https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_xd5jG3JTA

This one seems to fit the mood during these semi-shut-in times. I auditioned this for America's Got Talent several years ago and changed the words to fit in with the audition. Of course they warn you not to be original but what the hell, it seemed like a good idea at the time. They had told us the audition would only last ninety seconds so I figured they would stop me before I got too far in, but unfortunately they didn't stop me and I got a bit nervous and forgot the words about halfway through, lol. This is how I rewrote the words:

Before the AGT audition
I couldn’t find a way to hold my head that didn’t hurt
But the chorus I sang for breakfast wasn’t bad
So I did one more for dessert
Then I fumbled in the closet through my clothes
And found my blackest lucky shirt
Then I looked in the mirror and pumped myself
And sauntered down the stairs to meet the day.

I’d agonized the night before
With doubts of which song I’d be pickin’
But I practiced this little one
Strummin’ on an air guitar that I was stickin’
Then I walked into that little room
And I could almost taste the friction
And it reminded me of those nerves I’d lost
Somewhere, somehow along the way
Oh, that AGT audition
I’m praying, Lord, that I’ll get through
‘Cause there’s something ‘bout those judges
That gets a fellow feeling blue.
And there’s nothing short of dying
That’s half as lonesome as the sound
Of listening to your heartbeat
Waiting for the AGT hammer to come down, hmm, hmm, hmm

Take care. Vern

Memphis Trace wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXfltmzRG-g

Memphis Trace

LOL. Not Shane, but funny as hell. Take care. Vern

103

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Anybody who believes PeePee Trump after more than 16,000 lies has a gullibility issue to say the least.  Glad you're one of the survivors. Take care. Vern

John has posted a short list of songs to entertain during the Coronavirus quarantine listed in the "short story" link:
https://www.thenextbigwriter.com/postin … ongs-26755

I'm adding a random short list from my hundred or so preferences and encourage each of you to join suit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnF1QiZx9iM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJZi0Vbu0AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3BuITOx3Cs

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoEwR9_Sy_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKFx0MMqb48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewiodUlKey4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKC9N3o … mp;index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLzM9ECEP8

Take care. Vern
PS: Hope the links work. They don't always for some reason. Edited for an addition.

105

(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Writing is all in the eyes of the reader. For each of us there is a time and a market for the eyes which behold the talent before them. Take care. Vern

We're like political candidates arguing about the "write" way to do this or that when we are actually all arguing for the same thing which is to get the damn story done and over with and hopefully published. When all is said and done, the author will heed whatever advice suits their vision and the reviewer will give whatever advice they think might help under the circumstances -- it may or may not, but the effort is valuable and hopefully appreciated and not denounced as some evil editor bound to keep their story off the shelves. We can learn and ignore with wisdom or simply ignore the rules and sound advice of others. And that's the truth, phtttt. Take care. Vern

Marilyn Johnson wrote:
Memphis Trace wrote:

Kill the apostrophe
https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/0 … nding.html

MT

  All I can say in order to end this rant I've found myself riled up about is I've lived too fucking long.

MJ

Rants are good, they keep us moving. To not rant once in a while is to not care one way or the other. Take care. Vern

108

(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Marilyn Johnson wrote:
vern wrote:

I guess I was the only one who responded to her email and received the grand prize of a thousand dollars. Now, what to do with it.

Go figure! Some people just have all the luck!  Have you considered Happy Hour down at the local karaoke joint?

Good idea. I'll buy everyone a peck of tomatoes, lol. Take care. Vern

109

(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I guess I was the only one who responded to her email and received the grand prize of a thousand dollars. Now, what to do with it. Perhaps that could be the next contest theme. Well, it could happen. Did you have second thoughts just for an instant, lol. Take care. Vern

Drifters

Buddha

Temple; Tapes

Me: VD, no excuse me, CD

113

(8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I work hard to make Heinlein happy, Take care. Vern

114

(9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Congrats, MJ, good news for the soul goes with the soup. Take care. Vern

Clarification --- about my use of PeePee in these threads. I assumed my past use was enough but my assumption was wrong. So,
                       PeePee = PP = Putin's Puppet = Trump. And now you know the rest of the story. Take care. Vern

Orange-head

PeePee -- hey, it is what it is.

PeePee

Congrats! Take care. Vern

Catherine Wolfe wrote:

Thanks for the responses! Catherine Wolfe is not my real name, I made it up as the site required a pen name in order to sign up. My real name is, however, the one I've always used when submitting my writing for publication and I have had a few pieces published under it. It seems like if part of the point of being here is to develop an audience - as there's a possibility of exposing the work you put up to the whole internet - I should be using my writing (real) name? But I guess there's no point in worrying about it until I get to that stage... I'll leave it for now, as that seems to be the consensus. Maybe I'll change my pseudonym to something weird that is obviously fake.  Anyway, it's a fun discussion.

If you wish to promote your real name to your readers on this site which is totally different from submitting for  publication you can simply add it to your profile information and you can also sign your real name to any posts in these forums for further advertisement, good or bad -- to paraphrase the old saying, "Don't care what they say, just spell my name right." Take care. Vern

I would consider a pen name strictly as a matter of privacy. If you don't care about such things in any way shape or form, then you should have no qualms about using your real name. Hell, if you didn't tell us, most would think the name you use is a pen name. But as reality has a way of biting us on the butt, you might also want to think twice about your choice. There are lots of crazies out in this world and the less they know the better imho. Take care. Vern

Pushups

PeePee -- PP = Putin's Puppet = Trump

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(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

You can always simply put a time reference such as the date at the beginning of each chapter kind of like a heading or you can have the narrator or a character make a reference to the time elapsed since the last episode described -- a week later Joe blow blew smoke signals or "You know, Joe, you blew smoke signals a month ago when we were in the firehouse" or "Since your skiing accident, you've been in a coma for three weeks" or such. A thousand ways to say things to reference time.

But it may not always be necessary to tell the reader the exact time lapse as the action unfolding will clue them in. Say your character was flying to Australia or somewhere halfway around the world, then you picked up their activities after they had arrived. That would indicate a certain amount of time had transpired assuming you don't want to follow everything they did on the flight. The storyline and characters will probably give you lots of opportunities and ways to reference the passage of time in various increments. See you next week. Take care. Vern

Ann Everett wrote:

Dirk,
It might take a bit of work, but if you go to your home page, then click your name in the upper right corner, then scroll down to reviews and click, you'll be able to see all the reviews you've posted...by choosing regular or inline. That will give you the chapter number of each you've done.
If they've occurred over time, then they may not all be on the same page...that's where the work comes in, but at least, you can see them and make a list?
Just a suggestion.
~Ann

If you want to go that route, you don't have to click on your name since all your reviews -- given, received, inline , or regular -- are available directly from the home page. Take care. Vern