Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

No, but I have enjoyed books by Neal Pert and David Byrne.

TPBM is a fan of Rush.

Nope.

TPBM is currently torn between watching TV and reading a book.

Is there even a decision to made there? Reading is superior to TV watching.

TPBM is bored.

Not really. I have lots of creative projects that need doing. Plus, I could always catch up on WWE Smackdown on Hulu. Or I could just relax to some new age music.

TPBM owns a waterproof MP3 player specifically for exercising in the pool.

I wish.

TPBM is currently writing.

Not at the moment, but I'll probably be doing it after I read Ashley Uzzell's poetry book "I Laughed, I Cried, I Crapped Myself". In this case, I'll be writing a review for Good Reads and Amazon, probably in the neighborhood of four or five stars.

TPBM likes to steal titles for short stories from on words or phrases they find fascinating (examples from my life include Hell Yeah, Mastodon, Blood For Blood, Battleground, and Stardust).

Not really, although I do not not do that.

TPBM likes to dance to rockabilly music.

I don't care what kind of music it is, because dancing isn't something I particularly enjoy (unless it's romantic slow dancing with a girl, in which case, I could do that all day).

TPBM is very picky about what he or she considers to be a five-star book.

I am. Although in a curious twist of fate, Life has a habit of bringing into my hands books that are perfect for me at the time.

TPBM enjoys writing book reviews and yet rarely buys books from book reviews s/he has read.

I am. But I haven't started my evening meditation or the day's yoga yet.

TPBM likes to sleep with their socks on on cold days.

I sleep in athletic shorts no matter what the weather is. I love sleeping in a cold room, so I don't overdress at night.

TPBM has at least one character in his or her stories named Walter.

For once I can answer yes! In fact it was in the short story contest from last week.

TPBM has once run into someone from their past that they only vaguely recognized, while the other person remembered them well and felt bad for not remembering.

I can't say that's ever happened to me. I had an old man in the hospital tell me once that I looked familiar, but that was only because he wasn't all there. It's not quite the same thing, I know.

TPBM looks good in glasses.

I wish I wore them, but I think I look good in sunglasses at least.

TPBM dreams about whatever they were reading while falling asleep.

In general I do not.

TPBM tends to have dreams set in their work environment.

Nope. I don't usually remember my dreams and when I do, I don't always know what triggered them. For instance, I woke up this morning from a dream where the Adipose from Doctor Who were devouring the human race.

TPBM loves going to bakeries.

I do, almost as much as I love to bake with adipose from cow's milk. (Sadly, no baking today. A bit too hot and a bit too busy.)

TPBM enjoys the guitar playing of Jesse Cook.

I don't know about Jesse Cook, but damn, that drummer's got some skills!

TPBM thinks the lead vocalist of Sanction VIII sounds like a heavy metal version of Louis Armstrong.

I've never heard him, so I can't say.

TPBM thinks an overcast sky complements the colors of a desert beautifully.

I've never experienced an overcast sky in the desert so I don't know if that's true.

TPBM will officially be on summer holiday as of Wednesday.

Nope. Not for another five weeks. But I do have a holiday on Wednesday.

TPBM loves the sound and musicality of drums, but has never heard Steve Reich's 'Drumming'.

I prefer the works of Vinnie Paul Abbot, Jeremy Spencer, and Neil Sanderson, but that's just me.

TPBM once had a micro-camera shoved up his or her nose.

Yes, on more than one occasion.

TPBM has experienced the amazement of having endless gauze pulled out of their sinuses through their nostrils.

Not really. I never had to have gauze because when I had nasal surgery in 2006 I kept spraying saline solution to keep the stitches from scarring.

TPBM knows that the phrase “eye for an eye” has more to do with fairness and nothing to do with revenge.

Yes, I realize that it was a model for justice, but at the same time, was not always fair. (For instance, if you killed someone's son, your son would be killed instead of you.)

Right now, it is cloudy where TPBM lives.

Actually, it's quite sunny outside. The outside temperature is 100 degrees, so after I make my TPBM post, I'm probably going to take a cold shower.

TPBM enjoys cold showers during the summer.

Only sometimes. I usually like at least lukewarm showers so my pores can open up as I scrub them.

TPBM is participating in the Indie Authors Be Seen event tomorrow on Facebook and Twitter.

Nope, I can't say that I am.

TPBM used to believe that listening to Mozart increased intelligence, but now knows that’s just an urban myth.

Yes, I do.

TPBM had something really clever to put on this thread, but can't remember it anymore.

I solved that problem a long time ago by keeping my TPBM posts in a list on my computer.

TPBM owns a leather jacket.

Technically not quite, as I own two. Was three, but the 30 year jacket went to jacket heaven/hell a few years ago.

TPBM has had the misfortune of being obligated to attend two two hour company meetings in a row.

Nope. As a high school student, I have yet to have to suffer those kinds of torture.

When TPBM researches for a story, TPBM wonders what the NSA would think of their internet history. (For entry in this week's contest, I've looked up locations in the Underworld, the names of equipment in the morgue, and poisons that cause paralysis.)

LOL! I have on occasion wondered something similar, but not the NSA per se.

TPBM is a little surprised, on reflection, that the thought of the NSA making the effort to know his/her search history is not seen as a civil violation.

I see it as one but what more can we expect from our own government?

TPBM just recently joined the world of self-publishing and likes it so far.

I've been a part of the self-publishing game for a while, but I have to admit, it gets lonely and hopeless from time to time.

TPBM avoids talking about politics and religion when meeting new people.

I would say so. It's important to try to actually get to know people as individuals before you broach deeper conversations.

TPBM wishes more people were aware that "I don't know enough about that topic/situation to have a valid opinion" is a perfectly acceptable answer when talking about social or political issues.

It is an acceptable answer indeed. Nobody wants to make a fool of themselves by getting into something they're unaware of.

TPBM has an awkward sleeping schedule.

@ Angie: Really? I didn't know that. Thank you Angie! ;-) [Sorry about that, couldn't resist. Is that politically incorrect of me?! LOL! Quite likely.]

@ Garrison. I don't. I go to bed late at night, and get up early. Is that awkward?

TPBM considers politics to be a rather shallow discussion, these days, given the quality of most of what passes for political news.

Guy, LOL. And I would have to agree with you. I feel that it's because so few people are actually willing to do their research, so political news and discussions more closely resembles the bickering of young children.

TPBM has wanted to look up information about bomb making for the purpose of a story, but thinks it would be too awkward to explain if the FBI turned up at their doorstep.

I think the FBI has better things to do than to screw with authors doing research. If they don't, they need to get their priorities straight. Hehe!

TPBM believes that accomplishment comes before self-esteem.

No. Without self-esteem, what appears to be an accomplishment will be short-lived. And no outward success has the power to transform someone without self-worth, into one with it.

TPBM enjoys reading fairytales as a map of personal psychology and growth.

Fairy tales require a deep imagination to both create and read, so yes, I could get behind that.

TPBM talks to him or herself when at least slightly sure that nobody else is listening.

LOL! I talk to myself regardless of the presence of people around me.

TPBM wants to read The Golden Ass: The Transformations of Lucius because it is about an ass who gets transformed into an ass in order to discover his humanity.

That's a lot of asses, Guy. It's like a rap video from the 90's. Hehe!

TPBM would like to one day write a story or poem with the title “Sinner, Sinner, Chicken Dinner”.

Garrison wrote: "That's a lot of asses, Guy. It's like a rap video from the 90's. Hehe!

TPBM would like to one day write a story or poem with the title “Sinner, Sinner, Chicken Dinner”."

[I consider it to be a great asset in anyone's library.;-) ]

After no small consideration, and after having scrambled eggs for breakfast, I will confess to having no inclination towards writing anything but a TPBM post with the phrase 'Sinner, Sinner, Chicken Dinner.'

TPBM takes too much pleasure in forced alliteration sometimes.

No, it's kind of annoying.

TPBM would try the new Soylent for a week as an experiment.

No. I won't try anything with the word 'soylent' in it after having read Soylent Green when I was a kid.

TPBM has no idea what 'soylent' is.

I'm guessing it has something to do with eating people.

TPBM has a character in his or her stories named Davion.

Nope, not at all.

TPBM is currently writing poetry.

Thinking of a haiku, to be precise, for the Haiku thread.

TPBM is struggling how to work 'hair-do' and 'grass' into a Haiku.