Category Archives: Reader Friday

Reader Friday: It’s Intermission Time!

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By Deb Gorman

Can you see yourself here?

Summer’s here!

For some folks, life just continues to drift along on the same road, stretching off into the distance.

No change.

Or here?

 

 

But for others, it’s  intermission time. What do I mean? If you look up the word vacation in your thesaurus (you have one of those, right?), one of its synonyms is intermission. You know, that break you get to take at the local arts theater, where you’re stuck in a slow-moving river of people heading for the restrooms or the snack bar? Oy!

 

Here looks good!

But for today, we’re going on vacation.

So, inquiring minds want to know–where are you going?

What is your perfect vacation spot? Will you write while you’re there? (You know I had to ask!)

 

 

Reader Friday-Memorial Day

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Image courtesy of Pixabay

By Deb Gorman

First observed as Decoration Day on May 30, 1868, Memorial Day is observed in every state on the last Monday in May.

There is a plethora of information available regarding its origins and which state(s) claim to have celebrated it first.

Barbecues, first camping trips of the year, parades, and flags are locked into my memories about past Memorial Day celebrations. I have many service vets in my family who lost comrades and buddies in various wars through the decades. For me, that’s who it’s about.

TKZers, what does Memorial Day mean to you, and how does your family celebrate it?

 

Reader Friday-The Funniest Story Ever Told

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By Deb Gorman

My husband’s 30+ year career as an in-home electronics repairman yielded some amazingly funny stories.

Like the one about the folks who kept a bathtub filled with water. Why? Well, it seems they had a horse whose pasture was right outside the bathroom wall.

A horse who would sidle over to the hole they cut in that wall so he could drink out of the bathtub. Who would’ve thought?

My human lets me drink *in* the house! 🙂 (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

And this one he told me just the other day. Seems a lady called and reported her TV would change channels all on its own. Do I hear Twilight Zone music . . .?

Collection of antique remotes

Now this was back in the day before infrared/Bluetooth remotes–instead, they worked with ultrasonic sound to talk to your TV and switch channels when the button was pressed.

My husband reported for duty in her living room, but could find nothing wrong. He said, “Have a nice day,” and left.

What’s your cat’s superpower?

And went back a second time when she called. While there, he observed the channel-switching phenomenon for himself. At the same time the channel magically changed, the lady’s cat jumped off the couch. The cat with a bell on its collar–which rang when he jumped.

My husband jokes that he told the lady to “remove the bell, and that’ll be a hundred dollars, please.”

 

Okay, it’s your turn, TKZers.

What’s the funniest story you’ve ever heard or told, and have you used it in your writing?

Reader Friday-Worst Advice Ever

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You said to do what?? (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

By Deb Gorman

We’ve discussed in these halls the best/worst advice ever given to us, particularly in the realm of writing.

Today, let’s flip that around.

What’s the worst advice or counsel you’ve ever given to someone else–come on, we’re all friends here–‘fess up!

I’ll start: Decades ago at my (first) wedding, I advised my Mom to not go looking for my little brother, age 10, who was the junior groomsman. She wanted to make sure he was properly kitted up in his miniature tux. I told her he knew how to dress himself, and to please stay with me.

Boy howdy, was I wrong!

He was given black socks to wear with his tux and spit-polished black dress shoes, but instead, he chose to wear his bright orange fuzzy tube socks. (Remember those?) They shone like a beacon under his too-short by two inches slacks.

I didn’t notice, being a very nervous bride, and family and guests were given strict instructions not to tell me. The professional photos were a sight to behold.

Not exactly a tuxedo, but the socks are orange! (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

 

 

Okay, your turn . . . worst advice you’ve ever dished out to someone else. We’re all ears–

 

 

 

Reader Friday: Looney Tunes

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I thought this would be a fun discussion, since we writers are a bit . . . shall we say, quirky?

Drawings have been around since our great-great-greats a thousand generations ago. It was the preferred method of messaging, probably even predated language. Now we have cell phones, texting, emails, satellite communications, even watches–and who could forget Get Smart and his shoe phone?

But back in the day, if Mom and Pop cave dweller needed to communicate, maybe it looked something like this:

Translation: Honey, I’ve invited the Johnsons over for dinner Saturday night . . . is that okay? (Image courtesy of Pixabay.)

Hmm . . . I see conflict and chaos in the short story above. Maybe a body buried out back of the cave?

***

From the dictionary:  First recorded in 1665-75; from Italian cartone “pasteboard, stout paper, a drawing on such paper,” equivalent to cart(a) “paper” . . .

And this from Wikipedia: The concept originated in the Middle Ages, and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, beginning in Punch magazine in 1843, cartoon came to refer – ironically at first – to humorous artworks in magazines and newspapers. Then it also was used for political cartoons and comic strips. When the medium developed, in the early 20th century, it began to refer to animated films that resembled print cartoons.[2]  

***

Modern cartoons are illustrated short, short stories. Inside of five to ten minutes, the story has tension, conflict, cliffhangers, MC in danger, rescue, and resolution–all of the story structure that we use in our stories and novels.

Don’t I know you from someplace? (Image courtesy of Pixabay.)

And they made us laugh. I still hear my dad’s guffaw at Wile E. trying yet again to catch that dang Roadrunner with the shadow of the A.C.M.E. crate hanging over his head.

All we ever needed to know about life was learned on Saturday mornings, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV with a bowl of Cheerios in the lap.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

My favorite, of course, was Roadrunner. Just watching my Dad laugh was a treat.

My new fave, watched a few years back with my Texas grandkids, is Zootopia.

Flash, the Sloth (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

I hadn’t laughed so hard in ages, and the youngest little guy had to watch it at least twice a day during the week I stayed with them.

~~~

Okay, TKZers, over to you. What was (or is) your favorite cartoon?

(And, as usual for me on Fridays, I’ll be in and out, but will respond to comments.)

 

~~~

 

Will there be a tomorrow for Annie Lee?

Follow her as she navigates what she is convinced is her last day on earth. As she takes her kids to school, visits her neighbor, plays in the park with her youngest.

Trying not to believe that her tomorrows are over.

 

 

 

Reader Friday: More Cowbell

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“I got a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell!” –  Christopher Walken (as Bruce Dickinson on SNL)

 

 

“The act of writing is, for me, like a fever — something I must do. And it seems I always have some new fever developing, some new love to follow and bring to life.” — Ray Bradbury.

 

 

Is writing for you a fever, a pastime, a hobby, a vocation, an obsession … or something else?

What are you doing to add more cowbell to your writing?