, and brains to win consistently. Neither the Mets nor the Jays have that.

And Mendalla, I would strongly suggest that you pick your battles. If you're getting ragged, skip a city or two, stay on the ship and relax. Most of those "10 cities in 11 days" cruises don't show you all that much since you're in each city for such a short time.

I hear ya. It’s a “we have to win now!” mentality that has them buying overpriced veterans well past their prime. Always have the inferiority complex comparing themselves to the Yankees. I’m now having Talia look at the score and let me know if the game s too depressing to watch.

We keep talking about taking a cruise. Talia has been on several; me, not a one. I think days at a time on ship reading and wandering around and looking at the water and sky sounds awesome.

Off to acupuncture. Then, I am submitting a story to Electric Lit. They’re my new white whale.

Call me Ishmael. And I would love a coffee.

Quote by Mendalla
Worried about upcoming vacay. 10 cities in 11 days (cruise). Not sure if my body will be up for that pace but we shall see. I have a few more days off after we get home to recuperate anyhow.

That's a lot of cities! I don't know I could handle a schedule like that. Off to get a haircut, and run a few errands - we are off to a Brooks and Dunn concert in Denver this weekend.

I'm taking a few days off from watching the Mets. It's just too depressing. Why do they ALWAYS suck?

A coffee and a flag cookie please.

Good morning all. Yay for ten entries in the comp!

Sorry about the headache Ape. Tired today as well. I didn't sleep well. Not much going on today, thankfully. And it's nice out, which might call me outside for a walk.

Double header today, playing the mighty Dodgers. We'll be lucky to avoid being swept.

A flag cookie and a PC Gourmet coffee please.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

You're actually the second person to tell me that, but no, I haven't seen it yet.

My thing is - what if the submarine was driven and co-piloted by the octopus and the walrus? And what if it was a killer submarine?

Thought of you yesterday - you HAVE to Google footage of Drew Carey enthusiastically praising the Phish concert at the LV Sphere during the After Midnight show. I think he had fun 😊 It's very funny.

Taking a break from yardwork all day. We dig lawnwork for the most part - I got to use the chainsaw today! Any day with a chainsaw is a good day.

Yay for 10 entries!

A cold lemonade please.

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?