Cherry Pink

I was all set to write down more of the adventures of my vampire killers, especially now that Amanda is fully on board. However, I am on the verge of becoming ill, so about the only thing I can do is stare at the television from under piles of warm, fuzzy blankets.

If you'll indulge me, I'd like to present a little idea I got from a dream I had about some haunted lands and an unsettling house. This is the first bit of the backstory that I wrote a while back. I'm not sure if any thing will come from this bit of it, but the characters will continue on in a larger story arc. Everything has a way of connecting to everything else. Who knows who will turn up later on. I hope you'll stick around to see.

Impulse, part five

Nasa.gov

Thanks for spending November with the crew of IMP1.  Their story concludes tonight.

Thanksgiving Interlude

Happy almost Thanksgiving, folks! Are you all excited for the yummy goodies this week will provide? I sure as heck know I am! I hope you all have a wonderful Turkey Day, full of happiness and family.

To whet your appetite, I've prepared a little follow up to the roof top showdown. What does this have to do with Thanksgiving, you may ask? Well, read it and find out!

Be safe and happy on Thursday, my internet lovelies!

Impulse, part four

Photo by Kris Kehe

More of the adventures of Jim, Albert, and Omar are below.

Thank you

Last Thanksgiving, after I'd gorged on mashed potatoes and pecan pie, Lucy told me her idea for a blog: a group of developing artists coming together to make a little magic.  Then, she asked me to join, and it was sweeter than the Karo Syrup that went into the pie.

Here we are, a year later, and Fantastic Spatula will soon celebrate its first birthday.  We've had 190 posts and hundreds of comments.  I've met new friends.  And so, to be sappy and keep with the spirit of the season, I want to express my gratitude.

Thank you to the lovely ladies of Fantastic Spatula for allowing me to join in your adventure; thank you to the guest bloggers who brought new wonder to FS; and thank you to all the Spatulans who read and comment and share in our vim and vigor.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Hey there Spatulans! So, I'm embarrassed. Time and I got into this really great conversation last week after the Fantastic Spatula hiatus and we got so carried away that I completely missed my Sunday and Wednesday post last week. So, I'm starting fresh this week with a Sundae Sunday post. Sundae Sunday is basically a list of things that have made me smile during the week, stories I found interesting, and tender vittles that others shared with me that I want to share with you. Here we go...

Mittens with fingers! and in bright red, green, yellow and blue stripes! A fur monkey, ball-of-teeth-and-happy kitten named Scully (yes, from the X-files... yes, it's a he... yes, I got him more than a week ago... but he made me happy this week, which counts... so there), SNOW! Lots of SNOW! hot chocolate with almond flavor, butternut squash soup recipe from mamma, a "happy Thanksgiving, we miss you" card in the mail from mamma and daddy, Chonto, Dressing up as Tank Girl and the March Hare for Halloween (OK... that wasn't last week, was it...), The Magnificent Seven soundtrack, Donald Barthelme's The Balloon and The School, Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, telephone conversations that last all night sigh sigh, the stoic squirrel goes to New York City (man, I want to do a video like this with my baby unicorn!), a warm hat that has fur in the ear parts, writing a story about Whompus Bats (maybe I'll post this here when I finish the editing process), a magical sweater with bears, local band called the Skurfs that plays surf/ski music, getting picture text messages from mamma at midnight of her and out her neighbor dressed up like harry potter characters for the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie (Oh, yeah. My mom dressed up for the movie!), sending a small box of happy to my happy (sigh sigh sigh), finding photos of Felix my mannequin, getting lotion that smells like honey for my poor cracked and chapped finger knuckles, the first lesson of tai chi chuan Saturday morning with Erin, finding an old Royal typewritter and making necklaces out of the keys (they are for sale for $10 if you want one...*shameless promotion of a starving artist*), making more bottle cap necklaces, writing! writing! writing!, reading! reading! reading!, The Journal of Jules Renard, C.S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy that starts with Out of The Silent Planet. DINO BITE!

So, lovelies, I hope this week starts well for you all. What made you happy last week? Any plans for happy this coming week?

Skemp

Go Go Godzilla!

Hey folks! As promised, here is the showdown! Hope you enjoy it!


(Oh, and don't mind the title, I've just lost my mind!)

NaNoWriMo: A Surviver's Guide (With Pictures)

Week Three: Victim has suffered from malnutrition, sleep deprivation, loss of at least one of the five senses, and possibly suffered from brain damage due to multiple blows to the head via coffee pot.

Victim is a known blogger. Code Name: Lucy Wiggins.

The following was a field guide to NaNoWriMo discovered by detectives at the scene.

May I Offer You a Distraction?

My deepest apologies but I don't have the second part to last weeks post. Working on this part has been like wrestling with a bear in a comical hat; fun at times but mostly a bad experience.

Hopefully I will have it for you on Friday, but in the meantime let me show you a video that has brought a little bit of sunshine into an other wise dreary week.

That is to say... Elvis! *points then runs away*

(Haha, Miss Lucy!)



Impulse, part three

Nasa.gov

Thanks for joining our crew again.  The next installment is below the cut. 

Here's to You: A Thank-you Note to a Veteran

[The curtain rises and the stage is set. It is the 1970's in a dorm room on the campus of the University of North Carolina. A middle aged man and his youngest son sit together on a small twin bed under the florescent lighting.]

"So, how are things going?"
"It's tough, Dad, really tough."
"Oh? How so?"
"I've got classes on top of classes, you know how that goes for me. And then there's football practice, it's just hard. It's a lot harder than I thought it'd be."
"Oh I don't know. Sounds pretty easy to me."
"No, it's... nevermind. You don't get it, Dad. You just don't get it."
"Son," The man's posture eases as he rests his elbows on his knees. "When I was your age I was being shot at with live ammo."

[Curtain.]

This is the story as it has been told to me about my grandfather's famous conversation with my uncle. H.A. "Dude" Austin fought in World War II as a turret gunner based in Italy. Sent out the day before his high school graduation at the age of eighteen, he would fly fifty-one missions before returning home to his family's tobacco farm in Clover, Virginia. Thank you, Dude for everything you did- not just as a soldier, but as a grandfather. I wish you were still here for me to thank you in person.

To all the veterans who have served, and are still serving, we are truly grateful for all that you have done for us. Let freedom ring.

Hac In Hora

Ooo! Finally, some action. Well, almost. You'll have to wait until next week for the fight scene (as well as I can deliver one). But, as promised, you will get a glimpse into what makes Charlotte so special, and there is a small clue in this week's story. (If you can figure it out from the miniscule hint I give you, then you will get a cookie. A big one.)

Once again, I need to thank mom for giving me the little spark of inspiration I needed to get this thing rolling.

Impulse, part two

Nasa.gov

Last week, I posted the first installment of "Impulse," a science fiction short story inspired by the shuttle Discovery launch (now postponed until November 30), the humanoid robot it's delivering, the International Space Station's tenth anniversary, and research into new engines.  Did you know the U.S. will have a new rocket ready for testing by next year?  Thankfully, that engine is not like the one I imagined in this story.  

When we left our intrepid crew, their exploration of the Martian terrain had been interrupted by a message from Katya, the astronaut who manned their orbiting nuclear engine: “The engine’s sustained propulsion is inoperative.  We cannot change altitude.  And pressure is rising.” 

Ponds, Parties & Pictures

My apologies for the late posting. Guess who fell asleep before 10 last night, with her contacts in and makeup on? *raises hand shyly*

Last weekend I had a return to proper picture taking with my new Nikon. Clara and her family were kind enough to invite me up for Halloween festivities. Here are a few of the pictures I thought I'd share. Hope you enjoy!

Nothing says "Halloween" like deer skulls and lanterns! How perfect is this?

Can you see the old lady in the tree?

Kind of spooky at night. Cue the scary ghost stories!

Hope you enjoyed these! What did you enjoy most about your Halloween?

In Sheep's Clothing

I must admit to feeling a certain amount of levity from my decision to cull my overflowing ideas to a more manageable number. I assure you it was no easy task, but I can now dedicate myself to the stories that have real possibility.


With my new found freedom I’ve decided that I will write something for each of the five story ideas during the week. It may be background, dialogue, or just snippets of imagery; but I will write down what ever comes to mind that day for that story.

Of course, when deciding which ideas to keep, I found myself unable to leave Francois and the gang behind. I simply have way too much fun writing for them. I’ve wanted to do some back story for Charlotte, but she is so mysterious that even I don’t know who or what she is. So we’ll keep her under wraps for a little longer.

In the meantime, I hope I can tide you over with a little exchange between our resident spook and the timid archaeologist.

Impulse, part one

From NASA.gov

As promised, here is the first installment of a science fiction short story inspired by space shuttle Discovery's final launch.