Back in Detroit tonight after my whirlwind overnighter in NYC. The first day of the trip is always long - 'cause we take the 6 am flight into LaGuardia (which means getting up by 4 AM) and we don't normally leave the office until 7 pm (or later). Yesterday was no exception.
By the time we walked to dinner and back, it was 10:30 pm. The Middle-Aged Woman was a life-saver, keeping me posted on developments in the Wings - Blackhawks game - since apparently there is no location in Manhattan where you can watch a playoff hockey game that doesn't involve a New York team!! Leonard Cohen was right. First, we take Manhattan - then we broadcast the damn hockey game.
Anyway, I got the Wings pounding the Hawks pretty good for my ole buddy, Captain Dumbass (who I am hoping will confirm or deny whether my blog is set to allow emails back on comments - I think mine is 'cause he has emailed me before). My current prediction is that the Wings will take the series in five games (Chicago is bound to win one of the next two games at home). My next "prediction" won't really be a prediction anymore - it would have to be a postdiction, I guess. Hopefully, I won't need to make any revisionist postdictions in this series. GO WINGS!
Snoplum suggested I consult with the Cap'n regarding my current plans for He Read / She Read, to determine whether:
a) I'm violating his copyright
b) I'm pissing off a fellow blogger by blatantly ripping off the whole male/female blog idea, or
c) You're looking for any guest material for your He Blogs / She Blogs enterprise and interested in whatever Sprite's Keeper and I churn out.
This is all very embryonic in it's newness - but I'm kinda excited about rereading Garp and blathering on about it for all the world (or, at least, we happy few*).
Last but not least: Amazon has shipped the prize from last weekend's contest to Sprite's Keeper - so we will soon be hatching an evil plot (OK, maybe only slightly diabolical; would you believe devastatingly clever?) to take over the Blogging World with the whole He Read / She Read concept. Once we've both read the book. And stuff.
I think I just need a couple of days back at home - and I'll be able to think and write clearly again. Maybe.
Take care.
* Henry V - Act 4, Scene 3
Showing posts with label Contest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contest. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Full, True Story of
"How I Was Kidnapped"
(Plus: our Contest Winner Revealed!)
Last fall, I was sitting alone in a small diner on a main thoroughfare near our home finishing up a post-choir-practice dinner (and contemplating dessert), when my cell phone rang. A rather breathless and agitated Ms. Part Cloudy (my daughter, The Girl) was on the other end.
"Dad. are you OK?" I performed a quick inventory.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?"
"Have you talked to (Brother)*? I tried to call him on his cell phone and he's not answering."
She and I both knew that this was not exactly unusual behavior, so I wasn't quite sure why it seemed to be a source of irritation on this particular evening.
"No - but I'll try to call him."
"Mom says he's supposed to be over at Joey or Tony's house**. If he doesn't answer, you need to go over and find him. And don't travel on Telegraph Road!" This ultimatum ended the conversation as she hung up.
My first thought was: I guess I'm not gonna get any dessert.
My second thought was: It's gonna be hard to avoid traveling on Telegraph Road - since this here restaurant is located on Telegraph Road - and there's no legal way for a vehicle to exit the parking lot of this restaurant without going on to that road. What with me not having perfected transporter technology yet.
The third thought was: Why the hell can't I travel on Telegraph Road?
In deliberate disobedience to my daughter, I left the restaurant and headed off to find The Boy. Within a few minutes, I had confirmed that he was safe and sound at Joey's house. I phoned The Girl to pass along this update. It was a brief conversation.
"OK, I'll tell Mom - but you better get home right away. Mom got a call from someone saying that they had kidnapped you! And the police are coming to the house."
When I shared with The Boy the news that I had been kidnapped, it made his night. He thought it was so funny, he had to go and tell his buds before we headed home. If all my material went over as well with the general populace as the story of my kidnapping did with teenage boys that night, I'd take this show on the road and kick Ron White's ass!
The Boy and I arrived home to some highly-agitated females (whom we proceeded to piss off with our devil-may-care attitude). What for us had been a hoot (since we both clearly knew we had not been kidnapped), had involved at least a few fearful minutes for The Girls until it became clear that the kidnapping threat was b*llsh*t.
The story from the Middle-Aged Woman's perspective was not too much different than portrayed in the flash fiction piece, except that - I did not arrive home during her conversation with my would-be kidnappers. Rather she was able to ascertain my safety by having The Girl phone me - and I subsequently verified they had not kidnapped my son either.
The cops did arrive at the house a few minutes later - but they were not too interested that we had obtained the phone number where the prank call had originated. They asked questions like: Do either of your kids do drugs? Or hang out with people who do drugs? (Apparently, drug-usage and prank kidnapping calls have been strongly linked in recent studies.)
The story kind of peters out at this point. I was in the doghouse again for a while because I had made light of the situation. There was no rash of prank calls in the wake of this incident. Life went back to (more or less) normal.
AND NOW: THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (or actually, just one of you)!
The winner of the World According to Styro Contest is...Sprite's Keeper! (Hurray!)
Although she did not correctly identify any of the stuff I made up in the story (admittedly difficult since it was mostly true - at least in the spirit of what actually occurred), she was the only one to enter the contest. And since we all know that the people who rule the world are the people who show up...SHE RULES!
What is equally cool: She has never read The World According to Garp and so I'm really looking forward to hear what she thinks of the book. If she's willing, I may even propose some "He Read / She Read" posting to give some male/female, first-time reader/rereader feedback on the novel.
Anyway, that's the news from Lake Wobegon for today. That and - the Wings won the first game of the Western Conference finals. And I washed every piece of soiled clothing in the house. And...oh, you get the idea.
Take care.
* My son, whom I refer to as "The Boy"
** Two of The Boy's best buds. They live almost next door to one another, less than a mile from our home as the crow flies. Or the pterodactyl for that matter.
RED WINGS PLAYOFF UPDATE: Detroit vs. Chicago
The Wings defeated the Blackhawks Sunday afternoon, 5-2,
to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series
Last fall, I was sitting alone in a small diner on a main thoroughfare near our home finishing up a post-choir-practice dinner (and contemplating dessert), when my cell phone rang. A rather breathless and agitated Ms. Part Cloudy (my daughter, The Girl) was on the other end.
"Dad. are you OK?" I performed a quick inventory.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?"
"Have you talked to (Brother)*? I tried to call him on his cell phone and he's not answering."
She and I both knew that this was not exactly unusual behavior, so I wasn't quite sure why it seemed to be a source of irritation on this particular evening.
"No - but I'll try to call him."
"Mom says he's supposed to be over at Joey or Tony's house**. If he doesn't answer, you need to go over and find him. And don't travel on Telegraph Road!" This ultimatum ended the conversation as she hung up.
My first thought was: I guess I'm not gonna get any dessert.
My second thought was: It's gonna be hard to avoid traveling on Telegraph Road - since this here restaurant is located on Telegraph Road - and there's no legal way for a vehicle to exit the parking lot of this restaurant without going on to that road. What with me not having perfected transporter technology yet.
The third thought was: Why the hell can't I travel on Telegraph Road?
In deliberate disobedience to my daughter, I left the restaurant and headed off to find The Boy. Within a few minutes, I had confirmed that he was safe and sound at Joey's house. I phoned The Girl to pass along this update. It was a brief conversation.
"OK, I'll tell Mom - but you better get home right away. Mom got a call from someone saying that they had kidnapped you! And the police are coming to the house."
When I shared with The Boy the news that I had been kidnapped, it made his night. He thought it was so funny, he had to go and tell his buds before we headed home. If all my material went over as well with the general populace as the story of my kidnapping did with teenage boys that night, I'd take this show on the road and kick Ron White's ass!
The Boy and I arrived home to some highly-agitated females (whom we proceeded to piss off with our devil-may-care attitude). What for us had been a hoot (since we both clearly knew we had not been kidnapped), had involved at least a few fearful minutes for The Girls until it became clear that the kidnapping threat was b*llsh*t.
The story from the Middle-Aged Woman's perspective was not too much different than portrayed in the flash fiction piece, except that - I did not arrive home during her conversation with my would-be kidnappers. Rather she was able to ascertain my safety by having The Girl phone me - and I subsequently verified they had not kidnapped my son either.
The cops did arrive at the house a few minutes later - but they were not too interested that we had obtained the phone number where the prank call had originated. They asked questions like: Do either of your kids do drugs? Or hang out with people who do drugs? (Apparently, drug-usage and prank kidnapping calls have been strongly linked in recent studies.)
The story kind of peters out at this point. I was in the doghouse again for a while because I had made light of the situation. There was no rash of prank calls in the wake of this incident. Life went back to (more or less) normal.
AND NOW: THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (or actually, just one of you)!
The winner of the World According to Styro Contest is...Sprite's Keeper! (Hurray!)
Although she did not correctly identify any of the stuff I made up in the story (admittedly difficult since it was mostly true - at least in the spirit of what actually occurred), she was the only one to enter the contest. And since we all know that the people who rule the world are the people who show up...SHE RULES!
What is equally cool: She has never read The World According to Garp and so I'm really looking forward to hear what she thinks of the book. If she's willing, I may even propose some "He Read / She Read" posting to give some male/female, first-time reader/rereader feedback on the novel.
Anyway, that's the news from Lake Wobegon for today. That and - the Wings won the first game of the Western Conference finals. And I washed every piece of soiled clothing in the house. And...oh, you get the idea.
Take care.
* My son, whom I refer to as "The Boy"
** Two of The Boy's best buds. They live almost next door to one another, less than a mile from our home as the crow flies. Or the pterodactyl for that matter.
RED WINGS PLAYOFF UPDATE: Detroit vs. Chicago
The Wings defeated the Blackhawks Sunday afternoon, 5-2,
to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series
Friday, May 15, 2009
Flash fiction: Unclear on the concept
(or "How I Was Kidnapped")
Let's start with the fiction and then we'll get to the truth.
Please visit Jeanne at The Raisin Chronicles to read more flash fiction* prompted by the opening phrase: "The voice on the phone..." She's super-cool - and it's fun to see what different directions people can take a story from those words.
And now, without any further ado, Jim Styro's latest flash fiction**...
Unclear on the concept
-----------------------------------
The voice on the phone was low. Unfamiliar.
"Mrs. White?"
"Yes," I replied, half-listening.
"Mrs. White, we have kidnapped your husband." The world stopped.
"Who is this?!"
"You don't need to know. Do you want to see him again?"
Panic rose in my throat, then I heard our front door open. Clasping the phone to my chest, I leapt into the hallway. I saw his face coming through the door and nearly burst into tears.
“What?” he asked, perplexed.
I spit the words into the phone.
“My husband is here – and your number is on my caller ID. Idiot.”
Click.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(100 words plus title)
My original intention, at this point, was to tell...The Rest Of The Story. But it's after midnight - and I have an early meeting tomorrow.
So instead, I thought it'd be fun to pull a "World According to Garp" thing*** and ask people to tell me which parts of the story above they thought were true and which parts they think I made up. Post your true vs. made up theories in the comments to have a chance to win a copy of John Irving's wonderful novel, The World According to Garp (one of my all-time favorite books). All entries must be submitted by midnight on Sunday, May 17 to be eligible for our grand prize (need not be present to win). The winner will be notified by carrier pigeon. All decisions of our judges (me) are final. Anyone to whom my wife and I have already told the story is automatically disqualified from competition. Good luck!
I will post the full, true story of How I was Kidnapped on Monday morning.
But I hope you'll come back and visit again before then.
Take care.
* A short story of 100 words or less. Flash fiction often relies on the title to help tell the story.
** The Middle-Aged Woman gets at least half the credit for this story. She posted a version of this tale on her blog.
*** For extra credit in your true vs. made up theory, explain what "pulling a World According to Garp thing" means as it relates to this contest.
RED WINGS PLAYOFF UPDATE: Detroit vs. Anaheim
The Wings defeated the Ducks Thursday night, 4-3,
to win the best of seven series, 4 games to 3
Detroit advances to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals.
GO WINGS!
Let's start with the fiction and then we'll get to the truth.
Please visit Jeanne at The Raisin Chronicles to read more flash fiction* prompted by the opening phrase: "The voice on the phone..." She's super-cool - and it's fun to see what different directions people can take a story from those words.
And now, without any further ado, Jim Styro's latest flash fiction**...
Unclear on the concept
-----------------------------------
The voice on the phone was low. Unfamiliar.
"Mrs. White?"
"Yes," I replied, half-listening.
"Mrs. White, we have kidnapped your husband." The world stopped.
"Who is this?!"
"You don't need to know. Do you want to see him again?"
Panic rose in my throat, then I heard our front door open. Clasping the phone to my chest, I leapt into the hallway. I saw his face coming through the door and nearly burst into tears.
“What?” he asked, perplexed.
I spit the words into the phone.
“My husband is here – and your number is on my caller ID. Idiot.”
Click.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(100 words plus title)
My original intention, at this point, was to tell...The Rest Of The Story. But it's after midnight - and I have an early meeting tomorrow.
So instead, I thought it'd be fun to pull a "World According to Garp" thing*** and ask people to tell me which parts of the story above they thought were true and which parts they think I made up. Post your true vs. made up theories in the comments to have a chance to win a copy of John Irving's wonderful novel, The World According to Garp (one of my all-time favorite books). All entries must be submitted by midnight on Sunday, May 17 to be eligible for our grand prize (need not be present to win). The winner will be notified by carrier pigeon. All decisions of our judges (me) are final. Anyone to whom my wife and I have already told the story is automatically disqualified from competition. Good luck!
I will post the full, true story of How I was Kidnapped on Monday morning.
But I hope you'll come back and visit again before then.
Take care.
* A short story of 100 words or less. Flash fiction often relies on the title to help tell the story.
** The Middle-Aged Woman gets at least half the credit for this story. She posted a version of this tale on her blog.
*** For extra credit in your true vs. made up theory, explain what "pulling a World According to Garp thing" means as it relates to this contest.
RED WINGS PLAYOFF UPDATE: Detroit vs. Anaheim
The Wings defeated the Ducks Thursday night, 4-3,
to win the best of seven series, 4 games to 3
Detroit advances to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals.
GO WINGS!
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