The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

Back in the 70's I sang with a bunch of guys that specialized in the songs soldiers sang in WWII We called ourselves the 52nd MMS Boys Choir

We found that they had several melodies that they loved to sing and it seemed like everyone had their own words to sing. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was an all time favorite,
I was in my 30s before I knew that song was known as the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It's John Brown's Body here, but more generally known as Johnny was a parachuter (in the RAF) - but he ain't gonna jump no more.

Or Pink Pyjamas, in Brownies/Scouts.
 
I was in my 30s before I knew that song was known as the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It's John Brown's Body here, but more generally known as Johnny was a parachuter (in the RAF) - but he ain't gonna jump no more.

Or Pink Pyjamas, in Brownies/Scouts.
It can also be sung as "Mary Ann McCarthy Went Out to Dig Some Clams"

The guys in the 8th Air Force sang it as

Mary Ann McCarthy she went out to dig some clams
Mary Ann McCarthy she went out to dig some clams
Mary Ann McCarthy she went out to dig some clams
But she didn't find one goddamn sonofabitchofa clam

All that Mary found was oysters
All that Mary found was oysters
All that Mary found was oysters
But she didn't find one goddamn sonofabitchofa clam


Needless to say, they were pretty drunk
 
Good morning everyone! It looks like the gel shot in my knee is starting to wear out. It doesn't hurt but I can feel the joint clicking and catching again. I guess I'll have to make an appointment and get it taken care of after Thanksgiving. We're expecting more rain today so it will probably be a washout.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is hot. There are donuts and a coffee cake on the counter. Please don't drop any crumbs on the floor to encourage the plot bunnies to hang around and get underfoot.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. I got another scene completed so I may have it ready by the deadline. Even if I don't make it, I should still be able to get it published before Christmas.
 
I was in my 30s before I knew that song was known as the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It's John Brown's Body here, but more generally known as Johnny was a parachuter (in the RAF) - but he ain't gonna jump no more.

Or Pink Pyjamas, in Brownies/Scouts.
John Brown's Body was the second incarnation of the song. It was originally a Methodist hymn. The words for The Battle Hymn of the Republic came from a poem by Juliette Ward Howe.

I'm sitting in a hotel room overlooking I-88 with the Morton Arboretum beyond that. There's a constant hum of traffic through the closed curtains. I prefer rooms on the other side of this building. They're a lot quieter.

There's always a little shock when I first get somewhere with humidity.
 
John Brown's Body was the second incarnation of the song. It was originally a Methodist hymn. The words for The Battle Hymn of the Republic came from a poem by Juliette Ward Howe.

I'm sitting in a hotel room overlooking I-88 with the Morton Arboretum beyond that. There's a constant hum of traffic through the closed curtains. I prefer rooms on the other side of this building. They're a lot quieter.

There's always a little shock when I first get somewhere with humidity.
After spending four and a half years in Albuquerque, it was quite a change when I took a new assignment in Ohio ...
 
... I guess I'll have to make an appointment...

Which reminds me. Wednesday's follow-up with the doc about my glucose and lipids levels was all good. "Keep doing what you're doing! I'm not going to change a thing!" There was other weird stuff the cardiologist asked for in the tests with some of it slightly outside the margins, but my PCP commented that she didn't see anything in there of concern. I. Will. Take. It.

On another front, a new-to-us SUV is to be delivered on Monday. Found an 8-year-old car with stupidly low mileage - apparently from a commercial fleet. The 8 years is magic to me as the subsequent model year was when they added a boatload of that save-you-from-yourself annoying tech crap. Fingers crossed that this will be the last vehicle we ever buy. I said that about the van we acquired 7 years ago, but it was too big as a daily errand-runner and C is afraid to drive it. Anyway our "normal" cars both had >200,000 miles and were starting to remind us of it. Needed something we could depend on in our increasing feebleness.
 
The 8 years is magic to me as the subsequent model year was when they added a boatload of that save-you-from-yourself annoying tech crap.
My newest vehicle is a 2010 Tundra with a 2020 stereo. Perfect! Yes, I have to adjust the heat/AC, the way God intended. Even the seat belt alarm is just a suggestion. It's comfortable with just enough bells and whistles to make the trip joyful. It could only be a better vehicle if it were a standard transmission.
 
Maybe you should embrace the "protect you from yourself" technology.

Nuh uh. Not the way they've been f'in' with the UI. The solution to combating distractions/inattention is to... what?... add more distractions? I don't think so.
 
I live in a sparse, rural area where the trees outnumber the houses exponentially. There may not be anything but trees for a mile or more. Yet sound travels farther than the eye can see. There are times when I can hear the train 15 miles away. Or the idiot with the too loud muffler 5-10 miles away.

Or ... often ... nothing but birds.







And I made about 10 typos in this post that had to be corrected.
 
This past week or so, I have just let my writing interest wander, and I was reading and trying to write some poetry. I recommend this.

I know this is advice that writers are often given although I had not heard an explanation. There are probably many good reasons, and what jumped out at me immediately is that the process of writing poetry and the process of revising fiction scenes felt like they were using some of the skills.

When you need to develop your entire theme in 8 syllables, no more, no less, you have to dig through every weird, unexplainable pattern human minds have, so you find some tools that add a lot of vibrancy at a very low cost to understandability and word count.
 
I should post a quote on that thread from OP, one they posted on another thread about others.

Kind of a back atch'a.

But I'm better than that.
 
Go ahead, do it, but only if it is me you're talking about.
Friday, I went to the doctor. He said I was doing as well as can be expected for a maladjusted, maniacal bitch living in polite society. Geez, I need a cup of coffee and someone to beat senseless, any volunteers?
 
Friday, I went to the doctor. He said I was doing as well as can be expected for a maladjusted, maniacal bitch living in polite society. Geez, I need a cup of coffee and someone to beat senseless, any volunteers?
I think I'll hold off on volunteering for that one. Did the doctor give you a prognosis?

I looked at myself in the hotel mirror this morning and suddenly felt really white. It was probably the quality of the light or the time of the year, but my first reaction was that coming to the midwest made me pale.

Living in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, as I do, I'm used to hearing people speak Spanish. At breakfast this morning, there was a woman sitting in an adjacent booth who spoke Spanish with a bright, melodic accent I've not heard before. Given what's been going on in Chicago, I decided I wouldn't ask where she got it.

I always heard Claudia's voice in A Valentine's Day Mess with the cheerful, sing-song accent that some of my locals have, but I need to consider writing a story with a female character who speaks Spanish with an accent that sounds like she's singing a love song in my ear.

I know the readers don't hear the accent, but it would change what I write.
 
As I mentioned before, a long, long, long time ago, I'm working on editing an 86,000+ word novel for my publisher. What makes it difficult is trying to reduce repetition, but most of it stems from the cast of characters: 32 characters make appearances in more than half of the chapters, 14 of those are main characters and appear in 3/4 of the chapters. So, I need to exclude them from the check, but I can't figure out how to do so in AutoCrit. Even when I exclude the 14 Main Characters, it still counts them in the repetition score. I need something stronger than coffee this nooning!
 
I still have a sinus infection, but it hasn't been as bad as it has been. Headaches are still the main issue, and brain fog that accompanies the medications to fight the allergies that caused the infection.
I think I'll hold off on volunteering for that one. Did the doctor give you a prognosis?

I looked at myself in the hotel mirror this morning and suddenly felt really white. It was probably the quality of the light or the time of the year, but my first reaction was that coming to the midwest made me pale.

Living in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, as I do, I'm used to hearing people speak Spanish. At breakfast this morning, there was a woman sitting in an adjacent booth who spoke Spanish with a bright, melodic accent I've not heard before. Given what's been going on in Chicago, I decided I wouldn't ask where she got it.

I always heard Claudia's voice in A Valentine's Day Mess with the cheerful, sing-song accent that some of my locals have, but I need to consider writing a story with a female character who speaks Spanish with an accent that sounds like she's singing a love song in my ear.

I know the readers don't hear the accent, but it would change what I write.
 
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