Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Eighteen percent of The Light of Memories remains to be edited and revised in the third revision session. Small percentage but over a hundred pages. Once it’s done, another round of reading it through will begin. Figure I’ll read and edit until I reach the point that I’m not confused by anything I’m reading, that it reads smoothly and fully, that I’m not pausing to make corrections.
Then I’ll offer it to others. So, maybe this century. If not, the next.
1973 found me living in West Virginia, having moved there the previous year, after moving to Ohio from Pennsylvania, and a high school junior. Yeah, changes were underway.
1983 – an adult, in the military, married, stationed on Okinawa with trips to Korea, China, and Japan that year
1993 – still married and in the military, in Sunnyvale, California
2003 – retired from military but still married, living in Half Moon Bay, California, working for IBM
2013 – married and in Ashland, Oregon, still with IBM
2023 – Ashland, married, retired from everything except writing
Different places and careers through the years, but the same marriage since ’75
Ron delivers again.
Coin, Flipped
I had a dream: I murdered her husband
and she showed up at his funeral
in his all-time favorite red dress.
“But you should wear black to funerals,”
everyone kept telling her. I agreed, as I
offered up my insincere condolences.
“I know; I know,” she told me, adding
“But he loved this red dress so much
and I’m saving all my blacks for you.”
“For Me?” I responded, waking suddenly
when my front doorbell sounded and I
found her there, gun in hand, waiting.
—————[|||]—————
Tuesday Twiglet #322
~ you wear black ~
———[||]———
Writer’s Digest P-A-D #25
~ Dream / Reality ~
——[||]——
’tis sunny enough for a shadeless desert but the sun is just waking the air’s warmth. 42 F outside but the weather sultans tell me 73 F is possible for Ashlandia today. The people are rejoicing. Sunshine’s appearance began about 6:15 this morning and will go until a few minutes after eight. The cats are happy with the weather, snoozing in sunshine in the front or back yard. Rest of the week is looking good. Summer is sliding toward us and gaining speed.
It’s Tuesday, April 25, 2023 today. A quiet time in Ashlandia, but it’s early. Politics are still ramping up. Homeless are camping out in a park. How much money is enough money for the Parks & Rec folks? What’s going on with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival? A cougar killed another deer in someone’s yard. Pets are missing and folks are worried.
Another storm of dreams has The Neurons rocking the morning mental music stream with “Rockin’ Into the Night” by 38 Special. The song came out in 1983, a good year for my kind of rock music. On Okinawa in service of the USAF at that time. This was one of those songs that became cranked in volume so we could sing along off key. It’s a good song for that purpose. I suspect that 1983 came up because I’ve been reflecting on life and recall that I broke my neck in 1982 on Okinawa. Wore a halo device for most of the humid Pacific summer. Anyway, part of me was saying, geez, that was forty-three years ago next month. Zowie.
A note on posting via WordPress. I was having issues. The issues grew, not just with WordPress but anything being used on MS Edge. I worked on fixing Edge for a while. Nothing worked. Yes, all the usual things. Anyway, I switched to Chrome this morning in frustration. Voila, as they say. No issues.
Seize the coffee. I’ve seized mine and slurped some down with a post-breakfast muffin. Window repair man coming to fix one that took a hit during a wind storm. It’s an outside panel. The inner one remains intact, so some heat loss but we weren’t exposed or anything. Stay pos and work the day.
Cheers
FISS – (floofinition) – Floof Impaired Sleep Syndrome; condition where rest is disrupted by animals. Usually associated with housepets.
In use: “Between Tucker hunting down Michael’s hand for some nocturnal loving and Papi’s demands to go out and back (times four), Michael sometimes suffers FISS and needs a cuppa coffee just to start feeling human in the AM.”
I was in an ocean with others. Waves bobbed, moving me, but the water rose to my chest and I was standing on the sea floor. We were all waiting to hear if we were released by our company. We were all almost certain we were, so we were eager for a new position somewhere.
I’d learned of an opening and applaud, writing up a small resume of my skills and experience. The water shifted into a large room. People were at workstations, busy with their tasks. I’d never worked in an environment like that, I thought. Always had at least a cubicle but mostly had an office. Someone from the potential new company said, “We’ve set up a mock up of the new position workstation.” We all went up to take a look.
The station looked like a toy. Small green desk, tiny green chair, hardback, with a cushioned seat, and a small task lamp. A man was asleep beside it. No computer or phone. Someone asked if there would be a computer provided. “No,” was the answer given, “computers aren’t needed for this position.”
Disappointment roiled through me. I knew, I’m not getting that position. After soaking in that for a few minutes, I learned that I didn’t get the position. I also learned of friends and co-workers and their positions. I decided I would appeal to them. See if they could put in a word for me, knew of an opening, or hire me as their assistant.
Dream end.
He always bought her earrings when he traveled. He thought she would like some dangling seaglass ones with a smalls silver hoop. Arriving home, he carefully added it to the collection. Someday he’d meet her, and he’d watch her eyes when he gave her the earrings.
He was certain she’d have beautiful eyes.
It was a whole night of dreams again. In one, I was looking for employment after being released in a — well, I’ll do that in another post. Maybe.
Cloudy spring day rolling through Monday, 4/24/23 or 23/24/4. Almost sounds like a Chicago song title. Almost. Song is playing in my head now, though. Temperature is 45. 6:16 and 8:02 are the morning and evening numbers for Ashlandia’s sunrise and sunset. Humidity is declared 86%. Weather underlings slipped the word, high is 61 F.
Huh, breaking news, Tucker Carlson is out of Fox News. Gosh, I wonder what THAT’s all about.
In family news, a younger sister is sick. Deets aren’t coming yet. Little sisters #2 and #3 don’t know what’s up with #1. Mom has deets but didn’t share. #1 little sister, grandmother to two, always shades her life with secrecy.
Uncle B, 79, had a fifth heart attack. Had his first when he was 45, followed by open heart surgery. He’s been dealing since. I hear that steroid therapy is to be attempted. Don’t know more yet. Mom has that info, too. When I thought of Uncle B, I thought of him as the favorite. Not true. He’s youngest of Dad’s siblings — Dad is he oldest, 91 — but they’re all very alike, smart, good sense of humor, friendly, fun to be with. Dad is the different one.
Cats are doing well, thanks. With the clouds taking over, they’ve remained in and are sleeping in the living room.
Today’s song is “I Can Change” by LCD Soundsystems, 2010. I haven’t heard it for a while, but Alex Borstein and her companions played it on her comedy show on Prime. The Neurons heard it and now it’s in the morning mental music stream, although it shared the space with “25 or 6 to 4” for a wee while. I enjoyed her show, which was more than comedy. It’s information rich, too. For examp., I learned about a mush tat. Yeah, look it up.
Stay as pos as you can, which can sometimes be a sigh-pulling, deep breaths experience. Least for me. May your Monday be better than you planned it. Here’s the coffee and music. Cheers
