Colors, smells, and thou...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 22:44:14 EDT

WANING-here be bad puns and other wadplay! Read at your own expense.

[short and sweet(we hope?)-in between meeting old friends, eating, talking, walking, shopping, and the other scurrly-burly hurries of a vacation.]

1. Pick a number from one to six. Simple, right?

1. violet
2. blue
3. green
4. yellow
5. orange
6. red

2. Pick another number. One to six, of course.

1. the odor of baking bread
2. the scent of a flower (you choose the variety)
3. the smell of a dentist's office (okay, other medical practitioner at your election)
4. the smell of a wet dog (do wet cats smell like that?)
5. the odor of fresh-cut grass
6. the musk of human sweat

3. And another one.

1. hatred
2. relief
3. revenge
4. first love
5. fatal curiosity
6. bad judgment

Okay? At this point, you should have a color, a smell, and an emotion/situation.

Take your three words, and think a little. Why should the odor of fresh-cut grass be blue? And what does that have to do with relief? Let your little gray cells do their thing with the notions, building up some connections, letting you feel the yellow taste of yeasty bread filling the kitchen of your first love's mother, or...

And now take two or more characters. Sit them in a caf , let them be talking about their relationship (pick one! Rubber, co-lazier, relative, best fiend, wurst enema, even pest with cleerical color!), and a faint breeze (or maybe a hurricane wind? How about a passing blouse or pants? Your choice, again!) wafts the gentle green smell of a wet dog into one character's perspiring snout. The other one notes the sudden change of expression, the dropped fork, the tears - and asks what that was all about.

And there hangs a tale (or two, or three).

One Sentence Stringers?

Today we looked into many skies. Tomorrow we'll see streams and rivers of water.

You got me. It was on T.V., in Japanese (well, actually, it's a phrase or two from a song.) You get the rough translation to play with. The notion is that you can use this to start your own piece. So, with a one, and a two, and a three-four-five...write a little piece for us.

Here we go . . .

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sat, 22 Jun 1996 00:49:46 EDT

Pick a character, any character...

Your character, should they choose to accept it, is about to go on a vacation. Unfortunately, a strong sense of duty (alright, obsessive compulsiveness) makes them feel they have to tidy up things at work, send out final missives to lists they belong to, and so forth. As a result, they are going to be tired when they get on that plane tomorrow morning...

(hum. Seems a bit lacking, although it is an accurate reflection of why I seem to be a bit harried and scurrying the last few days. Give me a little time off, and I'm sure I'll be more cheerful. BTW-the service around here may be a little off for a while. Be patient, help each other, and watch for strange writings from afar.)

Try again. How about this?

1. Pick a number from one to six.

1. worked in a strip joint
2. worked in a pornographic bookstore
3. worked in a garbage dump
4. worked in a mortuary
5. worked the street
6. worked for criminals, the mafia, drug trade, take your pick

2. Our hero(ine) is sitting, talking to (roll those dice):

1. a soon-to-be romantic involvement
2. a relative-in-law
3. the spouse of a religious leader (i.e., the minister'swife!)
4. a past romantic involvement
5. a salesperson
6. a doctor

3. Through the machinations of a bit player (perhaps a drunk trips, falls in a lap, and recognizes the landscape? What if a truck driver hesitates, then asks? Think about what the right way to do this is, and what the reaction(s) are.)

Anyway, through the offices of a passing stranger, our hero(ine) discovers that the person they are talking to has a past (oh my!).

What do they do about it? What happens when we find out that the minister used to be the star attraction in "the rise and fall of the all male empire - a Gay Review?"

Give us that scene, complete with pie, coffee, and a bit of revelation.

One sentence?

"So you're leaving tomorrow?" he asked, just before the truth came out.

*beep-beep* there goes
words!