One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
If I have good rear-view mirrors I might get somewhere.
I bought a car recently. Got it from an individual who knows even less about transferring rights than me. He’d from a neighboring town, so when I ran into title transfer issues involving his signature, it mean a few hours on the road collecting him and getting it straightened out. But I’m now the proud owner of a Subaru. Much better gas mileage than my old vehicle.
I’m also trying to get a freezer working again and deal with the furnace and paint the house and gear up for the next yard sale. You’d think most of this would be simple but no. The freezer that worked just fine when we unplugged it won’t work at all now. The paperwork on the furnace has gone missing. The paintbrush won’t reach and using a ladder means setting it up on the roof of a porch. Toe tingles anyone? Don’t get me started on the yard sale thing.
Well, luckily I’ve become accustom to setbacks. I’ll just adjust my rear view mirrors, and keep plugging away at it.
Morning Light
Jill: I can never remember if it goes forward or backward.
Jack: It’s the solstice, not daylight savings time.
Jill: No, no. I mean the new official time for posting Jack and Jill. It’s supposed to be NOON, Mountain Standard Time on Saturdays.
Jack: Ah, right. So Alice can catch the morning Light.
Jill: Exactly.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Reboot
The theme for this week’s Jack and Jill is forward and backward as suggested by The Walking Man
Want to see what I can do with a word or phrase? Make a suggestion.
Penny in His Pocket
“Don’t you love me,” she asked.
“Of course, but you’re already mine.” He didn’t look up from his computer.
“What if I find another?” She teased, but she was serious too.
“You won’t. You’re already mine.”
“I’m not a penny in your pocket. If you want me to stay, then let me know every day.”
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
Suzie’s House 316 : The Highlight of Emma’s Life
Emma could feel the excitement in the air right from the first notes of Bitter Harvest. It was like a balloon hanging all flaccid one minute and ready to pop the nest.
She stood at the back of the gym, watching her band mates play and feeling pretty full of herself, thanks to the lacy black mask Bruce had given her, like she was the phantom of the opera or something.
She waited patiently through the intro, and was totally ready for it when it was time to sing. Her voice rang out right on time, perfect pitch and volume. Everything was great. Except for what happened next.
The Serialists of June 19th
Featured Author: Novroz, who is running two serials at the same time. This week I’m giving her a button. Usually I wait until I see at least three installments of a serial before I make a button, because I want to be sure the serial won’t simply disappear on us. But I’ve known Novroz for a while now, and am willing to take the risk.
Let me know what you think of your button. I’ll be glad to change it if you would like.
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
The Exciting Life of a Writer
Writers are by in large a remarkably boring lot. I tend to be a bit more expressive than some, which makes it hard to write in public. I grimace, laugh out loud, tear up and generally get way too involved in whatever I’m writing so that passers by stare. Maybe it’s because a lot of what I write plays out in my head like a movie. Only one that I can stop, alter, and step into at whim.
So, while the inside of my head is full of dramatic, earth-shaking, deeply moving junk, all you see on the outside is a standard crazy lady. I used to talk about what’s on the inside, but to my amazement nobody really wanted to hear it. There’s a world of difference between telling someone that the heroine cuts her way out of the top of the head of a sea serpent, and writing about it. Where telling people elicited laughter or disbelief, the actual scene got the thumbs up from my beta readers.
So I try not to talk too much about writing. I don’t sit around and grumble even though the process is often far from enjoyable because most people will ether fix the problem (not possible) or tell me to stop writing (also not possible. I’ve tried.)
Now that I’m focusing on revisions, I expect to be a very boring person.
Reboot
Jack: What’s wrong? Isn’t our new computer working?
Jill: The sales guy said it should boot right up, but I can’t turn it on at all.
Slaves to the System
He carefully placed his soapbox in the very center of the park where families and friends had gathered to enjoy the glory of Spring.
“You are all blind,” he shouted. “You are being mislead, slaves to the corporate demagoguery. Repent!”
Those nearest paused with eyebrows raised, then shrugged. On such a nice day, better to throw the Frisbee than worry.
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 Random Words
Straight off the top of my head. Mind you, it’s late at night as I write this, and I might be a little punch drunk.
1. Penguin
Suzie’s House 315 : Emma as Talk Show Hostess
While the guys in the band scrambled to get Kate’s kit drum set up, Emma had to do everything she could to keep the audience entertained. Didn’t she? So it was OK if she got a little silly. Right.
“Soooooo… Miss Cheerleader, I’ve heard about you.” Emma strutted up to the first row of folding chairs. She smiled, imagined her own teeth as serrated as a shark, and chuckled.
The Serialists of June 12th
Featured Author: Sheilagh Lee with her rendition of Beauty and the Beast.
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
Yard Sale
I spent my weekend on a yard sale. We made about $80 over two days, and managed to get rid of about a third of our stuff. We’re going to try it again in a couple of weeks, only with advertising and much better presentation. This time we just put out the boxes with the stuff in it and let people paw through.
The thing about yard sales is they make you think through just what you need and what you want. For instance, I actually had the gall to grab an item back when it was about to sell because one of the kids put it in the sale when it really shouldn’t have been. OTOH, The Boy finally got to the point where he’s willing to give up his toys. His Wolverine figurine, and Leggo castle, and all kinds of stuff. He finally let us sell it.
Running the sale was great. All kinds of people use it as an excuse to come and talk to us. Many are quite funny and entertaining.
At one point Diana settled on a folding table as if she were an item of merchandise. One of our neighbors came into the yard saying, “Ah, so this is where Diana lives.” So far every neighbor who has made the connection between us and her has said something about how cute she is. He gave her a pet, and said, “There’s no price tag on her. Does that mean she’s free?” I said, “No, just free-range.”
On of the traditions in this neighborhood is that anything you plan to donate after a sale goes on the curb first so neighbors can have their pick. In less than an hour after we put our junk (pictured here) out, we had people going through it.
I can’t help but wonder if that didn’t cut into our sales.
