Quote by JamesPBear
I wonder if our snow service found our house under all the snow?

LOL. Yeah, we got way too much snow in this province. My neighbour is selling and the For Sale sign is almost buried. Supposed to be just flurries for a few days now, though, so the worst seems to be over. Colder, though.

Thanks for getting the hot beverages set up. Family Day here so no work. I'm trying to get a comp entry going but, ironically given the theme, I seem to be blocked. I do have the bare bones of an idea, just not sure it can be done in 1000 words. Will start bashing something out and see what happens, I guess.

Later, alligators.

Sigh. Between housework, shovelling snow, and being exhausted from shovelling snow, I haven't even looked at my draft today. Looks like I'm going to be a last minute entry at this rate.

Ease and comfort. Fashion plate, I am not.

Cat or dog?

Quote by WriterGirl
Thunder and lightning at 5am and snow at 6am

Thundersnow or the temp dropped between 5 and 6?

Probably at about 6" total since yesterday morning. At least it stopped here for a while yesterday evening, then restarted overnight. Other parts didn't get the break I'm hearing. I shovelled this morning. Holiday tomorrow (Family Day we call it) so had to be able to get a care out to shop.

No sign of plows, road or sidewalk. If I find out that they were running at reduced capacity due to the long weekend or something, I'll be right pissed. This storm was in the forecast for days so they should have invoked whatever clauses in the contracts were needed to get people on standby. My nephew is a heavy machinery operator in another city and his employer does plowing for commercial clients in the off-season. he's often required to be up at 5 or 6 on snow days.

Did up a fresh batch of coffee and pots of Orange Pekoe and Earl Grey. Needed a hot bevvie myself after shovelling. -6C with a wind chill of -11C (21F and 12F for you Americans).

I have something going but not exactly sure where it ends up and I'm well past the halfway mark. Like the idea but not sure I can execute it in a thousand words.

I am contemplating a story about a city block where all the residents are writers of some form. Does that count? 😉

(Get it? Writers' block? 🤣)

(Yes, I'm cracking jokes to hide my frustration at not having an idea yet)

Nothing getting pricked or poked, but some beans got ground so I can offer you some fine Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee this weekend. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Buddha's Blend. There's hot water if you're after other teas or hot chocolate. There's sodas in the fridge but I, for one, am sticking to hot beverages this weekend. Supposed to be a big snowstorm through today and tomorrow so I expect to be out in the cold with my shovels at some point. So far, perhaps ironically given the theme, a comp entry eludes me.

Classic Moody Blues, specifically their 1968 album In Search Of The Lost Chord. This live version of Legend of a Mind is from 2000.

Quote by WriterGirl
I’m taking myself to see the Paddington movie tonight.

Sometimes yourself is the best date, eh. 😉😋

Probably should get an acupuncturist myself. My upper back and neck are killing me after the shoveling yesterday.

Woo hoo! The comp is getting rolling. One up and one submitted I hear. I will shoot to get at least a first draft on the weekend.

If you need some coffee or tea to help get past your writer's block, this is the place. We have Deathwish Dark Roast on for coffee (sorry, but I was listening to some fairly heavy goth metal this morning so it kind of fit). Tea-wise, there's Yorkshire and Sunday Tea. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages and there's sodas in the fridge if you're needing something cold.

Weekend looms. What's up, Inspirators?

Quote by WriterGirl
It may resemble a coughed-up hairball.

That could be highly symbolic of you getting rid of what is blocking you. 😊 Nice to see things getting rolling early. I'll see how my weekend shakes out but I imagine mine will be closer to the end. 1000 words isn't much but my perfectionist internal editor will still want to make a few passes.

Reeses. Been fond of Peanut Butter Cups and Pieces forever.

Write for the new comp or just be a reader?

Quote by verbal
Cold and sunny here.

Here, too, now, but only after getting another 6-8 inches of snow last night. Took me 30-40 minutes just to clear the mess left by the plows (both road and sidewalk get plowed here). Then my wife put in another half hour or something like that for the actual driveway. Winter looks pretty but can be bloody exhausting.

Oo, good timing to launch this right before a long weekend. I am sure I can come up with something by Feb. 26 given the short length.

Woo hoo!! New comp!!! (Dang, ninja'd by the admin)

Writer's Block Competition! | Stories Space

I might just be able to beat that short timeline since there's a long weekend looming (Family Day in most parts of Canada, I think Americans have one, too)

And to help you with that writer's block, we've got some nice, strong Dark Roast Costa Rican coffee on. The teas are steeped good and black. There's Tetley's Orange Pekoe and Twining's English Breakfast. Hot water is on for other teas or hot chocolate.

Let's get writin'!!

These days, rock, but I enjoy both styles of music. Might split the difference and go with symphonic metal. 😊

Peanut butter or jam?

NOAPOLOGY started life doing YouTube covers under the name Sershen & Zaritskaya (the surnames of guitarist Sergey Sershen and vocalist Daria Zaritskaya). They changed their name and started releasing original material two or three years ago. Their debut album of original material, somewhat cheekily called Uncovered, dropped at the end of January and this single came out with the album.

Quote by gillianleeza
It's been snowing here all day.

We are supposed to be getting a storm starting, conveniently (not), during afternoon rush hour today and running through the night. Fun, wow.

I shall put on the coffee. How about some FireRoasted Spring Fling? May make those of us dealing with winter feel warmer. And for teas there's Yorkshire Gold and Raspberry Royale. Hot water is on for whatever other hot beverages (other teas, hot chocolate) take your fancy. Sodas are stocked if you're craving something cold (smiles at our Aussie members).

Taking a shot at an old story idea in hopes of getting the juices flowing again. We shall see.

Cruise ship. Never done a liner cruise but I can't see it being as comfortable, even if we might get some interesting destinations out of it.

Caribbean or Mediterranean for a cruise?

Quote by Meagananne1986
As a matter of fact, hoping to go Milano later this month and ski. But we'll be sure to some of the sights as well. The Milan Cathedral is actually the largest in Europe.

Enjoy. We went to Milan years ago when Expo was there. My wife had a conference just over the Swiss border in Lugano so we hopped a train and went down for a few days. Nice city and, yeah, that cathedral is amazing.

Quote by verbal
Writing goes well, though it has become really difficult to listen to the news.

Tell me about it. It's sometimes hard to tell whether I am supposed to laugh, cry, or scream in rage. Or some combination of the three. I will be interested to see statistics on mental health when this four year term is over. 😕

Ghost town in here. I'll just do a quick batch of Tobermory Flowerpot Island and a pot of Assam tea, just in case someone comes around.

Later.

Chocolate. Strawberry in a shake has never appealed to me.

Take transit or drive?

New day, new week, new ... nah, I'm still the same old me. An ape who thinks he can write stories.

Here's some Columbian dark roast for the coffee crowd. For tea, there's Darjeeling and Earl Grey. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages.

No writing going on, just ideas floating around in my head. I may get there eventually.

As the great Canadian philosopher Mike Reno once said (well, sang), "Everybody's working for the weekend."

And it's the weekend. What are you working on?

Whatever it may be, we've got your caffeine fix ready. There's Tobermory Grotto coffee. There's Canadian Breakfast and Raspberry teas. Hot water is on if some other tea or hot chocolate catches your fancy. Fridge has a nice stock of sodas if you're needing something cold.

Oh, and if you don't know who Mike Reno is, here he is from 2023, still rocking out at 68 (he just turned 70 this January). He's been lead singer of Canadian rock band Loverboy since 1979, co-founding it with guitarist Paul Dean. Amazingly, the band has kept the same lineup throughout its history save for losing original bassist Scott Smith who died in 2000 at 45.

Take care of yourself Gil. Flu is one of those bugs that is sometimes mild but sometimes can really screw you up.

I have managed to avoid viruses so far this winter, which is pretty good given I managed to catch COVID on my cruise last year. But I know they is around. We've had people sick at work. Hopefully, it means my vaccinations are doing their trick but my money is on me getting sick at some point. Just have to hope it's something mild like a cold.

Lots of new music coming through my speakers and earbuds this week, including three new albums today. Roses From The Deep is the second solo album from Finnish bassist/singer Marko Hietala, marking another milestone in his return to form after his mental health break from the industry in 2021. Excellent album, too. A video came down for the title track this morning.

Good morning. Thanks for getting the hot bevvies going, Bear. It's Friday and I'm feeling like a special treet is in order, so here's a pecan pie.

An old favourite on in the car today. Northward was a one-off collaboration between Floor Jansen (After Forever, Nightwish) and Jorn Viggo Lofstad (Norwegian band Pagan Mind). They wrote the songs in 2007-08 when Floor was on a break from After Forever (the band eventually broke up) but didn't get a chance to actually record them until 2017, by which point she in Nightwish who were on a break between tours at the time. And it's a marvellous album, with Floor in fine form on vocals, some incredible guitar work from Jorn, and some wonderful songs. Floor's sister Irene, also an accomplished rock singer, makes an appearance, too. In terms of the sound, they went for hard rock rather than metal, the usual genre for both in those days. For my money, it's the best album Floor has done outside of her work in Nightwish.

This is the only official video from the project, which never toured and has never released another album (much as fans of Floor might wish). Floor does perform some of the songs in her solo concerts and her song "My Paragon" from her debut solo album Paragon is, at least partly, a response to the song "Paragon" that she and Jorn co-wrote for Northward so the project is certainly not forgotten.