Before he laid down, he took off his glasses and put them on the stand like always. He’d done it hundreds of times. Who knew it would be the last time?
Who knew it would be the last time he sent me a message? The last time he’d open his silky factory game? The last time he’d close his eyes?
What happened? When did it happen? How did it happen? Why? Where is he now? Why isn’t he here with me? So many questions – too many questions.
wish you were here tonight With me to see the northern lights I wish you were here tonight with me
I wish I could have you by my side Tonight when the sky is burnin’ I wish I could have you by my side
Burns like a thousand stars Though you are light years away Burns like a thousand stars or more
You’re up there You’re always with me Smilin’ down on me
Something sacred, something so beautiful Something quiet to ease my mind When the pressure’s takin’ me over and over
You’re up there You’re always with me Smilin’ down on me
The Northern lights were visible in SW Iowa tonight. While watching them, this song popped in my head. I wish Charles could have seen them with us. He got to see some.small ones in Michigan but it was nothing like these. Hopefully he was watching wherever he is.
It’s time again for Blogophilia, the fun writing group where participants use prompts to create a weekly post. This week’s prompts are:
Ecrits Blogophilia Week 35.15 – Taming the Fear
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a homophone
Easy Bonus: Include a stop sign
“Merry Mary, quite contrary…” she trailed off and frowned. “Why is she contrary if she’s merry?”
“She isn’t merry,” her older brother replied with exaggerated patience. “It’s Mary, Mary. It’s her name, said twice.”
“Why would anyone say it twice?” she asked.
“Because it rhymes? I don’t know.” He turned back to his own studies.
She watched him for a minute, nose buried in a book, shaded in dappled sunlight from the heavy tree they sat under. It was like a scene from Alice in Wonderland. She imagined that she was Alice, but stopped as soon as the white rabbit showed up.
Bunnies were terrifying.
“Why did a monster come to get Alice?” she asked.
Her brother looked up, blinked, and then asked slowly, “What?”
“Alice in Wonderland. It’s the white rabbit that leads her to Wonderland. Why would she follow something terrifying like that?”
“Maybe she was trying to tame her fear? I don’t know. I didn’t write it.”
“I know. It’s too bad you didn’t, though. You could have used something cute and cuddly, like a snake.”
“You should ask your teacher,” he mumbled, not really listening.
“Ask your teacher,” she mimicked. “We have three minutes of face to face. I don’t have time to ask my teacher.”
“You’re the one who decided to take classes on obscure alien literature.” A tentacle slithered up and turned the page of his book. “I told you to stick to easier classes.”
“Well, it sounded interesting. More interesting than whatever you’re studying.”
He rolled his six eyes and turned the book toward her. “I’m studying ancient hieroglyphics. See? This one signals a shop that sells round things with holes in them, and this-“ he motioned to a red hexagon with some unknown symbols – “it means to cease moving.”
“Like what happens when a bunny bites you?”
As if in answer, a loud distant roar sounded; deep, primal, hungry.
“Speaking of rabbits. I think it’s time to head back to the house.” He snapped his book closed and squidged upright, tentacles rolling. “Come on, before the thing finds us.”
She gathered up their blanket and the picnic basket with half unfinished snacks. Another distant roar – closer this time – sent her scurrying after him.
Alice might have been taming her fears, but I’m not going to get eaten!
It’s time again for Blogophilia, the fun blog group where participants use weekly prompts to write their blog. This week’s prompts are:
Ecrits Blogophilia Week 31.14 Topic: Dragon Hunter Hard Bonus: Incorporate a lyric by The Clash (Push a button, Activate) Easy Bonus: Include your favorite childhood toy (Teddy bear)
I had a long post planned, but alas other things got in the way *cough* Nothing to do with the title of this post. Ignore that….
*sigh*
Okay, fine. maaaaayyyyybeee I have been a bit distracted by the Netflix drama Love Between Fairy and Demon. It’s an epic Chinese fantasy show (apparently that genre is called xianxia – word of the day right there). And, though it doesn’t have a dragon hunter it does have a dragon, and a fairy, oh, and a demon king.
I know you want to hear all about it, but don’t bother looking up the online synopsis because it doesn’t do it justice. A weak fairy, who is in love with the unattainable God of War, accidentally releases an immortal criminal from prison. Though she has no idea who he is, it’s none other than the demon king, who 30,000 years ago waged a deadly war on the fairies – and would have won had the previous Goddess of War not given her life to lock him and his 100,000 soldiers away. However, in freeing him, unknown to her, she casts The One Heart Curse on him, which links them together – if she is sad, he is sad, if she gets hurt, the wounds appear on him. If she dies, he dies. So now the strongest being in the magical realm is tied to the weakest fairy. Not only that, but while he was gone, his younger brother has let the Moon Tribe kingdom he used to rule fall into chaos and constant civil war, and he finds that to free his soldiers he needs the spirit of the dead Goddess of War, because she set the seal, so only she can unlock it. And did I mention he’s stuck with the fairy?
As you can probably tell, actually a lot of comedy in it. And though it has an epic romance *siiiiiiigh* there’s a lot of other story going on. For instance someone is manipulating the constant warfare between the Moon Tribe factions and the fairies for their personal gain. It’s really very detailed and well mapped out, and things that seem like throwaway lines in early episodes come back later to have been important clues. And the characters are really well done – even the secondary characters aren’t just one dimensional – in fact one of the most complex, interesting characters is the new God of War’s best friend. Heck, even the God of War himself is interesting despite starting out as the upright, sacrifice everything for duty trope.
Aside from the story and acting being great, it’s just beautiful to look at. The costumes! Oh my goodness! The sets are pretty, and I hear that the CG is amazing for a xianxia – though Rings of Power it’s not, it is still very pretty and very detailed. And did I mention the costumes? And the sountrack? And..and…and…
I could go on, but I’ll stop. Look, just grab your remote, Push a button, Activate Netflix and watch it. I need someone to, because I need someone who is as obsessed as me. Other people were, but since it came out months ago, they were all obsessed back then, so now I’m here all alone. Come. Join me. Seriously. I haven’t been this obsessed with a show/property since Lord of the Rings or Full Metal Alchemist. I need someone besides my Teddy Bear to watch this with!
Here’s a video someone else made that showcases some of the visuals I was discussing (this song is not in the show)
It’s time again for Blogophilia, the fun blogging group where Martien gives us prompts to use for our weekly posting. This week’s prompts are:
Ecrits Blogophilia Week 30.14 Topic: Hope Springs Eternal Hard Bonus: Use a line or quote by Walt Whitman (Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them) Easy Bonus: Include an aqueduct
(Note: AI is controversial because of the training methods of the bots, which really don’t train any differently than humans do. If you don’t like it, that’s your prerogative and I have no intention of changing your mind, so please leave me alone as well. Thanks)
Winter Queen
Since November – thanks to our dear Jonathan – I’ve been playing around with Wonder AI. It’s an art AI (artificial intelligence) and it’s a lot of fun. It does make some beautiful things, but it takes a lot of reuploading/rendering and clever prompt manipulation to get things from it, and even then it has issues with hands, feet, and in some cases limbs. Let’s just say that despite the art world’s fears, this version isn’t going to replace real world artists. For one thing it is time consuming. Did I mention having to run and rerun the same image through over and over again, sometimes tweaking prompts or style? You start to feel like Walt Whitman’s spider , “Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.”
Christmas Duck
Still, Hope Springs Eternal and I keep trying to get the image in my head. Honestly, if you have something specific in mind, you’re better off just drawing it yourself. However what I have mostly used it for is random art. I put in a vague prompt – like Queen’s Will – and let it make what it will for awhile, then eventually I’ll pick something out of it and start adjust prompts like “haughty, beautiful queen with long dark hair” etc.
Ice Princess
One of the things that makes it enjoyable is the community around it. I’m in a reddit sub for the Wonder AI and there’s also an official Discord (yeah, I normally don’t like discord because I have a heck of a time using it, but I try to make an exception here and there. ) The Discord has competitions, and though I never win, it’s fun to use prompts I wouldn’t do otherwise (like the new years fireworks). It’s also fun to share prompts with one another and see what we get.
New Years Fireworks
As I said, it’s mostly fun, and though it may be the foundation of something that changes society, like the paved road or the aqueduct, it’s not there yet.
Here are a few more of the images I’ve made, though.
It’s time for Blogophilia, the blogging group where Martien gives us weekly prompts for our blog. This week’s prompts are:
Ecrits Blogophilia Week 28.14 Topic: Hell Hath No Fury Hard Bonus: Use a Clive Cussler book title (Shock Wave) Easy Bonus: Mention something you might see under a microscope (germs)
Yeah, I noticed that I fell off the planet in November – or seemed to. I had stuff to blog, but I just didn’t get to it. Why? Laziness, maybe? I know such a confession is likely to send a Shock Wave through y’all, but it is what it is.
So, new year. We’re supposed to have resolutions, come up with something to make ourselves better, but…eh. I don’t really have any. There are things I’d like to get back to doing – like blogging – but I’m not going to resolve to do it because resolutions always get abandoned in about two weeks. And then we all feel bad and try to punish ourselves – Hell hath no fury like someone who is disappointed in themselves.
So, what would I like to do this year? I’d like to get back to writing. I’d like to get back in the habit of blogging. I’d like to have time to listen to music again. I’d like to watch TV. I’d like to watch the movies I’ve been wanting to see for multiple years. I’d like to redo Dad’s room and get the sunroom and storage finally dealt with. I’d like to keep the house clean, keep up with laundry – I could keep going, but you get the idea. No way it’s all going to happen. And that’s assuming the world doesn’t come with some new germs we all need to be scared of.
Anyway, happy new year, and here’s hoping 2023 is a better year than the last!
Despite waking up in Illinois to 60 mph wind gusts, we made it to West Virginia! Yay! I’d planned to post this last night but just didn’t get it done. Its mostly stormy sky photos, like these two:
Though we did drive through Le Roy which was pretty cute.
There were some cities that I can’t remember now…
And we did pull into the candle outlet because I’ve always wanted to see the giant candle and it was dratini day in Pokemon Go. I managed to catch 4 shinies there, so that was a crazy jackpot because we were literally there 10 minutes if that.
And then there were clouds.
But last, and not least, once we arrived, there was wine.
That’s after we’d drank most of it. But it was amazing.
I’ve been quiet but I’m still alive. Our Halloween went well, and after that I mostly have been getting ready for my yearly trip to West Virginia. The preparation paid off, and we’re on the road!
The best way to start any trip is with lunch…
It was a rainy day, so there were a lot of neat clouds.
Since it was dark and raining I didn’t get many photos but I did see a neat tree at a rest stop.
It was an uneventful trip, especially after we reached Eastern Iowa and the rain slowed down. But we still stopped in Bloomington, Illinois for the night. The super 8 is pretty cute.
So of course it’s now time for Domino’s and Forensic Files.
They said that the height of color would be last week or this week. I gambled on this week and lost. Still, there were some pretty scenes on our weekly Council Bluffs trip.
The bluffs had kind of a weird effect because most of the color was gone so it looked like one of those desaturated photos where only the red tones are left, but it was in person. Of course it didn’t photograph that way completely but it sort of did.
On the way home we took a bit of a different way and drove down Old Bluff Road or something like that. They had mudslide warnings, and I could see why, as we ran into what looked like one. I guess that’s the trouble when the hills are just made of dirt.
The clouds were also pretty interesting.
And last but not least some random trees in Red Oak and Villisca.
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