The Spotlight

In response to the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt:

Witness Protection. When you do something scary or stressful–bungee jumping or public speaking, etc.–do you prefer to be surrounded by friends or by strangers? Why?

No shrinking violet, am I
Yet the circumstances do decree
If an audience of strangers or friends
Is preferable to me.

When speaking to a group
Of unfamiliar folks my
Sense of timing is impeccable
And I’m full of witty jokes.

At karaoke, though, I find
The better I know the crowd
The more relaxed my vocal chords
So I sing out loud and proud.

If ever I should bungee jump
I want six friends around
To serve as my pall bearers
In case I splatter on the ground.

Peace, people!

Ares

Red,

Inhospitable,

Waterless,

Sand full,

Storm-ridden,

Planetary 

Neighbor.

Visible,

Identifiable 

Even to an 

Untrained eye,

225 million

Kilometers

Distant.

Yes, I’d go

In a heartbeat.

Explore placid

Acidalia Planitia,

Marth Crater’s

Western edge, and

Ares Vallis. 

Alas, I am

Old.

Not astronaut

Material.

Perhaps, though,

In twenty years

Or so, 

Top-rate

Extended care

Facilities for

Elderly 

Dreamers

Might open up

On distant

Mars.

Sign me up.

  
Peace, people!

Skating By

slipping on black ice
skittering wildly on by
hoping for a brake.

  
once out of control
look out kiddies, here i come
screaming yeehaw, y’all!

  
’round and ’round again
spinning donuts whip whapping
as hood chases boot.

  
May I never have to drive on snow and ice again.

Peace, people!

Smile, Don’t Speak

Daily Prompt: What do you find more unbearable? Watching a video of yourself or hearing a recording of your voice?

The lie I tell myself:
“Darling,” (that’s my pet name for me),
“Your disembodied voice
Grates. (That’s as polite as I can be.)

“But darling in your favor,
A natural grace and sweet disposition
Compensate for failings
In your whiny intonational exposition.”

“So, what you’re saying,”
I nod to myself, no nicknames embedded,
“Is that the camera loves me
And video is where I should be headed.”

“Darling, no,” I laugh,
“You’re not camera ready, either!
Avoid both at all costs,
And forget we had this conversation.”

The author in conversation with herself.

Relief

Last night I posted the following post on my Facebook page:

  
A few people responded directly, but no one took me seriously. My friends know I have nowhere near a gazillion dollars. Right at this moment I barely have twenty dollars, and that has to last me all week. 

The interesting thing that occurred following that post was the number of rather lascivious offers I received on my private message board. So many that I ended up deleting that app from my phone. Who knew that my itchy back could inspire so many perverted responses? 

Back to my back. I cannot tell you just how agonizingly itchy it is. Apparently one of the side effects of withdrawing from the antidepressant Effexor is itchy skin–along with vivid nightmares and brain zaps. There isn’t much I can do about the last two, but I can put lotion on the offending body parts. At least the ones within reach.

Studly Doright was out of town last night, and he’s my go to lotion application expert. Without him I was reduced to all sorts of physical contortions that still left my back untreated. One of my Facebook friends (not a creep) suggested that I do the following:

” get a very thin dishtowel, lots of lotion. roll up the towel, lotion top to bottom, hold it as if you want to dry your back, like this / right top to bottom left, lotion side toward your back, and rub up and down. reapply lotion, switch hands, repeat.”

What a great plan, I thought. But what if I went a step further and got an old white tshirt, one of Studly’s of course, and squirted lotion all over the inside? Then I could just put the tshirt on and voilà, lotion would magically be applied to my back!

This was not a terrible idea; although, I did end up with copious amounts of lotion in my hair. The important thing, though,  was that my back was thoroughly moisturized and for a wonderfully, blessed time wasn’t driving me ape sh*t crazy. 

In retrospect I should’ve used a button down shirt which would’ve prevented the whole lotion in the hair scenario. I’m now thinking of designing and patenting the exciting new MOISTURE SHIRT! Available where fine personal care items are sold.

Today I took a proactive stance. That’s something I seldom do, so applause might be in order. I’ll wait while you give me a standing O…. I purchased a product that should make applying lotion much simpler:

  

I gave it a trial run this evening, even though Studly is home. Honestly, this lotion applicator might be my new best friend. It worked exactly as advertised and doesn’t need any laundry done or dinners cooked. If it knows how to change a tire I might not need Studly at all. 

Peace, people!

Entertaining at Doright Manor

We have company coming from Indiana this weekend, and I’m beyond excited. The men will play golf Saturday and Sunday mornings, while we ladies hang out in and around Tallahassee. 

I don’t often get to interact with adults other than Studly, so I’ve been practicing my small talk. The cats are my audience. They aren’t very good at providing feedback, though.

Me: So what do you want to do today?

Cat: Meow.

Me: The Tallahassee Museum is supposed to be nice. I’ve never been there….”

Cat: Meow. (I detect a small variation in this meow, but I’m not sure what that indicates.)

Me: And I thought we’d have lunch at Kool Beanz. It’s outstanding and I don’t think I’ve ever taken you there.”

Cat: Yawn. 

Me: Well if you’re going to be that way we’ll just stay in all day. Here. Have some tuna.

That didn’t go well at all. I’ve got until Friday to get my patter down. Wish me luck!

Peace, people!

Backup Singers Wanted

http://youtu.be/bYd1Ml8zFX4

The beautiful and talented Katie Flynn, featured in the YouTube clip above, needs a couple of backup singers for an upcoming gig. Katie, who resides in Illinois, and I are friends on Facebook, so when she posted the following:

I need 2 female back up singers who know how to shake it a bit. PM me if interested ASAP! 🎶💃🏻🎤

My first thought was, “Hey! I’m interested!” My second and third thoughts, in rapid succession were, “Shoot! I live in Florida,” and “I’m afraid to shake it a bit, lest it become a lot.”

Then I thought (my fourth of the night, and something of a record!) maybe I should put the word out there and help Katie find her backups. 

One more thought, “Hell, who am I kidding? I can’t sing.”

If you know someone in central Illinois who can sing and can shake it a bit, let me know. I’ll connect you with Katie. In the meantime, I’m going to practice my singing and shaking. 

Peace, people!

Stuck in a Whorehouse

Yesterday I wrote that I was fiddling with a draft piece on my blog and my characters weren’t giving me a clear idea of where they wanted or needed to go. In particular my heroine is stuck in a house of ill-repute for reasons I can’t go into at this time.

This afternoon in the middle of a deep tissue massage I clearly saw her, and she gave me a hint as to her dilemma. Apparently, she doesn’t feel stuck in her situation. I argued with her a bit, surely she was being exploited or victimized, but she was adamant. 

If you write fiction, do your characters argue with you? Or am I going crazy? I am weaning myself from the antidepressant, Effexor–could this be a side effect? At any rate, I need someone to proof this piece before I proceed. Any takers?

Peace, people!

  

Blogging

Some days writing posts for a daily blog is a grind. The post you’ve scheduled for publication doesn’t feel quite right, but you don’t have anything else ready so you publish it anyway, or worse yet there’s nothing in your queue and you find yourself scrounging for something, anything, to publish. 

Hey, here’s an amusing picture of a pregnant pig practicing Lamaze. It’ll do! 

But some days are just fun. Like today. I found several gems written by bloggers I follow. Some I reblogged and others I shared on Facebook or Twitter. My own scheduled post turned out well, and I even composed a quick on the spot piece when a flash of inspiration struck during lunch. Yes, I should have scheduled it for a future publication date, but sometimes a writer just needs instant feedback. I’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. 

I also fiddled with a draft of a short story that’s been in the works for awhile. Hopefully one day soon the characters will let me know what they plan to do next. Right now I’m having difficulty getting out of a fictional whorehouse. Don’t judge. It’s complicated.

Maybe the best part of a fun blogging day is the feedback, the comments, and smiley faces. Interacting with fellow bloggers whether about my own writing or theirs is often the bright spot in my day. I have some insanely witty commenters. Don’t even read my blog posts, just read the comments section. Wait, I didn’t mean that. Shhhh!!!
So, if you’re a blogger does this all sound familiar? If you tell me every day is a piece of cake I might just paste a frownie face in your comments section.

Peace, people!

A semi-irrelevant picture of my sELFie and me.

Revulsion Therapy Diet

Revulsion therapy revealed to be
The secret to losing weight
No exercise or counting calories
Just eat while watching GOP debates.

It’s hard to keep one’s appetite
Or to hold one’s food in check
While Cruz prays like a Pharisee
And Trump spews racist rhetoric.

Bush’s bemused befuddlement
Plays havoc with digestion
Still Carson’s sonorous delivery
Works exactly like L-Tryptophan.

One caveat for those who choose
To suffer through this hell
Not only will pounds melt away
Your sanity might, as well.