Category Archives: Writing

February Word Challenge, Day 15

By lytspeed Posted in February Word Challenge, Prompts, Signs o' the Times Leave a reply

(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are board, tornado, faint, pile, prophet.

Chosen word for free association: prophet
leader, seer, visionary, profit,

Exercise:
“Prophecy is a tough business, kid.” The seer lit a stogie, pulling the flame into the cigar as he drew in a breath. “First of all, there’s no money in it,” he said, shaking the match to put it out. “If you’re going to be a prophet, you’d better be financially independent. Or on food stamps.”

“But what about fortune tellers?” asked the young man. “They make money.”

The seer looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Boy, you are green. There’s a big difference between fortune telling and prophecy. Fortune tellers deal with individuals; prophets deal with civilizations. And believe me, the people only want to listen when you’re foretelling something that they think is good for them. Prophecies of doom only attract weirdos, and even though they may be the only ones prepared when the shit goes down, having them around can be kind of a liability. So I generally keep the small stuff to myself if it’s not going to kill too many people. It’s too much trouble otherwise.”

 

February Word Challenge, Day 14

By lytspeed Posted in February Word Challenge, General, Prompts Leave a reply

(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are kennel, denim, genius, creeper, pocket.

Chosen word for free association: creeper
unsavory dude, mechanic’s dolly

Exercise:
To Harold, “Creeper” was never an insult. It was just a nickname he got because he spent so much time under cars on his mechanic’s dolly. He even made a trucker hat that said “CREEPER” across the top. He never understood what all the chuckles were about; he just thought he made people happy whenever he came around.

When the authorities showed up at his garage to charge him with harassment, it was a complete surprise.

February Word Challenge, Day 11 (with poem)

By lytspeed Posted in February Word Challenge, Friends, Original Poetry, Prompts Leave a reply

(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are sand, napkin, ski, insult, race.

Chosen word for free association: sand
Wyoming, wind, Ed, cats, Wheatland, Wyoming Sun, Wyoming son, Landshark

Exercise (haiku):

“Wyoming Son”
for Ed

Wheatland winter
Winds moan, mourning the loss of
Their Wyoming son.

— Stace Johnson, 2017

Title page of Wyoming Sun, inscribed to me by Ed Bryant

Title page of Wyoming Sun, inscribed to me by Ed Bryant

February Word Challenge, Day 9

By lytspeed Posted in February Word Challenge, General, Humor, Prompts Leave a reply

(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are berry, mellon, whiteboard, oyster, spirit. (Interesting spelling of “mellon”; I’m sure it’s a mistake on the part of the programmer for the random word generator, rather than a reference to Andrew Mellon.)

Chosen word for free association: whiteboard
(Sorry, showing the free association would ruin the joke. 😉 )

Exercise:
Martin grew up in a typical Americana suburb, with one and a half siblings and most of a dog. His mother was a teacher, so when school was out, Martin would wait around in his mom’s classroom until she was done grading and preparing lessons for the next day, then ride home with her. She always had a sandwich waiting for him, usually bologna and mayo on crustless Rainbo bread. When he was done with his homework, he would often doodle on the dry erase boards that lined the classroom walls.

It was definitely a whiteboard and mayonnaise upbringing.