Whatever

Challenge Accepted

Fandango8 Comments

53BA6B46-C0AD-4337-99D0-188BD86AA2A9Kristian, over at Tales From the Mind of Kristian, was nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award. Good for him, am I right?

Kristian did not nominate me for that award, but in his response to having, himself, been nominated, he wrote, “If you are reading this and haven’t had an award in a while, please consider yourself nominated.”

It turns out that I was, indeed, reading his post, but since mine is an award-free blog, I don’t really keep track of when I get nominated for awards. And since I wasn’t specifically tagged, I figured I’d just move on.

But then I wrote a comment on Kristian’s post. I wrote “Congratulations on yet another well-deserved award.” And he responded, “Thanks, Fandango. Why not have a go at answering the questions? 🙂”

Okay. Who can resist such a challenge? Challenge accepted, Kristian.

So here goes.

1. If you discovered the secret of eternal youth, would you share it with anyone else? If so, who?

I am already too old to have such a discovery do me any good. So if I did have knowledge of the secret to eternal youth, I’d sell it on eBay to the highest bidder and be financially set for the rest of my life.

2. If you could invent any device to help you, what would it be?

A device that would provide its owner with eternal youth and then I’d sell it on eBay to the highest bidder and be financially set for the rest of my life. Do you see a recurring theme here?

3. Have you ever looked into your family tree? Did you discover anyone famous or infamous?

Both of my parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe and the available records of their heritage are scarce, so I have no idea if there is anyone famous or infamous in my family tree.

4. What type of stories do you like to read?

As long as they are well-written and entertaining, that’s what matters to me. That said, I enjoy stories that keep me guessing. I am not a fan of predictability.

5. What song or tune always puts a smile on your face?

One-Liner Wednesday — It’s About Time

Fandango14 Comments

36CF6989-7153-42AA-BDDD-B4309EB46092

“When people look at their watches, more often than not, they’re checking to see what time it’s not, rather than what time it is.”

This was another original quotation from yours truly, although I’m sure I’m not the only one who has expressed this sentiment.

I know that I’ll often look at my watch when I need to be someplace at a certain time and, in order to get there, I have to leave for wherever it is that I’m supposed to be “X” minutes in advance.

Say, for example, I offered to pick up a friend at the airport and his flight is scheduled to land at 2:40 pm. And let’s say it takes me 45 minutes to get from where I am to the airport.

Are you still with me? Anyway, in order to get to the airport by 2:40, I need to leave no later than 1:55, right? So when I look at my watch, I’m checking to make sure that it’s not yet 1:55, rather than what time it actually is.

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? You’re the same way, right?

Of course, the exception is when somebody directly asks you what time it is. Then you look at your watch and say, “Oh jeez, it’s 2:10. I shoulda left for the airport 15 minutes ago.”

P.S. Have you noticed that almost all pictures of watches or clocks in advertisements and commercials show the time as 10:10? Why is that?

Written for this week’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

Tuesday Writing Prompt — I Can Fly!

Fandango5 Comments

956AD8B1-3445-42D6-AB8B-C137F802F97EThere’s this writing prompt challenge called the Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge, from the folks at Go Dog Go Café, that some of the bloggers I follow participate in. I haven’t yet done so. But when I saw the post and read that this week’s challenge is to “write anything with the topic of flying,” I decided to give it a shot.

And yes, I realize that it’s no longer Tuesday, but I’ve often been accused of coming up a day late and a dollar short, so what else is new?

Anyway, because the topic has to do with flying, I was reminded of a recurring dream I have with some regularity.9E841586-FDE2-4C91-9ACF-2087F06B0AEEIn this recurring dream, I can fly. The dream is the same every time that I have it. I start walking, lift my arms toward the sky, and suddenly I’m heading up into the air, as if I’m willing myself to defy gravity. I am floating above the ground, rising up above the trees, sailing among the clouds, and looking down at the landscape below. It’s exhilarating to be free from the tethers that bind me to the earth below.

I have no idea how I gained this incredible ability to fly, and in the context of my dream, there’s no explanation for it. There are times, though, when I’m up there savoring the experience, I become troubled by what might happen if this amazing gift of flight were to leave as suddenly and mysteriously as it appeared.

But it never does, at least not until I wake up. And when I do wake up and realize that I am, in fact, grounded, I am saddened that it was but a dream.

Oh wait. Was I supposed to write a fictional tale, a short story, for this prompt? Well, if so, in my defense, I would argue that, while having had this recurring dream is real, dreams are, by definition, fiction, since what happens in dreams is not reality. But then that begs the question: should I tag this post as “Flash Fiction” or as “Life”? Oh, I know. I have a catch-all category I call “Whatever.” Yeah, that’s the ticket. Whatever.

JusJoJan — Zoomie?

Fandango15 Comments

I’m not easily stumped, but today’s word from Linda G. Hill’s Just Jot it January prompt is “zoomie.” My iPhone’s autocorrect keeps changing it to “zoomed,” which is understandable — because “zoomie”? Seriously? The word “zoomie” was suggested by Bee Halton at The Bee Writes.

I had to go to Google to find out that “zoomie” has multiple meanings. First, it’s an Air Force term for any graduate of the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. It’s also a slang term other military branches use to describe any Air Force personnel.f929a994-9ade-4d6a-bc59-bb67ba636e83Second, it’s a term to describe when a dog has an episode typically described as a wild run that seemingly comes out of nowhere and lasts for a few minutes at most. The dog runs around the house like crazy, jumping on the couch, running up and down the stairs, and all around and over the house.

And then there’s also a toy robot dog that is named “Zoomie.” 1fd49eb4-a489-4aa8-b50d-8710f76b5291Who knew?

SoCS — Art

Fandango14 Comments

For today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has assigned us the smears “art.” Linda instructs us to “talk about something that’s hanging on your wall,” she says. “Add a picture, if you’d like.”

6FE6C3AE-7020-4934-8DDA-CF35759F3E83.jpegOne of my favorite artists is M.C. Escher and one of my favorite works by Escher is Hand with Reflecting Sphere, also known as Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror. It is a lithograph that was first printed in January 1935. It depicts a hand holding a reflective sphere. In the reflection, most of the room around Escher can be seen, and the hand holding the sphere is revealed to be Escher’s.

I’ve previously posted about my love for Escher’s work in THIS post, where a few other of his lithographs are included.

Another artist whose work I enjoy is René Magritte. He was a Belgian surrealist known for his witty and thought-provoking images. He depicted ordinary objects in an unusual context, challenging observers’ perceptions of reality.  Here are a few of his paintings.

My wife is partial to Erté. Born Romain de Tirtoff, he was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials. He was one of the most well-known fashion illustrators of the 1920s. His designs included dresses and accessories for women; costumes and sets for opera, ballet, and dramatic productions; and posters and prints. Here are some examples of his work.