Month: October 2023

Truthful Tuesday — Please, No More Moving

Fandango6 Comments

Frank, aka PCGuyIV, is our host for Truthful Tuesday. The idea behind this prompt is for us to respond to the question (or questions) Frank asks and to be 100% truthful in our responses. No glib answers, no funny business, no fibs. Just raw honesty.

This week, Frank wants to know…

If you were offered the opportunity to move to a new place of your choosing, all expenses paid, would you do it, or would you stay put? If you would move, where would you move to and why? If you choose to stay put, what is your reasoning behind your choice?

In case you missed it, just ten days ago I posted this, in which I confessed that the joke around our house was that my wife and I never took vacations, we relocated. In that post, I wrote about all of the places across the country that we lived.

As I stated, almost four years ago, my wife and I made a mini move from the city of San Francisco to a Bay Area suburb about 35 miles to the east. And then I added, “I’m counting on this last move to, in fact, be our last move. Well, until my kids dump me in a nursing home at some point in the future.”

So, to specifically answer Frank’s question, I’m here to stay. I love my house, I love my backyard, and can’t think of any reason to leave.

Blogging Platform — iPhone Blogging

Fandango5 Comments

While Dr. Tanya, who hosts Blogging Insights, is on a hiatus, Sadje thought that she could host discussions about our experiences and expectations regarding blogging on Blogging Platform.

Today’s topic is about the device we use for blogging and whether there any relationship between the type of device we prefer and the number of typos we make.

Sadje asks…

What type of device do you use to blog/write? Are you less likely to make typing mistakes if using a bigger keyboard or does it not make a difference? Do you feel that the convenience of blogging from your phone, which you can do from anywhere outweighs the disadvantage of making more mistakes? Or you would want only to write on your computer/laptop from the ease of your desk/home?

Okay, let’s take these one at a time. Like Sadje, I blog exclusively using my iPhone. Unlike Sadje, I haven’t mastered the “swipe to type” capability. I have, though, recently embraced the Grammarly keyboard for iOS because it does seem to catch more typos and grammar faux pas than the standard iPhone keyboard does.

One of the reasons my posts are relatively short, averaging around 250 words per post, is that it does take longer to tap out a post on the tiny iPhone virtual keypad than it does to touch type on a full-size or standard laptop keyboard. The other reason for my short posts is my short attention span. But that’s a whole different topic.

I also admit to having to spend more time proofreading the posts that I write on my iPhone because they are, in fact, prone to more typos. However, I do feel that the convenience of using an iPhone for blogging definitely outweighs having fewer typos when using a standard keyboard on a laptop or desktop.

WDYS — The New Recruits

Fandango12 Comments

“Okay, you three recruits,” the drill sergeant said. “Tonight is Halloween, the biggest night of the year for us ghosts. It’s my job to make sure we have our ducks in a row. So I’m going to have you three line up and give me your most frightening expression. My assistant, Henry, over here — well, he’s floating around somewhere — is going to take a picture of you guys and I’m going to critique them and give you some pointers. Got it?”

The three nervous recruits all nodded. The photo ghost, Henry, showed up and the drill sergeant said to the new recruits, “Give me your scariest look. I want these little rug rats to be so scared tonight when they see you while trick-or-treating that they wet themselves. Got it?”

Again, the three recruits all nodded.

“Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three.” There was a click and then the photo was instantly projected onto a large screen.

The drill sergeant looked up at the image on the screen and grunted. “Number One on the left,” he said. “You look like you just woke up from a good night’s sleep and you’re stretching and yawning. You’re not scary at all. Dismissed.”

Poof! Number One disappeared.

“Number Two, you look more scared than scary, as if you, yourself, have seen a ghost. You’re out!”

Poof! Number Two disappeared.

Number Three, you look like you’re in an elevator and someone just farted. Goodbye.”

Poof! Number Three disappeared.

“Henry,” the drill sergeant said, “Do we have any other recruits?”

“No, Drill Sergeant, those were the last three.”

“Henry, my friend, I’m afraid these young recruits aren’t made of the same stuff we were, are they?” the drill sergeant said. “Hopefully they got some good, scary goblins this year because the ghosts we’ve got will be giving Halloween a bad name.”

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Image credit: Alexas_Fotos @ Pixabay.

Fandango’s Story Starter #121

Fandango6 Comments

It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.

This week’s Story Starter teaser is:

You won’t believe what happened to me last night, but I swear to you it’s totally true.

If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.

And most of all, have fun.

FOWC with Fandango — Profusely

Fandango6 Comments
FOWC

Welcome 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 “profusely.”

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. Show them some love.