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I can remember we had this prompt not so long ago. , but I can’t find that entry, so here goes: my best birthday ever was when my aunt gave me a car for my birthday, I think it was fifteen years ago or something like that. At the time I didn’t have money to buy another car so I was without one for two years. She saw a second hand black Opel Corsa with an open roof at the equivalent of EBay, and she thought of me. So sweet! It was the best present ever. I contacted the owner who lived nearby and we closed the deal. I drove this car for at least two years and then I had to replace it by another car, a Volkswagen Jetta. All my cars I ever owned were second hand, I never wanted a new car although I am sure the money played an important role too. But I like second hand cars; I am always looking for bargains.

My aunt is the oldest sister of my late mother. She is way in her eighties now and I see her not that often, but I am very fond of her and will always cherish the thought that she gave me this wonderful present.

My birthdays didn’t add up to much most years, due to the fact that it’s in high summer and most people are on holiday every year around that time. So the last couple of years I don’t throw parties or anything, I just take a few people out for dinner in a restaurant and that’s it. But that particular birthday fifteen years ago is stuck in my memory.

Not every story is worth listening to, but when someone has never told a story because of shyness or because it is too painful to tell and they someday tell the story, then it is a privilege to hear it. I’ve heard lots of life stories when I was a counselor, I think I have forgotten most of them. Some stories and people stay with you over the years though; they have something special that you won’t forget.

I find some painful stories or poems very revealing here on WdC, and this is when I feel privileged to read the story. Just yesterday I read a poem that literally stopped my breath for a second. I thought it was very courageous to write poems about painful subjects. Of course there is this therapeutic component as well. And it can be proof that the painful event is part of one’s life story and the writer dealt with it somehow.

I wanted to be a writer or an actress when I was in kindergarten, later I wanted to be an anthropologist or a psychologist in high school. I became a psychologist, and am an aspiring writer and a poet now, so I am fortunate in that regard.

Willy and Wanda (American title) or Spike and Suzy (British title; Dutch: Suske en Wiske, French: Bob et Bobette) or Luke and Lucy (on the web) is a Belgian comics series created by the comics author Willy Vandersteen. The books revolve around the adventures of the eponymous Willy and Wanda, two children (pre-adolescent or adolescent depending on the album), along with their friends and family. The stories combine elements of comedy, fantasy, and science fiction, such as talking animals, time travel and ghosts.

I would play the character of Wanda (or Suzy, or Wiske) the little girl with her doll Muffin. Wanda lives together with Willy and her aunt Sidonia, and is typically (certainly in the older stories) dressed in a white skirt with a red stripe, and a red ribbon in her fair hair. In the first stories, she looks like a preschooler of about 6 years old, but soon afterwards she evolves into a young teenager of about 12-13.

She is strong-headed, impulsive, curious and slightly foolish. Aspects of her character that come naturally with a young teenager who enters puberty, and a great plot device since her repeated stubbornness and inobedience is the source of many an adventure. Since her emotions and human shortcomings often overpower her rationality, she is sensitive to paranormal and mystical happenings that are routinely dismissed by the others. Her relationship with Willy (both are considered orphans) is mostly one between siblings, although at times it looks like there are more feelings under the surface, as she can get quite jealous and querulous when Willy gets female attention.

Over the course of the series, characters are added and changed, and stories become more didactic. http://suskeenwiske.ophetwww.net/intro/engintro.php

Willy and Wanda have their own statue in the Antwerp Zoo in Antwerp.

Strange prompt. Who is saying that I can’t go home, and in what context? If I am walking down the street towards my apartment and the police is saying I cannot enter because they are doing a raid by my upstairs neighbors then I have to agree. Something bad is going on and I have to wait till it is over. But if someone random is saying I can’t go home, I would just dismiss it as nonsense.

Sitting on my own personal hill and without doing much research on it I would say civilization is all about expansion. I don’t like it one bit but I would not get drunk over it and I would have a bad aftertaste nonetheless. The world is heading towards doom and I don’t agree.

Wow, I am a big fan of these cargo shorts for men and women. I like to watch men’s legs in these profoundly adventurous looking pieces of clothing. I love cargo shorts. They remind me of endless traveling, backpacking or hiking the slopes. They ooze nonchalance and naturalness and they have the words ‘summer is here with good weather’ all written down.

I think I would be most concerned by smelly feet. They have penetrating odors which sometimes extend socks and shoes. If that smell was visible it would be in the color black and a lot of people, including myself, would walk in permanent black clouds around our shoes. Washing your feet frequently, pampering them with perfumed talcum powder and wearing fresh socks will do the trick though.

Yes, each of us has the potential to grow into a monster. I think monsters are made that way; although genetics can have a factor in this because some evil people are described as being born evil. But given the circumstances everybody can become Hitler, or Stalin or Mussolini. Power can do that to you, or in the case of an abuser abuse in early childhood can cause severe damage.

There is this experiment with people who have to obey the orders of the man in the white coat and inflict harm to others by giving them power surges of electricity. Result shows people are giving increasing pain to others, just by providing reasons why this is necessary. Everybody is capable of doing this I am afraid.

When Muslim youth is getting brainwashed into the ideology by ISIS, it can turn them into monsters that kill, maim and go to war. Apparently this process can show its effect within weeks.

It reminds me of the hard work this whole writer’s community, myself included, is doing, every single day. There is this beautiful virtual world with thousands of participants working on stories, poems, novels, games and contests to create art and to be extremely busy in the process. I think it uplifts humanity in a way beyond belief. Participating here with everything out in the open for everybody to see and to comment on is of a painstaking honesty I admire. Therefore it is everybody’s duty to do his or her best. And that shows I think. I have never come across a club where I felt this much at home. Thanks to the Story Master and Story Mistress and those other team members and the club members themselves as well. Everybody can have a place here and is one small part in the cogwheel. I love that.

Change is a difficult concept for me as a newbie and a beginner. I only can do my best and try to learn as much as I can doing it. So I need time to develop my own style. I didn’t develop a unique writing style as of yet, I am still searching. Life changes are ofcorse leading in possible changes in writing; you are what life is giving you. You have to do with what life is throwing at you and how you as a person react to that.

When I was eleven or twelve years old my parents took me and my brother and sister to Belgium for the summer holiday. We were camping in a tent put up by my uncle and his family. They left; we went, taking over their spot and gear. It was fun; we played cards a lot and played with the other children on the camping site.

So here I am, upside down in a woman, Ian said in his latest novel which is narrated by a disconcertingly precocious unborn child who has caught on to his mother and uncle’s diabolical scheme to murder his father. Ian Russell McEwan is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, The Times featured him on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". McEwan began his career writing sparse, Gothic short stories. (Wikipedia)

I have to admit I never heard of this writer before although he had a familiar face when googling him. I’ve must have seen him around. What a great plot to have worked out, I wished I had come up with the idea, very clever.

Nuclear War. The Cold War against the forces of Communism resulted in both sides building up arsenals of doomsday bombs that could destroy the Earth a dozen times over. The modern threat of nuclear war is a little different. With rogue players like Iran and North Korea working to develop atomic bombs, all it will take is two nations escalating to kick off the apocalypse. As few as 100 bombs detonated in a short period of time could cue “nuclear winter,” a massive climatic effect that would bring Earth temperatures down to their lowest point in thousands of years. This would devastate food production, causing widespread famine and death. (Wikipedia)

Since I would suspect that all this is part of the interview on how to deal with strange situations, I would cautiously enter. I would find it highly strange to see a midget (one of the little people) behind a desk in an otherwise empty room. I would first shake hands ofcorse. I would hold my posture and ask for a chair to sit on. Since that is not available I would ask permission to sit in the window. Then I would wait to see what’s coming. I would love to have a coffee and a smoke but I would patiently wait till the midget is talking and explaining what is about to happen. Since there is not a word for ten minutes, I would leave the room. So much for this job interview.

"Wdc 16th Birthday Masquerade Party"  [13+]. It starts at September 4th. I play Miss Marple, the literary character of Agatha Christie. This year the setting is Coney Island Amusement Park, where Jenko and Schmidt (two undercover cops from the movie 21 Jump Street) are send to manage the grounds for five days.

There are five groups (Annie(Wilkes)'s Book Club, (Alex) Forrest's Anger and Rage Management Survivors, Society of Amateur and Professional Sleuths, Individuals Against Groups and Organizations, Learning to Love and Live with Your Powers Supernatural Support Group) and some individuals roaming the park. I already know someone will be murdered. How will it happen? Will it be scary? Who will the victim be? Will it be someone I know? Most importantly, will I be able to solve the mystery and take home the top prize? MBs and GPs will be given for various reasons. Be creative. There are already seven suspects, twenty three guests and two special guests. I am very much intrigued since it is my first Masquerade Party.

"Invalid Item"  . I try to enter each day for 16 days and submit poetry based on prompts. Prizes: GPs and MBs. Spot prizes will be given out randomly over the course of 16 days. All entrants of the day are placed in a draw by Virtual Dice to win raffle tickets, MBs, reviews, certificates, awardicons or something from the WdC’s shop. The more you enter daily the better your chances.

At Sixteen: I ran away from home to live by myself. My moment of truth came when I had an ugly fight with my mom over a trivial thing. I decided to choose for myself and left.

At thirty two: My moment of truth came when I left my then boyfriend because he was fooling around with another girl. I decided to choose for myself and left the relationship.

At forty eight: My moment of truth came when I moved to another place. I was so excited to finally have a bigger place for myself. I had previously rented a small 2 bed room apartment and was not happy there. When I moved I was over the moon because it had 4 rooms.

The parallels are obvious. I encountered turning points in my life at that time. I made decisions and acted accordingly. It did so to improve my wellbeing and living arrangements at the time.

16 is the hot topic for WDC. Let's talk about the number...where were you, 16 minutes, 16 hours ago, 16 days ago, 16 months ago, 16 years ago? Are there any similarities?(BC)

The only experience with themed blogging for a whole month for me was this last trip through Europe. That was great because we all had these different countries in Europe to blog about. It turned out a real nice travel blog. I surely would do that again on special occasions like a holiday period. For the rest, I like those separate daily prompts. It gives a lot of freedom to talk about anything that comes to mind. Those daily prompts work best for a free stream of consciousness.

On SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1942 Anne Frank wrote in her diary: "’Paper is more patience than man.’ I thought of this saying on one of those days when I was feeling a little depressed and was sitting at home with my chin in my hands, bored and listless, wondering whether to stay in or go out. I finally stayed where I was, brooding. Yes, paper does have more patience, and since I'm not planning to let anyone else read this stiff-backed notebook grandly referred to as a "diary," unless I should ever find a real friend, it probably won't make a bit of difference.”

Since I am living on my own there are not many rules I live by other than the ‘normal’ rules of society. I am a reasonably obedient citizen so I would not know which rule is the hardest to follow but one. In today’s society it is barely accepted that people smoke. In fact, the rule of the era is that you don’t smoke. I have trouble with that. I smoke my whole life, and although it’s bad for my health and everything I keep on doing it. Smoking in public is harder to do these days. There are designated areas on railway stations and such and you can’t smoke in public buildings or restaurants and pubs any more. So I smoke outside in the open air or in my own home, preferably on the balcony.

At first my mind went blank with this prompt, as I was not able to recollect any significant memory. But while sitting on the time frame I came up with memory flashes of that period. I think I was at sailing camp around my sixteenth birth day. In one of the northern parts of my country. It was a week of theory and practice sailing every day in a small sailing boat called ‘16 square’, a very small boat where I learned about navigating the sails, adjusting the gear etc. I totally aced the theory exam, but I flunked out with the practical part as I was not able to learn tacking from one part of the boat to the other trying not to get hit by the mast.

But the main memory comes from falling in love with one of the other attendents for sailing camp. I think his name was Johan and he was a few years older than me, a very interesting, lonely boy, always on his own with a book. I never spoke to him at all but was looking at him from a safe distance and growing very fond of him, in other words I had a crush. I recall that when I was home I rang up the camp with a lame excuse I had borrowed a book from Johan and could I please have his phone number, so I rang him up. Strangely enough he was interested and since he had family in the nearby city of The Hague he would come over and visit me, which he did. Safely to say we had a very nice day talking but we never hit it off. When I was in his home town a few months later and had made arrangements to meet him again he never showed. I forgot all about him rapidly.

People who live in a trailer park are called campers, dwellers or nomads. They live mostly by themselves in groups of family and have a rather bad reputation. In earlier days they were famous for collecting metal and junk, living near such a collector’s place. Now the only time they are in the news is when the police is doing a raid inside the camps, for drugs, illegal money and that sort of thing. I know nothing about them so I would have to do a lot of research first before creating a tattooed Jay from the camp. They are nomadic people descending from the gypsies and roaming the earth by wheels. Since there is no place for nomads in modern society they only live in trailers as a reminiscent of those travelling times. I think you can visit only by invitation; otherwise it’s a no-go area.

With 2016 marking 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, there’s no time like the present to revisit all of the theater favorites or follow in the footsteps of the iconic playwright. From standing on Juliet’s balcony in Verona to exploring Hamlet’s castle in Denmark, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Shakespeare all around the world, but the No. 1 destination is, of course, his home country of England. The country is celebrating the legacy of its national poet with a host of special events, plays, film screenings and exhibitions, and even if you missed the anniversary itself (April 23), there are plenty of ways to add a Shakespearean
twist to your visit.

Visit famous Stratford-upon-Avon landmarks and walk in William Shakespeare’s footsteps with this ‘All Five Houses’ tour ticket. Step back in time to the 16th century, when one of England’s most famous scribes was alive. Visit Shakespeare’s family homes and gardens at your leisure, where a broad range of exciting activities bring the bard’s story to life. Listen as the guides shed light on his life and times, watch live performances, test your Shakespearean knowledge, meet farm animals at Mary Arden's Farm and enjoy a fun-filled day for all the family. Highlights: Family-friendly Romantic experience, perfect for couples; Step back in time on a history tour; Perfect for all ages and skill levels.

Yes, authors and poets have a duty to address political, economic and social issues through their writing. They form the world’s consciousness. Social and political change is often met by the power of the pen. Writing about issues that really matter evokes people to take a stand and is thereby capable of changing the status quo. Mark Twain and Martin Luther King helped putting an end to slavery. Women’s' rights leader Mary Wollstonecraft wrote about women’s suffrage and was important in the discourse on women’s rights. Since writers and poets take on the world as their backyard they form opinions and can easily vent those through their work. They also have an audience.

When starting a journal later in life it is often triggered by the turning points in your life, the phenomenons that stood out, were rare or strange but had the power to change life’s path. It is by monitoring those events you get a lot of insights in your own behavior and what life has in store for you. You can learn, marvel or moan about it since there is a line visible after so many years in to writing. I think that is the purpose and the beauty of starting and keeping a journal.

This is a beautiful quote by the actor Gene Wilder whom I only know of featuring in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I understand by the prompt of the day he is deceased. He was 83 years old.

We're booked on one of the hop on, hop off buses in London’s day three today. Freedom in one of Europe’s best capital cities. I always consider Great Britain as part of Europe but ofcorse technically it’s not. And since the Brexit things haven’t improved, but I won’t get into politics now, it’s still holiday adventure!

Passive-aggressive behavior is the indirect expression of hostility, such as through procrastination, stubbornness, sullen behavior, or deliberate or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is (often explicitly) responsible.(Wikipedia)

They had been talking about him behind his back, since he could smell the difference when entering the room again. His hairs in his neck suddenly stood out, he could feel the cold entering the room as if someone had just opened a window cooling down the once so warm and cozy atmosphere before he left for a toilet break. People he just talked to turned away and he could sense their disapproval pouring out over him. What the hell happened? Then he saw her standing in the corner talking to his best friend. And he understood at once. She was telling everybody what a bastard he had been for giving her the cold shoulder after ten years of marriage. There was no place for him at this party anymore, so he left instantly and in a hurry. He didn’t even bother to finish his drink.

Windsor Castle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u_Djya9FFY It’s 17 (62,5) degrees and cloudy. Very English weather but perfect for this touring day. What a great castle, divided into three wards, and what a great place this is. I wonder off with a headphone and enjoy the information given. On a Sunday there is no changing of the guards and the Henry VIII chapel is closed, but there is a choir service which I attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc0xdpFSkKE They are so stunning, those male voices in that best of scenery. I feel overwhelmed.

HO, wait a minute Lyn's a Witchy Woman . Did you say train ride? That means UNDERNEATH the CANAL!! I so wanted to do that once in my life and now it is happening. I think this is one of the biggest endeavors in Europe, let’s face it…building a tunnel in the ocean, for crying out loud, how cool is that?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKVVPVwALbY .

I think the most favorite fantasy I have ever read was by J.R.R. Tolkien: the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays. I loved how he did his world building with a totally new world of hobbits and creatures. It’s been fascinating and I read those books at a very young age. I like the books better than the movies, although those are great too, because you can fantasies for yourself. He is truly the ‘father’ of fantasy literature.

It’s a beautiful short prose poem. I love the dream-like atmosphere in this short fantasy tale, where you can envision the tree, the bird and the angel in the early morning with a hazy day ahead of us and the wonderful new wonders of the day yet to arrive. The promise of a new dawn!

Happy Birthday Lyn's a Witchy Woman .

K. is the other woman in the life of my sister. Let me explain this rather funny relation. My sister was married and had two kids. He cheated on her, left her for K. and they had another kid together. The relationship between my sister and K. was reasonably good since there were three kids to consider. K. was left too for another and in the meantime I became friends with K. who lived in my new hometown. So now K. and I are close friends for almost ten years. We go to the movies every other fortnight and we have plans to visit New York City in spring of 2017.

He was late, again. He was always late. As the door opened, I had to wonder what type of excuse he would come in with this time. But he took the words right out of my mouth. “Look here”, he said trying to avoid my glare. “I was with another tonight, so there you know. It’s been going on for some time now and I didn’t want you to be upset about it. It’s probably nothing, but I like her. I like her a lot”. ”And what about us?” I said, trembling. “I don’t know”, he answered. “Do you want a divorce?” “So now this is my problem is it? I don’t know if I want a divorce. Are you going to move out?” “No, I don’t have the intention of doing so, unless ofcorse you kick me out. Do you?” “What?” “Kick me out?” “I don’t know, I have to swallow this. Do you love her?” “I am in love, I think, a little bit. But I don’t want to lose you. Can’t we just see what happens?” “Let’s leave it for now, I have to think. We talk about it tomorrow”.

WOW, another day in Paris. We go by chopper AND have a champagne breakfast, totally luxurious. Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLRorfkaVpw.

As I am still an absolute beginner at blogging I feel I am only learning. The last two and a half months into blogging and I love it! It’s a big part of my life now. I recently set up another three blogs apart from this one. One on the writing process "All fingers and thumbs "  [18+] and two poetry blogs:
"Invalid Item"  and "In every nook and cranny"  [18+]. Since I am also taking poetry class from "The Poet's Place "  [E] I need more space to write about poetry. Hence the two extra blogs. I will not write in those every day though, but it’s good to have a place where I can go to and chill and vent and create before putting anything up as an item in my portfolio.

Volunteering has a bad connotation to it which is totally unwarranted. People think volunteering is different from getting paid for the job. It is not. All the qualifications in order for actual work have to be applied to volunteering. You have to do it like in the contract, verbally or written it’s binding nonetheless, you have to be in or on time and you have to behave in a proper way towards the organization you’re in, that is, loyalty is required. You can just as easily get sacked for a volunteer job. The very fact that you don’t get paid has nothing to do with it.

People seem to think volunteering is free, it is not. It is of free will, something totally different. Because people are thinking it’s ‘just ’a volunteering job they sometimes treat the work at hand in a sloppy, careless fashion.

Another day waking up in beau Paris. One of the times I went to Paris was with a new boyfriend. We were very much in love and explored the streets and each other. Fond memories of this beautiful city of Love.

My time with J. was definitely one of my favorite episodes of my life. He was my theater play write teacher and a children’s actor by profession. There was 15 years between us. He was funny, good looking and an idiosyncratic artist at best. We went to bars, spent time at New Year’s Eve, where I wore a black dress for the first and last time in my life, and I got to mingle in the actor’s scene of The Hague at that time. He had a little boat so we went sailing in spring in the middle of The Netherlands. It was all very relaxed and interesting and we laughed a lot together. At one time, he even proposed to me. I declined and in less than a year, I ended the relationship, but I will always remember him.

Looking back at it, I went to that theater play writing class because I wanted to learn about writing screenplays. It was a three months course in an older part of The Hague. During that period, I wrote my only lunch play of 30 minutes called: ‘The fall of the Bandiagara’ about a mountaineer meeting the Dogon people of Mali, losing his girlfriend in an accident. It actually was staged in a small theater with a local acting group. I saw the play myself. It was very exciting to watch other people perform on one of your works. Unfortunately, the play went missing during one of my moves to another place. I don’t have a copy any more.

I still mourn for Paris in memory of the attacks. Only one third of the hotels is booked, but as an expert explained: Paris is as safe as past 911 in New York and I believe him. Still there is this feeling of apprehension I can’t get rid of.

Accepting the here and now and being grateful for what you have does not imply you have to accept the future. But it forces you to distinguish between a) what is the reality now, b) what are your plans for the future and c) what you can actually do in the next moment to progress towards your goals.

I just did

Hotel Sebastians Set in Amsterdam: http://www.hotelsebastians.nl/en/photos/ . Another excellent choice of Lyn's a Witchy Woman . Since I am only a 40 minutes train ride from my home town, I am going to enjoy this stay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G-lqrzTv-U.

On Marci Missing Everyone and Bobbi .

Not every Sfi stories has this profound motto hidden somewhere, but there are some that ask questions on the probabilities and complications about the ethics of any science or philosophy. I mention literature like Brave New World and Clockwork Orange and movies like Star Trek. They are very thought provoking and I love them for it.