Friday, February 19, 2010

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge, Week 100



This is week 100 of the Saturday Wordzzle Challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. This week's words were stinkers... Sorry about that... and for miscounting. I try not to edit what comes to me unless I'm hungry or something like that and french fries, ketchup and cheeseburger all come at once... wouldn't be any fun if there were NO challenge...



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As many of you know, Dr. John, who has been with us almost from the onset of this Wordzzle meme, died early this week and will not be here to celebrate our 100 week milestone. I know many of us are going to miss Dr. John, Agent 012, Fandago, and all the other imaginative characters that sprang from this good man's head, not to mention his support and comments. Anyone wishing to offer thoughts of consolation to his wife Betty can find her here. I have made next week's mini challenge a tribute of sorts to John's memory.
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This week's words were:
transfixed, treachery, basics, fragrance, sampler, pregnant, cartoons, lark, spartan and for the mini: rapid, camping, blandishments, transitory, plug-ins



My 10-(well 9 this week) word:


Alexander Spartan stood transfixed by the beauty of his pregnant wife and devastated by her treachery. He loved everything about her - she was a sampler of wonders from the fragrance her body gave off as she entered a room to the basics of her beauty and intelligence. But at the moment he felt like one of those cartoon characters who has been hit on the head and stands with a flock of little larks circling. Was the baby, he wondered, his?




The mega:



The rapid clarity with which Lucinda realized that camping was not even slightly romantic quickly translated itself into a sense of deep betrayal. While she had not expected a plethora what one might call plug-ins, still, she had not expected anything quite this Spartan and she was not, as they say, a happy camper. Not happy at all. Doesn't he know by now that I'm not some kind of "back t0 basics girl" she wondered to herself, growing increasingly irritated by the treachery of being lured into this hell with promises of blandishments like transfixing vistas, deer, butterflies, and a sampler of beautiful flowers to uplift her soul, not to mention starlight and a crackling fire. Instead there were ants, rain and the distinct fragrance not of flowers and fresh air but of skunk. It was like being in a bad cartoon from which she couldn't wake up. She wished it was a cartoon. She would club Fred over the head and then for an extra lark she would pour honey on him and stake him over an ant hole. Watching her face, her husband knew that he was in deep trouble and that her mood was not likely to be transitory unless there was some kind of major miracle. "Honey love," he said finally and when - after an extremely pregnant pause - she acknowledged him - he continued on... what would you say to me taking you to that motel we passed a couple of miles down the road and.... but he was unable to go any further since his she had transformed back into his beloved wife and thrown herself into his arms with the words... "and you must promise me that we will never ever ever ever go camping again..."



And the mini:



The transitory satisfaction the promised blandishments of various plug-ins brought to their eager downloaders was rather like the rapid realization for the inexperienced that camping was not all starry skies and bunnies, but also included ants, skunks and poison ivy.



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Words for next week's 10-word challenge are: smoothness, crafty, purchase, brief, chirping, forever, shift, moonrise, lampshade, stereotype


For the mini: remembrance, Dr. John, Agent 012, dragons, Fortress



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



Enjoy! See you next week!






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






9 comments:

MommyWizdom said...

Ha! Your stories are fantastic!

I'm thinking camping isn't really your thing? I guess on some things we should simply beg to differ!

Have a great week!

MommyWizdom

Raven said...

Mommy W... I like the idea of camping but on one of the rare occasions that I camped I nearly died of an asthma-like reaction, which probably has colored my idea of it as being fun.

DawnTreader said...

Hi Raven,
Liked your stories. Camping not my idea of fun either for partly the same reasons (allergies and asthma). Add aching joints and neck to that and I really, REALLY prefer not being quite so close to the ground! ;)

Sorry for your Mr Spartan but I like the realistic twist in that one too!

The words did seem hard and inspiration low this week, but then I thought of Dr John, and "in his honour" as well as in honour of your 100th(!!!) celebration, I thought, no, this week I'm NOT going to procrastinate. So I actually had my post finished even before Mr Linky had turned up.

I also had a In Memoriam post about Dr John at my Island of Voices blog on Thursday.

Argent said...

I'm with you on the whole camping thing, it's for da boids. I love the word pictures you paint - and so succinctly, too! I did wonder, given the rather dark subject matter in my two ongoings, whether to do something different this week, but in the end I went with what I originally wrote. I hope the have blogger feeds in heaven and I love the idea of a special Dr John Mini next week. Who's going to tell me to keep it short now?

Connie T. said...

I changed the Mr.Linky to the right one, thanks for telling me. Just ignore the first one. I don't know how to delete that one.
Thanks for telling me, I don't know how that happened.

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

i was convinced that it was next time that we reached the century and have now missed it - but i will definately play week 101 in memory of Dr John.

Carletta said...

"she was a sampler of wonders" - loved that.
I'm also wondering if club Fred was somehow a pun like phrase on Club Med - a much favored vacation. :)

gabrielle said...

Wow! Taut 10 worder and ingenious use of “plug-ins”.

I like the “idea” of camping, but the prospect of rain soaked tents and creaky joints dampens the allure. These days, I take comfort in a warm bed and a brisk afternoon walk.

Wonderful theme threading through the stories: disillusionment with the real vs. ideal, choosing reconciliation and ultimately acceptance of things, imperfect as they are.

I marvel at the magic you weave with words, the tenderness you bring to bear on the most complex of human matters.

Stephen said...

I liked your stories. The 10 word had some interesting descriptions, and a surprise twist at the end. The mega story showed quite a bit of difference between what was promised and what was delivered on the camping trip. Things being what they were, it's good that the camping was cut short. The mini story had an interesting comparison of short-lived tech satisfactions and the short-lived joy of camping.

I'm running very, very late, but I have my stories up now.

I'm sorry I've been so late, but I've been having some health problems for a while that seem reluctant to go away, and it saps my strength and makes it difficult to concentrate on writing.

Stephen from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
http://stephen-has-spoken.blogspot.com/