control

Thursday Inspiration — The Queen’s Skeleton Army

Fandango12 Comments

For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to respond by either using the word control, by going with the above picture, or by going with anything else that we think fits.

The image made me think of an evil queen who conjure up a skeletal army and attempts to rule the world. This is the story I conjured up.

In primordial times, in the desolate realm of Eldrath, Queen Moriana, a fearsome warrior with a heart as cold as the Northern Wastes, harbored a malevolent ambition. Obsessed with domination, she delved into forbidden dark arts to amass a formidable skeleton army, an evil legion fueled by necromantic sorcery in her unholy quest to control the world.

Moriana’s black eyes gleamed with a sinister resolve as she plotted to unleash her skeletal minions upon the unsuspecting kingdoms, seeking to subjugate all in her path. Under her ruthless leadership, the skeleton army marched across the land, spreading fear and destruction in their wake. Villages trembled at the sight of their bony forms, and kingdoms cowered before her might. Moriana reveled in the chaos and in her newfound dominance.

However, as Moriana’s empire grew, whispers of rebellion began to echo through the shadows. A group of brave warriors, united by their desire to free the world from Moriana’s tyranny, rose to challenge her rule.

Mounted side by side on their horses, the resistance fought valiantly against the skeleton army. Their determination and unwavering spirit ignited a spark of hope in the hearts of the oppressed.

In the heat of a climactic battle against Moriana, the brave warriors of the resistance furiously clashed with the skeleton army. With every swing, they challenged Moriana’s malevolence, refusing to let her skeletal minions dictate the fate of the world as the air resonated with the clash of steel and the eerie rattling of bones.

Moriana underestimated the resilience of the living. In the end, her skeletal army crumbled, and she faced a reckoning at the hands of those who defied her dark dominion.

The tale of the evil warrior queen and her thirst for control became a cautionary legend, reminding future generations of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the power of unity and courage in the face of darkness.

Post includes these daily prompts: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (primordial), Ragtag Daily Prompt (side by side), The Daily Spur (horse), and Word of the Day Challenge (heat).

Fandango’s Provocative Question #203

Fandango21 Comments
FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

I like to think that I’m in charge of my life and that, for better or worse, the course that my life has taken was established by the decisions — the choices — I’ve made along the way.

I know that there are others who feel pretty much the same way that I do, that our lives are formed by things that are within our control. But I’m sure that others feel very differently, and believe that much of our lives are formed by things that are outside of our control. Perhaps they call it fate or destiny, but the overall course of our lives, they believe, is predetermined.

And that brings me to today’s provocative question.

To what degree have you been able to control the course that your life has taken?

If you choose to participate, you may respond with a comment or write your own post in response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments. Note that recently a lot of bloggers have been reporting that pingbacks aren’t working.

Who Won The Week — 11/13/22

Fandango23 Comments

The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity 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.

It’s been almost a month since I last published a Who Won the Week post. Frankly, there hasn’t been much to crow about in my humble opinion. But this week there is.

Republicans were anticipating a big red wave in this year’s midterm elections, but what they got instead was barely a trickle. On Tuesday, in a repudiation of GOP election deniers and hard-core Trumpism, voters came out in droves to save democracy in America.

Democrats maintained control of the U.S. Senate when the incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto won a close race in Nevada to give the the Democrats 50 seats in the chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote. Democrats could still gain a true majority (51-49) in the Senate, depending on the outcome of the Senate race in Georgia, which is headed to a runoff between Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, and Herschel Walker, a Donald Trump-endorsed former football star, after neither won a majority of votes on Election Day.

Democrats also fended off the GOP in most of the tossup districts Republicans had targeted in the House of Representatives. Hence, it’s not likely either party will have more than a slim majority next year, even though the Republicans will likely have more seats in the House than the Democrats. That said, there is still a very slim chance that, when all the votes are tallied, the Dems might still be in the hunt for an upset win.

So who (or what) do you think won the week?

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.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #157

Fandango23 Comments
FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

Shit happens. No matter how hard we try, we can’t stop certain things from happening. We can’t always control what is going on around us and, therefore, we can’t totally control what is happening in our lives. In fact, there is a growing body of research in neuroscience suggesting that we aren’t really in charge of our lives, at least to the degree we think we are.

Yet one of our basic human needs is a sense of control, to know that we have a choice, that our actions make a difference.

Given the matter how much control we have over our own lives, my provocative question this week is…

Looking at your own situation, how much of your life is formed by things that are outside of your control versus things that are within your control? Please elaborate to the extent you feel comfortable.

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.

TMP — Remote Overload

Fandango23 Comments

Every Monday, Paula Light, with her The Monday Peeve prompt, gives us an opportunity to vent or rant about something that pisses us off. What pisses me off today is the fact that I have four TV remote control devices sitting on my coffee table in my living room. Four!

Back in the day, all anyone really needed was one TV remote control. A single device to turn the TV on and off, to change channels, and to adjust the volume. Easy peasy.

Things are different today. Take a look at the picture above. The remote on the left is for the TV itself and I use it to change the signal source from the satellite dish to the streaming channels. I also use it to connect to the Bluetooth headphones I wear when watching TV.

Next to that is the remote control for Dish, the satellite service we use. Other than when we’re streaming, we use Dish for watching live TV and for programs we recorded on our DVR. Then there’s our Roku remote control for when we’re watching streaming channels like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Apple TV, and Discovery Plus.

The device on the right is for Flex, the streaming service from Comcast, although truth be told, we rarely use that device.

There is a silver lining, though, to this whole remote control overload situation. My wife and I used to fight over control of the remote control, but now she has ceded control of the remote controls to me. I feel like the all powerful Oz!