The Playground - Week 2- Day 1

[clauderainsrm]

 The deadline has past to get in your entries for last week - so go check out what everyone has created!   https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1103032.html

What were some of your favorites?

The next topic will be up a little later today. 

***
How was your weekend? 

We were supposed to be going to FEST, but instead stayed home and read all weekend long!  :) 

What are some of  best books you've read lately?

Comments

[bleodswean]

Weekend was quiet. I could have worked up a huge amount of nostalgia about little kids and jack-o-lanterns and candy sorted on the living room floor, but I chose not to. For my own emotional sanity. Still. Quiet.

I've not had time to read a damned thing, although last week I fit in a novella by a new-to-me author - Sarah Moss. Titled "Ghost Wall" and it was pretty good! Disappointing ending, but I tend to almost always be disappointed by endings. You?

[hangedkay]

Haven't read Ghost Wall, but endings are notoriously difficult, and I am a really harsh critic of them. You would think, therefore, that I would enjoy an ongoing series more (books or tv or movies), but I really am always searching for that great ending to a single story.

[bleodswean]

I'm a huge critic of endings, the killing line, and opening lines. I think they are Important. I can count on one hand the truly brilliant satisfying endings out of the zillions of books I've read. I think that's why, at the end of it, I prefer the short story.

Which endings have you particularly been impressed by?

[hangedkay]

That is a great question...

I wish I had better answers. I am struggling to come up with anything off the top of my head. I liked the end of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. :)

[bleodswean]

Have you read Wolff's Bullet in the Brain -

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/09/25/bullet-in-the-brain

I consider this ending flawless.

[hangedkay]

Interesting read.
I can only respond with one of my favorite quotes:
“There never is a happy ending because nothing ever ends.”

[hafnia]

Got stranded in Florence, OR yesterday after the transmission in my husband's car went out on our way back from our anniversary camping trip, and...his "this is only a precaution" test for COVID for work came back positive this morning. So we get to both get PCR-tested. Neither of us are symptomatic, so we're hoping it's a false positive (not uncommon with the brand of rapid test he took), but...ugh. The worst part is that I have no idea where we could have caught it, if we do indeed have COVID. We haven't gone anywhere or seen anyone outside of our household minus having to go back to Montana last month for a funeral, and everyone we saw there was in the same "bubble" — and all vaxxed and masked for the gatherings (we did small family gathering of < 10 people vs trad memorial service).

Last month was A Lot (death in the family, finally coming out to my parents and my mom being awful about it, various other stuff), I was hoping that this month would be a bit less stressful, but no dice, it seems? Ugh.

Best books I've read lately have got to be Murderbot, hands down!

[adoptedwriter]

Hugs.

[halfshellvenus]

Oh, gosh-- what a weekend of awful!

That was a big step regarding your parents, especially given how your mom was likely to react. Very brave of you, and her issues are her own.

Now you're tempting me to read the Murderbot series!

[hafnia]

The Murderbot books are SO good, I genuinely think you'd like them!

[flipflop_diva]

Our weekend was fun! It was Ellie's first real Halloween. Her first year she was too little to know what was happening, and then last year we stayed home and did nothing because of Covid, so this year she got to go trick or treating for the first time. We went with her cousins, who are 8 and 11, but they're really good to her and hold her hand and walk her to the door and make sure she gets her candy. She had so much fun, though. The biggest grin on her fast the entire time! Though she was very mad we made her get up this morning and go to daycare.

I've actually been reading a ton. Mostly because I have to pump 6 times a day for the baby, and there are limited things I can do while pumping, but reading on my ipad is one of them. The best book I've read so far this year is Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons. It's a sci-fi thriller (I am a huuuuuge sucker for any thriller) set in a not-so-distance time when cloning is possible. And it's basically about a clone who has to solve the murder of her original, but there's tons of twists and turns and it was super good and super fun and I highly recommend it if you're into thrillers at all!

[adoptedwriter]

HoneyB had a decent Halloween too. The 1st one we had sleet so nope. Last yr COVID but we did do 2 houses where the treats were set out on the driveway. This yr her parents had the whole day off and could be with her. She was Elsa, of course.

[halfshellvenus]

Ooh, that does sound like a good book!

I'm glad Ellie had a chance to enjoy Halloween this year. It is SO much fun when kids are little. :D

[alycewilson]

Whoops! I thought it was due today! Oh, well. I'll try harder for the next one.

[rayaso]

I enjoyed this less-stress Idol. Longer time-lines, not having to worry about votes. But having to come up with another idea? My brain is creaky and my typing is slow. Time to get into shape.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Time for a derusting perhaps. That's sort of what I'm considering this iteration, a derusting, a warm-up from being away from writing. Although I'm excited for a new topic I also find myself thinking, 'Wait, I have to think of something to write about again? Oh no.'

[gunwithoutmusic]

My weekend felt extremely long and extremely short all at the same time. When I was showering this morning, I thought to myself, 'It feels like it's been forever since I've been back at the office,' but when I got back into the office, it felt like nearly no time had passed since I'd been here last. Such is the way of life, I suppose.

A few updates - I mentioned them in comment replies but figured I'd give them their own little spotlight here in the Playground:

I didn't hear anything back about that job, so it seems like it's a no-go. It's a real shame, because it would have been an excellent position for me, and I thought that the interview went fairly well (especially considering that I haven't had a job interview in about two decades), but I guess that there was someone else that was more qualified or a better fit, and I'm happy for them, whoever they are. I feel a bit frustrated because I lived a good portion of the beginning of my life with things sort of falling into my lap and getting by on charm and decent looks, but it seems that time of my life is fading a bit and I'm not really sure how the idea of "working to get what I want" fits into my schedule, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I also did end up baking a cake for my friend over the weekend, specifically a Victoria Sandwich, which was a new recipe that I had never done before! It turned out not nearly as pretty as Mary Berry's, but I'm not exactly a baker and I gave it my best shot. My friend said that it was delicious, so I'll chalk that up in the win category. I actually wanted to make a practice version before I made the final one, but time didn't allow for that - never mind the fact that my dog apparently ate one entire stick of butter that had been left on the counter to soften while I made a second trip to the grocery store for the eggs I inconveniently forgot to buy!

I did get more butter, though, so I'm tempted to try and make it again because my friend gave it a good endorsement and, maybe if I have the correct materials I can actually get it to turn out this time.

[adoptedwriter]

Maybe they’re not done interviewing other ppl? Maybe you still have a chance?

[gunwithoutmusic]

Well, they mentioned that they had a few other interviews that day (mine was first thing in the morning) and they were planning on making a decision that day, and that I would hear from HR if they decided to move forward. I suppose there's still a very slim chance (it is the government, after all, and they aren't exactly known for speed), but it's been about a week, so I don't think so. :/

I know that it can be time-consuming but I do wish that they would have reached out either way; it's a little rude to just leave someone hanging like that!

[adoptedwriter]

As you said…government. Lol.

[unmowngrass]

I don't think you're outside your rights to call. Ask if they've made a decision yet, ask if you can get feedback on your interview, etc.

[hangedkay]

My weekend was all about cleaning so that my guest room would not be featured on the next episode of "Hoarders."

As for books, I just finished the Paper Magician trilogy and have now started on the autobiography Storyteller by Dave Grohl. I think that says a lot about my reading habits right there.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Oh, the Paper Magician - I read the first one and thoroughly enjoyed it and then promptly forgot to read the others. How does the rest of the series hold up? I might put that back on my list. :)

[hangedkay]

I enjoyed the other two in the trilogy. Haven't read the 4th (same universe, different characters) yet. The first three all had the same feel, which I enjoyed as a beach read.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Nice - I need to get back into reading again, lol. "Beach read" sounds perfect for that. :D

[adoptedwriter]

House cleaning. I get that!

[chasing_silver]

Loved, in no order:

rayaso
flipflop_diva
erulissedances
favoritebean_writes
murielle

Best books I've read lately:

"The Five Points" by Tyler Anbinder
"The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier" by Scott Zesch
"A Gate at the Stairs" by Lorrie Moore

My weekend was great! Went to Metamora, IN, and rode a really cool historical train down there. Super loving discovering this new state (I'm originally from Ontario, Canada - moved here to be with my fiancee!)

[adoptedwriter]

I’m in Ohio not too far away! 👋
Metamorphosis is a cool place.

[chasing_silver]

It really is! Loved the cool old buildings!

[adoptedwriter]

My weekend was pretty productive on Saturday and all about the fun on Sunday.
Reading: I just finished a manuscript for an adoptee friend’s book: I Must Have Wandered. She asked for feedback and a blurb to add to her back book cover. Her words are flowing and lyrical as the reader time travels through the 1950s and 60s. Gary, you would hate this hippie-tastic memoir. I loved it.

[tonithegreat]

Whoa! There’s Idol happening right now! Hello crazy internet writer friends! Maybe I can join you all in this permissive format!

It will be fun to see how people are doing and what they’re writing. It’s been a long weird while.

[unmowngrass]

I had a great catch up with friends on Saturday. I tried to revive an old friendship group into what started as zoom meetings last May. Some people took themselves out of the group chat, some never read it anyway, and some read it but haven't been to anything yet. So our original 11 or so is down to 3 or 4 or sometimes 2, but we meet monthly and have dinner or something. I think it would be better to do it more often, say every fortnight, but I'll take what I can get. Also, it's usually dinner, and it's usually at the same person's house (sometimes it's a takeaway, or someone else brings the food, but it's usually the same time/place). But I still have to put in the group chat the day before every time, what do we fancy doing this time? If it was my flat, I would say let's just agree to do this every time, and then it's settled. But I can't just invite a group of people to someone else's house on the regular, can I? But I really would very very much like to just get a plan nailed down that everyone is willing to stick to, please, because you schedule the things that are important. And also arranging the get together is a huge faff, so let's just do it once and then put it on "set it and forget it" so we just get to reap the joy of companionship without a headache every time. Makes perfect sense to me, but I am struggling to get uptake of this mentality amongst the rest of the group.

...Sorry, that turned into a small rant, so I guess I'm looking for validation to ease my frustration. But I did see friends, and it was wonderful.

[murielle]

The new prompt...is going to keep me up nights!

[unmowngrass]

Indeed. I've done the basic google search for it, I haven't read up in depth yet.

But it seems like I'm going to have to. I have never been there, so I'm obviously going to have to take it as a metaphor. But for what??

I am half-tempted to homegame off last week's prompt, at the moment...

[jake67jake]

I've just finished reading everyone's except ... the one that was Idol locked and I got an error like a couple others did. Will have to go back and re-read to pick faves, although a few really hit in the feels!

I've been in a fanfiction reading kick for well over a year now, so I don't have any books to recommend 😐. I do want to get the new Stephen King book--I own everything he's written. Someone mentioned liking short stories better for the endings... King writes better shorts than novels IMNSHO.

As for weekend, I watched the world series (OMG my Braves actually won it tonite!!!) and fought migraines most of it. Oh, and laundry, there is always laundry!!

I like the "no pressure" of this format, but I was still the last one to submit! That will have to chamge!