writing prompts 2024

A Word With The Manager Please

/ animar64 / Leave a comment

Dear White House dot Gov:

I think that before President Biden leaves the White House, he should set up a website called

ESGUSODA FI

ESGUSODA FI is Welsh for

Pardon Me.

So if you are a person of color, if you are a journalist, if you have more Republicans sniffing around your hoochie  then there are stars in the Universe and YOU  had the audacity to tell them to take their noses and hands elsewhere, if you are someone that Republicans define as ” woke ” then there should be a form  you can fill out and when all of the names are in, President Biden should issue a blanket Pardon to everyone on it.

We saw what happened when President Biden issued a Pardon to his son in order to protect him from an unhinged Trust Fund Baby who danced on stage for 40 minutes because Trump THOUGHT out of all the ideas that he has had this was a great idea.

A lot of people lost their collective brain cell.

There was no NEED to make a move like that cried the Republicans.

Oh sure, if I were Hunter’s Mom, I’d leave my son to the Mercy of a deranged convicted felon with his tiny little hands on the nuclear launch code.

Psyche.

I’d go full on Anne Wilkes ( from Misery) on my Pardon-Issueing President Husband and I insist he write out a pardon.

Annie Wilkes: God came to me last night and told me your purpose for being here. I am going to help you write a new book  PARDON

Paul Sheldon: You think I can just whip one out?

Annie Wilkes: Oh, but I don’t think Paul, I know.

I should add that some Democrats in office thought Hunter’s pardon was ‘bad for America and Democracy ‘ and of course so did a lot of people in the media but you know what:

I have zero F*&Ks to give where THOSE stains on democracy think. Ignore them. They’re jerks.

So my idea is AWESOME even though it may sound like a joke and it made me laugh.

But it’s not as if my funny bone has been tickled and I’m laughing with mirth.

All of the hairs stand up on my neck when I think about Trump and his cabinet chock full convicts and rapists and thieves descending upon the White House to finish off the devastation he created the last time he was there.

ATLANTIC MAGAZINE COVER: OCTOBER 2024

For FOWC: MANAGER

The Shift

/ animar64 / 1 Comment

If I could change one thing about myself, I would embrace my dark heart and empty soul.

I’d smile less and grimace more

I would growl instead of speaking clearly and directly.

If I could change one thing about myself it would be to become the person I know that I really am.

I would be happier, I know that for certain.

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Ripley’s Museum
October 2024
Dells, Wisconsin USA

My Wingdog

/ animar64 / 6 Comments

Hamish Macbeth
Photo Pualani K.

There are service dogs that guide the blind and service dogs that can detect when their person is about to have a seizure, these wonderful dogs can even be trained to take care of their person during medical events and stress related events.

My dog doesn’t fall under the category of a service dog, or an emotional support animal ( even though he sort of does both things anyway ). None the less, my dog sees things for me that I can’t.

I am not visually impaired, I don’t have health issues.  The thing is I am a really very bad judge of character, which means that the people I let close to me do me dirt, the people I  think I can’t  actually trust  turn out to be great friends. It’s a blindness all the same and my dog helps me through it.

Hamish has a good sense about people, I can tell right off the bat by his demeanor if this is a person I should talk to, be around or trust.

I’ve noticed that there are people Hamish  loves being around- you can see it in his body language, in his eyes, the way he brings them toys and watches their faces when they talk to him. He literally shivers with glee.

Then there are people he sort of hangs around and just keeps his eye on.

He will interact with them, he is friendly, but there is something about the ways he keeps his eye on them that I suppose hearkens back to his bloodline. I’ve never used him for hunting, but I’ve had hunters offer me top dollar to breed him because his raw talent is that obvious. With training, he’d be a great hunting dog like his Dad Leroy and his Grandma Mocha and his Mom and great grandparents too.

You’d never guess by his carefree spirit, but Hamish comes from a long line of champion hunting and tracking dogs.

So he will keep track of these people until they leave- his attention span is scary long. That means if you show up on his radar you are going to stay there until you leave the room. If you show up again he will act the same way.

I’ve learned to give those people that Hamish feels like he needs to track a lot of  space.

And when we are out and we run into strangers that he has an issue with,  he isn’t that subtle- he’ll stand, do that pointing thing that tracking dogs- right at them – and then he will turn and want to walk away.

He doesn’t lead me on his walks, but when he calls time I always listen to him.

My instincts suck, but Hamish Macbeth’s do not.

In dog I trust.

Hamish Macbeth
Photo P.C. Knapp

London Calling

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“London Calling” comes from the World War II introduction for BBC radio broadcasts to foreign countries: “This is London Calling. The news from Britain – up-to-the-minute, truthful.”

I don’t listen to Podcasts, I will never listen to Podcasts because no matter how sexy you make the format look talk radio is talk radio and I HATED talk radio.

Basically in talk radio ( podcasts ) you put on your headphones or whatever and you shut your mouth and you listen- sometimes for hours upon hours. In that time frame, you can’t question what you hear, I don’t think you’re supposed to. The talker show host says things that lights up your brain. The only person you connect to is the host and I find that a little off putting. I can’t put my finger on it. But I really don’t want somebody I don’t know in my head like that.

I know that there are Podcasts that broadcast subjects I like- stories about the paranormal – but even with the promise I could hear some neat stuff, I give it a pass.

I get the idea that podcasts are just a new way of communicating news and ideas and that format builds and supports communities, but that doesn’t mean I have to live there, you  know?

Sometimes I forget my phone at home or in my Jeep when I go to work or out and about when I’m doing errands.

I stopped going back for it when I realized how quiet it is when my phone isn’t on me.

The only time- the only single exception is when I am out with my dog. For some reason I don’t like to be cut off from ‘the world’ when my dog is with me. What if something happened and I couldn’t take care of him, or one of us gets hurt? Yeah. That’s my line in the sand.

I’m not one of those people who longs to live off the grid, I just don’t want every aspect of my life to be tied to it.