Day: January 22, 2022

It Must Be True, I Saw It on Fox News

Fandango29 Comments

“We are witnessing the burial of individual freedom in our country due to all of these mandates to wear masks and get vaccinated,” William said, disgorging phlegm from his throat and spitting it on the ground at my feet.

“Your crazy conspiracy theories beliefs are as distasteful as your gross habits,” I said. “I totally dispute your notion of lost personal freedoms. Do you vaccinate your children for measles and chicken pox?”

“It’s not the same,” William said. “Measles and chicken pox are real. This whole COVID nonsense is a liberal hoax.”

“Again, that’s crazy,” I said. “But if you’re so concerned about individual freedoms, why are you opposed to women having the freedom to choose to have an abortion?”

“Because abortion is the murder of innocent babies and I’m opposed to murder,” William said.

“And yet you’re in favor of capital punishment and you have no problem with people someone like Kyle Rittenhouse shooting and killing non-violent protesters. Plus, you are opposed to common sense gun laws.”

“Gun ownership is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution,” William said. “I own four guns and you better believe, I got skills, so you better watch what you say next.”

“Ooh, I’m shaking in my boots,” I said, mocking fear. “Let me ask you, would you use your skills to defend Americans’ right to vote, which is also in the Constitution?”

“Not illegal votes, fraudulent votes, or votes by people who aren’t real Americans,” William said.

“Like white Americans, you mean?” I said.

“It was my ancestors, not theirs, who made this country great,” William said.

“I think you need to break the chains tying you to Fox News and try to come back to reality here on Earth One,” I said.

“Fox News is like the Bible,” William said. “It speaks only the gospel truth.”

All I could do was shake my head in despair. This country is in deep doo doo, I thought.

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (burial), Ragtag Daily Prompt (freedom), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (disgorge), Word of the Day Challenge (tasteful), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (dispute), Scott’s Daily Prompt (I got skills, and My Vivid Blog (chains).

Photo credit: JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutters.

Weekend Writing Prompt — Since First We Met

Fandango11 Comments

I used to feel
Like I was traveling in the right direction
Like I was making progress
Like things were moving forward
Like I was going with the flow
Like my world was copacetic

Now I feel
Like everything is backwards
Like I’m rowing against the tide
Like I’m a salmon swimming upstream
Like everything is upside down
Like my world is counterclockwise

Because since first we met
You have turned my whole life widdershins

(Exactly 75 words)

Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where the word is “widdershins.” I hope I’ve interpreted and used that word correctly, as it’s one I’ve never heard before.

One-To-Three Photo Processing Challenge

Fandango28 Comments

Yesterday I came across this challenge I hadn’t seen before from Daily Musings. The idea is pick a photo you want to play with and process it using three different methods. Okay, let’s start with the original, which I took on my iPhone outside of my house last night at sunset looking to the west.

For this first one I used a filtering app called Prisma.

Next, an app called Tangled Fx.

And finally, an app called Sketch Master.

Which image do you like best?

SoCS — Icing on the Cake

Fandango17 Comments

For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has asked us to write about the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the phrase “icing on the cake.”

“Icing on the cake” is an interesting phrase. It can be used literally to mean what is pictured above. It’s the sweet concoction you put on top of and around a cake to make it taste better. Cake is pretty good on its own. But then you put icing on it, and it’s even better.

Or, it can be used figuratively or metaphorically to refer to something extra that makes a good thing even better. For example:

Trump, having been arrested and tried for his criminal conduct was good. The fact that he was convicted and thrown in prison for the rest of his life was icing on the cake.

Occasionally, though, “icing on the cake” may be used in a negative way, meaning something added to a bad situation that is not essential but makes that situation even worse. In most cases, when used this way, it’s in a sarcastic or ironic way. For example:

My wife got half of my money after the divorce, but, dammit, her getting possession of my beloved Porsche was just icing on the cake.

Personally, I like cake with or without the icing, although I have to admit that carrot cake wouldn’t be nearly as good without the cream cheese icing. Am I right or what?

FOWC with Fandango — Dispute

Fandango18 Comments
FOWC

Welcome to January 22, 2022 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “dispute.”

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.