Day: October 16, 2020

Fibbing Friday — Rock ‘n Roll

Fandango12 Comments

Frank (aka PCGuy) and Di (aka Pensitivity101) alternate as host for Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in your responses. Today is Frank’s turn to host and here are his questions.

What musical group from the 1960s was known as “The Fab Four”?

The Four Tops. Or maybe the Four Aces. No wait, the Four Seasons. Possibly the Four Lads. Oh wait, it was definitely the Four Horseman.

What was the “British Invasion” in the 1960s?

It was an undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. I think that was in the 60s, but it could have been the 70s or the 80s. Who knows and, more important, who cares?

What is Stephen King’s book, The Stand about?

It’s the heartwarming story about when Stephen King and his publisher had a major disagreement regarding royalties and King took a strong stand against his publisher that he ultimately won.

What was the TV show, Breaking Bad about?

It was the story of a lovely couple that, after 30 years of what to the outside world was a perfect marriage, turned out to be a very bad marriage, leading to a very acrimonious breakup.

Exactly who was Kilroy?

He was a Peeping Tom with a prominent proboscis.

What musical instrument is Phil Collins best known for playing?

Although few people know it, Phil Collins’ ancestors were originally from Australia and had Aboriginal roots. So, in order to pay homage to his ancestry, Collins became known for his ability to play the didgeridoo.

According to Genesis 1, what happened on the seventh day?

On the seventh day, seven swans went a-swimming.

What happened at the O.K. Corral?

When Wyatt Earp was a teenager, his mother caught him and his friends in the O.K. Corral engaged in a circle jerk. Earp’s mother yelled at him and told him that, despite the name of the corral, what he was doing there with his friends was not O.K.

According to Greek mythology, what was needed to cross the river Styx?

A boat made from large sticks, which back in the day, was spelled s-t-y-x.

What was the play, Inherit the Wind about?

It was the sad story of a lawyer who had, much to his chagrin, inherited his father’s tendency toward flatulence.

Blogger — Just for Grins and Giggles

Fandango26 Comments

Since I tend to scream like a banshee every time I have to deal with the WordPress block editor, I went and created a blog on Blogger (blogspot.com) today. I used to blog on Blogger many years ago, but I ultimately, after a short stint using TypePad, moved my blog to WordPress in 2013, where, until recently, I’d been relatively happy.

It didn’t take me too long to set up my blog on Blogger. It wasn’t a cinch, per se, but it was relatively straightforward. And I posted by first post this morning, which, if you wish to read it, you can click here.

I am not sure if I am going to keep that Blogger blog. I guess that depends on whether or not WordPress is going to shitcan the classic editor in the few iterations remaining — on the wp-admin site and within the WordPress app for iOS.

But I can tell you that one mighty difference between WordPress and Blogger is that Blogger has a simple, word processor-like editor that is more well suited for the kind of blogging that I do than is that stupid block editor in WordPress.

That is the primary tangible benefit that Blogger has over WordPress. But there are some intangible benefits that WordPress has that might ultimately make it hard for me to leave WordPress entirely. For example, there’s no “like” button on Blogger. And I don’t think the Blogger community is as large, robust, and supportive as it is here on WordPress.

Of course, I’ve been blogging on WordPress for more than seven years and on Blogger (this time around) for just a few hours, so it’s premature to make any definitive decisions.

Any thoughts any of you might have on WordPress versus Blogger will be welcome.

Written with these daily prompts in mind: Word of the Day Challenge (banshee), Your Daily Word Prompt (cinch), Ragtag Daily Prompt (mighty), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (intangible).

Friday Fictioneers — Pretty in Pink

Fandango12 Comments

“Pink?” Adam said. “You didn’t say in the ad that it was pink. You’d think you would have noted that in the ad.”

“My wife’s favorite colors was pink, young man,” the seller said. “I bought this boat for her for our thirtieth anniversary.”

“I hate pink,” Adam said. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have ridden my bike all the way here to see it.”

“So paint the damn thing if you don’t like the color,” the seller said.

“I don’t think so,” Adam said. “You should have said in the ad that the boat was pink.”

(98 words)

Written for the Friday Fictioneers prompt from Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Photo credit: C.E. Ayr.

Fandango’s Friday Flashback — October 16

Fandango16 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 16th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on October 16, 2018.

Stalker

3CB78D37-B12D-49B1-A0D1-EB073F441DFA“Well isn’t this a fine case of serendipity,” he said.

She turned around and looked at the man who was standing behind her on the balcony. “Excuse me?” she said.

“The two of us here, together and alone on this balcony,” he said. “I mean I know we’ve been glancing longingly at each other all night. And here we are.”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. And I certainly haven’t been glancing longingly at you.”

“Oh but you have,” he said. He pulled a small sketch tablet from his sport coat pocket and held it out for her to see. There were pencil sketches he’d drawn of her, not just tonight, but over the past several months. Each sketch had date and a caption written on it. “Together Forever” one said. “My One and Only” another caption read. “Meant To Be” a third one had written on it.

“Oh my God!” she screamed. “You’ve been stalking me!”

“No,” he said. “We are destined to be with one another. You might as well acquiesce to the inevitable.” Then he moved in to giver her a kiss, but before he could get to her, she put a jujitsu move on him.

She calmly took her phone out of her purse and punched in a few numbers. “9-1-1,” the operator said. “What’s your emergency?”

A man has fallen from the third floor balcony,” she said.

Written for these prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (serendipity), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (balcony), Scotts Daily Prompt (tablet), Daily Addictions (caption), Your Daily Word Prompt (acquiesce), and Word of the Day Challenge (emergency).

FOWC with Fandango — Intangible

Fandango23 Comments

FOWCWelcome to October 16, 2020 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 “intangible.”

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. Please 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.