The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 03: Come On In

[NotWise]

I believe kiwi (the fruit) used to be called Chinese Gooseberry.

Marketing, I imagine. The same reason they call slimeheads "Orange Roughy."

 

[TxRad]

Thanks Tex. I've just started diving into your stuff and I gotta say that your characters are compelling and you know how to spin a yarn, my friend.

Compelling characters start by getting in their heads and then giving the readers a peek inside also.

Spinning yarns is a good way to say it. I've never considered myself to be a writer. I'm a storyteller with typing skills.

Who are you and where is the real TR?

Hey now, I do have a few short, short stories. Shit happens after all.

 

[Hypoxia]

Good day, everyone. Are we serving kiwis with the coffee?

Are the Kiwis skinned before deep-frying?

Customer: Do you serve crabs here?
Waiter: We serve anyone, but don't pinch me.

Meanwhile, Kahlúa smooths our Joe coffee. A slight snowmelt gives us hope of driving out this afternoon. Driving back should not be the tricky part. Walking on the iced-over trail to the car -- THAT will gravity-vs-traction test us.

More coffee. Hold the Kahlúa till we return, if ever.

 

[srosa]

"Spinning yarns is a good way to say it. I've never considered myself to be a writer. I'm a storyteller with typing skills."
That's so funny!

"Customer: Do you serve crabs here?
Waiter: We serve anyone, but don't pinch me."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zone)

 

[srosa]

Oh, and also, about slimeheads, I believe "Chilean Seabass" was first "Patagonian Toothfish".

 

[Handley_Page]

Ah, time for a nice cup of Tea, I think

 

[srosa]

Ah, time for a nice cup of Tea, I think

How about a mean cup of tea?

 

[Hypoxia]

How about a mean cup of tea?

That would be a teacup of meanness, spiked with alum.
A mode or median cup of tea would only be average.

Meanwhile, the car is still stuck in snow and we've only milk left to splash in one cup of coffee, my partner's tomorrow. We should have stolen more creamer packets. Kahlúa is almost gone, too. Delivery drones do not yet fly in our area. Didn't futurists around 1960 say we'd all have atomic helicopters now? Liars...

Numerous stringed instruments are staring at me. I stare back. Which will win?

 

[NotWise]

How about a mean cup of tea?

A tea to make you choke and gag? A tea that fights back when you drink it?

That sounds like a story for Hypoxia. Maybe it could be brewed from rabbit bush grown on the tailings from the Copper Queen mine.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

JGA, forget about writing long or short. Take as many or as few words as the story requires. I started out writing long because the first thing I ever wrote was a twenty chapter novel. About 287 pages in paperback form. It is post here at Lit in its unedited form.

My one Night story is finished at 1871 words. For me that is ridiculously short.

Fresh coffee is now available but I ate all the waffles.

My one night story is finished, it was 2,200, thereabouts, which is really short for me.

My naughty at work story is 6500+ words and is only halfway finished.

Most of my stories are over 6 - 7k I do have some really short ones, but they are more lead-ins to other stories. Like and interlude between longer stories in an anthology.

And I just submitted one in Sci-Fi that is a short story of 51,000+ words. Some 54 or so chapters.

 

[NotWise]

My one night story is finished, it was 2,200, thereabouts, which is really short for me.

Mine will be fairly short,too. Longer than yours or Tex's, but less than two full Lit pages. Some people are reporting pretty long stories for "one night." I don't see it. Not in my style, anyway.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Finally reached 1,000 followers, that's exciting.

 

[NotWise]

Finally reached 1,000 followers, that's exciting.

Congratulations! You're way ahead of me.

I like your new avatar, too. My wife is a Hamilton geek. I took months to convince her that I didn't want to hear the soundtrack AGAIN.

 

[Hypoxia]

A tea to make you choke and gag? A tea that fights back when you drink it?

That sounds like a story for Hypoxia. Maybe it could be brewed from rabbit bush grown on the tailings from the Copper Queen mine.

The tailings are on private property so it's trespass tea too. Just follow glow-in-the-dark blooms and ignore the Border Patrol drones circling overhead, sensors trained on you.

Finally reached 1,000 followers, that's exciting.

Beware of bragging. Jealous authors may stalk you. Or worse.

 

[NotWise]

The tailings are on private property so it's trespass tea too. Just follow glow-in-the-dark blooms and ignore the Border Patrol drones circling overhead, sensors trained on you.

Copper Queen was remarkable for the number of collector-quality mineral specimens that it produced. They're in museums all over the world. If I owned that waste pile,then I'd charge folks to walk there.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Hamilton snuck up on me. I avoided it for all this time because I have no interest in either Broadway or rap music. Never thought I would listen to it. But I got bored one day, played a few songs . . . hmmm, I like this . . . and before you know it, I became HamTrash.

If I had $500 to spare I could go see it, ha

Congratulations! You're way ahead of me.

I like your new avatar, too. My wife is a Hamilton geek. I took months to convince her that I didn't want to hear the soundtrack AGAIN.

 

[NotWise]

If I had $500 to spare I could go see it, ha

I haven't seen it and I don't plan to. The music is great. The story is great. I understand that the dance is great, too.

My wife saw it in Chicago last summer and took the dancer daughter along with her. She's going to San Antonio this spring to see it again and dragging her best friend.

She has her own income. Otherwise, I'd be questioning the costs on all that.

 

[Handley_Page]

Congratulations! You're way ahead of me.

I like your new avatar, too. My wife is a Hamilton geek. I took months to convince her that I didn't want to hear the soundtrack AGAIN.

[1] I had to look up "Hamilton". Is that what they call 'rap' ? I ain't keen.

[2] What's meant by 'tailings' ?

[3] I tried to poach an egg in the microwave oven this morning. When the mess cools down I'll try and clean up the explosion's mess.

[4] Anyone want some foggy misty/stuff ? We got that in abundance this morning.

So - I'll just sit here, looking at the fog, drinking a nice cup of coffee.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Finally reached 1,000 followers, that's exciting.

You go, girl .

 

[TxRad]

Hamilton is a Broadway play. What rap has to do with it, I don't know. I haven't seen the show.

Tailings are what are left after you pan or sluice for gold or silver.

It is Sinday morning and... There is fresh coffee for all.

Early to bed and you end up awake to friggin early the next morning.

 

[ChloeTzang]

... [2] What's meant by 'tailings' ?

(1) Tailings are all the stuff that's left over after they seperate out what they want from the ore they mined. Where they've pulverized the ore, you quote often get tailing ponds which are filled with the slurry and it's toxic stuff. Wouldn't want to swim in it. Anyhow, there's a lot of different types of tailings. I think in the UK you had some big coal tailings that caused a disaster or two in Wales many decades ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings

... [3] I tried to poach an egg in the microwave oven this morning. When the mess cools down I'll try and clean up the explosion's mess.

Oh no! You didn't! HP! Microwaves and whole eggs do not together go. My Dad's done that too. I tried to get rid of that microwave when I lived at home, I really did. But it's still there. I shudder to think of the culinary disasters it's caused

.....It is Sinday morning and... There is fresh coffee for all.

Early to bed and you end up awake to friggin early the next morning.

Insomniacs the both of us, Tex! And we're in the same timezone! A coffee, I think, and then some writing. My One Night in Xanadu story is up to 15k words. Another 5k and I should be done. And somewhere I need to do One Night in Arrakis but I'll put that off for a few weeks now.

 

[TxRad]

There is no snooze alarm on a crazy cat that can't tell time or read a clock.

No writing so far this morning. Research is the name of the game but so far a lot of dead ends.Close but no cigar. I may have to invent something.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Morning everyone. Interesting conversations this morning, unfortunately it's to early to contribute.

Cuppa, if you please. Thank you.

Bright and sunny this morning, a little chilly out, but compare to other places not too bad... 50f.

Y'all have a great day. I'm off to do some writing stuff... I hope.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think we may have to do a study and determine the correlation between how old an author is and how short their "One Night In XXX" story is.

 

[NotWise]

I think we may have to do a study and determine the correlation between how old an author is and how short their "One Night In XXX" story is.

Does this mean yours will be really long?