Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

May 1, 2015April 27, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Friday is always a welcome sight. It usually comes in the nick of time (so to speak) and is the capstone to a very busy week. I suppose that’s why we all like Friday it gives us permission to take a break. I know I speak of Friday as if it is capable of giving us welcome praise or a pat on the back. Sometimes it does feel like Friday has some personality and substance. I think when we make it to Friday that in itself is a reward. It’s a little like crossing a finish line in a race. The line is there pure and simple. The act of crossing it adds meaning to the line’s purpose.

Not to be overly focused on the weather I am happy to report some sunshine showed up this week.

This week’s JohnKu (A term coined by Words4JP) discusses Friday as a symbol rather than just another day of the week. I hope you like it.

Friday is but one,

The rest of the week is six . . .

Yet we love it so.

Friday JohnKu -AKA – TGIF

April 24, 2015April 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

Friday again. Seems just like it was Friday a short while ago but of course I’m not getting up and hitting the outside world. I don’t have to struggle to get to work and when there struggle with co-workers and well-meaning (I’m sure) bosses. Time becomes a relative thing since I don’t have a clock that needs attention. The only thing scheduled in a typical day that serves to get me out of bed is potty and breakfast for the dogs and pacifying for the cats at 6:30 AM. The rest of the day is pretty much on the pet schedule. Let’s see there is beach walk at 8:30 followed yard sun bath at 12:30. Then there is brushy at 3:15 and another beach walk at 4:00. This routine demands dog dinner at 5:00, the yard at 6:30 and final potty call at 9:30.

Come to think about it, I am a slave to the pets and my schedule looks every bit as complex as when I worked in organized commerce. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about life’s schedule.

Beating the deadline,

Receives high praise, compliments . . .

Till the product fails.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

April 10, 2015April 7, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

This week was a doozy. I spent it all editing my fourth book and am not finished yet. I also have been working on the screen porch which badly needed an upgrade. The builder put in screens with aluminium frames and they almost melt in the salt spray. I have done replacement frames and find those are melting as well. The only thing left is a makeover with vinyl frames. I am surprised at how little time I have to work on things like a screened porch. After all the blogs, e-mails, tweets, edits, short stories, and post visits I find I have about an hour a day. I guess it’s better than nothing. I also have a patient spouse who understands. (Lucky) Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about time. I hope you like it.

When time seems endless,

The joy of relaxation . . .

Gives way to deadline.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

April 3, 2015April 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 22 Comments

Friday is here at last. I have been editing my last book and I am constantly amazed at how stupid I am when I’m in the writing zone. Words fly like the wind when I’m working on a piece and, unfortunately, at times when I go back I have to scratch my head and mumble to myself, “what was I thinking.” I thought the words all came out right the first time. Yet here I am faced with what would be my version of the dead sea scrolls to interpret. I might as well be in some dusty tomb with a spyglass and a flashlight as to be sitting in front of my computer. I write a thousand words a day and the work boils down to about eight hundred understandable. So my editing is all about the dreaded rewrite. The story line is good, the characters solid it’s just I can’t understand what the hell is going on with words like gret, sid, ot,form,laght, sotp, saop etc. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words 4jp) is a reflection of my thoughts today. hope you like it.

Typing is God’s gift,

To save us from handwriting . . .

Typos Devil sent.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

March 20, 2015March 18, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 17 Comments

Friday is here and with it comes the responsibility to begin to relax. Yes, it’s true. Everyone owes themselves some relaxing time. Think about all the stuff you accomplish for the week. Heck, just getting up five mornings in a row is worthy of an award. Beyond that is the fact that you worked all week. You wrote some nice stuff, and you were kind to some folks who didn’t deserve it. You made your boss feel good, and you supported your spouse. You were in meetings, on the phone and in your car. All this activity takes energy, and there has to be a recharge period or like a battery the charge may get too low to continue to power the machine. This week’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about recharge. Hope you like it.

The power is on,

To carry the spirit up. . .

Rest to continue.

Friday JohnKu – AKA- TGIF

March 13, 2015March 10, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

Well the sun finally came out and with it a few spring breakers. This year the spring break season started a week ago, but the weather was so bad no one showed up. Here is a picture of the beach I took last Saturday. Normally during spring break there would be mobs of people. Nest week I will post a picture of the same stretch of beach and I am predicting there will be a big change.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about the quiet before the storm.

Sound of nothing now,

Changes with time and season. . .

Quiet driven out.

TGIF – AKA JohnKu Friday

March 6, 2015March 4, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 23 Comments

Friday is, here again, which means it is JohnKu (a termed coined by Words4jp) Friday or as most of the world knows is the day we thank God for its arrival. Yes, good old TGIF. This week has been pretty quick.

I am still averaging one thousand words a day on my Work in Process. I am currently at 69,500 words and I fully expect it to reach 92,000 when complete. So if all works well, I should be finished in twenty-four more days. That means at the end of March. Okay let’s just draw a line in the sand and say it will be so. This book is totally off what I would consider my normal track. In fact, right now I can quite pin the genre. It is a Mystery but not the classic who done it. It has some Thriller aspects but only a couple of twists. It has a lot of scope like a Literary piece, and it has some paranormal occurrences. Since I’m not planning this book to be published by my current publisher, I might just let a group of Bata readers give me some suggestions.

I do know I’m enjoying the hell out of writing it and so who knows its future. Today’s JohnKu is about making up one’s mind. I hope you like it.

A decision now,

Or else the world will collapse . . .

May be good to wait.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

February 27, 2015February 24, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

Weather Rant or what else is new?

As I sit here writing this post, I look like a character out of Dickens. I have never been so damned cold. I have several layers of clothes and wish I had fingerless gloves. The temperature is twenty-five freaking degrees below normal for this time of year. I have lost feeling in my index finger, and it is one of two that I use to compose. Now I know what one hand clapping means. Someone needs to do something about all of this weather stuff.

Can’t we get Washington to launch some kind of initiative to warm things up a bit? Sure would be a better time spent than arguing about stupid stuff like the budget.Of course, we all know if Washington gets involved the temps will go lower. The sad thing about the weather is everyone complains, and no one does anything about it. We also don’t have any single source to blame.

I know we could have the Executive Branch come up with a plan we would call Obama Weather. It would guarantee every home in the US would have weather coverage. If you fail to sign up for our weather coverage, you will be fined on your next Tax return. The beauty of this plan, we would have someone to blame if the weather is bad. Right now, there is no one to blame but nature.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about the government. Hope you like it.

The Government sits,

Waiting for the crisis to pass . . .

Or gets up and runs.

Oscar Sunday HaiKu

February 22, 2015September 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

Thought I would send this out even though I don’t typically post on Sunday. Had to get it out of my head though. If you enjoy the Oscars, this is your night. For others not so much.

Broadcast starts all fun,

Parade of Hollywood stars. . .

Hard to stay awake.

Friday JohnKu (redux) – AKA TGIF

February 20, 2015September 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 26 Comments

As some of you know my scheduler went on the fritz and the post that was to run today ran last Tuesday. To let you know, I usually do the Friday post on the Monday before. The advance writing of the post means I have to use my crystal ball to predict the future (and it can be tough when the weather is concerned). As a result of my error, there are two TGIF posts this week. I think the funniest comment around the Friday post on Tuesday was from Charles Yallowitz, who wondered how long he had slept. The weather turned out the way I outlined in the post. The good weekend weather arrived on Thursday. We are expecting some cold on Monday. Enough said about the weather. Today’s JohnKu (A term coined by Words4jp) is about mistakes. I hope you like it.

Mistakes come easy,

Often fed by quick actions. . .

Hard to correct though.