space

SoCS — The Sky’s the Limit

Fandango9 Comments

Or is it?

For today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has given us the phrase “sky’s the limit,” and had asked us to write about something that has or seems to have no end.

The phrase “the sky’s the limit” is meant to convey the notion that there is no limit to what someone can achieve. Strictly speaking, though, the sky is the space over the Earth where the sun, moon, stars, and clouds appear. But in the 20th century, that phrase has become somewhat quaint, if not obsolete.

We have launched satellites that circle the planet high above the “sky.” Unmanned space probes are exploring the universe far beyond our solar system, communicating with Earth from over 11 billion miles away. We have demonstrated that the sky is definitely not the limit.

The next question then becomes this:Is space, indeed, the final frontier? Who knows? Maybe we’ll learn someday that there is something beyond space. But in the meantime, as Mr. Spock would say, “Live long and prosper.”

Space Sax

Fandango10 Comments

When I saw this Photo Challenge from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, I was going to title my post “Sex in Space,” but Jim Adams beat me to it. So I came up with a far less provocative title, “Space Sax.”

Lucy was thrilled to have been selected by Elon Musk to be sent into space on his next SpaceX launch. Here she was, a girl from a poor coal-mining family in West Virginia and she was going to soon be joining other astronauts on the International Space Station.

Aside from space, Lucy’s other obsession was playing the saxophone and she was very good at it. All during her training she would entertain the other astronaut candidates with her saxophone playing.

When she learned about being selected for the upcoming launch, Lucy wanted to know if she could bring her sax with her so she’d be able to play in while in the space station. But when, in her thick West-Virginia accent, Lucy asked her trainer if she could bring her sax with her, it came out sounding to him like she was asking if she could have sex in space.

“Lucy,” her trainer said, “I know that you consider West Virginia to be almost heaven, but you’re going to be in space for a number of months, so I think you need to get all of your primal urges out of your system before the launch. I suggest, if you need to, you should confine yourself to sex an Earth.” And then he added, “Just don’t get yourself knocked up, Lucy. There are no OB-GYN docs on the space station.”

Tale Weaver/Thursday Inspiration — The End of the Affair

Fandango19 Comments

Donna’s face took on a pouty moue when Charles told her that it was the end of their affair. “I cannot afford to continue to see you,” he explained. “I can no longer juggle my marriage to my wife of ten years and my extramarital affair with you, Donna. I need to achieve some degree of tranquility in my life. I need my space. Do you understand?”

No, she did not understand. She was devastated. Even though he had promised more than once to leave his wife, she knew that the relationship was probably doomed from the start. Yet she found Charles’ colorful personality and strong profile, with his aquiline nose and prominent cheekbones, to be irresistible.

Donna felt like the scorned heroine of a bad work of romantic literature. She was debating between asking the police to arrest the scalawag for breach of promise or to do something even more drastic, like eliminating her competition. But in the end, she decided to just lick her wounds and to go find another married man to woo. They are always so needy.

Written for the Tale Weaver prompt from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, where the topic is “the end.” Also for Paula Light’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, where the theme is “space.”Also for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (moue, aquiline), Your Daily Word Prompt (afford), Word of the Day Challenge (juggle, literature), The Daily Spur (tranquil, colorful), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (arrest, scalawag).

Outta Sight, Outta Mind

Fandango34 Comments

B8900F42-4206-41AE-9F0F-9EBF30AE7037I was quite busy yesterday. Busier, anyway, than I usually am on any given Thursday since my retirement three and a half years ago.

Why was I so busy yesterday? Thank you for asking. I’ll tell you why. I had to move things around in our house to make space for a new dining room table that was being delivered. I had a meeting with a company that installs whole house generators as a backup when the inevitable rolling power outages due to wildfires hit this summer. I met with a landscaper for an estimate on doing some work in our backyard. And I had to take a quick trip to the grocery store. Busy, busy, busy.

Why am I telling you this? Thank you for asking. I’m telling you this because I only posted twice yesterday. One post was my daily Fandago’s one-word challenge, “precocious,” that I posted just after midnight. The other was my response to the Three Line Tales prompt from Sonya, that I posted in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing after those two posts for the rest of the day.

I usually post three to five times a day, a few in response to various prompts, and others expressing my observations, thoughts, and perspectives about the shitstorm we are experiencing under the “leadership” of Donald Trump and his GOP enablers. On average, at least for the first 22 days this month, my blog has been receiving around 420 views, 135 likes, and 57 comments per day.

But yesterday, out of curiosity, I checked my stats. I saw that my blog got only 228 views, just more than half as many as it usually gets per day. And only 75 likes, again, close to half of “normal.” And worse, only 15 comments, about a quarter of my average number of daily comments.

This precipitous drop in stats is due either to the lack of quality in my two posts or the fact that I only posted two posts. Or maybe both.

Well, this leads me to just one course of action. My blog needs a facelift. I need to pick out a new theme, a different design.

Actually, that’s not true. I’m not considering giving my blog a facelift. However, since I’m responding to Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt, where the words are “busier,” “space,” and “facelift,” saying that about giving my blog a facelift was the only way I could figure out how to use all three of her words.

Give Me Some Space

Fandango4 Comments

3e013d37-d459-40b7-86e3-787d06265fc3“You need to give me some space,” Ned snapped at his wife.

Nancy was shocked by her husband’s rebuke. “I just can’t imagine your going to the coast alone, without me and the children.”

“Look,” Ned said, “the cardiologist said that it’s vital for my health to reduce my stress level. I think going to the beach house by myself will do me a world of good. I can spend a week or so just chilling out.”

“But if the kids and I go there with you, I’ll stay out of your way and keep the kids out of your hair. You’ll be able to take the time to wind down and relax,” Nancy said.

“Nancy,” Ned said sternly,” If I don’t get my blood pressure down, I won’t have many tomorrows left. I need this.”

Tears started streaming down Nancy’s cheeks. “Ned, I’m just so afraid that if you go there alone, it will mean that tomorrow’s forever.

Wriitdn fof these daily prompts: Nova’s Daily Random Word (space), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (rebuke), Word of the Day Challenge (imagine), Daily Addictions (coast), Ragtag Daily Prompt (vital), and Michael’s Writing Prompts (tomorrow’s forever).