"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence." — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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April 26, 2024

Whimsical Long-Titled Books

I made these up for fun but maybe someone will write them some day.
01 - Follow the trail of the rainbow: The life and times of a traveling hippie unicorn musician by Peace Flower

02 - Dogs committing traffic crimes, chickens crossing roads without looking both ways & other almost true stories by Samual Hidrant

03 - Crocheting adventures with my two cats, a giraffe and an RV by Edith Knitheart

04 - The girl who ran away from home but returned later with a case of beer, two starships and a dozen cats with the power to control minds by Soso Knots

05 - The night we forgot to put on seatbelts and came home with two unicorns by Travis Broke

06 - Unsuitable pastimes of an artificially created janitor and her minions and how they took over the world with just cleaning supplies and a library card by Squeaky Spot

07 - The  imagined secret government nicknames for citizens handbook you didn't read by Nobody Here

Do you have any real favorite long-titled books?

April 25, 2024

Fiction: The Veil

The Veiled Cloud by Charles Courtney Curran
She came from the Veil, what everyone called the realm between the clouds. But only a few people could remember they came from there. Why some remembered and others didn't was a mysteries. Though the journey had been seconds, it was what she left behind that she wished she could forget.
    But she could never go back to the Veil. Time might waited but no one could wait for time. The Veil only opened every three thousand years. Even if she could live that long, things would have changed way beyond her memory as everything that happened in the Veil happened in milliseconds compared to the decades here.
    Her mother had insisted life would be better here. But had it been better? She had friends, she had a home, she had a life full of many splendid things but were they enough?
    Today, she stood watching the clouds for some time. She and her family had made a pact that each must continued to enjoy life no matter which side they are on. It made her sad she wasn't there with them and yet, she was enjoying a life without them. Which one of them should be the sad one?
    Today, she turned away from those clouds and faced her friend who wanted to take a photo of her with the clouds. Her friend didn't know about her other life and she chose not to tell him. There was no going back and the only thing she could do was go forward.

April 24, 2024

Unspoken

I'm too polite and meek to say anything rude when people say rude or insulting things to me but sometimes it's nice to imagine I could. Here are some those instances I wish I had said something. The wording are not exact as I don't remember them.

01 - Lady: "You'll never work in this town again!"

What I wished I had said: "Listen, lady, tell that minion of yours (who was a man) to schedule you a spa day or somewhere to relax before you have a heart attack."
Situation: I just cancelled an appointment for a job interview over the phone and she just started threatening me and cursing me out. She was a bit hysterical for reasons I'll never know. I erased her info and I never met her.

02 - Teacher: "You know, you're the most boring student I have ever had."

What I wished I had said: "You're boring too. Maybe you should quit teaching before you put the entire school to sleep."
Situation: We were just having one of those mindless conversations and that's what he said. I was a quiet student. I don't remember the subject but I might have fallen asleep in his class a few times. He had a right to his opinion but if he was a better teacher, his student wouldn't be as bored as I was.

03 - Professor: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
What I wished I had said: "I'm not sure but I'm certain I don't want to be you."
Situation: That was a joke referring to me being short which I don't appreciate and it's not funny. He was a sort of stand-in guidance counselor so I didn't take his advice. I don't recall why I even met the man because he wasn't helpful at all.

Did you wish you have some comeback for some rude or insulting remarks?

April 23, 2024

This is not a test

This is not a test. We are conducting the Emergency Normal Doom (END) alert system. If you can read this message, then you are doomed to a life of countless days of no consequences but do not worry, we have the perfect solution for you.
    Please go outside and check the sky. If you see gray clouds hovering above and all around you appears dark and gloomy, then run back inside and down to the lowest level of your house. From there, just prepare to have a long nap or if you don't like naps, read a book, daydream or do nothing. After 2 hours, if you don't wake up refreshed or if you don't hear any noise from the outside, then you are doomed for a lifetime of naps and slow days, otherwise known as a normal day.
    If you're reading this already inside the lowest level of your house but you've got magic beans, then you're safe from the system. Eat those beans and wait 10 minutes before going outside. If once outside and you see a clear sky, then stay out.
    If you still see dark clouds appearing, then you are doomed. But do not despair, your doom will only last 2 minutes, 17 seconds and some moments of disbelief. Then a wormhole will appear nearby. Walk through it and you will be transported to another universe where the sky is always a clear blue and the weather is a pleasant 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
    If you're reading this somewhere in another universe through a magic mirror, then ignore this message, this is not for you.
    If you have done the magic bean and wormhole thing, then congratulation! You're saved! If you're still reading this, prepare to be doomed...

April 22, 2024

Societies I would join

I used society because it's classier but also because club doesn't start with an S. These are make-up and of course, just for fun.

01 - The Society of Obstinate Folks Seriously Displeasing People

02 - We !%#$!! Hate It! Enthusiasts

03 - League of Badass Couch Potatoes

04 - Anti-Do-Stuff Society

April 20, 2024

Ramblings of a blog addict

artwork- Have blog will semi-pst (maybe)
I don't think I'm a blog addict but I have blogged continuous for years and hasn't quitted yet. Here are just some recent, random blogging thoughts.

01 - I'm not a daily blogger except when I do this challenge (blogging from a-z) you're reading. I don't think I can post every day as I don't prepare posts but I do write tons of drafts. I don't think anyone should blog every day because it's exhausting for one and two, it's a lot work. But I think if you have a lot to say, then yes, if not, then no.

02 - It's refreshing that bloggers change their templates now and then but every time one of them does it, they stop blogging. I know it's not true but the blogs I visited or happened to discover after they had changed their template, they just stopped blogging. They must not like their new template or perhaps changing templates make them realize they have better things to do than to blog.

03 - I know hashtags or emojis are useful somehow but they just making reading post titles annoying especially if they use a lot of them at once. And posts with no titles - I'm not a fan either. Titles make it easy for people to click on them and find the link if they want to link directly to a certain post. With no title, you have to click something else like the comment link which doesn't work if they use pop-up comments because you get the comment box and no link. (This is referring to Blogger blogs, I don't how wordpress works with no-title posts.)

04 - There's a one commentor who keeps leaving comments with Great blog followed by another comment Please read my post and I just think they are spam. Google's Blogger marked them as spam (as well as one word comments) and I don't know. They sound like they are pleading for a visit but at the same time, they sound generic and kind of fake. I had these comments before on my previous blogs and I had ignored them and they went away but I guess these commentors just go about finding new blogs to haunt because I see them in other blogs too. I'm going ignore these comments because I don't want to encourage this type of commenting. If you really want people to visit your blog, then leave a legitimate comment and don't beg people to visit you.

05 - Whenever I discovered a new, favorite blog, they stopped blogging. This phenomenon happens all the time. Even though I have a long reading list (see bookmark above), half those bloggers on the list aren't even blogging. I keep them there hoping they would start again but eventually when I get around to updating the list, I will remove them. But it's harder to discover new blogs these days as almost no bloggers have blogrolls and if they have, they aren't being updated. I'm not saying there are fewer bloggers now because there are tons and tons of blogs out there but nobody's updating them.

Do you have any thoughts on blogging lately?

April 19, 2024

Fiction: Queuing for waffles

drawing - typewriter with coffee mug
It was 4 pm on a Saturday and Duncan Flinch was queuing for waffles. The line stretched at least one block and then some. But Duncan had been there too long to give it up now.
    Six hours ago, time didn't matter to Duncan. He was home enjoying a day of rest from his stressful job as a teacher when Angela, his gorgeous neighbor, came over and asked him if he would like to get some waffles at a vendor she knew made the most amazing waffles. He immediately agreed and now he was standing in line, alone. Angela's boyfriend had appeared and took her away to see some antique jewelry. Angela had asked Duncan to wait and that she would be back.
    As Duncan kneaded his legs, stretched his arms, rolled his head, he started to have a different thought. He could see the truck, Charlie's Waffles, not far off. He was the seventh to last in line. The man ahead of him appeared not to have washed his unruly hair for days. The woman behind Duncan kept making calls and talking loudly.

April 18, 2024

(Signs for) Procrastinators

01 - Nothing makes me more productive than procrastinating

02 - Procrastinate now and keep calm later

03 - Procrastinator = Serial Thinker

04 - Procrastination: The fear of doing things on time

April 17, 2024

Opinion: an essay with an opinion

My opinion about having opinions is that, you can express them and still get the same sad opinions in return or the complete opposite in which you will have to fight people to keep those opinions.
    I have often thought having opinions means you have a mind and having a mind means you can think for yourself but that's not entirely true. Sometimes we follow other people's opinion because we are docile in that human way where we try to conform for fear of ostracization, fear of being different, etc.
    Everyone have opinions and we must respect that even if they might have opinions that are best kept locked up. But once something is said, it cannot be unsaid because someone will have already make a big deal out of it and maybe a mob of people will try to wrestle the originator to change their minds.
    I think we must say what we want without trying to please others. We shouldn't indulge people who sob every time they hear something they don't like. But one must know when to shut up and when to speak, right?
    This rambling is brought to you by the food/alcohol we will consume when our opinions get ignored or demeaned.

What's your opinion about opinions? Should you share them or keep them to yourself?

April 16, 2024

No to these things

These are the things I would say no. I don't know how it turned into food only but okay.

01 - Sushi - just don't like them especially if it's raw fish

02 - Avocados – there was this cafe where almost every item has avocados as one of the ingredient but the place is not called Avocado City or anything

03 - Brussels sprout - I don't think there is a way to make these taste better

04 - Food with faces on them - food that are shaped into faces or human body parts - just nope

05 - Oysters/lobsters/seafood in general - I've never gotten into the taste of most sea food

What are some of the things you say no to?

April 15, 2024

(Your) Mode Today Is...

artwork - girl eating sweet, girl reading, girl sleepy, girl talking, girl waiting for waffles -
Not Russian dolls, 2024
Pick your favorite alphabet or any alphabet and that will be your mode today.
(A) Actively seeking ways not to think
(B) Bitching about not having enough time
(C) Circling around things and not do them
(D) Dusting off thoughts about doing chores
(E) Exercising my rights not to work out
(F) Forgetting about something that I should remember but forgot
(G) Gathering thoughts & throwing them away
(H) Having more coffee than usual
(I) Idling but itching to do something
(J) Juggling multiple tasks & hoping for a vacation
(K) Keeping calm about keeping calm
(L) Loitering & hoping not be spotted
(M) Moping around
(N) Not listed here
(O) Operating heavy machinery
(P) Practicing how to be a better procrastinator
(Q) Queuing for waffles
(R) Reading books and forgetting the world
(S) Sleepy & ready for a nap
(T) Trying not to talk too much
(U) Unusually silent
(V) Venting about not being a better ventriloquist
(W) Wandering around a bookstore & doing some wondering
(X) X-raying my brain for signs of insanity
(Y) Yearning to yawn
(Z) Zealously eating sweets

April 13, 2024

Length

How long is too long a post? With social media, supposedly, you write shorter posts but with blogs, it can be any length. Not that I tested it much but I do know less than 3,000 words is possible for a blog posts (at least on Blogger).
    There was an article/post I read where in the beginning, it tells you how long it takes to read that post and I'm sure that's useful to some people but for me, it just add to the length of the post. Are we so lacking in time that we need to time our reading even of a single article/post? But I don't think such things are accurate anyway because there are readers who are slower at reading or maybe they need to look up words or they find reading on a screen harder than most.
    I think my posts (I don't always check the length) are pretty decent length, perhaps under 800 words but my fiction posts are longer but I always try to keep it under 2,000 words because any longer, it would feel like you're reading a book. For long posts, I use the Read more feature (my says Continue reading) so readers can just see a snippets of those posts when they browse my blog.
    Of course, this does not include photos/images. Photos/images can add to the length visually. It really helps to have some sort of division between posts so people will know where a post ends. Sometimes I find this unclear.
    I don't mind reading long posts but I sometimes skim if it is boring because I have short attention span. But I always read every word if I'm really interested.

As a blogger, do you set your posts length? As a reader, do you care if a blogger's post is long?

P.S. This post is 337 words including the title, at least, according to my text app. According this calculator, it takes 1 minute and 41 seconds to read this.

April 12, 2024

Kaffeeklatsches

I really like the spelling of kaffeeklatsches even though it sound kind of ordinary. (Kaffeeklatsches means an informal social gathering for coffee and conversation.)
"So I said, 'You bet your latte, I'm fully caffeinated!'" "No! You didn't!"
I'm not a coffee drinker. I don't like coffee. And I definitely do not like to go to Starbucks to buy them even if I like them. I don't like the idea of giving my name and having put it on a cup and being called out to get the drink. Other places besides Starbucks does it too and I hate it. What is the point of that except to embarrass people who have odd names or having their names butchered or being called out when they really didn't want to be noticed? I prefer numbers. Just give me a number and I'll answer to that instead.

Got something to say? Share them in the comments.

April 11, 2024

Fiction: Jingle All the Dogs

From within Jingle All the Dogs, Effy Key unlocked the shop, pushed open the door and placed a stone against it to keep it open. The summer heat had yet to intensify on this Saturday morning but as Effy's shop had no working air conditioner, keeping the door opened was the only way to keep cool.
    Effy picked up a piece of crumbled paper off the sidewalk. Inside the shop, she dropped the crumbled paper into the trash bin behind the counter and began her morning routine. As she straightened and dusted the merchandises, she wondered where Jingle was. That dog kept disappearing. If he wasn't her mother's dog and if Effy hadn't promised to take care of Jingle when her mother died, she would have sent him to the pound ages ago.
    After everything was done, Effy sat down on the stool behind the counter and watched the world go by. It might had been a bad idea to start a business when you had just gotten divorced and turned forty-nine but Effy took the chance a few months ago when she purchased the two-story building. Next door was a bookstore Effy had hoped to visit often but they kept such short hours.
    There was not much business in dog toys and accessories but Effy knew dog owners couldn't resist buying things for their dogs. Her mother had been the same way, always getting this or that for Jingle even though he had already enough.
    So far, she wasn't comfortably off but she made enough money to keep the shop running and a few extras for rainy days. Then there was the occasion large orders that helped but she had to deliver them since she was the only employer.
    Hello. Jingle wandered in and went to his corner where his bed was. Effy had already filled the dish with water. Jingle lapped away the liquid without a glance at Effy. Then he wandered back out the door.
    "Nice to see you too!" said Effy but she wasn't mad. Jingle just liked doing things alone now that her mother's gone. But at least, he said hello though she was the only one who heard him.
    
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~

Late in the afternoon, a group of dogs and their owner entered Jingle All the Dogs. The exquisite woman with the ostrich feather in her black, fedora hat and perfectly make-up, heart-shaped face, smiled. "Hi, do you wash dogs?" said the woman.

April 10, 2024

(Signs for) Introverts

01 - Quiet but willing to talk if there's chocolate

02 - Introverts unite: separately in your own email box

03 - Solitude: It's our attitude

04 - Introvert: Master of silence & awkward stares

05 - Clubs I'm willing to join: Anti-Introvert Introverts Club

April 09, 2024

How-To books I might read

01 - The perfectionist's guide to losing your mind by Missy Wingbat

02 - 1001 ways to not offend your boss
by The guy who used to be boss but now has to earn a living writing these books

03 - Throw Stuff: A guide to living with your emotions
by Emoji Smilie

04 - Sleep is futile, try naps instead
by Mory, a guy who might be a figment of someone's imagination

05 - Energize your mind: an idiot's guide to living without electrocuting yourself by The Energizer Bunny's second cousin

06 - Marie Condo's guide to having the perfect home without living at home by Marie Condo's cousin a few times removed

07 - The self-discipline manual: How to achieve every goal by doing nothing by Self Efficient

08 - The art of reading self-help books by Ohmind Bunions

09 - How to get free pizza at work by D. Livery

10 - Ambition: You don't need it! by Mory MindyourownbusinesswhoIam

April 08, 2024

Good News From the Weird Wide World

We, at Good News, has complied some good news to share with you. As always, our motto is, Good news never gets old.

01 - A Little Girl's Sock Puppet Became a Hero When He Landed A Plane
Humphrey 'Huggie' Bubblebumper became sentient some nine years ago when he was first given to his owner, Lydia Bubblebumper, by her aunt.
    On that fateful day, Miss Bubblebumper, 9, as usual, had Huggie with her. She and her parents were on their way home to Happyville, AZ after visiting Miss Bubblebumper's Aunt Jillian. When Miss Bubblebumper stepped out of the restroom which just happened to be right next to the cockpit, the plane suddenly dipped sideways and the door to the cockpit flipped opened by one of the pilots who quickly fell unconscious.
    Huggie jumped out of Miss Bubblebumper's arm and raced toward the cockpit. In a matter of seconds, he accessed the situation and jumped on the other pilot's lap and took hold of the yoke. As most of the instruments showed they were ready to land, Huggie landed the plane to safety with a little help from Miss Bubblebumper as he needed someone to add strength to control the yoke.
    As to why the pilots were unconscious, it is revealed they had drank coffee with sleeping medicines that were meant for two passengers. Exactly 103 people were saved including 10 stewards and the two pilots. The mayor of Happyville award Huggie with a certificate of bravery and a lifetime supply of his favorite snack - Hershey's chocolate bar, which sadly, he cannot eat but Miss Bubblebumper can. When asked how he knew to fly a plane, Huggie replied that Miss Bubblebumper was reading How to fly a plane for dummies.

02 - Roberta Hood Struck Again
Citizens of Sherwood, TX, once again, was graced with the presence of Roberta Hood, also known as the modern Robin Hood.
    On Tuesday night, while the Little family was at the hospital, thieves broke into their house and stole all their valuables and the cash in the safe. Mr. Little had fears of banks and kept his money in cash in a safe which had the upmost security locks. Mr. Little called the police but they had little chance of getting the money back. The family of ten did not fear losing their valuables but they needed the money for Anna, their youngest, for her heart surgery.
    A week after the robbery, Roberta Hood struck. She returned all the stolen goods and all the cash. As we go to press, Anna Little had her surgery and is doing well. And the thieves are found outside the police station, tied and unconscious with a note stating their crimes plus the evidence to convict them.
    It is unknown how Roberta Hood got into the house as the Little's locks were changed and security was tightened. But Hood got in and got out without any trouble. Mr. Little, his three sons and four daughters were home when it happened but they neither heard nor saw anything of Hood. They didn't know anything had happened until they woke up the next morning.
   This counts as the 14th time Hood had struck but no one has yet know who she is. But we do know a few things: (1) Hood is a woman of considerable height, about six feet or more; (2) She likes chocolate as there are signs of chocolate stains wherever she had entered a facility; (3) She only returns goods or money to families who are in need; and (4) She never robs anyone. It is speculated Hood is a rich heiress but no one knows for certain. But, we at Good News, knows, wherever Roberta Hood strikes, good things happen.

03 - 90-Year-Old Woman Became The Second Woman To Finish A 10-Mile Race
10 miles is easy for most people but if you're over 90 years old and had two hip replacements, arthritis in both hands and is blind in one eye, then you know what Millicent Goodman has to go through. Goodman who preferred to go by Millie, never thought she would finish the race as it was always too exhausting for her but this year, she finished the race in 21 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds.
    To celebrate her win, Millie held a party at her house along with her caretaker, two doctors, a nurse and her twenty or so children, grand and great-grand children. She invited everyone who can show up. Hundreds of people came with most being stuck outside as there was no room but drinks were handed out and everyone went home happy.
    The Still Kicking & Quietly Screaming (SKQS) 10-Mile Race is held every year since 1950 and is sponsored by the SKQS Club in partnership with United for Unfussy Living (UUL). The SKQS race is for elderly folks over 65 or more years. Most folks who entered the race dropped out before the 5 miles. But last year, Jaclyn Nice, age 89, became the first to finish the race in 20 hours, 19 minutes and 3 seconds. Since then, Nice had succumbed to a heart attack.
    Nice and Millie have been lifelong friends ever since they fought over a pencil in kindergarten. They had raced each other for every SKQS Race ever since they both became eligible some 25 years ago. When receiving her medal, Millie, said, "I wish Jacky is here with me. This would have been hers." Millie also received a check for 25,000 dollars tax-free which she said, half will go to charity and half to "spent however I like."

April 06, 2024

Frivolous & Awkward Queries (FAQ) Tag

I'm not tagging anyone. Answer at your own peril.

01 - Do you use the 12-hour or the 24-hour system?
02 - To your knowledge, have you ever stolen candy from a baby?
03 - What would you have been named if you were born the opposite gender?
04 - Do you use your phone for phone calls?
05 - If your best friend is a dog, what are you?
06 - Is there a book you cannot forget reading?
07 - Have you attempted to eat glue or anything that smells good?
08 - Do rainbows make you smile?
09 - How many things are you overthinking about today?
10 - Do you eat fish with your tuna?

April 05, 2024

Excuse me while I pretend to blog

I had a post written but decided not to use it for tons of reasons or maybe for one reason. What would be a good excuse not to post something? Bad idea? Bad taste? Bad timing? Too personal? Not personal enough? Too offensive? Too provoking? Not provoking enough? Whatever the reasons, they are essentially excuses.
    Not that I need an excuse not to blog but sometimes it seems I reason myself out of posting this or that for reasons that may be considered dumb when I really think about it. Maybe I think too much about a post before posting and maybe I don't think enough. Whatever excuse not to post, it's probably not as dumb as I think or maybe it is. I still have more excuses not to post than to post.

If you're a blogger, do you need excuses not to post something or are you the type who are willing to share just about everything with your readers?

April 04, 2024

Decipher these future messages

We, at, PAWS (Psychics Artfully Waxing Soliloquies), has received Mystic Kitty's year-end future messages and we are happy to share them though we have yet to decipher their meanings. If you have any insightful thoughts on on these messages, let us know. Thank you.

01 - To master nirvana, listen to the unicorn with a mole in the shape of a chicken on its muzzle

02 - Sing show tunes if you want humanity to keep going

03 - The cure for the common cold will be discovered by a woman with one leg and a bunch of used sweaters

04 - Birds will become people, people will become birds

05 - Five words: smell, play, snoop, tuna, nap

06 - You must eat z bagel before midnight

07 - Pie answers every unanswerable question

08 - When rain falls upward, is when you know you have won a puppy

09 - The long sky sleeps with short shadows

10 - To save the world, just add soy sauce

April 03, 2024

Fiction: The Cleaner

drawing - typewriter with coffee mug
The Cleaner always took her time but every corner, nook, unreachable space, were cleaned to the point where dust never knew its own existence.
    Mrs. Spotter, a former housewife, decided on using the Cleaner on the whim of her neighbor's words. Whatever Mrs. Spotter did, she did it thoroughly without leaving anything undone and that included cleaning her house. Now that her husband had left her, she barely mustered the will to dust it.
    On a cloudy Saturday morning, the Cleaner arrived at 8 am. Mrs. Spotter did some light cleaning on her two-story house as she didn't like people seeing how messy she was. The Cleaner, an unremarkable woman of medium height, stepped out of her black van with her attaché case.
    Mrs. Spotter, dressed and ready to leave, was standing on her front porch. Her eyes and mouth widened for a brief moment but she marshalled them into a dull expression. The Cleaner handed Mrs. Spotter the contract. Mrs. Spotter read it, signed it and handed over the envelope with the cash. Before Mrs. Spotter started to speak, the Cleaner held up a hand. "No, you cannot stay and yes, you must stay away for twenty-eight hours exactly," said the Cleaner with an even, soft voice. As she drove away, Mrs. Spotter had a weary look on her face.
    The Cleaner, named Molly, closed the front door and locked it. She had seen that look on Mrs. Spotter's face before and knew she had the usual thought: How could one person clean an entire apartment or a house by herself? No clients had ever seen how she worked and she was not going to change that policy.
    Molly set her case on the coffee table and pulled all the curtains closed. She pondered what she might do when she stopped being the Cleaner. Perhaps take a vacation. She opened the case, picked up the black box and lifted the lid. In a few seconds, the black hole began its job of sucking up all the dust, dirt, grim in the livingroom while leaving everything untouched.
    When Molly first encountered the black hole, which she had nicknamed Fred, she was a mere scientist hoping to create the galaxy's first reusable energy but then Fred appeared in one of her incubators and she knew she had failed. But failure didn't stop the institute from closing down the place. Instead, they wanted her to alter Fred into a weapon but she refused and fled with Fred to earth.
    Back then, Fred was smaller, just a fist-sized hollow but now it was almost twice the size of a baseball. Molly had to store it inside a black box as it could not survive in daylight. In the past nine years, she had only exchanged the box for a larger version twice as Fred grew in small increments.
    From the livingroom, Molly took the box from room to room and let Fred do its job. She smiled as she closed the box, put it in the case and locked the case. Fred was her creation and it was a comfort to her she didn't make a weapon. In two years time, when she had completed her ship, she will set Fred free into the galaxy and let it roamed freely. For now, it was a useful tool to make a living. With two hours to spare, she sat down on the sofa and continued reading her book.


I used the first half of the prompts from Words for Wednesday provided by Elephant's Child over here. This week's prompts are: wife, comfort, time, book, doors and/or certificate, appreciation, elephant, olive, major.

April 02, 2024

Bookish Crimes

These are just hypothetical as I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do any actual crimes but if I was in a state of mental stupidly and had a sudden desire to commit some crimes, I might do these.

01 - Go to people's houses and raid their libraries — I'm quite jealous of people with a whole room for a personal library. I like those home libraries where they have a cozy reading corner or even a snack corner.

02 - Murder a book aka put it out of its misery — I have considered this for some books I had read because I don't think they should be read by anyone. They should be buried or destroyed or thrown into an active volcano.

03 - Tear off the covers — Some covers I just hate so much that I want to tear them off and put on a new one.

04 - Destroyed all special, limited or exclusive editions of books — I think re-re-releasing the same books in those so-called special editions is a crime itself. Unless a book is truly special, I don't want a special edition or a collector's edition or an author-signed edition - they are all wasteful especially if the book is crap.

05 - Hand out free books on top of the Brooklyn Bridge — I'm not much into heights but I like the idea and I like giving books away.

06 - Build book castles in book stores — I'm not sure I would be able to do this since I've never even builded a sand castle but I think it would be amazing if it can be done.

07 - Hack amazon and make all the books free to purchase
At least for 24-hours. I just can't stand the way they priced books especially ebooks that are over 15 dollars even though the paper versions cost half of that plus there is the issue of whether you own any digital products you purchase. But I guess I would only end up buying just a few books because I would feel too guilty to get too many.

What bookish crimes would you commit if you get the chance?

April 01, 2024

Annotations on eclectic musings & phrases

Today is the first day of the A-Z April 2024 Challenge. As usual, I have no theme but I'll post mostly random stuff that may or may not be fun and some short fiction.  More about the A-Z Challenge here.


Annotations on eclectic musings & phrases
I have text drafts, text files of notes I might use later and sometimes they make no sense because I didn't put notes with them and also because I have forgotten what they were written for or why. So here are a few of these notes and I will attempt to translate them.

01 - "Please take caution when dealing with the following: long books with illustrations, excessive consumption of cinnamon buns, abductions of tiny turtles, decapitations of your sister or other people's sisters' dolls, gentle housewives, princes without intelligence, donuts without holes, mild-mannered philosophy professors, people with unusually high cheerful dispositions, anything involving with the word 'yes' and 'tacos'." — I like to explain this but I can't but it looks self-explanatory, isn't it?

02 - "Do zebras skydive?" — I have no idea what this was for. I don't know if zebras skydive. I imagine it would be a bit difficult if the parachute didn't work and can zebras land on their feet if they fall from a high place?

03 - "Get drunk, go to therapy" — The word 'prompt' was written above this so I guess this was a prompt idea but I don't know for what. Do people go to their therapy sessions drunk and do doctors allow it and charge them for the session?

04 - "Own a reasonably priced backyard patio set" — This might have been cut out from some other piece of writing, might be related to adulthood as if was below that draft. I often saved words or phrases cut out of other writing pieces but don't always put it together with the original writing. Do people with homes own a a reasonably priced backyard patio set? I wonder.

05 - "377 Medications to keep from yelling at people"
— This must be for some fake book title list or some sort of lists. I make a lot of lists but don't often use them.

06 - "The day started out badly with a scream and a headache." — I don't remember if I was the one screaming or with a headache or both. When I think on this, it's probably me with the scream and headache.

07 - "I'm sure there's some dream I can unlock somewhere." — No idea what this means but I had liked it and saved it and then forgotten about it as I do with most drafts.

What about you? Have you written things you forgot about or don't remember what they are for or why?

March 31, 2024

Seven Things: Some Stuff

drawing - girl with umbrella in the rain with floating cup
the rain witch, 2024
01 - I've been slacking in my commenting and I am very sorry to my fellow bloggers.
But I have no excuses. I simply didn't have much will to do it. So I did a lot of drive-by blogging - I read, I thought about what I read and I left without leaving any words. Maybe there are no words even though I'm a wordy person. But I did finish replying to comments on my blog, at least, I was caught up two weeks ago. I don't like to slack on replying to comments on my blog. I just think it's a good thing to do if for readers even I'm often two weeks late in replying.

02 - I'm doing the April A-Z Challenge
because I like the challenge or maybe I like torturing myself by speed-writing posts but whatever reason, I'm up for it though I have no post prepared even though the challenge starts tomorrow. As usual, I will post random nonsense that may or may not entertain people a little with some not too-long fiction. More about the A-Z Challenge here.