with John W. Howell
It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday again and this week’s prompt is Fly/Flies/Flew/Flu/Flue. If you would like to participate, visit Linda Hill at http://lindaghill.com/2015/07/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-jily-1815/ Here is my interpretation.
Fly/Flies/Flew/Flu/Flue by John W. Howell
When flies flew down the flue,
I could not fly with fly flu.
Friday once again and only eight more hours (give or take a few) till quitting time. I’m so lucky this week I have my daughter and grandkids visiting. Two of the three grandchildren brought a guest and youngest is visiting from Austin, so we have nine of us kicking around the house. It is so nice to have a bunch around. The noise the talk the laughter are all music to the ears. Makes one take stock in what is considered important. Yes, peace and quiet is essential but so is the happy bedlam of the family. This week’s JohnKu ( A termed coined by Words4jp) talks about family. Hope you like it.
Family by John W. Howell ©2015
Underfoot and loud,
All around and in the way. . .
Until sad silence.
Today at 11:00 CDT I am guest hosting Rave Reviews Book Club’s RAVE WAVES: BRING ON THE SPOTLIGHT, where, I will be joined by current Rave Reviews Book Club Spotlight Author Gwen Plano. We will discuss her book Letting Go Into Perfect Love, Discovering the Extraordinary After Abuse. Join us as we explore this book, and become better acquainted with author
Click cover to go to Amazon
You can listen to the show by clicking here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub
We’d love to hear from you with your comments and questions on Twitter by using the #RRBCBringOnTheSpotlight hashtag. You may follow along on Twitter by typing the #RRBCBringOnTheSpotlight hashtag into Twitter’s search box in the top right hand corner of your Twitter page, and then clicking on the “LIVE” feed.
See you there
Wednesday story day is here, so it’s time to go visit Bob and Charlotte. I don’t know about you, but I’m almost afraid to go and see what is going on now. (Yeah I know I’m the one writing this stuff) Last week Bob finally got a hold of himself and released Charlotte’s neck. Bob couldn’t believe he had hurt her, and Charlotte went to get him a cold cloth since she is the consummate caregiver. She comes back to give Bob the cloth and lo and behold (I love that phrase and hoped I could work it in somewhere) Bob sees his mother. She throws the towel at him and calls him a sissy. I’ve stalled long enough we need to see what is up.
“Mother? Why am I seeing you instead of Charlotte?”
“Well, that is a question you should ask that shrink of yours. That is if you had the guts to ask anything other than ‘do you have the time.’”
“I ask him a lot of things. Why are you like this?”
“Like what Bobby?”
“Mean. You know I don’t like to be called Bobby. That is an example of mean.”
“Oh, so I’m mean. The one who gives you clothes and makes sure you have a roof─. Okay, forget that one. The one who gives you money and who hired this worthless editor.”
“She’s not worthless. You take that back.”
“What’s the matter, Bob? You gotta a crush on the wimpy girl?”
“Mother. You are the most annoying person on the planet.”
“Because I point out the truth to you? Bob, you need to grow up and do something with your life.”
“Well, the psychologist says my problems are mostly because of you.”
“Is that right? Did he tell you what your problems were?”
“Well, he did say that because of your abuse I have a dual personality.”
“Oh really? Who am I talking to now? Huh?”
“I am Robert. You know that.”
“Since when are you Robert?”
“Since I needed a friend to guard against you.”
“Ha. That’s a laugh. You’re a coward no matter what you call yourself.”
“You know what else?”
“What else Bob?”
“That’s Robert mother. Robert is the one that can see and talk to you when he wants. Robert is not afraid of you. Robert hates you and would like to see you dead.”
“Well, well, well, looks like Bob has found some balls.”
“The name’s Robert mother. See this hand? I’m going to wrap it around your throat and squeeze until your tongue turns black.”
“You don’t have the guts.”
Iona Martin has just published two books and since she is such a good writer I want to take the time to let you know about them.
The first is one that Ionia wrote for authors. She is such and excellent reviewer and writer that it is time for all of us to take advantage of the prompts that she has provided. It is titled The Reluctant Muse and is “a writing prompt and idea book for authors of fiction works. It is intended to offer inspiration when you can’t think of anything to write about and includes photos, exercises and inspirational quotes. It is not a long book and the exercises are simple and designed to only take a few minutes of your time. Hope you enjoy!” I know i want to read it and gain some fresh ideas.
The second book is one that only Ionia could write. Titled Plundering the Romance Novel the cover explains a lot
To Quote the description on Amazon, It is a “silly, satirical romp into the land of romance novels and pirate adventures, full of romance clichés and humour. This book is a short novella, just over 10k words. Have you ever wondered what goes on in the minds and hearts of romance novel heroes and heroines? No? Good, because this book won’t be helpful with that at all.”
This is the beginning of a group of books that poke fun at the various genres. Sounds like a good time.
Since it is summer, and there are a number of fairs and carnivals I thought it would be a good idea to provide a list of things not to do in case you plan on visiting one or more. The inspiration for this list is some fair visits and watching a number of people do what should not be done. Hope you enjoy
Top Ten Things Not to do at the Fair.
10 If you go to the fair and must take a shuttle from the parking lot, do not start singing the Trolley Song from Meet me in St Louis. If you do, at best the crowd will groan at the cliché. At worst, you will forget the words beyond “clang clang clang went the trolley” and look like an idiot. (Hint its “ding ding ding went the bell”)
9 If you go to the fair, do not put your kids on leashes as if they were pets. If you do, at best you will find folks tripping over the lines. At worst, the kids may decide to play as if they are dogs and lift a leg at an inopportune time.
8 If you go to the fair, do not walk around while stuffing your face with fair goodies. If you do, at best you might not notice the ketchup running down your arm and alarm others who think you’ve been wounded. At worst, you’ll resemble some of the exhibits in the swine barn. (The plus side you might win a ribbon)
7 If you go to the fair, do not fall for the deep-fried novelties booth. If you do, at best you will hate yourself in the morning. At worst, you will jeopardize your expensive dental work on the deep-fried Snickers bar. (On second thought it might be worth it)
6 If you go to the fair, do not pay money to have someone guess your weight. If you do, at best even if the guesser is wrong the world now knows how much you weigh. At worst, the guesser will get your weight exactly right and, unfortunately, will announce to the crowd that he wasn’t sure, so he added ten pounds to his guess. (And you did not get a kupee doll)
5 If you go to the fair, do not ride the ride where everyone is screaming. If you do, at best you will get a sore throat from your own screaming. At worst, you will make a complete fool out of yourself crying and begging the operator to let you off. (And this is before the ride starts)
4 If you go to the fair, do not think the house of fun is fun. If you do, at best you will be surprised at all the screaming and find it is you. At worst, you will have trouble holding onto that 32-ounce big gulp you just finished. (And it’s not the cup we are talking about)
3 If you go to the fair, do not think you will win a lot of stuffed animals at the midway. If you do, at best you will finally figure out the games are not winnable by ordinary people. At worst, you will spend way more that the value of the animal you eventually win. (Of course you can always keep trying and invest enough that you could have used to buy a car)
2 If you do to the fair, do not announce in a loud voice how stinky you think the barns smell. If you do, at best you might get a few frowns. At worst, you might be invited outside for a chat by Daniel Yoder the national tractor throwing champ. (He will want to find out what part of cow poop you don’t like)
1 If you go to the fair, and hear the word “stampede” do not stand there and wonder what it means. If you do, at best the herd will take the next aisle. At worst, you will be faced with a bunch of panicked cows or horses who will be more than happy to continue the same course whether you are in the way or not. (Those hooves are hard)
Here is this week’s photo.
There are far fewer cars on the beach because this is not a holiday weekend. In fact the only folks on the beach were two dogs and their owners. You can see the dogs in the center of the photo. The yellow morning glories are out in full force. The footprints tell a tale of a number of visitors coupled with low tides and moderate wind..
Last week’s photo.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. This week’s prompt is “Ring” and can be used in any form. If you would like to participate go to Linda Hill’s site http://lindaghill.com/2015/07/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-1115/. Here is my interpretation.
Ring by John W. Howell © 2015
“Yeah I want to see that one. The one that looks like it might cost a million bucks.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sure it’s not that expensive. Is this the one?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“You have excellent taste, sir. This ring is one of our finest creations. The diamond is three and a half carats and the setting is platinum.”
“May I hold it?”
“Oh yes, sir. Here you are.”
“It sure does sparkle doesn’t it?”
“Yes the cut is called Tiffany and the facets make it shine and sparkle.”
“So how much we talkin’ for this ring.”
“Hmm let me see. Oh yes here is the tag. This ring is only nineteen thousand.”
“Um, do you have anything else?”
“Oh, I’m sorry sir I thought this was the one you wanted to look at.”
“I did till I found out how much it cost.”
“I see sir. Without being too forward, may I ask what bothers you about the price? Is it too high?
“No. It’s not too high. I wanted to spend more is all.”
“Well, this is our most expensive ring.”
“I guess I will need to go somewhere else.”
“Wait sir. Let me look at this tag again. Oh dear, it sounds like I made a mistake. When I said nineteen thousand, I was looking at the per carat price. The ring is actually sixty-six thousand. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s okay, The price is more in my range. I’ll take it.”
Friday is here again. This week seemed long since most of us had a short week last week. Not sure how many had Monday off but, for the most part, last Friday was the holiday, so we had to pay the piper this week. We are in the middle of the summer months and can feel the temperature rising. Of course, we grumble when it’s cold, so it seems prudent to grumble about the heat. We have the same privilege now on the fact that the rain has subsided. We can now complain about how dry it is becoming. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) discusses the fickle nature of the human condition.
Change by John W. Howell © 2015
Content in our life,
Having everything the same. . .
Until there’s a change.
For the last year, I have not been able to talk or write about the day our beloved Silky Terrier took her walk over the Rainbow Bridge. I’m not too sure I can write about it now, but it is time to move from avoiding the memories of that day to remembering the fun and good times we shared.
Coco was with us for seven years and was a rescue found on the streets of San Antonio. she was estimated to be five years old when we found her. (or she found us) My wife was visiting the local shelter and came upon Coco looking very sad in a cage with another dog. This is her sad look which we found out after adopting her she could put on in a second.
She came home to us and gave us many hours of laughter and like most terriers was in charge of the household which included two cats, two dogs, and two humans.
One of her favorite things to do (among many) was to go in the yard and the minute you turned your back slip through the fence to visit the neighbor. Here is a shot just before the slip. In fact, you can see the leg position getting ready for a turn toward the fence.
and after
For some reason, she liked the neighbor’s lawn even though she had ne of her own. Another favorite of hers was to play with the bigger dogs and to act as the mediator when the cats started an argument. We called her Barney Fife due to her effectiveness in maintaining law and order. Here is a photo of her blended family and Coco taking a break. (but just barely)
This last photo is of Coco deciding not to leave the beach. She loved to walk and when it was time to go home she more or less would invoke a sit-down strike and it was up to us to wait until she finished looking at the water.
We all miss her and know she had a wonderful life and enjoyed it to the fullest as we enjoyed her. Rest well little one.
