51 Reply by whatta

(144 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

Hey, Sol. Any ETA as to when you'll reduce the ratio of words reviewed to words posted from 5 to 1 down to 3 to 1? Right now we have one of the most onerous ratios of workshop sites I know of.

Thanks
Dirk

Good point. If I didn't already have 261 points from the last time I was a member, I don't know if I could have stuck it out to publish a 69 chapter memoir here.

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52 Reply by whatta

(9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Excellent. Sorry I missed reading it here. Congrats!
Mitch

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53 Topic by whatta

(0 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I have a tradition since I was old enough to turn on the old kind of black and white (but more green and gray) tv. Cartoons, that is. Now, decades later, they include everything from Ignatz and Betty Boop to Family Guy, Simpsons, Far Side and Adult Swim animations.

Several WhatsAppenin’ groups I belong to enjoy my posting of one every saturday morning. After a few years, I’m running out of material. If you (still) enjoy cartoons (who doesn’t?) and want to periodically refresh your memory, post some here.

On a psychological level, they’ll help you feel young (or is that just me?).

(Just to define: I consider anything animated to be a cartoon. That includes single-frame claymation and anything of the Adult Swim sort [animation with dolls]. Some classics are full length and some are compilations of more recent shorts. I try to keep them between 5-7 minutes long.)

Sample here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI9w9yNbrcM

And:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=deskt … 1cCkt7lZz4

And:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GGrPZPc6S-I?app=desktop

Post away! Or tune in to watch and feel like a kid again. And, you won’t have to wait for your tv to fire up because the tubes are going bad.

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54 Topic by whatta

(1 replies, posted in Cartoons & Animations)

I have a tradition since I was old enough to turn on the old kind of black and white (but more green and gray) tv. Cartoons, that is. Now, decades later, they include everything from Ignatz and Betty Boop to Family Guy, Simpsons, Far Side and Adult Swim animations.

Several WhatsAppenin’ groups I belong to enjoy my posting of one every saturday morning. After a few years, I’m running out of material. If you (still) enjoy cartoons (who doesn’t?) and want to periodically refresh your memory, post some here.

On a psychological level, they’ll help you feel young (or is that just me?).

(Just to define: I consider anything animated to be a cartoon. That includes single-frame claymation and anything of the Adult Swim sort [animation with dolls]. Some classics are full length and some are compilations of more recent shorts. I try to keep them between 5-7 minutes long.)

Sample here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI9w9yNbrcM

And:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=deskt … 1cCkt7lZz4

And:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GGrPZPc6S-I?app=desktop

Post away! Or tune in to watch and feel like a kid again. And, you won’t have to wait for your tv to fire up because the tubes are going bad.

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55 Reply by whatta

(3 replies, posted in We're All Ears)

Dirk B wrote:
Marilyn the Wise wrote:

I refuse to allow him on my TV or in my head anymore.

My mother despised the younger President Bush while she was still alive. Every time clips of him appeared on TV, she'd say she could just kick him in the face. :-)

She lived long enough to see Biden win in 2020 and probably thought, thank God that's over!

The period from 2016 through 2024 could never get made as a fictional TV movie because it's too far-fetched to be believed.

Bush looked like Alfred E Newman. What, me worry? It's a MAD world.

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56 Topic by whatta

(3 replies, posted in We're All Ears)

I should say that I do follow some news, specifically Ukraine. Bots only know if what I see on the internet is true or clickbait, but it's been fascinating to learn about how warfare has changed, drastically, since this war began. There's also a lot of talk/conjecture about Russia's economy and internal state of affairs. I just saw a vid showing a Siberian separatist movement intent on becoming independent. This is major stuff, all of it.

The drama of man beating up on man continues ad nauseam -- growing, evolving, forever in our faces. Civilization? Bah. No such thing.

Some change, however, is good change. Seems like I've been saying this all my life but, "we'll see" is kinda running out of time as far as I'm concerned. I can only hope my granddaughter (3 yo) has time to see what real humanity and civilization looks like.

(Sorry for the rant above.)

Anyway, I want to make clear that I'm not totally disconnected from the news, just US news.

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57 Reply by whatta

(33 replies, posted in We're All Ears)

Hi. I've been ignoring politics since precisely Nov. 6th at 3:30 am when I saw the news. Haven't touched it since. I'm too old and retired to be bothered by America's ignorance any more. I worked my entire life, practically, with that trickle-down bullshit. Yeah, I'm a little pissed at my country, NOT the Greatest Country the World Has Ever Known, as many like to lie. So I sat here and read Sideman's "Who Stole the Dead Guy," did some gardening on a gorgeous, Summer day, then made my expresso, added kahlua, vodka and a splash of 7 yo rum, filled my flask with more 7 yo rum and went to play pool and watch the Ohio/Notre Dame game with a happy crowd of visitors to the community. Got staggering drunk, walked home, had a chicken empanada and about 200 pistachio nuts and went to bed.
This is my life now. I'm bowing out of political news for at least two years until the mid-terms. Maybe I'll check in then.
Good luck, America.

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58 Reply by whatta

(24 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

As you can see above, the cognac has begun to kick in.

Ha. Told ya.

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59 Reply by whatta

(24 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Well that sux. Don't you hate being sick? I find that whining a lot helps the mental state, though Babe doesn't agree with that (don't know why). Curse the gods! Grumble and spit fire! Oh, and self-pity is soothing. Why me, dammit? I don't deserve this! If your partner shies away, complain to the cat (they probably deserve it).
And cognac helps. You can't taste it with covid, allowing for bigger shots.

I feel for you, really. Just remember the immortal words of Inspector Dreyfuss: "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v30HUOx6SYk

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60 Reply by whatta

(144 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

Hi all,

Happy New Year!

I'll look again at the points ratio. It should have been changed but clearly not.

I'll also take a look at Whatta's account. I remember him from the old days.

Sol

ok so Yay! I think I got it figured out. I had the Publish setting wrong. Operator error, as usual. GIGO.
Carry on.

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61 Reply by whatta

(144 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

Sol, happy new year. We have a returning user (whatta) whose account was created in 2006. He can post chapters and short stories, and the posted works show on my home page, but when I look in his portfolio, the book (Tropical Cancer) doesn't show up. Any idea why this might be?

Thanks
Dirk

Hola! Hi Sol, long time no chat, eh? Yeah, I've tried everything I can think of to make Tropical Cancer one of my top two in the Order column and it never shows up. I thought I had it licked by moving it down to 1 (and 2) instead of 0 (why is there even a zero on an order list?) but it still doesn't show up on my profile page. Did the reset and all that but... no. Likely it's just something I'm missing? Hoping you can put me on the right path to figuring this out. Thanks, Mitch.

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62 Reply by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

Also, hit the escape key to attempt to bypass that popup.

ok thanks

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63 Reply by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

Do you mean you finished reviewing a story?

  Yes.

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64 Topic by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hola. Yeah, so I finished reading a short story and a pop-up came alive and asked my permission to create a story on Facebook. It didn't leave me an option other than "OK." WTF is up with that? I don't want to enable facebook for any reason.

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65 Reply by whatta

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hmm, not really doing it for me so I just did this:

Check out the photo of a bananaquit ( https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species … troduction ). How cute is that little guy? Makes me think of corn flakes, for some reason. I haven’t met a critter in Costa Rica yet who isn’t at least slightly lovable, for one reason or another. Simply being utilitarian is enough for me to appreciate an animal who may look like it’s from outer space. It wasn’t their fault (indeed, it was their strength) the black-ctenosaur ( https://www.anywhere.com/flora-fauna/re … -ctenosaur ) looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM1o1xe5FGE ).

O well, it'll have to do.

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66 Reply by whatta

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

B Douglas Slack wrote:

The TNBW editor can handle pictures easily. You have to make sure it is sized properly and ready for insertion. Then go to the little "picture" icon at the top of the editing window. When you click it, you have three tabs. The first tab is the easiest. You simply seasrch on your computer for the picture and follow the prompts. The second method involves hosting your picture offsite. Then you insert the URL for that picture into the box and click OK.

The first method hosts the picture on the TNBW server, so be careful how big it is and how many you put up there. Personally, I have a web site of my own where I host my pictures and only provide the URL to it in my postings.

Almost midnight here in EST, so I am going to shut down and join the family.

Bill

Ah, ok. Thanks Bill.

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67 Topic by whatta

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hola! I'm still feeling my way through the ins and outs of publishing on the site. Am I correct when I say there's no allowance for making links in a story? My manuscripts have links to pictures and such online.

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68 Reply by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Marilyn Johnson wrote:

Wait! I think that was the book I just donated to Goodwill after I cleaned the dust off. Hmm... thinking now maybe I should've read it! smile

It's probably not for everyone. The last forty or so pages put me over the top. One LONG run-on sentence. Amazingly brilliant. Definitely on my top ten favorite list.

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69 Reply by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

dagny wrote:

Whata--
I was just thinking that this might be the year I finish Ulysses. Fun factoid: Copies of Ulysses were shipped to the United States...only to be turned away because someone in Boston thought the book was obscene.
dags smile

Figures. I'm not surprised. My definition of obscenity is much different. Ulysses doesn't even come close.

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70 Topic by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi.
When I read, I put more emphasis on style than content or plot. Don’t know why, I’ve just always been that way. Anyway, I finally picked up a copy of Ulysses, a book I’ve been threatening to read since I was 15.
Wow. Flew through it in 3 weeks, while having to use the dictionary the whole read.

If you haven’t already and you’re into style (and boosting your vocabulary) more than plot, you’ll enjoy it, as I did, immensely. (James Joyce)

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71 Reply by whatta

(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Aha. Thanks.

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72 Topic by whatta

(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

What does that mean, visible on the internet?

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73 Reply by whatta

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

ok seems fair enough.

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74 Reply by whatta

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

cookbooklady wrote:

OMG, WHATTA!!!

I was a member here in 2007 or thereabouts under Loretta Meredith and you helped me IMMENSELY with my group of essays. I took a long break from writing after that but rejoined in 2012 and you were already gone. I'm sure I didn't thank you enough back then for your help and encouragement, and I doubt I would've kept going if it weren't for reviewers like you back then. I've written 13 novels so far and working on the next. I'm not active here anymore (health reasons) but I had to pop in and say hello. Hope you see the message!

Lauren

Hiya! Good to hear you're still inspired. Writing's such great therapy, right? I left the sight but never stopped writing. I've got seven completed works, three of which (memoirs) have been combined to one really huge book. Two were posted here (Street of Rogues and Daddy, Why Can't I say Ass?) and the third is the continuing story of moving to and living in Costa Rica (Tropical Cancer) since 2011. After that I ventured into a few short stories, the Karaoke Book of alternative lyrics and a new genre for me: Young Adult/New Adult/Fantasy. I had a lot of fun with that one and might publish some of it here. (Nothing published, though, or even submitted. I still feel like you need contacts to get past an intern who is mostly interested in DIY and demographics as opposed to, simply, style.

I hope your health is not a major issue. Take care!

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75 Reply by whatta

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B wrote:

Yup, looks like it's accessible and posted in Premium. You're good to go. I'll try reviewing it shortly to make sure there are no glitches.

Gracias!

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