Writing Challenges 2021

The Air Pirates

/ animar64 / Leave a comment

RDP Monday: BREATHLESS

Karl Hubbuch, “They Live in the Same House”

I ride the train with this clutch of ladies who love to talk and chit chat- they say it in jest, but they “invite”  people who make them laugh or say amusing things to ‘ride with them’.

If you’re invited to ride with them that means you can sit in their area up front and laugh and talk and sort of spark the car to life. In fact, they make it so lively and sparky that people who are trying to talk on their phones or have conversations outside of  ” Golden Girls Club ” as they were nicknamed by the conductor,  have to walk to the next car.

I could do, but I have a wonky knee so on some days I like to use the ramp ( this is the ADA car ) so moving to another car is a hassle, plus if I ride this car when we get to the stop I can get to the crossing and my Jeep faster.

Most of the time, I don’t care how loud they are or how obnoxious they are when they think they’re being funny. When I’m not amused I just kick back and use  what they say or how they act  for plot lines and base characters on them for my horror stories. It passes the time.

I also sit at the other end of the car and as far away from them as possible.

Last Friday one of the Golden Girls ( anyone can be a Golden Girl, even guys ) asked where a couple of the other Golden Girls were and I heard that  two of them tested positive for Covid.

I guess running at the mouth isn’t such a good when you have no idea what can be coming out of it.

And if you’re curious that ride was uncharacteristically  quiet that day.

Video Killed The Radio Star

/ animar64 / 2 Comments

Challenge: Song Lyric Sunday

For today’s song lyric Sunday Jim Adams asked us to pick a song that featured electronic communication devices (pagers, iPhone, Android, fax machine, computer, TV).

I could think of one song that answered that challenge.

Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles is a straight forward song-there was an uprising of technology and it not only obliterated everything in it’s path, it recreated the wreckage in it’s own image.

So this somewhat simple song that was the first video played by MTV was actually a window ( see what I did there? ) to what was coming.

I love the Web and  I love my laptop but do you know  what I miss?

Dial tones and that pop and hiss that records made when you played them late at night.

anita

I heard you on my wireless back in ’52
Lying awake, intent at tuning in on you
If I was young, it didn’t stop you coming through
Oh-a, oh-a
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine and new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see

Oh-a oh-a
I met your children
Oh-a oh-a
What did you tell them?

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh-a-a-a oh

And now we meet in an abandoned studio
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go

Oh-a oh-a
You were the first one
Oh-a oh-a
You are the last one

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far

Oh-a-aho oh
Oh-a-aho oh

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star

In my mind and in my car
We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VCR

You are a radio star
You are a radio star

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star

Songwriters: Trevor Horn, Geoffrey Downes, Bruce Woolley

Night Light

/ animar64 / Leave a comment

RDP Saturday:  Variegated Skies

When I saw today’s RDP prompt, my mind jumped straight to the works of Victorian era artist John Atkinson Grimshaw.

Grimshaw’s art tells a  wonderful story and the story teller here is the night  light that gives voice and expression to  everything it touches. The trees, the buildings,the clouds, the figures traveling along the roads paved with granite and wet dark earth. Each of these elements add something to the narrative.

John Grimshaw is famous for his night scapes, so the story might be a dark one but it’s a lively and invigorating one all the same.

I hope you enjoy the samples of John A Grimshaw’s work I selected to illustrate my post today.

Anita

John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) Nearing home

Near Hackness, a Moonlit Scene with Pine Trees

Well That Was A Pleasant Surprise!

/ animar64 / 2 Comments

For Linda G Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday : Opposites.”

Gertrude Abercrombie

On Fridays I like to pingback to Fandango’s Flashback Friday because I have gone back through my archieves- in some cases all the way back to 2006 and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at what I found.

Some of my older work wasn’t half bad, not bad at all. What can I say? I was happy with what I saw. As I went through my blog I had moments of ” I wrote that, really?” and I mean that in a good way. On the other hand there were other pieces where I missed the mark, but I’m proud of those pieces too because even if they weren’t great I worked hard on them.

However what I have been avoiding this year as I’ve done Flashback Friday is looking at anything I wrote towards the end of 2019 through 2020. I was sure I would find some grim work- and it would not be in the” lol isn’t that weird ” grim way.

What I found from that time frame turned out to be the exact opposite of what I expected to find. What I found in my work was that even though that feeling was popping up, I wasn’t exactly drowning in despair. From what I saw I working on focus and trying out new things ( like poetry and subject matter ).

So I’d like to give a shout out to FANDANGO and his challenge because who knows? I may have ignored that time frame all together and missed out o on seeing a big step I took in my writing.