Campaign Challenge

       Rachael Harrie has put forth the First Campaigner Challenge and I'll run with it.  Follow the link to see the rest of the entries.   While you're there you can vote for mine.  Off course, plenty of Campaigners beat me there so I'm way behind in the running--I'm #126 on the list--but that's okay.  I'm just playing the game and adding blog content.

Here is the Challenge:


Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. 

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)

• include the word "orange" in the story

• write in the same genre you normally write

• make your story 200 words exactly!

I took care of all of the above!


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                       Blaming Shadows


                Shadows crept across the wall.  The black cat was left behind by Bob’s ex-wife, along with a whole bunch of other bad news.  Shadows was probably the source of a lot of the bad luck Bob had been dealing with of late.

      The cat stopped and stared at Bob.

        Bob sneered at his nemesis.  Picking up an orange, Bob peeled it with his fingers and threw bits of rind at the cat.  With a playful leap, the cat captured a piece of orange peel and began toying with it.

         “Go ahead—play cute cat.  I know what you’re up to.”

           Shadows took a graceful running start and jumped up into Bob’s lap.  Bob tensed.  The cat nuzzled his leg and purred softly.  Instinctively, Bob stroked the cat and then drew back his hand with the realization of what he was doing.

           Bob popped wedges of the orange into his mouth as he pondered his next move.  He thought about what else could go wrong.  It seemed to be a lot of little things.  It had to be the black cat’s fault. 

          The chime on the dryer signaled that his laundry was done.  He unloaded the laundry and groaned.   Everything faded.

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  Now remember to go to the Linky List and vote for #126.


                 And a word about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge:   We're trying to hit 1000 sign-ups by March 1st, which is next Thursday.  Please make an announcement on your blog to encourage your readers to join us in the A to Z Challenge.   If you have any special connection to bloggers who haven't signed up yet, send them an email to let them in on the April fun and ask them if they'd like to be a part of it.  This week we're counting on all of you to boost the numbers.   Can you help?

Halloween Themes and Variations: My Blog Imago

Happy Blogoversary to Tossing It Out!!!
Two great years starting with the first blog post on September 19, 2009

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Image credit

My Blog Imago

        Why the smiling pumpkin?   Readers of Tossing It Out might be surprised to learn that this blog started as a Halloween blog.  In my earliest posts I tried to relate everything to the topic of Halloween.

        My blog began as a circumstance of synchronicity--a perfect storm of past interests meeting the struggle of a present that was casting a shadow of uncertainty over my future.  Out of work for several months, the image I now saw in the mirror was a man who didn't know what to do next.

        Following the advice of "write what you know", I decided to fall back on my experience in the entertainment and Halloween industries.  I did not want my writing to be a miasma of empty words so I strove for the highest quality writing of which I was capable.  

         My goal became posting daily with no lacuna.  Learning to pre-schedule solved the problem of missing blog posts during vacation times.  

          Did I risk causing readers to oscitate with boredom?   Sure--any blogger risks that, but with more experience I was learning.  I was beginning to feel like a writer and the blog was beginning to look more like a writing blog.

(200 Words)

        For the sake of clarification for those who might think the preceding is somewhat peculiar, this is my entry for the 2nd Campaign Challenge in Rachel Harrie's Platform Building Campaign.   The Challenge is as follows:  

Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should:

• include the word "imago" in the title
• include the following 4 random words: "miasma," "lacuna," "oscitate," "synchronicity,"

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional and included in the word count), make reference to a mirror in your post.

For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make your post 200 words EXACTLY!

     I had to conform my post that I had scheduled for today to fit within the parameters of the challenge. That was okay since this post serves as an introduction to some posts that will be showing up over the next few weeks.  The upcoming posts are something I hinted at in a post earlier this month that dealt with changes that have been occurring on this blog and changes that may be yet to come.


      If you'd like to cast a vote for my entry please go to the Linky List and click "Like" for #56.


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Closing Time

 

       Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  It's something I often do.  I've decided to submit an entry to the first challenge for Rachel Harrie's Platform-Building Campaign.  You can find the rules here.   If you're doing the challenge you probably know the rules; if you're not doing the challenge you may not care about the rules so just read and enjoy.  My story begins and ends with the qualifying prompt phrases and clocks in at exactly 200 words according to my MS Word count.

Closing Time

        The door swung open to admit a solemn cluster of people who had been waiting outside.  As they entered the store the people dispersed, some milling with looks of apprehension as their eyes scanned the surrounding shelves, while others moved with intention as they filled arms or plastic baskets with books.

        Signs throughout the store stated what had been seen on the outside:  LAST DAY!  ALL BOOKS 4 FOR $5.00 STORE CLOSES AT 3 PM.    Even the display fixtures were for sale.  Most of the shelves had been emptied and the remaining stock had been moved to the front of the store.  Now most of the store was roped off looking like a party room after the guests had gone.

        For five hours a steady flow of customers came and went quietly on a quest for a bargain and to pay a final tribute to the store that had been there for the past ten years.  The lines were modest as customers were efficiently checked out by polite clerks who seemed more like carnival workers on the last day of a fair.

      After today the Borders Bookstore would be closed forever.   At precisely three o'clock, the door swung shut.

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       Have any of you gone to your local Borders store to take advantage of the clearance sales?   What extraordinary bargains did you find?



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My Plans Went Awry

      

  Like best laid plans often do, mine for today did not turn out as I had expected.

        I was going to start a series of posts disclosing some ideas I had about the direction I was going to take on this blog and in other matters.   My vacation was a start of a life evaluation and some blog problems that came about at the end of my vacation made me start to get more serious about rethinking my life as it currently stands.

       In later posts I will disclose some of my ideas and discuss some of the blog problems that fell unwelcome into my life.  But not today.  Since today is Labor Day, I will, like most other Americans, take a break from work.   I bought some steaks at Costco to cook on the grill.    Perhaps I'll even run out and buy some beer.  Or at least drink some of the Stella Rosa wine that's in the fridge.

        Today I'm going to take a break from work and maybe even take a nap.  Okay, so it sounds like every other day of my current life, but I'm going to try an attitude adjustment.

          If I do any blogging activity I'll focus on Karen J Gowen's Labor Day BBQ.  If you haven't stopped by yet, visit her site and meet some new bloggers.  I've already replaced the 15 followers that I lost recently (more on that in a future post).  Also, I'll try to do join in on the first campaign challenge for Rachael Harrie's Platform-Building Campaign.

         So, before you leave my site today I'd like to ask you about some changes that have recently come to my blog:

       1.  Have you noticed anything different about my blog page over the last week?


       2.  What do you think of the changes?

        I'll be talking about these questions on a future post, but for now I just wanted to hear what you had to say.   After all, I'm nearing the 2nd anniversary of Tossing It Out and I'm probably due for some change.

        Hope you are having (or had) a great Labor Day.

        On Wednesday I have a unique guest post from Nicole at The MadLab Post.  See you then!