Taboo [socs]

Beside me is a game of Taboo without a shoe. It has a mess of cards and a timer too. Does it have a buzzer? Let me look… No, no buzzer. Here’s a pic of the whole thing.

Wow, it really is messy! When I’m finished with this post, I will find a rubber band and neaten up the cards. All the colors should face the same direction, so you can play one set at a time. Idk why there’s no shoe or buzzer, but on the back of the box there’s no mention of such. I guess I got the cheapo version. 🤣

We were playing online Taboo last week, but the site had so many ads that some of us switched to our own cards ~ that’s why this box is sitting out. This is an easy game to play at a distance as long as someone else keeps the time (too hard to watch the time yourself when you’re giving clues), and you all pay attention to any “taboo” words you say inadvertently. I guess you could share your card with someone from the opposing team so they could “buzz” you, but we haven’t bothered to do this.

In the meantime, we found online Code Names, which is more fun anyway. It’s our favorite game at the moment ~ even my daughter joined in the other night. What a blast! Now, I have to admit something: this was more fun at a distance than in person because my daughter was there. She would not have joined us in person because she’s at home with her husband and baby. 💕

And another great thing about games from a distance is of course… NO DRIVING!

Tonight we’re going to have a big virtual game night with 16 people invited. We do this over Zoom paid accounts. It works out really well except (as I mentioned) the camera on my laptop doesn’t function. So, I will just use a static photo, no big deal. My phone loses battery too fast to Zoom on and it’s annoying to have to charge it during a game. Plus, it’s just better to use a laptop with all the features visible on one screen.

I know we’ll return to meatspace game nights as soon as we’re allowed to, but I really enjoy sitting in my own place, with the heater blasting, hot tea on demand, chatting into the night… and not having to brave the roads after with the drunken maniacs. The only issue is that some of our favorite games simply can’t be played online. Oh, and some of our peeps won’t play this way. 😢

Next week we start April A-Z, and though I couldn’t be bothered with the rigmarole of filling out forms and such, I’ll still be doing the thing on my own. My theme is games! They won’t all be board games. Hope you’ll be reading and participating. 😻

~*~

Image from my photo library.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Bingo Update 5

See my previous update here.

For the anthology box, I read When Love Rises by Michelle Stradford. I enjoyed it and gave it a 4-star review. Not 5, since I couldn’t connect that well with some of the poetry at the beginning. Here is my full review on Goodreads, Amazon, etc.:

I especially connected with the later poems in this book where I felt her true soul was laid bare. That painful, powerful imagery resonated with me. Throughout, her poetry contains wonderful metaphors and striking language. A joy to absorb.

I love poetry. I’m trying to get in the mindset to write more myself, but it’s so hard to focus because of the thing.

Next, I read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, a book I meant to read last year. This book really grabbed me, which is odd because it focuses on topics I normally shun. First, it has a huge emphasis on the mother-child bond, in a kaleidoscope of viewpoints. Second, the story is told from the eyes of teenagers a huge chunk of the time. These days I generally dgaf about the angst of teenagers. You think it’s bad now, kids? Just wait. Third, there’s the familiar trope of boring suburbia, the bad that lurks beneath, and the MPDG who twirls in and shakes everything up.

And yet… the story held me immediately. I needed something exactly like this right now, something so different from what’s happening in the news. Remember when we as a nation were riveted by a stain on a dress? That was the most important thing going on. I find it hard to focus on trivia, but I don’t feel like watching a movie either. I haven’t turned on my TV in days except to exercise to a video (I get the news online).

So anyway. That’s when LFE took place, in the Time of the Blue Dress, around 1997, in a wealthy Ohio suburb. I was riveted by the story; I really wanted to discover what the various characters would do. Their actions seemed surprising at times and yet also inevitable, which I admire in writing. It’s a fine line. You don’t want to be predictable, and yet you want your readers to say… oh, of course. They would have done such a thing. I can totally see it now. And there were so many layers upon layers to each character and the part they played in this drama, that the finished “cake” felt fully earned.

I gave LFE 5 stars despite the fact that Ms. Ng had POV breaks within scenes and lengthy, meandering backstories with POV breaks in those too. That just goes to show you that the story and characters are everything; rules are still important, but they can be broken. I’m not sure why Ms. Ng broke them, but with her credentials you know she knows them. They weren’t mistakes. One critic suggested it’s a cliche to have someone die on an icy road or of a brain tumor. I didn’t cringe when reading them, but I can understand someone not liking those sections.

I can see that same critic’s point about the trope of the MPDG breezing into the small town and turning it upside down while discovering all is not what it seems. I guess there’s also the trope of the naive country bumpkin stumbling into the big city and encountering cynics and meanies. But everything has been done. The key is to bring your own voice and spin. That critic doesn’t believe that Ms. Ng added anything new, but LFE struck me as fresh and engaging.

To each their own! 🙂

~*~

Image from Kriti & Ariel.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Self-Isolation Report 3

Saturday Morning

7:30 ~ got up earlier than yesterday to be productive, wasn’t…

8:00 ~ Noon… finished the Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies, had coffee & tea, played with cats, read news to further terrify self, did phone games and Messenger chat

Saturday Afternoon

12:30 ~ did a couple hours actual work, moped, felt sad, depressed, horrified, etc.

3:00 ~ texted with drunk friend in MA 💖

4:00 ~ had a salad, quesadilla, blackberries

Later Saturday

5:30 ~ cleaned up kitchen, still feeling bad

6:00 ~ did stretches, had snacks, made tea

7:00 ~ 10:00… chatted online with friends & daughters, set up Zoom to play party games later, did really well at 2048, played the Cat Lady app for the first time (very fun)

10:00 ~ decided to look at writing messes in progress… NO WAIT! Schedule more posts for April, whew. Almost got trapped into doing actual writing, close call there 😱

~*~

Images from Bitmoji and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Wow What A Week

I touch my face a billion times per day. Yes, I counted, which is why I haven’t been around much this week. I have itchy eyes and am aways messing with my hair and rubbing my achy neck and just generally transferring germs to my face and from my face to everywhere else. But now that’s a crime and also it’s scary to think that all this time people weren’t washing their hands or cleaning their houses. Gross! 🦠

Just when I think I’ve adjusted to the latest barrage of news about THE THING, here comes a new assault of information. Well, not information so much as stuff we’re not supposed to do anymore. First, it was hey quit hooking up with random men from the internet and I was all no problem been on that diet for over three years now. 👍🏻

Wash hands 87 times per day, got it. Clean everything all the time. Sure, okay. Unlike some of you lunatics, I already had Lysol and wipes and alcohol. Don’t go to China or Italy. Lol, okay. Don’t fly at all. Wait, what? Grrrr, okay… I canceled my trip to Vegas this week. Don’t sit in bars and restaurants. Sigh… I canceled Friday night plans and changed Saturday’s.

Tonight I read that Mayor Garcetti has shut all entertainment in Los Angeles ~ bars, gyms, libraries, museums, etc. Grocery stores are allowed to remain open and you can get restaurant takeout only. Governor Newsom says if you’re over 65 you should self-isolate. Luckily, I’m “only” 58, yet I plan to stay inside most of the time, basically go to work, then come home to work more and read/write/blog, and not do much else.

Oh, that’s actually my normal life! 🤣

Joking, sort of. Even though I’m not the most social of butterflies 🦋 I do make some plans… and I don’t enjoy being told I’m not allowed to. But I get it, I get it. I intend to comply with these guidelines in order to help myself and others too. It’s important.

Happily, we’re not really that isolated now, are we? There are so many ways we can stay connected without sitting next to each other in the same room. I’m looking at the bright side of this situation and saying, okay, how can I optimize my time? Well… read and write more obviously. I have lots of partially finished works in progress that I’d love to get on my Kindle shelf for you guys to buy, hehe. In a previous post, I mentioned that I plan to work on Ghosted this year again. Great opportunity!

And I definitely want to stay connected to Blogville! 💕 I know some of us have been drifting a bit or slowing down some, but I have every intention of soldiering on. My Monday Peeve and Thursday Inspiration posts will continue. I’ll do Jim’s Song Lyric Sundays as long as he hosts them. It’s rare I miss a (new) Wednesday Fandango FPQ, and I enjoy the Friday Flashbacks he began as well. I enjoy the weekly SOCS. Other prompts will happen as the mood moves me…

That brings us to the April A-Z Challenge. Last year, I said I wouldn’t do it again for a variety of reasons, but I’ve changed my mind. What’s funny is that I went to the website and was immediately annoyed just like last year! Oh, here’s one reason why I said I wouldn’t do it again… their ridiculous forms, etc. Well, ya know what? I’m going to do it without linking to them at all or jumping through hoops to get myself listed. I don’t care about trying to get more views here. If new peeps come by, great! But if the only readers I have are my “regulars,” I’m fine with that too. 😻

My theme is gonna be games. But I’m not gonna jabber on boringly about rules and game pieces and game theory and the history of chess or any crap like that you could go google for yourself. No. I’m gonna talk about how a game affected me. This blog is about ME! Me me me me!

~*~

Images credited to Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Take

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Take the L” by the Motels.

This song was written by John S. Carter for the Motels’ 1982 Gold-certified third album All Four One. There aren’t any juicy deets about the creation of “Take the L.” I don’t see that Carter had other songs which focused on clever wordplay. His big claim to fame was revitalizing Tina Turner’s career. There probably is a lot of drama with the Motels generally, given that they began in Berkeley in 1998 and had lots of personnel changes. But the Wikipedia entries are pretty dry. Regardless, here are the lyrics, followed by a link to the video. I love Martha Davis’ voice.

Take the L

Watching my head, holding my face
One more evening gone to waste
No longer do I know my place
Killing time and missing my cues
Watching her belong to you
Tears could only change my view
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Growing up has always been tough
Good intentions never good enough
I would take you far away
Do anything to make you stay
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Every drink and cigarette
All those hands we never met
There are things we should forget
Now it’s over, over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Sea Creatures

Pictures from the Long Beach Aquarium for the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge. The Aquarium is such a cool place and I’ll probably go again one of these days. They have an awesome otter exhibit, but it’s hard to get good pics of those cuties.

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Hey Girl Whatcha Doing?

Happy February! I’m participating in Bee’s fun music challenge again and hope you’ll join in (you don’t have to play every day).

Today’s theme is a pop song about love and I’m sharing a Dawn tune. “Knock Three Times” was a pop hit back in 1971 and given a lot of airtime. It was not credited to Tony Orlando & Dawn, according to Wikipedia, because that group hadn’t formed yet (with the “Dawn” we know as Thelma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). Tony Orlando was working for a rival music company and tried to fly under the radar by recording this song with the other musicians as Dawn. It hit Billboard’s #1 in the US and other countries too.

~*~

Written for Love Is In Da Blog Day 25.

Image credit to Happy Color.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

20 for 2020

I haven’t answered questions for a while. These are from Ally at The Spectacled Bean. Check out her blog! 🙂

Your most memorable fancy dress costume?

I dressed up as a glittery fortune teller for Halloween once. I guess that purple and black costume was one of my fanciest. I haven’t been dressing up much lately, even though I still think it’s fun, because my eyes are too sensitive for makeup. If I can’t glop on a ton of mascara, it spoils the festive look.

Which social media platform do you use the most?

WordPress. I also like Twitter.

Favourite season?

Summer. I used to say fall, but I’m really craving hot weather and longer daylight.

If you had to choose the beach or mountains, which would it be?

It depends. I love the beach… nothing is more peaceful than the rhythm of the waves. I could walk on the sand and/or just watch the water forever. If there were no other people around! But that’s rare. The mountains can be quieter, though they are often cold. Scary things are in mountains though, like snakes and bears and curvy roads that drop you off a cliff… but oceans have tsunamis. And also didn’t someone just discover a whole new species of gross disgusting penis worms living under the sand? THANKS FOR THAT!

I’ll just stay in my office.

What can you play very well?

Devil’s advocate.

What kind of cheese do you like?

Brie.

Life goal?

To make a goal.

How many cities have you lived in?

I’ve lived in the three largest US cities: NY, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Plus, I’ve lived in a scattering of towns around these cities.

What language do you wish you could speak?

All of them.

What can’t you stand?

Most things. I’m highly intolerant.

If you have an hour to kill on your hands, what would you do?

Waste it reading garbage, probably.

Your favorite routine?

Start to like some dude and imagine how things might be nice between us and then think of all the reasons why it would likely just be another horrible disaster and get so annoyed at wasting any time on this that I’m snippy the next time I see him causing him not to like me at which point I say to myself aha it would never have worked!

When do you become hyperactive?

After half a coffee!

Text message or phone call?

Text message.

Your most precious treasure?

Note that living creatures aren’t “treasure,” imo, so I’m going to say handmade cards from my daughters.

Your latest foreign language mistake?

This is funny. I was listening to a guy make some plans with me in what sounded like English, but it was really inverse English, so everything was a not-plan. Boy, did I feel silly! 🤪

What’s the best therapy for you?

Writing.

If you could be a fictional character, who would you be?

God.

Where would you like to travel?

Assuming I could afford it and not have massive migraines and backaches the whole time… Maine, Boston, NYC, WDC, Nashville, Santa Fe, Taos, Yellowstone, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Vancouver, Israel, Greece, Ireland, England, Scotland, Aruba.

Where did you meet your spouse/partner?

At the Orange County Animal Shelter.

~*~

Image credits to Bitmoji and Google and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

I Say, Read On! [fiction 200]

Rita checked her notes. “So, you are looking for a true soul mate?”

“Yes,” Art said. “That’s why I signed up for Elite Match. I need someone I can relate to, a woman who loves literature, not a liar who lives in a trailer with a litter of kids.”

Rita frowned over her tea. “I see. You sound very irate. Are you upset?”

“I am,” Art admitted. “You were late to our meeting and I drank an ale while waiting. It wasn’t very good.”

“I would have been here earlier,” Rita said. “But one of my kids fed trail mix to our turtle. It ate a lot. I had to call the vet.”

Art rolled his eyes. “I thought you didn’t have kids, Rita. They’re such a trial. Did you lie on the form or alter the information later?”

“No,” she said. “Maybe you weren’t alert when you read my profile. I don’t mean to rattle your cage.”

“I’m fine!” Art yelled. “I’m just going to retreat to the patio and get some fresh air!”

Rita smiled and returned to her notes. At the top was the title of her next book: How I Drove Men Crazy On Dating Sites.

~*~

Written for Rory’s What’s Your Story Then?

Words made from literature: air, ale, alert, alter, are, Art, ate, earlier, Elite, irate, it, late, later, liar, lie, litter, rattle, relate, retreat, Rita, tea, title, trail, trailer, trial, true, turtle

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Rather Efficiently! [fiction 188]

Romeo waited for his partner in crime as the moon rose over the bay. Finally, he saw Grimes sashaying down the boardwalk in a crimson coat.

“Hey dude!” Grimes said. “Ready to make some coin?”

“Shhhh,” Romeo hissed. “You goose. Don’t make so much noise.”

“But I’m a singer,” Grimes said.

“Not tonight,” Romeo reminded him. “We’re here to rob the Congo Siren while the yacht owner is at the sermon.”

“Oh, I forgot,” Grimes said. “I should have worn my black coat. Can I resign?”

Romeo shook his head. “Nope. We’ll both be goners. Let’s just make our score and get out.”

The two men hurried onto the yacht, broke into the cabin room, and were confronted by Stan, the retired super lieutenant man who was doing the NYT crossword puzzle.

“You boys know a six-letter word for morons?” Stan asked.

“No,” they said simultaneously.

“Guess I’ll just have to arrest you both then.” Stan called for a police van to come get Romeo and Grimes and also had the driver stop and pick up his pizza on the way.

That all worked out rather efficiently!

~*~

Written for Rory’s What’s Your Story Then?

Words made from ergonomics: coin, come, Congo, crime, crimson, goose, Grimes, goners, moon, morons, no, noise, on, resign, Romeo, room, rose, sermon, singer, Siren, so

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.