Episode #121: Another One Of Dad's Really Stuffy Updates? You Betcha!

Welcome back my friends to blog that never ends, we're so glad you came by, read along, read along.

{Original lyric by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, reworked by yours truly}

So I thought I would give another double update of my den and my writing, because, why not?

Here are three pictures showing the end result of re-moving my den back in. The first shows basically the albums that were still salvageable with not too much water damage, books that were undamaged by the water, both the ones by fellow writers and my own personal quixotic tastes, and finally all the Time-Life books that I had purchased in the mid-90's: True Crime {9 volumes, most recent crime covered was the Christian Brando murder trial}; The Civil War {28 volumes} and the Collectors Library of The Civil War (high quality reprints, originally 30 volumes but one vanished in the past few decades}. Yeah, I was a bit of a nut back then.

And a stuffed Tasmanian Devil, a stuffed Ducky and a poster of Rusty Staub given to me by a vendor ten years ago.

The second shows a white shelving unit that I'd originally bought to house my forty-fives, but alas, the height was less than seven inches, but we did manage to make yummy scrambled eggs by storing my various office supplies, bluetooth headphones, some DVDs and some box CD sets in the unit. To the right is the basket of used toner that gets periodically returned and one of my CD racks. To the left of is a record player that my daughter decided she didn't want anymore, and since mine bit the dust yet again, I was the grateful recipient of said player.

And the final pic shows all my nice and for the most part, undamaged forty-five collection. On top are the various knick-knacks that I've acquired over the years. Of note is an autographed mini-football by a member of the Super Bowl I & II Green Bay Packers. Note, my son's late FiL was like a living, breathing version of the game of Six Degrees of Separation of The Tri-State Area. The NY Mets plaque is of the 2007 team. And yes, my last Window based computers, which I still believe were the best that M$ made: XP & Win7.

And now, for the writing update.

I finished the re-write of a short story that I'd mentioned in a previous post finding amongst my pile of slushies. It was okayish when it was originally written (like back in the early 2010s), but because I still need things to work on for the foreseeable future (monies people, that necessary evil when self-pubbing is involved and I plumb massacred my credit card back, again, in mid 2021), I decided to give this one a very strange rewrite. The rewrite clocked in at just 67 words under 10k and about 20 pages (I think), and to be honest, this rewrite was actually quite fun to do. I was able to put in just enough character meat to satisfy the reader without make them angry, and I toned down the hyperbole just enough to not turn the narrator into me.

Overall, save for this still untitled short story, the bulk of my slushies seem to securely, and quite firmly, entrenched in the paranormal/fantasy realm of things. Which coincided with me hitting my peak of researching odd names and the like, as for a now unknown reason I was into using names from different world mythologies. Made things very interesting, mostly because i was still in my toddler stage of character development, so what I would try to do is write large patches of story based around the mythological background of the name. 

So...yeah. But I did find the remnants of an 84 page story that I don't quite remember what the plot is, but it sure looks like it will be a very interesting read. It does have a working title of "Dandelion Tears", but yeah, I don't know why it's called that either. However, I will elaborate on what I'd wind up finding after doing a not-so-quick read through in another post. 

So let's finish this post up with yet another humorous e-mail, this time from my friend Diane, that is currently untitled. So, enjoy!

A South Carolina preacher spoke in a thunderous voice to his congregation. "Someone in this congregation has spread a rumor that I belong to the Klan! This is a horrible lie and one which a Christian community can't tolerate! I am embarrassed and do not intend to accept this! Now, I want the party who did this to stand and ask for forgiveness from God and this Christian Family!"

No one moved. The preacher continued, "Do you have the nerve to face me and admit this falsehood? Remember, you will be forgiven and in your heart you will feel glory! Now stand and confess your transgression!"

Again, all was quiet.

Then slowly, a drop dead gorgeous blonde with a body that would stop traffic rose from the third pew. Her head was bowed and her voice quivered as she spoke. "Reverend, there has been a terrible misunderstanding. I never said you were a member of the Klan. I simply told a couple of my friends that you were a wizard under the sheets."

The preacher fell to his knees, his wife fainted and the congregation roared.

And on that note, I wish everyone a fantastic Monday as well as a fantabulous week.

{c} 2022 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved