Pirate Girls and Adventure on the High Seas

I think that my lack of posting anything at all may stem from the fact that this blog was set up to talk about scandalous gossip writing projects. The fact that I have written virtually nothing for months, I think, has weighed heavy on me and I've developed this idea that if I'm not writing then I shouldn't be blogging either. I mean, there's only so many times that people want to visit here and listen to me rant about hockey riots or my back issues...or the fact that I'm too lazy busy to write anything (or can't think of interesting stuff to write about).

I was driving somewhere the weekend and a car in front of me had a bumper sticker that made me smile...

The sticker, of course got me thinking about the incomparable Jodi MacArthur and her "Wicked Woman's Booty" episodes published at Pulp Metal Magazine. Then that led me to thinking about other writer's whose blogs I used to follow but have recently been ignoring. My apologies to all for not being a very good on-line friend. Not even a very good casual acquaintance...

I visited my own blog today and was surprised to find that the visitor count is nearing 30,000. Wow, I guess people have been dropping by in my absense (thanks mum)...I image they visit less to see if I've written anything new and more to see how long I'd go in silence. Perhaps the visit to see if I would let the blog go fallow for a whole season, or maybe to see if I'd give up the entire crop for good. I can't promise anything in the way of productivity. I may post again in two days or perhaps it will be two weeks or even another two months will slip by before I let my thoughts coalesce and the words fly from my finger tips (or something like that). I was also surprised to discover that since I last visited here there have been visitors from five more countries...Gambia, Jersey, Botswana, Uganda and El Salvador. It's nice to see that my lack of writing productivity has even garnered interest in the African countries. I'm not sure, though, why Jersey is showing up all of a sudden. I mean, my on-line buddy Anthony Venutolo is a Jersey boy and has dropped by here many times before...I thought his presence would have showed up on that site meter eons ago...and WHEN did Jersey get it's own flag...probably had something to do with that Tony Soprano fella...

We had a fine Father's Day here on The Rock yesterday. We finally had a 'warmish' day and the Finch-Davidson-Stansbury families again gathered for the boiling of the lobsters. I won't bore you with yet another tale about a crustacean feeding frenzy or scandalous stories about the horrific dining habits of certain family members. The curious can see the pics from my 2010 post...or perhaps the year before...

The day ended for us by driving Sean down to the harbour downtown where he jumped on a fishing boat and was whisked off to sea...I kid you not. We're very proud of the boy as he has had a dream of working on a boat and set out to accomplish that goal. I mean, yeah, it's just for a couple of days. But he got acquainted with a fisherman (the father of another sea cadet) and set out to bug the shit out of him  convince him of his deserving to be there by loading up crab pots on another boat (for free, I might add and for helping off load crab from his boat two weekends running. This is sort of a try-out for the boy as his real goal is to get to go out for turbot fishing for 9 or 10 days about 150 miles off our coast in the Atlantic (I suppose I mean ON TOP OF the Atlantic...)

Below are a couple of photos from last night. The first is Sean waiting at the dock for Cap'n Rodney to arrive. I won't name the boat (to protect the innocent) but if you get a magnifying glass you might be able to make out the name. V took the second photo from Signal Hill looking down into the Narrows where the fishing boat was passing through headed out into the Atlantic.

"Yes Cap'n...you wants TWO sugars in your coffee?"

Am I Awake Yet?

"...and the great, woolly mammoth stirred temporarily from its deep slumber."

Yeah, sounds like a good line. Perhaps I'll use it in a story one day. It's a pretty good description of the state of my writing this year so far. I scraped together about 750 words for a flash story the past couple of weeks. I'm not happy with it, though, and will work with the suggestions from the 'writing group' and try to evolve it into something interesting.

It's been an odd week. In the blink of an eye it passed by in a blurr. "Forgive me...fa...it's been a week since my last post." I know...a penance of some sorts is in order.

We had the boy's birthday this week, so my parents came down for a visit. And cleaning the house prior to their visit was quite a chore (even with the assistance of a dozen types of cleaners, a couple of Swiffers and a team of hunch-backed, old, cleaning ladies). It was also surprising that I missed Robbie Burns day on the 25th all together. Nary a word about it in the news either. Guess that I'll have to crack open that bottle of single malt and eat tinned haggis for supper tonight. I think that I may be dining alone.

I forgot to mention that I received a package in the mail a couple of weeks ago that contained two books. I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon? They were from a certain A. Polson in Kansas. I was so perplexed about why I had been given the copies of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Robert Frost's Poems that I emailed him asking why. Back in November he had held a contest at his blog promoting the release of his book Loathsome, Dark & Deep. I think that I had read as far as "winner of an Amazon gift card for $25" and stopped reading when I Wooted! and did a happy-dance about the office (much to the chagrin of my neighbours who discovered it was "Pantsless Friday"). So...apparently the books were another prize for winning the contest (to be honest, my name was randomly drawn...or so Aaron Polson SAYS...I think that he's developed a soft spot for Canadians--and why NOT?)

But don't despair. You can enter his newest promotional contest described here until this Monday. I have a purchased a copy of Loathsome but, alas, am yet to read it. I will surely post about the book once I've read it.

But wait...Al the Pimp is not finished yet! A friend emailed me this morning with a link to Jodi MacArthur's Love Bug contest. I have no idea how I missed her post on that. I was probably on my hands and knees, slaving away, scrubbing muddy paw prints off the floor  sleeping. She's looking for one-liners to post leading up to Valentines. I think that you have up to Feb. 3 to get her an ending to..."Love is..." How hard could it be. Even a geezer like me managed to dredge up some Hallmark-ish wisdom. Or perhaps it was something I heard uttered by my thrice divorced Uncle Angus...

Parade Means Christmas

We, and about half the population of this city, had a pretty good time at the St. John's Santa Claus Parade yesterday afternoon. Sean's cadet corp were again marching, wearing santa hats and carrying candy canes instead of rifles. Now if only all military around the world would learn from their example it would be a peaceful Christmas.

It was a warmer than average 7C (44F) but threatening rain. The floats were pretty much the same as last year...Shriners driving about in crazy little cars, a cowboy and cowgirl on horseback, wee Shetland ponies and a float representing the John Howard Society and Her Majesties Penitentiary with large boxes on top with children standing inside those boxes (honestly, I haven't figured that one out yet). There were various dog groups...the SPCA were there as was the Beagle group, the Greyhound rescue group and a bunch of wiener dogs with their sweater-clad bellies inches from the wet ground. All of this sets off alarms for me that the holiday season is finally here (not in September, as Costco or Walmart would have you believe) and I've got to start shopping for gifts and getting the place looking Christmassy.

Speaking of Christmassy things...I shall now link you to Listen to the Voices, the blog of Erin Cole who, along with Jodi MacArthur, are soon putting out a holiday catalogue for writers to pimp their wares promote their stories, novels, etc. Remember...Christmas is on the way and why fret about what to get for people. Give the gift of books...Despite the Nov. 28 deadline on her blog, I have heard rumour (via a little bird) that she will accept your story information (ie. photo, link, short written pimpage) for the next couple of days. So drop by her blog for information on how to get into the catalogue.