Unexpected
was that emotion
Unloosed, Unlaced, Unknowingly
Unleashed
from some dark place
where even the Unanswerable
could not take Umbrage
and Untwist
Undo
Utter some oath
that might
Usurp time
U
Unravel the Unbelievable in the entries of Frizztext’s UUU – Challenge.
3
Everything’s in triplicate in the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Three.
Look at things from a different perspective
in the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Short.
≣
Set yourself straight in the entries of the Word A Week Photo Challenge – Lines.
the long slow death of penmanshipOur post box is filled with bills and flyers urging us to consume. The only time something comes in a lovely envelope is for an occasion and even then older family members have to be reminded to send something along so their grandchildren won’t be peeved. Our circle of acquaintances that are able to put pen to paper, don’t. They text, tweet or Facebook. We can’t remember the last time we got a letter on crisp vellum recounting the events of the year, the weddings, births, deaths, milestones of a life lived. We are not blameless either – we get on the phone to bring those closest to us up to date or pop off a funny card when the mood strikes, but it isn’t really the same. We miss getting mail….
Perhaps our blogs have replaced this gentle art – they have become our virtual diaries, daily journals, the place where we expose our secret thoughts and that which we sometimes wouldn’t dare to expose to the light of day otherwise. The code that brings our words to life and sends them off to those who love, appreciate and yes, even wait for, them is both a blessing and a curse. This week, the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge puts it in – Writing.
“What form does writing take for you?” – Feather and quill, a typewriter still, texts and tweets, parking tickets in the street, a child’s first scrawl or graffiti on the wall …
We would love to see your vision…. write something today!
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Tear the lid
right off the box we did
These Tiny Treats
Tantalizing sweet
Tip-top Tremendous
upon the Table
Toddies and Toffee
cognac and coffee
Topsy-turvy
almond curvy
Tea Trolley Temptation
for Two
T
Take your Time in the entries of Frizztext’s TTT – Challenge.
⓶
Double up on the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Two.
Join in the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Connections.
In Across the Bored’s house most celebrations are fraught with some sort of melodrama. Whether it be a particularly challenging guest list for a dinner party, the extra-special nutritional requirements of very young or very old or just the general long and hard organization of an event we had hoped to keep secret but are being wheedled into revealing, things never seem to work out quite as planned. The store where we had hoped to pick up last minute items debit machine is out of order as we stand at the counter cashless with an armful of purchases that took half and hour to pick out, the incredibly sugary, stroke-inducing icing being slathered on the cake melts unforgivingly under the halogens, invitees bail at the eleventh hour even though they had insisted their schedules were free when asked to attend one month in advance – So it goes.
We should know by now just to wing it but our OCD would sometimes have it otherwise. We stand in the middle of the mall or at the kitchen counter covered in dishes, close our eyes and remember – breathe deeply. It will be all right, there is a solution, no one will know the difference, we are our own worst critic. And if it does turn into a right fiasco? Blame it on the dog… This fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Birthday – reminds us that no matter what, there should always be something to celebrate.
Seven days ago Across the Bored asked – “How do you envision birthday?” – With cake and candles, far from home, by the light of a fire with an ancient tome, kiddie balloons or grown-up winks, doggie treats or a nice cold drink … We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.
So once again
Sunday is Snatched away
Snafus and Snarl ups
Stealing time
where Sacrifice Snows down
and Soaks
the words
we did not have time
to Say
S
Surround yourself with the entries in Frizztext’s S – Challenge.
⓵
See the unique in the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: One.
Find the fragile in the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Delicate.
The passage of time itself has been a bit like that as well – rough, placid, rock ‘n roll, some hours and days so filled with change that we thought things would never be the same and indeed, they haven’t. But on the whole, we can’t complain – like our mantra, “it could be worse” and without divine inspiration and the support and encouragement of our virtual brethren, it might very well have been. Who would have thought that we could last this long? This week, the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge, like our own Miss Z, is celebrating a milestone – Birthday.
“How do you envision birthday?” – With cake and candles, far from home, by the light of a fire with an ancient tome, kiddie balloons or grown-up winks, doggie treats or a nice cold drink …
We would love to see your vision…. and have a slice of something sweet to help us celebrate!
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Right Round we went
like Alice down
the Rabbit hole
Red chair blue
Rabble Rousing
Race to the finish
Right square left
Run Radical
and Random
♖
Return to the entries in Frizztext’s RRR – Challenge.
✵
My own Ghost has been named a Faculty of Arts and Sciences Scholar and received a quite prestigious scholarship from his university. Oxford, Stanford – take your pick, the world is at your feet…
Once upon a time, we stated rather emphatically that we didn’t see what the big deal was with fancy cel phones. As long as reception wasn’t tinny and the numbers on the keypad were large enough to see without changing glasses, everything was about as good as it could get. Texting was for kids who didn’t care about the nuances of conversation – we needed the very clear and easily decipherable tone of voice to let us know whether the response to our being late was fine or fine. The no-frills phone did its duty, suffered being dropped, stolen by the dog and left overnight in a -20C car but it eventually outlived its usefulness. Said device was unceremoniously passed to our elderly mother-in-law (who was more than pleased that she could now ring us from the aisles of her favourite grocery store) and replaced, much to Miss Z’s chagrin, with the then-latest iPhone. We were doubtful about the hype but soon smitten by its charms.
We now tell anyone who’ll listen that this phone is the best ever. Not because of the quality of pictures it takes or the fabulous editing apps, instant access to alarm clocks and weather reports, messages and colour-pickers, translators and maps or even the built-in dog whistle. It has let us become connected in ways we would never have thought possible, made us more productive in a spontaneous way, given us the tools to create every single day and most importantly, to share our vision with people all over the globe in a fraction of a second. We even use it to call home once in a while – such is the miracle of modern technology. Like this fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme, every time we swipe onto the homepage we – Wonder – where our little portable universe will take us.
Last week, Across the Bored enquired – ““What shape does wonder come to you in?” – Swirling leaves and sunlit skies, the grasp of a hand or babies’ sighs, lions that play as cats or cats who would be lions, fireworks, roller coasters, neon signs … We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.
Quiet is the light
that bathes
all Quandary, Quarrel, Quagmire
gaze upon her face
to Quench all thirst
for sightless eyes
Question not
what brings us to our knees
before the Queen
of all men
♕
Do a Quickstep over to the entries in Frizztext’s QQQ – Challenge.
All you have to do⊙
Go round and round in the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wheels.
too hard to choose just one♡
Congratulations on a wonderful first year of A Word in your Ear’s photo challenge – join in the entries in the Word A Week Photo Challenge – Favourite.
Discover how rich neutral can be in the entries of
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Brown.
Young or old, modern life is complicated. Although some may argue otherwise, even if we don’t seem to accomplish much, it does seem as though we are busier than our ancestors. Released from the constraints of nightfall, technology and the miracle of electricity almost dare us to shut down and just go to bed. Our mothers shake their heads, incredulous that we are tuned in to people and places that 50 years ago would only have appeared in National Geographic or Life magazine and that we are turned on (to and by) the vast virtual machine that once was only a mathematician’s puzzling dream. That many drop out is inevitable.
When we get just that little bit too stressed out, start losing it on a regular basis, grinding our teeth in the night or wondering just what is the point of it all anyway, that is the time to stop, take a step to the side and remember what it was like to see as a child. A post-it scrawled in tiny script on the Ghost’s computer sums it up just like this week’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: “Regain the – Wonder“.
“What shape does wonder come to you in?” – Swirling leaves and sunlit skies, the grasp of a hand or babies’ sighs, lions that play as cats or cats who would be lions, fireworks, roller coasters, neon signs …
We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Pick a Peck of Peaches
Plump Pears
or Puckered Prunes
Peel Plenty of Papaya
Pitahayas ‘neath the moon
Ponder on the Pomelo
and Pale Pepinos green
Persian limes and Pumpkins
enough Pequi for a queen
Pomegranates and Pineapple
Plantains by the score
Porcelain bowls of Pawpaw
Pitomba to her door
Ply her with Persimmons
that Pair Pleasantly with Pie
but only Purple Passionfruit
is the true apple
of her eye
P
Peruse and Ponder the entries of Frizztext’s PPP – Challenge.
r
Dig into the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Sand and Dirt.
Summer is gone. The air has changed bringing that tinge of frost to darker mornings and earlier nights. In the city, we judge how far into the season we are by the bend of wilted perennials and the gradations of leafy colour quickening along the avenues. Nature seems to keep pace with the rhythm of the urban environment, never stopping to take a breath or ease into the season but leaping headlong in some frenetic rush to finish autumn before the snows come. The romantic in us longs to be out in the country, tromping about in big boots and woolly scarves, kicking around the edge of new-mown fields or just sitting on a fence taking in the glory of it all but we must content ourselves with more virtual views for the moment.
October reminds us it is time to make sure we are set for the duration, to check that all the plans we laid in spring, all the projects dreamed about on sunny afternoons and languid August nights, are in place and ready to be realized. It is as much about reflecting on what has been accomplished as it is to looking forward in hope, setting larger goals and taking the first steps towards the new. Like this fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Harvest – we reap what we have sown.
Last week, Across the Bored asked – “How do you see harvest at this time of year?” – Pumpkins sweet and squash to eat, family near,the holiday blear, pilgrims and the past or things that don’t last, falling leaves or the hopes we retrieve … We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.
ACROSS THE BORED 