On Ensemble
Mr. Al and I went to an On Ensemble concert this weekend. I loved it! We got front row tickets, which turned out to be way too close as the skirt of the stage was within kicking distance, but the band was set up far enough back not to be intimidating. Which is not to say they weren’t overwhelming. What a great band!
Those of you who know of my predilection for drums and for music that isn’t exactly mainstream are probably taking that with a grain of salt. Maybe you should because I really am that way, but frankly, there’s a movie-score quality to them that I think will appeal to a lot more than just Mr. Al and I.
They start with taiko style drumming. As Masato (we think) said in the concert, taiko just means drumming in Japanese. From there they add elements of rock, and wild experimentalism. They moved flawlessly from traditional rhythms to strange things of their own devising and back again. Some of their transitions are intense heavy beats that they all nail at the same time. Truly talented.
If I have any complaint, it is with the audience. Apparently a lot of the people we normally see at these things were either at the basketball game, or attending one of the other concerts in town. If you ask me, they were in the wrong place.
It was the first I’d heard of them, but you know I’ll catch every show I come within a few miles of from now on.
Fly Away Birdy
Tina (Jill’s Mom): …so the long and short of it is that I’m moving in here.
Jill: What?! But…
Tina: No buts. This is obviously the best place for me. So that’s all there is to it. What do you think of THAT, son-in-law?
Jill: Jack! Don’t you dare.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Regular Fruit
Today’s word was bird, brought to you by Heather
Welcome to Montana
The man at the window of the pharmacy pick up has been drinking. He’s rosy, and jovial, and must be pushing eighty even if he does have a fine crop of grey under his Stetson.
“So, they let you out,” the pharmacist says warmly.
“Yep. Don’t know what the fuss was about. Just me and my brother arguing.”
“Must have been the gun you waved,” the pharmacist says, still smiling.
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 Things The Girl Has Said
1. Aw, cuddly kitties. It’s like candy without the weight gain.
2. So I was re-reading Bleach, because that’s what I do; re-read things… .
3. After trying eggplant Parmesan: I didn’t know what eggplant tasted like – and I still don’t.
4. Eek! Nature.
5. Me: I think your hair looks better blond than brown.
The Girl: That’s because I live blonde.
6. Me: Go read manga. You need to cool down (after she planned several snippy comments to post on Facebook)
The Girl: Leave me alone. I love to hate.
7. I had some other things on my agenda (before we go to an appointment) like brushing my teeth and a quick palates workout.
8. (While standing between me and my computer): I stand between you and your social life.
Suzie’s House 301 : When the Bad Night is Forever
“Bad night?” Trent sat on the edge of Drew’s bed, old bones making the process slow. He must really be feeling his age. The little closet of a room didn’t have a chair.
“Yeah.” Drew moved to make room, getting caught in the covers and having to grope for the sheet because he’d disarranged them so badly over night. “Brutal.”
“So the stuff the shrink prescribed didn’t do it this time either.”
“Yeah.” Giving up on the bedding, Drew dragged himself to the wall where a headboard would be if the bed consisted of more than a couple of mattresses and a bedrail. “And I guess it’s the end of the line. She said this was the last possibility.”
Glasses
You know you’re getting old when you need more than one pair of glasses. I guess I’m getting there because I’ve had it with my “progression” bifocals and I elected to get distance and reading glasses. Now if only the suckers had some common ground that included my computer monitor. No such luck. Apparently I need a third pair of glasses for the difference.
It all started when my old glasses fell apart in my hand. I had just washed them and was drying them when the plastic frames broke in two places and the left lens popped out. I’d been needing a new prescription for a while anyway, so I got the fastest appointment I could swing and placed my order.
I love the new distance glasses, but considering I probably spend eighty percent of my day looking at my computer each day, they aren’t cutting it. the part that burns is that I told the optometrist I was concerned about the distance available on the reading glasses. She fobbed me off.
So I took the reading glasses back to have them remade for computer distance. They still don’t cut it, though it’s better. Then, I was washing the reading glasses a few days ago… You can guess where this is headed. Yep. The nose piece broke off. I have a nasty suspicion they ended up in the garbage, but i didn’t see them there when I dug through, and now it is already gone.
I’ve pretty much decided I need progressive lenses anyway because I spend waaaay too much time switching between glasses. If they still have the lenses from before, I’ll have those put in again so I can at least see my beads and embroidery thread clearly.
So, sometime today I need to get my reading glasses fixed, and order a pair of progressives. Wish me luck!
Regular Fruit
Tina (Jill’s Mom): Hey, Gertrude. We’re out of mangoes.
Gertrude (Tina’s sister): We have plenty of apples and oranges. Have regular fruit instead.
Doorbell: Dingdong
Raoul (Gertrude’s son): Mom, can I stay here a while? I got kicked out of my apartment for cross dressing.
Gertrude: Of course you can.
Tina: (muttering). If that’s the kind of fruit we’re going to have around here, I’m moving out.
Novroz suggested Exotic Fruit.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Plant of the Ape
Growing Up in Pictures
He opened the envelope carefully, hopefully. A small pile of photos slid out – the kids on a slide, eating ice cream, laughing. They looked good. A little bigger, maybe, than last month when their mother sent the thank you note for the child support check. He pinned them to the wall – a growing collection of time passing.
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 300 : Promises, Promises
Rey hated to douse on Tracy’s parade, but when he found her hanging by her fingers from a climbing rope in the gym, he felt he better do something about it. Not that he hadn’t found the entire day entertaining, but she looked so pale she might drop at any minute. She’d gone from naughty into dangerous.
The Serialists of Feb 27
Featured author: Altonian with The Visitors. It’s fun to see the “bad” guys get co-opted.
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.
