Talia’s coming home today! Yay!

Cleaning the house is mostly done. Just a little sweeping up.

And…I have an idea for the comp! I will work on it over the weekend.

Coffee and a cookie please!

Quote by gillianleeza

Trying to navigate Medicare and get the services my parents need has me pulling my hair out. Why does the government make it so hard? I'm very cranky. I'll take a ginger ale and a few cookies. I need to find something to binge-watch. My brain is too busy to let me read.

I hope everyone is having a good week. Cheers.

Oh, man, I’ve been down that hole a time or two. I’d be cranky too. Good luck, Gil.

Talia is coming home tomorrow (yay!) so I will be cleaning the house today to make things fresh and clean. The cats will be relieved, as will I.

The Mets seem to be beginning their late summer swoon into fourth place.

I’d love a coffee. And I will take a big plate of cookies too.

Hey all.

Nothing new here, but I am doing fine. Warm with afternoon thunderstorms, and I have therapy today!

I hope you are all well.

Good morning everyone!

Still not walking - that darned heel spur - but I may try today. I’m go a little stir crazy. Talia is back on Thursday, so I have some cleaning to do this week. I’ve been neat, but those crazy cats have created pure chaos!

80s today, with afternoon thunderstorms. Yay!

I don have an idea for the comp either….

Coffee and a cookie?

Got foot X rayed today.

THAT was annoying.

Coffee please.

No boot for my foot. (Hey, I AM a poet!). X Rays and physical therapy are in my future. Feeling a little better, but still not walking. Thanks for your well wishes, Cora.

Cool and rainy here today. I like cool and rainy! Other than that, writing and baseball and video games. And the news, which I've had on constantly as of late. There's too much going on to ignore.

I hope everyone is well. A coffee and one of Sara's cookies please.

I’ll have a slice of that blueberry cheesecake please.

Off to the doctor today for my foot. I suspect a boot is in my future.

I hope everyone is well. I’m just sitting here writing and playing No Man’s Sky.

Coffee and a cookie please.

Good morning all. Thanks for setting up, James.

I'm feeling a little off today - stomach isn't doing great. In bed with coffee now, though I will get up soon. I'll take it easy today.

The Mets are in Denver! I'm so tempted to drive up and see them.

Coffee please.

Quote by Mendalla

Was out working in the yard this morning. Mowed the lawn, did some weeding and other cleanup, packed up yard waste for pickup later in the week. Now sweaty as all heck. Not too hot today yet but quite muggy still. There's a lingering chance of showers today but nothing yet. Given that we are having water problems in my office (not just the building, my actual office), less rain would be welcome for now. We are certainly getting more than enough to keep things green.

I'll throw on a pot of Deathwish Dark Roast. For tea, let's try Darjeeling and Raspberry Royale.

Later, alligators.

I like yard work. I particularly like being done with lawn work.

Talia-less, alas. The cats and I are alone for ten days. Well thinking of taking up hang gliding. Build little cat hang gliders out of sticks and garbage bags and lots of duct tape. They cats haven’t actually agreed to all this yet, but I’m sure they’ll be on board.

I’m trying to stay off my foot, so I’m not going to walk today either. Driving me a little crazy not to walk. It’s so nice out.

Oh well. A coffee and a cookie please.

Snoop Dog is a national treasure.

That said, I haven’t watched a single minute of the Olympics. I’m not even sure I CAN watch them, without cable. I’m sure they are on the internet somewhere. I’m not being too successful at avoiding politics, Gil. It’s like background noise lately.

No big plans afoot. Cori is visiting her mom next week, so I am bachelor-ing it for a bit next week. Since I can’t walk I don’t expect to get in much trouble.

I got a nibble for a big story sale today. We will see if I land a fish. Wish me luck!

Today, a coffee and a cookie. I hope everyone has well.

Cool comp - I'm glad it's poetry this time! I'll enter, though I am one crappy poet.

Quote by Mendalla

Come on, man, give it a whirl. I mean, it's not like you're up against Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe or something.😊

Oh, I'll probably enter. But Lord knows I am no poet.

Sounds like a cool comp! And one for the poets, this time.

I took a walk yesterday, and could barely walk afterward. My foot is in a lot of pain now. Gonna lay around and write, all day.

Politics are crazy in the US these days. It's like someone shouting in your face, all the time. I'm trying to find ways to lower the volume, just to stay sane.

That's all for now. Good luck poets!

Hey all.

I haven’t seen a single second of the Olympics, not even the much-maligned opening ceremonies. Heard the backlash though.

I think I am going to the doctor about my foot. I imagine I will get a boot. It’s not a lot of pain, but it is not going away. My daughter’s much worse injury is healing nicely after a rough start.

Other than that, same old thang.

Coffee and three cookies please.

Getting up near 100 degrees today. Gonna be a hot one. I am still trying to keep from walking, but I have no problem with staying inside during this nonsense.

Nothing new here. Mets won last night. I got a late birthday present - a drone! - that I may try to put together this week. It’s a little complicated. Looks like Big Fun though.

I slept well, but coffee and some cook would be swell!

Has anyone heard from Red lately?

Thank you for the birthday wishes folks. It was a pretty chill time. Got a new phone and a book about ants (Superorganism) that looks bonkers cool. Cake was eaten, MarioKart was played.

We saw Mean Girls the Musical Saturday night. It was really fun.

My daughters’ ankle is pretty bad, but healing. My heel is better, though I may call a doc today.

Coffee and ALL THE COOKIES!

Word

Good morning!

Didn’t sleep well, but I am up and around today. Still trying to stay off my foot, though I am really missing my walks. On the plus side, more time to write.

Excellent Mets/Braves game last night Sara. Two very evenly matched teams. Should be a good series.

My daughter messed up her Achilles tendon yesterday. It’s not looking good (part of the reason I couldn’t sleep last night). But hopefully the care she has been given at the hospital will help.

Coffee and several cookies please.

We're binging the entire series!

Quote by gillianleeza

My husband and I are going out of town for a long weekend. Friends have a condo in a ski town. But in the summer there is swimming, biking, hiking and good food. On Saturday there's a brews and blues festival. The weather is going to be lovely, mid seventies during the day and mid fifties at night. I've been told that I've been in a bad mood lately and really need to get away. I haven't been dealing well with some of my parents issues. So I get the weekend off and enlisted my only sibling to step up. Hopefully I will return with a renewed energy or any energy. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I should be back by Tuesday. Cheers.

I think I know where you're going. Have fun! A gorgeous place, if I'm right.

I look forward to your poem, Cora.

The Yankees got PUMMELED by the Mets last night on national TV! I will try not to crow, but it was fun. Talia and I even went to a bar to watch the first half, sort of a pre-birthday celebration (my birthday is this weekend). Big fun.

Sara, I believe your Braves are up next.

Now, off to write. I still can’t do my walks - trying to stay off my foot.

Coffee and a STAR cookie please.

Sorry you are feeling bleh Mr. Ape. I hope the coffee helps.

Still off my feet today, though my foot is much better. My daughter is upset I didn’t go to a doctor, but I don’t see a need.

I wrote a VERY dark story last week, so dark even Talia hated it. I may send it out today.

Sunny and hot here today. I won’t walk. Thankfully I have the Mets/Yankees game and a Presidential address to watch.

Coffee is a cookie please.

Good morning everyone.

I am down with a stress fracture on my right foot. I think I got it from walking a little too hard and too often. It slowly got aggravated and was suddenly too painful to walk on last night. I am going to chill today and see if it goes away. If not, a doctor.

Until then, writing and No Man’s Sky.

Hey Sara, here’s my thing about the Mets/Braves playoffs in 1999. It’s actually a 12 part series about Shea Stadium, but the relevant part is here - https://jeffwood.substack.com/p/a-personal-history-of-shea-stadium-418. It continues next week.

Thanks for the coffee Mr. Ape. I’ll take whatever cookies are available.

Quote by Mendalla
Actually, Friday's "once in a lifetime" event was more than just the USA, believe me.

I was talking about Trump getting shot, the IT outage, and Biden stepping down, all in the space of under two weeks. The pace is simply insane.

Good morning everyone. It’s exciting to be living in the US this year. We have weekly “once in a lifetime” events occurring now. I swear we are living in a computer simulation.

I am TOTALLY sucked in and addicted to a video game: No Man’s Sky. It’s very rare for me to get very deep into a videogame, but this is so immersive, and plays into my childhood love of space and exploration. I feel l a little kid playing it.

Sara, I am writing about the Braves! Specifically the Mets/Braves 1999 NLCS. You guys won it but I still went to two of the best games I’ve ever seen. If you like I will send a link tomorrow when it goes out in the newsletter.

A coffee please! And three cookies!

Good morning everyone.

“The world is too much with us” is the only Wordsworth I know Cora, but it is apropos. Poe I’m pretty well acquainted with. I look forward to reading your poem.

Didn’t sleep well. Sigh. No big plans today, so that’s good. It’s supposed to be warm, with afternoon showers. Lately I live for those afternoon thunderstorms.

Baseball is back after four days of absence. Hoping for a fun second half of the season.

Tractor cookie! And a coffee!

Hey everyone.

We got actual rain yesterday! It was pretty cool. What's better, it happened during my walk. It was a warm rain, and felt refreshing, and I was able to duck into a shelter for the heavier bits.

I'm pretty confident when writing a story, but this book stuff is the opposite: I've never written a good one (after 4 tries), and I'm not sure I have one in me. The only way to find out is to keep writing.

And on that cheery note, I'm off. Coffee! What's the cookie de jour, Sara?

Quote by Mendalla

Glad it's your election and not mine. Our boy is having his problems but anything happening up here pales by comparison with your shitshow. Have fun.

Sorry I wasn't in to prep this morning. Will do better tomorrow. Hopefully.

Question: How long should chapters be? I mean, I am working on this new fantasy story that is going to be long so I am looking at doing it in chapters. It's the first time I have started out with that as the intent so I am not sure how to approach it. First chapter is c. 3200 words. Second and third are in flux for plot reasons right now but are clocking in a bit shorter, 2000-3000 words.

I am sure the correct answer is going to be something vague like "as long as they need to be" but thought I would try.

I struggle with this too. I think chapters should all be about the same length, so find the natural rhythm of your book. It's looking like maybe 3000 per?

I'm currently settling in on 2500 words for mine, but I'm only a couple chapters in.

Dance Hall Days is a prefect needle drop in The Idea of You

Good morning all. Things have cooled off here finally.

I have been getting DEEPLY into the videogame No Man’s Sky. It’s a space exploration game. There’s a story, but most of the joy is in the literally infinite open world you can play in. Really well designed, wildly original. I just love this game. I a playing game on Nintendo Switch.

The MRI story is still broken. I am thinking of expanding it into something long, if for no other reason than having something big to escape into during the coming election season. It’s going to be brutal.

And with that cheery thought, I am off. Coffee and a cookie!