Day: July 10, 2019

An Intervention

Fandango12 Comments

769E7C38-D56E-463E-A146-7C3016329218“Oh jeez, it’s raining again,” Marcie said. “That makes like five rainy days in a row. And yet there you sit in front of your laptop with a big shit-eating grin on your face. How can you be so jolly in this miserable weather that we’ve been having all week?”

“Are you kidding me? Look at my stats, for crissake,” Danny said, turning the screen on his laptop in Marcie’s direction for her to see.”

“Okay,” Marcie said, “What, exactly, are you showing me?”

“It’s an Excel spreadsheet I put together to track my blog’s stats,” Danny explained. “Look at this,” he said with an orgulous smile on his face. “They are going through the roof! My blog is going viral!”

Marcie stared at her husband with a look that could only be described as mocking horror. “Are you serious, Danny?” she said. “I’m going stir crazy because of this incessant rain and you’re going all orgasmic over you freakin’ blog stats?”

“But honey, aren’t you proud of me?” Danny asked. “I’m averaging more than 400 views a day. And look at all these likes and comments.”

“That’s it,” Marcie said. “I’m calling your brother and giving him the activation code.”

“The activation code? What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s a code that I give to a member of your family telling them to rush over here because it’s time for an intervention. You’ve got a serious addiction, Danny,” Marcie said. “There’s more to life than losing yourself in your blog.”

Written for these daily prompts: Weekly Prompts (rainy days), Word of the Day Challenge (jolly), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (stats), Ragtag Daily Prompt (orgulous), The Daily Spur (horror), and Your Daily Word Prompt (activation).

The Lobster Award

Fandango10 Comments

17B474C3-1BD9-40A1-BBEB-AF4C26609417I’ve been gifted with a Lobster Liebster Award nomination from Vanessa (aka Faithfully Yours) at It’s Me 4 U! A Lobster award nomination would have been more tasty, but I am still grateful to Faithfully Yours for thinking about me and my blog for this Liebster Award honor.

So the rules are

  1. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you. Thank you Vanessa.
  2. Share 11 facts about yourself. See below.
  3. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. See even further below.
  4. Nominate 11 bloggers and make them happy. Nope. I’m nominating everyone.
  5. Create 11 questions of your own and ask your nominees. Nope. If anyone wants to participate, you can answer the same questions Vanessa asked me.
  6. Notify your nominees. Consider yourselves to have been notified.

11 Facts About Me

  1. I’m male.
  2. I’m a first generation American.
  3. I’m a septuagenarian.
  4. I’m caucasian.
  5. I’m married.
  6. I have two kids — a girl and a boy.
  7. I have two pets — a cat and a dog.
  8. I used to be 6’1” tall, but now I’m 5’11” tall. It could happen to you, too, as you age.
  9. I used to have a head of thick, brown, wavy hair. Not any more.
  10. I have worn a beard continuously since 1972.
  11. I despise Donald Trump.

11 Questions and answers

1. How important is Wi-Fi for you? Is warm running water or wireless internet more
important?

WiFi is nice to have, but it’s not life or death. And since I primarily use my iPhone for blogging rather than my laptop, as long as I have cell service, I’m good. Thus, having running water is much more important.

2. Name your favorite blogger (any genre).

Me. Duh!

3. If you have to pick a place to settle down forever, where would it be and why?

A cottage or bungalow on the west coast with an ocean view and from which I can hear the sounds of the waves breaking.

4. What is one silly moment you’ve had that you’d like to share?

My life has been so full of silly moments that I couldn’t possibly pick out just one to share.

5. What is your favorite trait about yourself?

My dry sense of humor.

6. What is your favorite time of day?

Morning, when I have the whole day ahead of me.

7. Tell us your favorite food/cuisine.

Chesapeake Bay blue crabs.2FC064A5-B338-450B-A702-F0FDAC9DC844

8. Name three destinations you would like to visit once in your lifetime.

Australia, New Zealand, Japan.

9. If you could change something in the world, what would it be?

That Donald Trump was never elected President.

10. What are you most passionate about?

Making sure that Donald Trump doesn’t get re-elected.

11. What is so special about your blog?

It’s my blog.

One-Liner Wednesday — Assumptions

Fandango12 Comments

2DAC81AD-DD68-4828-8AEC-A47C310F10EE

“An assumption is something that you don’t even know you’re making.”

I heard someone say this, but I can’t remember who

A lot of people’s beliefs, whether religious, political, or even personal, are based upon assumptions. An assumption is a willingness to accept something as true without question or proof.

People make assumptions every day. I know that I do. I assume that when I go to sleep at night, I’ll wake up in the morning. I don’t know that for a fact, but I just believe it to be true. I assume that when I get into my car to drive someplace, I won’t get into an accident. I assume that when I buy a head of romaine lettuce at the grocery store, it won’t be infected with E. coli bacteria that will make me sick.

Am I consciously making these assumptions? Do I even know that I’m making them? Well, yes, if I think about them, I suppose I’m conscious of having made them, but it’s really not something I give a whole lot of thought to.

It’s sort of like the tinnitus (ringing in my ears) that I’ve had for years. It’s always there, but unless I think about it, I hardly notice it. I think it’s the same way with assumptions.

What about you? Do you know when you’re making assumptions?

Written for this week’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #31

Fandango26 Comments

FPQWelcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration. By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

This week’s provocative question is a relatively straightforward one, but one that also requires some heavy-duty introspection.

What do consider to be the highlight of your life so far? Do you think it’s something that you might be able to exceed in the future?

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ 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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Stats

Fandango24 Comments

FOWCWelcome to July 10, 2019 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 “stats.”

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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

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