Madi Merek's Blog, page 4
March 12, 2014
The 76th Anniversary of the Anschluß.
An excerpt from Message to New York about the day Hitler rode in triumph into Vienna, Austria:
The only thing amiss was sulfur and the four horsemen of the apocalypse, for this was sure to be the end of humanity. And the crowds did as Niklas had suggested they would: they threw flowers, not grenades, as their marching occupiers entered the city. They heiled and praised the incoming troops, worshipping the Führer as the savior of their people and hemorrhaging their exaltation upon him like an uncoagulated wound.
Today is the 76th anniversary of the Anschluß. It’s a very dark, tumultuous time in Austrian history, when the country was caught between collaborator with the Nazis and victim of Hitler’s plan to “purify” Europe.
Coincidentally, the chapter I’m beginning my edits with today is the Anschluß (chapter 8 in Message to New York). There is a short excerpt above.
Read about the history below, and learn something you never knew.
//
Post by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
March 11, 2014
FlashFic Results (week 9)
Here’s what our judge, LittleLovely, had to say:
Thanks to everyone for participating in this week. I’ve gotten way more support than I thought I would and I wanted to start off by saying how grateful I am for everyone who entered. You all gave to me and I wanted to give something back, so I wrote a flash of my own, as well.
Hand against the wall, I heave as a scalding shower falls over my body. My face contorts in a wince at the swirl of red at my feet. The slash across my brow stings something fierce, but it’s nothing compared to the malice that scorched my soul when I walked into that room tonight and saw his filthy fucking hands around her neck.
I shake my head and curse as I scrub off the grime crawling along my skin. I had a job to do and it’s over. And now, it’s on to the next one.
There’s no room to dwell in the past.
Or how close I came to losing her.
Towel slipped around my waist, I walk confidently back into the room. My steps fumble at the sight that greets me. She’s on the bed, heel clad foot across her knee; lace corset around her top and legs tangled in white sheets.
Holding a gun… my gun, and the paper that contains our next assignment. A grin plastered across her sweet face.
She flicks her wrist once, the one with the gun and beckons me to her.
The towel hits the floor and I fall completely into her.
RESULTS:
And now for the results. I had some really amazing entries. I’ll firstly just say something about each entry and then declare a winner.
Ana Lisbeth- I loved the intensity of this piece. Edward’s world seems to be crashing down around him and the one thing he thought he could find solace in, only rocks his world more. My heart was racing along with Edward’s. Absolutely loved it.
tgbmccray- Wow, just wow! I am screaming internally and maybe externally too because this was so good. I need to know more because really, WHERE THE HELL IS LESLIE? Oh Maggie has been a really bad girl and Edward? Well, he’s shit outta luck here. Excellent use of both prompts. I was very, very intrigued.
Ginga- Ahhhh, I think this entry surprised me the most. It was a use of the prompt that I really didn’t expect. The freedom from self-destruction theme really, really threw me. Exceptional and unexpected usage of the prompts. I was really happy with it.
Krystel- ‘Her shoulders sagged as the heavy hand of malice covered her in a dark shroud, pouring hurt and hate over her like a raging waterfall.’ I think, hands down, that this was my favorite line from all of the pieces. It was very descriptive in terms of how much of a heavy hand malice could really be. But then the deed was done and he’s like it’s just beginning. WHAT? That is a such a tease; a story begging to be told. Great entry.
Tinsley- This entry had me tongue-tied. From the time he realized a light was on in the room, that he hadn’t left on, I knew there was only trouble to come. The exchange between the two is deadly. The spinning of the gun around her finger, so sexy! And then plot-fucking-twist at the end with the daddy kill. *jaw hits floor* AH-MAY-ZING!!!!! It started off intense and the angst just sky-rocketed. Exactly what I was going for when I chose the prompts.
Jdifrans- Ahhhhh… can I just say how I admire you for getting a story through in just 108 words? How did you do it? I liked this because it was really forward and to the point, with a good grip on the prompts. Bobby got so bussssssssssted!!!!
Thanking everyone yet again for submitting. Every entry is a winner in their own rite, but my personal fave was this: “She starts to laugh, crazily, and her eyes aren’t cold. They burn with malice.”
Congratulations,
TGBMcCray!!!!!!!!
Great entries, everyone! Babiesbrown, DM me on Twitter and we’ll get rolling on the new flash, which you’ll be judging.
xoxo
Madi
March 8, 2014
International Women’s Day
Remember the brave women who fought their oppressors during the Holocaust on this International Women’s Day.
March 6, 2014
A Note of Love
This was a picture Scarlett and my husband, Jon, sent me after I first admitted my bulimia.
THIS is that love is.
March 5, 2014
Flash Some Leg and a Bit of Metal (Week 9)
Malice mal·ice \ˈma-ləs\
1- a desire to cause blatant pain, injury or distress to another.
2- desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness.
Welcome Flashers!!
Our winner last week was
Packy Pie
Here’s what she has to say:
I’m so happy to have been picked as the winner for the last week and so excited to present my prompts to you.
A little about me.
I’m a 22 year old Caribbean baby lost in the crazy state of New York. I’m an award-winning fangirl, avidly fierce reader of all things, epic screamer, slash perv and I will cut a bitch for Justin Timberlake. Please to be writing me all the things.
Remember the rules—they’re important things:
100-200 words. You MUST use both the picture AND word prompt. Please leave your flash, along with your twitter handle/website, in the comments.
The winner will be the next judge. 
Happy Flashing!
You have until Sunday night at 11:59 PM (MST) to get your flash in!
March 4, 2014
FlashFic Results (week 8)
Hello, Flashers! We had an AMAZING prompt this week and I love
Here’s what your judge,
Ana Lisbeth Tejada
had to say:
Third Place: Tinsley Warren
“I shot him a smug grin as I opened the rosary and dumped the line of coke that was safely hidden inside onto the mirror by the bed.”
Didn’t see that one coming! This flash made me want to know so much more about the girl. You got me intrigued from line one. The entire thing is sinful and captivating. So well done!
Second Place: Missy Melissa Gardener.
“I am sinner as my eyes roam his body, pure lust filling my every pore.
I am alive. I am free. I am uncharted territory waiting to be explored and ravaged.”
Those lines… just wow. This flash said so much in just 126 words! And the last sentences were powerful, moving and stuck with me. A very close second place. Great work.
First Place: Packy Pie
“I trail a hand down her neck, tickling along the chain of beads, and finger the cross settled between her pretty petite tits, before wrapping it in my palm, tugging her closer.”
Oh my God. Those lines, that little action—the tugging her closer was probably the best use of the prompt. I was flying with this piece. I loved the voice in this flash and the way it leaves us kind of wondering about the relationship the two characters share. It feels forbidden, but is it? And the last line IS what Jesus died for. Amazing.
Packy Pie, you’re the next judge. DM me on twitter and we’ll get it rolling.
Congratulations, guys!
March 2, 2014
February 26, 2014
Flashing the Goodies. (Week 8)
pure [pyoor]
adjective, pur·er, pur·est.
1.
free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water.
2.
unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.
3.
of unmixed descent or ancestry: a pure breed of dog.
4.
free from foreign or inappropriate elements: pure Attic Greek.
5.
clear; free from blemishes: pure skin.
sin·ner
noun \ˈsi-nər\
: someone who has done something wrong according to religious or moral law : someone who has sinned
Hello Flashers! Welcome to week 8! Our judge this week is the winner from the last contest,
Ana Lisbeth Tejada.
She picked a pretty rockin’ prompt (believe me, I used it as the banner for my twific, Take up thy Cross). Please take note that she’s also picked not one, but TWO word prompts. Use them both, and the picture, to qualify.
The flash must be between 100-200 words.
Please post with your word count along with your twitter handle/website.
Posts are due by Saturday at 11:59 PM (MST)!
February 25, 2014
National Eating Disorder Awareness Week: Admission is the first step.
This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.
Hi, my name is Chandra (yeah, that’s my first name) and I’m bulimic. I binge and purge. Not always, but there was a time I did it for years.
It began simply, as most things do—a poor historic relationship with food as a child (meat, potatoes, and gravy at most meals) which only worsened when I gave up figure skating and the intense calorie burning exercise it provided. When that stopped, my caloric intake did not. I gained weight steadily after that.
I lost 50-something pounds for my wedding in 2008 through Jenny Craig, but it was expensive and didn’t teach healthy eating anyway. The weight stayed off for the honeymoon period, but slowly began to rise again when I went to work near a bakery. It was torturous.
That was the first time I experienced eating so much I felt like exploding. I forced myself to puke.
I found out I was pregnant in March 2010, and intended to eat healthy, I swear I did. But then there were cheeseburgers (2 at lunch and a large McD’s fries, a sweet tea, a McFlurry, and chicken McNuggets if my eyes were really bigger than my stomach). I just hopped over to McD’s “nutrition” website and did some calculations. I was consuming, on most days JUST at lunch, about 2700 calories. That wasn’t even including dipping sauces and that crap.
As soon as I stuffed all of that in my belly—and, believe me, I don’t have any idea how Scarlett fit in there—I would casually walk into the bathroom, shut the stall, and shove my finger down my throat. After a while, one finger wasn’t enough to make me gag, so I’d have to use two. When that wasn’t enough, I had to wiggle them around as far down as I could reach into my throat to make anything come up.
It wasn’t pretty.
I was often fatigued and bloated. My head ached for days on end, but it was never enough.
Why? Because I lived in fear of my body image and what I would be denied at home. My husband is very health conscious. He’s slim and healthy and would choose salad over cake if given the option—I swear I found him wandering outside Area 51. Unfortunately, his love and concern was misinterpreted in my mind as control. And I used binging and purging as rebellion.
I told him about it some time after Scarlett was born, and there was a long hard struggle. I couldn’t go to the bathroom with the door closed after eating, and restrictions were put on me by both him and myself that proved to be just as unhealthy and not at all beneficial.
It took time, but I ended up going for a good two years without purging. My problem? I still binged. Nowhere near as heavily as I did before, but I binged, nonetheless.
Early in 2013, I made the important decision to undergo an easy procedure, gastric bypass surgery. Not only have I lost 78 lbs, I’ve learned how to control binging. One problem: a simple bite too many can cause extreme pain and discomfort and nausea, so I find myself back in the cycle. I purge. I believe I purged four times today.
I don’t want this to be a pity party, and I don’t want this to cause a scandal. I just want other girls and guys out there to know that they aren’t alone, and there will never be a true fix for it. It’s much deeper than being a strong person and overcoming some obstacle. It has to do with depression, anxiety, mental health, relationships, happiness, pride, self-image, self-worth, and a million other factors.
Seek help—a counselor or a friend—because everyone knows someone with a problem, and you may help save a life.
Thanks for listening.
Chandra Madi.
