Author: ireneallison12

All Stories, Editor Picks, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 482: Remembering Jon Brower Minnoch; Five Acts of Daily Goodness; the A to Z of Slang and Catchphrases

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Jon Brower Minnoch (1941-1983) was, and remains, the heaviest known human being ever to live (according to Guiness). He topped out at 1400 pounds ( a hundred stone in the UK). He holds many weight related records including the most pounds lost (900 plus) and the greatest weight difference between husband and wife (1300). Mr. and Mrs. Minnoch had two children, which is testament to both the determination of life and a prime example of something I’d rather not consider too deeply.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Short Fiction

Week 480: Tabby Rasa and Cat Commandements

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Tabula rasa, the blank slate, has taken a new meaning in the courtyard. One recent morning I left for work and saw a Red Cat of maybe four months in a window. Almost indigestibly cute, he was a war with the window shade and was, judging by the bent to hell slats, winning a decisive battle.

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Fantasy, Humour, Short Fiction

The Adventures of Beezer and Barkevious by Leila Allison

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I heard toenails slipping on linoleum in the kitchenette off my office. Only Dogs create that sound; and sure enough, upon inspection, I discovered the “Baw Brothers,” Beezer and Barkevious, teaming to raid the refrigerator. I am guilty of leaving the fridge door ajar, so this situation happens almost constantly.

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Short Fiction, sunday whatever

Sunday Whatever: A Double Shot of Diane M. Dickson

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For this fine Sunday we present two little pieces written by our own Diane M. Dickson. One is an article the other is one of those odds and ends tales best suited for this feature in its own indefinable little way.

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Editor Picks, Short Fiction

Week 478: We Keep Playing Them Word Games Forever

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Roughly speaking, there are more than six-hundred thousand words in the English language (minus the stuff you see on medicine jar labels). The average English speaker’s vocabulary is between twenty and thirty-five thousand words. Anyone can contribute new words to the language; Mr Shakespeare added seventeen-hundred now commonly used words on his own. But with so many words, it is inevitable that some of the juicier ones are often overlooked. (Quick disclaimer–the obviously googled numbers produced many results–I selected the sanest looking source to quote.)

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auld author, Short Fiction

Auld Author – Katherine Mansfield by Leila

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The Collected Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) is available on Kindle for next to nothing. She was from New Zealand and is yet another scribe whom TB scythed early.

I’m rather tired of reading “a person of his/her times.” Who isn’t? Goddam unfounded superior attitude in my mind. Anyway, all times are pretty much the same–bullshit and power rule and people must conceal their true selves or risk expulsion from their tribes. Social media is just another form of the grapevine. Anyway, Katherine Mansfield was attracted to women and was smart enough not to make that lead news in the nineteen-teens and twenties, yet she was brave about such in her work.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, Short Fiction

Week 476: Xtra, Xtra Read All About It; Five, Make That Six Good Reads; Inked Jocularity

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Kindle is one of the greatest inventions since the pop-top beer can. Anyone who has had to pack and move hundreds of books from one place to another should be grateful for it. I look at my tablet, amazed that I have thousands upon thousands of pages stored in it; enough volumes to make my place look like that of a hoarder. I now own maybe three hundred paper books–down from the high of about fifteen hundred I had on hand in the 90’s.

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Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – The Hive by Rania Hellal

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And what is a sin if God himself didn’t see it?

That is one of the finest lines in our archives. And it appears in The Hive by Rania Hellal. I usually like to lay some time between a tale’s first appearance then as a rerun. But it doesn’t feel needed here. I think that it will be a fine thing to bring it back and urge those who missed it the first time to have a look.

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All Stories, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 474: The Quest; Five Stars; Little Lists

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Quest

No one calls in requests to radio stations anymore. No one there to answer the phone if they did. Even if you could, I really doubt that “I dunno what it is called, but I saw a Lexus shaking to it at a stop sign this morning” would jog many happy memories. Besides, no need. It’s all there for the picking and would have to be awfully damn obscure if it isn’t found someplace online. I miss doing my own detective work. I miss it the same way I miss the death of off seasons and the way nothing used to happen on Sunday–before the world acquired a similarity to supermax prison cells, in which the lights are on 24 hours a day.

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Editor Picks, General Fiction, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 472: Where Have You Gone Darby Crash? Punk Bed Fiasco and Not All That Irritates Makes a Pearl

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Whether it Be Curbing or Kerbing, Nothing Vomits Sweeter Than Stolen Beer

Society has been going to hell since the invention of the Good Old Days. Funny thing there–because it’s true and yet there are new Good Old Days rolling out of the Good Old Days Factory constantly. A Paradox, until you remember that New People are being produced at even a greater frequency.

Continue reading “Week 472: Where Have You Gone Darby Crash? Punk Bed Fiasco and Not All That Irritates Makes a Pearl” →