Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Words for Wednesday

The lovely Delores at Under the Porch Light had been running this meme for a considerable period of time, week after week.   Computer issues led her to bow out for a while and I took over.  When Delores' absence looked like being more permanent I begged and cajoled for other volunteers to share providing the prompts, and Words for Wednesday became a movable feast.  Sadly Delores has (temporarily I hope) discontinued her blog, though we have been told that she will be back in the fullness of time.

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

This month the prompts will be published here - but are provided by Mark Koopmans.  Mark has been very generous and provided me with 'extras', in case 'some of them are too silly to use'.  Not so but far otherwise, and I have included some of them this week.


This weeks prompts are:

  1. Baseball
  2. Farting
  3. Yodel
  4. Glasnost
  5. Nancy
  6. Pen
OR
  1. Margaretville
  2. Scissors
  3. Water
  4. Chocolate
  5. Talker
  6. Zoological
OR
  1. Vacation
  2. Shark
  3. Toboggan
  4. Orchid
  5. Realtor
  6. iPod


 

93 comments:

  1. These are so funny I couldn't help but give it a try for a change.

    I knew it was time for a vacation when I went to see the realtor and found her wearing an orchid in her toboggan. I reached for my iPod, packed my bags and headed to the land of sandy beaches. Meeting a shark couldn't be as scary as coming face to face with what I had just seen.

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    1. Mason Canyon: Big smiles. Big, big smiles. And I find realtors more scary than sharks.

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    2. Great job. You should always do this.

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  2. One day while watching baseball,
    I gave out a yodel while farting.
    I turned to my date for some kind of glasnost..
    From Nancy's pen came the reason.
    Burrito...

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  3. Mason, well done! I wondered how someone would put a shark and a toboggan in the same story.

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    1. Alex J. Cavanaugh: And now I have an image of a holidaying shark tobogganning down the slopes...

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Strayer: I suspect that a lot of us holiday that way now. For reasons of economy, and for safety. With some laziness thrown in. Loved your story.

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  5. The first set seems like it could have the funniest outcome while the third one seems like it has the easiest story to piece together.

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    1. Robert Bennett: And some clever people will combine them all...

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  6. Definitely sounds like a man's list.
    I have no idea what Glasnost is, although I've heard the word.
    I'm curious about Margaretville, is it a town or is it Margaritaville?
    Boy, what a challenge :)

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    1. River: Glasnost is the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. I took Margaretville to be a town - but who knows. Whatever floats your boat.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Openly and frankly discussing? Do our pollies know about this concept?

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    4. River: No. Far too many of them are strangers to the truth.

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  7. I'm really delighted with all the above stories. You should see the grin I've got.
    'sharks eating burritos then farting and yodelling as they toboggan their way downhill during their winter vacation'

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    1. River: They are a lot of fun aren't they? And there is way too much seriousness in the world.

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  8. When I read 'yodel' I thought of my time in CH. Sadly, I never heard any yodeling, but I did hear & see the lovely, long, single horns that folk (in traditional clothing) play. I don't know the proper name of the instrument, but I can you tell it has a deeply booming primal quality to it.

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    1. Bea: An alphorn? Or something like that.

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    2. yes, alphorn. I had a psotcard from my mum once with an alphorn and player on it. She was visiting her mum in Germany at the time and passed through Switzerland too.

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    3. Yes, it must have been an alphorn! I didn't think that the name would be so obvious. :)
      Danke vielmal!

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    4. Ricola? The cough-drop. It shows an alphorn and CH/Switzerland, maybe edelweiss flower?

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  9. Replies
    1. Margaret-whiteangel: Some day you will join us...

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  10. Ha ha ha, I love the first section, it made me laugh.

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    1. Bob Bushell: I have been loving the stories people have created too.

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  11. I am Margaretville's best realtor. A chocolate tongued smooth talker, who always gets the sale. I am not cheap, but I AM successful.
    You would like a vacation home on the water? Not a problem.
    You have an interest in all things zoological? I have the perfect bijou residence to suit you. Toboganning? Orchid cultivation? For the right price I WILL find your perfect residence.
    There is no such thing as second place for a realtor. Not getting the sale ranks with sitting on scissors as a life experience. Unthinkable. My rivals describe me as a shark, but that is jealousy talking. My family and I have lived here for generations and I have more information at my finger tips than they can extract from their iPods.

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    1. wow! Thaat is one cleek guy and not one to n=be messed with. Sitting on scissors - oh very painful, my eyes are watering! Love the take on these words Sue.

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    2. Well done EC, I love this, it's really good.

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    3. Yes, one is smiling from the many visuals :) I'm so happy people are having fun with these words of sillydom. (Thanks again, EC, for the invite :)

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    4. You go, woman! That's great!!!!!! Kudos!

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    5. Loved that EC! Terrific take on a tough challenge.


      Enjoyed the other responses too. Tough, but fun words.

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    6. What an opus magnus! A cohesive story where all the words were used logically! If you were a realtor, I'd definitely choose you!

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  12. All the words in one story. Enjoy.

    Let me introduce myself. My name is NANCY and I have been married to PEN for 40 years. Of course Pen is a nickname and if you even have watched ‘While you were sleeping’ with Sandra Bullock you will know why!! Well enough said about that perhaps.

    Pen had been a BASEBALL coach for most of his working life, in fact has a huge interest in any sports, particularly skiing. We have lived all our married life in the small village of MARGARETVILLE in Delaware County which is about two and a half hours from New York. I have been a horticulturist all my life and we decided about 10 years before we retired that when that day came,we would move to New York. Oh I know it will be a big change for both of us but we wanted to spend more time pursuing our leisure activities.

    We contacted a REALTOR to have our house put on the market and boy was he a TALKER. He never shut up even to draw breath! He also was going to try and find us our new home. I had painstakingly, with my SCISSORS, cut out various possible properties from several newspapers that might be suitable.

    We told him we wished our home to be situated as close to the spacious Botanical and ZOOLOGICAL gardens as possible, and an hour away from the Thunder Ridge Ski Resort where we often went on VACATION. Only Pen skied but I loved flying down the slopes on a TOBOGGAN. Often he would go for a week on his own and to tell you the truth, I was glad of the break from his incessant FARTING and how he often would YODEL in the shower. At home when he was yodelling, I would grab my iPOD, listen to MY music and maintain a facade of GLASNOST!

    His time away, gave me space for some peace and quiet to go off to see the beloved SHARKS in the huge WATER tanks at the ZOOLOGICAL garden and visit the magnificent ORCHID house. While there, my secret pleasure was always to have a deluxe CHOCOLATE drink with an enormous slice of CHOCOLATE cake and a mug of coffee. I am dreaming of it as I write this but hopefully we will sell our present home soon and my dream will become a reality so that we can enjoy our retirement together (and separately).

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    1. I like this, it's good and well done using all the words.

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    2. Margaret Adamson: I really like this. And the prospect of separate and shared retirement.

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    3. Wow! Spectacular use of every word!

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  13. Quite a choice there!
    Have a great one, EC:)

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    1. Sandra Cox: Mark was very generous wasn't he?

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  14. My contribution will be on my blog on Friday. I haven't used all the words, thought I'd save some for another day.

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    1. By the way River, Margaretville is a tiny village in Delaware.County. I see you were wondering from a previous comment.

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    2. River: I am, as always, looking forward to seeing where the words take you.

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  15. I picked the third group of words:

    Vacation
    Shark
    Toboggan
    Orchid
    Realtor
    iPod



    Really, a winter vacation ?
    What was in my noggin?
    It was the middle of summer
    And I was riding a toboggan

    Smashing through frozen Ice
    I was shocked to find a shark
    With an orchid in his fin
    Swimming in the dark.

    The location wasn't marked
    By the GPS on my iPod.
    Now I needed a Realtor .
    To find this a place of God?

    The unique frozen land
    Had disappeared ever-after.
    But, I love to tell the story
    And listen to the laughter.



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    1. Grannie Annie: Love it. And yay for a beauty conscious shark.

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  16. Wow, now this is a list. I will think it all over and be back!

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    1. Karen S.: Oh good. I am looking forward to your take.

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  17. Wait, you mean you want me to write something? ;)

    (Those words choices are SO Mark.)

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    1. Crystall Collier: They are Mark to a tee aren't they? And the fun continues for the whole month. Of course we want you to write something. Please.

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    2. I have noooo idea what you're talking about, Ms. Collier :)

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  18. The fact that you put farting on the list makes you the winner for the day, week, year!!!!!!

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    1. Sonya Ann: Mark gets the credit, not me. I am still smiling at shark farts though.

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    2. Sonya, EC totally gets the credit for continuing such a fun and wonderful tradition... ((EC))

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  19. Hi EC ... this is mine:
    Margaretville
    Scissors
    Water
    Chocolate
    Talker
    Zoological …

    Chocolate called her … she felt the need for an ice-cream – a chocolate cone … the Zoological Gardens should have a parlour. It had been years since she’d visited Margaretville and could not remember whereabouts in the Gardens she would find the café … her mind was honed into that one desire …

    Her ipod was irritating beyond belief … the journalist was wittering on – what does it take to switch off a talker? Ah ha – a pair of nail scissors appeared in her hand … and snip – the wires were cut – that stopped the talking …

    Now to find that ice-cream and a garden seat to sit quietly and enjoy her treat – the ipod wires will have to wait – her husband won’t be happy … but … we only live once and an ice-cream came first, her husband second, divorce she suspected third …

    Ah well Spring has arrived … peace be with us all …

    cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: Chocolate's siren call is hard to resist isn't it?

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    2. Peace be with us all... amen, Hilary (and I loved your story !!)

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    3. Snipping the wires? that's drastic. The talker must have been super annoying for that to happen.
      Now I want chocolate ice cream and all I have in the freezer is vanilla :(

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    4. She's got her priorities right at any rate! :D

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    5. I tried to use those words first and couldn't think of a thing. You did great!

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  20. my pen is lazy today; I am enjoying reading all the comments this time. Ha.

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    1. Linda Starr: I am enjoying them too. Next week?

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  21. I'm over-the-top on writing anything! I could tell by the second word that Mark Koopmans came up with this list. What a story these words will create.

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    1. cleemckenzie: Mark's word choices are already producing some fun aren't they? With more to come.

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  22. Baseball
    Farting
    Yodel
    Glasnost
    Nancy
    Pen

    "The Yankees make me a nervous wreck. Their baseball makes farting a good pastime. I yodel in despair at the thought of another trophy-less season. Only the memory of Nancy Reagan and her actor husband during glasnot-era come close to making me retch. Solution? Pen my musings. :-)

    Greetings from London.

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    1. A Cuban in London: Oh dear, farting as a preferred option makes the Yankees sound really bad. Love your use of Mark's words.

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    2. Very clever use of the words, and I must agree, as an Angels fan, the Yankees have not been kind to their fans lately!

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  23. What fun! I shall have to don my thinking cap.

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  24. Just wanted to say *THANKS* to everyone who's commented, and especially those brave souls that paired farting and Glasnost in a sentence or paragraph.

    Thanks also to EC... the hostess with the mostest :)

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    1. Mark Koopmans: It is a wonderful co-operative effort and thank you so much for your words. Even if the concept of sharks farting has now been burned into my synapses.

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  25. Kudos, EC!
    I can't wait to read the feasts I've missed tomorrow.

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  26. There was a baseball player called Stearting
    from whom there was no sweet sorrow at parting.
    Nancy, his wife, saw him toddle
    off with a pen, and a yodel
    that sounded suspiciously like him farting;

    and she thought - I must, with urgency utmost
    see the realtor, on this issue we need a glasnost!
    I can tolerate that yodel
    But what to do about the smell?
    I need a room to myself, or I'm lost.


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    1. Nilanjana Bose: One of the topics NEVER mentioned in romance novels... Love this. Thank you.

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  27. With my oh-so sophisticated sense of humor, I'd think the inclusion of the word "farting" should add a few chuckles to this week's offerings. :)

    Happy weekend!

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    1. Susan: It has. It does. And I am no sophisticate either. In humour or anywhere else.

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  28. I think this is a very good selection of random words. I enjoyed reading the comments and the entries. As for me I am hopeless writing in English. I could do better maybe if I wrote in French. As it is, I usually start my posts by gathering all my pictures, working with them, then after several days of visualizing them in my mind I come up with what I should write around them – but the pictures come first, the words last, or, no pictures = no writing.

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    1. Vagabonde: Your written English is better than you know (or give yourself credit for). I always love the photographs you give us too.
      Words for Wednesday is a fun meme.

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  29. What a crazy collection of great stories! I wondered how other bloggers would use some of the most interesting words! Now I know.

    My own attempt at using some of these words is at my site.
    Thanks, E.C., and Mark.

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    1. Susan Kane: I saw it, and was awed and impressed.

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  30. I have a good friend who is a writer and she loves prompts like these. So much so, she signed up for another month of them.

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    1. The Happy Whisk: I am always awed by, and grateful to writers.

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