Ooh, good thread!
Kurt Vonnegut
Larry McMurtry
Shirley Jackson
John Irving
Stephen King
Honorable mention:
David Foster Wallace
Neil Stephenson
Toni Morrison
John LaCarre
Cormac McCarthy
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Cheers mates.
Oh, Bond. The spy that drank watered-down gin. I did like Connery. I was sad when he passed last year.
I hope deGrom faces the Braves. It is baseball at its best when great pitching meets great hitting. BTW, I found an interesting quirk to the reliever three-batter rule. If the game is stopped for weather or any other reason during an inning, that reliever must still pitch to meet the three batter limit even if the delay is hours or days. The only way out of the rule is injury or ejection.
Sara, those watermelon cookies looked so good! I will eat one with my herbal tea today.
I am a wee bit worried about tomorrow. We are having guests for a cook-out, and I have not been around new visitors since my condition worsened. With my occasional mental zone-outs and my paranoia, I am not good around new people. We have several neighbors coming over. I have met them before, that is what Liz told me, but with so many people in the house, I am worried it will affect me worse. That is what happens when I go out to crowded places quite often. Liz says she will stay with me; she is excellent at keeping me grounded. With her help, I hope things will go well. I will take some meds before they get here.
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
BTW, I am really behind on my reading. Be patient, and I will get to all the stories and poems. They are all so good and entertaining. Some days they are what gets me out of bed.
Quote by MendallaQuote by Survivor
Good day to you, Verity. It's so lovely that you bring up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, By coincidence, I just happened to be in a production of that work as a play on stage here at our local arts theatre. I played the nefarious Child Catcher.
You and "nefarious" are not two words that go together in my mind, but that's acting. I sometimes contemplate seeking out an amateur theater company to try out with but other than a strong voice (mostly used for preaching and other public speaking), not sure if I have any qualities suited to the stage. I live in a city with a fairly strong theatrical tradition so there's plenty happening stage-wise normally.
Quote by rolandlytle
For the baseball fans; players being paid millions of dollars can still play like little leaguers.
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I wanted to mention something today but forgot earlier. The US Covid death toll has passed 600,000 (nearing the total military deaths in the Civil War), but the number of new deaths has dropped dramatically, and more than half of all adults have been vaccinated. But yesterday, the world death tolls crossed 3,500,000. Africa, South America, and southwest Asia (especially India) deaths are still climbing. Some are predicting 5,000,000 by the end of the year. The WHO has stated that the world death totals may be 25-40% higher on a conservative estimate.
A situation I have followed during the Covid pandemic is US federal institutions. The VA has had more than 12,000 veterans' deaths. And the military death toll is at 315. That is more than the number of fatalities in Afganistan over the past eight years.
BTW all of the federal institutions (military, VA, and prisons) are not counted in the US numbers listed by the media.
I did not want to bring everyone down, so here is one of my kittens, Bubblegum.
MagBass, I enjoyed that squirrel video. Thanks!
Quote by MagnificentBastard
GoT (again) with my son. Just watched the series finale of Last Man Standing (sad to see it go) and the season, which may also be the series finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. It has not yet been renewed for season three.
Why are there no more Justified’s out there???
Tons of motorcycle videos on YouTube. If you haven’t seen her, check out Itchy Boots. Noraly is from the Netherlands. She travels on her motorcycle by herself around the world. She uses four GoPro’s, including a drone for stunning images.
Noraly is currently touring South Africa. Three years ago she travelled over 60,000 kilometres through Asia and Europe. Last year, her Patagonia to Alaska trip was cut short in Chile due to the pandemic. Hopefully, she returns to that leg soon.
Quote by MagnificentBastard
Verbs, you whiny little...
Fine. Here ya go. Sheesh. Bro hug ‘n booty grab.
Hi Everyone! Gill, Rumps, LarBear, EB, DoubleD, RollyMeister, Canadian Ape Boy, and our 30+ year Ingrish teacher. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Any updates on Rachel? Damn. I popped by Red a while back. I hope she’s doing better. Any news on Tonya or Vanessa?
Only big news here is that I bought a motorbike. Honda finally made something I wanted. It’s not really anything classic or traditional. It’s more of a fusion of styles with lots of tech and nanny modes. It’s a Rebel 1100 DCT. Essentially, it’s a spirited scooter. Well, not really. It does do a sub-4 second zero-to-100 km. I call it my naked sporty cruiser. LOVE IT.
Like many, I’ve got my first COVID shot, but am now in vaccination purgatory. Got the Astra-Zeneca one, but with blood clot fears and short shipping, I wait. Can’t get another from another either. So, I wait.
Kids are well. My little boy has now reached my height. Buggar is only thirteen. He reminds me of both, constantly. The girl is becoming a handful. She is branching out. Becoming her own obnoxious preteen self. Thankfully, she hasn’t contributed to my early demise in the terrifying still of the night. I fear I may end up pleading for her to do so.
Puppies are doing well too. Both are almost nine months. After dental surgeries, spay & neuter, etc, were into both for about twelve grand. Ugh.
Bought a new 8-person tent. Pitched it in the backyard this extended long weekend. Simply fab. Laying on my super comfy air mattress as I type this, both dogs on and beside me, the boy playing some Mario on his Switch across from me, while my daughter Zooms some ballet online in the basement. Time to make dinner, I suppose. And then an early evening ride on my iron horse.
I still have no urge to write, but Verbs, I too have many coyotes near by. I’ll pee on your fence, any day, any time. You don’t even need to ask.
Take care you gnarly band of deviants.
Quote by gillianleeza
It's good to see everyone. Roland, it is always a treat to find you here. I am glad you are feeling better.
Welcome to Harly and Verity.
I've not been here for a bit. My Mom had a stroke, thankfully a mild one and she is recovering well now at home. It resulted in some stress and worry with my Dad. Long long stories but at least I have a GPS on the key ring he takes everywhere that can locate him if necessary. I stayed with him and have no idea how my Mom does it. I am happy to be back at my house.
I hope everyone is doing well.
I'm going to take some cookies and go nap. I'll try to catch up later.
Cheers!
Quote by VerityQuote by verbalI do that all the time. As I’m new to writing I write what I think is okay. It’s only after it has been published that I think of a better ending or plot line. I’m just going to have to invent a time machine.
Good morning everyone!
So, I'm not sure how to apologize to the mods here - I submitted a story yesterday, then got a revelation about the plot a couple hours later, and pulled the story so I could rewrite it. I hope I didn't give someone some unnecessary work!
Nice to see Roland this weekend! And everyone else too!
It's a nice, sunny day here. Not much going on. Write, pay bills, have a lovely dinner with Talia, ammd watch the game. Life of Reilly, this retirement is!
I'd love a coffee, and a Megalon cookie if there are any left.
Now let's tackle that rewrite.
Quote by rolandlytle
Hi, everyone.w1I1vS403FGqMM8J
Sorry for my disappearance. I was in the hospital for almost a week with an infected liver. With my dementia, that was awful! A steady routine helps me get through things, and everything was different in the hospital. They let me come home several days early because of it. I have been in bed a lot since getting home. I have a drainage bag coming out of my side, which sucks, but I will have to wear it for 4-6 weeks.
I am back and reading. I met a lovely young lass from the UK, Harley. I see she has popped in here, and that is great. Mostly watching baseball, but I am actually writing on paper. It looks like little kids' writing. My wife was laughing at it yesterday.
I am sorry I missed out on the kaiju cookies. Maybe Sara can make some more. A Sci-Fi channel on YouTube, The Templin Institute (I love this one), just recently had a series of the old Godzilla monsters on there.
I will have some tea and a cookie. I am still waiting to get my appetite back. The good news is that the illness did help me lose 35 pounds in a month.
By y'all!
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Quote by Harley
Coffee is life.
Quote by Mendalla
Did some catch-up of favorite PBS Digital Studios shows on Youtube.
Eons (which discusses deep time and evolution) covered the evolution of wood, which then allowed trees as we know them to evolve.
Sound Field (which looks at various topics in music) did a nice piece on Beethven's Fur Elise, which also marked the return of co-host Nahre Sol who's been away most of the past few months
It's Lit (like Sound Field but for literature) did a history of manga, the Japanese comics that inspire a lot of anime and have become popular and influential in the West over the past 3 or so decades
FYI, if you're looking for them, Eons and Sound Field have their own Youtube channels, It's Lit is one of three shows sharing a channel called Storied. It's stablemates are Monstrum (about monsters in folklore and literature, which I've talked about in other places on the site) and Other Words (about language and the origins of words).
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
How y'all are? Just so y'all know, odds are I wont be around as much as usual for the next few weeks. Here's why:
My number three great-grandchild will be coming home from the hospital today. 'Addy' checked in at six pounds twelve ounces and is ready to dominate family activities for some time to come. For those keeping count, she's g-g kid number three and g-g daughter number two and is the first-born of my own first born's first-born.
Later in June, I'll head up to Lawrence, Kansas for a week of getting back in touch with the two earlier models of my great-grandkids. After days of doing this and that type family stuff, I'll tag-along with them plus their parents on our way to Phoenix. And so now you know why I'll probably be mostly out of pocket for awhile. ;)
Later, Inspirators.they
Quote by DenimAngel
Hi peeps
A beautiful day here
Not a lot going on today
Slow start to my day .
*Moving yesterday's cookies to the emergency cookie tins behind the counter and filling the cookie jars with the fun cookies :
Ghidorah, Megalon, MechaGodzilla, Godzilla, and Caesar cookies too!
*Giving the adorable mascots fresh water and treats shaped like baseballs*
Tomorrow will be circus themed cookies !
Have a great day everyone!

Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Today is a special kind of TGIF as in, Thank God It's Finally -Unmask day, at least here in the States.
To celebrate this l-o-n-g anticipated event, I've given the coffee pot a good rinse, filled it with dark roast Louisiana coffee and water from the mighty Kansa River which also supplied the water for the tea kettle. Both have been turned on, so to speak.
Over in that seedy den of depravity in the Red Zone I left a post last night that had some info on Sprite. The bottom line is good news since she claims to be much mo' better.
Coffee's ready. Gonna fill my mug with that ambrosia then fill my free hand with Sarah's cookies. Since the temp is expected to push past 100f again, think I'll sit over at the corner table with the fan turned on.
Later, Inspirators.![]()
Quote by MendallaQuote by verbalQuote by DenimAngelhi peeps
Jeff I'll bring sugar cookies tomorrow what shapes would you like ?
Hugs to everyone!
Godzilla cookies for the win.33pi7IxyObedhBKI I second this motion. As long as they don't breath radioactive fire. Though I suppose that could be helpful if my tea gets cold.![]()
Quote by elizabethblackQuote by verbal
I've already scared coyotes out of our yard once today. They're getting bold. I scared him away by banging pots and pans. Later I am going to hang up blinky lights that are supposed to mimic animal eyes. I am also (no, I'm not making this up) going to pee along the fenceline all this week. If those techniques don't work, I want to buy a life-sized plastic coyote that is supposed to work well - you just set it out in the yard. Talia is less than thrilled by this approach.
I think you are on the right track Verbs, but here is a better (?) idea:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079XSX1ZP?tag=pestpointers-20
Certainly would be cheaper to empty your own bladder, but if the neighbors notice....don't know.
Baseball! How quickly the mighty fall. Actually should have taken a picture when the Nationals were, very briefly, in first place. And started out playing first game against the Yankees and demolished them. I refused to discuss the last two games. Deep sigh.
Quote by gillianleeza
It was so nice to have my parents for dinner yesterday. My middle son, his girlfriend, and their adorable pug came to celebrate Mother's day as well. It was a nice treat especially after a few stressful days dealing with some unfortunate new behavior my dad is exhibiting.
I'm feeling a bit discouraged about everything at the moment. Depression is a sneaky thing and I need to be alert to the symptoms. So forgive me if I am not as active.
I hope Monday was kind to everyone. I'll be in the corner enjoying some of Sarah's cookies.
Take care of yourselves, both mentally and physically. Be kind to yourself.
Cheers!