Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

Eels are really slimy!

Kelly A. Harmon and an Eel she caught.I finally got a chance to go fishing with my Dad this summer, and what do I catch? An eel.

This one was about two feet long, and as big around as a homemade kielbasa. It pulled like hell, bringing it in. I thought it was a much larger fish, but my dad could tell right away what it was, dancing across the water as I reeled it in.

I’ve never caught an eel before, and I must say, I was vastly disappointed.

Except: now I’ve got more fodder for stories. This thing will come up somewhere, I’m certain.

I never knew eels were so slimy. Yeah, I knew there was a slime factor involved, but not *this* slimy. I swear.

While taking it off the hook it wrapped several times around my arm. I let the slime dry there, thinking I could brush it off, or wash it off easier once it dried.

Not so: there was no brushing it off, or even peeling it, like a facial mask.

I had to resort to washing. And when the dried slime got wet? It reconstituted. Ew! I had to scrape it off. Soap did not cut it.

Definitely story fodder there: Perhaps human-sized zombie eels able to spit venomous slime… Maybe land-walking eels with slime that burns through everything, who come to take over the world (or at least summer camp. A good horror story always starts at summer camp, eh?)

I’ve got to think about this…

Friday, August 10th, 2012

Writers Prompt – Worms and Coffee

Worms and Coffee - North Carolina - Photo by Kelly A. Harmon - 10 August 2012Today I was driving through eastern North Carolina and I came across this little gas-and-go store at a bridge intersection.

(The bridge takes you over to the coast, where apparently, a lot of fisherman go. At this little crossroads, they can get worms [for bait] and coffee [for some energy] on their way.)

I LOVE the name of this store. It’s a clever bit of naming that (unless you’re a local fisherman) makes you think twice. I adore the incongruity.

 

Here’s Your Prompt

  1. Write a story about “worms and coffee.” Caveat: it can’t be about fishing.
     
  2. If you don’t like the idea of worms and coffee, open up the dictionary to a random page, close your eyes and drop your finger down on a word. Do this twice or more, until you come up with two different nouns. You can connect them with “and” or “or.”
     
  3. Choose any of these random word pairs that I generated using a random noun generator found on the internet:
    1. okra and alligators
    2. pen and Zinc
    3. mountain and soda
    4. caterpillar or desert
    5. storms or fairies

  4. Find your own word pairs using the Paper Tiger Random Noun Generator.
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

I am Not the Grammar Police…and yet…

I was in Delaware this weekend. (Went fishing…yay!)

On the drive there, I saw two signs on the road which made me both laugh and cringe. I find the first one truly sad, because someone paid to have it painted. I have to wonder if the painter knew he was creating a sign with incorrect grammar and just did as he was asked. (I can see the contract now, “Grammar Check – $25 Extra”) The business owner might have (not even tempting to write, “might of,” there) looked at the extra cost and scoffed, “How hard is it to get a sign right?”

Harder than you might think. Here’s the sign:

You Should Of Stopped (to Buy Crabs)

I should have stopped to correct him.

The second sign is probably a product of English as a Second Language (ESL), so I probably shouldn’t be too hard on the writer. Still, I find myself continuing to chuckle at:

Come & Tray ARE New Mango Mojitos

Frankly, I’m not going to “tray are” anything. How about you?

Seen any good signs lately?