#ScribesAndMakers day 2: Vivid?

I'll take this as a prompt for something from my own writing. Here's a snippet of a practice vignette. It's Kevin Wingard's birthday (roughly 8 years before the WIP novel takes place), and Adrian Hardesty and Derrick Devereaux are taking him out on the town. Adrian's gotten them into a very upscale club and asked if there's anything else that would make the night better. Kevin thinks he might hit the dance floor...

#ScribesAndMakers day 4: Share a mondegreen (misheard lyric) you like.

For the longest time, I misheard a line in the Smiths' "There is a Light That Never Goes Out". I heard it as:

> And in a darkened underpass, I thought:
> "Oh, God, my chance has come at last!"
> But then a strange fear gripped me
> And I just couldn't pass.

I thought it made an absolutely banger *triple*-entendre: Not only could he not pass by another car in his own, but he also... 1/2

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...couldn't make a pass at the woman he's driving around with... and therefore, couldn't pass as straight. (I initially thought it was only a double meaning, before discovering that Morrissey was gay. Even then, I thought it was clever, but the lyricist's homosexuality adds so much with that third level of meaning!)

Sadly, it turns out my mishearing was *way* more creative than Morrissey's actual line, which is merely "...and I just couldn't ask." Meh. 2/2

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#ScribesAndMakers day 5: Make a story or art based on the misheard lyric you shared yesterday

It'd really just be the story Morrissey was already telling in the song. Except a little more clever.

#ScribesAndMakers day 6: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a piece of visual art?

Sometimes it can be as quick as "the moment I see it", if it's something that I can take in all in a glance. More complex things may take up to a full minute or more, if I have to really inspect the details and get a real understanding of the thing. 1/2

Though I do sometimes change my mind about a piece, after some much longer time. The first time I saw "Guernica", I went, "Ugh, what a gross mess!" (I am not proud of this reaction.) A couple of years later, I finally got the point, and I'm now in agreement with most of the rest of the world in considering it a very powerful artwork. 2/2

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#ScribesAndMakers day 7: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a piece of music?

Anywhere from about two seconds up to the entire length of the song. Usually in the 5–15 second range, though.

It's rarer for my tastes about a musical piece to change, although sometimes I find that something gets overplayed and I get tired of it for a while. But a period of non-exposure will usually get me back to liking it again.

#ScribesAndMakers day 8: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a book?

Could be as little as a page or two, or it might take me up to a few chapters — let's say, maybe up to 15,000 words or so — before I decide to DNF something. (Given how slowly I read, I should probably learn to pull the ripcord earlier, but I feel so bad about doing so.)

#ScribesAndMakers day 9: Is there a difference in how long it takes you to decide if you like different mediums? Why do you think that is?

I mean, there's a difference just in how I even *measure* the lengths, and there should be, because different media are... *different*.

#ScribesAndMakers day 11: Is your creativity ever inspired by dreams you’ve had? If so, can you give an example?

Yeah, there was this previous answer: https://wandering.shop/@kagan/115543052003675170 I still desperately hope every copy of that play has been purged from the face of the Earth.

#ScribesAndMakers day 12: A variation of a guess-the-lyrics prompt from last month: share a snippet of song lyrics and create a poll asking people to pick what song the lyrics are from.

"Here's the song of shear and torsion,
Here's the bloodbath magazine,
Here's the harvest of contusions,
Here's the narcoleptic dream"

#ScribesAndMakers day 13: Reveal the answer to yesterday's poll.

It was "Transverse City", the title track off Warren Zevon's very-cyberpunk 1989 album. My TTRPG group used to use this song to kick off our Shadowrun sessions from ~1997–2003.

The bit about "the song of shear and torsion" is my favorite line from a song that has a plethora of them. As a professional architect, Angel Castillo is very familiar with the song of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_stress and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_(mechanics). 🏙️❤️

#ScribesAndMakers day 14: Is there a color you find comforting?

The deep blue of the sky about 20–30° up from the western horizon, a few minutes after the sun has set on a clear day.

#ScribesAndMakers day 15: You are in an art contest (or collaborative game if you prefer) with someone of similar skill level. Choose your 'weapon': pencil, pen, paintbrush, digital pen, or clay.

This reminds me of a contest/game from my past, when I and a few friends were all DJs. We'd do something we called "Iron DJ" (a nod to Iron Chef), where we'd have to pick a theme for a set from out of a hat, and then spin a short set based on that. Themes included... 1/2

...things like "the four elements", "past, present, and future", and a whole bunch of other things I can't even recall right now. They definitely weren't all simple sets of things like that; some were more creative.

So anyway, my choice is DJ equipment! 2/2

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#ScribesAndMakers day 16: You wake up to find someone staring at you. Who is it, and why are they there?

It's my partner, who came over to surprise me with morning snuggles.

#ScribesAndMakers day 17: What's an animated movie you love?

_Princess Mononoke,_ by Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli.

#ScribesAndMakers day 18: Vinyl, compact disc, digital, or radio?

Digital. It's nice not to have to lug around lots of physical objects to have music.

#ScribesAndMakers day 20: When it comes to theater, do you prefer tragedy or comedy?

Comedy, although it's a close thing. Watching someone completely ruin their life can be grand and full of pathos, and many of the best soliloquies are from tragedies, not comedies. But in the end, I prefer to walk out of the theater having laughed and had fun rather than having gone, "OMG, can you please not do the obviously catastrophic things?" for a couple of hours.

#ScribesAndMakers day 23: If you garden, do you give away anything that you grow? If so, what do you give away the most of?

I don't garden.

#ScribesAndMakers day 24: What's a work of science fiction that you love? What do you love about it?

I'm going to say, completely unironically: ST:TOS. Maybe it's partly because I grew up on it — and look, I'm not saying *every* episode; some of them were real stinkers¹ — but by and large, the message that humanity can come together, overcome our differences, triumph over the three evils of racism, militarism, and greed, and even ally with alien species in the pursuit of... 1/2

...knowledge and peace, is one that I wish more works would promote, and more people would follow, today. 2/2

1. I know, you're thinking of "Spock's Brain". But "The Empath" is even worse. Hoo boy, does that one suck!

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#ScribesAndMakers day 25: You're going on a creative retreat. What's the most important thing you need to bring with you?

My laptop, obvi! I can't write without it.

Okay, assuming "whatever tools you need to do the creating" are considered to be already included, then... what the hell, I'm going with the alexandrite earrings and pendant my sweetie gave me as things to spur creativity.

#ScribesAndMakers day 27: Are you good at threading needles?

No, but I have hardly any practice at it. I'm sure I'd improve quickly if I started sewing on a regular basis.

#ScribesAndMakers day 30: Hogwash?

Folderol! Stuff and nonsense! Indeed, as the kids say these days: that's AI!