Okay, okay, so I am not an attorney, but I do like the word interrogatory so just roll with it.
As I unfollowed (not unfriended) someone on Facebook this morning, it made me wonder.
At what point does a friend or relative’s beliefs and statements impact your relationship? Can you always just ignore it and move on, or is there a point at which your relationship will suffer?
Yesterday for breakfast I fixed a bagel with cream cheese and dropped one half on the floor, cream cheese side down. Hopefully today is off to a better start. So far the coffee is perfect.
We had a little rain last night – and I do mean a little. It barely wet the ground. Weather predictions are for just under an inch of rain for the next 24 hours. We have had a few small fires in the mountains, but any fire is too big. We really need some rain.
I decided I am not going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. It seems overwhelming just thinking about it. I will be content to write as the spirit moves me and not be tempted to craft a poorly imagined novel. For those undertaking it this year, I wish you good luck!
A few people I know have contracted Covid in the last week – all full vaccinated and boosted. Luckily symptoms were somewhat mild for all of them, but it is a good reminder that Covid has not gone away.
I started my holiday shopping but so far it has all been online. I have a few boxes I will need to mail, so I want to get them purchased and wrapped and ready to send on their way. If it were not for grandchildren, we would not be buying much in the way of gifts.
We are, however, shopping for new living room furniture. Our tastes differ so much it can be challenging to agree on style, but we seem to be on the same page for this purchase. We are down to measuring because we have a small and strangely configured space in which to place furniture.
This week we step into November which means annual checkups for me, time change, lunch with friends, holiday preparations, and enjoying the transition fully into fall. I am really happy not to have Nano in the mix this year. It was not until the middle of October I realized I had not considered participating in Inktober this year, either. I might like to find a warm and welcoming online writing class for the next few months though. Drop me a comment if you have one you would recommend.
Wishing you a kind and peaceful Sunday.
It’s Saturday morning and time for SoCS again hosted, as always, by the lovely Linda Hill.
If you want to join in, head over to Linda’s and get the scoop on the rules. Here’s the subject for the day.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “element.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
The first thing that came to mind this morning was the book The Elements of Style. Doesn’t every hope to be writer own a copy of that book? My problem is I have not opened the book in years and I fear it may show in my grammar and punctuation. I wonder if it is still considered one of THE rule books for writing.
Then I thought of my friend’s Honda Element. She picked me up for lunch in it while I was in Florida. She even offered to let me borrow it for the duration of my visit. I don’t like to borrow other people’s cars though so I declined her generous offer.
I just finished reading State of Terror. It certainly had some well written elements of danger. That takes a certain skill, I think.
Speaking of an element of danger, the bear was back this week while we were couch shopping (what a process that is, but I digress!). He was here at about 1:30 in the afternoon. A rather early time of day for them. I had just read that several places near Gatlinburg were closed because the bears were feeding on acorns in large numbers. Bears are usually solitary hunters and feeders so this is unusual behavior. He must have been pleased to find a full suet cake and a bird feeder full of seed. Sadly, he did a number on the feeders and they will need to be replaced. They must really be hungry because he also tore a hole in a bag of charcoal hubby had stored on the deck. In addition, we have a small metal trash can with a lid at the side of the house. We store worm castings in it for the garden. He did take the lid off to explore. I bet that was an element of surprise for the bear! Interesting how they recognize trash cans and know how to get into them.
Leaving my house this morning, the falling leaves gave me pause.
As I drove deeper into the mountains, I was inspired.
The trees at the top of the peaks
shed their leaves to color the trees below
while memories of spring and summer
seep into yesterday.
Winter awaits.
I had ten days off so I am giving Lauren a break and stepping in for her this week. With Halloween coming up, I thought we should do something surrounding that. I know everyone does not celebrate Halloween, so I thought we could address costumes in general. It is always fun to dress up and let your alter ego take the reins!
This week’s prompt is: Costumes
I will give you some questions to help you along. Or, free write if you would rather. You can either respond in the comments or link back to this post. My response will follow.
1. Did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what was your most memorable costume?
2. When was the last time you dressed in a costume? What was the reason?
3. As a child, did you like pretending you were someone else? Did you create costumes with things around the house?
4. Did you ever attend Mardi Gras, Carnival or any other festival with masks or costumes? Did you wear a mask or costume?
5. Were you ever in a play (school or otherwise) that required a costume? If so, who were you?
6. Do you participate in cosplay or go to Comic Conventions?
7. What character from movies, comics, or plays has the best costume?
8. Think of scary or horror movies. Which character’s costume and/or make up was the most frightening? Was it the costume alone, or the movie itself which made it frightening?
9. Have you ever visited historic places where the staff wears period costumes? If so, where was it?
10. Have you ever attended a Broadway or Off Broadway or Community Theatre production with great costumes? Leave a clip or photo here of your favorite.
1. Did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what was your most memorable costume?
When we lived in the Valley we celebrated Halloween, but didn’t do trick or treating. Instead we had a huge Halloween party and everyone wore costumes, most of which were made from things around the house. I did have a half mask one year and borrowed my great aunt’s long black dress and dressed as a witch. I won second place in the costume contest. When I was in high school and a member of Civil Air Patrol, I rented a harem girl costume with a fringed veil. I won first place that year and as my prize I got to go up in an aerobat’s airplane (a small Cessna). That was an experience!
2. When was the last time you dressed in a costume? What was the reason?
When we lived in Florida we had a big Halloween party one year. Everybody wore costumes. I think I dressed as a witch again, this time with orange hair! There were a lot of witches at that party as I recall.
3. As a child, did you like pretending you were someone else? Did you create costumes with things around the house?
Westerns were big when I was a kid so we were always dressing like Western characters. I had no qualms about slinging on my brother’s holster and his cowboy hat. We would find a handkerchief to throw around our necks as a “kerchief” and find some kind of food the carry as our ‘hard tack’!
4. Did you ever attend Mardi Gras, Carnival or any other festival with masks or costumes? Did you wear a mask or costume?
I did not, but when I visited both New Orleans and Venice I was fascinated by the masks. I actually had two ceramic carnival masks that once adorned my guest bathroom.
5. Were you ever in a play (school or otherwise) that required a costume? If so, who were you?
No, I was not cut out to be a thespian!
6. Do you participate in cosplay or go to Comic Conventions or Star Trek Conventions?
No, but I find them fascinating. There is a whole cosplay world out there that I know very little about!
7. What character from movies, comics, or plays has the best costume?
I always loved the creatures and villains in the original Star Trek television series. Costuming came a long way from the Flash Gordon days!
8. Think of scary or horror movies or tv shows. Which character’s costume and/or make up was the most frightening? Was it the costume alone, or the movie itself which made it frightening?
Being a child of the fifties, I grew up on “Frankenstein” and Dracula and Hitchcock. I remember being frightened by “Frankenstein” when he threw the little girl Maria into the lake. It was not the make-up so much but the action that scared me. Current horror films are too horrifying to me. After “Night of the Living Dead” I decided I did not need to watch many more horror films.
One of the most frightening to me was Richard Kiel (Jaws from James Bond) playing the alien from the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man”.
9. Have you ever visited historic places where the staff wears period costumes? If so, where was it?
Oh yes! Several. My most memorable was our high school fieldtrip to Dearborn, Mich to visit Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. A close runner up would be the Ballenberg Swiss Open Air Museum outside the wood carving village of Brienze.
10. Have you ever attended a Broadway or Off Broadway or Community Theatre production with great costumes? Leave a clip or photo here of your favorite.
My favorite has to be my favorite show of course “Phantom of the Opera”. This coming year is its last year on Broadway! And “Cats” had some pretty fantastic costumes as well.
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