Day: March 14, 2021

A Not So Happy Anniversary

Fandango13 Comments

It was their tenth anniversary and he had arranged to take her out to her favorite restaurant. Suddenly his cellphone started to vibrate and Jeff pulled it out of his back pocket and started to read his text message. Tina picked up her water glass and tossed its wet contents in his direction.

Jeff ducked to one side so that most of the water missed hitting him in the face. “What the fuck, Tina?” he said, picking up his napkin and drying off his phone.

“It’s our anniversary, Jeff,” Tina said, tears welling up in her eyes. Can’t you even attempt to make me a priority for just one night?”

“Are you serious? Where’s the gratitude for all the years I’ve devoted to you and our family?” Jeff asked his wife. “Why are you always so volatile? You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Maybe if you experienced a just a little of the emotional abuse you’ve been putting me through for years, you might appreciate the anguish I’m feeling. But go ahead and respond to whatever text message you got. I know where your priorities lie.”

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (direction), Ragtag Daily Prompt (duck), The Daily Spur (gratitude), Your Daily Word Prompt (volatile), and Word of the Day Challenge (anguish).

Who Won the Week? 03/14/2021

Fandango6 Comments

FWWTWThe idea behind Who Won the Week is for you to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

This week’s “winner” of Who Won the Week is getting people vaccinated for COVID-19.

The United States is working to vaccinate a high percentage of its population against COVID-19 as soon as possible to stop the spread of the disease and end the outbreak in the country.

Since vaccine distribution began in the U.S. on December 14th, more than 101.1 million doses have been administered, reaching almost 20% of the total U.S. population, according to federal data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. is currently administering over 2.3 million shots a day.

President Biden has repeatedly promised to get 100 million shots into Americans’ arms by his 100th day in office. His pledge appeared ambitious when he first made it before Election Day, but now that more than two million people are being vaccinated a day, the country is on track to surpass Biden’s 100 million goal. And he said on Thursday he would direct the states to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1. His aim is that the country would be able to achieve some kind of “normality” by the Independence Day holiday on July 4.

Isn’t it great to have someone in the Oval Office who makes plans for combating COVID-19 and who delivers on them rather than someone who closes his eyes and hopes that a miracle will make it all go away?

What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?

Song Lyric Sunday — Suspicion

Fandango15 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams is going all sadistic on us, with the theme words of “anguish, “misery,” and torment.” I decided to go way back into the 1960s with a song of anguish, misery, and torment: “Suspicion.”

“Suspicion” was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and was originally recorded by Elvis Presley in March 1962 and was a track on Presley’s album Pot Luck, which was released in June 1962. But after Elvis turned down releasing a single version of “Suspicion,” Terry Stafford recorded it himself in the style of Presley. He cut a demo of “Suspicion” at the Los Angeles studio of Bob Summers, who played all of the instruments except bass guitar, in May 1962. Stafford and his manager then pitched the song to record companies and local radio stations in the Los Angeles area.

In April 1964, when the Terry Stafford version of “Suspicion” made it to the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, the Presley original was given a U.S. single release with “Kiss Me Quick” as the flip side, and it was “Kiss Me Quick” that was the favored side, reaching number 34 nationally. Presley’s version of “Suspicion” peaked at number 103.

“Suspicion” is a song about suspicion in a romantic dating relationship. The narrator is suspicious that there is someone else his lover is involved with. When they kiss it reminds him that he’s not certain if his girlfriend loves him. It undercuts her verbal assurances that she “really, really, really loves” him. The couple isn’t living together and every time he wants to be with her, she keeps putting him off until “tomorrow.” In the final verse he begs her to “wait until I drive all these foolish fears out of my mind.” He wonders why she is tormenting him, yet, as much as he is suspicious of her, he knows himself well enough to also suspect that he is just being overwrought and introducing needless drama into the romance.

Ev’rytime you kiss me
I’m still not certain that you love me
Ev’ry time you hold me
I’m still not certain that you care
Though you keep on saying
you really, really, really love me
do you speak the same words
To someone else when I’m not there

Suspicion torments my heart
Suspicion keeps us apart
Suspicion why torture me

Ev’rytime you call me
and tell me we should meet tomorrow
I can’t help but think that
you’re meeting someone else tonight
Why should our romance just
keep on causing me such sorrow?
Why am I so doubtful
whenever you’re out of sight?

Darling, if you love me,
I beg you wait a little longer
Wait until I drive all
these foolish fears out of my mind
How I hope and pray that
our love will keep on growing stronger
Maybe I’m suspicious
’cause true love is so hard to find

Here is the Elvis version of the song.

FOWC with Fandango — Direction

Fandango24 Comments

FOWCWelcome to March 14, 2021 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 “direction.”

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.