Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “eco”

January 6, 2018January 5, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 29 Comments

Yes, you read the headline correctly. This weeks prompt is “eco.” Linda Hill advises that we go find a word the begins with eco or has eco in it. If you would like to grow your own set of hives and want to join this group visit Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/05/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-6th-2018/

“so what did she say?”

“That we need to come up with words that start with eco or have eco in them.”

“Not too tough. I can think of ten right off the top of my head.”

“Yeah right. I can’t think of one. Wait. Economy.”

“Wow, you are a regular linguist.”

“Can you do better?”

“Humm how about economic, ecotourism, ecospecies, ecosystems, ecospheres, economised, economise, economized?”

“Okay pretty good. Where did you get those?”

“Looked em up on Google.”

“NO FAIR. You are cheating.”

“Okay, so you want to fail the prompt?”

“Well. no.”

“Go ahead. look up words that have eco in them.”

“I don’t feel right about that.”

“Go ahead you whimp.”

“Okay. Yikes. Antieconomic, arecoline, arecoline, arecolines, autecological, autecologies, autecology.”

“Have any idea what those words mean?”

“Not a clue.”

“Doesn’t matter. Our job is done.”

“What are you talking about? We haven’t done anything.”

“We completed the prompt and did economically.”

“But not with what I would consider proper decorum.”

“The speed is what you can reconcile.”

“I won’t accept that for a millisecond.”

“Hold your precoded principles and lose the prompt.”

“Okay, you win. I will recode to win.”

“Recodification is next to godliness.”

“Right.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Resolution.”

December 30, 2017December 29, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 35 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday and this week’s prompt is “resolution.” Linda Hill says we can use the word any way we want. (My chest swells with the idea of such freedom.) If you would like to join this happy band of delusional souls go to Linda’s blog and see how easy it is to slip from reality. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/12/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-30-17/

“You say you want a resolution. Well, you know. We all want to change the world. You tell me that it’s evolution…”

“Hold it.”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Singing about a resolution.”

“Resolution? You gotta be kidding me.”

“No. I’m not. What’s the problem? Great song by the Beatles.”

“Why is it I can count on you to somehow get everything in life confused?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The song. It is about revolution, not resolution.”

“Wait. What? You sure?”

“OMG. Yes, I’m sure. Here listen to my phone.”

“I’ll be darned.”

“I could only hope.”

“Why do these guys want a revolution?”

“It was a song written during turbulent times.”

“Don’t you think a resolution would do the trick?”

“A resolution by whom?”

“Well, I was thinking of Congress. You know the old ‘we are resolved’ kind of thing.”

“And who would pay attention?”

“Hmm. Good point. Okay so how do we start a revolution?”

“I think if you want to start a revolution all you have to do is make a resolution to stand on the corner and sing.”

“That was cold.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Contrast”

December 16, 2017December 15, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 45 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday and our prompt this week is “contrast.” Linda Hill says we can use the word or maybe a concept that demonstrates contrast. If you would like to join in and have some fun go to Linda’s blog and read how. It is not hard. All you really need is a strong sense of self-worth and plenty of alcohol. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/12/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-16-17/

“So there I was looking through my viewfinder.”

“Viewfinder? Were you taking a picture?”

“Of course I was taking a picture. What do you think? Think I go around looking at the world through my camera.”

“Well, you have that ginormous lens.”

“Okay, okay don’t interrupt. Let me finish the story . You’ll be impressed.”

“So far not.”

“You have to trust me on this. So there I was looking through my viewfinder and what do you think I saw?”

“Do you want me to tell the story?”

“I saw two buildings that were framed in perfect contrast.”

“Perfect what?”

“Contrast. Contrast.”

“What the heck is contrast?”

“These buildings.”

“No, I mean what do you mean by contrast?”

“Oh. Contrast is a color or illumination that makes one object stand out from the other.”

“Okay and I will be impressed how?”

“Here look at the photo on my camera.”

“Okay I see two buildings. So what?”

“Don’t you see that one is grey and one is mauve?”

“Well they are different color for sure.”

“Do you see both?”

“I said that.”

“Perfect contrast.”

“Man, you need to get out more.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “liqu”

December 9, 2017December 8, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 32 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again and this week’s prompt is “liqu.” Yes, you see what I wrote, liqu. Linda Hill advised us that we could either use a word the starts with liqu or has liqu in it somewhere. If you would like to join this happy band of nut cases go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 9/17

“I need to talk to you.”

“Well have a seat and tell me who you are.”

“Jackson Bump is my name.”

“Yes, Mr. Bump. What can I do for you?”

“I need to enhance my liquidity in my portfolio.”

“What portfolio would that be Mr. Bump?”

“My stock portfolio.”

“Let me look that up. Do you have your account number?”

“Yes, it’s 7601772.”

“Here we go. Ah yes. Mr. Bump. I can see you are pretty consolidated in just a very few stocks.”

“That’s why I need to liquefy one or more of my positions.”

“Might be a smart move for safety. Which did you have in mind?”

“What ones are there?”

“My goodness. Okay, let me read them to you. The first is Acme Liquorice Company. Their earnings look like they are in the black. Excuse me a small joke. The next is Worn Shoe Liquidators. Looks like someone walked a mile in theirs. The final stock is DWI Liquors. Looks like a long-term holding.”

“Which would you recommend?”

“I think I would liquidate the Worn Shoe Liquidators. Their long-term prospects look a little thin. That would get you a nice piece of change after you liquefy.”

“What should I do with the money?”

“If it were me I would add a little more to your liquor holding. I would Liquorize so to speak.”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking of staying liquid for a while.”

“Don’t blame you. Here have a martini. It will get you started on the road to all things liquorishness.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Cramp”

December 2, 2017December 1, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 41 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again and this week’s prompt is “cramp.” Linda Hill says we can use it any way we want. Other than the obvious I’m going to have to figure a different use. If you would like to be part of this joyous band please visit Linda’s blog and see how easy it is to lose your mind. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 2/17

“Attention students. Today we are going to be learning a few words that might be asked by the State Proficiency Test.”

“Teacher?”

“Yes, Johnny.”

“We’ve studied words for months. Why these new ones?”

“Excellent question, Jonny. The Board of Education heard that the state might throw in some different uses of words so we want to be ready. Here is the first word, cramp. Can anyone tell me what that means. Yes, Sally.”

“Cramp is a muscle seizure commonly associated with muscle fatigue or improper stretching.”

“Excellent Sally. Anyone else? Yes, Terrance. Tell us.”

“Cramp is a tightening of the muscles that could be brought on by cold weather or water.”

“Wonderful Terrance. Next? All right Patrice.”

“A cramp is a tool that is used in woodworking.”

“My goodness, Patrice. I’m amazed. Anyone else? Yes, Brad.”

“The word cramp could be used in place of the word restrict as in ‘higher interest rates could cramp housing market growth.”‘

“You are spot on Brad. You all have been marvelous in your knowledge of the word cramp. I think now it is time to introduce you to a few more meanings just in case. Here goes.

Cramp. When you are sent to a place in the summer and it sucks.

Cramp. When you get a gift from your grandfather and it sucks.

Cramp. When your brother or sister turns their music up too loud.

Cramp. When you are riding your bike or skateboard and you wipe out going up an incline for a jump.

Cramp.The sound of your answer when you are eating peanut butter and crackers and someone asks you a question.

Cramp. The wetness on your pants from the dew when you sit on the concrete stoop eating watermelon.

Cramp. What you do with M&Ms when you see your friend Joey down the block.

Cramp. The laud noise you make in the birthday jump house when it gets too crowed.

Cramp. The tightness of your fist when your sister or brother wants something you have.

Cramp. The sound a skydiver makes when he is sure he forgot a parachute. ”

“Mrs Thompson?”

“Yes, Darlene.”

“Are you putting us on?”

“Yes sweetheart I am. I just love the standardized test time and need to relax a little is all. I hope you all enjoyed these. Yes, Joey?”

“Will these be on the test?”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Psst”

November 18, 2017November 17, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

AAAAOOOOOGGGGAAA. It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. I have to quote Linda Hill to explain this week’s prompt. Here is what Linda says, “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “psst, or any other attention-getting noise or word.” Find a word or noise that you’d use to get someone’s attention, and start your post off with it. Enjoy!” So, now you know why I hit the ooga horn up front. If you would like to join in this fun go to Linda’s site and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/11/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-18-17/

“Hey, you.”

“Who are you yelling at.”

“Not the guy behind you I can assure you.”

“Alright. What do you want?”

“I need to ask you a favor.”

“A favor? What kind of favor?”

“Oh, its nothing that is illegal for you.”

“That never occurred to me. So why would you mention illegal?”

“I just meant it is nothing that will get you into trouble.”

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?”

“I mean there will be no trouble.”

“You said trouble first.”

“For heaven’s sake. Will you do me a favor or not?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“That’s reasonable.”

“Thank you. As long as it doesn’t cost me anything I’ll do it.”

“Yeah, well it might cost a little.”

“Well then count me out. What’s that?”

“Oh, this? It is my gun and I want your wallet.”

“You said it was not illegal.”

“For you, it’s not. For me big time. Hand it over.”

“I don”t have a wallet.”

“Where do you keep your money?”

“In a paper sack.”

“Let me see it.”

“Here.”

“It’s all pennies.”

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”

“Of all the patsies in this world, I gotta pick Scrooge McDuck.”

“I resemble that.”

“Get off my foot. Take your bag of pennies.”

“You are so nice.”

“Beat it.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Arm”

November 11, 2017November 10, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 31 Comments

A day to honor our veterans. I thank you all for your service which has allowed me to participate in and enjoy our country’s freedoms.

It is also Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again and this week’s prompt is “Arm.” We are advised to use it or any word that has “arm” in it. If you would like to participate in this madness visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how. You don’t even have to have normal personality traits to participate. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/11/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-11-17/

“So how did you get him to say, “yes?”

“Simple. We arm wrestled, and I won.”

“Just like that? You beat him at arm wrestling, and he told you okay?”

“That’s all it took. No arm-twisting. No arguing, no strong-arm stuff. Just a simple arm wrestle.”

“How did you get him to agree to the contest?”

“It wasn’t too hard.”

“Okay tell me how.”

“I pulled out my firearm and told him I would shoot him if he didn’t arm wrestle me.”

“You told me you didn’t do any strong-arm stuff. What would you call pulling out a firearm?”

“A getting his attention device.”

“So you had the contest and how did it go.”

“Well, there we were pretty much locked in a draw. I could see his arm starting to quiver. I applied a little pressure and he slowly started to slip.”

“This is exciting. Go on.”

“I have this special trick I use. It is a twist of the wrist which gives me an advantage over my opponent.”

“So then you pinned his arm?”

“No, he started a comeback. I could not believe his arm was almost on the table when he started to rise. I could see the sweat breaking out on his forehead and he was grunting. The crowd was starting to chant for him.”

“What did you do?”

“I applied a little more pressure and his rally was over.”

“What kind of pressure?”

“Oh, something small which usually works.”

“What?”

“I pulled the hammer back on my firearm.”

“Cheater.”

“I prefer the term winner.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – “shortcut/cut short.”

November 4, 2017November 3, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. This week’s prompt is “shortcut/cut short.” Linda hill says we can use them anyway we want. If you would like to join in go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/11/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-417/

“I’m taking a shortcut through the strawberry patch.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“I want to see what it is like to take a strawberry shortcut.”

“Man, you come up with the dumbest things. Enough of this, I need to cut short the chit-chat.”

“In a rush are we?”

“Yes. I have to go downtown and speak with the tax appraiser.”

“Uh oh. That sounds ominous.”

“Not so bad. I need to ask them for a reappraisal of my house.”

“They will do that?”

“Yes. If you have a change of circumstance they will.”

“So what change of circumstance did you have?”

“You are kidding right?”

“What?”

“You were the one who decided to cut short your vacation and stay at my house instead.”

“Yes, I did.”

“And you were the one who wanted to take a shortcut and put the roast in the microwave.”

“Well, it was a good idea for reducing cooking time.”

“You also recall that the microwave caught on fire.”

“Well, I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“What shortcut did you take with the fire?”

“Pan of water.”

“Which caused the grease to spatter and catch the island on fire.”

“Yeah, that water didn’t work too well.”

“The who decided to cut short his visit?”

“Uh. Me.”

“Correct. Meanwhile the kitchen is in flames.”

“I couldn’t do anything anyway.”

“Which spread to the upstairs.”

“That was one shortcut I didn’t expect.”

“Finally to the roof.”

“Time to cut short the description. I get it.”

“Get what?”

“Your house burned down and now you need a reappraisal.”

“Thanks to whom?”

“The change of circumstance.”

“Start running. Now.”

“Time for the shortcut.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “which/witch/wich.”

October 28, 2017October 27, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 42 Comments

Which day is today?

Stream of Consciousness Saturday of course. Today’s prompt is “which/witch/wich. Linda Hill also has some informative words. “Start your post with the word “which” and try to fit the word “witch” in somewhere if you can. Bonus points if you use a word that ends in “wich.” As an added rule this week, you will lose all the points you’ve ever earned if you type “which witch is which” anywhere in your post. Have fun!” You think it is easy being a prompt head, don’t you? Well, so far I’m okay. I started the post with which so I have that done. Now to work in witch and a word ending in wich. If you would like to become addicted to this fun visit Linda Hill’s blog at https://lindaghill.com/2017/10/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-2817/. You can read all about how to take the first dose.

“Which one are you?”

“I’m the guy who drove you home.”

“Oh. Did I thank you for that help?”

“No, not really. I think the barf in my front seat was thanks enough.”

“My word. I did that?”

“Yes.you did. Your friends took care of the backseat.”

“My friends?”

“Yes, that group of guys who were with you.”

“Wow. I don’t even remember a group of guys. By the way how come you are still here this morning?”

“You swallowed my keys.”

“I did what?”

“You thought I was too drunk to drive, so you took my keys and swallowed them.”

“Were you?”

“Too drunk?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t drink. You were definitely drunk though.”

“Yeah, I get that. Soooo where did you sleep?”

“On your couch.”

“Thank goodness. you weren’t in my bed then.

“No, I was not in your bed.”

“I am such a witch sometimes. Er, I don’t mean that to be a bad thing. Um, you are handsome and everything but I was too drunk for love.”

“I understand. I think I better get going.”

“What about your keys?”

“Oh, you got rid of them about three-thirty and threw them to me.”

“Don’t tell me I heaved the keys.”

“On my chest. On your couch.”

“How can I make it up to you?”

“It’s okay. It was an interesting time for sure.”

“But you must have been miserable.”

“No. I found that the experience broadened my view of life.”

“How so?”

“Made me aware of new rules.”

“New rules? Like what?”

“Before being forced from a party to drive someone like you home, always grab a sandwich.”

“A sandwich?”

“A sandwich.”

“Why a sandwich?”

“You’ll always have a choice of what to eat when you have a sandwich.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – “Season”

October 21, 2017October 20, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 44 Comments

Season is the reason for this week’s Stream of Conscious Saturday session. Theis weeks prompt is “Season,” and Linda Hill said we could add a suffix to it as well. There are bonus points for the first, and last words of the post are “season” or a seasoning. If you would like to join in on the fun, please visit Linda Hill (midnight is best) and find out all about it. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2017/10/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-2117/

Oh yes, Linda said there would be extra bonus points if we had pictures. That is not going to happen.

“Deck the halls with Boston Charlie.”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting into the spirit of the season.”

“what season are you talking about?”

“The holiday season. You know the one no one can actually say anymore.”

“Are you nuts?”

“Why?”

“It is not even Halloween, and you are singing about the holidays.”

“I have to ask. What’s wrong with that?”

“You sound like a lunatic. There is Halloween, and Thanksgiving before the holidays. Why aren’t you singing about Halloween?”

“I don’t know any Halloween carols.”