[Write the Story] Nerds in a Heated Argument
Prompt: Nerds in a Heated Argument
Words: tesseract, synthesis, padawan, icebreaker, chomp, decipher, utility, keepsake, slush, croak
Story
“Here.” Buzz put a blue raspberry slush down in front of Tao. “Don’t want your sugar levels tanking. We have a long night ahead.”
“I can’t believe I’m even here.” Tao’s voice was little more than a croak.
Buzz took a chomp out of a candy bar. “Because, padawan, you are a great utility player, and you lost the bet.”
With that, they pushed through the tournament hotel doors. The pre-game icebreaker mixer wrapped up behind them.
“There! Tesseract!” Buzz pulled Tao in a direction.
“No! Keepsake Bonsai. It’s a much better game.”
The two bickered back and forth other the better game as the crowd thinned out.
“Hey! You two! Knock it off!”
Tao and buzz stopped and stared. A young woman with fists balled on her hips glared at them. “If you’re going to fight over a game, do it better. Logic and reason. Objective point. Something that doesn’t need a genius to decipher as a ‘is not/is too’ ad hominem argument. Besides everyone know the best table top game in Synthesis.”
That triggered Buzz and Tao. They both immediately jumpedinot the fray with the girl, who’s name they didn’t bother to get but the next half hour of snark led to hours of game play of each game trying to figure out who was right.
Word Count: 218
Written: 7/1/2021
[Write the Story] Scientists are Never Off Duty
Prompt: Scientists are Never Off Duty
Words: fossil, reactor, sage, hell, gluten, devour, fig, landmine, babble, New Year
Story
“Are you sure this is gluten free?” Elena gestured with her fork. “Because if it’s not, my gut will turn into a landmine in just a few hours.”
The waiter balked a bit before putting down the plate of fig and sage coated salmon. “Absolutely sure, ma’am. Enjoy your meal and Happy New Year.”
Lou smirked as he started to devour his own meal. “You do that just to freak them out.”
“Not true…completely.” Elena dug into her fish. “Celiac is not to be trifled with. It really is hell on the gut.”
They ate amiably amid the holiday babble in the restaurant. Lou paused a moment. “Did he say it was New Years?”
“Is it? Yah, I guess it is.” Elena frowned a moment. “Guess that’s why the wait was so long for the table.”
“How did we miss a major holiday?”
“We’re super close to bringing the Fossil Ridge reactor on line. The first new generation thorium reactor is being unveiled. We did it, Lou.”
“That’s something to celebrate.” Lou lifted his glass. The light refracted off the glass.
Elena’s eyes narrowed then widened. “Oh my gosh! Refraction. That’s what we’ve been missing. Come on, Lou! We have to get back! I think I have it! The answer to that last question. Let’s go!”
Word Count: 216
Written: 6/24/2021
[Personal] Updating Status
So yeah, it does seem like I have dropped off the face of the blog. And I did. I’m six weeks out of shoulder surgery and in well into physical therapy. It still aches. PT is not fun but necessary. I’ll be weak on the right arm for a while. I call the arthroscopic scars my “crop circle” on some days, Scarhenge on others.
The Day Job is still the Day Job, but it’s going back to topics other than the pandemic. There’s part of my brain that can’t comprehend an end to the pandemic — even though we’re FAR, FAR from the end. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I just finished a draft of a presentation documenting all the things we’ve dealt with for the last two years. It’s 45 slides long, not nearly detailed, and it ate my brain.
FenCon is ramping up. We’re having it. It’s been dramatic trying to figure out “should we/shouldn’t we” and how to make it all work out. Thank goodness I have a co-chair. Sarah’s the BEST. But that’s taking up so many spoons and will only get more demanding.
I’ve been writing a little when I have the spoons. But it’s kind of been a rewriting scenario. New content and new material hasn’t been happening. I feel it coming back, but I will fully admit to have hit a low I haven’t felt in a long time. It’s been a long 2 years. Thank goodness I have a therapist to talk to because it’s the only way I’ve gotten through this.
I am hoping as I physically heal, I’ll also get my mojo back.
[Write the Story] A Second Chance
Prompt: A Second Chance
Words: probation, turbine, pentagon, renew, flirt, mindful, dragonfly, lukewarm, hoot, club
Story
“Yeah, I’m not doing that.” Sharon crossed her arms and dug in her heels. “I’m about to get my security clearance renewed.”
“I’m just asking you to flirt a little.” Raymond’s argument was lukewarm at best.
“No. I am on probation still. Do you know how hard it is to get a civilian job in the Pentagon? I’m not going to screw this up. Not like the job at JPL.”
“Come on, that turbine project was beneath you.” Raymond kept glancing at the door to the Dragonfly Club. “Sharon, I need this, but don’t know if I can do it on my own.”
Sharon put her hands on his shoulders. “And how is my ability to flirt going to help you?”
“If you distract Hoot, maybe I can get through the set without him messing it up for me, and I’ll get the gig.”
“Why do you even want this gig, Ray? Tell me that. Why? There are other places. Other clubs. Ones not owned by criminals.”
“This is a mindful decision, Sharon. I almost died here…”
“Literally,” Sharon muttered.
“I need to face this place again. It’s the only way to move on. I could use all the help I can get. Help me move on.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Word Count: 210
Written: 4/29/2021
[Pen/Pencil Review] Pilot Dr. Grip Neon Gel 0.7mm
I’ve let most people know that in a couple of weeks I’m having shoulder surgery. I have the opportunity to be left-handed for a few weeks. And there’s always been part of me that has wanted to be ambidextrous. So I’ve been practicing my left-handed handwriting. It’s not awful, but it’s definitely not confident or pretty. Which brings me to this week’s pen. The Pilot Dr. Grip Gel pen.
The Dr. Grip line runs on the expensive side, but in some ways totally worth it. This time I’m not buying a pen for the ink – though this uses the Pilot G2 refills – which makes it a great ink and writing experience, even with the 0.7mm. I can refill it with any G2 refill which gives me more than just a black option and more than a 0.7mm option. But for practicing left-handed this time a thicker point is easier to deal with.
The barrel is 5.5″ long retracted and 5.75″ with the point extended. The barrel is plastic but well-balanced. The curves to the ergonomic design fit the hand well with little to no ridges to dig in and cause discomfort. The selling-point to this pen – according to the packaging – is the cushion grip to reduce writing fatigue. And I think they’re on to something. The grip is wider than some of your basic pens, but not uncomfortably so. There’s enough squish to the grip that even heavy handed writers will take quite a while to cramp up. Which is probably why the Dr. Grip line has some endorsement by the Arthritis Foundation.
I have the neon purple barrel with the frosted white grip. You can see the purple barrel through it. The purple barrel is somewhat translucent. You can see the mechanisms through it, but it’s not obtrusive The metal clip is sturdy and the metal accents don’t dig in. I find the width easy to work with when using either hand.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – It works well. The ink flows well with minimal smearing. The retraction mechanism is solid. It’s a solid G2 ink in a well-designed barrel
2. Grip and feel – 1 – This is a pen designed for ergonomics. The grip is cushioned and tapered to reduce wear on the hand. The barrel is long enough for comfort and balanced well.
3. Material – 0.5 – For a plastic barrel pen, it’s pretty well-made. It doesn’t feel cheap. The ink is dark, fluid and has minimal smearing. But it is a plastic pen, and for the price point, I kinda want better material.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s a good design. I’m not going to knock it for having a bright metal clip on an otherwise black pen. But it does what it says – it’s comfortable, it has good ink, and it is suitable for long-term writing
5. Price Point – 0.5 – This is the other knock. These aren’t cheap. They run about $10. I got mine on Amazon for $8. So there’s some wiggle room, but they’re not for the faint of heart.
That’s 4 of 5 bronze pencils.
[Write the Story] Revisiting a Fond Memory
Prompt: Revisiting a Fond Memory
Words: grief, evidence, covenant, churn, piazza, intention, vanish, honeymoon, careful, crowd
Story
“Here. Thought you could use this.” Gabriel set a tiny cup of espresso in front of me. I watched the crowd moving through the piazza without really seeing them. I sipped the coffee automatically. “What’re you thinking about?”
I gave my chum a sad smile. “We spent our honeymoon here, Gabe. I think we were right here in this square. I can’t believe Collin is gone.”
Gabriel took a breath, like he was trying to be careful with what he said. “I have never seen anyone vanish like that, Betsy. I can’t think he did that spell with no intention of coming back.”
I smiled, or tried to. The grief was too raw. “He brought me here to introduce me to the history behind The Covenant. It was…amazing. It still is. I know there should still be hop, but it’s hard without more evidence.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“Retrace my steps. Relive that time when we were happy. Use it as an emotional anchor to pull him back. Love is supposed to be the strongest tie, right?”
Gabe still looked lost, but that was okay. He’d figure it out. His friendship with us both could help. Hopefully we could get Collin back in our favorite place. But an interdimensional retrieval was dangerous. We could lose more, or we could gain everything.
Word Count: 224
Written: 4/23/2021
[Pen/Pencil Review] The Sharpie S-Gel Family of Pens – Introduction
Too many things happening at once — and this time it’s not work related.
This is the beginning of a pen blog that will probably end up being a series, and I thought I had already done one of them but apparently not. This is the Sharpie S-Gel family of pens. I (and they) started with the 0.7mm retractable pens. Then I found out they have 0.5mm and 0.38mm. The 0.7mm were a bit thick for my taste with this brand, but they were early ones, I think they’ve been refined. The 0.5mm and the 0.38mm are just lovely. The O.7mm come in black, blue, and red. They just came out with a green and purple. The 0.5mm is just black, blue, and red. The 0.38mm is only available in black.
Most of the family is retractable. The stock pen is black with a black rubber ergonomic grip. The black ink has silver bands between barrel and grip, the others are color coded for easy identification. They also have a white option and a smoky blue options in barrels. These are all plastic but decent hand feel. They have also just come out with a slightly higher end metal series (champagne and gunmetal) that have metal barrels with matching rubber ergonomic grips and the same bands – and they come in blue or black ink. These only come in 0.7mm but the other refills fit in them.
For those who prefer a stick pen, the Sharpie S-Gel also has a blue, black, red set in a 0.5mm needle tip stick pen as well. The blue ink is a lighter shade of blue than the retractable but the others are similar.
The retractable pens are refillable, but refills don’t seem to be available yet. The stick pens are disposable.
They have a decent price point – about $6 a package. And we’ll get into all the breakdowns with individual reviews, but for now, welcome a new pen family to the family.
[Write the Story] A Fan Fiction Writers’ Group Meeting
Prompt: A Fan Fiction Writer’s Group Meeting
Words: hijack, kiwi, patience, pendulum, cunning, leaden, resign, dawn, fury, mock
Story
”Hey! Who brought the good cookies tonight?” Joel snagged a still warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie the size of a tea saucer. “You know, nevermind, it doesn’t matter. You’re a saint.”
“You’ve fallen for my cunning plan.”
“No. Stop. Come on, Heidi, really?”
Heidi blinked at Malik. “Did you just hijack my turn to read? We agreed All of us.” Heidi’s speech was met with a rumble of agreement from the rest of the group. “Just because you don’t like Kiwi Fury doesn’t mean my story sucks.”
“I don’t care about the source material, it’s the leaden dialog and the hackneyed plot.”
“Wow. Did it dawn on you to give it a chance? We gave you your time, and trust me it took a lot of patience to get through your piece. Who does WWE fan fiction?”
“Hey! Hey! We agreed. No yucking others’ yum here!” Heads swung to the new speaker like a pendulum. “We don’t mock others’ fandoms. We’re all here for the support. If you can’t do that, resign your time.”
“Who died and made you boss, Randall?” Malik tossed a folder on the table.
Randall whipped the folder up and across Malik’s throat. He laughed until he felt the sting across his windpipe and the warmth. “What?”
“A little deeper and I’d be getting out the carpet cleaner. Be respectful and we take our fan fiction seriously. One more outburst. You’re out. Permanently.”
Word Count: 238
Written: 3/31/2021
[Write the Story] A Team Comes Together
Prompt: A Team Comes Together
Words: rugby, mozzarella, prism, balsam, channel, puppet, marvel, quarrel, contain, parents
Story
“You know our parents won’t go for this, right?”
“Don’t be an authority puppet, Laurie.” Mason poured over a stack of papers.
“What’s the quarrel now, Loves?” Laurie and Mason both turned to the newcomer in the rugby jersey.
“Seriously? You’re not…whatever that accent was supposed to be you’re from six block from here. “
“But how better to throw off suspicion than to pretend to be something else?”
“I’m not calling you Nigel.” Mason didn’t look up from his plan.
“He kinda looks like a Nigel.” Laurie picked a blob of mozzarella off a pizza congealing on a nearby table. “Maybe he’s trying to channel his inner butler? That’s what I heard.”
“I’ll try to contain my amusement. Mason got to his feet. “Okay, let’s go.”
The three went next door to a gallery showing rare prisms. It was lit perfectly to refract the light to take a moment to marvel at the sight, but they were here to do a job.
Nigel picked the fight with Mason, Laurie hit Nigel with a prepped chair. Nigel fell like a ton of bricks. Mason grabbed their quarry and they fled. “What happened? The balsa wood chair should shattered.”
“I thought you said balsam.” Laurie giggled. “He wasn’t one of us anyway.”
Word Count: 211
Written: 3/29/2021