Day: November 20, 2020

MLMM — The Italian Stallion

Fandango18 Comments

Dominic bowed his head to hide his face. He saw them all looking at him with disdain. He knew that his coworkers had heard about his affair with the boss, Darlene. The scuttlebutt that was going around the office was that the only way he could have gotten his last promotion was by screwing her and it made him feel like such a turkey.

It was Friday, which was the day that he and his coworkers traditionally went out together for lunch. But on this Friday, given all that was going on, Dominic demurred. They all seemed to lack any compassion toward him, even though he knew some secrets about them that could be damaging to their own personal lives. He thought it was kind of paradoxical that they would shun him for having slept with the boss when many of them had cheated on their own spouses with each other. What a bunch of fucking hypocrites they are, he thought.

While all of his alleged friends at the office were off enjoying their Friday lunch, Dominic walked boldly into Darlene’s office and announced that he was quitting. “I can’t continue working here,” he said. “They all know about us, so I need to find a different job. It’s time for me to find some new beginnings for my life.”

Darlene looked up at Dominic, who was standing in front of her desk. “Well, given the delicate situation, Dom,” she said, “I was going to have to let you go, so I do accept your resignation.”

Suddenly Darlene stood up, walked around her desk to where Dominic was standing, threw her arms around his neck, and presses her body tightly up against his. “I hope these new beginnings you’re talking about still include me, you hunky Italian Stallion.”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie First Line Friday prompt, where the line is “Dominic bowed his head to hide his face.” Also for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Tale Weaver prompt, where the topic is “beginnings.” Also for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (affair), MMA Storytime (Turkey), Ragtag Daily Prompt (compassion), Your Daily Word Prompt (demur) and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (paradox),

Rory’s Friday Four for November 20th

Fandango1 Comment

Once again, Rory, A Guy Called Bloke, has posed his Friday Four questions for us to ponder. So let’s get right to it.

Are you a perfectionist or can you take a step back and accept less than perfect?

I do, indeed, strive for perfection. For example, I really do want each of my posts to be perfect. So I end up proofreading, revising, editing, and previewing each post I write multiple times. Sadly, I rarely achieve that perfection I was hoping for. So I suppose I find myself settling for less than perfect.

How often do you save online articles to your favorites list for reading ‘later’ and more importantly when do you then read them – as in when is your ‘later’?

If I come across an article on my news feed that I might want to reference later for a blog post, but I’m not in a position to start writing it at that time, I will save it for later with the intention of going back and reading it when I do have more time. As to when “later” is, that depends upon how time-sensitive the article that I saved was. If by the time I might get back to it, and it’s no longer either current or relevant, my “later” may be never.

When was the last time that you actively involved yourself in doing absolutely nothing for an hour and what did you do in that hour of nothing?

First of all, how can you be “actively involved” in doing nothing? Isn’t that a non sequitur? Other than when we are asleep, are we ever actually do “absolutely nothing”? Even doing things like watching TV, listening to music, reading a book, playing solitaire or other games on our smartphones, or just sitting around thinking is doing something. I would argue, therefore, that while we may appear to others to be doing nothing, it’s never nothing. It is always something.

When was the last time that you were engaged in a difficult conversation and if you can ‘what was it and how did you do?’

I try my best to avoid getting involved in “difficult” conversations anymore. Depending upon the subject matter, I find that I can rarely change another’s mind, and another can rarely change my mind. So what’s the point? All it does is aggravate the person with whom you might engage in a difficult conversation, thus potentially making the difficult situation even more difficult. Sometimes, as Kenny Rogers said, you just got to know when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, and when to walk away.

Fibbing Friday — The Yoke’s on You

Fandango8 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 Di’s turn to host and here are her questions.

1. What is Kapok?

It’s Russian slang for a cowboy, similar to the American “cowpoke.”

2. Where will you find a kernel?

On the TV show, “Hogan’s Heroes,” as the character Kernel Klink.

3. If you didn’t know a door as a door, what would you call it?

A swinger.

4. What’s the difference between a yolk and a yoke?

“Yoke” is short for “yokel, as in “local yokel,” which is a dumbass, rural dweller. “Yolk” is what a local yokel calls the the thick, greenish-yellow liquid that oozes out of his nose when he has a bad head cold (or what most others call mucus or snot).

5. What does E R N I E do?

He does B E R T.
6. What is meant by sunny side up?

It’s Bert and Ernie’s favorite position for sex.

7. What could you wear on your head that would make people think you were awesome?

A toupee?

8. What is meant by cattywampus?

It’s what local yokel’s call a kitty litter box.

9. What is an erf?

It’s the sound you make when someone punches you hard in the stomach.

10. What is a mouse potato?

It’s a sweet potato in the shape of a mouse.

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — November 20

Fandango22 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 20th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on this blog on November 20, 2017.

As Thick as Sludge

4BA0991F-43A1-4E32-B654-D79BC2499DBA“When was the last time you changed the oil?” my father, who was clearly pissed off, asked me. He was looking at my car’s dip stick.

“Change the oil?” I asked.

“Oh my God,” he said. “Please don’t tell me that you’ve never changed the oil since you bought this piece of shit car two years ago.” Then he thrust the dip stick toward me, like a fencer might thrust a sword toward his opponent. He ran his finger and thumb over the dipstick and held up his hand. “Look at this,” he yelled. “This is sludge. No wonder your car’s engine seized up.”

“No one told me that I needed to change the oil,” I said. “How am I supposed to know that if no one ever told me? And by ‘no one,’ I mean you, Dad.” I figured the best defense is a strong offense.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault,” he said, plunging the dip stick back into its sleeve in the car’s engine. “Didn’t you take auto mechanics in high school?”

“No, Dad,” I said. “I took wood shop. Don’t you remember that rad coffee table I made for your and Mom’s anniversary that year?” Next, I tried hard to lay a guilt trip on him. “Besides, you’re my father. Isn’t it your job to teach me these things?”

“You’re a smart kid,” he said. “You got early acceptance and a full-ride scholarship at State U. Your mother and I gave you the money to buy a used car so you’d have transportation up there and could drive home during school breaks.”

“Yeah, I know and I appreciate that, Dad,” I said. “But you should have told me that I needed to have my oil changed every so often.”

“As I said,” he responded. “You’re a smart kid. But being book-smart and street-smart are not the same thing. Unfortunately, I don’t think they offer a course in common sense up at State.”

“Chip off the old block, I guess,” I said sarcastically.

“Fine,” he said. “I was going to offer to pay for the repairs to your car. But now you’re on your own, son.”

“Wait, what?”

Now it was my father’s turn smile. “See, I told you, no common sense,” he said. “Sometimes you can be as thick as that sludge where your oil should be.”

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “sludge.”

FOWC with Fandango — Paradox

Fandango27 Comments

FOWCWelcome to November 20, 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 “paradox”

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.