More irresistible stuff

Monday 30 May 2011

Succinctly Yours - Positively Glistening!

Many thanks to at Grandma's Goulash for running the Monday Microfiction Meme. Grandma posts a photo and invites us to write a caption or story in either under 140 characters (tweet-length) or under 140 words. As an extra challenge we are given a word to insinuate into our offering.

Todays word: Glisten

Today's inspiration:


She knew ladies were only meant to glow, 
but Hilda had broken out into a cold glisten as 
Mike the Moped Maniac sped towards her

---o'O'o---

Hilda's pet rattlesnake was as good as gold as she
carried him around in a shopping bag.
The bag snatcher was in for a bit of shock though. 


---o'O'o---

Friday 27 May 2011

Book Blurb Friday - Awk Wood Landing

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The lovely Lisa at Writing in the Buff hosts Book Blurb Friday. Each week Lisa posts a pretend book cover to fire our imaginations. Our task is to write the book blurb for the back cover in 150 words or less.


Awk Wood Landing

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Snurg Druggleborf, Master of a Thousand Star Systems (uninhabited), Destroyer of the Dreaded Galactic Nim (accidental), Richest Being for a Billion Parsecs (it had been further, but then Garx Unglehesk the Acquisitive moved to the Vega System), is having problems.

He had identified the next target in his galactic conquest strategy – a minor planet orbiting an insignificant star, inhabited by low grade carbon based life forms with moderate technology and mountains of succulent organic waste. But then he crash landed and discovered his terrible mistake.

The sentient beings on the planet turn out not to be the multi-limbed and micro-tentacled species that look like him after all, but fat, blobby bi-pedal murderers that wield axes and chain saws.

He needs to replace the bi-phase dimension extrapolator but he’s lost his crew in the woods, and the bi-pedes are coming for them.

Now it’s snowing.

And he’s coming out in buds.....



150 words.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Haiku Wednesday - 100th Anniversary

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Join the fun!
You know ... that Blog?

Congratulations Jenn on 100 weeks of Haiku Wednesday



Today's topic is Anniversary


Re-create the joy
In remembrance of the day
Your world came alive

Time for reflection
Polish up the memories
Make them fresh again

Looking to the past
Acknowledging faithfulness
Hope for the future

Monday 23 May 2011

Succinctly Yours - Kinky one today

Many thanks to at Grandma's Goulash for running the Monday Microfiction Meme. Grandma posts a photo and invites us to write a caption or story in either under 140 characters (tweet-length) or under 140 words. As an extra challenge we are given a word to insinuate into our offering.

Todays word: Kink

Today's inspiration:


Harold looked from one to the other. 
"No, sorry," he said. "You don't look like an English Rose to me."

---o'O'o---

"But Monsewer Daycart said kinky roses would show my love!" Harold exclaimed. 
Marie tried desperately not to laugh. "That's cinque, Harold."

---o'O'o---

The weekend did not quite go according to plan. 

As soon as I started to rake out the failed grout in the shower I realised I was in trouble. The base coat plaster behind had turned into biscuit mush:


So I ended up having to take off all the tiles along the bottom of the shower:


Trying to "un-saturate" the walls!

After 24 hours I re-plastered the gap, hoping it wasn't too soon to be doing it. Only then did I think to check how long I would have to let the plaster dry before tiling. 

FOUR WEEKS!

Just as well we have a bath! (I strongly dislike baths after 30 years of showering, but what can you do?)

I am not Mr Popular at the moment!

Back on Wednesday I hope.

:Dom

Friday 20 May 2011

Book Blurb Friday - Bold as Brass

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The lovely Lisa at Writing in the Buff hosts Book Blurb Friday. Each week Lisa posts a pretend book cover to fire our imaginations. Our task is to write the book blurb for the back cover in 150 words or less.


Bold as Brass

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The greatest punishment in the land of Herasia, is to be turned to bronze and then be exiled to a distant dimension for a lifetime as a garden ornament.

The wizard Tarren Wherry controls one of the two portals from Herasia and he sells the exiled bronze statues in a fashionable New York boutique. He has just taken delivery of a motley collection of criminals, amongst them the notorious Babyface Tarik, the Gold Pan Twins, the giant Hergan and the tiny Father Twee, when he learns that Herasia has been taken over by Karack, the wizard controlling the other Herasian portal, aided by the very criminals he was meant to be guarding.

His home, his family and his future are at stake, but Tarren cannot save Heresia alone. He must decide whether to use the golden horn to restore his new prisoners, but would they help him if he did?


150 words.

I have really enjoyed writing here again, which is a great relief! I will ease myself back slowly. I will be spending Friday and Saturday refurbishing our shower (including replacing all the tile grout and sealant), but I hope to be back for Succinctly Yours on Monday.

Saturday 14 May 2011

Taking a Break

I have been enjoying a bit of a hiatus from blogging for six weeks or so, so what have I been up to? I started a new company in conjunction with my daughter's boyfriend, I have watched five seasons of MASH, I have read (a little bit), I have played Guild Wars with my daughter, I have helped my wife decorate half the house (well it feels like it!), I had a very busy time with church over Easter, I made a new fence for the garden, oh and I WROTE!

The Mended Fence
Come on, size isn't everything!

Since starting my blog in October last year, I found myself spending more and more hours writing, reading and commenting in the blogosphere. It reached a point where I was spending four hours or more a night on blogger and precious little time doing anything else. I originally started the blog as an encouragement to start writing the books that I am carrying around in my head, and indeed through many wonderful blogs I have found a wealth of resource material, inspiration and invaluable advice. BUT, and there always seems to be a but, I was spending so much time blogging, and writing for blogfests, I realised I was not writing my novels at all. I was neglecting my duties around the home, and worse I was not spending any quality time with the family.

I have come to notice a pattern in my life - I latch onto something that consumes my attention, and I become immersed in it to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. The result is that I burn out. When in the middle of it, it seems unthinkable that I could give it up, and yet there comes a time when I find the commitment has waned and the guilt over the hours spent spoils the enjoyment. Is this what has happened to my blogging? Well, yes and no. The difference between blogging and the other activities that have come and gone (such as games and forums) is that blogging is NOT a waste of time - it serves a real purpose and is a good discipline.

So I do not want to turn my back on blogging, but instead I want to learn to change a habit of a lifetime (nothing like a bit of ambition!). I want to learn to blog in moderation, to make space for writing, to spend time being useful at home, as well as spending time with the family. I need to spend time focussing on my business, and on building up the new company. I remain committed to my service to the Church and I am seeking guidance on how that service might develop from here. Realistically I have 48 hours per week to divide amongst my many interests.

So here is a rough pattern I propose to try:

Church (incl personal study)12 hrs
Family12 hrs
Genyx (new company)6 hrs
Writing8 hrs
Reading4 hrs
Blogging, blogfests6 hrs

I hope by sharing this resolution with you, I might be able to find some elusive balance in my life and, who knows, I might find I am not alone in being a walking time management disaster! (no, don't ask how I can run a business if my time management is shot!)

Do you have ways of managing your time that work for you? Are you naturally able to juggle the many demands on your life? Is there really truth in the claim that men can't multi-task?!