Love comes from the heart.

Quote by CuriousAnnie
After a sojourn into Spain for a wedding we are back in Portugal, a truly stunning part of the world.

My Portuguese co-worker would die to hear that. She is always boosting Portugal as a destination. She was born here in Canada but because of her parentage, can apply for Portugese citizenship so she and her sister are both doing it so they spend at least part of their retirements there.

Europe seems to be a popular destination around here these days. I'm headed to Greece soon, a co-worker (another one, not the Portuguese one) is in Portugal right now, another was in Italy recently, my boss is doing a Danube cruise later in the Fall.

Quote by CuriousAnnie
but is over his parents interest in Roman ruins and, seriously, what is this fascination with megalithic standing stones; stones are stones after all

LOL, that was my son when we were in Europe. And my wife to some degree when we hit Greece. She's more about scenery than old ruins and museums while I studied ancient history and culture in university so am all over this stuff.

Nice to hear from you, Annie. Hope all is well with you and the family.

Beyond the Black is a German symphonic metal band fronted and led by singer Jennifer Haben, who packs a fair punch vocally. Lord of the Lost are another German band who bring together a diverse mix of metal, gothic, industrial, and electronica to create a rather unique sound under the leadership of songwriter and lead singer Chris Harms. Putting them together creates an interesting sonic mix to say the least. Chris has been doing a lot of good, interesting teamups of late and this is no different. It is slated for release on Beyond the Black's next album, coming in January.

Dot and dash send messages.

Author's Publish put out a list of 30 horror markets, both magazines and anthologies. There's some general markets, some calls for specific topics. Topic include "Eerie Christmas", "Exit Interview" (horror about losing/leaving a job), "Into the deep dark woods" (primeval wilderness horror), and one that is quite timely and likely needs no explanation, "Secret Police, ICE, and the Disappeared". Have a look and see if your next spooky, eerie, or downright horrific story could go somewhere here.

» 30 Magazines and Anthologies Publishing Horror Fiction

Getting quiet around here. I'll clean up and put out fresh brownies and cookies for anyone who may be around. There's some dark roast Costa Rican coffee made. Teas are Yorkshire Gold and Jasmine Green. Pitchers of iced tea and lemonade are refilled.

With vacation looming, I am probably going to be scarce after another week and a bit. Not a writing vacation either. Going to be touring and cruising. I am working away on this new long-form story (still won't commit to a length) but I'm thinking of a major revision to create a bit more tension and mystery. Not sure how it will go but I have versioning turned on in my word processor so I can always roll back if it doesn't work.

Life is abundant on Earth.

Should put on some coffee, I guess. Here's some Fire-Roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Teas are East Frisian (a German-style black blend) and Lemon Kick (herbal). Pitchers are washed and refilled with lemonade and iced tea. Soda is stock up. Haven't seen Cora in a bit and the munchies are running low, so here's some of the usual goodies.

Love that F+M video, even if they aren't necessarily favourites of mine.

Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a bit of a legend on the Dutch music scene. His bands Ayreon and Star One pull together casts of top singers to make concept albums with real sweep and scope. However, his latest, Songs No One Will Hear, is being released under his own name as a solo album with Arjen himself doing much of the singing and playing guitar as well as producing. However, he still dug out his prodigious address book to pull together the band and called on some of his longtime musical friends to help out.

This track sets the stage for the album's concept: Humanity is doomed by a Cretaceous-level asteroid impact that is due in just days. The songs chronicle the reactions of various people around the world as the end draws near. It's dark and melancholy, but the music is wonderful. Arjen is a great songwriter and knows some of the best in the business.

Female vocalist is (I think, sources have disagreed) Irene Jansen, sister to Floor Jansen about whom I rave much (and who appears on another song that I think I have already posted in this thread). While she is the younger sister, Irene is very much Floor's equal now, with a soaring voice and powerful belts that sometimes have me wondering which sister I am hearing.

BTW, one review I read attributed it to Floor herself, an easy mistake to make, but the credits in the video description say it's Irene so I am assuming those are correct.

Cabin. With my back, not sure tenting is for me.

By a lake or in the mountains?

A couple nice new videos from Laufey today. She shot these on location at the Guggenheim in New York with a live band and dancers. Nice performances by both Laufey and the dance team.

Quote by verbal
Though Talia and I will have some exciting news for everyone come mid-October. Save the date!

Oo, good timing. Just after I get back. 😀

I have come to the realization that writing after work isn't happening anymore. I seem to be too burnt out in the evening or other things come up that need my attention. I did quite a bit of work on my long-gestating story last weekend, so there's that. This coming weekend will be a "work weekend" though. There's some stuff to get ready before we head off (like cleaning up the garage so we can lock both cars indoors while we're away).

That said, maybe I'll get some ideas on the trip. It's set on an island and I will be visiting plenty of those. I noticed that we can do an optional excursion that include Hydra, where Leonard Cohen lived and wrote in the sixties (The Favorite Game and his first couple books of poetry were written there) and then retained a residence to stay from time to time after his music career took off. Not sure my wife will go for it, though. She barely knows who he is whereas he's one of my literary and musical idols.

(Footnote: Per a couple sources, his house there, bought for $1500 from his grandmother's estate, is still in the family, with son Adam inheriting it after Leonard died)

Beauty is good for soul.

Vampires

Logical Song - Supertramp (RIP, Rick Davies 😢)

Red. I don't actually drink much white.

Chill to music or just enjoy the quiet?

Ugh. I have perpetual issues with one tooth and my dentist hasn't found a problem. A day or two of Sensodyne and it goes away so might just something making it sensitive. Then again, last time I had this, I ultimately lost the tooth. Just took it's merry time.

Good morning. Coffee, tea, and hot water are refreshed. Nice late summer weather here this week. Not too hot, not too cold. Bit dry, though. No rain in the 7-day forecast and haven't had any since middle of last week.

Travel far, experience new places.

Tommy

Jump - Van Halen

Tightly, the beast was bound.

Black until mid-afternoon, then herbal.

Bag or loose-leaf?

Sunday morning and that means ... Ape cakes. I mean, pancakes. Got real Canadian Maple syrup for them, too.

To go with those we have a dark roast Colombian coffee and some English Breakfast and Earl Grey teas. Plus hot water for other teas if those don't appeal. Cold drinks looking good.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

A powerful voice from the world of nu-metal, two of the best young singers and screamers in metalcore, one heckuva good trio. The voices are Amy Lee (Evanescence), Courtney Laplante (Spiritbox), and Poppy (solo artist).

Since Cora brought the goodies, Ape shall do the tea and coffee.

For coffee, we'll put on some Tobermory Grotto. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Lemon Kick (herbal). Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked.

(makes a tea and grabs a couple of the peach fritters)

Good morning and Happy Friday!! It's the weekend again! No big plans. Prep for my upcoming vacation (3 weeks), write, do housework.

The story I am plugging away on is once again in flux. I steered it away from a particular direction and now I want to move it back that way. Definitely thinking novelette or novella here given I'm at 7500ish words and still quite early in the story as envisioned.

Heaven - Bryan Adams

Quote by gillianleeza

We got stuck in traffic outside of Halifax on the way up because a wildfire there was billowing smoke across the highway, making visibility an issue. Several members of my husband's family lost their cabins, but luckily, no one lost their house. It's scary seeing flames up close.

Those fires in Nova Scotia are nasty. I have a member on another site who lives there. She hasn't been directly impacted yet but keeps us in the loop about what's happening.

Glad you had a good trip otherwise. I have good intentions about getting out to The Rock someday but some other trip always seems to take precedence.

Stain

Endemic insects often cause problems.

I find quite heartening that even as Martha Thomas continues to be successful on social media and builds a stage career (she's leading the cast of a musical), she still includes her little sister Lucy in her videos from time to time. Except Lucy ain't so little anymore. Grown up and with her hair colour now close to Martha's, it's getting hard to tell the sisters apart. Both pack lovely voices that they deploy here to cover an Elton John hit from the score of the movie The Lion King.