LOL at the alligators. Always love seeing those prehistoric looking beasts when I have a chance (crocodilians evolved alongside the dinosaurs and, unlike the non-avian dinos, made it through the end-Cretaceous extinction). Didn't really spend much time in Florida on my last visit so didn't see any but when we were in Tampa in January 2024 we went hiking at a conservation area and saw one.

Good morning and happy weekend!! I'll put on some Fire Roasted Saint Drogo for anyone who happens to be around seeing roasted bean beverages. For teas, there's Assam Organic and Earl Grey. Kettle is filled for those seeing other teas or hot chocolate. Whatcha drinkin' this fine weekend?

Kind of flailing with the writing at the moment. Lots of ideas dancing around but having a hard time just grabbing onto one and pursuing it. We shall see.

I don't seem to have the attention span for features anymore, so TV drama.

Crime/Mystery or Romance?

Beignets! Yay!

And that's a great list of stories. If you haven't partaken, do.

I will grind some dark roast Nicaraguan beans for coffee. For teas, there's Yorkshire Gold and Raspberry in the pots and other selections available along with hot chocolate. Kettle is boiled.

Later, alligators.

Congratulations to all! Great competition and the top 3 aren't far off what I would have picked. It was a terrific bunch of stories.

Quote by verbal
Weather was AWESOME this weekend - false summer. Sadly, it starts snowing again tonight. Still, I got several walks in.

Apparently the weather is done with freezing us. Now it wants to drown us. Heavy rain, which will then melt the foot or so of snow that we still have even after the warmer weather last week.

Quote by WriterGirl

Wonder if they wear suits and ties at his office? Most here are business casual now.

I haven't worn a suit to work other than for interviews in forever. Even at the library, we were business casual and that was 30 years ago. I've done presentations to the board in business casual (and they were all dressed that way, too, even the executive chair). Which suits me fine. I hate suits and ties, especially the latter. It's like garroting yourself. At least if an assassin garrots you, you die quickly and painlessly instead of suffering a choking feeling for hours on end.🙄😒

Good morning! In case anyone is feeling a mite peckish, I was flipping out the morning.😳

Sorry, I meant flipping pancakes this morning. 😊

We gave up our treadmill for more prosaic but still somewhat painful reasons: bad knees. Use a stationary bike now when exercising indoors. Easier on the joints.

Hmm. I am fond of both, really, but probably piano. My favourite bowed string instrument is actually the cello.

Play a card game or play a board game?

I have always had a fondness for Bach, but Mozart is good too.

Symphony or opera?

Good morning!! Election Day in Ontario, but it's probably going to be boring. The odds of a change here are slim given we have a two-term premier who is fairly popular and, unlike some conservatives I could name, handled the pandemic and other crises quite sanely. Sadly, it's his more routine policies, like building unnecessary highways instead of supporting alternative, low-carbon means of transportation like transit and biking, that will keep me from voting for him.

For coffee today, some Muskoka Lumberjack. Teas are Canadian Breakfast and Vinyl Cafe. Hot water is on if you're craving something else hot.

Looks like the comp ended with 13 entries. Not bad but I would have loved to see it go higher. Now the countdown to the big decision begins. Who will it be? Who will it be?

Could there possibly be more? Not much time but if someone has something on the go ... hurry! I'm all caught up and need more to read, dang it. 😋

Quote by WriterGirl

And then there were twelve! A few hours left… can we get a baker’s dozen?

And AnnaBanana makes it 13!! Baker's dozen as requested. 😋

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/flash-fiction/madame-thornes-final-fortune-2

Given that we have entries from our usual suspects, not sure what else may be out there. Would love to see a wave on the last day but not holding my breath. Will catch up on reading the last few today.

Depends on mood, doesn't it. Mostly rock (specifically metal) these days, though.

Acoustic or electric instruments?

Quote by WriterGirl

You notice the blinking cursor deviates from its regularly spaced intervals. You keep watching. It’s become a pattern of brief and sustained bleeps. Morse Code! You can’t believe what it’s saying — to you — and what then oozes from your mind to your fingers onto the keyboard and screen.

Now GO! 😈🤣

We need reactions on here instead of just the simple Like. This really merits a 🤣🤣🤣🤣 .

Europe. I've been to Mexico enough on cruises and there's a lot of Europe that I still need to see.

e-book or paper?

So Kat's in. Come on, we need 10 so we can have, well 10. It's hardly a top 10 if there's only ten, I guess.

If caffeine will help, I've got some Deathwish Dark Roast brewing. Tea is also available, Scottish Breakfast and Black Currant for today. Hot water is on if you're preferring some other tea or hot chocolate.

I started something on Saturday but then felt like hell yesterday so it is kind of stuck. Should be for, you know, but I am debating how to make it work here. Time will tell.

Quote by TomEccleston

Two days to the deadline and I'm still staring at a blank document with a blinking cursor. Oh the irony.

Take the first idea that comes to your head (that is SS suitable, of course 😉) and start writing. That's kind of how I got mine moving.

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Ok, I finally submitted my story! I'll start reading the rest of the entries now that mine is finished.

That'll be nine. Can we at least get this comp to ten?

Plugged the comp on the other site again, just in case. I think at least one writer has mentioned entering who has not submitted yet so there's hope still. Also might drive some eyeballs to the stories.

Good (groan) morning! They plowed our sidewalks last night and the plow drifts were packed tight and frozen. Ugh. That's the kind of shovelling I can do without for sure. But, it is done.

I'm sipping Yorkshire tea right now to warm up, but there's also a pot of Raspberry Royale. For you coffee lovers, there's some Jamaican Blue Mountain brewed. And hot water is ready if you're craving another variety of tea or maybe some hot chocolate.

Hopefully it's a writing morning from here forward. Just need to decide what I feel like writing.

Okay, I am all caught up on reading entries. More stories! More stories!!

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

No, I haven't died, but I do have a new poem out.

Welcome back. Nice to hear from you. Love the poem, too. Nice one for you to come back with. Hope all is well.

Quote by WriterGirl
I need to find a mate first, so he can do the shoveling, mow the grass, clean the gutters, etc. 🤣🤣🤣 I may as well put that on my dating profile.

LOL. I am sure there's guys out there looking to be the "man of the house" in that way. Not I. I am getting closer and closer to saying "eff it" and outsourcing that stuff. I'm already outsourcing some of the yard maintenance (fertilizing, weed control). Lawn mowing goes next. As Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) said in Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this shit".

Bagel. I have never really liked English muffins for some reason.

Burger or hot dog? (we are obsessed with food these days, eh)

(I was actually thinking of flavoured black teas. Should have specified.)

Sesame, raisin, etc. My current favourite is Cheddar Herb, from a local chain called Great Canadian Bagel.

Cream cheese on the bagel, or just butter?

New twist in the plot: After 26 films, the Broccoli family and the Eon Productions are stepping aside. For the history of the series, MGM has been the distributor (occasionally taking on other partners) with Eon producing. MGM was acquired by Amazon who have been itching to get the rights for themselves, thinking the series has franchise potential (TV spinoffs and that sort of thing). And the Broccolis and Amazon have finally come to a deal. Eon remains a partner, but Amazon MGM will now produce the movies (and other media properties) directly. Of course, the Fleming estate famously have had nothing to do with the movies or Eon in, well, eons so that none of the books written by other authors (Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and more) after Fleming's death in 1964 have been available to the film producers. Whether Amazon might try to patch up relations with the estate remains to be seen.

Which is all to say that casting a new Bond might now have to wait until Amazon gets things moving on their version of Bond. The idea of a Marvel-style "universe" around Bond seems a bit ridiculous given the series is tightly focused on one specific character, but suggestions have been floated in the past for stories about side characters like Bond's CIA buddy Felix Leiter and the Bond comics currently being produced by Dynamite Comics have gone there.

The other thing hanging over it all, and some are suggesting this is why Eon did the deal now, is that there is only a decade left on Bond's copyright, at least on the Fleming novels, which means that in 2035, the door opens for rival Bonds.

My favourite singer is a year older today. Nothing heard from the lady herself yet, but fans have been posting greetings on her fan forum for a day or two already. The singer, in case you haven't realized from my past posting, is Floor Jansen, currently lead singer of the band Nightwish but also building her resume as a solo artist.

"Fire" is the song that, now nearly three years ago, was her first solo single after 20+ years in bands. This is a live performance from Dutch television from shortly after its initial release.

Neither, really. Not a fan. But maybe hot would be okay.

Fruity tea (like an Earl or a lemon) or spicy/savory tea (like a chai)?