Month: December 2019

I’m Alive!

Fandango72 Comments

09D3CE13-6A73-42AC-AF57-19CFD2B11A55.jpegWhen I first opened my eyes, I looked around and saw several women walking around in blue scrubs. Things were a bit blurry because I didn’t have my glasses on. One of the women in blue approach me. I asked her if I was alive. She laughed and told me that I was in the post-operative recovery room. “Oh good,” I said.

I survived my surgery. And the good news is that the surgeon didn’t have to drill a hole in my skull. He was able to remove that nasty mass in my middle ear through my ear canal. Yay!

But the bad news is that it was, indeed, a nasty mass and apparently it feasted upon at least one of the tiny bones in my middle ear, meaning that my hearing in that ear won’t be restored unless I have another operation to insert a prosthetic bone (or bones) in my middle ear, and that can’t happen for at least another six months. That’s disappointing.

Meanwhile my ear canal is filled with cotton and other materials and is all bandaged up. I still can’t hear out of that ear, it still feels congested, an my tinnitus (ringing) in that ear is even louder than it was before the surgery. But hey, I am alive, right?

It will probably take me a few more days before I am fully recovered and can get back into the swing of things with respect to my blog (and my life). But I do want to take a moment to thank you all for your well wishes and, while it’s definitely going to be a quiet and tame New Year’s Eve for me, I hope you will have a very nice night tonight ringing out 2019 and ringing in 2020.

FOWC with Fandango — Ending

Fandango24 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 31, 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 “ending.”

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.

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #47

Fandango7 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.

The image below is from Unsplash.com.631C0C3A-17FB-4C14-80D2-14D7982C4696For the visually challenged writer, the image shows a two lane bridge spanning two mountains along a coastal road high above a deep gorge or inlet.

I hope this week’s image will generate some great posts. If it inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post.

Thanks to all of you who have participated in these challenges so far. Your posts have been very creative. Please take a few minutes to read the other responses to this photo challenge.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Musical

Fandango21 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 30, 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 “musical.”

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.

Weekend Writing Prompt — Complex

Fandango4 Comments

9a25c6f3-5024-4161-bab6-bf7a66d31f25.jpegOur world is complex. At times, it can seem overwhelming. Everyone is connected to everyone else. Our phones, our appliances, our homes are “smart.” I wonder who is listening in and tracking my every move.

I sometimes long for simpler times.

(41 words)

32E8802D-CE56-472F-B009-602C2B21DC2CWritten for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where we are challenged to write a poem or piece of prose using the word “complex” in exactly 41 words.