They blow down the slopes of mountains, plateaus, and hills at this time of year and by happenstance, I was in the middle of this. This seasonal weather pattern containing the katabatic winds occurs mostly at night, when the highlands radiate heat and are cooled. I was lucky to be alerted that the Santa Ana winds were coming again, but nobody had to notify me about the danger of these hot, dry winds, contributing to wildfires. I remained aloof to all the political news, but when it came to weather, I always paid attention, so I could evaluate if I needed to evacuate.
I was out in the woods with the new drummer and we were eating spicy tapioca pearls which my grandmother made for our breakfast. The drummer just moved to California and his greed to perform in front of an audience made him great, but his incessant drumming was turning me into a basket case.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Notify, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Basket, for the Daily Spur prompt – Audience, for FOWC with Fandango – Aloof, for Melodye Shore September show-and-tell – Seasonal, for September Monthly Writing Prompts – Katabatic winds, for Ragtag Community – Happenstance, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Lucky, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Drummer Tapioca Greed, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompt – Evaluate and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Spicy.
Um… that constant beep, beep, beeping is driving all the cats crazy, as when the batteries in the smoke detectors get low enough, they demand to be changed. I don’t like being told what to do and this becomes even worse when a machine starts dictating things like “turn left at the next corner” to me, although I understand that this is being done in a judicious manner. I like to think of myself as an open minded person that can be persuaded by logic and I know that “to err is human”, but I feel that machines can also make mistakes, because they are programmed by humans. Let me clarify this a bit, machines only process information that they have the ability to decipher, so if the road ahead is closed and my navigation system tells me to “turn left at the next corner”, I will need to use my better judgment and not rely on tunnel vision.
It has been steaming hot since Dorian passed by and I am looking forward to some cool weather which should eventually arrive. I am honored today as Irene from My Slice of Mexico dedicated her latest post to me, because I don’t like onions. I don’t have anything planned for dinner yet, but my food desires are now leaning toward Mexican. I was thinking about putting on my traditional Buddhist meditation monk robe, which you might call a gown and then practice some Zen enlightenment through meditation, if I am lucky enough to find some mythical moonbows. The gown actually belongs to my brother and it is only a lender, as I have to return it. I am going to end this post with the most ameliorate (make something that is bad or unsatisfactory better) song ever written and I hope that you enjoy it.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Clarify, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Bit, for the Daily Spur prompt – Being, for FOWC with Fandango – Judicious, for Melodye Shore September show-and-tell – Cool Weather, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Mythical moonbows, for Ragtag Community – Ameliorate, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Food Desires, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Lender Gown Tunnel, for Rachel Poli I Read I Write I Create – Time To Write – Sentence Starter – Um… and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Zen.
Since a ship can be designed to right itself if it capsizes or becomes out of balance, so that it will sit perfectly upright in the water again, this made me think about the possibility of making a post that could write itself. I would have to input all of the prompt words and create a program for it to search the internet and find appropriate stories and then group them together in a coherent manner. I dabble around with this every day and although this may seem like an unlikely idea for a computer to do this under the current standards of technology, it is very likely that someday this will become the future of writing. If a machine writes a post, does that mean the post is writing itself? The first post that is written this way will seem like magic.
This could be a real opportunity for an ambitious person to instigate a new method that will change the world. They already have a computerized oven that knows how to cook your food for you just the way you want it. Computers are great when it comes down to achieving accuracy and they don’t require a cozy spot to get things done. They have already become useful for reading documents and they have the ability to reason about the task for which they are trained to perform, but they have not reached the point where they have something that resembles general reasoning power yet. They keep getting better, but they don’t really understand things the way people do. Stories are out there and they are looking to be told, but a computer is not capable of being able to reel any of them in yet.
Machines lack emotions and although in the Terminator and Matrix movies, they both featured computers that became evil, this is probably not going to happen, as it will be a cold day in hell before a schism emerges between man and computer. My computer has been acting sickly lately and it is easier for me to get a new one than send mine to the computer hospital. My old computer has lost its magic.
Since I am writing about computers today, I want to respond to Fandango’s question which asks, “Do you believe in magic? Define magic any way you wish and explain your belief about magic.” Computers are machines that basically sit around doing nothing all day, that is unless they have code installed inside of them. I worked with a lot of computers and they need to be told what to do, before they will respond. People who do not understand code often think that computers are magic, which in a way they are. Computers influence our lives every day, but they don’t use any mysterious or supernatural forces to do this, so they are not magic, even though a computer is capable of creating an illusion that most people are not able to explain.
Dragons can be viewed as volcanic devils, and since they can breathe fire they are magic, but Puff the magic dragon originally wasn’t magic. He was developed from a poem and he hung out with a little black kitten named Ink, and a little grey mouse called Blink, a little yellow dog who was sharp as Mustard, but since this dragon was a coward, he was called Custard.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Dabble, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Could, for the Daily Spur prompt – Accuracy, for Fandango’s Provocative Question #39 – believe in magic, for FOWC with Fandango – Instigate, for Melodye Shore September show-and-tell – Cozy Spot, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Volcanic devils, for Ragtag Community – Schism, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Opportunity, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Reel Oven Hospital, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompt – Reading and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Unlikely.
Those who have gone across the divide beyond life just might be in touch with us again someday, according to the harvest veil theory. Spiritism is a spiritualistic philosophy started in the 19th century by the French educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, who, under the pen name Allan Kardec, wrote books on the nature, origin, and destiny of spirits, and their relation with the corporeal world. This belief says that the living can contact the dead and speak to someone in the unseen world through a medium. The Bible strongly condemns this practice saying that no one should employ divination, practice magic, look for omens, talk with a sorcerer, bind others with a spell, consult with a spirit medium or a fortune-teller, inquire about the dead and according to a recent Fandango post, this also includes reading Harry Potter books, but I am not sure if he was being sincere.
Korach ben Yitzar the Levite was no ordinary rabble-rouser, as he lead a mutiny against Moses and Aaron with two hundred and fifty men challenging Moses’ leadership and Aaron’s priestly authority. A test was devised between Korach and Aaron to see which one would offer the most pleasing sacrifice to God. Aaron used mercurial incense, the quicksilver of spiritual entities to provide a medium for the manifestation of God. The divine response was unmistakable, as the earth opened her mouth and swallowed Korach and his household alive never to be seen again. At the same time, a heavenly fire consumed all 250 of the rebel’s followers.
A plague soon stalked the camp, quickly consuming tens, then hundreds, then thousands. God commanded Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the people, but Aaron ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun so he could offer incense. He stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked. Not many people would show that kind of devotion, putting themselves in harm’s way, ignoring God’s instructions, to stand between the dead and the living, restraining the angel of death from killing more Israelites.
The Hebrew Exodus from Egypt was beset by horrendous natural conditions. Miriam and Aaron said bad things about their brother, because he married a woman from Cush after his first wife Zipporah died. God set them straight making sure that they knew Moses was His prophet and that he carried God’s fire from the electric sky. God thought that Miriam was being wicked, so He made her skin suddenly turn color to something between ochre and that of watermelon snow. Moses prayed for God to rectify this and he cured Miriam, but only after she was banished from the camp for 7 days.
The 40 years spent in the desert was harsh as food, water and shelter were all lacking and it was scarce to find even a leaf growing. In the spring, the Israelites discovered echinacea, which they mixed with lilac to make tea and this helped them to knockout colds. It was not rare to see a jackal running through camp and seeing these small canines would mess with their melatonin levels and affect their sleep cycle. At first, the Israelites did not have a vault to carry the Ten Commandments around in, so the two stones could not be protected from a burglar. God gave Moses instructions to build a box of acacia wood, overlaid with a gold ornate top, so it did not look like common scrap. God gave Moses a specific geometry to follow, so the Israelites could carry it while they were still wandering the desert. The high priests that were assigned to carry it wore an outfit that resembled a tutu. They looked silly wearing this costume, so they were all given a self care day, and they were allowed to relax in the hot springs.
“I liked the rush, I liked the crunch. Never did look back at the fallout”, said Sonny. As Hurricane Dorian strengthened and slowed over the warm Atlantic Ocean, atmospheric scientist Sonny Daye came up with a plan to divert it toward Brazil to help put out the forest fires that were ravaging the country. Sonny heard that Trump wanted to nuke the hurricane to dissipate it before it reached Florida, but he knew that doing this would just make it radioactive. Sonny was working on a method to manipulate the temperature, moisture, and wind inside of the hurricane, so that he could steer this storm in a different direction. He invented these giant tubes that were filled with dry ice and cooling aerosols that would create crystalline structures in the upper atmosphere to freeze the storm. The idea was to drop this mixture into the eye of the storm to take away its intensity. This would also make the eye grow wider and help to collapse the storm and then it could be pivoted to a new direction.
The South American continent is rarely affected by tropical cyclones, but right now the Amazon is burning at an alarming rate as tens of thousands of fires lay waste to the world’s largest tropical rainforest. There have been more than 74,000 wildfires across Brazil this year, up 85% over the same period in 2018, and about 40,000 of them are burning in the Amazon, so it really needs a good soaking. Sonny is the leading expert on cloud seeding and the Twomey effect and he also spent a lot of time in Brazil researching how to prevent rain from ruining the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Sonny conducted a computer animated test and then he directed the aircraft when to launch and what direction they should follow. After they dropped their loads, and all they could do was wait. Then radar detected that the cloud’s water particles were getting bigger and the storm had reversed direction, but it was not heading to Brazil, it was heading back to Africa where it came from. The news media found this to be funny and that did not bring any comfort to Sonny, as in his view he saw them as being churlish. Florida lifted the emergency warnings and they began gathering essential supplies to be sent to the new victims of the storm. They collected tons of rice and thousands of wax candles which should clear customs with no problem. The revised belief was that the storm would hang off the coast for a few days before it made landfall. When the storm finally hit, it picked up a hippopotamus with a raspberry nose and wonky whiskers and this became the front page story.
Written for Tyler M Deal 5 Words Prompt – Raspberry Found Customs Essential Rice, for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Animated, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Funny, for the Daily Spur prompt – Hang, for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie First Line Friday hosted by Dylan, for FOWC with Fandango – Churlish, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Wonky whiskers, for Ragtag Community – Emergency, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Belief, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Comfort Wax Hippopotamus and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – View.
I never wanted to be a politician, as I think that all these people do is take from society and they never give anything back. Politicians are supposed to have a caring attitude that allows them to commit their best efforts toward the public welfare, but it seems that most of them are only interested in gaining money, status or power. The 32nd president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt referring to the owners of power utilities whose actions he deemed to be against the interests of the American people said, “My friends, judge me by the enemies I have made.” In politics, enemies are made, but there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, there are only permanent interests. Politicians think that they are right, because they won an election and they develop their own preferences instead of trying to compromise and allow people to cooperate with each other. They use things and people, as tools to achieve their result and public figures make us hate their enemies, so they can get their way.
Politicians need to make deals, in order to get any legislation passed and every time that they make a deal, a little bit of grease from that deal ends up sticking to them. When any politician makes his or her way out of the bush leagues up to the top of the political chain, they are very greasy. It is not abnormal for politicians have a license to steal, and this becomes poignant to their constituents when they are fleeced. The Supreme Court insisted that political spending is a form of protected free speech, and this gives all politicians a monopoly to collect money from wealthy donors. As the US heads closer toward the 2020 elections, all politicians will utilize campaign staffers to work the phones in hopes of encouraging a larger voter turnout, and making a mad dash for donations, which will lead to a significant rise in unwanted calls from these pests.
Roman Emperor Tiberius allegedly conducted sexual experiments on goldfish, ushering in an era of decadence and the sadistically wacky Nero drained the treasury to support his elaborate lifestyle. Much of Rome was burned in the great fire of 64 and it is often said that Rome was lost as Nero played his fiddle, but he actually played a lyre or a cithara, as the fiddle didn’t even exist during ancient Rome. Nero may or may not have been responsible for the blaze, but he did take advantage of the situation, by building himself a verdant landscaped palace on the land that was destroyed. Nero accused the early Christians for setting the fire, making them the scapegoats and somehow he was able to make this logic click with the people. He was a despicable character with an insidious reputation who got what he deserved in the end, because he was too interested in debauchery to take a bold and billowy stance about anything that would help the people. Nero tried to wreck a ship that his mother was on, in an attempt to kill her. After a turbulent 13-year reign, the Roman senate ran out of patience and declared Nero to be a public enemy and he became the final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Nero married a castrated man named Sporus, and he played the role of a bride to his bedfellows Doryphorus and Pythagoras, which lead to him being called the rainbow emperor. Nero thought of himself as being a charioteer and a singer and there is a good chance that he may have been up on the roof watching as Rome burnt. Nero was performing in a theater when the legions revolted and he fled the city in disguise when he heard about a plot against his life. When they caught up to him, a few of his faithful followers dug a grave for him and he burst into a verse of Homer’s song, “The gallop of swift footed horses strikes on my ear”, and when he finished singing he committed suicide. Elvis impersonators need to be able to sing, and the first professional Elvis impersonator actually didn’t look like Elvis and he only saw his career take off when he stopped sitting at the piano and began to gyrate his hips onstage. It is no accident that the first Nero impersonator was able to pass himself off as Nero in part because of his musical impersonation.
Written for Tyler M Deal 5 Words Prompt – Verdant Dash License Piano Final, for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Poignant, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Wreck, for the Daily Spur prompt – Click, for FOWC with Fandango – Abnormal, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Bold and billowy, for Ragtag Community – Bush, for Reena’s Exploration Challenge #102 – Public figures make us hate their enemies, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Rainbow, for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Tale Weaver – #238 – August 29 – Pests, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Monopoly Goldfish Rome and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Lost.
Hurricanes are notoriously harder to track than land-based weather systems and since the strong winds and heavy rains from a hurricane cover a path that is usually 100 miles or so across, they can change in less than a day. Although the models have gotten much better, we still can’t really predict how strong they’ll be when they arrive, as most hurricanes are caprice having a mind of their own. Some predictions say that storm is expected to grow in size and could hit Florida as a Category 3 hurricane by early Monday, while others say that Dorian is set to become a Category 2 hurricane. Right now it is still a tropical storm and it is closing in on Puerto Rico.
Storms are exciting but they can be scary like a nightmare. They can bring irrefutable danger with them, as the strong winds could knock your roof off, or you might be hit with some flying debris. A hurricane can be an exquisite puzzle carrying exponential risks that might place you under a state of emergency. When homes are destroyed and infrastructure is damaged, people could suffer a huge debt. My biggest worry is losing the power, as that will prevent me from blogging and watching TV and I wouldn’t even be able to prepare any instant oatmeal. I have a bunch of candles and flashlights ready, so at least I could play gin rummy. NOAA plays a big role, doing aerial survey missions to assess damages to affected areas to develop recovery strategies, facilitate search-and-rescue efforts, identify hazards and to locate errant vessels.
I live in the Cambridge neighborhood at Kings Ridge in Clermont, Florida and they have already distributed these placards for us to place on our front door during the hurricane. One side is green and it says “Okay” and the other side is red and it says “Help”. When the hurricane arrives, I will stick the green Okay on my front door and hope that I don’t have to turn it over. I did get to know some of my neighbors when my dog was still alive, as I walked her around the development, but now that she passed on, I don’t see that many of them anymore. My neighbors are sort of friendly, but mostly everyone sticks to themselves. We wave to each other, but I don’t really know many of their names. My development has a block party every year, which I stopped going to and they also put out a quarterly newsletter, which I don’t bother to read.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Exquisite, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Puzzle, for the Daily Spur prompt – Debt, for FOWC with Fandango – Irrefutable, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Exponential risks, for Ragtag Community – Caprice, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Hope, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Nightmare Oatmeal Gin, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompt – how you really feel about your neighbors and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Errant.
That first puff activated the nicotine receptors in her brain, giving Sara the pleasurable feeling that she craved. She needed to calm her nerves and relieve some stress after spending the night with her boyfriend Dean who was a sailor. Dean would not allow Sara to smoke in his presence, as his mother died from lung cancer and he knew all too well how harmful this nasty habit was. Dean had tried many times to give Sara that pivotal pep talk to change her outlook about smoking, but she would never welcome this advice. Dean had the tenacity of an alligator, as once he sunk his teeth into something, he never quit, but Sara wrote the handbook on being stubborn and she was not about to give up something that she enjoyed so much.
Sara took another drag on her cigarette and she thought of how good Dean looked in his uniform and how much she would miss him as his ship set out early this morning, but she also enjoyed her freedom and when he was gone no one would try to hedge her smoking. Smoke drifted into her eyes, which made her squint and then she noticed something shiny in the black granite rock that she was leaning against. It sparkled like pink dust and she thought it might be rose quartz which she always found to be pretty, demure, fresh and she knew that it would look fantastic set in an amulet. She called out, “Finders keepers” even though there was nobody else around. She had her mind set on this delicious stone, but she had no idea how she would be able to dig it out of the granite. Sara knew that Dean was nimble and she did not lack any confidence in his ability to retrieve the stones for her, but she would have to wait for his return. Sara took a picture of the gemstones and when she got home she would search the web for more information on it.
Written for Tyler M Deal 5 Words Prompt – Sailor Dean Squint Hedge Handbook, for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Nimble, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Delicious, for the Daily Spur prompt – Lack, for FOWC with Fandango – Tenacity, for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie NEKNEERAJ’s Photo Challenge #278, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Finders keepers, for Ragtag Community – Web, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Pep talk, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Dust Uniform Alligator and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Welcome.
Some men just can’t keep it in their pants and they love to take it out and brandish their most prized possession any time they are given the opportunity to do so, putting their pride and joy on display, thinking this will stimulate another. Size maters, but most women are looking for an average guy, one that is not too big, not too small, one which would work out nice because it would be manageable. I guess that most women will weigh their options before they select a mate, but I don’t have any actual facts to make a substantiation of this claim. I think that most women are seeking a commitment, someone that is in it for the long run, so they need to have a few lovers in order to tell what they actually like. Love is not supposed to a surprise party where you are served mediocre manicotti.
A man must try to leave a lasting impression on the woman that he dreams about being with, so he needs to be versatile, because women are looking for both charisma and sincerity and not having both of these attributes would ruin the moment. I have always wondered if women find it irresistible or unattractive when a guy gets inked or a pierced. I am not particularly fond of needles but I did hear about this tattoo butter from my Aunt Helen, which will moisturize your skin, so you won’t feel too much pain if you decide to get one. Finding that special person who you can share the simple joys of life and being truly honest with is not an easy task and you may crash and burn a few times before you figure it all out and find the right person.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Substantiation, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Moment, for the Daily Spur prompt – Burn, for FOWC with Fandango – Tattoo, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Mediocre manicotti, for Ragtag Community – Charisma, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Surprise party, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Aunt Sincerity Butter, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompts of the Photo Challenge – Size matters and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Options.
It is the trailing edge of summer and ever since we saw that water snake in our local swimming hole, nobody wants to swim there anymore. It used to be a place where we would all go to relax, but now our heightened senses have caused an overload and this once peaceful paradise is not the same. We still go there to hang out, but everyone is too frightened to jump in, even though we learned that they are non poisonous. We saw it creep out of the water one day to eat a frog, which was very problematic to watch. The holidays are coming, but I wish the summer would never end. Next week it is back to school for all of us, it is inevitable we are going back, even though this is against our will.
The weather will change and playing outside will be replaced by doing homework, watching more TV and whatever indoor Olympics we come up with. I broke my wrist at the trampoline park called Sky Zone and now I am wearing a cast. I guess all in all it was a pretty good summer, as my Aunt invited me to visit her at her home in Pebble Beach and we went to the Shakespeare festival where we saw Comedy Of Errors. She makes a delicious chicken noodle soup and sometimes you just have to let summer go, but with a few days left, I haven’t written this one off yet,
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Errors & Problematic, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Wrist, for the Daily Spur prompt – Holidays, for FOWC with Fandango – Written, for Go Dog Go Café Christine Prompt – Against our will, for Go Dog Go Café Tuesday Prompt – Edge of summer, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Heightened senses, for Ragtag Community – Pebble, for Sara’s Closet Full Of Notebooks Prompt – Indoor Olympics, for Paula’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Creep Wish Soup, for Sue Vincent’s August 22, 2019 Thursday Photo Prompt – Pool and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Zone.
A Unique Title For Me 