KazG

  • Well done Sea. Yours put me in mind of the This might hurt book/TV series, very important pressure. And thanks Knicks for giving me the opportunity to play with plot possibilities.

  • Thanks to one of the gentlemen at work (and his penchant for mixing metaphors, specifically ‘The early worm gets the cream’) for giving me this idea 😊

    Take two metaphors.
    Mix well.
    Write the story inspired by the result.

    400 words or less.

  • Aw, thanks @knickylaurelle! I did wonder if the medical terms and general set-up might be a bit too off-putting, but obviously not! 😂 Unexpectedly, I had a few moments of nostalgia writing this. There are elements of it I still miss.

    Thanks to Ath for giving me the idea in the first place, thanks to Sandra for a bit more Luke, and thanks to my…[Read more]

  • Super story @seagreen. Positively inspired and a worthy winner.

    Thanks for the comp @knickylaurelle. I enjoyed it in spite of it bringing back a few awful memories.

  • Each of these had me quite tense – from the loop of endless phone calls to unnerving gun point to the high pressure of never-ending tasks you have to micromanage – and each one left me wondering why I did this. I should have asked for peaceful entries to assuage my own anxieties 😅😅, but that might not have been as riveting, lol.

    They are all…[Read more]

  • Athelstone replied to the topic I Remember in the forum Blogs 3 years, 11 months ago

    I went to his funeral a few weeks back. Still a bit raw for everybody but I’m glad I went. He came from a BIG family with ten brothers and two sisters and it was very interesting to meet some of them. Did have one amusing incident. I spoke with the wife of the eldest brother who told me that she always found the brothers, including her husband, ‘a…[Read more]

  • Sandra replied to the topic I Remember in the forum Blogs 3 years, 11 months ago

    Heartbreaking this, Ath. Good memories but so much sadness in that final line.

  • Attempt to alleviate some plot pressure!

     

    Monday they returned from Suffolk, Luke taking over the driving just before they reached the A14, having said to Fran, ‘You do the wriggly village bits. Easier on my arm if I  drive the motorways.’

    ‘No worries.’ A lie. Except for easing the small concern Luke didn’t over-do it with his still-healing…[Read more]

  • That Conversation

    ‘Frank want’s the self-appraisals by Wednesday, remember.’

    Colin’s words cut through my frantic attempts to pull the KPI figures together. No, I did not remember. I did not remember Wednesday figuring in any of the discussions.

    ‘But nobody has even started because we were told not to. The training doesn’t begin until Thurs…[Read more]

  • Athelstone posted an update 4 years ago

    OK, tiny announcement. I’ve moved the chat feature onto the sidebar. Actually, since it defaults to being in-view, it actually sits down in the bottom right corner. Don’t panic if it opens up and covers the window you want to look at. The minus (-) button will minimise it back into the corner. The plus (+) will open it again. Opinions? OK, horrible?

    • Kate replied 4 years ago

      Ah, I was wondering what that was. Not yet tried it with anyone.

  • Here we go. This week at work I am under enormous pressure to complete all of my reports, my register, scheme book and other administrative paperwork, as well as work on my school’s Easter Hat Parade and organize a webinar on reading for all infant parents. Enormous Pressure. The kind that makes you queasy in the chest and your armpits…[Read more]

  • Woopity woop! 🥳🥳 Thanks, Ath! This was a real challenge for me as evidenced by my unusually late submission. I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but I was working on it the whole time, trying to get the voice right, and make sure my own meaning was clear.

    Love your work as always, ladies. Seagreen, your piece was absolutely beautiful; Sandra’s…[Read more]

  • Thank you Ath, for comp and comments, and very well done Knicks. Seagreen (who gave me lovely images), and Kate., whose teddy could well be a friend of mine,

  • Oh my, how to decide between four super entries?

    Seagreen: poetic, inspirational.

    Sandra: a slice out of a life that seems to be true.

    Kate: warm to the max.

    Knicks: beautifully wrought and fiercely hopeful.

    I read these last night and thought “Blah! I’ll look again tomorrow when it’ll be easier”. It isn’t. I really could pick any one of…[Read more]

    • Woohoo! Well done, Knicky!
      And thanks, Ath , for the comp. I do think you were being too kind in your description of mine, though. 😂

  • Happiness Is An Old Slut

    Y’know, there were a time – before the Great Dark – when I would chase Happiness. Relentless in my pursuit, I would pin her with a heated stare onto the walls of my life, undress her slow and vulgar, dry fingerin’ the places where she kept her best secrets. But even when I caught her, had my way with her, I knew Happine…[Read more]

  • The March comp has two super entries and, maybe, another on the way? With a whisker under a week to go, and a word limit as low as 1 (2 would be better) and as high as 500 there’s tons of time to rattle of an entry. And all it needs is a happy ending. Yippee! Look there’s a one-word-entry with a happy ending. You can’t have that one though.

  • Ath! Ath! I got sumthing!! Had real worries about it but a slight thing came to me this morning. So I’ll see where it takes me 😃✨

  • Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 1 month ago

    Festival of Writing is back on at York this year. Any takers?

    • Not me, I’m afraid. I’m too immobile at present and in-person festivals have never been my thing. Are you going, Ath?

      • I wouldn’t mind, especially if there are a few faces I haven’t seen for a while. That said it’s an awful lot of money even with the discount for members/earlybird.

      • Maybe I won’t go. Having been invited to book NOW and hurry, early bird discounts are only there for a week, none of the “buy” buttons work on the site.

        • I couldn’t log in to the members’ site yesterday but I managed just now. They seem to have had a few glitches recently.

    • It’s been a few years since I was last there but I seem to remember I always think I’ll enjoy it more than I do (barring the company, of course!) We need to have our own ‘York’

      • Yes, I didn’t get nearly as much as I thought I would out of the one I went to. It was fabulous meeting up with everyone but everything else was a bit – just, OK, really. Of course, had the agents swooned over my work at the 1-2-1 sessions and offered immediate representation, as they were supposed to, my view may have been different. But the best…[Read more]

    • Oof, even early bird is still a fair bit more than it used to be. I don’t think I’ll be there. Like Sea says – I’d rather just meet up with Denizens!

      • Yes, I hasten to point out that I was trying the “buy” button (unsuccessfully) not because I’d decided to buy, but to see whether there were any choices to make. Looks like you buy a ticket then choose what you want to do.

    • By my reckoning, without the early bird it’s £700 (or thereabouts). What if you’re not a member of JW?

      • Well, our fridge freezer passed away at the weekend, probably at some point on Friday evening so we didn’t notice until Saturday afternoon, by which point about £100 worth of frozen food was spoiled. Our neighbour over the road who used to repair kitchen appliances said it would cost almost as much to repair as to buy a new one. So that’s firmed…[Read more]

  • Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 1 month ago

    In case you hadn’t noticed, we now have a choice of editors for posting in forums. The default, what you see first, is the “Visual Editor”. This is actually the main editor for WordPress, (the core software for the Den), but it is disabled by BBPress, (the WordPress plugin that gives us forums). The reason for this seemingly odd choice, is that…[Read more]

  • Athelstone started the topic I Remember in the forum Blogs 4 years, 1 month ago

    I remember meeting you, in 1978. The person who introduced you said you were a good bloke. It didn’t recommend you to me. But as the evening wore on, you did seem decent enough.

    I remember jeans and a white T-shirt and a scruffy canvas jacket.

    I remember bumping into you later in the Student Union bar. It was good to see you.

    I remember the B…[Read more]

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