platform

WDYS — A Target on My Back

Fandango26 Comments

A light coating of snow and freezing rain slicked the platform, turning steel and concrete into frosted mirrors that told the truth whether you liked it or not. The train hissed in, tired and late, like it had secrets to unload. Don’t we all?

He told me to wait under the rusted girders, where the lights flickered and the cameras pretended not to see. Funny thing about cameras — they never blink, but they miss plenty. I pulled my collar up and watched the mist swallow the tracks, each rail a thin promise going nowhere good.

The train’s doors slid open. She was supposed to be on this train, he told me. Red coat. Cheap perfume. Troubled dark eyes. Instead, all I got were commuters with faces stamped from the same gray mold, clutching briefcases like alibis. The train exhaled its living drones, nobody looking back. Soon, the doors closed and the train pulled away, taking its answers with it. I stood still, watching the fog swallow up the departing train.

I lit a cigarette I didn’t need and thought about the call that started this mess. His voice was like gravel in a glass, saying her name like a confession. She’d apparently crossed the wrong people, and now everyone wanted her found. Each for different reasons. He needed to find her first.

In professions like mine, you don’t always catch what you’re chasing. And in this case, I was okay with that. I didn’t know what the dame did, but I felt sorry for her. Turning her over to a fate that I am sure would be about as pleasant as a stick in the eye was not an assignment I should have accepted in the first place.

But while I was not that bothered about her being a no show on that train, I knew that the guy who hired me was not the type to be trifled with. I worried that I had just painted a target on my own back.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Tobias Reich @ Unsplash.

Six Sentence Story — Compare and Contrast

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Each American political party has a platform, which is a statement of the party’s values, principles, and policy positions and that outlines the party’s vision for the future and the specific steps it plans to take to achieve its goals.

One American political party’s platform is exclusive while the other’s is inclusive.

One wants to roll back many human rights, while the other wants to guarantee and expand them.

One sees climate change as a hoax while the other sees it as an existential threat to human life in the future.

One sees immigrants as vermin while the other sees them as humans seeking a better life.

One caters to greed and wealth while the other works to help those in need.

Written for the Sunday Six Sentence Story prompt from Girlie on the Edge, where the prompt word is “platform.” Image credit: decisionmagazine.com.

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — July 14th

Fandango22 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Flashback Friday post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (14th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on July 14, 2017.

I’m Considering Dropping WordPress

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I’m seriously thinking about dropping WordPress. Well, from my blog’s URL that is.

It’s not because I have anything against having “.wordpress” in my blog’s web address. To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit about that. Especially since keeping “.wordpress” in the URL saves me some money. And I’m all about saving money.

But apparently my blog has become popular enough recently that ads are starting to show up on my posts. I realize that in life there’s no such thing as a free ride, or free lunch, or free market, or whatever that expression is. I also understand that we live in a capitalist society and somebody’s got to pay.

I appreciate that WordPress is providing a valuable service by enabling thousands — nay, millions — of us with this free blogging platform and that it takes effort and costs money to keep it going.

And, for the most part, I think the folks at WordPress are doing a damn fine job of it. It’s easy to use, there are many free themes (templates) available, and you can pretty much tailor the look of your blog any way you want.

That said, having advertisements displayed on my posts seems tacky to me. It’s pure unadulterated, crass commercialism.

Plus, I’m not a fan of ads. I rarely watch live TV because of that. I watch shows I’ve DVR’d so that I can fast forward through the commercials. Why would I want to have ads on my blog?

And so I’m torn. Should I continue to take advantage of the free blogging platform and not worry about burdening you, my readers, with ads? Or should I fork over 36 bucks a year so that my blog will be ad free?

To help me decide, I have three questions for you.

First, do advertisements appearing on blog posts annoy you?

Second, have you dropped “.wordpress” from your blog’s URL by purchasing an upgrade so that advertisements won’t show up on your posts (or for some other reason)?

Third, if so, was it worth it?

Thanks for you responses.

My Political Platform

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“My fellow Republicans, my political platform’s emphasis will be on promoting goodwill to one and all real Americans. No one, not even those wood-headed, woke, elitist, rich, and famous liberals, will treat true American patriots like a doormat and walk all over them. A princely sum will be spent on protecting the rights of the innocent unborn, on promoting family values and that marriage is between one man and one woman, on combating the attempts by those promoting the teaching of Critical Race Theory to make Christian white Americans feel guilty about their bigotry and racism, on fighting illegal or even legal voting by minorities, on banning books in schools that we believe corrupt the impressionable minds of our children, on strengthening the Second Amendment, on reducing the tax burden on large corporations and the wealthiest among us, and on packing the courts with conservative justices.

“My name is [fill in the blank with any Republican politician’s name] and I approve this message.”

This sarcastic post was written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (emphasis), My Vivid Blog (wood), Ragtag Daily Prompt (doormat), Word of the Day Challenge (princely), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (spent), and E.M’s Random Word Prompt (bigotry)

FOWC with Fandango — Platform

Fandango21 Comments

FOWCWelcome to May 10, 2020 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 “platform.”

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.

Fandango’s Friday Flashback — May 8

Fandango22 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of you earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 8th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This post was originally published on May 8, 2018. It was written for that day’s daily one-word prompt from WordPress, “rapid.”

Rapid Transit

441E04ED-AA8B-4E7E-9770-6A27CE143635Eugene looked at his watch as his patience was running thin. He looked at the overhead display. It read “NEXT TRAIN IN FIVE MINUTES.” It had said that for the last three minutes.

Eugene looked around at the others waiting on the platform. No one else seemed bothered by the delay. Some were reading books, magazines, or newspapers. Others had their eyes glued to their smartphones, and still others were moving to the beat of silent music heard only by them through their earbuds.

“We’re like a group of lemmings,” Eugene thought, “standing at the precipice just waiting to step off.”

Eugene looked at his watch again. Then he heard the rumble of the subway train heading into the station. He looked towards the tunnel and saw the train’s light growing brighter.

“Finally,” Eugene said aloud. But then he heard some grumbling from the crowd on the platform. He looked up and saw that the display had changed to “TRAIN WON’T STOP” as it rumble through the station.

“Rapid transit my ass,” he said.

Twittering Tales — Foiled Again

Fandango7 Comments

CBE288FF-C485-4C33-9008-EDCC77DAEEA4The detective stood patiently waiting in the cold rain. As the train pulled up to the platform, he flicked his cigarette aside.

But he knew, as soon as he saw the cop who was escorting the prisoner get off the train alone, that the bastard he’d been pursuing had foiled him again.

(279 characters)

Written for this week’s Twittering Tales prompt from Kat Myrman. Photo credit: Pexel2013 at Pixabay.com.

Rapid Transit

Fandango10 Comments

441E04ED-AA8B-4E7E-9770-6A27CE143635Eugene looked at his watch as his patience was running thin. He looked at the overhead display. It read “NEXT TRAIN IN FIVE MINUTES.” It had said that for the last three minutes.

Eugene looked around at the others waiting on the platform. No one else seemed bothered by the delay. Some were reading books, magazines, or newspapers, others had their eyes glued to their smartphones, and still others were moving to the beat of silent music heard only by them through their earbuds.

“We’re like a group of lemmings,” Eugene thought, “standing at the precipice just waiting to step off.”

Eugene looked at his watch again. Then he heard the rumble of the subway train heading into the station. He looked towards the tunnel and saw the train’s light growing brighter.

“Finally,” Eugene said aloud. But then he heard some grumbling from the crowd on the platform. He looked up and saw that the display had changed to “TRAIN WON’T STOP” as it rumble through the station.

“Rapid transit my ass,” he said.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “rapid.”

100WW — The Platform

Fandango7 Comments

As hard as he tried, Bill couldn’t deny that the situation he found himself in was his fault. How had his life gone so wrong? How had he hurt so many of those he loved? His wife. His children.

The electronic sign on the platform showed that the next train would be arriving in two minutes. Two minutes and then it would all be over. The world would be better off without him. Of that he was certain.

Bill stepped closer to the edge of the platform as the train approached the station. Could he do it? Could he jump?

(100 words)

This is a twofer. Written for today’s one-word prompt, “deny,” and for Bikurgurl’s 100 Word Wednesday prompt based upon the photo above.

I’m Considering Dropping WordPress

Fandango21 Comments

IMG_2410

I’m seriously thinking about dropping WordPress. Well, from my blog’s URL that is.

It’s not because I have anything against having “.wordpress” in my blog’s web address. To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit about that. Especially since keeping “.wordpress” in the URL saves me some money. And I’m all about saving money.

But apparently my blog has become popular enough recently that ads are starting to show up on my posts. I realize that in life there’s no such thing as a free ride, or free lunch, or free market, or whatever that expression is. I also understand that we live in a capitalist society and somebody’s got to pay.

I appreciate that WordPress is providing a valuable service by enabling thousands — nay, millions — of us with this free blogging platform and that it takes effort and costs money to keep it going.

And, for the most part, I think the folks at WordPress are doing a damn fine job of it. It’s easy to use, there are many free themes (templates) available, and you can pretty much tailor the look of your blog any way you want.

That said, having advertisements displayed on my posts seems tacky to me. It’s pure unadulterated, crass commercialism.

Plus, I’m not a fan of ads. I rarely watch live TV because of that. I watch shows I’ve DVR’d so that I can fast forward through the commercials. Why would I want to have ads on my blog?

And so I’m torn. Should I continue to take advantage of the free blogging platform and not worry about burdening you, my readers, with ads? Or should I fork over 36 bucks a year so that my blog will be ad free?

To help me decide, I have three questions for you.

First, do advertisements appearing on blog posts annoy you?

Second, have you dropped “.wordpress” from your blog’s URL by purchasing an upgrade so that advertisements won’t show up on your posts (or for some other reason)?

Third, if so, was it worth it?

Thanks for you responses.