Views of the Neighborhood – Day Before Memorial Day

May 30, 2021May 29, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 80 Comments

Since this is Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be nice to have a leisurely time contemplating what Memorial day means. The day has been set aside to remember those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom that is an integral part of ours.

We are going to keep the brunch simple today in keeping with the spirit of the weekend. One of our freedoms is to choose food that will taste great but not be the best for us. We are being catered by the Magnolia Pancake Haus in San Antonio, TX. Our guest is the late Marvin Gaye.

Omelets All served with potatoes or pancakes

BACON & CHEDDAR
Our Famous Applewood Smoked Bacon and Aged
Cheddar Cheese Make for The Perfect Breakfast

BODEGA BAY OMELET
A trip to the Sonoma Coast inspired this Haus original.
Wild baby arugula, applewood smoked bacon, and goat cheese fill this three-egg delight. Topped with a ribbon of crème Fraiche

OMELET MONTERREY
A Magnolia Original. Roasted Chicken and Jack Cheese Inside.
Topped with Our Haus-Made Mild Salsa Verde and Crème Fraiche

SARKI’S SPECIAL
Direct from Our Favorite Chicago Hole-In-The-Wall Breakfast Joint! Spinach, Kalamata Olives, Mushrooms, Onions and Feta Cheese,
Topped with A Dollop of Crème Fraiche

HAM & CHEESE
Pit-Smoked Ham and Your Choice of Cheese

SPINACH & MUSHROOM
Baby Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms with Your Choice of Cheese

JOE’S EGGS
The Original San Francisco Treat! Spinach, Italian Sausage, Onions, and Mushrooms, Prepared Fritatta Style. Topped with
Monterey Jack Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

SHRIMP & AVOCADO
Shrimp and Fresh-Sliced Avocado Fill This Three-Egg Treat.
It Is Topped with Jack Cheese and Served with Our Homemade Salsa

JAMBALAYA OMELET
A Steamer’s Café Classic and Mr. Pancake’s Favorite Breakfast!!
Chicken and Sausage Accented Creole Jambalaya with Jack Cheese in
a Fluffy Threeegger. Topped with Our Mild Creole Sauce

So let’s go.

We have newborn deer in Lakeway, so there are reminders out to slow down.

A shot of some of the flags lining the major streets. The city has lines all the public roads with flags.

A peaceful waterfall to think about those who are gone.

A larger waterfall that reminds us of freedom’s price.

More of the flags honoring those who gave their lives.

Another shot of the flags. There are so many miles of flags that it is impossible to show them all.

The Spirit of Freedom has flags as well.

The flags are at half staff in remembrance of those murdered in San Jose.

Flag-lined walkway.

A reminder of what Memorial Day really means.

A private display of gratitude.

I hope you will all keep the spirit of Memorial Day alive. Here is Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Collect

May 29, 2021May 28, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 50 Comments

I was walking back from the store and heard the screech of vehicle brakes behind me. I turned around and came face to face with the FedEx van. I have to say maybe a FedEx van doesn’t have a face, but it sure seemed that way to me. Anyway, the driver tossed a package my way and yelled something about not being able to face my vicious bulldog today. I tried to yell back that she is not vicious, just vocal but needed to spend more of my energy getting out of the way of the van.

Lucky for me, I jumped free, and after the van sped away, I went over to the flattened package. This raised a nostalgic memory of when all FedEx packages were flat as a pancake. I picked up the two-dimensional box, and through a split in the cardboard, a note fluttered to the ground. It was from Linda Hill. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “collect.” Use the word “collect” any way you’d like. Have fun! was all it said. The rest of the contents of the package consists of double stuffed Oreo’s in a deconstructed state. All I need is a glass of milk and a spoon.

“Hey, you look chipper.”

“Got my prompt finished.”

“Okay then. Want to share?”

“Sure, the prompt is ‘collect,’ and I wrote a story about the time I called home.”

“Called home? Was this in your youth?”

“Yeah, I was in school.”

“This must have been some story.”

“I called home ‘collect.’ and my dad refused the call.”

“That was cold. Any reason.”

“I think he thought it was a crank call.”

“Why on earth would he think that.”

“Er, maybe cause I hadn’t called for a while.?”

“What’s a while?”

“Three months.”

“Yeah, might be the reason. Why didn’t you call?”

“Not sure it was so long ago.”

“Why all of a sudden did you call?”

“Needed money.”

“I don’t think it was because he thought it was a crank call.”

“No? Then what?”

“He probably wanted to teach you a lesson.”

“Which was?”

“You should call more, not just when you needed something.”

“Yeah. I did correct my behavior.”

“Good. So you called more often?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I stopped calling collect.”

“Is that a rim shot and cymbal noise I hear?”

“I think it is more the call of the six-pack.”

“Let’s go.”

FridayJohnKu – AKA – TGIF

May 28, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 70 Comments

Photo of Twiggy and Lucy — “Lucy. Why are you so fuzzy?”
“Cause the Boss hasn’t figured out depth of field yet.”
“Glad it’s not you.”

It is Friday again, and time to be thinking about the weekend. For those who work, it promises to be a long weekend.

Not much to report today. This week seemed pretty slow. Kept the pressure on my WIP. Had to do some research which tends to slow things down a bit. I make a promise it will be out before the turn of the century. (A little writer humor. Very little.)

I was pleased to be informed that Eternal Road – The final stop took a finalist award in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA). Always feels good to get recognized for work. I will be putting the award on the sidebar when the artwork is available.

I see more bloggers getting worked up over states passing legislation on the voter process. I hope most of them take the time to really look at the laws passed and not just take someone else’s word that evil is afoot. I wish we all would look more closely at situations before firing off a rant, but that is just me.

Today’s JohnKu talks about rants. I hope you all have a great weekend and thoughtful Memorial Day.

We still owe ourselves,

A disciplined fact checks step. . .

Before writing rants.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Twiggy – Squirrel Dundee

May 27, 2021May 26, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 98 Comments

“Okay, so you think there are squirrels in the yard?”

“Not think, Lucy. I know there are squirrels in the yard.”

“What makes you think so?”

“I’ve seen them.”

“Seen them. When? Where?”

“Near that confounded bird handout thingy.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. They are after the seeds.”

“There shouldn’t be any seeds, to begin with, for heaven’s sake.”

“We discussed this. You need to share with our natural friends.”

“Okay, I’ll give it to you on the birds, but squirrels are an entirely different matter.”

“I think you ought to worry more about this dry spot in the lawn.”

“That’s above my pay grade.”

“I beliece you ought to give the squirrels a pass.”

“A pass? Are you a dog or what? Where’s the Lucy I once knew?”

“I’m just saying that you can spend your whole day chasing them to no avail.”

“Sounds like a good day to me.”

“Only a bulldog would think that way.”

Wednesday Story Day – AkA – Hump Day

May 26, 2021May 25, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 63 Comments

Photo of Lucy and Twiggy resting — “You staying in the shade?”
“Yup. I need to keep up my stamina.”
“Let me guess. So you can catch Friday when he shows up.”
“Does that seem strange to you?”
“No just typical.”

It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week we found out that the light-colored Escalade used by Cortez’s thugs didn’t have any reports of being stolen. The plate on it belonged to a Prius. There was one Escalade stolen in LA, but it was black. We did speculate that it would be easy to repaint the car, but that was just a red herring. There was also a dealer name on the license plate surround. Our gang is off to visit the dealer to see if there is any information that can be found about the car. I see they are all at the dealer’s place, so we better get over there to check it out.

“Yes, that looks like an Escalade we sold. Let me check the records.”

“We’ll wait.”

“I can check them right here on my computer.”

“Of course.”

“Yes, that is a very unusual color. Inspiration crème. It was sold two weeks ago to a local person. A good customer. I have the name and address.”

“That would be great if you could let us have it.”

“You do know that we need to protect our customer information.”

“I understand. This is a matter of life or death. I could get a warrant.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary. Her name is Shirley Tounsand.”

“Her name?”

“Yes, Miss Tounsand has bought many vehicles from us.”

“Miss Tounsand?”

“She is a widow and likes to get a car every couple of years.”

“So that is a 2020?”

“Yes, it was left in inventory, so we gave her a great buy.”

“I will need the VIN number.”

“VIN number. What for?”

“We believe this vehicle was involved in a kidnapping. The Vin will allow us to access the GPS and perhaps locate it.”

“You don’t believe Miss Thousand is involved, do you?”

“Let’s hope not, but in any case, she might be in danger. Could we have her address, please?”

“Yes, here it is.”

“Do you happen to have her phone number as well?”

“Yes. It is on that paper. Do me a favor.”

“Sure, What?”

“Let me know she’s okay.”

“We can do that. Thank you.”

“Hey, Mike?”

“Yes, Larry.”

“Let’s go outside.”

“Thank you for the information. We’ll be in touch. After you, Larry.”

“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I have some concern for that widow.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I’m calling her now. The phone is ringing.”

“I hope she picks up.”

“Still ringing. Ah, to voice mail.”

“Hang up.”

“Gotcha.”

“We need to send someone over there for a welfare check. Knowing these guys, the widow could be in trouble.”

“Let me call the Reno PD.”

The Hook Reads: John W. Howell

May 25, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Today I am with Robert Hookey talking about some of the elements of writer success. You may know Robert better as The Hook and the teller of great stories of his life as a bellman at a major hotel in Niagara Falls, Canada. He is also a fiction writer and has a new book titled “Into the Dark” which I am reading right now. Come visit and learn a little more about Robert.

You've Been Hooked!

Some writers tell stories and some build worlds.

John W. Howell is a writer’s writer; he truly plays God and infuses life into his characters and gives them entire realities to inhabit, rather than just going through the same motions we’ve all read a mllion times before. He’s so dedicated to his craft that John even trained with Seals to add a layer of authenticity to his espionage thrillers. Of course, it was at Sea World with actual seals – but it still counts.

Some authors worry about living up to the standards set by their idols, and so they’re constantly asking thmselves, “What would Stephen King do with this chapter?”

I often think, “What would John Howell do with these characters?” or “I wonder what John will think of this direction I’m taking my characters in?”, and of course, “I wonder if John will ever pay me back…

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Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue # 313

May 25, 2021May 24, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 55 Comments

In Keith’s words.

“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.combefore 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The Photo.

‘Why did we come to this desolate field?”

“You know very well that we are waiting for the arrival of the great eagle.”

“yes, so when is he getting here?”

“Should be any hour now.”

“Hour. You have got to be kidding. We have been here since sunup already.”

“Hush now. Why don’t you entertain yourself.”

“I didn’t bring any bourbon, that’s why.”

“My goodness, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today.”

“It was so dark I think I lost my bearings.”

“Well, look around and tell a story about what you see.”

“Okay. Better than dying here, I suppose.”

“That’s my man.”

“Look to the left. I think someone hung their dog costume on the fence post. You have to wonder why a dog costume.”

“That’s funny. Keep going.”

“Look at the giant. I wonder what shoe size he takes?”

“Good.”

“I think we should have those bald guys put on a hat. The glare is starting to hurt my eyes.”

“You’re on a roll.”

“Check out the ape in the clouds. Looks like he might be doing a high dive into a pool.”

“Never would have seen that.”

“To the left again. The biggest crow I’ve ever seen. Hope there is some corn around her.”

“That’s no crow. It’s the eagle.”

“Yay. We came, we saw, we joked. Can we go home now?”

“Hold on. Let’s see if he flys this way. Darn, he went behind the tree.”

“Shy, I suppose. I don’t blame him. Who would want to approach a gang of humans anyway?”

“These are all conservationists.”

“Especially on conserving water and soap. Downwind is a good place.”

“You are bad.”

“Dang me.”

Top Ten Things Not to Do While Visiting a Bar

May 24, 2021May 23, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 62 Comments

Photo of a bar — Unsplash image by Freebirds

This post was originally run on May 25th, 2015. It was a cautionary prescription before the Memorial Day holiday

Ten Things Not to do While Visiting a Bar

10 If you are visiting a bar, do not stand too close to someone expecting them to talk to you. If you do, at best, they will move away. At worst, you might be surprised to find yourself an unwilling volunteer for a jujitsu demonstration with you as a student. (That thumb hold is pretty painful)

9 If you are visiting a bar, do not order a flaming drink for any reason. If you do, at best, you will confirm your narcissistic tendencies. At worst, your concoction will catch the back bar on fire, and the four-alarm fire department response cost will put your credit card into default.(you lit up the night though)

8 If you are visiting a bar, do not join others in doing shots. If you do at best, you will fall unconscious. At worst, you will be on your feet but engaged in behavior that you will not recall at your trial.(But you are sure you had fun)

7. If you are visiting a bar, do not get up on the karaoke stage no matter what. If you do, At best, you will be coerced into singing a song that you have never heard of before. At worst, you will be idiot enough to tackle Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and to attempt to sing all the parts. (The “We will not let him go” part got you)

6 If you are visiting a bar, do not join a discussion about sports if you don’t know anything about sports. If you do, at best, your companions will have proof that you are an idiot. At worst, Tiny, the guy whose facts you were challenging, will finally have had enough and provide you with your solo flying lesson. (That landing will be pretty rough)

5 If you are visiting a bar, do not insist that the band play your song. If you do, at best, the band will ignore you totally. At worst, the huge guy with the word SECURITY on his back will be helping you to the exit to the amusement of the patrons and joy of the band. ( I think if you had just asked once they might have played your song)

4 If you are visiting a bar, do not try to duck buying a round. If you do, at best, you will soon be drinking alone. At worst, your companions will shame you into buying a drink which to your s everyone in the bar as arranged by your former friends. (Would have been cheaper the other way)

3 If you are visiting a bar, do not challenge the house champion to a game to impress others. If you do, at best, you will be beaten so badly that all those who you wanted to impress think you are a dope. At worst, you will get into several double or nothing bets that will end up with you no longer having a car. (Walking is good for your health)

2 If you are visiting a bar, do not send back a plate of food no matter how bad. If you do, at best, those who you are with will wonder why you had the poor judgment to order food in a bar in the first place. At worst, your plate will return from the kitchen with some additional ingredients courtesy of the night cook and his dog. (Don’t even taste it)

1 If you are visiting a bar, do not accept the pickled egg eating challenge. If you do, at best, you will be finished for the night. At worst, you will be feeling the physical effects of too many pickled eggs for the next week, including sleeping alone in the yard. (Think about it next time)

Views of the Neighborhood – Going Back to the Gym

May 23, 2021May 22, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 78 Comments

Since restrictions are lifted and I am fully vaccinated, it is time to go back to the gym. I know this isn’t the most exciting neighborhood tour, but it is a monumental event. We have brunch catered from the Hillside Farmacy in Austin. We have Sugarland as our entertainment today.

Hillside Farmacy

Brunch
Texas Cheese Plate
Selection of local cheese, wildflower honey
+ seasonal fruit.
Peel & Eat Shrimp ~
Freshly made biscuits Homefries Cheese grits Seasonal fruit bowl Side of bacon.
GOOD EGGS
Our eggs come from family-owned & operated sustainable pasture-raised organic egg farms around Austin. Their hens are humanely raised outdoors.
BRULÉE GRAPEFRUIT
Texas grapefruit half, sugar in the raw, local wildflower honey
HOUSE MADE GRANOLA & YOGURT
Yogurt, fresh seasonal fruit, local wildflower honey
BUTTERMILK PANCAKES
Mexican vanilla, seasonal fruit, powdered sugar BACON, SCRAMBLED EGG
MAC & CHEESE (vegetarian)
Taleggio, aged white cheddar, bread crumbs
PANCETTA , POACHED FARM EGG, BROCCOLI

Gulf Shrimp
Six gulf shrimp, house-made cocktail sauce, pickled onion
EGG & SAUSAGE BREAKFAST SAMMY
Pork sausage, farm egg, sweet and spicy pepper salsa, spring mix, tomato, mixed pickles, local cheddar cheese.
FARM EGGS BOWL (vegetarian)
Seasonal veggies
SHRIMP & STONEGROUND GRITS
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, cheese grits, kale, microgreens
BIG BREKKIE (vegetarian options)
2 eggs any style
• Bacon or avocado
• Homefries or creamy grits • Wheat toast or a biscuit

White wine: Chardonnay Annabella Napa, CA Red wine:

Syrah Love & Grapes Nobis France

Hop on the bus.

Here we are at the gym.

A new pool is going in.

There’s the workout room.

My machine.

Overcast view

Do we want to do some leg or arm work? Let’s pass.

How about free weights? Not now, maybe later.

High-intensity workout? We have brunch to eat.

So let’s get to brunch and the music. I hope you all have a great week.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – ROC

May 22, 2021May 21, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 53 Comments

I was having a wannabe productive day yesterday. I was thinking of maybe raking the leaves and mowing the lawn. I got out the lawnmower and gave it a tug. It started in one pull, so I knew something was wrong. As I walked behind (yes, it is self-propelled. I’m 80 years old, so I live with it.)

Just when I thought the job would be perfect, there was a box blocking the next pass. I had to stop the mower, and knowing it would never start again until tomorrow, I decided to open the box. Here is what was inside, along with a trouble-shooting guide for my lawnmower. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “roc.” Find a word with “roc” in it or use it as a word all by itself. Enjoy!”

If you would like to stop work and enjoy a prompt, visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link.

https://lindaghill.com/2021/05/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-22-2021/

“Why’d you stop mowing the lawn?”

“He says wanting to rub salt in the wound.”

“You hurt yourself?”

“No. I got a prompt from Linda and it was in a box that caused me to shut off the mower.”

“Oh-oh. That means no more work today.”

“Right you are.”

“When you going to get a new mower?”

“Come on that one is only forteen years old.”

“I could make an argument that it is only seven give it only runs half the time.”

“Yeah, make fun why don’t you.”