Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
She didn’t wear a raspberry beret. Her capris were black, and her chill shirt was raspberry, with matching raspberry shoes and sunglasses, and short, raspberry and silver.
Seeing her, he gasped. Raspberry woman. He wondered what her secret powers were.
Stimflooflus (floofinition) – 1. Something done by a pet or animal that rouses or incites to activity, such as howls, growls, yowls, meows, and barks, or running. 2. Activity, sound, or command that rouses or incites an animal’s actions.
In use: “A howl was followed by frantic barking, stimflooflus to her getting out of bed, because Lennon was warning her, someone is coming to the door.”
Heard this on the radio this morning in the car. After parking, I listened through to the end. Nothing was in English, so I didn’t understand it, but I enjoyed many elements. After heading out to write and walking a few miles, I reached the coffee shop, powered up the ‘puting machine, and found the song.
“Sastanàqqàm” by Tinariwen was released in 2017. Wikipedia tells me that Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg refugees playing desert blues. The song’s lyrics fascinate me.
Hope you give it a listen and enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers
The house was always silent except for his quiet and her cats. He was aware of how much he sighed, and the cats…the cats were always darting underfoot, jumping up onto the furniture, counters, and tables, and peering around corners.
Flowers and plants were everywhere. He’d told everyone to send money to her causes in lieu of flowers and that shit, but…well, here they were. Here he was.
She was always trying to get him to eat healthy. The ‘frig was lousy with salmon and salad ingredients. Sighing (but what else?), he prepared the salmon per the instructions, sharing some with the cats, who were enthusiastic in their enjoyment, and made a salmon Caesar salad and poured a glass of wine for himself. Eating, he told himself, for her, chewing and swallowing the despised flavors, washing it down with wine.
For her.
Floof Message (floofinition) – texts or emails whose subject center around housepets.
In use: “When she was away, her Mom would line up Cricket and Ellie, take a photo of them, and floof message her daughter the photo with a humorous caption, usually about the dogs wanting Rachel’s return so they could be properly fed.”
Telefloofic (floofinition) – a pet with an appearance and manner that are markedly attractive to television viewers.
In use: “Tardar Sauce, nicknamed Grumpy Cat, was a telefloofic animal who always seemed to be disapproving of the world.”
Going through some papers yesterday evening, I decided, I’m throwing this all away.
My mind is like Siri or Alexa. “Playing Genesis, “Throwing It All Away”.
Me: “What? No! I never — ”
“Throwing It All Away” begins.
Me: “Stop it! Stop it!”
But the mind no longer hears. It’s singing along. “Throwing It All Away” continues on an endless loop until I go to sleep. Then it starts up again this morning.
So, here’s a little soft pop-rock for you day. From 1986.
Michael Seidel, writer 