Friday, August 22, 2008

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 27

This is week 27 of the Saturday Wordzzle Challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. Thanks again to Jeff B for supplying this week's words/phrases. I enjoyed my break from making them up myself.


The words for this week's ten word challenge were: tiramisu, transfixed, evacuation, Queen of the Nile, pillowcase, grammatical, voice inflection, pacified, micro climate, swami And for the Mini Challenge: maggots, thermal pocket, industrial, bovine, feminized

Here's my ten-word offering for this week.

Miranda sat transfixed by the droning voice of the swami. He droned on and on with no voice inflection, no movement and she felt pacified and content. At first her mind had flitted wildly across a wild range of topics: whether to have tiramisu for dessert, what was a micro climate, where was the exit in case of evacuation, had that last sentence been grammatical, and did she really like the pillowcase that came with the Queen of the Nile sheet set… And then slowly her mind quieted and she felt a wonderful peace descend on her. So this is what meditation is all about she thought shortly before her snores disrupted the entire gathering.


And here's my mini challenge:

On the TV the weatherman droned on about a thermal pocket – why didn’t they just say rain, cold, sun - what was the thermal pocket nonsense… she muttered to herself. She had bigger problems than the weatherman, though. Daisy May, the feminized industrial bovine (following the weatherman’s penchant for fancy words where simple ones would do) had apparently failed to do a product check and the fancy cottage cheese she had planned to have for lunch was full of maggots.


And the mega challenge:

With no voice infliction whatsoever, a feminized bovine made up to look like the Queen of the Nile droned on about thermal pockets and micro climates and evacuation plans. After the weather, the Queen of the Nile had moved on to the totally unrelated subject of what was and was not grammatical using a sentence containing the words wiggly worms and maggots. It was brilliant and strangely mesmerizing. The children sat transfixed and pacified. That cow is like an industrial strength swami thought Jennifer, mother of six, as she changed the last of a dozen pillowcases, then headed to the refrigerator where she pulled out the last little bowl of tiramisu, picked up a book and stretched out for what she hoped might be a half hour of uninterrupted peace. “God bless that cow,” she whispered.



This week's vanity wordzzle used the words: picture, roof, line, red, eyes, silence, talkative, cake

For someone as talkative as Mary Smith, a three-day silent retreat was no picnic. I mean, Mary liked to talk to herself, and this silence was all but killing her. Her eyes were red and bleary from lack of sleep because she had spent the night running through all the things she had wanted to say to this person and that. I mean the place they were at was beautiful! It was like a picture postcard. And not just the surrounding views either. The house itself was a jewel, every line perfectly aligned to complement and be complemented by the surrounding countryside. And you could sit on the roof! Really. You could see for miles. And there was a lake that was so blue it seemed unreal, and butterflies, and tiny wild flowers in just about every color you could imagine. And - she thought maybe the silence had gotten to her with this one - but she was certain that she had seen fairies playing at the edge of the woods. She had desperately wanted to talk to them, but she was stuck with this stupid vow of silence and she couldn't ask anyone else if the fairies were real or just her imagination. She wanted to scream, she wanted to tear out her hair. "Please, God, do something or I'll surely talk." And as if in answer to her prayer, the "tea-time" bell sounded. "I'd rather talk, God, but if you insist, I will fill my mouth with cake instead."



Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: pogo stick, ant farm, psychic, tin box, wall safe, Waterloo, surge protector, pneumonia, ravages of time, turtle


And for the Mini Challenge: Swollen ankles, opera singer, toothy grin, oil paints, potter’s wheel


Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.l

Enjoy! See you next week.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!

Lately, Mr. Linky has been playing hide and seek. On the off chance that all you see is a little square instead of the Mr. Linky logo, just click on the square. The little guy should be there. I don't have sufficient cyber skills to know why this has been happening. And maybe it's only happening on my computer which has been acting very odd of late.



13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nicely done. I must admit, I had a hard time with this choice of words. Thanks, as always, for hosting. Mine's going up shortly.

Carletta said...

Wonderful!
Falling asleep to a droning voice -sounds like a couple teacher inservices I recall.
You know Raven I have cottage cheese in the frig for my vine-ripened tomatoes and I'm wondering if I shall be able to eat it now!
I loved the Mary Smith story - the beautiful imagery of the countryside and the lake with butterflies and fairies. You ending line was perfect.

I played but I can't see Mr. Linky this week. Would you link me please?

SMM said...

Hey raven...how are you. Sorry missed last week. Was traveling for a friend's wedding. Have done this week's Wordzzle.

Btw I rather feel sorry for poor Mary Smith. being pretty much talkative myself, I can understand her frustration

Jeff B said...

Laughing, Laughing, Laughing.

The end of your mini was nasty! and I equally loved the snoring during the meditation session.

Yeah, unfamiliar words for next week. Now I know why you enjoyed having a break for the selection process. I am a little surprised that you didn't bring back the word hemoglobin though! (wink)

Melli said...

You REALLY amaze me! I gotta tell ya now, I don't really see me EVER doing the Mega Challenge - because honestly, if I've done the 10 word - or the 5 word, I really don't think I could rethink the same words into another use! You are GOOD! Is there some special rule to the Vanity Wordzzle? (Just wondering why it's "Vanity") The link to the guidelines leads to a page that's not there...

I LOVE your Vanity story! Let them eat cake!

Akelamalu said...

Oh that first one really made me LOL, of course I don't snore! ;)

You did a great job on all them as always Raven. :)

Richard said...

Katherine: I think your mega has a lesson for us all. No doubt there are times when filling our mouths with cake would be preferable to talking.

Rich

Dianne said...

I love the mini most of all!

Kimmie said...

You are so unbelievably talented with words!

I didn't get a chance to do the Vanity today. I may be like Dianne and do a double next week. OR...maybe I will do a Saturday Wordzzle on Sunday tomorrow if I am up to it.

I have an Award for you at my blog sweetie.

Hugs,
Kimmie

Jim said...

Katherine, you are a genius. I don't work crosswork puzzles and this would frustrate me to death!
..

Jim said...

Forgot this.

I have given you "You Give Me Happy Feet" award. You are there for me in blogging as the numbers tell in your encouraging comments. I went by the numbers, but I really appreciate you and your posts.
I did give it to myself again, "went by the numbers!"
Come get it again from my Little Photo Place and review the rules!
..

Unknown said...

Great job, as always, with the wordzzles!

And now a three part apology:

Sorry I didn't do this week's wordzzle. Sorry I wasn't able to come over. Sorry you are feeling under the weather.

I hope today has you feeling better.

I had completely forgotten about my grandmother's side of the family having a reunion yesterday and I went to that with my parents. I surprised myself by having a pretty good time!

Today my sister is treating me to a "girls weekend" for my birthday. We're staying at her friend's house, just outside of Ithaca. We're doing a Reiki workshop and having dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant. Since my family is all working (Darryl and Kate are working doubles) today and tomorrow, it seemed like a good thing to do.

Have to run...have not packed yet!

Kaylia Metcalfe said...

Whew!

Did it!

Much fun, thanks!