Day: October 29, 2018

Three Things Challenge — If Dreams Came True

Fandango8 Comments

MEGA MILLIONS LOTTERY FEVER“I’ve always dreamed of taking a train ride on the Orient Express,” Sally said. “It would be so exotic.”

“My dream is to take a cruise to the Far East,” Amy weighed in. “Can you image how romantic such a voyage would be?”

“What about you, Charles?” Sally asked. “What do you dream about?”

“Yes, Charles,” Amy said. “Tell us what you would do if your dreams came true?”

“That’s an easy one,” Charles said. “My dream is simple. I want just one thing.”

“Do tell, Charles,” Sally implored.

“My dream is that I score a one billion dollar Mega Millions ticket,” he said. “And if you share my dream, Sally, I’ll buy you a train ticket for the Orient Express. And Amy, I’ll pay for your voyage to the Far East. Are you with me?”

“May all of our dreams come true,” Sally said.

“Hear, Hear,” said Amy.

Written for Teresa’s Three Things Challenge, where the things are train, voyage, and dream.

Animal Banter

Fandango8 Comments

0B602DB7-4410-40C4-9CAC-0F0F2539330A“It’s so dark and dingy out today,” the cat meowed. “ I think I’ll just curl up in the grass over here and take a nap. I’m sure I can repress my innate urge to play cat and mouse until the weather clears up.

“Oh no,” the duck quacked, “I think this weather is sublime. It’s cool and damp and it’s delightful to be swimming back and forth across the pond.”

“I’m sure this dreary weather is ephemeral,” the dog barked. “Pretty soon the sun will be shining and my human will get out the leash and I’ll take her for a walk.”

“Let me give you all some advice,” the old owl hooted. “You should make hay while the sun shines so that you can save for a rainy day.”

“Owl, you always think you’re so damn wise,” the wily coyote yipped, “but let me assure you that I’m a hungry critter and all of you are going to have to watch out for your own welfare until I get my fill.

“Oh yeah?” beeped the roadrunner. “We’ll see about that.”

This bit of silliness was written for these one-word prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (dingy), Sord of the Day Challenge (repress), Ragtag Daily Prompt (sublime), Hour Daily Word Prompt (ephemeral), Daily Addictions (advice), and Scotts Daily Prompt (welfare).

Share Your World — Halloween Edition

Fandango16 Comments

SYWAre you sick and tired of my posts in which I respond to questions asked by other bloggers? Probably you are, right? Okay, this will be the last such post — this week, anyway.

It’s Monday and Melanie, over at Sparks From a Combustible Mind, has posted another edition of Share Your World. This one has a Halloween theme to it and has more questions than usual. So here we go.

Name something you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark forest or in an abandoned building.

Are you nuts? I wouldn’t be roaming around in a dark forest by myself or wandering alone into an abandoned building.

Share the creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone.

Shortly after I graduated from college I was renting a room in an old Victorian house. One night I was in the living room reading a book when I heard a noise coming from the basement. The basement in that house was used primarily for storage and it was a pretty creepy place with dirt floors and tons of spiderwebs. Anyway, armed with a flashlight, I slowly went down there to see what the noise was. I turned on the light and went to the area in the basement from which the sound emanated. I shined the flashlight between boxes when this enormous rat sitting on top of one of the boxes jumped out at me. I ducked and it landed on the floor behind me and scurried off somewhere else in the basement. That scared the shit out of me. Literally!1271f13a-da79-4127-8db5-7dbea5fd73dc.jpeg

What would you like your last words to be?

Good night.

Do you believe in any ‘mythical’ monsters like chupacabras or shadow people?

Nope

How long do you think you would last in a horror movie?

Watching one or being a character in one? Watching a horror movie: through the credits at the end of the movie. Being a character in a horror movie: hopefully until the credits start to roll.

Are you afraid of or find clowns creepy?

Nope. I’ve never been afraid of clowns or found them to be creepy.4BC5EC8A-C30E-4E26-92AF-A3D8C0149EF2.jpeg

In the zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice?

I have no idea. Maybe the cloak of invisibility.

Have you ever had your tarot cards read?

I’m a logical, reasonable, pragmatic man, so no.

Anyone know the reason behind putting candles in jack-o-lanterns?

I don’t know and I don’t care.

Do you think putting special emphasis on certain holidays – like Halloween is ‘spooky’ for example — is a good idea or just more mindless entertainment for the masses?

Personally, I think we all occasionally need an excuse to forget about the issues confronting us all each day and to just relax, enjoy, and celebrate something with friends and family.

Share a positive thought or message or something that’s inspired you this week.

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series last night. EE1B7580-30F0-4C41-A4D5-1AD1CB3D44C8

I Love Answering Questions

Fandango14 Comments

It must be blog awards season because a lot of the bloggers I follow have been nominated for blog awards. The latest is Melanie over at Sparks From a Combustible Mind, who was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Congratulations Melanie.

She then wrote, “Anyone who wishes to answer some or all of the questions here, you’re more than welcome!!” And since I am “anyone,” here are Melanie’s questions and my answers.

1. Which season fits your personality best — spring, summer, fall, or winter — and why?

Definitely not winter because I’m not a cold person. Nor summer, because I’m not a hottie, either. I am not a spring chicken and I’m probably in the autumn of my life, so I’m going to go with fall.

2. If you were to choose a well-known axiom or slogan for your life, what would it be?

“Whatever floats your boat.”038805EC-9CEE-4AD6-B379-4C4076DF9335

3. If you were a color, which would you be and why?

Rainbow colored, because I’m a complex being that could not consist of only a single color.

4. What’s a skill you learned when you were young that you still use today?

Touch typing.

5. What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given?

Continuing with the boat theme, “There’s no such thing as a hole in just your end of the boat.”9B5C83C6-412F-4471-B2AF-77DDA16D1AC0

6. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Stewart.

7. If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?

Reading.

8. What was the most embarrassing thing you have ever done while on a date?

Threw up all over her. (It’s a long story.)

9. If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?

If it were up to my wife, since she is always complaining about my snoring, it would be “Snory.”

10. Where is the last place you’d be caught dead? Aside from the cemetery, of course!

Bungee jumping.8EE43FA6-4610-459F-8A71-D14779696755

11. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?

Let’s see. I retired at the end of 2016 and I have a pair of men’s black dress shoes in there that I probably got about two years before I retired and haven’t worn since, so I’d say at least four years old.

FOWC with Fandango — Dingy

Fandango37 Comments

FOWCWelcome to October 29, 2018 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “dingy.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.