Happy International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

I've never sold anything I've written, but I wanted to do a little something special today anyway. So here's a story I wrote a while ago ... I know that I've posted various versions of this out there before, but I don't think anyone's seen this exact version yet.

I've also made a recording of it for your listening pleasure, such as it is: 523 words and just under three minutes. The title of the piece is 'Plastic Fantastic'.

( Read more... )

the weather in Providence

is too hot to meter, apparently, or at least that's the case according to my AccuWeather widget:



(For comparison's sake I've included the forecast for Worcester, MA.)

Nose In Your Blow

Got this from sanspoof, though I think I've seen it elsewhere also. Basically you are supposed to put your MP3 player on shuffle, play 20 songs, transcribe their first lines, and ask your friends to guess what songs they are.

As a courtesy, I've eliminated instrumentals, songs in foreign languages, and recordings of me or one of my music projects. To make it more challenging, I've also eliminated songs whose first lines contain the song title (such as the Van Morrison song whose title is the same as this post's).

In a couple of days or so I'll post the answers to anything anyone doesn't guess, I suppose.

1. Now if you've ever been down to New Orleans / then you can understand just what I mean -- littleamerica
2. You may be an ambassador to England or France / You might like to gamble, you might like to dance
3. I got nasty habits, I take tea at three / Yes and the meat I eat for dinner must be hung up for a week -- littleamerica
4. This is not my house / But I know you both so well / Feels like it could be / But I can hear the bell -- pjamesharvey
5. Everybody's got a thing / But some don't know how to handle it / Always reachin' out in vain / Accepting the things not worth having -- fredfred
6. My life, my life, my life, my life / in the sunshine ...
7. I saw you last night in my dreams, love / I woke as the clock was striking four / but I didn't think that I'd meet you / and now as you walk through the door ...
8. When I see the sun arisin', and the birds begin to sing their mornin' song / They celebrate a brand new day, and these days I can't help but sing along
9. Once upon a time there was a engineer / drove a locomotive both far and near -- kerri9494
10. There's been rumors circulating that the time has come around when the boys in uniform will be on call / The wheels will start a-turning and the flames aborn [?] a-burning and the bombs once again about to fall
11. I come home this morning, my clock was striking two / come home this morning when my clock was striking two / The first thing I saw was another man's hat and shoes
12. Say you work for Jimmy Brown, he ain't got nothin' at all / Not the shirt right off his back, he ain't got nothin' at all. -- flummox
13. Edna million in a drop dead suit / Dutch pink on a downtown train / Two-dollar pistol but the gun won't shoot / I'm in the corner on the pouring rain -- stumpsforhands
14. Julie at the station says, "They'll be here any minute now" / But she's running out of records and her show is ending anyhow -- cgoldfish
15. Hurricane Bob is petering out / and Charlotte's on the way!
16. Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did / I've got what I paid for now / see ya tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow / a couple of bucks from you -- waider
17. Every day, I get up and pray to Jah / And he increases the number of clocks by exactly one -- fredfred
18. Oh, great intentions / I've got the best of interventions / But when the ads come / I think about it now -- catherinejulian
19. You always howlin' about where I been / You always screamin' about the money I spend / What's buggin' you?
20. I'm lucky, I can open the door and I can walk down the street / Unlucky, I got nowhere to go and so I follow my feet -- pjamesharvey

And that's about it. I think some of these should be pretty easy, although some are absurdly obscure. Good luck!

defeat

I remembered that the first time I take a longish walk in my sandals in the spring I get blisters.

I forgot how much this hurt, though.

I think I do this every year. Anyway, time to switch back to sneakers for a few days.