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

Quote by WriterGirl

Hi everybody!

I haven’t been on in far too long!

I’m excited about the comp. And in typical form, I wrote something, then hated it and deleted. Ha! On to idea #2 now.

I have a small window to get it written and published because come May, work gets crazy again, and I’m working in some time off.

I’m looking forward to seeing what y’all write.

I’ll take some cookies, please.

Yay! Glad to see you back here WG! Looking forward to seeing your writing again!

I'm putting out my memories of working at the Band Box Diner in my Substack newsletter. I won't link it here, but I might create a thread that links to it (if that's allowed).

Acupuncture today. I'm starting to look forward to it - it really helps me. Who knew?

Anyway. Coffee and a cookie.

Quote by Mendalla
I think there was another TV show about nurses at a base there. More like MASH than a combat show like Tour.

China Beach. Dana Delany. Good show.

As for Twitter/X, try BlueSky as a substitute. I'm on it. Not as much traffic, but less toxic.

I like a good war movie, Cora. Have you seen Greyhound? It’s on Apple TV I think.

Woke up too early again. Related to Talia being gone, I suspect. It been gloomy and drizzly for three frikkin days, but it’s supposed to be a gorgeous day later.

Writing about NYC today, and the next few weeks. I’ve been taking notes. Got a short little 500 word quickie submitted at another site.

Mets got creamed yesterday, but we took 2 of 3 from the mighty Dodgers.

Coffee and a beignet please.

Hello all.

Lazy Saturday here. It cold and drizzly out. Talia gone, leftover pizza in the fridge, game about to start, and, oh, what was the date again? Sounds perfect to me. I plan to watch baseball and then watch Rebel Moon. It’s supposed to be awful, but I’m in the mood for big dumb sci-fi.

Coffee and a big plate of cookies please!

I didn’t like Fallout. I know it’s gotten raves, but I had to push myself to finish the first episode. I doubt I will watch more,

I’m going to try Rebel Moon tonight. It’s gotten savaged by critics, but I’m a sucker for big, dumb sci-fi.

Nice comp theme! Looking forward to seeing what everyone writes. I won’t be participating, but I will be reading them eagerly.

Another gloomy day, and no Talia, and I didn’t sleep well. The kitties are doing extra chores, trying to stay on my good side. The kitchen is spotless - they licked it clean.

The Mets have been playing well, but we run smack into the brick wall that is the Dodgers tonight. That’s my evening. I’m thinking about writing about Shea Stadium - the Mets’ old home - and the larger scene of NYC in general.

Coffee please! And fifteen cookies! Where are the cookies!?!?

Finished the 3 Body Problem. Started out strong, ended up…meh, but okay. I would watch a second season. At least the showrunners learned to use a SHORT opening credit sequence after that interminable Game of Thrones credit sequence.

Gonna start Fallout tonight.

Glad you are on the mend, Cora. I trust Red is recovering nicely as well.

Me, I had acupuncture yesterday, and therapy today! I’ll be good as new soon. Well, probably not.

I’ll have some Kicking Horse please.

First full No Talia day. Sigh. The cats are looking at me with accusatory glances. She’ll be back soon, I swear! Kitties? I promise…. Hey, put down that cat scr…. Fighfhccjxjxsmsjt

A mild Covid like illness, but when the sufferers come out of their fever they are…changed. Brain structure is different. Zany antics ensue.

Quote by redwriter

Series of rapid dizzy spells lasting only ten seconds each had me being hurried to the hospital for check-up. After several hours wait, much questioning, and a brain scan (when all they found was a tired, over-used old brain) , not having any repeat of the dizziness I was allowed to return home and now remain relatively normal. One thing I did learn after years of emergency treatments, is that if you are merely a "check-up" then waiting is part of the treatment, Arrival at hospital 3.00pm---return home 2.00am. Patience is essential., Although better safe than sorry is a useful maxim.

A hot chocolate and one of Sara's cookies would be most acceptable.

Headline: Scan of Red’s Brain Reveals Nothing!

Sorry, Red, that’s an old Dizzy Dean joke. Glad to hear you are doing well.

Acupuncture went well. Who knew I would become an acupuncture junkie?

Mets won again. Day game today, but I won’t be watching. Talia laves today for a week or so. Wah. The cats and I will be bacheloring it up with Taco Bell and bad monster movies and baseball games. I might buy them some special cat treats to make it through the week.

Coffee and a beignet, if any of those are still lying around.

Plagues are the new zombies. Kill the world with a contagion.

Survived Monday.

Acupuncture day today! I’m psyched! Almost good as therapy day.

Other than that, not much going on. We’ve had beautiful weather lately, perfect for walking. Writing is going well. Mets are playing good ball. What’s not to like?

I’d love a coffee. And one of Sara’s cookies!

Quote by Mendalla

So ever had a band that you've known about forever, knew was very much one you would like, and just never got around to listening to? Much to my embarassment as a fan of prog, that band for me is King Crimson. Yeah, I've heard them now and then over the years but never actually gave them a good tryout. So this morning I had their classic debut album "In the Court of the Crimson King" on in the car. And was not disappointed. This was also an early album for vocalist Greg Lake who later went on to fame as part of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer.

I frikkin LOVE this album. Freshman year dorm room soundtrack

I promise to use fewer exclamation points next post. That last one had 11!

Yes, I’m back, no eclipse monsters. The eclipse and accompanying road trip were Big Fun!

I have galleys to proof today (!!!) for a story com out first week of May! So that’s fun. Talia is leaving in a couple days to visit her Mom, so that’s not fun. But at least I have baseball season to distract me. Mets are playing some pretty good ball! (Sorry Red.)

That’s a mighty fine looking pie Ape. Have you tried writing a flash or micro to break the writer’s block? Or is it more like writer’s ennui?

Looking forward to reading your poem Elyse. It’s been crazy busy here!

Coffee and a cookie please. Seize the carp!

Quote by Mendalla

Got some nice hot Nicaraguan medium in the coffee pot. Teas du jour are English Breakfast and Raspberry Royale. Fresh lemonade and iced tea are in the fridge and hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate.

Have a great weekend, y'all!!

Cool gif!

Hey all. We are back from Okie-homa. The clouds threatened to swamp the eclipse - we saw the first 15 minutes, then nothing but clouds for nearly an hour, but minutes before totality the clouds parted. REALLY spectacular stuff. I think the clouds made it even more dramatic.

The road trip was nice too, though got a bit long by the end. I really love that part of the country - even the Texas parts . I derive deep comfort from the food and the accents and the culture.

I hope all is well. Acupuncture today! I'm psyched!

You guys should start a WWII memory/snippets thread. It would be read with much enthusiasm.

We’re in Oklahoma (or as a an old girlfriend called it, Oh Glaucoma). Sunny here now. Storms roll in tomorrow but the forecast is improving - I am optimistic we will see the eclipse.

Today we are going to a little country church and a tiny graveyard on a hill covered in wildflowers and wild grass. One of my favorite places on the entire Earth. I’ll be there one day myself.

I hope everyone is well. Coffee for two please.

We are off! See you on the other side of the eclipse. Forecast is for cloudy skies, so pray for a patch of blue sky for us. I'm pumped for a road trip, so we'll have fun regardless.

Elyse, you were kidding about crushing on Tom Petty!? I'm so disappointed....

Hey, Red, glad you had a good day. Enjoy your Italian dinner.

Have fun in the yard Gill.

A LOT of coffee please.

Quote by redwriter

Here we are in this dead haven on April 4th. The big one! ----90!

Ninety! That’s a big one. Congrats, Red. I’m honored to be part of your celebration.

We’re off to the eclipse tomorrow. Rain is in the forecast. I’m really glad I saw the one last year because the weather does not look like it will cooperate. Still, a good road trip, and we can visit my family’s gravesite, now that I am the last one standing.

Beautiful day here. My acupuncture session seems to have done some good with my neurological issues, which is a wonderful thing.

METS DOUBLE HEADER TODAY. (Sorry, Red.) (And sorry for shouting.)

I’d love coffee.