Sunday – Fifty-Two Views of the Gulf

May 17, 2015May 16, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

This weeks picture was taken following a lot of rain. You can see the wet sand in front of the dunes and what looks like a little river approaching the cross over. The seas are still quite rough and one more morning-glory has decided to brave the wet weather. The sea weed that was in last week’s photo has all been washed into the dunes. The high tide actually came up to the dunes which seldom happens. If you look to the right and in front of the dune you can see some of the erosion.

Last week’s picture shows rainy conditions but not the results of ten inches of rain which we got after last week’s photo was taken.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Stick”

May 16, 2015May 15, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

Saturday Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. This week’s prompt is “Stick.” The word can be used in any form or maybe all. Who knows? If you want to have this kind of frustration fun go to Linda Hill’s site and read all about it http://lindaghill.com/2015/05/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1615/ here is my interpretation. I hope you like it.

“I have to ask you why you are bent over like that?”

“I am looking for water.”

“For water? What is that you are holding/”

“It’s a divining rod.”

“Ha. It looks like a stick to me.”

“That’s because you stick to your usual practical comfort zone.”

“Comfort zone? At least I stick to the normal practices.”

“I don’t call your practices normal.”

“And you pointing a stick at the ground is normal?”

“Stand back. I hear something.”

“What do you hear?”

“The sound of money rumbling underground.”

“Money?”

“Yeah, water is money. Stick with me my friend and we will be rich.”

“Stick with you and get locked up.”

“You are like a stick in the eye.”

“Well, you can stick your stick if you get my drift.”

“Nice. Look out here comes the geyser.”

“Still waiting. Better stick to normal practice.”

Ichabod Brooks – New character from Charles Yallowitz – June 1st

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 7 Comments

Coming on June 1st for 99 cents!

Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts (Cover by Nio Mendoza)

In a time of heroes, a man will take any job to provide for his family.

Ichabod Brooks has earned a reputation for taking the jobs most men and women fear to challenge. This reputation has brought him to the charred remains of a small village nestled within the hills and forest of Ralian. The ruins are a source of strange monsters that terrorize the countryside and repeatedly elude the local guards and hunters. The few brave souls who have entered the creatures’ lair have yet to come out alive or dead.

The chances of survival are slim, but that generous payment is too much for Ichabod to resist. After all, a man and his family have to eat.

Author Biography

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn’t working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. ‘Legends of Windemere’ is his first series, but it certainly won’t be his last.

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Friday JohnKU – AKA TGIF

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 29 Comments

Friday and the rain is still coming down. I have to turn to something more uplifting that a continuous weather report. Let see, maybe I can look forward to the weekend and do something fun. I have a writer’s group meeting on Saturday, and that is always fun. I guess I will try to ignore the weather and look forward to the meeting. Of course, the roads have to be clear since I need to take a ferry and drive about a half hour to get there. The effort required to attend brings to mind the question of how much trouble does one endure to do something you like to do? In my case, the ferry ride is usually a fifteen minute wait both ways. In the summer, it can be as high as an hour. The drive after the ferry is twenty-five minutes. The meeting is two hours long so on average I travel two hours for a two-hour meeting. Since I love to attend and read my stuff and get some spot on advice, I would probably do it even if the travel times were longer. Am I crazy? Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is all about what we will put up with to do what we love. I hope you enjoy. Pain for Pleasure by John W. Howell © 2015 Investment’s the name, Applied to the pain endured. . . For the sake of love.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Noah on Speedial

May 14, 2015May 13, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

I have been discussing the fact that we have been getting a lot of rain lately. I thought I would put it into perspective with a couple of photos. On Monday night, our area received six inches of rain and wind gusts of thirty-five miles per hour. The net effect was a lot of flooded streets and flood warnings all night. Here is a photo showing how full the collection pond is behind our house.

That thing made out of concrete is the storm drain with the pond behind. The street is flooded. The next photo shows Wednesday morning’s result of three inches more.

That house on the right is ours and as you can see the water is getting serious. We are fortunate our builder put the house on a high mound of fill. The next photo gives you a bird’s eye view of the water level.

This is a photo of the backyard from the sundeck above. You can see the water making an incursion into the palm tree bed and the flooded street. We expect more rain and won’t be clear of the weather until Friday. We have also had a few tornado warnings as well.

“Hello. Is this Noah? Yeah, a question for you. Got any room on that Arc? Port side cabin preferred.”

Wednesday Story Day – AKA Hump Day

May 13, 2015May 11, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

Wednesday story day again. Last week we learned Bob was continually ignored by his mother as she seemed to be more interested in men than in bob. Charlotte also discovered Bob was only trying to get her to quit on him with the handwritten manuscript idea. The idea would be he would be back to trying to get his mother’s attention. He has another book which he has written on his computer. Let’s get back to the duo.

“So Bob you have another book and you wrote it using a keyboard?”

“Yes, Charlotte. It’s over one hundred Thousand words.”

“What is the genre?”

“It’s a thriller. By the way, I thought you would have been put off by that other book. Even the title was something I thought you would catch.”

“The title. What to you mean. My Struggle seems pretty straight forward.”

“Adolf Hitler wrote a book titled Mein Kampf. Translated from German means My Struggle. I was sure you would question me on that one.”

“Well, Bob my job is to somehow get you published not find out how not to get you published.”

“I can see that now. You are very dedicated.”

“I don’t think it is fair to drop a student. I can certainly empathize with you after talking to your mother.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t much care what I do as long as stay out of her hair.”

“Bob, let’s talk about your book.”

“Okay.”

“What is the title?”

“Little Women.”

“Oh, my gosh.”

“I’m just playing with you, it’s titled Consequence of Childhood.”

“Nice title. What is it about?”

“This guy becomes a big business person only to accused of money laundering and he loses everything.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“You think so?”

“I do. Let’s have a look at the first chapter.”

“Well, that’s a problem since I haven’t written it yet.”

“Wait let me get some water before you explain this one further.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible

May 12, 2015May 11, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 37 Comments

On May Ninth, Audrey Dawn posted a beautiful poem along with a great picture that she titled Wild West. Here is the picture and you can go to her blog and read the lovely poem. I could not help but be drawn to both the picture and her words. They served as a prompt for a short story that follows. I hope you take a moment and visit Audrey and enjoy her work as well as this story.

“Hey, Maud wha cha doin?”

“A bit o’ sewing Jacob. Wha’s it look like?”

“Well. Ta tell the truth, it looks like yor loafin’ on tha there stump.”

“Loafing? Why you old goat. If’n anyones loafin’ it’s you.”

“Aw, Maud you know I be roundin’up strays all damn day.”

“No need ta swear Jacob. Th’ Lord don’t take kindly ta no swearin’.”

“Well the’ Lord don’t take kindly to no lies either.”

“What lies Jacob?”

“That I be loafin’.”

“You started it.”

“Yes, I guess yor right. What cha makin’?”

“Not makin’ anythin’ Jacob. I’m a fixin’ your shirt.”

“The one I was wearn’when I stopped that arrie?”

“That’s th one.”

“I’as damn lucky that day.”

“Jacob? Th’Lord don’t want to hear you swearin’ specially after savin’ you an all.”

“Yeah, Maud yor right. Mind if I take this here chair?”

“No. Jacob you sit. You’ve had a rough week and ta rest is good for ya. That lasso needs some lookin’at while yor restin’.”

“Yeah been meanin’ to get ta it afore now. Looks like a quick fix. Hey Maud?”

“Yes, Jacob.”

“What’s fer supper?”

“Same as yesteday. Critter stew.”

“I think I’ll go fix this here lasso afore supper. Not shore what shape I’ll be in after critter stew.”

“An we’s runnin’ low on critters.”

Top Ten Things Not to do When It’s Your Birthday

May 11, 2015May 10, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 54 Comments

The inspiration for this is the fact that all of us have a day of birth even those of you from another planet. So I thought we could all use a little advice on that particular day.

Ten Things Not to do When It’s Your Birthday

10 When it’s your birthday, do not tell anyone what you want for a present. If you do, at best you won’t get what you asked. At worst, you will get all kinds of things that are sort of like what you wanted but not quite.

9 When it’s your birthday, do not tell anyone you are feeling older. If you do, at best a well-meaning someone will plop a post on Facebook asking everyone to cheer you up. At worst, you will get all those people who are older than you telling you things like “you only live once, enjoy,” and “When I was your age…”

8 When it’s your birthday, do not request a special dinner even if asked If you do, at best the dinner will not resemble what you thought you required. At worst, the dinner will be so complex and require so much prep that you will be forever in the debt of the preparer. (and reminded of same periodically)

7 When it is your birthday, do not let anyone at work know even if you are in a birthday club. If you do, at best all the cake and potluck will be made of everything forbidden on your restricted diet. At worst, since you have no idea which one of the dishes was prepared in the home of an Ebola sufferer, you will be playing potluck roulette with anything you try.

6 When it’s your birthday, do not accept an invitation to celebrate after work. If you do, at best you will only be slightly late to your surprise birthday party at home. At worst, you might forget all about a prior commitment and join in the rest of the work crew for way too many birthday shots that could ultimately end with a late night karaoke sing-off which you will win just prior to passing out in the restroom.

5 When it’s your birthday, do not join everyone and sing Happy Birthday to yourself. If you do, at best the assumption is you had too much punch. At worst, the party goers will come away with the feeling you could have had your own narcissistic party that would have been cheaper for them.

4 When it’s your birthday, try to look pleased with your in-law’s gift. If you don’t, at best you might hurt their feelings. At worst, you will be the center of a raging controversy as to what it takes to please you with no good result.

3 When it’s your birthday, do not tell the restaurant this information. If you do, at best someone will quietly bring a piece of cake and congratulations. At worst, the entire restaurant crew will gather at your table clapping and singing some rendition of Happy Birthday while delivering a cake with a sparkler that gets the attention of the whole room.

2 When it’s your birthday, do not stop at a store just to see what’s new. If you do, at best you will only look around and realize you don’t need anything. At worst, you will feel as if your birthday somehow suspends any restraint that you have for overspending. The presents you buy yourself will be way too expensive,

1 When it’s your birthday, do not take the occasion to over analyze the significance of the event. If you do, at best you may miss the fun of the day. At worst, you may be unkind to yourself and in the process discount much of your success.

Sunday – Fifty-Two Views of the Gulf

May 10, 2015May 9, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Sunday has come so fast and time for another look at the Gulf. I noticed after the picture was taken that I stood back a little too far and so a lot more of the dune crossover is visible. As you can see the day is overcast and the sea is quite rough. We have had about three days of over 24 mile an hour winds which serve to whip the surf into quite a frenzy. The dark spots on the sand near the water is seaweed that has been carried in at high tide. If you look closely you can also see two lonely yellow Morning Glories to the right. If you look at the photo below you will see they weren’t here last week. The dunes generally are covered with them all summer.

The photo below is last week’s for reference

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Name”

May 9, 2015May 8, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

SOC Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. This week’s prompt is “Name” and we minions can use it any way we want. If you would like to join, the fun go to Linda Hill’s site and read all about it and jump in. http://lindaghill.com/2015/05/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-915/ my interpretation follows. Hope you like it.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“What’s that you’re saying?”

“Oh, nothing just a quote.”

“A quote? From where or what?”

“It’s from Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet.”

“Who are they?”

“Shakespeare?”

“No, the other two. I know Shakespeare. They make fishing equipment.”

“For heaven’s sake. It is the sonnet writer William Shakespeare.”

“He on YouTube?”

“No, he lived in the sixteen hundreds and wrote beautiful poetry.”

“So he lived uptown?”