Another day, another query

 Waiting for me in this morning’s inbox…Oh, never mind the details of it, it’s always roughly the same. Increasingly, my reply is becoming rote and reflexive as well.“Dear [name redacted],“Thank you for your kind words recognizing my contribution to popular culture and asking me to contribute [something that will take me some significant amount of time to do] to [your...

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Talking Shop: Eric's Writing Challenge Update 10

Okay, I think it's been about a week since the last update.Let's get right into it with the writing challenge. To date, I've written approximately 52,400 words toward the writing challenge end goal of 87,500 words. That puts me right around the 60% mark and well ahead of schedule. I wrote about 5000 words this last week, which works out to about 714 words per day. On...

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Status Update • 30 August 2021

 It’s now been a month since my wife was released from the hospital, and time remains in very short supply.  The three-times-daily infusions appear to be working, although not as well as her doctors had hoped, so they’ve extended the treatment schedule through September. We continue to see or be seen by a long parade of specialists, therapists, and various other...

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Today's Free Story Idea: a entirely new dystopian scenario

Today’s Free Story Idea is, as they say, ripped from the headlines. The original article by Andreas Kluth appeared in Bloomberg Opinion a few days ago, but since then it’s been infiltrating out via syndication to all the other newspapers too cheap or lazy to hire their own staff and write their own content. I saw it in this morning’s St. Paul Pioneer Press, but since both...

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SHOWCASE: “Doctor to the Undead” • by Guy Stewart

 The micro-miniskirt, while the height of current fashion, felt both ridiculous and degrading. I pursed my lips—I’m sure it would have been cute if I could have seen my reflection in the restroom mirror—and sighed. Turning, I went back out into the hospital. No, not exactly a hospital. The University of Minnesota’s PEDIATRIC BLOOD AND MARROW TRANSPLANT & CELLULAR...

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Another Day, Another Hospital

 Another day, another hospital, another outpatient procedure that’s expected to take most of the day. Comms will be spotty today as this hospital seems to be in some kind of coverage black hole. My phone works there—barely—but my wifi hotspot does not. I’d better bring along a book to read.In the meantime, I’ve grown tired of cat pics, so here’s a cute Halloween illo...

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Talking Shop: Eric's Writing Update 9

Okay, so this week's update is happening more or less on time. Let's start out with the writing challenge. To date, I've churned out approximately 47,400 words toward the writing challenge goal of 87,500. That puts me around 54% of the way toward the goal line. I wrote around 5100 words last week. For the math types, that an average of a little over 728 word per day.On...

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Status Update • 19 August 2021

 Three weeks now since my wife was discharged from the hospital. Since then we’ve had an almost-constant stream of doctor’s appointments, follow-ups, hospital out-patient procedures, and various nurses and therapists parading in and out of the house, all while sticking to her every-eight-hours infusion regimen. I’ve gotten pretty good at handling the equipment and performing...

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Talking Shop: Eric's Writing Challenge Updates 7 and 8

Okay, so I missed last's week writing challenge update. I meant to do it. Planned to do it, but things just got away from me. So let's start with the writing challenge. To date, I've written approximately 42,300 words toward the writing challenge. That puts me around 48% of the way toward the 87500 goal. I wrote approximately 2700 words last week and around the same the...

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Status Update - 8/11/21

 Another day, another hospital, another outpatient procedure that's going to take all day; another eight hours of hurry up and wait. Accordingly, comms will be spotty today. Picking the pic of the P.O.'d cat in the pink bunny suit because I need an illo, so why not this one? -...

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A View from the Geek: Masters of the Universe: Revelation - Swing and a Miss • By Eric Dontigney

So, let’s talk about that Masters of the Universe: Revelation. I’ve steered clear of it so far because there has been what is becoming standard issue polarization around the subject. On one side are hard-core purists who hate it. On the other side are people who adore it. Unfortunately, those battle lines also seem to “shockingly” correspond with two all-too-familiar...

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“Loki, Sipping Mai Tais on Daytona Beach” • by Duke Kimball

 The God of Thunder picks a wedgie. Loki grins. “I think you look quite fetching in Bermuda shorts.”“It’s too hot.” Thor wipes his sunburned brow and continues sweeping the metal detector. “Why you’d bury Mjölnir in this cursed land…” Another beep. Another bottlecap. Another curse.“It’s called Florida.” Loki takes a sip. “A joke. We needed a break from the snow.”“I like...

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Of Karen and Cancer: An Update

 …and there went July. In hindsight, it’s clear now that Karen was a lot sicker than we thought for a lot longer than we thought. Not to bury the lede, she’s home from the hospital now and resting comfortably, but it was a much closer call than we realized. It seems now that she began to get sick sometime in the first week of July, and by the evening of July 15 she was...

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Talking Shop: Eric's Writing Challenge Update 6

I had a migraine for most of yesterday, so the always highly-anticipated update on my writing challenge comes a day late this week. First up, the writing challenge. Thus far, I've written approximately 36,900 words for the writing challenge. That puts me approximately 42% of the way toward the 87,500 word goal for the rest of the year. I wrote approximately 9000 words...

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