Month: July 2019

The Good Old Days of Sanity

Fandango19 Comments

D257B441-014C-49BC-9511-18DEC2BCFEAAI have to admit that watching the Democratic candidates debates last night and tonight, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I was overcome with an adoration for the good old days of relative sanity before Donald Trump came on the political scene.

Between the human rights atrocities that are happening at our southern border courtesy of Trump, the climate change doubters in the Republican Party, tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class, and an attempt to take healthcare away from most Americans, Donald Trump and his sycophants in Congress are destroying all of the characteristics that have made America great.

Personally, I would be overjoyed if we, as citizens of our country, can come together and oust Donald Trump and his corrupt, unpatriotic cronies from our government. Because if Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the other spineless, unscrupulous Republicans get re-elected in 2020, I fear that the America we have known and loved will disappear. And should that be the case, I might actually have to abjure my American citizenship and find someplace else in the world to call home.

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (Nostalgia), Word of the Day Challenge (adoration), The Daily Spur (border), Weekly Prompts (doubters), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (overjoyed), Daily Addictions (together), and Nova’s Daily Random Word (abjure).

In Other Words — Life is a Carousel

Fandango7 Comments

EE741DF6-FC27-4699-A002-3283AC6A8D4CHe felt that he was just going round and round and up and down.

Moving in circles, as if riding atop a painted pony on a merry-go-round.

He wanted to look forward and to see his life ahead.

But he’d seen and done it all; he might as well be dead.

He was living his life trapped on a carousel from which there was no escape.

In other wordsWritten for the In Other Words prompt from Patricia’s Place. The challenge this week is to write a story or poem of five lines or fewer using the picture above and/or the words “carousel.” Image credit: skeeze from Pixabay.

Back To The Drawing Board

Fandango9 Comments

B0389F28-4D3E-4436-9370-38F528AEA54CThey were told that the procedure would treat all of the demons that were tormenting them. It was, they were told, a quantum leap forward in the field of electroconvulsive therapy. They were told that the odds of something going wrong were minuscule. All they had to do was sign the release papers that would relieve the doctors and the facility from any responsibility for adverse effects of the treatment.

The three men lined up against the wall in a large, padded cell. They were each outfitted with a series of electrodes strategically placed on their bodies. Each man was then linked to the other in a sort of electronic daisy chain. The patient on the left was plugged into an electrical outlet.

“This is Dr. Bergson speaking,” a voice coming from a speaker in the ceiling said. The three men couldn’t see the doctor, as he was in an adjacent room looking at his patients through a two-way mirror. “Let me explain what is about to happen,” Bergson said. “The three of you have been wired together and linked electronically. In a few moments, I will send an electric current through your bodies. Because you are all connected together, the process requires less current than if you were individually wired because it leverages the collective natural electrical impulses that are in your linked bodies.”

“Will it hurt?” the man in the middle asked?

“You will feel a slight electrical shock and a tingling sensation, but it will be milder than the shock treatments you’ve had in previous individual sessions,” the doctor answered. “I’m going to count to three and then turn on the current. One. Two. Three.”

There was a cracking sound and all three men started jerking violently. The man in the middle watched in horror as the man on his left fell to the ground, foam escaping from his mouth. Then he, too, slumped down, legs akimbo and his back against the padded wall. The man to his right was still standing, but seemed to be frozen. The last thing the man in the middle saw before everything went black was the man on his right fall like a stiff mannequin, face first onto the hard concrete floor.

In the adjacent room, on the other side of the two-way mirror, Dr. Bergson sighed and told one of his interns to turn off the current. “Back to the drawing board,” he said with a slight shoulder shrug. He then instructed a second intern, “Go take care of the bodies.”

Written for the Photo Challenge from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. Photo credit: LightPaintingPhotography.com.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #34

Fandango14 Comments

FPQWelcome 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.

For this week’s provocative question, I am going to leverage the social and political upheavals going on all around the globe. So my question for this week is relatively straightforward.

What are the three biggest challenges your country (or, if you prefer, the world) is facing right now?

If you don’t follow current events, you may answer the question from a personal perspective:

What are the three biggest challenges you are facing in your life right now?

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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Overjoyed

Fandango24 Comments

FOWCWelcome to July 31, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “overjoyed.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC 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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.

Aversion to Garlic

Fandango13 Comments

34D4BD58-24EB-48D4-B6CF-DD27CBA99EF5“Now you’ve gone and done it,” Mario said.

“Gone and done what?” Luigi asked.

“Do I have to draw you a picture?”

“Well, since I have no idea what you’re talking about, perhaps you can assist me and illustrate for me whatever it is you’re trying to tell me.”

“So we are Italian chefs, right?” Mario said. “We have our own Italian restaurant, right?”

“Will you get to the point, already?”

“People are asking me if you’re a vampire.”

“What? Why would anyone think I’m a vampire?”

“Well, for one thing, no one ever sees you during daylight hours,” Mario said.

“Our restaurant is only open for dinner, and during the day I’m locked away in the kitchen prepping for dinners,” Luigi explained.

“But it’s also your aversion to garlic,” Mario added. “Vampires don’t like garlic, but who ever heard of an Italian chef who doesn’t love the compelling aroma of garlic?”

“So between not being seen in public during the day and not liking the odor of garlic,” Luigi said, “people think I’m a vampire? That’s utterly ridiculous.”

“Luigi, don’t be so fractious,” Mario said,” I know that, with your acquisitive nature, you will work hard to acquire a tolerance for garlic so that our restaurant, Mario’s and Luigi’s Authentic Italian Bistro, will become known for its flavorful, garlic-enhanced dishes.”

“Fine,” Luigi said, “But if people see me wearing a surgical mask to protect my olfactory receptors from being overwhelmed by garlic, they better not start calling me Dr. Frankenstein.”

Written for these daily prompts: Daily Addictions (done), The Daily Spur (assist), Word of the Day Challenge (illustrate), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (vampire), Ragtag Daily Prompt (odor), Nova’s Daily Random Word (fractious), and Your Daily Word Prompt (acquisitive).

Twittering Tales — Second Honeymoon

Fandango9 Comments

7C1AE268-6A1B-4223-AEB9-E0C34EAEC6A7Honey, what’s wrong? I thought you’d be thrilled.

This is not what I expected when you said you wanted to take me on a romantic second honeymoon.

But, baby, this is one of the most popular beach resorts in the world.

Yes, and one of the most crowded. Where’s the romance in that?

(276 characters)

Written for this week’s Twittering Tales prompt from Kat Myrman. Photo credit: enriquelopezgarre at Pixabay.com.

FOWC with Fandango — Vampire

Fandango21 Comments

FOWCWelcome to July 30, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “vampire.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC 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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.

Backyard Camping

Fandango20 Comments

Camping in a Tent Under the Stars and Milky Way GalaxyWhen I was a kid, my parents never sent me to summer camp, but they did allow me to set up a large tent behind our house on weekends. They would let me invite a few friends over to spend the night under the stars in our backyard.

Each kid would bring over snacks, like Oreos, potato chips, or candy, although George, who was a vegetarian, always brought homemade spinach chips that his mother made. Truth be told, they weren’t as bad as one might think spinach chips would be.

Speaking about being under the stars, one of my friends, Andy, would claim, as we looked up at the night sky, that God had placed all the heavenly bodies in the night sky and that they all orbit the Earth. I thought what Andy said was a demonstration of his credulity with respect to religion and the Bible.

I told my father about what Andy was saying. My father explained that the universe is vast, is expanding, and is not delimited. He also pointed out that the stars and planets do not, in fact, orbit the Earth. And then he gave me a book, an astral guide, so that I could point out all of the planets and stars to my friends.

Apparently Andy told his parents that I had a book that contradicted the Bible and that I was telling everyone that God did not put the planets and stars in the sky. Andy’s parents then decided that he could no longer join me and my friends on our weekend backyard camp outs. I guess they thought my family and I were “confusing” him.

Andy is now a Republican member of Congress.

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (camp, house), Daily Addictions (spinach), The Daily Spur (mother), Nova’s Daily Random Word (credulity), Your Daily Word Prompt, (delimited), Word of the Day Challenge (book), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (astral).