Seattle Here We Come!!

David and I are going to be visiting Seattle in September of this year and we are looking for ideas of what to go and see. I only have one request and that is to visit some local scrapbooking stores. So please offer away!

Checking in

First off- I haven't visited Ruth's site, but it sounds interesting. I will take a look soon. And it appears that a lot of you are getting creative. I need to again soon. But I believe that some inspiration will come from the resort again for me. In fact, I have several poems from last summer. Probably ones that I will include for the new book. So, Aunt Ruth-when I get them transferred to computer, I will send you copies.

anyway, Monday, we all went down to Sebasco and Bob had an interview and was hired. Dave didn't really have an interview, for some reason, but is 99% sure he has a job. So, if all goes according to plan, we will be moving down to Bath and living there no later than April 25th. Our start date is April 30th. I can't wait. I am ready to get back into the fun of it all.

Uncle Doug- Yes, the date I told you is absolutely fine. I have June 5th marked as the day/nite that you and mom will be coming for the visit in the area. That should be the Tuesday after you arrive to Pittsfield. Now there is no guarantee, that both Dave and I will be available that day, but I definitely will be. So, there. it's settled. You are visiting on the 5th.

Well, time to do some housework, in preperation for packing. Write again soon. Have a good weekend to all.

Mom's Word Challenges

OK...here are two submissions to Mom's word challenges...

The All New Finish The Lines And Create A Poem Challenge

Ode to American Idol

Finally its over
waited so long
happy more than ever
my voice sang the best song
reward could not have been better...honestly
did I believe that I could
soon embark on an adventure
that would make me a star...I should.

First Time on Stage

I’ve dreamt of it forever
can’t dream of anything more
time has finally come
even I know the score
all I have to do is wait
now for the music to come
you won't see me do anything stupid
but the bright lights might strike me dumb

Another Short Story

Since Mom's found a way to get me back in the writing mood again, I figure I better share it with y'all. It's a short-short piece for another Horror Word Challenge on the Yahoo group. The words I had to use are in red below.


Disaster
by W. David MacKenzie

The fleet of spaceships descended upon the Earth and spread out across the globe in ones and twos to hover over every major city on the planet like giant anvils poised to crush everything beneath them.

In Seattle, the attack began as soon as the sun went down. The first thing they did was destroy the Space Needle. Energy beams sliced through the World's Fair leftover as if the aliens were afraid it might be some sort of anti-spacecraft weapon. And, truth be told, it did kind of look like a flying saucer on stilts. Firefighters tried to respond to the wreckage of the toppled monument but panicked citizens gridlocked every road and the fires were left to consume Seattle Center unhindered.

Smaller ships poured from the larger spacecraft like angry bees from a hive, swooping and diving on everyone trying to flee the city and taking pot-shots at Columbia Center and Washington Mutual Tower. When the evening sky was full of the alien fighters they began landing at Qwest Field, the largest flat area in Downtown. In no time at all, alien fighters covered every inch of astro-turf in the football stadium. At some unheard signal, every hatch on every ship started to open simultaneously. The aliens were poised to launch a ground assault, to spill out from the stadium and roam the streets of Seattle freely, to rape and pillage the once proud..."

"Jimmy, turn off the TV and go take your bath!"

"Mommmmm, the movie's just getting good."

"And don't forget to drain the tub when you're done."

"Just five more minutes...I wanna see what the aliens look like."

"I said now, Mister!"

"Ah, Mommmm..."


The End

Mom's Word Challenge

Ruth posted a writing challenge from an online group she visits. The challenge was to write a horror story that used all of these words: innocent, villagers, hopeless, reason, situation, daily, evil, creatures, night, prowl, hunt, feed, power, moon, daylight, never, changes.

Here's my submission...

Hunt
By W. David MacKenzie

I twisted the white buds into my ears and spun the iPod's click wheel until the volume exceeded all reason then stepped out of the darkness, merging into the swarm of midnight tourists and shoppers in the Snake Alley market. Under the waxing moon I began to prowl, my eyes scanning the crowd as I jostled my way past vendors selling everything from ox livers and breaded cuttlefish to squealing piglets perfect for a slow roasted meal. A giggling horde clustered around a smelly-tofu cart--half of them eager for the deep-fried cubes of noxious curd and half daring their pals to bite into the reeking crispy morsels. If I lived another two hundred years I'd still be sickened by that sour aroma. I kept my distance from that cart and moved on as Slayer tore through my ears....

Blood sucking creatures of the night
Nocturnal specters hiding from the light
Cries screaming out every fright

I let myself drift in the human currents of the marketplace and found that two centuries had not brought many changes to this place. Certainly, miles of neon tubing turned the midnight darkness into daylight glare and ragged unwashed villagers had been replaced by gawking tourists from half-a-world away, but the press of bodies in the narrow allies and the calls from old women pushing carts filled with brass trinkets or steaming soups were a vivid echo of those long-ago years when I'd begun this endless journey. I had been fresh with wonder and power back then but the years had drained that away and left a lingering boredom punctuated by moments of power and glory. A tingle spread like the warmth of a candle across the back of my neck and my head jerked up reflexively. My eyes flicked from face to face as I tried to pick out the source of the sensation but I saw only innocent eyes and guiltless souls.

The eddies and tides of the crowd deposited me at one of the stalls that gave Snake Alley it's name and the warm glow spread to my ears and trickled down my back. I eased my way into the anxious throng gathered before the snake handler's stall. It was the perfect place for my prey to be--almost cliche' actually. He'd enjoy watching the handler taunt the seven foot ratsnake; he'd relish the scent of fear oozing from the onlookers; and when the handler hung the snake head down on the meat hook and skinned it alive he'd feed on the crowd's disgust and adrenaline like succulent caviar. I was half way through the crush of people when the full heat of my sixth sense pulsed through my entire body just as AC/DC pulsed through my brain....

I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine
If you're into evil you're a friend of mine

Alight with the sense, I now saw the auras of those surrounding me. Most were pearly white and pale blue with fringes of green as the snake handler's cruelty tainted otherwise good souls, some were the Sweet-Tart pink of love and lust, and a few throbbed the green of avarice and malice--but only one person writhed in a blazing red corona like a man on fire. This was murder and corruption and hatred and violence. This was my prey. In the same moment that I spotted his aura some sense of his own alerted him and he bolted, leaving a trail of toppled and screaming tourists in his wake. It felt good to be on the hunt again.

We tore through the crowd faster than the shocked men and women could react and left a trail of splayed and groaning bodies in our wake. With supernatural dexterity, the prey leapt onto the awning of an old brick building and I, having learned much in my two centuries, followed, but the tin structure was never meant to support the weight of two grown men and it buckled beneath us. We crashed to the ground in a tangle of sheet metal and pipes. The fall knocked the wind from my lungs and a dislodged earbud dangled from my hoodie. The loud but reedy Queen vocals screeched above the wailing of the scattering shoppers while I struggled to gulp down a few breaths and jam the white plastic knob back into my ear....

And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

The prey had a head start now but the destructive frenzy of the chase had finally cleared away the tourists and shoppers so I made good time closing the gap as we ripped through the neon-lit allies. He did everything he could to make my pursuit difficult, overturning push-carts and dumpsters, even tearing out the metal gates from abandoned storefronts. I sailed over each obstacle with the grace of Jet Li on a wire rig but still the killer with the blood-red aura eluded me.

Then he made the turn into the dead end alley.

I skidded to a stop at the mouth of the alley and looked around until I found the bamboo umbrella from a push-cart. I ripped it out of the cart, pulled the umbrella shut, and hefted it like a javelin.

"Hey! Loser!" I shouted, then launched the umbrella with all of my considerable strength.

I didn't bother waiting to see if he reacted to my cat call--hitting him in the back or the front would have been equally effective. As luck would have it, though, he actually did turn around just in time to see the umbrella hurtling toward him and to realize his hopeless situation. The makeshift spear impacted his chest with a wet pulpy scrunch and he was propelled backward onto the filthy pavement.

I thumbed the pause button on my iPod and strolled over to the impaled form. He lay on his side, pierced through and through with the push-cart umbrella, but he had just enough life remaining to bare his needle-sharp fangs and hiss like a B-movie vamp before the offensive red aura faded and disappeared. He was dead.

I reached into my hoodie's pouch pocket and pulled out a rosary. I held between my thumb and forefinger while I made the sign of the cross and said a prayer for his soul then I kissed the cross and tossed the holy beads onto the face of the dead body. The rosary popped and sizzled as it burned into the corrupt flesh.

I ran a finger around my clerical collar, loosening the stiff white fabric at my neck as the heat of my sixth sense faded, then I spun the click wheel until I found the showtunes playlist and selected a track from 42nd Street as I began to jog into the early morning darkness....

I'm shinin' my travelin' shoes
Big scoop in the Daily News
"Who's sayin' his toodle-oos?"
Gettin' out of town

The End

I also got a new car!!

I've been meaning to post this for a while. My other car was giving me lots of problems, so on Dec 30, I bought a new car. It is an 07 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. It has a 2.5 litre engine, 5 speed, all wheel drive, climate control, auto dimming rear view mirror and compass (like I really need that). It also came w/ a very nice stereo system which includes Sirius radio, 6 CD changer, and sub wolfer. Anyway, I like the car. I have just over 3000 miles on it, so will take it in this week for the 1st oil change. I'm attaching a picture.

FFF Moves to New Blogger

Hi Everyone...I've moved the Far Flung Family blog into the New Blogger system. Please post a comment to this entry so that we know you've made it here safe and sound...David

Chunnan Gets A New Car

Chunnan leased a new car yesterday, a 2007 Mazda CX-7 Sport. It's an SUV Crossover (kind of like a station wagon on steroids). It's got all wheel drive, a moonroof, a Bose audio system, and power driver-side seat adjustments. It's Copper Red Mica with tan cloth interior. It rides pretty nicely, looks and feels beefy, and has attractive exterior styling that is somewhat like the Nissan Murano and the Infiity FX35 for thousands of dollars less. The only downside was that he had to pay $270 extra for a connector for his iPod. Mazda needs to get off their butts and add MP3 player cxonnectivity as a standard feature on all their vehicles. Here are some pics...enjoy.












BTW, for all of the local family members...please consider University Mazda for your next new car purchase...they really were a pleasure to work with. On the flip side, stay 1,000 miles away from Pierre Ford on Lake City Road...total a**holes who hike up the prices of their mediocre vehicles by thousands of dollars from the MSRP and can't listen to anyone or anything other than their own HIGH PRESSURE sales tactics.

Word Challenges

Since things have been so very quiet around here for quite a while, I thought I’d tell you all about a yahoo group I joined recently. It’s called An All New Poetry Thread and can be seen at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnAllNewPoetryThread/.

It is a very active group where members post some of their poetry and short stories, but, the most interesting part for me are the daily challenges. And, a lot of the time, unless I find something that intrigues or challenges me, I put off sitting down to try to write anything. It’s also helping me write some poems without rhyming. So, I’ll try to describe some of the challenges for you and give you examples of some I’ve done recently, and maybe you might like to join too to get your creative juices flowing (WE DO NEED SUBMISSIONS FOR THE NEXT FAMILY ANTHOLOGY).

Finish the words challenge 02-16-07

ea, ay, fi, wi, si, tr, so

=> All you need to do is; Make up your own words from the starting letters listed above and write a poem, some prose, or a short story with the word you create from the starting letters above. They do not have to be used in the order listed. Please mark the challenge words to make them stand out in your challenge submission...


I’ve *tried and tried,
but I still *find that,
no matter what you say,
*Wishful thinking
does not *sit well with
realists.

*Aye, we may be
*easy targets for
their sharp tongues,
but without *some hope
and dreamy wishes,
where is the joy
in life?


Here is another one I did recently:

af, co, si, mo, fi, wa, ov


After he saw the cost,
money, finances, wages
overcame every other thought,
but since he had to have it…
budget be damned!
Buy! Buy! Buy!

---------------------------

Horror Theme Word Challenge
02-16-07

* The Words:

innocent, villagers, hopeless, reason, situation, daily, evil, creatures, night, prowl, hunt, feed, power, moon, daylight, never, changes

* The Rules:
You must use all the words in this challenge and can not change the tense of
any word to use it in your submission. They do not have to be used in the order listed. And, it'd be nice if you'd mark the challenge words to make them stand out from other words in your submission.

I haven’t done one of these, but I thought David might like to try it since it can be a poem, short story, essay, or whatever.


The All New Finish The Lines And Create A Poem Challenge
TANFTLACAPC 02.15.07

* The Challenge Lines:

Finally --- over
waited --- long
happy --- ever
my --- song
reward --- honestly
did --- could
soon --- adventure
that --- should

The Challenge Rules:

All YOU need to do is use the first and last word I supplied for each of the
8 lines in this short poem challenge, and create a poem. Please mark the
first and last word in each lime to make them stand out from the other words
in your challenge submission

I didn’t do too well with that one, but here’s another one I did this week:

The All New Finish The Lines And Create A Poem Challenge
TANFTLACAPC 02.15.07

I’ve --- forever
can’t --- more
time --- come
even --- score
all --- wait
now --- come
you --- stupid
but --- dumb

The Challenge Rules:

All YOU need to do is use the first and last word I supplied for each of the
8 lines in this short poem challenge, and create a poem. Please mark the
first and last word in each lime to make them stand out from the other words
in your challenge submission.


The Clock is Ticking

I’ve been waiting forever.
Can’t ask for more
time. The time has come.
Even you don’t know the score.
All I can do, again, is wait.
You may think me stupid,
but wanting a child is not dumb!

Sometimes there are other challenges too, here is one using whole words rather than word beginnings for a poem.

far, wait, long, time, over, free, my

Free of War

The world has been at war
for such a *long, long *time.
You’d think one day we’d all wake up.
You’d think we’d just get *over it
If we could all be *free of war
*my heart would leap for joy!
But peace is never free and
the *wait is *far too long.
Impatience is a human trait.
God, however, works in His own time.

So, I’m challenging each of you to give it a try, either here on our own blog, or by joining the yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnAllNewPoetryThread/.

14 below and still surviving.

okay, so we haven't much snow since our two storms, but below zero weather is enough to deal with.

here's an update on what's going on. Mom had another outting the other day. Both her and gram got their hair cuts. Mom was sooo excited, cause it hasn't been cut since say September. She feels like a new woman. It's amazing what a cut can do.

Let's see, she is getting anxious to drive, but her therapists give her the okay or no, when the time comes. Her car may not be driveable much longer and if this is the case, I guess the church has promised to find her something that she can go around town in. (I never realized how close church families really were, until she attended this church). Anyway, one day at a time.

As for me. I have 1 more month of overnites with Walmart. Hopefully I won't kill my supervisor before then. Also, on the 19th, Dave(my bf), and bob(my roommate), both have interviews at Sebasco. Very exciting. It's almost guaranteed they have jobs, they are just getting all the details. How much money, when to start, that sort of thing. It's hard to believe that in just a few short months, I will be moving to a new part of Maine and looking forward to it.

Let's see, Uncle Doug- just to reassure you, your vacation time is perfect. I told mom that I would reserve a room for you guys on June 5. I believe that is a Tuesday if I am not mistaken. Tuesdays have usually been a typical day off for me, so I can guarantee that I have that day off.

I guess, on that note I will be going now, but hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend, and I will write again soon.
Me.

Deleting "Interview You" & "Puttng Pen To Paper"

Hi All...Just a note that I'll be deleting the Interview You and Putting Pen To Paper blogs sometime next week. If there's anything that you'd like to copy off of them, please do so now. Both blogs were, I think, great ideas, but they suffered from my inability to attract a wide audience. I am going to direct more of my attention to my First Empires fictional world and welcome everyone to visit, read, and comment. I also invite story contributions, and since this endeavor actually PAYS contributors maybe it will attract a wider audience over time.

Hey

I am having trouble posting comments, so i will just write here.

Ruth-thanks for the florida update. Glad to hear that you were safe from danger. Because I am not familiar with the layout of Florida, are Fred and Linda out of danger too? Just curious.

Also, Mom would like one of your new poetry books. I really liked the title and introduction.

Not much happening here. Mom is plugging away. she has therapy 4 times a week and her therapists have told her that because of the new flu bugs going around, she can't return to church until like April. This disappoints her, but she understands why. And if she is going to go shopping, she needs to go, where there is not many people in the stores. Other than that, she is doing okay.

In the meantime, everyone take care. Talk soon .

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

I'm sure most of you have heard about the overnight storms which sent seven tornadoes wreaking havoc across Central Floida. Just so you'll know, even though we were in a tornado watch zone, the worst of them passed south of us between Ocala and Orlando. There was only one very near Gainesville, and none, thank God, close to us. I didn't get much sleep as I was worried when I went to bed and then the weather alert radio kept coming on announcing tornado warnings all night. Although Florida is very high (if not at the top)on the list of states with the most tornadoes each year, there is really no other alert system (other than the weather radios)here in Florida for some reason, no sirens or anything like that. Perhaps that's because they develope quickly and are upon us before you know what's happening, unlike in the plains states where they can be tracked for miles before they reach a town. Last night, over 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and 19 people lost their lives. Here are a couple of pictures I copied off the Orlando Sentinal website. You might want to go there for more photos and stories.

This was the Lady Lake Church of God which, they said, had been constructed to withstand a category 5 hurricane. I guess tornadoes don't play by the same rules.

This is one of hundreds of homes destroyed in Lady Lake.

Destruction in Deland.

Some of the victims had been rendered homeless in New Orleans when Katrina hit and are now homeless and having to start all over again. We should all say a prayer for everyone effected by the tornadoes and a prayer of thanks that it did not strike here.