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Literally Stories – Week 42

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The last week has thrown up all manner of political oddities from around the world – and I’m not just referring to Donald Trump’s combover which must be standing on end at the news that Arnold Schwarzenegger (an immigrant no less) has stolen his old job on The Apprentice. The Labour Party in the UK has a new leader several light years left of centre. Australia is going through Prime Ministers faster than a stuttering sports team changes managers, and just this afternoon in Burkina Faso a very large chap in an army uniform locked up the President.

At Literally Stories we try and steer clear of politics. No military coups for us. No bloc voting. Just an oasis of calm, storytelling quality in a world of turmoil.

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Literally Stories – Week 41

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For someone who does not know a DSL from a WLAN Week 41 ended somewhat chaotically. I am talking routers of course and some would say what’s new?

Solutions to a faulty on/off button came both high and low-tech.

Cape Town (Nik) provided the know-how. The high-end geek-speak.

Sheffield (me) the low-brow pass me a roll of gaffer tape and I’ll fix mentality.

It really is amazing what you can keep running with an ounce of ingenuity and a paper-clip.

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Literally Stories – Week 40

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Week 40.

Four-Oh blind forty.

Those of you like me who regularly visit the local Bingo Hall in search of friendship, weak coffee, numbers no greater than two digits and dayglo marker pens, will undoubtedly not have the foggiest idea what the origins of ‘blind forty’ are. Blind forty, one of many colourful phrases bingo callers cry out, such as three and seven, thirty-seven.

Those of you who do know what ‘blind forty’ means will no doubt glow with pride when name-called a nerd, anorak or some other pejorative that implies they possess a vast general knowledge.

Uncertain whether or not I should round off my momentary lapse into all things numerical by declaring ‘That’s Numberwang’, or were I in Wiesbaden, ‘Das ist Nummerwang’ I opted to consult a search engine and was greatly reassured this utterance was not such a foolish notion after all.

Even the German translation of the spoof game show Numberwang yielded 160 hits in 0.57 seconds.

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Literally Stories – Week 38

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When I visited the back door portal to Literally Stories Friday morning charged with the task of ordering random words into something a little less random my first thought on typing Week 38 was; Is there any significance to the number 38?

In short. No significance.

The best ‘fact’ I came up with was it is the probable year of the marriage of Claudius and Messalina.

Fascinating.

However if you add ‘th’ to 38 and then parallel, too, the plot thickens into something almost but not quite significant, as you now have the 38th parallel. The demarcation between North and South Korea. An imaginary line that also passes just north of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, all of which makes one wonder how newspaper columnists survived before the advent of the internet search engine? None of which leads me to this week’s litany of literary marvels that began with The Aviator.

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Literally Stories – Week 37

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Last Sunday Literally Stories Editor, Tobias Haglund, chose his three favourite stories published on the site in the regular weekend feature,  ‘Editor Picks’.

If you would like a turn at Editor Picks email us at: literallystories2014@gmail.com and tell us in less than a 1000 words why you think your three selections are special.

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Literally Stories – Week 36

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There is a well-known truism you can take a horse to water but a pencil must be lead. I have waited an aeon  to find a suitable juncture to slot this witticism into a profound piece of writing, but alas, had to stick it in here instead.

Whilst this observation might seem bizarre, regular readers will know instantly it is merely a shameless contrivance by which to segue seamlessly into the first of this week’s homages to the short story.

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Literally Stories – Week 35

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A week that began with a flight of fancy, or fantasy flight, depending on how you read it, ended in not dissimilar fashion.

Whilst LS newcomer Lawrence Buentello kept his MC’s feet on the ground he could not prevent her schoolgirl head being up in the clouds, in Wings.

James McEwan said of Friday’s story: “A subtle story, which leaves a quiet resonance in my mind, contemplating, yes, quietly contemplating.”

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Literally Stories Week 34

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Sunday used to be the day LS maintained radio-silence. Well not any longer baby. We sexed up Sunday weeks ago. Anything goes on a Sunday. Well almost. Witness In Conversation with…and Editor Picks and now something outrageously entitled A Writing Piece.

A Writing Piece indeed!

Imagine how long we sat around in blue-sky think-tank style working parties debating the ins and outs of various off-the-wall titles before arriving at that humdinger.

Sunday – A Writing Piece – Tobias Haglund.

But first, Story of the Week. No. A different first before that.

The week that was, began incredibly, yet again, on Monday.

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Literally Stories Week 33

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Sunday sees another LS author take the helm as Editor (for a day) to choose their three favourite stories from the site in Editor Picks.

Step forward Dave Louden.

Week 33…

Not satisfied with two new authors in one week, Literally Stories pushed the boat out and made it four in a row Monday through Thursday as we welcomed Elizabeth Swann Lewis, Bill Runyan, Michael C. Keith and Jeffrey Miller.

dm gillis who took this week’s Friday berth, needs no introduction.

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