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 A terminal for all blogs coming in or going out. A view into my life. |
Started July 1st 2019 for contests, etc. as other blogs are filling up and have other purposes.  My new new new blog is
I'm starting a new blog because
I'll be linking to
I've started an appendix (I no longer have one personally) to keep track of my Space Cadet journals for Space Blog. It's a work constantly under construction. Mind the mess.
I needed to start a folder for contests as there are so many deadlines and details to remember.
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What's your favorite color and why? ORANGE and green I was 10. I was tired of BLUE or RED ... I wanted something that spoke to ME. It was the tree ... an elm ... that spread its branches . . . but that's another story. It was MY elm. And birds nested in elms. And there were so few birds other than robins and sparrows because there were no trees! I wanted to see an oriole, (or like the baseball team) a Baltimore oriole, the type that hung their nests high up in spreading elm trees. I also like weeds and one of the small insignificant flowers that one only saw if one was short and sitting on the lawn had pale orange flowers. Later I learned it was the scarlet pimpernel ... way beyond tall people's notice or adults who thought lawns should be mown not sat on. The orange oriole, the orange flower. The green elm, the green lawn. There were no clothes for boys where I grew up that were orange. I wore brown and green like a druid wannabe. But my heart was orange. |
| PROMPT July 30th: Congratulations on making it to the last day of the competition! What was your favorite prompt from the last month? What was the most rewarding aspect of participating in the competition? There was quite a bit of interaction and about half were able to get through the month so that's a good sign. Always nice to meet up with old friends and get to know new ones. Most of the prompts were very good but 3 triggered me and others I avoided. Prompts that ask people to 'revisit their life' can be difficult for those of us with mental health issues. For:
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| I want a universal translator that I can turn on, off and control (maybe imbedded). I travel too much and would love to talk to local folks. The languages I stumble in open hearts and doors. I've seen it! I speak and think in Spanish (not the Spanish dialect though) so I can hold a conversation. But ... sometimes a word escapes me (happens in English too... old age?) . It would be nice to have a backup. Those who speak French, Norwegian or Portuguese know I can't speak it well but it can open doors and we usually switch to English. Even using a few words of Taiwanese brought smiles. I'd love to have level A2 competency in a few other languages as well. I have seen the ads for hand-held translators and I think that would be a nice tool. So... I just went on-line! Under $200 and even uder $100. Awesome! I need to consider buying one. Would help it help me learn a language as well? What languages and dialects does it support? Back to the prompt. So they exist! But I want better than what is offered now and because I travel to specific areas I may want more languages ... although after English, Mandarin, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Hindi/Urdu, Thai, Russian, KiSwahili, Turkish and especially Arabic ... the top 24 should cover much of the globe. But what do I use when I revisit Kosovo? Will Albanian be supported? Communication is important to any traveler. The opportunity to connect is important to me. PROMPT July 29th: Write about an invention or technology that you wish existed that would make your life better. For:
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From:
"The anger is alive, and the fear, too. In the land of the free, will justice prevail?" To quote Prosperous Snow celebrating  : "A sin that stains the soul of every person in America"I responded: "I think this is one of the main barriers. Many of us have strived to get over racism but it surrounds us like air and water. We work on this as individuals but we are snared by the systemic racism found in our culture. Some of us are going down the tracks; others are stuck at the depot; none of us have arrived." [edited] Brief examples: We tend to be born in a family that looks like us. We tend to have family that looks like us and/or has the same customs. As Americans, we are raised in homes where not everyone is welcomed, live in neighborhoods where not everyone is tolerated, go to schools where diversity is not embraced. We apply to higher learning or jobs that are not open to us, so we go elsewhere, unaware that others face the same barriers as well, just higher, wider, thicker ones. We wash ourselves of uniqueness to try to fit in. Some of us succeed while others don't or can't. And every generation it's wash, rinse and repeat. Yes, there is xenophobia, racism and religious intolerance elsewhere. But I don't live elsewhere. In my travels I've marvelled at both the openness and closeness of people around the world. In this Global Village there are many dark corners. Is America the light? No. But with it's great mix of people it could be. Recent events should illustrate how far we have yet to go. For:
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| My life: 1. I talked to my mom (didn't sound good). At age 98 she's having problems. My aunt sounded good at 91. My friend Karen, my age, is raising rescued phoebes. 2. My Norwegian is coming along. But I see some of the same problems with grammar I've had in the past. 3. Edited photos of 'Moment' restaurant in Taichung. Great memories and photos. On to Rainbow Village next. 4. I cleaned out one area by the kitchen sink. Big deal for me. Not 100% finished but good progress. 5. I wrote a flash fiction and apparently forgot to post it. I posted with one minute to spare. 6. I've done all of the Daily poems this month. Only won a couple times but who cares! 7. I've kept up with 24 syllables as well and have already done today's poem. 8. Olivia de Havilland died at age 104. She was good until the end. 9. I have not gone for my walk yet. I've showered and sit here finishing this. It's time for me to go out. 30DBC PROMPT July 27th: Write about a time you were caught off guard, surprised, or had the rug pulled out from under you. How did you recover? 1. No. 2. No. I wrote and blogged while I was homeless. Yes, that was traumatizing in some ways but there were other traumas that were just as bad or worse. Part of my personal recovery is not picking on scabs. Not up for a therapy session tonight. Would be interesting for more than one of my characters, I'm sure. I've told them to hush. 2.681 |
| I love tasting new foods when I travel. Of course, I don't always know if the quality is up to snuff, but if I can go with a local they'll tell me! I was thinking about this today. In Tainan, YiJie knew his milkfish, Rachel knew her eel noodles and Isla knew cake. In Taichung Jean had me try olive icecream. Allen knew where there were beef noodles in Taipei. All good. I was tempted to ask my characters but the vamps started to chant "blood, blood, blood" until Thoom shoved a garlic pill in front of each of them. Czeszniak took one look and pouted weakly about cookies... Me: PIE I'd like to try every type of pie offered along the truck routes in Pennsylvania. Incredible variety from shoo-fly pie to raisin custard, merengues to sweet-potato. My mother made a mean apple pie until she put my father on a diet. She knew how to make crust. Simple you say? I tried and failed. She made cinnamon-apple so I tried apple-clove (and failed). The ginger-pear came out good. My best was a cherry pie I made from scratch without measuring. I don't make pies now but I have a russet potato that has turned its starch into sugar ... I'll figure out something. So, give me a year to taste every pie, then give me another year to go back and judge them.  PROMPT July 26th: What food would you like to judge in a Cook-Off?
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| A weekly blog that starts skinny on Saturday and fattens up by Tuesday and is ready for slaughter by Friday ... if not before. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllsummerlllllllllllllllll  llllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll  llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll  llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll  llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll  lllll lllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ███████ PORTHOLE ███████ SUMMER/WINTER: JULY 2020 "O Thixo, ndikokele, Ndikusele, ndenze ndibe Isibane, esi bengezelayo Enkwenkwezi eqaqanbileyo Ungu somandla isobu gangamsha"1 - Abdu’l-Baha  MY THOUGHTSJuly 25: Thoughts of 'home' in Sweden. One of many places I 'come from'. July 26: Moment (restaurant) in Taichung was one of the most interesting places I've visited. July 27: I'm pulling my weight with commenting. Not as good as two weeks ago though. I try. July 28: I wrote a perfectly rational blog after ranting earlier ... it felt good. July 29: I'm not really into robots. I use technology but I don't want to be used by it. July 30: I really need to get a grip on myself. Just keep plugging away. July 31: Wanting to be normal, or perceived as such in order to be accepted, creates problems.  WEATHER July 25: 18° going up to 29; 21° in Mariannelund, Sweden, going down to 11. July 26: 28° going up to 31; 26° and humid at 4 a.m. in Taichung, Taiwan. Rainy week. July 27: 23° going up to 34; 2° in Dunedin, New Zealand, a high of 9 today. July 28: 28° going up to 36; 29° in Saint Lucia in the Caribe, 31/25 all week. July 29: 20° going up to 32; 26° and dry in Jamestown, NY, rain this afternoon. July 30: 25° going up to 36; 9° damp and dreary in Puerto Montt, Chile. July 31: 27° going up to 37; 17° and sunny in Tromso, Norway.  IMAGESJuly 25: Flowers, vegetables, butterflies. Pine shade, breeze. July 26: Crush of cosmos, waxing crescent moon, quiet except for traffic, peanut butter. July 27: Orange jello with peaches, peach crisp. July 28: Orange jello with peaches (finished!). Empty table-top (been months). Stayed in. July 29: Dark glowering skies with huge thunderheads and 0% chance of rain? Puh-leeze. July 30: A yearling in the middle of 4th Street. Love orange cloud sunset. July 31: Sparse shade under the aging trees. Pulled pork. Cherries.  CONTESTSIt's increasingly obvious that I will NOT do all of these in any given month. Priorities are given to sporadic contest. Blink and I may have to wait 3 months! FICTION:  "Invalid Item"  SS <700. No dialogue. HEAT by 7/31. "A River of Thirst (Jarom)" B/E "Invalid Item" FF < 300 Flash Fiction Romance/Erotica by 7/14(Freedom) B/E "Before the showing (300 words) [139] (13.July.2020)"  "The Dialogue 500" SS <500. July: A Dialogue with your Doctor at the Sanitarium.CLOSED "Hemorrhoids " ran out of time "The Science Fiction Short Story Contest" SS <2000. July: {bitem:} ran out of time "Invalid Item" SS <1000, July: invaders from outside. CLOSED "Invalid Item" ran out of timePOETRY:  "Poetic Traditions Poetry Contest " <50. Old or new not awarded. Limited to 20. "First drum set" "WFTH Poetry Contest - ON HIATUS " Romance. 12-20 lines "Mayfly [169]" "Shadows and Light Poetry Contest" Round 85 to 14th Old or new. Free verse <40 lines. "One ... Mississippi ... Two"  "Shadows and Light Poetry Contest" Round 86 15th to July 31st or Aug 14th? Old or new. Free verse <40 lines.1 "Invalid Item" Round 74: mondo. "White rosebuds [123]" 2 "Invalid Item" Round 75: syair. "2020 unmasked [159] " "A Story-Poem Contest!!!" New or old <50 lines Whenever: "The Random Poetry Contest" August: "Invalid Item" <60. It's a dark month...September: "Verdant Poetry Contest" Nature. Autumn. Form and words by Sept. 30.September: "The Humorous Poetry Contest" <15 Humor. Round 33. B/EBOTH: "The Writer's Cramp" Daily noon-noon WDC = 10 a.m. MTT. Must be item. "The Taboo Words Contest ~ On Hiatus" Monthly. <750 <40 July: FIREWORKS"Comforting Sophie (taboo) [113]" "Sophie's Lament [114] (255 words)" "Kittiara's Writing Contest" 1 ss, 1 poem. Theme: renewal "Second Time Around ~ Birthday Special" Old non-winners! Got lots of those (poem/ss) June 15th-July 14th"Thunder" EITHER/OR: "Invalid Item" Erotica! <500 words, <15. July: DEVOTION "Unhappy without you (12 lines)" "Invalid Item" July theme: RESOLVE <1000 ""90210" (991 words) — Stardates 4157 23-26-28 " "The PET NEWS CONTEST" SS <2500, P <40. July: A REAL WILD PET  HM "Julie had an aardwolf [160]" NEITHER: "The 4 Controversies Contest" Opinionated non-fiction essay >1200. By July 17: COVID-19Ran out of steam VARIES: "Share Your Faith" until June 30. Story or poem. Prompt: dealing with anger. "Opening the garden ... of the heart [109] (36 lines)" "The Contest Challenge" A contest of contests... every month. "The Bard's Hall Contest" SS <1000 GC+ Sizzle! July 31. CLOSED "Invalid Item" "Journey Through Genres: Official Contest"  POULTRYDAILY for JULY: "The Daily Poem" by 4 p.m. WDC by: 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st THREE DAYS A WEEK: "Invalid Item" by midnight WDC by: 27th 29th 31st  "Le monde gris [154]"  "Little Virus goes on a trip [156] (silverseuss)"  " The dying leaf [158] "  "Priscilla's dog days recipe [157] (24 σ)"  "Contestant [162]"  "Saint Andrew's Parlor [164] (24 σ)"  "From Dawn till Dust [163] "  "Ingrid Fossensdatter [167]"  "Book, wine and blinkers [166] (24 σ)"  "We abide [168]" HM "Julie had an aardwolf [160]" Boiling:  "Wind, where do you take me? [133]" Cracked:  "Ombra mai fu" "But in the end, a passing thing [183.zm]" Not yet laid:    PORKDAILY: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"
Baking:  READING MOVIETIMEI can't focus on audio-visual! I need to finish one movie and find one that works for me. I have 200 to choose from. May need to go on-line and watch some East Asian love story serials.  LEARNING NORWEGIANNoW: 4K (G) 4K+ 4A (V) 4M+ 4P+ KAMP G (1-6)  EDITING PHOTOS25: 2/12 (Changhua-finished), 26: 2/11 (Moment-Taichung), 27: 2/11 (Rainbow Village-Taichung) 28: 2/11 (Rainbow Village), 29: 2/11 (Taichung-finished), 30: 2/13 (Lukang), 31:2/13 (Lukang)  CHORES25: , 26: 30 min, 27: , 28: 30+min, 29: 30 min, 30: 20 min+, 31: 10min. OUT/WALK25: walk, 26: walk, 27: out, 28: , 29: out, 30: out, 31: out MARKET  SENIOR CENTER  COFFEEHOUSEJuly 25th: Saw Nan and Rick and others. Got to chat to people on my walk. Cardamom and toffee milkshake. Posted two postcards. July 27th: Sat in the shade with Laxmi, Kathy, Ben. I ended up with lasagna and peach crisp. July 29th: Sat with Charles, Laxmi and Bill. In the shade until that sneaky Sun came around. July 31st: Laxmi, Bill, pulled pork, beans, cherries.  MY FORMER LIFEJuly, 1973: Meso-American Anthropology and Chemistry at Kansas U. July 25, 2013: Saw Presidenta Chinchilla in Nicoya, Costa Rica. July, 2018: Vienna and Graz in Austria.  WATT'S GNUSOlivia de Havilland dies at 104 (NBC) Now gone with the wind ...  WATT'S GNUS INTERNATIONALFresh killings in Darfur as Sudan prepares to send troops (AFP) Agricultural people versus nomads. 'Alarm' at Poland's plan to leave treaty protecting women (AFP) The traditional war-on-women returns.  OPINIONS"Gen Z good and bad " closed"why do i write" closed"Follow the money, the morals (or lack thereof) [re disease]" closed "homeless kindness" closed SPACEBOOK quotes (you can guess context): BLOGVILLEReference to challenges, contest and prompts (not all appearing on the same week): BC: "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" (daily) (I'm not a member)BCOF: "Blogging Circle of Friends " using my Nlog (nature blog) "Nurture your Nature" and "Hoarfrosts from Hell" (daily)JAFBG: "JAFBG" (open rants)JI: "Journalistic Intentions" using my Blog "Enga mellom fjella" (8 blogs from 16 prompts) "June post. I'm finished. " 30DBC: "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" (July)MHA: "Invalid Item" weekly prompts starting June 14th. OP: "Invalid Item" using my Plog "L'aura del Campo" PP: "Promptly Poetry Challenge (2024-2025)" my Plog response to prompts as I missed the sign-up date. Real: "Welcome To My Reality Forum" 75 prompts August Prompts "REALITIES ... prompts and ideas" SB: "Space Blog" July 25 SB&30DBC: "My life's a jigsaw puzzle that needs to be put together." July 26 30DBC: "PIE" July 27 30DBC: "Do you really want to hurt me?" July 28 30DBC: "I get to rant!" July 28 SB: "Racism: wash, rinse and repeat." July 29 30DBC: "Universal translator" July 30 30DBC: "It's over" July 31 BCoF:"Orange ... the color of my heart" Visited this week so far and commented:Princess Megan Rose  Chris Breva  hullabaloo22  tah2o jabberwocky  lizco252isback Bernie  QPdoll Cadie Laine IceSkatingSugarCube  Eric Wharton  Sum1  Apondia  Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008 bobturn Pumpkin Joy  Stik to My Own Beat  Lostwordsmith Alexi  Lyn's a Witchy Woman  Cheddah Elle 🌻 pwheeler ~ love joy peace  Charity Marie - <3 Robert Waltz  💙 Carly: poems & novel  ridinghhood-p.boutilier  Prosperous Snow celebrating Cappucine  WakeUpAndLive  Sumojo  BlueMoon queenkissy QueenNormaJean Junesun24hours  SandraLynn  Charlie ~ SB Musing Trying to keep up on blogs. Over 30 last week but 15-20 is a better goal.  Postcards:July 25: Denise and Charlotte in Texas I moved to Missoula July 2008 and the mountain burned:       2.672 views as of July 25th. Footnotes |
| I'll blame Eric Wharton for this response! I wrote: I really like that poem (never read it before). I should write something in that style myself. I've avoided the prompt because I wasn't inspired by it. But a poem? Hmm. I think of two short stories that were made into films. "Lottery" which should've been a 30 minute "Twilight Zone" and "Brokeback Mountain" that would've been great if limited to 1 hour. I could add "Goblet of Fire" that should've been maybe 2 or 3 movies as it did NOT adequately explore the relationships portrayed in the book. Skip the movie, read the book. As for Book 5 that followed? Watch the movie, skip the tedious boring book. Book and movie 6 were both good. Dividing Book 7 into two movies was brilliant. Some books are not meant to be movies. Some movies are meant to be left as is. "Wizard of Oz" comes to mind. Theme-wise? Sure ... do spinoffs; some work. What is "West Side Story" if not "Romeo and Juliet"? Personally I have little interest in doing so but taking an unknown author with a great story makes more sense to me than destroying a great book with a mediocre or inappropriate adaptation. I would have asked my vamps  but I didn't want to hear everything wrong with "Twilight" and "Dracula". They're a bit techy about both of those. Speaking of which ... minority and marginal groups are finally producing their own movies based on real-life fictionalized situations that mainstream audiences and the Great White Suburbs have ignored. Truly inspiring. I remember watching "Tangerine" which was filmed on an i-pad... we need more and diverse voices. PROMPT July 23rd: You've been given a full budget and creative license to bring a book you read to film. What book would you pick and who would you cast as the characters? If you choose a book with an existing movie adaptation, what changes would you make?
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| We boarded. Petra Longnose the Vulch met us with the traditional greeting. "Welcome. There are no pirates among us." Vulches 'collected'. Pirates 'stole'. Petra was no thief but pirates hid everywhere. "When's lunch?" "Now." Cook had come with us. After-all, Petra was a chef known to collect delicacies along with her penchant for used military weapons and ammo. We were a motley group: Lor the merchant Gqarian, Kat the stargazing Dreamer, even a couple humans. I kept all four ears twitching and my feet on the floor. Kat had assured us that there was nothing to fear. But, was everything alright? We followed Cook's nose. The table was set: all colors, tastes, smells, everything adequately cooked (as in dead, Cook often said). "What's this? Where did you find THAT? Can I trade for..." We ate while Cook kept up the litany. "Nicely sour. Great texture. How did you ever find smoked monkey?" One of the humans frowned; after-all, monkeys were human. "We traded." Petra was not being ... Petra. Kat gave me that look. Lor changed the subject to the fancy plates and fancier utensils... and how was her collection of ancient Klingon armaments going? The tense moment passed. When we finished Kat looked straight at Petra, "Something's wrong." We all locked Petra in our gaze. "Did you run into pirates. Are they following you?" Petra just nodded. "How?" "We don't know." "The others?" "Locked in their quarters." Lor smiled. "I'm willing to trade for these exquisite plates. Do you have more?" Cook also smiled, "We are low on provisions." I added, "I'm sure I could find a trinket or two." Petra motioned us to follow and opened up bins and closets. "Take what you want." There was no question what she needed from an armed starship in return. Prompt for flash fiction: monkey, closet, floor. Entered as "Trading [155] (298 words)" . Won. For:
Prompt Space Cadet characters: "There is no love sincerer than the love of food." George Bernard Shaw From:
For:
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| Prompt: Write about America. From: " A New America" Me: Tell me about this place called America. 90210: I'm named for a place in it. It's bare scrubby hills, but once it was a famous place for the 'stars'. Me: 'Stars'? 90210: The rich and famous. But then your people care little about either. The people of America valued both. Me: Was it a big city? 90210: No, America was a vast ... there is no word in your language ... region. Many millions of people. Me: Does it still exist? 90210: No. Nothing ever existed on that planet for long. Too chaotic and warlike. Me: Like Klingons? 90210: No no no ... much worse. Their planet was observed very closely for millennia and all visits to their star system closed. It was too risky to be infected. Me: So why do you know about it? 90210: The historians wrote a lot about it. It was a very successful place and showed great potential. There were many at that time who exclaimed, finally! There was great hope when they reached out to the stars. Me: What happened? 90210: Greed, inflexibiltiy, divisiveness, a looking to the past instead of the future. Historians disagree exactly why it fell apart. But 'everyone for himself' doomed it. Like many places it had its moment until that moment passed. I studied it because it was a great example of hope and trampled dreams. And I'm human. Me: And you visited. 90210: Yes. Nothing but scrub-brush and searing heat. Everyone thought I was crazy to visit ruins. But when I visited even most of the ruins were gone. Me: So your name. 90210: A reminder that I'm neither rich nor famous nor do I choose to be. For:
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