Taking a Day Off

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Sorry guys, still getting over whatever the thing I came down with was, and for reasons having to do with a story driving me nuts, I’ve barely been sleeping. Writing, including the blog have been difficult, and I’m in the middle of a very complex edit on the longest book I’ve ever written that is an actual book. (We won’t talk about the doorstop I wrote in 1993.)

Anyway, I simply don’t feel able to actually write a post.

So…. I’m going to give you a lot of very strange pictures, and I’ll be back tomorrow… (Oh, and if any of you wants any of the images, just take them.)

54 thoughts on “Taking a Day Off”

  1. Lately, I have taken to blocking days off on my calendar with the activity it’s dedicated to being “rest.”

    No matter what else, we are going to find a way to squeeze “rest” in!

    I’ll tell you, that one’s even harder to force myself to do than mopping the floors.

    Good luck on the furball that is editing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’ve been trying to do that, but success eludes me, partly because everything takes so long while recovering from being ill.
      I want the energy I had at 20 for a week. Just a week.

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      1. Just be glad you are only 60, rest is even more important when you hit 78. Remember God rested.

        There are two things that look the same. Rest and Sloth. One is an essential, the other a deadly sin. How do you tell the difference between? I am fond of a saying. Just relax and do only what you are supposed to do. The hardest parts are: relax and only.

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    1. I concur. It feels like one of Tom Ormson’s distant ancestors ended up in Argentina or Brazil. Of course Mr (or Ms ?) dragon better be careful with the claws as the lady’s dress (and likely her hip) seem likely to get torn. Although I presume dragons have learned to be careful around fragile humans. Having fingernails that are essentially 4-6″ long daggers has got to have its drawbacks. Picking up small items like gold coins must be a challenge.

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        1. I was thinking Tango or Mamba but Flamenco had come to mind although that is usually a solo dance is it not?

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          1. It’s the outfit that sends me to Tango/Mamba. Waltz ought to have either a large mid 19th century gown or maybe a late regency high waisted dress. Or perhaps a 40’s/50’s 3/4 length (waltz) length dress with a flouncy petticoat or two? Darn AI have a long way to go, They are still in the dancing bear phase of development (Not how well they dance but that they dance at all).

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  6. 1). Caesar Augustus, time traveler

    2). Archie Goodwin, Robot

    3). GRRM doesn’t know that the Dance of Dragons is actually a tango, or maybe some form of salsa

    4). That character I made up and never wrote, that was a female Hiroyasu Koga (from the Yukio Mishima coup. Apparently the only idiot in the whole organization of posturing idiots who actually knew how to kill with a sword. I’ve occasionally wondered if the real Hiroyasu wasn’t a government agent.)

    5). Steampunk “Professor” Harold Hill, now old and gray and using his powers for good, travelling the stars with Mrs. Marian “The Librarian” Paroo Hill.

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  8. “United Time Travel customer service department. How can we help you?”

    “Yeah, looks like you missed your mark. I wanted Herculaneum two years before Vesuvius blew, not six months after.”

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  9. Not enough coffee, had big problem with my computer monitor, etc.

    So Sarah isn’t the only person wanting a day off. [Grin]

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  10. First Picture:
    “HQ, this is Observer One. Heavy fire on the other side of the rise. Smoke and flames starting to obscure the moon. Estimate we need 5 fire fighting teams. Over.”

    Second Picture:
    “Of course I voted for Barron Trump. Make AI’s Great Again!”

    Third Picture:
    “Oh Sir! You know a woman of my stature and breeding just loves to wear emeralds. Would you consider donating your hide to my wardrobe? And if you agree nicely, I’ll even cast a pain elimination spell before flaying you.”

    Fourth Picture:
    Ellie gazed out into the night. However, her mind wasn’t on the beauty of the moons and the stars. She was actually thinking that she needed to order a new copy of her tax program so she could get a headstart on what the kingdom was going to try to extort from her.

    Fifth Picture:
    “Hmm. Well, I did succeed in summoning a light sprite. But I didn’t expect to get several hundred of them at the same time. Obviously, I missed something. I needed to re-work my nine-dimensional calculations for that spell.”

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  11. Never feel guilty about not posting a rant every day. That actually gets boring after a while, and wears YOU down more than you might think. Weird picture day, meme day, promo day – they all keep the blog fresh.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. The second one…

    During the upheaval of the Singularity Wars, when the technocrats made their ultimate bid for global control, a construct intended to bring pure logic to the new communal law paradoxically became humanity’s most effective advocate. The war ended long ago — but his duty to humanity remains.

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  14. (vigorously rubs hands together)

    Supervisor called in, eh?

    Lessee, what is that mischief over there …

    —

    I do like the dragon and the lady, very much.

    And I have the same mustache as the gentleman in red, though no beard on the cheeks

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  15. Thaaaaaanks, Sarah. #3 produced:

    “Allow me,” Don Javier Rodrigo Martín de Verde y Azul, Señor de Nueva Sevilla intoned, offering his forefoot. 

    “Oh, go,” Don Isador commanded his wife. She did not wait, but inclined her head in a nod of acquiescence and rose gracefully from her seat. She paced Don Rodrigo to the floor and rested one hand on her hip, the other turned up, holding her fan level with her shoulder. A bright, fast chord sounded, and he rose onto his hind legs, curving to match her posture. Another chord of guitars and bass, and they snapped into motion.

    [SNIP]

    He laughed to himself. “Your son the soft claw,” had been a curse, the parting vengeance and hurt before justice was served. Oh, the curse had power, all the ill will and evil intent of a dying man behind it. But … The magic of the world had taken his words literally. Indeed, Don Rodrigo’s talons had never hardened, never become the lethal daggers of the rest of his kind. He should have been one not inclined to do family duties, one who preferred other males to marriage. Instead he was merely disarmed. Or had been, until he discovered the ancient book of swordsmanship, and other things. 

    He curved his claws around the delicate stem of the glass and squeezed until he felt the pressure in his digits. Then he lifted and drank. None others of his kind could do such a thing. Even he had to exercise great care, but his disability made living among and working among the sons of men far, far easier. He sipped again, enjoying the tickle of sparkling wine over his tongue and down his throat. 

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      1. Thank you, and I think I will use it. The piece will be a long-ish short story. I sketched it out this afternoon before going back to my other project.

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      2. I respectfully beg to differ. If you hold your hand up to your shoulder like that, your thumb and forefinger are facing behind you and the pinkie is on the front side. The problem isn’t the extended pinkie – the hand is backwards.

        Otherwise, I love this picture!

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        1. Not only that, the last digit on the side facing us can’t seem to make up its mind whether it’s a finger or a thumb. Sort of looks like a combination of both.

          Reminds me – again – of the cover of Jim Steinman’s ‘Bad For Good’ album. The winged barbarian is holding a chain in his right hand, and a battle-axe guitar in his other right hand. This was in 1981, long before MidJourney had ever been dreamed of.

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  16. Lady Clarissa Von Krakenstat strode past the enameled entry door into the hall. Court dress wasn’t really that bad, she thought, it just took a while to put on…Suddenly her eyes narrows, though her step did not falter from the approve cadence for entry. That was certainly not…yet it was, leering at her from the opposition huddle across the hall.

    Baron Moose. She cast here eyes quickly about the assembly. If Moose was here, where was Count Von Flying Squirrel?

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  17. The last one could be the Wizard of Oz, after Glenda trained him in the practice of magic, as envisioned by Hollywood.

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  18. The person in the fourth picture looks like he/she is moments away from pointing dramatically and shouting “OBJECTION!”

    … And now you see it, too.

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  22. Yeah, I’m feeling your pain (if you’ll pardon the expression). I did a home sleep study last night and got about half my usual sleep. The gadget complains when it looses touch and can’t gather data. I guess I should have tightened it all down more. I wanted to leave a note with it when I returned it: “Please microwave this device for five seconds.”

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