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.
First the second image that Olga Godim sent. This one is called The Tortoise Trainer and is by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910). I am so very grateful to Olga for these thought provoking (and challenging) prompts.
Not an easy job I suspect.
Then to some random words.
'I was just wondering if you could solve a little argument?'
I am really looking forward to seeing the myriad directions these prompts will take people.
Next month the prompts will be provided by Hannah and can be found here.
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.
First the second image that Olga Godim sent. This one is called The Tortoise Trainer and is by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910). I am so very grateful to Olga for these thought provoking (and challenging) prompts.
Not an easy job I suspect.
Then to some random words.
- Someone;
- Hopscotch;
- Days;
- Hotter;
- Hoaxer; and
- Lonely
'I was just wondering if you could solve a little argument?'
I am really looking forward to seeing the myriad directions these prompts will take people.
Next month the prompts will be provided by Hannah and can be found here.
Beautiful picture, not by you?
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: Definitely not by me. I am not an artist - but agree, it is definitely intriguing.
DeleteSomeone please...
ReplyDeleteThose hopscotch days are over.
I was much hotter back then.
Now this hoaxer finds himself lonely.
Martin Kloess: We were all much hotter then. Sigh.
DeleteDitto, EC! :)
DeleteYou did it Martin! Wahoo!
DeleteAs he looked down at the three remaining tortoises gazing up at him, he said, "
ReplyDelete"I was just wondering if you could solve a little argument?"
ReplyDeleteOf course the two previous comments go together. I had trouble getting them typed.
ReplyDeleteMarie Smith: Love it. And I do wonder just how much we could learn from the wisdom of tortoises.
DeleteWell that was really a continued story:-)
DeleteOkie-Dokie...here's my effort for this week....covering the painting, words and phrase.
ReplyDelete"The past few DAYS had been much HOTTER than normal making it too uncomfortable for her usual lengthy strolls along the promenade. Most others felt as she did it appeared because the streets, the esplanade and the beach were bare.
Even the holidaying young school children who normally could be seen full of beans merrily playing HOPSCOTCH on the pavements sat languidly in the shade wherever they could find it, showing little interest in their games of marbles.
Only the cheeky seagulls and a LONELY pelican braved the heat.
On the wall bordering the main road a HOAXER had painted a large, colourful barometer with a melting dial and its glass exploded by the excessive, oppressive heat. It was a clever take on Dali’s painting – “The Persistence of Memory” with its melting clocks.
The street art prompted her to find a cool sanctuary in the local art gallery where she knew the temperature was controlled at a pleasant degree. The promenade and the beaches could wait until the weather changed.
Other holiday-makers, it seemed, had had the same idea.
Their aimless wandering reminded her of the tortoises in the “Tortoise Trainer” an artwork by the acclaimed Ottoman Turk painter/archaeologist Osman Hambdi Bey.
Four other paintings by the artist were on display in the gallery, all on loan from Istanbul’s Pera Museum. Although she liked the five masterpieces on display she liked the “Tortoise Trainer” most of all.
Looking around, she stopped SOMEONE, a stranger, as he nonchalantly passed by.
Smiling tentatively, she asked, “I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD SOLVE A LITTLE ARGUMENT? Just an argument I’m having with myself, actually...so there is no need to look so alarmed!”
The stranger stopped and returned her smile."
Lee: I sense a the start of a whole new friendship beginning here...
DeleteLove it Lee. I am happy the stranger returned her smile though the question was startling.
DeleteFantastic! Wow!
DeleteHi human, Sue,
ReplyDeleteI might pawsibly be noticeable by my absence. So sorry I've not been visiting much. My paws have had to go into overdrive just trying to keep up with all the blogging pawsts. If only my human dad would get back to commenting.
Anyhow, that really is a pawesome image. I think my human has turned into a tortoise.
Pawsitive wishes,
Penny....
Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest Internet superstar!: Penny. How lovely to see you. Please don't work your precious paws to the bone. Give that human of yours a swift bite. Or puke on his rug. It is time he stepped up to the plate again.
Deletekind of like herding cats? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSandi: I suspect herding cats might even be easier.
DeleteI suspect tortoise training would require much patience. Not a job for me, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteRiver: Nor for me. My patience is limited these days. Severely limited.
DeleteOsman, I am just wondering if you could solve a little argument I am having with someone.
ReplyDeleteTraining tortoises? To do what?
Are they to become stealth fighters? Spies? Dance? Sing or play hopscotch perhaps?
It is hotter than Jahannum out there. Have the lonely days in the sun baked your brains? Are you a hoaxer, or have you gone mad? Your friends and family really want to know...
Jahannum is one of the names for the Islamic concept of hell.
DeleteWell done, EC. :)
DeleteHotter than Jahannum will be a new comment for me to make about Oklahoma these days. Always fun to learn something new.
DeleteMagnificent!!!
DeleteGood job, Sue! That's the same sort of questions I'd ask someone proposed to train a tortoise. (Although my hubby could tell you, HIS pet turtle played a tank to perfection when he was a boy playing with his toy soldiers in the grass. :)
DeleteI so miss Delores' blog! Thank you for carrying on her tradition :) I shall try
ReplyDeleteAs the days grew hotter and hotter, Timmy hoped that someone would join him during those lonely august afternoons and play hopscotch. One can only play so often by themselves. His friend, ever the hoaxer, had promised him that Sunday would finally be a day that they could play together. When he showed up, however, all he did was laugh and leave. So Timmy played by himself again. Such was Timmy's life.
Optimistic Existentialist: There are a lot of us carrying her Words for Wednesday flag. And yes, she is missed.
DeleteI love your story, but goodness it is sad. There are too many Timmys.
It is fun that hopscotch can be played by one person. Poor lonely Timmy...
DeleteAgreed, we miss Delores.
ReplyDeleteMy story is ready and will be on my blog on Friday 29th.
River: As always I am looking forward to your story.
DeleteHi EC - I'll be back ... an impossible job I suspect ... but I love these art works ... and I'll enjoy the read through of others' entries - cheers for now - Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: I cannot train the cats, my partner or myself. Tortoises would be another fail.
DeleteI love the painting ... it does beg the question what were they trained to do? very intrigued.
ReplyDeleteYour reply is very good X
bugerlugs63: I have been thinking of a tortoise as a pick pocket. And worrying a little at the places my mind takes me.
DeleteSuch an intriguing painting. One could wonder who is training who in the painting. Enjoying reading the entries.
ReplyDeleteMason Canyon: The smaller critters will have more success I suspect...
DeleteI was wondering if you could solve a little argument for me.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me you could burn more calories by playing hopscotch for seven consecutive days than walking or training turtles for fourteen days.
I told my friend, I didn't agree. Not only do you not burn more calories but the concrete makes it hotter and more uncomfortable and that whoever told her that was a hoaxer.
Now I'm lonely because she is playing hopscotch with her other friends and I am walking by myself.
Would never have guessed this direction. So unique and clever.
DeleteSandra Cox: Woo Hoo. You joined us this week. And I love your story. I suspect the friend is right, but I would rather train tortoises...
DeleteThanks, Granny Annie:)
DeleteTraining tortoises, hey?
That is really fun!
DeleteThis is posted on my blog too with the picture. Loved all the great prompts!
ReplyDeleteWHO LET THE TURTLES IN
by Granny Annie
Who had opened the door?
SOMEONE let them in the foyer.
Turtles were playing HOPSCOTCH
Each becoming a destroyer.
Never in this man's DAYS
Had he seen such interesting turtles
Playing games and maneuvering
Away from the sand and dirt hills.
Also they could talk
He heard the oldest grunt
“I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD
SETTLE A LITTLE ARGUMENT?
“I believe the weather
Is becoming so much HOTTER
But my wife denies global warming
That is why I brought her.”
“It was I and not a HOAXER
Who crossed your threshold.
Our lives are very strained and
We are at a crossroad.”
The homeowner could not answer.
Bickering was constant with the family
And it was very obvious
Arguing would go on indefinitely.
Yes the surprised well dressed man
Still decided to allow them in.
Not only could they cool off
He would never be LONELY again.
Grannie Annie: Big, big smiles.
DeleteSo fun!
DeleteWhat a perfect story for the picture.
DeleteFabulous!!
DeleteThank you EC, Diane, Sandra and Nicky for you nice comments:-)
DeleteLoved it!
DeleteIf you looked in at the man's life from the outside, as a fly might see him, observing from the wall, you'd think he was lonely, perhaps mad.
ReplyDeleteMornings, as the sun grew hotter and higher in the sky, the man would appear with bowls of lettuce and sit cross legged in the entry. Waiting....
Slow as slow can be, they would come, in a line, the tortoises. He had patience. He had lettuce. A broad smile played across his face, like the suns' first rays, as the first prehistoric face appeared.
It was plain to see, thought the fly, watching from the wall, they loved him as much as he loved them.
Someone started calling him the Tortoise Trainer and it stuck. But he trained them not. He wouldn't think of it! Train them for what and why? Circus act? He considered animal circus acts immoral, a disgrace, the act of the insecure, trying to assert dominance.
He was not without detractors. One bully loved to grossly imitate him, a hoaxer, prancing around, with a whip, pretending to hopscotch tortoises, insulting him, loudly proclaiming himself the real tortoise trainer, but this the man felt, only spoke of the lunacy of his taunter.
Thus were his days spent.
The fly, watching from the wall was joined by another. The 2nd fly asked of the first, "I wonder, could you solve an argument?"
"What's the dilemma?"
"My friend says the Tortoise Trainer is mad, but I say you are, for watching him from this spot on the wall."
At this, with self satisfaction, the fly cleaned his front legs and moved off a bit, from the first fly.
"Foolish brother fly, I sit in the spot instead of your spot for an entirely different reason."
At that moment a giant spider grabbed the 2nd fly and ran off to his lair.
The first fly get the view. The second fly gets the spider...
DeleteStrayer: This is brilliant. Really, really good.
DeleteWow and Wow again. This is an amazing story.
DeleteThanks folks, I'm happy you like it!
DeleteStrayer you are too clever. That was an entertaining story for sure. Dumb fly:-)
DeleteWow. This is reeeeeally good. Kudos!
DeleteHahaha-tortoise trainer. I don't know if I could do that job well. LOL
ReplyDeleteSonya Ann: It is yet another job I couldn't do either.
DeleteThat picture is just wonderful! What an amazing story could be spun from that.
ReplyDeleteKathleen Valentine: Olga's prompt is great isn't it?
DeleteLove your story. Good job!
ReplyDeleteSo much fun, EC!
ReplyDeleteHere's my effort:
Way back when I was starting,
If someone would have told me,
A hopscotch playing tortoise
Would make my days less lonely.
And would maybe make me hotter
As with fame my star did glisten,
A hoaxer I’d have called them,
But perhaps I should have listened.
Diane Tolley: It is a wonderful meme isn't it? And I love your story. Even if my star will never glisten with fame.
DeleteWay to go Diane. Love your poem!
DeleteFun poem!
DeleteEveryone has had lots of fun with this week's words and image...well done everyone! :)
ReplyDeleteGave these words a try in my story. The word hotter was hard for me. Not sure why just step outside and one would sure feel the heat.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
peppylady (Dora): I feel the need of something stronger than coffee after reading your story. Dark, clever and sadly quite believable...
DeleteI don't know if I could do that job well. Love your story Sakura Beauty
ReplyDeleteNhi Yen: Welcome and thank you.
DeleteWhat a great idea. I sent in short stories to Doorknobs and Bodypaint for years. They too had prompts that needed to be inserted within a story and it was a great writing challenge to follow the instructions.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Cozy in Texas: It is a heap of fun. I hope that you will join us some week.
DeleteWhat a great idea. I sent in short stories to Doorknobs and Bodypaint for years. They too had prompts that needed to be inserted within a story and it was a great writing challenge to follow the instructions.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Okay, I too will jot these words down and put them together with my critter post! Oh my that will be fun! I'm just back from camping and my computer almost forgot who I was! (Not really) but when we camp it's time for me to go unwired, it's something that soothes my soul! These words really hit home for me too, so you can count on me!
ReplyDeleteKaren S.: I am looking forward to seeing what you do with them. I hope you had a wonderful time camping. I am sure you did.
DeleteThese should make for some interesting stories. I'll have to check back in. Thank you for visiting and leaving such a sweet comment about my father-in-law's passing. I know f-in-l would have been very touched.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you. I hope you are doing ok at this sad time. And yes, there are some interesting takes on these prompts. Some amazingly clever twists.
Delete
ReplyDeleteWORDS ON WEDNESDAY(A new Beginning)
My Computer has been upgraded and its content is completely unlike its predecessor , it will take time for me to get around it all.
HOPSCOTCH.
SOMEONE.
DAYS.
HOTTER.
HOAXER
LONELY..
This is my composition for today's words.
I was wondering if (SOMEONE) Or you could solve a silly argument ? My eldest son aged 61 is telling me that my new PCW10 is easy. My son has spent several ( DAYS) converting my aged PC into something his brain conceived and expects my 90 year old noddle to grasp this altogether new system in a flash, well he is wrong as I am aware it will take me far more time than he did to conceive it,. to him it is simple. However, as I sit (LONELY) at my PC wondering if a (HOAXER) has been at work being that all of the bells and whistles I knew before have been substituted for a host of new ones and has left me like jumping (HOPSCOTCH) from one square to another and in turn getting me (HOTTER) under the collar with frustration.
A few years before I joined the RN I was taught or better still I leaned the Morse Code and the Naval code of Flag Signals, although when the USA entered the WW2 the Morse code remained the same (SOMEONE) minus a brain made a confusing decision and the flags were substituted for the International code, meaning the same flags indelible in my head were given differing meanings. However there was one exception.
The Navy flag 'C,' A square flag envelope shape divided, black to mast , blue to fly, red to deck and yellow on high, became flag Z or Zee as was pronounced by the US Navy, so C became Zee but for all intents and purposes the meanings remained the same, Flown at the mast head It's meaning was the same in both codes "I Require a Tug".
Other Meaningful Flag signals may seem humorous like flag 'V' White with red X marking like the Irish flag it means " I need assistance" or that of the Scottish flag - flag M - White with Blue X meaning " My vessel is Stopped"..About right I reckon.
"The Best is yet to be" .... Vest Back soon.
Vest: No Windows 10 here yet. It didn't want to update correctly and we didn't push it. I hope the bells, whistles and flags start to make sense to you. Soon.
DeleteThis sounds fun, and I have enjoyed reading everyone's take on it. Have a lovely weekend!
ReplyDeleteTerri @ Coloring Outside the Lines: It is fun. I hope you can join us some week.
DeleteWell I did it I used your word list and phrase, I do hope you enjoy it! Just in time to because I'm off to work again, a birthday party for one of my grand-delights after work and then back to catching up on blogging! Enjoy your day. Here is my link for it.
ReplyDeletehttp://twincitiesblather.blogspot.com/2016/07/critters-and-places.html
Karen S.: I loved it. Thank you.
Delete