Quote by gillianleeza

We received an invitation from our son for their spring wedding celebration. It's lovely and states it will take place in the Splendid (our last name) gardens. Our yard is far from splendid. My husband and I looked around the yard and shook our heads. We have a lot of work to do. He can make our deck beautiful and build the archway she wants to walk through, and I can do a lot of yard work but making our yard "splendid" might be out of our grasp. We'll do our best.

Good news, we went out on our boat this weekend and encountered no jellyfish. I have no idea why but I am not complaining. It was good to be out on the bay and in the bay. Back to responsibility tomorrow.

Have a great Monday, everyone.

Cheers!

That sounds lovely. I really enjoy small intimate thoughtful weddings.

We are zeroing in on an Airbnb for the 2024 solar eclipse somewhere in Oklahoma. This is AFTER booking one for the 2023 solar eclipse. Poor Talia- willing to put up with astronomy road trips. I am a lucky man.

Critique tonight. 40 page story. Yikes!

It’s hot and cloudless today. I will try a short walk.

Enjoy the day!

blinks at empty room Okay. Kitty Zoomies and Languorous Llama are our teas. Special Dark Madagascar Roast from Costco in the perker. Sara's delish cookies on a platter.

I still have a black eye, but it's better. I really do think i had a concussion for a day, but I'm back to normal. Or as normal as I get.

Hot and sunny here. Digging into some tough memories for writing today. Arg. My therapist approves.

I did a recording on another site for a comp entry. Listen if you get a chance. I won't link or say the title, but it's a word from Poe's poem The Bells.

Enjoy the weekend!

Quote by Mendalla

There's rumours abounding that the ape has abandoned the cafe to the insane ministrations of Godzilla. These are not entirely true. He's just my backup. After all, if Kong and Goji can ally against MechaGoji on the big screen, surely we can run a cafe together.😋

Coffee for the day is Jamaican Blue Mountain. For teas, we have Assam Tarajulie (nice black from Northern India) and Earl Grey Cream. Pitchers are washed and refilled with fresh unsweet iced tea and lemonade. Soda stock looking good.

Sigh. Off to fight Skull Crawlers again. This constant monster x monster crap gets you down after a while.

Finally, someone sane to set up this place! Kong and Gogi can team up to fight a lack of caffeination!

The side of my face still looks kinda messed up. I have a therapy appointment today - I will have to convince her Talia didn’t give me this shiner.

After that, off to the dentist! It’s mental and dental day!

Enjoy the day all!

Cubes - melt more slowly

Fanta grape or strawberry?

abracadabra Costco blend is a-perking, teas are a-steeping. Ditzy Dalmation and Manic Monkey are our blends.

So, I’m a doofus.

I jumped out of a swing on the playground yesterday, trying to look all cool, and I face-planted right into the mulch. A little embarrassing, but no biggie. I have a pretty big black eye this morning. The cats are looking at me a little askance.

Talia is all worried I have a concussion, but I don’t feel any more dizzy and confused than I normally do . Still, might take it easy today.

I am also ditzing around with the idea of recording some audio for another site. I may do that with my concussion day off.

Enjoy the day!

Ooh, jellyfish. I remember being fascinated by them as a kid. Until I got stung by one. Sorry you can’t boat, Gil.

Lunch with daughter today, and writing of course. I may have to blow off my walk today.

What, no coffee or tea? presto Costco coffee is a-perking, teas are a-steeping. Kooky kitty and jaunty gerbil are our blends. Plus, cookies!

Cheers all.

Just finished season 2 of The Bear. Really enjoyed it.

Cool and cloudy day. No Talia and the cats are nowhere to be seen.

Memoir writing again today. My therapist calls it “poking the bear.” It’s slow, specific work.

Anyway. What else? I have made amends with the good friend who I got into politics with last weekend. No hard feelings. No one’s mind was changed.

The Mets actually won a game!

I’d love a cup of coffee and one of those cookies.

Talia and I watched the meteor shower from the backyard last night, 12-2 or so, so up and around late today. We saw a handful, nothing dramatic. But it was a nice night, and we enjoyed it. I was able to mansplain many meteor factoids to my long-suffering wife.

Grocery shopped today. Watching a thunderstorm roll in, and wondering if I have the mental fortitude for watching the Mets lose to the Braves one more time. I think I may sit this one out.

Enjoy the day, all.

Ooh, death by lava! Sounds gruesome. I like gruesome.

I'm critiquing all day today for novel critique tomorrow, and that's on top of a ton of stories for another site. Critiquing is good for me and my writing, but boy, it can be dull work sometimes.

Up early to let the guys who are working on our deck - second day in a row. Retirement has made me lazy, I'm used to sleeping late!

Hey, if this McCafe is too hot and I spill it in my lap, can I sue you? (Sorry, a little legal humor.)

Enjoy the day all!

walks in whistling, loads up the percolator with some of Costco's finest, and out two teas are steeping: Caffeinated Caterpillar and Chilly Chicken (sorry the names are dumb, it's early), and Sara'a cookies on a silver platter

Our deck is getting power-washed and re-stained the next two days, so I am up really early to greet the workers, Yawn.

Sending out a short piece of autobiography today. Wish me luck!

Cool, dry day, a little smoke from fires. I'm hopefully going to fully wake up soon, Right now I need LOTS of coffee.

Enjoy the day!

Gas

Little kittens or older cats

lime

emit

Quote by gillianleeza

We've had wild weather here but no tornadoes. In Maryland, at the height of the storm last night, 30 utility poles fell onto cars. I thought I heard the number wrong, but it was correct. People were trapped in their cars for hours while the power company ensured all the power was off so they could safely exit their vehicles. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. The sky turned an eerie green right before the most significant storm. I'm amazed our power has not gone out in any of these storms; it used to go out for almost every storm.

I am happy there are no storms predicted tonight. I'll grab a few cookies and share a pitcher of fresh limeade I made.

Cheers everyone!

Those pictures are bonkers! That looks frightening. I’m glad weather will be calm for a change.

Nice day here, no storms (though these thunderstorms can bubble up out of nothing in mid-afternoon, one of the reasons I love summer here so much).

My writing has taken a temporary left turn. I’m writing a short non-fiction essay, but if it gets any traction I may shoot for a piece of longer non-fiction: autobiography. I already have 60,000 words in rough draft. It is a description of a hard time in my life, but I haven’t looked at it in nearly a decade, I finally opened the file yesterday. We shall see. Right now, I am focused on a 2000 word essay.

Anyway, appreciate the setup, and I would love a coffee and a cookie!

Tame

Make

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.

Cat cookies! Yum! Thanks! My heart goes out to you on the anniversary of your Mom’s passing, Sara. I know you must miss her.

Hey, the Mets actually won a game. It’s about once a week these days.

I forgot to say yesterday, but we had THREE tornadoes just east of here, as we were driving to Denver. Talia saw one of them! I didn’t, I was too busy driving to even look - it was pretty intense.

Writing non-fiction about my first wife’s passing. Just a short specific scene. Try to get the details exactly right.

Anyway. Thanks for the setup. A cat cookie and a coffee please!

I’ll have some of that horsie coffee!

Denver was fun. Lots of chicken and beer! I got into it a little bit with one of my best friends (who is also a Trumpie). We weren’t actually arguing about Trump, we were talking about the writer’s strike and things got a little heated. I don’t think the friendship is damaged, we smoke a peace pipe in the garage, and talked over breakfast the next morning. Still, fraught times. And he’s a good friend. The next 15 months in the US are going to be crazed.

Enough of that. Not making this up: 4 rejections in the last week. Admittedly it’s because I’ve been sending out a lot of stories. Still. It’s a LOT of rejection.

Nothing coffee and cookies won’t cure. Enjoy your day everyone!

walks in whistling. Coffee today: Beany Bounce, our teas are Sleepy Siamese and Bouncy Chihuahua. Cookies are out on a platter. Whew

I hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend. We're driving up to Denver to hang out with friends in a place called Chicken and Beer. Good weird fun will be had.

I'm tired today, didn't sleep well, but perky. Talia's first week of work seems to be going pretty well, if a little overwhelming. I am over my rejection slip funk. Onward!

A coffee and a cookie!

Quote by Mendalla

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?)

I know you are kidding.

Here's the little newsletter thing I wrote about the spiders, if anyone is interested: https://jeffwood.substack.com/p/downtown-spiderville/comments

Quote by gillianleeza

Jeff, I'm sorry about the rejection email. I love all of your writing! I hope you had a great birthday. I saw a blurb about "grandpas growing tentacles" I'll have to scroll back and see what that is all about, or do I want to?

My son and daughter-in-law left yesterday. It was a wonderful visit, but I am exhausted. Instead of having a second wedding ceremony in Germany (they had a small one already with her family), they want to have it at our house. That way, all of my son's friends and family can attend. There will be about thirty guests. Our backyard is going to need some work between now and May. It's an excellent excuse to spruce up things and work on the deck we had been putting off. It will be interesting.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. Thankfully the heat wave broke here, and it is almost pleasant out, so I can't complain.

Cheers!

That nice of you to say, Gill. It really did mess up my day, to get rejected first thing in the morning.

I’m always glad when company leaves. . The wedding at your home, homemade and personal, sounds lovely.

I could do with a McCoffee.

So yesterday began with a very kind rejection slip to a sale I really wanted. The day ended with a rejection (purely form letter) THREE HOURS after I submitted. Bookends of rejection. Writing is hard, man.

Mets fandom is hard as well. I think we are about 20 games out of first place. Sara’s Braves have quite the lead.

Newsletter writing today. Writing about…wait for it…spiders!

McCoffee and a McCookie please.

Good morning everyone. Awesome cookies Sara. Perks up some Costco brews steeping some Harmonious Hedgehog and Tasmanian Devil. Sara’s cookie on a platter

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon, came hom, and found the Mets had traded away SEVEN players. Yikes. Tough to be a Mets fan these days.

Tough to be a writer too. Got a very kind rejection email this morning, but it’s still a rejection. I am becoming disillusioned with this writing thing of late.

Oh well. Enjoy the day all. Peace.

mind

damn

Driving to Albuquerque for an eclipse in October.

Next big trip: sleeper car up the left coast to Vancouver. Cruise from there to Alaska.

Drive, if I have the time

Drive all day like a loon, or take it easy?

I have blathered elsewhere about all the black widows I encountered this weekend, so I won’t re-recount it here. But I’m not dead! Had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Still working on the Grandpa’s growing tentacles stories. I’ll try to sneak in a walk between the thunderstorms.

Thanks for the setup! A coffee and several cookies please!

Thank you for all the Happy Birthdays. It was a fun day. Today, back to the grind - I am listening to the Grateful Dead and dismantling a hot tub with crowbar and screwgun.

Enjoy the day! I'll have a coffee.

Quote by JamesPBear
with a nice, low number!

That train has, sadly, left the station.

You ate an octopus!? For breakfast!?

Hey all. Hope everyone is well. I'm having a good day here - Talia is home today! And it's my birthday (as I hinted broadly earlier in the week). I'll write, and walk, and then do the dinner and presents thing. I predict Mexican food.

We might go see either Barbie or Oppenheimer this weekend - like everyone else. They both look REALLY good, and worth seeing in a theater. Other than that, a pretty calm weekend.

Coffee and a cookie please!