Month: March 2018

Three Day Quote Challenge — Day 1

Fandango16 Comments

A256859B-C0BA-4AD9-BC40-4FDDEEB8FA63So Kat Myrman over at Like Mercury Colliding tagged me for this Three Day Quote Challenge thingie.

What you’re supposed to do is:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you. Thank you, Kat.
  2. Post a quote for three consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
  3. Nominate three bloggers each day.

I suppose the first thing I need to do is select my quote for Day 1.

Okay, here goes. I’m calling this quote “Why I refuse to watch the ‘Roseanne’ revival.” It’s actually a quote of a Roseanne Barr tweet.

Here’s what she tweeted:

“President Trump has freed so many children held in bondage to pimps all over this world. Hundreds each month. He has broken up trafficking rings in high places everywhere. notice that. I disagree on some things, but give him benefit of doubt-4 now.”

WTF, Roseanne? Tweeting your support for a right-wing conspiracy theory?

If you haven’t heard about this “theory,” it alleges that high-profile Democrats and other famous people are involved in child sex-trafficking rings, and that Trump is breaking them up and arresting those involved in their operation.

Crazy, huh?

Normally I can separate the actors from characters that they portray, but based upon this tweet, and others by Roseanne Barr, she is, in real life, just as fucked up as the character she portrays in her sitcom. And the last thing I need, for my own health and well-being, is to watch another crazy person on TV who goes around promoting right-wing conspiracy theories. If I wanted that, I’d watch Sean Hannity.

Okay. So now to nominate three other bloggers. Hmm. Let’s see.

Jim Adams at A New Title for Me.

Leigha at Leigha Robbins.

Michael at Morpethroad.

Okay, I’m done for Day 1. You three take it from here.

MLMM Saturday Mix — B&B

Fandango6 Comments

D4B36CCB-6344-4622-AF98-0A0574AE1BAEThe fire alarm sounded the warning for all the guests at the quaint Bed and Breakfast to leave the building. The B&B’s host, Mr. Stevens, made sure everyone was out of the house by the time the fire department arrived.

Fortunately, it was a grease fire that was limited to a small part of the kitchen in the back of the large, old house and the firefighters were able to get it under control before it did too much damage.

Still, the B&B’s kitchen would be out of commission until the damages could be repaired. So being the good host that he was, Mr. Stevens contacted a local caterer and arranged to have both solid foods and liquid refreshments delivered for his guests to enjoy. He also told them that they would not have to pay for that night’s stay at his B&B.

This post is a twofer. It is written for both today’s one-word prompt, “warning,” as well as for today’s Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’s Saturday Mix Opposing Forces challenge using the two opposite pairs of words “guest” and “host,” and “liquid” and “solid.”

Time To Write — Baby It’s Cold Outside

Fandango4 Comments

8033D4CA-A8FE-434D-B22C-7379C44A330B“Come on, hurry,” Veronica called out to her husband.

“Why, again, are we doing this?” Tim asked.

“I told you. It’s for my blog,” Veronica said. “Do you ever listen when I’m talking to you?”

“Yes, I listen. I just forgot what you said.”

“But you just asked me why I needed my camera,” Veronica said, “and I told you I have to get some pictures for my blog.”

“So what is your post about that we need to go out in the freezing cold?” Tim wanted to know.

“It’s in response to a photography challenge,” Veronica explained. “We’re supposed to post pictures that reflect all four seasons. I already have some that I took when we were at Virginia Beach last summer. And remember when we were in New Hampshire last fall and I took those stunning pictures of the autum leaves?”

“Yeah,” said Tim.

“And for spring I’m going to use one of the pictures I took of the cherry blossoms on the Potomac during our trip to DC a few years back,” Veronica said.

“So now you need a shot to show a wintry scene,” Tim said.

“Exactly,” said Veronica. “I was thinking of something artistic, like bare, snow-covered branches contrasting against the deep, blue sky. That would really depict winter well, don’t you think!”

“Can’t you just use one of the pictures from that week we spent skiing at Taos? I know you have pictures from that trip.”

“Yes, but I just wanted something unusual, unique, and interesting,” Veronica said. “And we are here in Montreal, aren’t we?”

“Fine,” Tim said. “But let’s make it quick, okay? Because baby it’s cold outside.”

Written for Rachel Poli’s Time To Write prompt.

SoCS — Parenthood

Fandango8 Comments

My wife and I were bundled up one night last winter in our bungalow by the lake when she told me the news that she had a bun in the oven. Let me be abundently clear when I tell you that I was thrilled. Yes, my wife and I would shortly be bringing our first little bundle of joy into our family.

Of course, I admitted to my honeybuns that I was worried. This would be our first child and I was worried that I might bungle things, being a new dad and all. But she assured me that I was not a bungler and that I would handle the responsibilities of being a new father quite well. She was not at all concerned about me bungling things.

And with that, we bunched up next to one another and cuddled, as we sat there in front of the warmth of the fire savoring our future together with our new baby.

Written for the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill. The challenge is to find a word that contains “bun” or use it as a word all by itself.

Either Way

Fandango10 Comments

D6C24017-E5D3-41DD-87C6-95412B07D8CCHow do you pronounce the word “either”? Do you use the hard ē, as in ee-ther, or the hard ī as in eye-ther?

And what about “neither”? Rhymes with nee-ther? Or nigh-ther?

I was raised to pronounce both words with the hard ē sound, and that’s how I still pronounce them: ee-ther and nee-ther.

The reason I’m asking is because I’ve noticed lately that a lot of people who use either of those words, particularly on some TV shows that I watch, are pronouncing them using the hard ī, saying “eye-ther” or “nigh-ther.”

I Googled the pronunciation of both words and found out that, whichever way someone chooses to pronounce these words, they shouldn’t have trouble being understood. Both pronunciations are correct. However, the way people say these words depends on their upbringing, their region and their preference. It seems that the British are more likely to use eye-ther as the pronunciation, and the Americans use ee-ther.”

I think there are two possible explanations for why I’m hearing the hard ī pronunciation more frequently than the hard ē pronunciation.

First, a lot of actors on American TV shows are actually British, Canadian, or Australian (or even New Zealanders), who are playing Americans but use the British way of saying either or neither.

Second, every American seems to think that speaking with a British accent makes the person talking sound more refined and intelligent than their American counterparts.

Or maybe there’s a third reason. It’s me. Maybe I’m the one who is saying these words wrong.

So are you a hard ē or a hard ī person?