Quote of the Week

This is day 11 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is Word for the year.

Words have no power... which you do not give them. - Bruce McAllister The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic

Words are just an assembly of letters.  Once we assemble the letters into words, we give them a definition. Now that the words have meaning, we use them to communicate. This is where it gets tricky. You know the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"?  

I see two ways of looking at this. False, of course words can hurt me. Just think of all the cruel things that are said that diminish our self-esteem, leave us feeling isolated, even humiliated. This happens when we allow the words to have that power.  

Or it's true, and words cannot hurt me... if I don't let them.  If we can put aside the hurtful words, we take away their power.  This is not an easy thing to do and many people suffer from careless, thoughtless or malicious remarks.

For this challenge, we were supposed to focus on a word for the year.  Since we're just getting started I don't know which words will be trendy this year.  Last year these ten words made the short list:  Culture, Nostalgia, Insidious, Legacy, Feminism, Je ne sais quoi, Innovation, Surreptitious, Autonomy, Morbidity.

This is my list.

What is your word (or words) for the year?

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The Morning After

This is day 10 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is The morning after.

"Hey Alex, you don't look so good," observed Charlie, "where were you yesterday?"  Not much got past Charlie.

Image Source: Wikipedia

"I guess you haven't heard.  Well, in a nutshell, I was having coffee with an angel, and the next thing I know I had been manipulated into staking out her lunch date who turned out to be a member of the mob, as was her ex-boyfriend, and she was involved.  They kidnapped us, blindfolded us and took us to an abandoned building.  Since we were outnumbered and to protect the girl, I went along thinking I could gain an advantage but they jabbed us with a needle and it was lights out. While we were out, they took the flash drive and were probably going to come back and finish us off after they verified what was on the flash drive."

"After we regained our senses, it took us an hour to get the blindfolds off.  They took my gun, badge and Jenna's purse. Fortunately for us they neglected to take my phone so I dialed 911. The police traced the call and sent officers, but they were ambushed when they arrived and were pinned down in the alley.  Jenna was freaked out by the gunfire and was screaming like a crazy person."

"The officers called for reinforcements and in the meantime, I tinkered with the A/C vent to see if I could crawl out and free Jenna.  Once up there I saw that it was barely wide enough to crawl through...dang near got stuck a couple times.  I came out in a hallway about the time that SWAT arrived. Nothing like the FBI being rescued by SWAT."

"They thought I was one of the mob at first since they had taken my gun and badge.  After we got that cleared up, we were questioned, and the henchmen were carted off to await their attorneys. Did I mention my head is still throbbing?"

"Well," said Charlie, "you lived to see another day."

"You know what they say...there's got to be a morning after," Alex quipped.

"So, are you going to see her again?" grinned Charlie.

For more adventures of Charlie and Alex:

Risky Business

Aliens, Really?
The Colombians
The Key
Stranded
The Last Laugh

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The Gossips

This is day nine of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is Dishing the Dirt.

This painting is titled The Gossips and was painted by Norman Rockwell in 1948.

Image Source: Gandalf's Gallery

Norman Rockwell paints the perfect example of dishing the dirt, and it is my expectation that the first lady in the painting said something about the gentlemen in the green hat on the last row that made him a laughing stock. He seems mighty displeased with her.

Who is the woman and what is her relationship with him? And in the interest of continuing to dish the dirt, what did she say?


There is more about The Gossips here including some answers.

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Got Boots?

This is day eight of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is Favorite article of clothing for winter.

In many areas winter means frigid temperatures, shivering, cold feet, wind-blown watery eyes and runny noses. In other places the seasons meld one into the other with barely a flicker of the thermometer. Whether it's parkas or bikinis, there is a staple in your wardrobe without which the season would be incomplete.

Here in North Carolina our winters vary broadly from year to year. Some are mild with only the merest dusting of snow, gone before lunch time. Every so often, however, we get a good (or bad) one, depending on your point of view.

That is when I pull out my favorite article of winter clothing, my snow boots. Not just any snow boots, but the same pair that have kept my feet warm and dry through several decades. I've even featured my old faithful boots here before.

Now I have coats and jackets, hoodies, and scarves and a multitude of gloves, but going out in anything except my trusty snow boots, would be like going out in bunny slippers.

What keeps you warm in the chill of winter?

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55 Hotdogs

This is day seven of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is Ten hotdogs.

Do you remember the nursery rhyme about 10 little indians?  If not, it goes like this:




If for some crazy reason you can't see the video, click here.
Vienna has claimed the wiener for over 500 years, and Germany is likely be the first to put their dachshund sausages in a bun.  Whether you call them wieners or frankfurters, dogs or pigs in blankets, almost everyone likes a good hot dog. Whether they are fried, steamed or grilled, there are a multitude of different ways to dress them. You can get them from the diner, the ballgame or a hot dog stand or your own back yard.  There are even eating contests to see how many you can eat in a specified number of minutes.  So how do you like your dogs?

Let's see how many you can eat!

One little 

Image Source: Wikipedia

Two little 

Image Source: Joseph Devon

Three little hot dogs

Image Source: Wikipedia

Four little 

Image Source: Freestockphotos.biz

Five little 

Image Source: Modified from Sh4rp_i

Six little hot dogs

Image Source: Arnold Gatilao

Seven little 

Image Source: Freestockphotos.biz

Eight little 

Image Source: Irish Fireside

Nine little hot dogs

Image Source: Wikimedia

Wow, ten little hot dogs - Boy, that's a lot of wieners!

Image Source: Wikipedia

  Fifty-five to be exact!