Holidays / Vacations / Resorts / Travel

Conflicted

I'm semi-retired and drive school bus. That means I'm right there with the school kids counting down the days till the breaks, like Christmas break. Then when it's here I relish the wonderful feeling of freedom that it gives.

Yet this Christmas, the call went out for a contest and being the masochist that I am I decided to enter. The length limit meant the the story was quickly knocked out. I've been sitting on this completed story for a few weeks now. Long enough to let it settle so I'm confident that self-editing will catch all the errors (well at least most).

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Feeling thankful

Tomorrow many Americans will celebrate our distinctive Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a difficult time for many in the trans community, especially those who have been rejected by their families. But it’s also a time to count blessings and give thanks. I didn’t want the occasion to pass without giving the thanks I can only articulate in this space: my deep, profound, and heartfelt thanks for every member of this community. For the women and men who have read my stories and for the incredibly talented authors whose stories have touched me this past year.

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Well, I've done it. Written a story that takes place in london... native speaker needed.

My muse went crazy and decided that I could write a story that takes place in London England. A challenge I've been avoiding due to the differences in the King's English and what we speak on this side of the pond. But I guess like cross-dress, suppressing your muse's desire to write, makes it grow stronger. So I've given in to the pressure. Not only have I completed one, but I have another in the pipe line and one that I've only sketched the premise in a few paragraphs for.

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On a positive note...

A little while ago, Jessica C (from Germany) posted that she was visiting a small town in Canada, near London, Ontario and asked if anyone wanted to get together. I corresponded with her and since I live near Detroit, MI, and London is only about a two and one half hour drive. We agreed to get together. There is a small town called Stratford that is also near London and is famous for their Stratford Festival during the summer where they put on first-class plays. I made arrangements and we agreed to get together and see Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

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Meetups in Canada in July?

After enjoying the regular Sunday afternoon/evening Zoom chats hosted by Wendy Jean, I got to thinking that my trip to Canada in July could be an opportunity to meet with a few BCTS members. My main reason for the trip is a conference regarding the use of [Mennonite] Low German in media and the process of documenting and formalizing the grammar and orthography, as well as developing the corresponding writers utilities as open source software tools. This conference is scheduled for 12-14 July in Aylmer, Ontario. I will have some down-time on the Saturday and Sunday.

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Happy Holidays everybody!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hannukah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

Spending Christmas Eve with my sister Erica at her home on the north shore of Long Island (yes, she calls it Long Guyland). She owns the biggest firickin' cat I've ever seen. It's a Maine Coon cat...the only domestic cat breed native to the U.S. Melissa had thirds of the sweet potato casserole. Darn that cat!

ericamainecoon.jpg

Hugs of the season,

Sammy

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A Purim Story

A Purim Story

Hi. If you are celebrating Purim tonight and tomorrow, or you want to know something about a interesting holiday, and you are not too inebriated to not understand the difference between a Bless Haman and Curse Mordechai , you may wish to learn how a miracle happens for Robyn, in my story, “The King’s Outstreched Sceptre”.

A Freilach Purim

Rami

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Well... what a season!!!

Well, this has been an interesting couple of months!

Of course, at the end of November, we had Thanksgiving in the US. This was not unexpected, nor was the sudden explosion of colorful, twinkling lights in the Spokane, Washington area following the holiday. In fact, it was rather pleasant.

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Count down to Christmas

Well here it is December 24th, Christmas Eve. As usual, we're all in a tizzy (mistyped that one as tissy. I almost left it. If you don't know the meaning, look it up and you'll see why.) Tomorrow we are headed in to town (that is the nearest big city, we live in a small town of about 2K population) to my daughters house for dinner and exchange of gifts. This is their first Christmas in their new house. My oldest will be going with us, my grandson (age 20) will be there as will my granddaughter (age 23) she has invited her first boyfriend. Yes, she didn't date in high school...

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I edited and renamed a three year old Christmas story

Link here: ->Yuletide Acceptance

I edited and renamed a three year old Christmas story from "Acceptance" to "Yuletide Acceptance" to make it known that it's a sweet, family friendly, Christmas related story.

We can all use acceptance, right?

I can envision this heart warming 'story with a message' being a family friendly video/movie. I relate to little Mattie and to being misunderstood by my family (and friends) over the years.

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Convention Photos

Just a reminder, I am placing my convention photos - including scans of old negatives as I get to them - in albums at:

Flickr

Or:Tiny

I have lots of photos of costumes, both hall (aka cosplay) and Masquerade. Costuming is the closest thing to physical transformation most people will ever experience.

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the monster within

My whole life has been one long struggle to not become a monster.

I did not succeed.

I can still feel the monster, waiting for its chance to get out

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On the Topic of Fruit Cakes

There is a tradition involving fruitcakes which most folks currently alive are unaware of. Yes, people make fruitcakes for eating, often with whiskey of some sort, perhaps even with a small amount inside the container so that the fumes enrich the cake. However, these are not the fruitcakes traditionally given as gifts. Even if the tradition is no longer remembered by most of the people who follow it.

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Merry Christmas and a little food for thought (as the Brits say)

First off Merry Christmas to all this has been a hard year for many. My husband is a nurse and like many others he has seen first hand just how bad this virus can be. At times I know for a fact he felt as though he was in combat (no disrespect to those in the military). We have seen him come home defeated during the first wave saying that he's never seen so much death.

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In the Spirit of the Season

No-one knows how Devil's Hollow (which I can see part of from my front porch) got its name. I even asked at the Kentucky History Museum*. Here's one explanation:

http://www.dcr.net/~stickmak/Transformation/Catamount/devils...

*Their best guess was that it still looks like the kind of place where you might encounter the Devil.

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Face App

I'm kind of enjoying FaceApp.

I used to have a sailboat, so being able to set a picture of me, as me, on a yacht, is quite nice.

Of course, my boat was only a 17 footer, but still, it was quite fun. Alas, when I bought the house I have now, I had no place to park it. The only place I could have, would have let the boat be destroyed along with my front yard with cars flying through on occasional visits.

Needless to say, I miss it. There is nothing like sailing.

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Holidays suck

The Holidays are near....

Guess everyone is expecting me to single jinglebells and toss tinsel around in a jolly green sexy elf girl costume (well ok that would be fun lol) but seriously.....

Am I the only one that feels more like a Scrooge at this time of year (minus the intentional mistreatment of your employee, if you read/watched a scrooge based thingy you know what I am talking about)?

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Shutter Bug

The location of my flicker Album page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/116299515@N07/albums

One of my post-retirement projects is to scan all my old negatives (or, where there are no negatives, the prints). I'm posting these on Flickr in addition to my modern, digital photos.

I am particularly proud of the latest (as of this posting) album, which was taken entirely at night of the Christmas decorations for 1999, plus shots of the Moon and the Capital building:

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Seeya later!

Hey, guys.

So we're leaving for our trip tonight. In about an hour actually (7am Thursday Eastern over there). But I'll be seeing all of you again Monday evening (or about 9am Monday Eastern over there). Therefore no stories until Monday.

I'll still be logging on from time to time within that period, so I won't be completely out of contact with you guys here in the Bigcloset. Feel free to comment or PM or whatever, and I'll respond as soon as I see 'em.

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As a new year begins, I'm lost in memories. Please read.

I'm sitting here now, lost in memories of a life changing week at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta Georgia in 2009. Having reached the ripe old age of 72, I find myself remembering times and people and events there and in my life.

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