Happy Halloween!

 

In the spirit of the holiday, I wanted to share a couple stories I wrote as entries to the NYC Midnight writing competition.  These were micro-fiction challenges (100 words) with genres appropriate for Halloween.  I received high marks for these stories and was able to move on to the next rounds with each.  Please read, enjoy, and have a wonderful All Hallows Eve!

When It's Given A Name

Prompts:  Genre: Horror    Action: Looking at the stars    Word: digital

The house is silent, my family’s screams mercifully ended.  I peer from the bedroom window, having no place to hide.  The night is clear and dotted with stars.  I see the brightest three forming Orion’s Belt.  I glance at the digital clock nearby.  One minute to midnight.  The room chills, the air scented with soot and soil, and I feel a presence.  No.  The Presence.  Danny had named it.  If only we had believed him.

“Make it quick,” I whisper without turning; my last act of useless defiance.

I close my eyes, feeling the Presence coil behind me.

It strikes.

WHAT THE JUDGES LIKED ABOUT YOUR STORY 

{1751}  It's rare to get scent descriptors in writing, but soot and soil is very fitting for the Presence. Although I cannot see it as a reader, I can still smell it. I also loved this "my family’s screams mercifully ended." We don't usually think of such a situation as being merciful, but it means they're no longer suffering. And a good act of defiance gets you extra points. Great job.   

{1742}  You have an engaging story. I particularly like how you never tell your readers what the Presence truly is, as it helps you create suspense at the end of the narration.  

{1955}  I love the dialogue; I could feel the fear and resolve in this character as the Presence coils and prepares to strike. I enjoyed the character's actions—eyeing the stars and the digital clock, as though trying to find distraction.    

WHAT THE JUDGES FEEL NEEDS WORK

{1751}  They may have no place to hide but why doesn't the speaker think they have any where to run? They can get out the window. Yes, the Presence might still get them, but they can try. Or is the 'nowhere to hide' statement more that the speaker doesn't want to live now that their family is dead? If the speaker doesn't want to live, you should leave it as it is, but if they want to run, you could consider a change. However, this is only a suggestion.

   

{1742}  I suggest you describe what the Presence makes your narrator feel. Show us what Danny tried to warn his family about by using feelings and emotions. This could help you add more tension both in your backstory and to this scene.

  

{1955}  Just a minor point, but I wondered who Danny was to this character (a brother?). Consider adding that information.  Also, consider going into more detail about what happened to the family to show the reader the scene; did this character hear anything else happening to the family (like limbs being torn apart)?

Family Heirloom

Prompts:  Genre: Ghost Story    Action: Losing a coin    Word: field

A strong, nighttime breeze bends the tall grass in the field, but my father’s spirit hovers steady above one location, his face downcast.  A gathering of will-o'-the-wisps spreads out behind him, generations of my ancestors’ souls.

I dig at the spot my father’s spirit indicates.  A handful of dirt spills away to reveal a large coin; an ancient doubloon my father had lost even after endless searches.  In death, he met the obligation he couldn’t when alive.

My ancestors can rest in peace, knowing the family heirloom, a treasure and a curse, is possessed by the living again.

WHAT THE JUDGES LIKED ABOUT YOUR STORY

{1772}  The story offers a chilling scene crafted with vivid description and powerful word choice. The narrator has a clear goal to shape his actions. The end provides a satisfying conclusion to the narrator's task.   

{2092}  The visuals are great. They add a lot of depth to the emotional aspect of the story, as this becomes more than just a story of a missing coin. 

 {1940}  A fascinating and haunting piece with terrific use of tone and language. The ending is intriguing as it is revealed the doubloon is a curse as well as a blessing, making readers fear for the protagonist.    

WHAT THE JUDGES FEEL NEEDS WORK

{1772}  There is not much conflict within the story, which could help to make the end feel earned and offer some character development. If a small obstacle has to be overcome, then the narrator will also feel more in control of the plot. For example, if he has some reason not to help his father, this could be a point for him to have to make a choice.    

{2092}  The plot is a bit confusing, as it is difficult to tell if the father had lost the coin, or if he was searching for an old family treasure. Consider clarifying this a bit more, in order to more satisfyingly end the search with the daughter. 

 {1940}  A strong piece but could be improved by including why the doubloon is a blessing and a curse. What has happened before to attach such extremes to this coin?

You Need to Suffer to Write: Pandemic Edition

 

When the country had to go into quarantine in the early part of 2020, people had to find distractions to pass the time.  I remember hearing that baking sourdough bread received a lot of press at the beginning.  I find most activities involving the kitchen (baking, cooking, dish washing) to be lugubrious, so I needed a different outlet.  One would think I could have warmed up this blog again, but I didn't.  However, I did discover a regular writing contest I started participating in July.

NYC Midnight is an online site that offers story prompt challenges in a variety of styles and word lengths.  Participants pay a small fee to enroll in a challenge that has a set word length, time frame, and three prompts.  The shorter micro-fiction stories usually have a 24 hour period to write an original work with a randomly selected genre, scene, and required word.  Longer challenges have longer time frames and different prompts.  Genre is the common prompt, but the others could be a character or an action.  Each story has to fit within the word count and time frame and be shaped by the prompts.  What I like about the challenge is having a direction and a deadline.

The first challenge I registered for was 1,000 words.  Each participant was guaranteed to have two rounds to submit stories.  The first two rounds would be scored and the writers with the largest total points would move to the third round.  The top performers in the third round would move on to the fourth and final round.  The Top 10 of the final round would win prizes.

The genre of my first story was Comedy.  I think of myself as a funny guy, so I thought the challenge was right in my wheelhouse.  The object I needed to include was an apple.  Okay, I could make something funny out of that.  The final prompt was the scene, and the random generator gave me a car wash.  WTF?!

I received the prompt at 11pm Central time on Friday and I had 48 hours to complete a 1,000 word short story with these prompts.  After the jump is my submission: "One Bad Apple."

Welcome, 2017!

Like many people, I couldn't wait for the end of 2016.  I won't harp on the many celebrity deaths or the election season that put a pall over the entire year, the latter of which will be discussed ad nauseam for months and years to come; but I will say the death of local celebrity, Prince, was when I really started to feel there was something "not right" about 2016.  Everything after that proved it.

On a more personal note, the last three months of the year were especially exhausting, so much so I was starting to develop feelings of anxiety.  During the early part of my current role, I felt I wasn't quite the right person for the job, and even told my boss as much during a moment of exasperation.  Now, I feel perfectly capable of doing my job, but there are so many things that need doing and not nearly enough time to do them.  

Much of my time is spent being reactive and putting out fires (fortunately, I work in air conditioning, so this hasn't been a literal problem), but my primary responsibility is to be PROACTIVE in driving sales in aftermarket parts.  This requires me to be on site at distributor locations in the southern and western parts of the country to conduct business reviews.  This is especially important now as the summer (peak cooling season) was not as lucrative for my regions as it was last year, and down considerably against other regions. Our General Manager insisted I visit the underperformers to develop countermeasures to get them to plan, or at least flat from last year.  So, I had multiple business trips in the lead-up to the holiday season.  I have learned that business travel is a young man's game and I'm no longer a young man.

I had a few more vacations days I hadn't used, only recently earning an extra week from passing a milestone anniversary, and was looking forward to taking the last week of December "off from work." I knew I wasn't going to be fully away from the office, as I would have my cell phone (mobile office) with me.  My First Mate and I made one more trip to Wisconsin to finish out the year.  Her grandparents moved into a condo in Racine to be closer to family who could care for them.  They stopped just a street short from actually moving in with them.  We were going to be reinforcements to spell MFM's aunt and uncle from the constant care they had been providing the last few months.  We would only be there a couple nights, but the break was welcomed.

As one can imagine, this wasn't a relaxing trip.  What should have been a five-hour car ride was extended by over an hour as I envisioned Racine much further south of Milwaukee than it actually is.  Two clues we made a wrong turn were 1.) highway signs we were approaching Rockford, IL; and 2.) sporadic time checks of Google maps on a cell phone said we were 45 minutes away at one point, then 90 minutes away some time later. We brought our dogs, Jack and Jill, with us and Jill, as usual, spent most of the trip on my lap as I drove.

Our accommodations at the condo were fine, although we were relegated to the chilly, somewhat furnished basement.  Turns out, this is where My First Mate's aunt and uncle would stay so as to be responsive immediately to Grandpa's needs.  They had a great system set-up, too.  Grandpa had a call button that would activate an alarm in the basement.  The tone of the alarm was the Star Spangled Banner.

We went to bed just short of midnight after some dinner, TV watching and getting Grandpa settled for the night.  Our heads barely hit the pillow when the first alarm sounded.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

My First Mate is a nurse and she immediately sprang out of bed to see what was the matter.  The issue was a small one and she returned a few minutes later.  Over the next hour, we heard the alarm sound three more times; one of which I went upstairs as well to help re-position Grandpa in the bed.  There were no more alarms after one in the morning.

Now, Jill has us trained to let her outside to go to the bathroom every two to three hours during the night.  Jack can probably wait until morning, but he takes advantage of the opportunity.  I'm the lighter sleeper, so I'm usually the first to her Jill softly growl to be taken outside.  I've tried to put her off in the past, but she will continue to growl with increasing intensity until they become little yips.  About three in the morning, Jill decided she needed to go.  I stood outside in the cold for a few minutes as the dogs did their business.  Once done, I took them downstairs, crawled back into bed and closed my eyes.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, . . .

F*CK!!  

"Hey, Honey?  Grandpa needs you."

Those were long couple of days and by Friday we were ready to head home.  The next day, we were going to Treasure Island with our established ringers in of the New Year (a tradition almost 12 years in the making), then eating and drinking at our house.  We paced and behaved ourselves at the casino, and I was able to break even at the blackjack table.  I could have left $100 up, but I couldn't recognize the heater I was on was cooling. We finished the night playing the card game El Presidente to about three in the morning - a time I'm used to being awake thanks to Jill.

Here's hoping for a wonderful 2017 filled with great times, good humor, and pictures capturing every day!

Image 001:  01.01.2017

The Aftermath.  Maybe not too impressive, but the
bin was empty and My First Mate & I are over 40.

Image 002:  01.02.2017

Minnehaha Falls.  These falls are amazing as they
freeze in a different way each year & people risk life
and limb to climb around them.

Image 003:  01.03.2017

I have a stand-up desk at work now.  The only
benefit I see is I can legitimately say,
"I've been on my feet all day!"

Image 004:  01.04.2017

A couple church steeples near Loring Park in Mpls.

Image 005:  01.05.2017

Age old question:  which came first?
The answer may surprise you.

Image 006:  01.06.2017

One of my favorite places in Lowertown in St. Paul

Image 007:  01.07.2017

Had to blow the dust off these mats.
New Year, new effort to go to yoga.

Image 008:  01.08.2017

This will be one of the last times I
will be seeing this dryer.  After a year
going to the laundromat, we
finally bought a new dryer.

365 Pictures in 365 Days: 2016 - This Again?!

Don't call it a comeback,
I've been here for years!
Making excuses,
For ignoring my peers.
With updates on trips, for work and for pleasure
Creating fond memories I will always treasure.

- loosely based on 'Mama Said Knock You Out' by LL Cool J

The start of 2016 was no different than the starts of the last few years.  The Wife and I joined our friends at their house with more than enough provisions to last us the night with the two dogs.  We also had an inflatable mattress,which we would later learn had a small hole that would prevent it from inflating completely.  We ended up sleeping in the kids' room.

The festivities of the evening paralleled those we had during Christmas when we took a trip to visit two ailing members of the Wife's family who were staying at the same care facility. One is her grandfather, the other is who would clinically be called an ex-step-grandmother.  Marientte, Wisconsin is a small town - even as small towns go. Both my Wife's dad and her uncle's family were in town as well.  After a round robin schedule of visits, we all retired to my Wife's grandparents' house for dinner and games.  

We played Catchphrase, followed by a rousing rendition of Cards Against Humanity into the early morning, running through every card in the deck.  My plays of "anuses for eyes" as my super power and "being a dick to children" for what Batman does for fun, nearly killed my father-in-law, who was battling a cold, either from mold in the house or his trip to Portugal.  I guess I'll need to get the inheritance some other way.  I was the big winner of the night, having 15 of my cards selected.

For New Year's we started by playing Asshole, also known as El Presidente in more chaste circles, and always dangerous when mixed with alcohol because who really likes being told, "looks like you're the asshole!"  There wasn't a clear winner as everyone had a chance to be the asshole; but I couldn't help feeling the Wife was one, even when she was President.

Food and drink were a welcome salve to any hard feelings from the card game. Afterwards, we played Cards Against Humanity, which I felt we had done to death a week earlier, followed by Catchphrase.  I continued my winning streak with 8 cards selected, and we played Catchphrase until one of our friends fell asleep sitting up at the table. And then there were three!  The rest of us finished the night playing Wii bowling until well past two in the morning.  I found the game to be incredibly realistic as I got the same scores on Wii as I do playing in my bowling league.  The Wife, on the other hand, was knocking them down like Kingpin.

The next day could only be described as sluggish, both in movement and in appearance. We had plenty of food from the night before that still tasted good after reheating.  TBS had a nice lineup of funny movies (most appropriately, The Hangover) to keep us entertained with low mental impact.  By late afternoon, it was time to call it quits, so we packed up and went home.  The first day of the year was decent, and I thought I could carry my regular photo-taking excursions into the New Year and try my 365 in 365 project anew.

Image 001:  01/01/2016

A panoramic view of St. Paul taken from the High Bridge

Image 002:  01/02/2016

Weather was warm for January - Mississippi was only partially
frozen.  Downtown St. Paul.

Image 003:  01/03/2016

The last couple of years, the Wife and I like to visit the
Como Conservatory as an oasis from the harsh winters.

Sucking As A Human Being

The other night, I was scrolling through my feed and found this interesting tweet.

What caught my eye was the referenced song.  I recognized the tune as I had downloaded the same song after I heard it in 'Hall Pass' a few months ago.  After confirming with Sweets we were talking about the same song, I joked that half the songs I've downloaded were from commercials or movies.  This was an off-the-cuff quip, but then I realized there was some truth to it.  Below is a list of songs I've downloaded after hearing them in commercials, TV shows, or movies.

Rubberband Man, The Spinners - Stripes/Office Max

Start A War, The National - St. Vincent

The Downeaster "Alexa," Billy Joel - Hangover II

Safe and Sound, Capital Cities - Mazda

The Walker, Fitz & The Tantrums - Supercuts

Overwhelmed, Tim McMorris - Sam Adams

Back to Paradise, 38 Special - Revenge of the Nerds 2

I'm Shipping Up To Boston, Dropkick Murphys - The Departed/Sam Adams

Walking On a Dream, Empire of the Sun - Hall Pass/Honda

One Thing, Finger Eleven - Scrubs

On Top Of The World, Imagine Dragons - The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Lose Yourself, Eminem - 8 Mile

Get Back, Ludacris - Tropic Thunder

How's that for sucking as a human being?

The Captain Is Back

Captain’s Blog:  Sixteen August, Year of Our Lord 2015.  Have finally returned to home port after several voyages over the last few months; visiting exciting ports of call like San Francisco, Seattle, Palm Beach, Anaheim, and Dallas.  I will be sailing away again shortly for a three week stint of two business trips bookending a much needed vacation.  The chronicling bug never left me, but I was befallen by tragedy when my collection of scrimshaw (memory card) fell overboard (dropped from my pocket) and was lost, along with my inspiration.  I kept with my routine, staying the course, until I could find familiar waters to begin anew.

I really was disconsolate when I had lost the memory card.  I was lucky enough to keep some pictures of a couple visits, but not all visits and not prime pictures.  I had taken several to fill my 365 Pictures in 365 Days project and had visited family, generating all sorts of material for blog posts.  For example, did you know polo matches are broken down into chukkers?  And that calling the final one the “mother chukker” will get you kicked off the grounds?  I learned this when visiting my Aunt Becky and Uncle Vern in Palm Beach with my wife.  In professional polo, during what I could only understand as “halftime,” spectators are allowed onto the field for ice cream and Champaign while stamping down the divots made by the horses’ hooves.  My uncle advised “if its round and steaming, don’t step on it!”  Good advice for polo and life, Vern!

This is an amateur polo match.  Lost pictures of the pros.

Beach near Lake Worth Pier

More beach

And still more

No matter where you go, there's someone looking for a handout!

We visited my aunt and uncle in late February to celebrate my wife’s birthday.  We took a long weekend and most days were overcast and rainy.  We did have one bright day, which we used to go to the beach.  While there, we visited with a great-aunt who I believe did some modeling in her youth and now lives in a house that could function as a museum due to its size and use of marble.  At the club, we played tennis, both regular and table; swam in the pool; and attended a party that served oysters on the half shell and lobster tails either baked or grilled.  Back at the house, we swam and hot-tubbed almost every night.  Also gave my First Mate a jolly rogering.  Twice!  And people call us an old married couple.  Well, we do.  We call ourselves an old married couple.  So, yeah, our trip rocked!  Except the end, when we were delayed at La Guardia for about seven hours because of ice and snow.

365 Pix in 365 Days for 2015: Images 026 through 032

The last week of January found me in Chicago at the beginning of the week and ended with me in Maple Grove for a volleyball tournament. As mentioned in my last post, the annual AHR Expo was held during this week. The only people who would know that would be the four who read the blog post. Let's amp up those page views, people!

The tour went off without a hitch and I was able to arrange meetings for the time slots my General Manager requested. Before the trip, he said he wanted all of us to have full days while in Chicago and go home on Wednesday completely exhausted. Mission accomplished; although my exhaustion probably wasn't in the way he intended.

As an introvert, I find constant business meetings and engagements to be mentally and physically taxing. I've grown out of my childhood shyness to a degree, but I recognize I much prefer to think through ideas quietly by myself than to discuss them with others. Also, we all met up in the late evening to early morning of Tuesday and Wednesday, which fed into my overall exhaustion. I woke up at 5 in the morning to shower, having only three hours of sleep and lingering alcohol in my system.

The understanding was Wednesday would be a travel and rest day and then we'd be right back at it on Thursday. No such luck. We arrived at the airport well ahead of our flight, so we had an impromptu meeting for almost an hour. The new expectation was for all Regional Sales Managers (RSMs) to send up follow-up emails with action items once back in Minnesota that afternoon. In a show of defiance, I sent out most of my emails on Thursday, with only one being sent on Wednesday because the GM already promised the Principal I would.

I've already spent more than enough time complaining about work, so I will leave it that the end of January was a carryover from the week prior. Oh, and my mom's birthday was on that Tuesday and I called her from a quiet spot in McCormick Place.

Image 026:  01-26-2015

A view from my room on the 30th floor of the W Chicago Lakefront.

Image 027:  01-27-2015

View of downtown Chicago from McCormick Place.

Image 028:  01-28-2015

The awesome brown liquor wall of the 
Untitled Supper Club 

Image 029:  01-29-2015

St. Paul's version of Stonehenge 

Image 030:  01-30-2015

Minneapolis from Boom Island, which is no longer an island.

Image 031:  01-31-2015

G-Bug showing one of her double threats - throwing it down!

Image 032:  02-01-2015

Her other threat - affecting the opponent's shot.

365 Pix in 365 Days for 2015: Images 019 through 025

I can only describe my fourth week of January with a term I haven't used since college. No, not "beer run."  Hell week.

The week after would be the annual AHR Expo, this year held in Chicago. Our top distributor is also in Chicago and our General Manager thought it would be a keen idea for us to sponsor a field trip with a group of other Principals and Owners who could learn the value of being in the aftermarket parts business. Since Chicago is in my territory, I was charged with teeing up the Parts Manager on a presentation and arranging for transportation from McCormick Place to the distributor location and back again. I'm also one of three Regional Sales Managers (RSMs), so I was responsible for finding at least six asses to fill the 18 available seats on the shuttle. 

We had a full month to prepare for the trip, which left plenty of time. However, these are busy professionals with very fluid schedules. If a better meeting arose, and aftermarket typically gets short shrift, more than likely a Principal would cancel. Booking people for the tour was an ever changing process. In addition, the GM also wanted all RSMs to schedule meetings throughout the time we were in Chicago so he could pick and choose what meetings to attend. We were to schedule a "beer summit" on Monday and Tuesday evening; a dinner meeting on Monday and Tuesday night; and a breakfast meeting on Tuesday morning. Over lunch on Tuesday we would take our field trip.

As luck would have it, two of the distributors I wanted to visit were only available on Sunday night. Everyone else was flying in Monday morning. but I was going to fly in a day early to meet with each of my distributors. Not surprisingly, one had another customer meeting so I wasn't able to connect with him. At any rate, the entire month of January involved some degree of event planning that lead right up to the Friday before the trip.

That week I was ambushed with a series of tasks that weren't on my calendar on Monday morning. Turns out our GM was taking a trip to Winnipeg to meet with a distributor. Although I had that distributor as part of my stable before, I transitioned the account to my fellow RSM. I was still asked to provide some detail on the distributor to prep the GM for his meeting. Once on the trip, he texted me for additional information. On Wednesday, my direct boss scheduled a pseudo quarterly review. I say 'pseudo' as the company requires only second and fourth quarter reviews, the first and third ones being a regular check-up/check-in. These still require prep work to track how I'm performing to plan. Fortunately, Q3 was pretty good for me.

I also learned on Monday I would be responsible for transporting a couple co-workers who have been testing the new e-commerce site the company is trying to release to the local Rep and company Service Office. Minnesota is part of my territory, and as the most customer facing person (I actually visit these places) I was tasked with making the introductions. My whole Thursday was shot, but there was a deadline to complete a Parts Potential Sales report by each Distributor for each region. My territory encompasses the North Central, South Central, and West regions. Thursday is also my bowling night, and since I'm the league secretary, I'm responsible for making sure everyone pays and the alley gets paid. I was able to delegate that assignment to someone else.

Finally, the GM scheduled another end-of-day meeting on Friday. The RSMs were asked to create a report of the last on-site visit we made to our distributors. I was glad to see I had been on-site with a bulk of my distributors over the last 18-20 months. The meeting was a watered down table thumper, where the GM said we needed to be tougher and more demanding of action from our distributors. The report was never reviewed.

So, this is my first true ventry of the New Year. I just need to add a signature and it could be a letter of resignation. 

How about another 7,000 words (assuming every picture is worth 1,000 - without captions)?

Image 019:  01-19-2015

I think everyone will be seen wearing white trash bags
tied at the knee.

Image 020:  01-20-2015

Just a slight dusting of snow. Those are dog toys, not kids toys.

Image 021:  01-21-2015

Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul

Image 022:  01-22-2015

My car is a piece of crap and this may have been only the second
or third time I've run it through a car wash, but if I was going to
have people in it, I wanted it to look decent.

Image 023:  01-23-2015

A drive by shooting (get it?  camera shot?) of the Ice Carnival.

Image 024:  01-24-2015

The St. Paul Cathedral lit up for the annual Red Bull
Crashed Ice event. We had bookended trips to
Cowboy Jacks around checking the venue, since we
thought it better to celebrate two friends' birthdays.

Image 025:  01-25-2015

My liver was well lubricated by the time I flew
to Chicago.  By the end of the night a group of
us ended up at a bar that served specialty drinks.
Not pictured:  a Bunsen burner