Tag: writing

Live Novel Friday…

Wiwohka7 Comments

The Wharf…

Episode V

Keeping the baby in her room that first night wasn’t all that difficult, as the tiny creatures satisfied himself with snuggling into Maiyah’s favorite pillow, and sleeping the night away. Most likely, the little creature hadn’t slept much while hiding in the fish shed. She assumed he’d been there for at least two or three days, before she was able to lure him out from behind the old fish barrel.

Once they’d safely made it to her room, he simply crawled up onto her bed and fell fast asleep. It was a good thing that he was so tired. Maiyah had a days’ worth of choring to catch up on, before anyone were the wiser.

Quickly clearing the dishes from the tables, she set about getting them washed, dried and put away before Ollie made his way down from his room. The ogre ran the tavern into the wee hours of the morning, so he rarely woke before the noon hour. This gave her time to catch up on the dishes that waited for her, within the kitchen.

Once the dishes were clean, Maiyah slipped up the tavern’s back stairs to check on the little one. Opening her bedroom door, she was appalled at the scene awaiting her arrival…

The tiny little monster had somehow chewed through one of her bedposts, made a mess of all her clothing, and was happily gnawing on one of her shoes. Apparently, the baby was teething something fierce!

There was nothing she could do about the mess til her shift ended, so Maiyah retrieved the broken wood, but left the baby happily chewing on her favorite boot. Perhaps Ollie would replace her ruined things, once she handed him the baby. One could always hope for the ogre to have an understanding nature, though she had her doubts.

That day would not be one to approach the ogre, as she’d seen what a mess had befallen the tavern on the previous night. Ollie was forced to break up numerous brawls, and finally had to close the tavern, just to clear out the drunken offenders and mop up all the spilled ale. It had been a costly night for the tavern…

Ollie went to bed very angry, if all the mess and broken furnishings weren’t enough evidence.

Maiyah would have to wait at least another day, or two. It usually took the ogre time to regain his composure after losing his temper. She would manage the little boot chewer a bit longer, for Ollie’s sake.

Returning to her chores, Maiyah made one last sweep of the kitchen and dining area, before Ollie came down. Assured that nothing was amiss, she headed out behind the tavern to finish the days washing…

With laundry washed, and hung out to dry, Maiyah made her way inside to help serve the lunch crowd that were already filling the tavern’s tables. Once the customers began exiting, she quickly cleared their plates, making sure to stuff any leftover food into her apron. It was less likely that anyone would notice food disappearing, this way. She could simply pick up a few edible bits from off the plates she cleared, here and there. The scraps would have otherwise been thrown out, anyway.

When she returned to her room that afternoon, she cleaned up the mess made by the baby and repaired her half eaten bed post. The baby sat on the floor, happily eating the food she’d managed to pilfer from the dining room. Once full, the baby began to yawn, and then settled down into a pile of clothing in the corner of the room…

Watching the baby drift of to sleep, softly murmuring to himself, Maiyah considered what her options were. Though he was adorable and sweet, she would run herself ragged if she were to try keeping him hidden in her room, much longer. She was only one person, and it wouldn’t do to simply let the baby crawl around her room, unattended, for all the hours of the day, while she was working. She would give it one more day.

One more day came, and then went. Yet another fight broke out that night, just as the night before…

And, again, Ollie had to break up the fight. Once more, the tavern had to be closed, repaired, and mopped up.

And, another day came and went…

Maiyah was beginning to think that there was never going to be a favorable moment to tell Ollie about his son…

It had been a full week of drunken brawls, broken tables, and shattered kegs of valuable ale. To live upon the wharf, one had to be accustomed to violence and chaos, nearly every day. It hadn’t been Maiyah’s choice to work in a tavern, but it had been Ollie’s choice in the owning and running of said establishment. Ollie would have to be given the letter soon, along with handing over Brugo, the grumpy ogre’s own responsibility.

Knowing it was time to reveal the baby was one thing, but knowing how to do it was another thing, all together. Maiyah couldn’t just slap the letter on the bar and fling the baby at Ollie. If she wanted to do the right thing, and keep her job, diplomacy was definitely in order.

Should she give Ollie the baby first, or the letter?

What’s in the letter, aside from telling Ollie that the baby is his?

And, where is Brugo’s mother?

Thursday Thoughts…

Wiwohka9 Comments

Part of me wants to complain, and the other part of me really wants to poke fun at WordPress. Honestly, I don’t think they’ve any concern over what goes on within their own company. That is, unless we count all the business accounts that spam the feed.

Reality has been surfacing over this last year, as to how little WordPress cares for any account that doesn’t produce the money. I’ve watched countless ads surfacing across Facebook, and the like, touting how great WordPress is for business accounts.

The tide is changing for bloggers, with AI becoming the new typing assistant for many writers. It’s discouraging, to say the least.

Site after site has begun seeking prompts from other venues, just to submit posts out on the feed. Doesn’t it make more sense to just move to that venue, if the prompts are better. Why are we giving WordPress any time at all, if we have to leave the platform in order to find a good prompt?

How many years in a row do I have to tell my readers which holidays are my favorite? Did they suddenly change from last year? Am I that fickle?

I have the strong urge to throat punch whomever it was that invented the job title of Happiness Engineer. Where are they? And, what is it, exactly, that they actually do? For the last two weeks, I can’t even comment on half of my subscribers sites, even though I am a fellow subscriber. I see numerous other sites writing about their struggle with technical issues that seem to never get resolved.

My renewal deadline is coming up in the next two weeks, and I’m letting it go delinquent. I’ve had that little button added to my site for the last two months, but as I don’t have any monetary sites that follow mine, there hasn’t been any gift subscriptions arriving. It’s probably for the better, as I’m not sure the cost pays for anything other than extra photo storage. I know my illustration work will suffer for it, but it is what it is.

While I’ve written numerous pieces of literary works, in an attempt at being a part of something wonderful, it seems to have become nothing more than myself doing all the heavy lifting. Comments are virtually becoming like that of a ghost town, with only a few tumble weeds of words drifting down a dusty street.

For this reason, I pulled my first full length novel off the feed over a year ago, finishing it privately. I do much of my real writing offline now, and plan to begin my own publishing journey within the next few months. It wasn’t that only few read along with me, but even fewer took the time to comment, or answer my questions.

Over time, it has become more of me out there liking and commenting on some of the nearly 1700 subscribers that follow my site. The comparative numbers are staggering! While I spend nearly two hours a day reading and commenting on a minimum of nearly sixty active accounts, my numbers usually never exceed sixty to eighty total visits, and or likes. The comments section hasn’t been working, lately, but I think that is the fault of our HappyMess EngiSneers.

Though I have no intention of leaving the platform, my writing choices are changing, and I’m choosing to pursue only those accounts that I know are active members, and dear friends. If you hadn’t picked up on it yet, I no longer have the energy to devote to a project that get’s 5 views and no comments! Barnyard Business will be moving to a new venue, and any publishing work will also be held private.

The trend for free this and free that, has turned the value of words into Bantha Fodder!

** According to Google, Bantha fodder” is a Star Wars phrase referring to the food eaten by banthas, often used as a synonym for nonsense, lies, or worthless material, similar to “@#*$&%@* or “bull crap”. It is commonly associated with the Huttese phrase “bantha poodoo” (bantha fodder) used by characters like Jabba the Hutt to mean something foul or low-quality. **

While I have never sought to become wealthy, I do have to make a living. If something is worth having, it’s worth paying for, and I believe that there is value within the pages of my work. I could say that I’m sorry for not sharing my dreams with you, but no apology will be forthcoming.

We now live in a day and age where anything you put out on the internet is subject to being stolen by ai bots, or plagiarized by someone without the skill to write anything of value by their own hand.

Google’s AI overview,

Plagiarize means to steal and pass off another person’s ideas, words, or creative work as your own without proper attribution. It is a serious form of academic and professional dishonesty, often called “literary theft”. Penalties include failing assignments, suspension, or expulsion, while legal implications can include lawsuits for copyright infringement. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Types of Plagiarism

  • Verbatim: Copying text word-for-word without quotation marks or credit.
  • Mosaic/Patchwork: Taking phrases from various sources and patching them together.
  • Paraphrasing: Improperly changing a few words while keeping the original structure.
  • Self-Plagiarism: Submitting your own previous work without permission or citation. [1, 2, 3]

I don’t know where things will lead me, though I have every confidence that it will be beautiful. If you desire to continue on this journey with me, I welcome you, as I always have.

If we’re to hold to the very fiber that makes us the writers that we claim to be, we need to stand beside one another, and take back all that which is being systematically stolen from under our very online noses. Avoid sites that are clearly spamming the platform, pursue other bloggers who write free form, and not chatgpt, or one of the other ai writing assistant programs.

If you want to write, learn how to do it like the rest of us… good ole blood, sweat, and often times, many tears. Don’t let ignorance be your excuse for utilizing a computer program to do your work for you. Are we to stand back in complacency, as your libraries become clogged with nothing more than pre-programmed algorithms.

I want to move against the tide, and forge a path straight into the heart of the worlds literary sea.

Join with me in becoming the keepers of true literary treasures; handwritten history, truly inspired poetry, courageous adventures, and tales of ancient hero’s and heroines.

I truly believe that these artificial computer programs will never be able to capture hearts, like the stories of old… the ones truly dreamt about, before the ink ever stained the paper they were written upon. Help me prove it!

Tuesday Tinkering…

Wiwohka2 Comments

You know, it’s been some time since we’ve really worked with Squagon’s images. The OpenArt upgrades arrived, and I got totally sidetracked with all the new bells and whistles.

It’s time we went back and worked on our favorite flying squirrel. The upcoming summer events will be requiring a good many images of our intrepid squirrel/pirate, as he’ll be the focus of our crew’s adventurous expeditions.

While I can’t really tell you what those adventures are, as of yet, you can certainly help me pull up some images that we’ll all love seeing, once we set sail. Don’t worry. I won’t leave anyone at the docks. I give my solemn oath!

Anyway, let’s see what we can come up with for our fun loving, flying furball…

If you hadn’t noticed the problem yet, let me fill you in… his tail looks pitiful! Let me see if I can fix that…

Good grief! All I did was ask the ai to make his tail much fluffier than it was, but things got a bit out of hand. Let’s adjust our request to say make his tail somewhat fluffier…

The reason I’m showing you these images is to reflect the sensitivity of OpenArt’s new chat editing feature. Sometimes Norbert, as I call him, likes to take an idea and run with it, often ending in disastrous results. At other times, if I use the right wording or the image is simple enough to fix, this new feature works out rather well. I’m not saying that I want to use this image, but it gives me a bit more confidence about some of the finer adjustments needed, if I want to perfect certain scenes.

Do you notice how the image feels somewhat photorealistic, while still having a bit of that whimsical softness. I think it brings Squagon more depth of personality vs. an actual image of a squirrel. I’m able to give him an endearing quality that reaches deeper than just a plain old, backyard peanut thief! What do you think?

Honestly, I think it has more to do with the program understanding my query, than it does about my skills as an artist. I am a writer, not a painter, nor sculptor, nor full-time national geographic photojournalist, though I may have done well as a traveling writer. The only way I can communicate with any of you is through my literary donations, here on WordPress. For that, I need the help of an art platform that can assist me in portraying a thought, memory, or imaginative tale. I want you to see what I see, which can be tricky when using an artificial form of images.

The thing to remember is this… the program only as good as the one using it. It’s an artificial means of creating images from words, nothing more. The ai doesn’t think for itself, nor you, for that matter. It simply responds to a pre-written set of words, and it holds a memory bank of definitions for those words, phrases, and sentence structures.

Normally, I will start with a simple descriptive sentence. I offer the ai a character image, a brief visual descriptor, and an action to perform. On occasion, this first request provides a usable image. However, for most of what I do, the program offers an ai assisted expansion of the original request. I like to use these extra helps because many times its not what you ask, but how you ask it.

For instance, when I ask the ai for Squagon sitting on a bale of hay, this is the first response from the ai:

Now, I’ll ask for the ai to assist with the query. This was the result,

A photorealistic image of @MySquagon perched atop a golden bale of hay in a rustic barn setting, natural afternoon sunlight streaming through weathered wooden slats, casting warm amber highlights across the textured straw and creating soft dappled shadows on the worn plank floor, the hay bale’s compressed wheat stalks visible in detailed layers, dust motes floating lazily in the sunbeams, aged timber walls with peeling paint in the background, the character resting naturally with balanced posture against the organic texture of the dried grass.

These were the images offered from the enhanced prompt:

In this situation, I much prefer the first image over the assisted one. It captures much more of his personality, and looks more realistic. Sometimes the ai assist works out better, and sometimes not. It all depends on what I am asking the ai to do with the character. The action will always play heavily into the image’s final features.

For Squagon, I think we shouldn’t have too many obstacles along the way, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I wanted to do some work with the little guy before summer expeditions get underway. I like to be prepared for any and all perceived hang ups and/or roadblocks to a successful sailing season. You’ll thank me for it later, I can assure you.

Well, that’s all for today’s tinkering session. I think we got a lot of things figured out for now, and big or small, they all will help to get us where we were headed, right?!

May your writing hold true, and your words make a difference to the world…

Hugs

At dawn’s first light…

Wiwohka2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
When do you feel most productive?
View all responses

Early mornings have always been my time to be most productive, due to the quiet, most probably. After a good nights rest, the early morning hours become like a peaceful sanctuary. There are few interruptions to distract me from the days goals.

While I may rarely leave our apartment, my day is certainly not without it’s numerous interruptions. There are busy traffic sounds, just outside our windows. An entire five story building is being constructed right across the way, so there are those sounds drifting in, as soon as the work day begins. Never mind about phone calls, text messages, chores, and meal planning. The list is still a long one, even for a homebound writer.

Mentioning that I am a writer only goes to further explain my need for the early morning quiet. While some might find writing in a chaotic environment to be conducive to successful literary creation… I most certainly do not!

Quiet hours of early morning study, prayer, and a hot cup of peppermint tea, are what I consider my most productive hours. As much of my WordPress writing is done live, and without previous preparation, I need it quiet so that I can concentrate. Some days I hit it well, if I’ve slept enough and woke in my normal early fashion. Then there are the days where I didn’t sleep so good, or stayed up later than was normal on the previous night. All bets are off on those mornings.

Well, that was most assuredly more information than any inquiring mind really wanted to know, regarding my productive hours of the day. But, just in case my answer gets used for some study that gets published in the New England Medical Journals, I figured I should put forth some effort.

Just for extra credit, I baked some cookies, as well…

It’s been a good morning!

Hugs

Monday Messages…

WiwohkaLeave a comment

Now that we’re back aboard The Torrent, I’ve set about reading through some of the books in Wiwohka’s office.

If there are things we’re needing to know while at sea, I need to be able to read these old books. More than just reading them, though. I’ll need a better understanding of many older terms and phrases than we’re used to reading in modern writings. I’m not just talking about all the thee’s, thou’s, or hence forth, and such. Those are easy enough to adjust to while doing my reading, but I get derailed every time I come across words I’ve never before seen used. Thus far, much of my reading has been from current publications that come across the desk. Nothing in all that will be useful in deciphering old maritime maps, scrolls, and letters from abroad.

I know Wiwohka says she doesn’t need my help in all this, but who am I, if not for a literary entrepreneur, right?!

So, how does one become more familiar with the wide world of words? Why we use the good ole World Wide Web, of course!

Where to start our educational search, is the first question to ask. Well, I simply went to Mr. McGoogle and typed this:

“Unique and unused words in the English language”

And so it has begun…

According to Google’s AI overview,

These unique and rarely used English words are often prized for their specificity, evocative sounds, or niche meanings, ranging from poetic descriptions to obsolete, humorous terms.

Unique Words for Specific Moments

  • Apricity (noun): The warmth of the sun in winter.
  • Petrichor (noun): The pleasant, earthy smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.
  • Psithurism (noun): The sound of the wind in the trees.
  • Sonder (noun): The sudden realization that every passerby has a life as complex and vivid as your own.
  • Eucatastrophe (noun): A sudden, positive turn of events; a happy ending.
  • Limerence (noun): The state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person.
  • Phosphenes (noun): The light and shapes you see when you close your eyes and apply pressure.

**I used the internet to create appropriate sentences**

One must take a word by it’s meaning and then re-create it in a usable fashion, right? Let’s see how I do…

The early mornings apricity felt pleasant on her skin, as she made her way across the snowy expanse.

I know, a rather long-winded sentence for making the meaning clear enough to understand. I have much work ahead.

The air was thick with petrichor as the storm broke, rejuvenating the parched earth.

I guess it’s a decent enough word, though I might just as easily have said that it smells fresh after the first rain of the season. Oh well, one must broaden their vocabulary if they wish to become wiser.

The only sound in the forest was the soft psithurism of Autumn leaves.

Why do we have to make things so complicated, I wonder. I would just say that I could hear the sound of the wind in the trees. In truth, it takes longer just to make sure that I spell the word correctly.

She felt a quiet sonder watching the commuters, wondering about the hidden stories behind every stranger’s face.

I don’t know that I shall ever find need of this particular word, but you never knows when I might come across it in one of these old books.

Against all odds, the unexpected rescue felt like a total eucatastrophe to the stranded hikers.

While I wouldn’t exactly find a use for this word, it’s easy enough to understand the meaning if one already knows what a catastrophe is.

Sarah experienced limerence for her new coworker, finding herself constantly daydreaming about him.

Can’t we just say she had a crush on him? So much easier to say, although it’s understandable that no one would understand my meaning, unless they were already familiar with my choice of words.

This last one’s easy, and I don’t even need the internet’s help with the sentence…

When she rubbed her tired eyes, she saw phosphene’s.

Everyone is familiar with seeing stars, right?! I’m so glad that at least one of these words seems easy enough to remember, and not so hard to write down, either.

Just wait! You’ll see. Before you know it, I shall become one of the most renowned seafaring journalists in all the seas, with none matching my literary prowess! Well, it could happen, you know. We’ll never know unless we try, right?!

Live Novel Friday…

Wiwohka6 Comments

The Wharf

Episode IV

According to the note pinned to the hood of the baby’s coat, his name was Brugo. The name didn’t ring any bells for the young barmaid, but the name of his father stole her breath away.

The note claimed that the child belonged to Ollie, the tavern’s owner! But how could that be? Ollie was an ogre, not an orc?

Maiyah was shocked, to say the least, as she’d rarely ever seen the grumpy ogre with a lady friend. And, those he spent time with didn’t stay long, what with his terrible temperament.

Niceness can only go so far with a lady, if the rest of your time is spent drinking, and carousing with the rest of the drunken sailors visiting the wharf. The orc lived a very lonely life, though he be surrounded by others. Maiyah thought maybe that was the reason for his being so grumpy all the time.

Looking down at the baby orc, Maiyah faced a huge dilemma. What to do with the baby, and what to do about the letter she now held.

If she were to take the baby straight away to his father, Ollie would surely send him away. He might even become angry enough to put Maiyah out on the street, just for being the one who brought him the baby. She wasn’t only worried about his reaction to the baby, but the note that came pinned to his coat.

Maiyah felt that it was wrong to read someone else’s letter, so once she saw the baby’s name she stopped reading the letter, and placed it in the pocket of her apron.

For the time being, all that Maiyah could think about was how she was going to sneak the baby into her room. Maybe if she waited for the right moment to talk to him, when the ogre was in high spirits, she might lessen the shock of revealing the note, and the baby that came with it.

The important question was, how would she be able to keep a baby hidden in a place one was not meant for small ones. The adorable little beast would stand out like a beacon, from the moment she set foot inside the tavern’s doorway.

She knew she could safely navigate getting the baby in, simply by stuffing him in the bottom of a laundry basket, and then covering him with the clothes. That wouldn’t be the issue. What she worried over, was how to keep him hidden and quiet. What was she to do with him while she did her work, within the tavern. Ollie would surely notice her absence, as she never missed a single shift.

Well, she would have to figure things out as she went. Maiyah had never done something so reckless before, but needs must when one encountered something unexpected. Dipping into the kitchen, Maiyah retrieved a laundry basket and returned to the fish barrel, where the baby sat waiting.

He seemed quite happy to climb into the pile of soft clothing. Quickly, she pulled the laundry around and over him, to hide the little beast from spying eyes. No sense in being undone by a nosy tattle tail.

Once she’d safely made it up the back stairway to her room, she deposited the baby onto her bed. He just sat silently watching her, making no move to climb off the bed. Not knowing what else could be done at the moment, she offered the baby a biscuit, propped some blankets about his shoulders, and left him there. If she didn’t get downstairs to begin serving customers soon, Ollie would become suspicious. All she could do was pray that the baby would fall asleep, or something.

How will Maiyah keep the baby hidden, and for how long?

What will happen when she gives Ollie the letter?

And, what will become of little Brugo?

Thursday Thoughts…

Wiwohka14 Comments

Is it possible to overdose on too much exposure to adorable?

While I absolutely think it’s possible, I don’t think that the long lasting side effects are all that bad… feeling giddy and light headed, smiling til your cheeks hurt, and having a general desire to hug anyone within reach.

Can you believe Maisie’s over four months old now? Every time we see her, she just keeps getting cuter… and happier! I swear she is the happiest baby I’ve ever encountered. I can attest that her mother was NOT this happy all the time. In fact, my daughter was a very sick baby for the first several years of her young life.

But, as you can see from the above image, she got better. She had some hard knocks here and there, as a teenager, but my daughter is nothing, if not tenacious, when it comes to overcoming things.

I couldn’t be more proud of the woman she’s become, as well as being a fantastic mom!

So much will be changing for us, here in just about a month, as Maisie will be spending three days a week in our care. I’m thrilled, yet a little scared, also. It’s been over 30 years since I was caring for my baby girls. Things have changed dramatically since those days, when it comes to how babies are raised. Nearly all the baby stuff looks foreign to me, though I’m fairly certain I can still use a thermometer.

Thankfully, we have a small apartment, and there isn’t a lot of furniture and/or clutter, which I’m eternally grateful about. I’m never going to get any housework done, or anything else productive, for that matter. She is so cute, and I simply forget about everything else, the moment I pick her up.

How hard can it be, right?

We put a crib in our bedroom, and I’m decorating it to be as similar as possible to what she has at home. This way she’ll hopefully not be fearful of her surroundings, when she naps.

We still need to get a table and chairs for the kitchen area, so as to have a place for a little attachable high chair. She’s already trying foods, folks. Anytime a baby is born so big, I swear they start eating real food much earlier than normal. She loves bananas, squash, oatmeal, and her mamma is planning on offering her avocado next. We just make it with our little Ninja mixer. The plan is to make everything fresh, and with nothing added. I forgot how much work it takes being a mom. My daughter is going to be exhausted when she goes back to work.

Well, I’m just glad we can be helpful. My son-in-law’s mother will share childcare with us, so that our kids have a chance to be financially stable. Childcare these days is ridiculously overpriced. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can actually afford to work, when they have to pay so much for babysitters, as well as all the other added costs of a growing family.

It’s about to become a whole different schedule for this Meemaw, but I don’t actually mind. Though I’ll not having as much free time available, once she arrives, it’s a fantastic trade-off. Maisie is far better than any video game, or Netflix series that I’ve already binge watched numerous times. I’ll have to adjust my writing schedule for when she’s napping, or playing with her Papa. If that doesn’t work then I’ll do it on the days she spends with her other Grandma. I might even switch to writing in the evenings, when it’s quiet.

In truth, I don’t think there’ll be anything productive going on when she arrives, which is as it should be…

(2024) Nervous… Me?

WiwohkaLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What makes you nervous?
View all responses

There was a time when I could say that I was the poster child for Anxiety! My nervousness was my very own survival mechanism of choice!

Not much of my life went the way I’d wanted, leaving me traumatized and wounded for many, many years. All of the life interuptuses I’ve endured, some from my own making, have landed me with two nervous roommates that never leave… IBS and Fibromyalgia.

While you may be wondering why I’ve allowed them to stay, to me, they are more like helpless children, needing constant care and supervision. In good conscience, I could no sooner evict these two, than I could my own children. By loving and tending my roommates, or scars if you will, God allows me to manage my own nervous anxieties, with grace, compassion and understanding.

Assigning a specific culprit to hold responsibility for making us nervous, seems rather silly. As WordPress is not leading a support group or therapy session, by asking everyone what makes them nervous, the only thing this prompt will successfully do is make everyone nervous about answering what makes them nervous.

Did they even look up the definition of the word, before they thought to ask the question? I did!

According to Google, which the world seems to think knows everything, the definition of nervous is this:

easily agitated or alarmed; tending to be anxious; highly strung.

“a sensitive, nervous person”

It seems rather ludicrous to ask a nervous person what makes them nervous! It quickly became apparent to me that the idea of being nervous is a mannerism, or a trait that has long since been established. Once I read the definition, I began thinking about how hard it would be to just randomly come up with an easy answer, over a cup of coffee in the morning.

If it were that easy for all us nervous folk to discover what makes us nervous, there would be millions of spare dollars floating around, that no longer need to be paid to the professionals who spend years learning how to become a therapist!

Just sayin…

Here, have a cookie…

They were supposed to look like pins and needles, but as the AI art generator reflects, it was much easier said than done! The closest it could come to what I wanted, was cookies stabbed by a decorative paperclip… go figure!

Who’s a Gorganizer?

Wiwohka12 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How do you use social media?
View all responses

Ok, so I was bored this morning. If I’m to be honest with you, there was nothing in my think box that would be fitting for our normal literary investigations. It just wasn’t happening.

Out of desperation for a topic, I reached out to good ole Mr. McGoogle, in the hopes that I might find something useful to discuss.

But, what to ask? How does one come to find a useful topic, without the right query to pose, right?! That was an Interrobang, by the way. You’ll never guess how I know that?

I went out on the web and typed,

Words not often used in the English language

This was my result,

AI Overview

Rare and underused words in the English language often serve to describe specific feelings, sounds, or actions with intense precision. Many are antiquated, regional, or highly niche in their application, leading them to be replaced by simpler, more general terms in modern conversation.

Forgotten and Archaic Words

  • Twirlblast (n.): A 1700s term for a tornado.
  • Groaning-cheese (n.): A medieval term for a celebratory cheese marking the birth of a child.
  • Pilgarlik (n.): Someone who is bald, once thought to resemble peeled garlic.
  • Snowbrowth (n.): Freshly melted snow, a term from the 1590s.
  • Sooterkin (n.): Originally a deformed fetus, later used as a term of endearment.
  • Overmorrow (n.): The day after tomorrow.
  • Agelast (n.): A person who never laughs. 

Highly Specific Descriptive Words

  • Crapulence (n.): Sickness caused by excessive eating or drinking; a hangover.
  • Callipygian (adj.): Having well-shaped or beautiful buttocks.
  • Swullocking (adj.): Humid, hot weather.
  • Chasmophile (n.): A person who loves nooks and crannies.
  • Scurryfunge (n.): The act of hastily cleaning before a guest arrives.
  • Groak (v.): To watch someone silently while they eat, hoping they will invite you to join.
  • Elflock (n.): Tangled, knotted hair.
  • Acnestis (n.): The part of the back that cannot be reached to be scratched.
  • Gorgonize (v.): To have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on someone. 

Words That Deserve Wider Use

  • Ultracrepidarian (n.): Someone who gives opinions on subjects they know nothing about.
  • Snollygoster (n.): An unprincipled but shrewd politician.
  • Nibling (n.): A non-gender specific term for a niece or nephew.
  • Apricity (n.): The warmth of the sun in winter.
  • Petrichor (n.): The pleasant, earthy smell that accompanies the first rain after a long dry spell.
  • Anemoia (n.): Nostalgia for a time or place one has never known.
  • Anecdoche (n.): A conversation in which everyone is talking, but no one is listening. 

Obscure Adjectives

  • Catawampus (adj.): Askew, awry, or diagonally positioned.
  • Jentacular (adj.): Pertaining to breakfast.
  • Crapulous (adj.): Ill from excessive indulgence in food or drink.
  • Sybaritic (adj.): Accustomed to great luxury and pleasure-seeking.
  • Agathokakological (adj.): Composed of both good and evil. 

Whimsical and Odd Words

  • Interrobang (n.): A punctuation mark that combines a question mark and exclamation point (‽).
  • Bumbershoot (n.): An umbrella.
  • Flibbertigibbet (n.): A flighty, excessively talkative person.
  • Taradiddle (n.): Pretentious nonsense or a petty lie.
  • Skedaddle (v.): To run away quickly. 

Words for Specific Situations

  • Lypophrenia (n.): A vague sadness without a known cause.
  • Limerence (n.): An intense, almost obsessive romantic infatuation.
  • Treppenwitz (n.): The perfect witty comeback that occurs to you too late (literally: “staircase wit”).
  • Zugzwang (n.): A situation where a person is forced to make a move, but every option is bad (often used in chess).
  • Resistentialism (n.): The belief that inanimate objects display spiteful behavior.
  • Librocubicularist (n.): A person who reads in bed.

If nothing else, this was an incredibly entertaining bit of research. I had no idea that I was a Librocubicularist. I think my autocorrect just had a seizure!

Which one is your favorite? I’m torn between Skurryfunge and Treppenwitz, probably because I’ve found myself doing both, often enough.

If society readily continued with the use of most of these, I think it would really spice up many of our conversations, don’t you?! See how easy it is to do. You too can become a successful Interrobanger!

Am I really Sunshiny material?

Wiwohka3 Comments

Thank you so much for the nomination, Ian M Dudley (please don’t judge me, as I can’t get the link to work for your site). Will this nullify me being picked? It’s completely understandable, as there are so many chain letter rules to abide by.

Setting aside Ian’s response to the nomination, which by the way was hilarious, I don’t wish to be flippant nor disrespectful for the vote in my favor. By the way, Ian, how ever did you come up with all your questions for us nominees to answer?

The questions are extensive, so I set aside my normal Live Novel Friday episode, just so that I might make an honest effort at some good ole answers. Plus, I still have to make some nominations of my own, as well as, creating my own set of questions for my victims… I mean, nominees. While I hold no aspirations of becoming the next ACTUAL Sunshine Blogger, I will make the effort to display my sense of honor and appreciation for such a sweet award. Again, thank you Ian.

My Nomination Questionnaire…

  1. If you had to convince me to save your life over the life of a member of my family, what would you say? I make better cookies?
  2. What is your fondest childhood memory? Eating watermelon in the rain, while watching the firefighters practice routines on the old water tower beside our apartments.
  3. Of all your innumerable childhood traumas, which haunts you the most? Spending nights wandering on the streets alone, or having to sleep in cold alleyways.
  4. Is there a specific sight or smell that brings you an immediate sense of calm? Cotton Candy.
  5. If I had to fight you, what weakness could I best exploit with the least amount of effort? Ask me a why question, and then just sit back and watch me commandeer the whole conversation. I can forget anyone else is even in the room when I get on a chatty bender. You could then easily defeat me.
  6. What person or event has had the most impact on who you are today? The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  7. Have you seen the movie Marathon Man? How many teeth do you think you could have drilled before you cracked? Sorry, I haven’t seen that movie. However, I am squeamish when it comes to teeth and pain, so I would have been defeated before even beginning the drilling process.
  8. Is there one moment in your life where you failed to do the right thing and as a result, it changed you so you would never fail like that again? Yes. My first marriage failed, and I caused irrevocable damage to my children. It fully altered the entirety of my journey, thus far. Many scars, broken bridges being mended over a great span of years, and the dance of forgiveness that followed.
  9. How often do you find yourself rooting for the antagonist in a book or movie? Not the anti-hero, but the straight-up bad guy. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest. I think the only bad guy I ever rooted for was Gary Oldman in Bram Stokes Dracula
  10. If you could only be remembered for one thing in this world, what would you want it to be? Why? The love of Jesus should be all that I leave behind.
  11. Do you really want an eleventh question? And remember, this is also for posterity so be honest. Unless you think it will hurt my feelings. No more questions please. I still have to come up with my own and you might steal one of them.

BONUS QUESTION: What exactly is the prize if I win this Sunshine Blogger award? Is there a cash equivalent I can claim instead if it turns out to be really lame?

For as hard as you’ve worked on all these questions, Ian, you definitely should receive some form of monetary compensation, I’m certain of it!

Ok, now for my own nominee selection, who do I wish to give a two hour assignment? Will they egg my virtual book store, here on WordPress Street? What if I promise to make the questions very brief, and then offer a treat at the end? Well, if I’m not to be shunned from all the important literary events in the future, I must make all efforts in fulfilling my nominee obligations. Hey, I’m an overthinking overachiever, though not quite as exuberant as Ian’s been. Here on WordPress Street, one must give a little to get a little, you know?!

Ah Hemmm… my nominees are as follows,

  • CreativeWays
  • BustingMyAsphalt
  • Lou Carreras
  • Rebuilding Rob
  • Writing From the Heart with Brian
  • M.A.D. Works
  • hMiller2014
  • Tamara Miller
  • MemoirsofMadness
  • Middle-aged Maverick

The following questions are more like yes/no than full answers, unless you find yourself desiring to fully explain…

Dear Nominees,

Do you like me… yes or no
Will you be a forever friend… yes or no
Do you desire being seen and heard… yes or no
Do you like cookies (this one’s very important) … yes or no
Do you pray… yes or no
Can you carry the world on your shoulders alone… yes or no
Is there a difference between being alone and being lonely… yes or no
Is it hard to admit when you’re wrong… yes or no
If love is a priceless gift, is it worth giving it away… yes or no
If there was such a thing as WordPress Street, would you move there… yes or no

May these treats sufficiently cover all the efforts made here today…