Day: April 15, 2019

Share Your World — Guns and Hiccups

Fandango6 Comments

Is it Monday already? Yes it is. And that means it’s time for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Guns? Are you pro or con? Explain your point of view.

I believe Americans have a constitutional right to own and bear arms. But I don’t see any reason why any civilian needs to own a high capacity, military style, semiautomatic assault rifle. I also support common sense gun laws. I also support gun buyback programs. And I oppose open and concealed carry. I don’t buy the NRA’s bullshit that only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.

How would your country change if everyone, regardless of age, could vote?

Sorry children, but I don’t think anyone younger than 18 should be allowed to vote for anything other than student council positions or for competitors on “The Voice” or “American Idol.” 

What’s your cure for hiccups?

Hold your breath until you stop hiccuping or die, whichever comes first.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

When I spent a week in Barrow, Alaska. It was very dark and very, very cold.

If you would like, share a story, a photo or some thoughts on you may be thankful for this week!

I am thankful this week for…. Well, I pass. Check back with me next week.

It’s All About the Music

Fandango12 Comments

Laura, at Lauravent69, has challenged us to another Weekly Song Challenge. Her rules are:

  • Copy rules and add to your own post, pinging back to this post.
  • Post music videos for your answers to the musical questions.
  • Tag two people to participate!

Here are the three song challenges:

1. Post a music video of a song by an artist popular in the 80s.

2. Post a music video of a song that makes you wanna shake your groove thang!

3. Post a music video of an acoustic version of a popular song.

As to my two tags, let’s go with Mr. Music, Jim Adams, and with the lovely and talented Teresa, The Haunted Wordsmith.

The Interview

Fandango9 Comments

4F1EAD2C-760E-46DB-B373-23A62D19FF91The interview was interrupted when his administrative assistant’s voice came over the desk phone’s speaker. “Mr. Cummings, your call from Tokyo is on the line. Do you want to take it now?”

Alan Cummings, the head of human resources, looked over at Andrea and said, “I’m sorry, dear, but I have to take this call. You can wait right outside my office and we’ll pick things back up when I’m done.”

Andrea felt that the interview had gone pretty well so far. Cummings was assembling a task force of assistant department heads to address the high turnover rate the company was experiencing and Andrea had been one of those assistants that Cummings had called in to interview for a spot on the task force.

Andrea had worked hard to get to where she was in the company and it would mean the world to her to be appointed to the task force. She had an outstanding record and thought that being able to participate on the task force would put her on the fast track toward senior management.

“You may go back in now, Andrea,” the administrative assistant said.

Andrea straightened her skirt, entered Mr. Cummings’ office, and sat back down on the couch. She couldn’t help but notice how Mr. Cummings was eyeing her as she walked in and sat down. Much to her surprise, he moved out from behind his desk and sat down beside her on the couch.

Cummings put his hand on Andrea’s knee and said, “I’ve never really noticed what a supple body you have, Andrea.” He wink at her and his hand slowly moved up her thigh and underneath her skirt. “You’ll make a fine addition to our task force, my dear, and I’m very excited about how closely together we’ll be working,” he said, a lecherous grin sporting his face.

Andrea stiffened up. She removed Cummings’ hand from her leg and jumped up off the couch. “Your turnover problem just got worse, Mr. Cummings,” she said. “And your legal problems are just beginning.”

Written for Paula Light’s Three Things Challenge, where the three things are skirt, record, and Tokyo. Also for Teresa’s Opposites Attract Challenge using the antonyms supple and stiffened. And also for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (wait), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (turnover), Word of the Day Challenge (world), and Your Daily Word Prompt (participate).

M is for Monetize

Fandango29 Comments

FA498330-24D7-4C45-969D-3286237640C7You love blogging, right? You put a lot of time, effort, and energy into your blog, and you’re proud of it. I bet you’ve even said to yourself at some point, “How cool would it be if I could make boatloads of money from my blog?” I know I have.

A lot of bloggers dream about being able to quit their day jobs and to make enough money blogging to live on. But the hard truth is most of the millions of bloggers today don’t make enough to support themselves just with their blogs. One survey I came across indicated that, of those who attempt to monetize their blogs (i.e., make money blogging), 81% never make even $100 from blogging. And the vast majority of bloggers who try make just pennies per day.CDB8DF21-34C8-4870-874D-A6225DFACDFAThere are schemes that people use to try to make money blogging. There are ads, or click bait, where you can make small change if people who read your posts click on ads that appear on them.

There is “affiliate marketing,” where you can earn a commission on a sale when your readers buy products or services companies.

If you have a specific niche or expertise, you can offer courses or coaching for which you can charge fees.

You can sign up for subscription services like Patreon, where you can offer memberships for “patrons” to gain access to your creative content.

Or you can be like me, someone who blogs because he loves blogging and has no interest whatsoever in trying to monetize his blog.

Previous A to Z Challenge 2019 posts:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #9

Fandango11 Comments

FFFCWelcome to “Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge.” Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenge bloggers to write a relatively short flash fiction piece inspired by the photo. While there are no definitive style or word limits, I suggest trying to keep your posts to under 300 words.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who has participated in these challenges so far. Your posts have been very creative. I hope this week’s image will also generate some great posts as well.

So now it’s time for my ninth weekly Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. The image below is from AdnaeInviere at DeviantArt.com.526A455E-813F-439A-A340-E6EB2868E045If this picture inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post.

Please take a few minutes to read some of the other responses to this photo challenge. And most important, have fun.