Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Quote du jour

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

- James Baldwin

Monday, August 30, 2021

Quote du jour

“Life is like an onion; you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.”

-Carl Sandburg

Sunday, August 29, 2021

A Little Sunday Night Music

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery - Matt Boswell & Matt Papa

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Quote du jour

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

- C. S. Lewis

Saturday, August 28, 2021

New Top Dogs!

A Little Saturday Night Music

Moondance - Herb Alpert & Lani Hall

Best of the Web*


*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Political/SocioEconomic
Biden's 'team of sycophants' enabled his Afghanistan disaster
Luxury villas in Afghanistan housed govt. workers at your expense - Sharyl Attkisson
Biden’s Bagram Bungle - Robert Stacy McCain
Breaking News Biden State Department Bans Import of Russian Ammo and Firearms -Russian Ammo accounts for nearly 40% of available ammo


Culture
Feel Good Friday
Florida Jumps The Shark





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Today's Toons 8/18/21
Sunday Funnies, 08-22-21
Today's Toons 8/19/21
Today's Toons 8/20/21







Science/ Technology
Magnets could offer better control of prosthetic limbs





Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Joe Biden Has Been a Monumental Disaster
Sunday Links
Larwyn’s Linx: Déjà vu, Overnight Nancy Pelosi Changes House Rules to Pass Green New Deal $3.5 Trillion Spending Package
In The Mailbox: 08.23.21
Larwyn’s Linx: House passes John Lewis Democrat vote fraud bill that takes aim directly at Supreme Court
In The Mailbox: 08.24.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Déjà vu, Overnight Nancy Pelosi Changes House Rules to Pass Green New Deal $3.5 Trillion Spending Package
In The Mailbox: 08.25.21
Larwyn’s Linx: House passes John Lewis Democrat vote fraud bill that takes aim directly at Supreme Court
In The Mailbox: 08.26.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Welcome to the Forever Pandemic
In The Mailbox: 08.27.21



Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Blondie: Rip Her To Shreds️

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Kady Cay and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Inger Stevens

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Country Beauty

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: One From The Vaults

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

The View from Lady Lake - Throwback Friday? I'm not gonna throw Anne Margaret back - not on your life.

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

If the Biden exit strategy for Afghanistan "planned for every contingency or possibility", can we all agree that it was the world's suckiest plan?

- Mike B

Friday, August 27, 2021

"Healthy" 40-year Old COVID Victim

Who are you going to believe? CNN or your own lying eyes?

CNN has a weird way of looking at things...probably the reason very few people pay attention to them. I'm not going to mention this person's name, to protect what's left of her dignity, but blur her visage, because it is an important illustration to the story.

I feel sorry for her, but whatever condition she was in, it was not "healthy".

"(She) lived the way any healthy American would, waking up at 6am to eat a dozen eggs, 36 pancakes, 40 sausages and washing it down with a gallon of maple syrup."


"a dozen eggs, 36 pancakes, 40 sausages and washing it down with a gallon of maple syrup"...every day. That's over six times what I would have for a big breakfast and more like ten times what I (6'3", 235 lbs.) normally eat on a daily basis, minus the gallon of maple syrup! I don't want to fat shame anyone but her neck is bigger around than her head! The woman was clearly "obese", not "healthy".

Overweight people, particularly the grossly obese, are more susceptible to diabetes, heart failure and stroke. Putting obese people on the covers of fashion magazines does not negate this. 

(She) was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine months before...the one that's supposed to keep you from dying from COVID, right? She should have been, IMHO, more concerned with her comorbidity of obesity than her neighbor's lack of vaccination. 

Bonus Free Gun Friday!

 Two for the price of one! (Which is free!) Take a look at this baby!

KelTec SUB2000 Carbine, 500 Rounds of 9mm Ammo & Viktos Gift Card!




  • Caliber: 9x19mm or .40S&W
  • Weight Unloaded: 4.25lbs
  • Magazine Capacity: Varies by magazine
  • Overall Length: 30.5"
  • Length Collapsed: 29.25"
  • Length Folded: 16.25"
  • Barrel Length: 16.25"
  • Twist Rate: 1:10” or 1:16”
  • Trigger Pull: 9.5lbs
  • MSRP: $578-$621
You can enter here.

Free Gun Friday!

Free Gun Friday! Huzzah! Hasn't been one since...last week!
You can enter here.

Quote du jour

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. You have the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

- Harriet Tubman

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Quote du jour

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”

- Willa Cather

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Or, as Jennifer Rubin would Say, Great Job, Brownie!

Quote du jour

"That is the best-to laugh with someone because you think the same things are funny."

- Gloria Vanderbilt

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Three's a Crowd

Quote du jour

This tomb the dust of AEschylus doth hide, 
Euphorion's son and fruitful Gela's pride: 
How tried his valor Marathon may tell, 
And long-haired Medes who know it all too well."
- AEschylus' epitaph

Monday, August 23, 2021

Quote du jour

“Each of us has a natural right, from God, to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.”

- Frédéric Bastiat

Sunday, August 22, 2021

A Little Sunday Night Music

I Shall Not Want - Sylvia Burnside

Quote du jour

It is the sum total of all delights. It is the music with which the bells of heaven ring; a song in a word; an ocean for comprehension, although a drop for brevity; a matchless oratorio in two syllables; a gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters.

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, on the name of Jesus

Saturday, August 21, 2021

A Little Saturday Night Music

Hayat - Hanine the Violinist

US Special Forces 'Rule the Night'

One thing that you could always take to the bank, at least up until now, was that US Special Forces 'Rule the Night'. Part of what made that possible, was superior night vision equipment which President Joe Barnacle has apparently gifted to the Taliban.

Best of the Web*


*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Political/SocioEconomic

The secretive consulting firm that’s become Biden’s Cabinet in waiting
Where Is Biden?
Walters: Wildfires Could Affect Newsom Recall
Something Is Wrong with the President




Culture
Feel Good Friday
Suspect in killing of Officer Ella French was out of jail despite being charged in April with serious hit-and-run while on probation for robbery
Utopia
Brits Credit Gun Rights with U.S. Shooting Team's Olympics Success





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Today's Toons 8/11/21
Sunday Funnies, 08-15-21
Today's Toons 8/12/21
Today's Toons 8/13/21






Science/ Technology
ATF Determines That The Rare Breed FRT-15 Trigger is A Machine Gun
Basic Handgun Handling For First Time Buyers
The knives aimed at SpaceX are getting sharpened



Linkfests:
In The Mailbox: 08.16.21
Sunday LINKMANIA
In The Mailbox: 08.17.21

Larwyn’s Linx: Americans trapped in Kabul told to fill out an online evacuation form as Taliban take over
In The Mailbox: 08.18.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Taliban Warning: US Must Fully Withdraw American Troops by Sept. 11… Or Else
In The Mailbox: 08.19.21
Larwyn’s Linx: VDH, Taibbi, Roggio and More
In The Mailbox: 08.20.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Something Is Wrong with the President





Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE HERE TO HELP FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Tiffany Wilder️

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - The Ratcatcher - Daniela Melchoir and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Catherine Deneuve

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - lexis Ren, Ashley Tavort, and Caroline Vreeland

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: Death Goddess On The Beach

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

The View from Lady Lake - Sexy, beautiful women and their furry little cat buddies

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

So many people are foolishly conflating whether or not we should have left Afghanistan, with the unholy disaster Biden has made in the manner with which it was undertaken.

- Mike B

Friday, August 20, 2021

Free Gun Friday

Free Gun Friday already? How about SEVEN chances to win? Throw your name in the hat here.

Quote du jour

Whenever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.

- Thomas Jefferson, 1798

When the Spotlight Comes for you, but You Don't Want It!

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Kamala Alabi

Quote du jour

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien

Monday, August 16, 2021

Joe's Forty Years of Foreign Policy Experience Finally Pays Off!

Mission Accomplished!

Nancy Pelosi Attempts CYA on Afghanistan

Every possibility?? -so they PLANNED it to go like this?

Quote du jour

"Gun control has not worked in D.C. The only people who have guns are criminals. We have the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates. It's quicker to pull your Smith & Wesson than to dial 911 if you're being robbed."

- Lieutenant Lowell Duckett

Saturday, August 14, 2021

"A Little First Person RPG"

A Little Saturday Night Music

Roger Miller - Kansas City Star

Best of the Web*


*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)




Culture
Feel Good Friday

Mass Murder in Texas: Can You Guess Why National Media Have Ignored This? - Robert Stacy McCain



Florida Jumps The Shark





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Sunday Funnies, 08-08-21
Today's Toons 8/4/21
Today's Toons 8/5/21
Today's Toons 8/6/21

Too Stupid To Survive, #28





Science/ Technology
Pinpoint Accuracy: The MHTK Mini-Missile
The Gun With Its Own Plane - New Super A-10 Warthog is Coming
Final Flight
What in the H*ll Is Going on With Boeing’s Starliner?




Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden’s Open Border And The Open Question
In The Mailbox: 08.09.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Hell no to a debt ceiling increase
In The Mailbox: 08.10.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Schumer Gloats Amnesty Inside Reconciliations Budget Bill is Part Of Global Reset
In The Mailbox: 08.13.21 (Afternoon Edition)





Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE MILEAGE TAX FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Lucy Boyton️

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Down in the Weeds with Mary-Louise Parker and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Elke Sommer

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Babe Roundup

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: Crossing The Streams

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

The View from Lady Lake - Sexy, beautiful women and their furry little cat buddies

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

What liberals mistake for "white privilege" is merely "two parent privilege". Children of any race or color, who grow up in a two parent home, are less likely to end up in poverty, join a gang, or become a failure in life.
-Mike B


#TwoParentPrivilege

Friday, August 13, 2021

Free Gun Friday

 

A do it yourself-er? Why not? Shoots just as pretty! 

- SIG P320 Compact Grip Module
- Slide Parts Kit
- Killer Innovations Velocity Barrel
- SIG P320 Compact Revolutions Slide
- SIG XRAY Night Sights P320
- Sig Sauer P320 Lower Parts Kit

A combined retail value of over $1,200!


Enter here to win!

Quote du jour

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.”

- H.L. Mencken

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Vintage Babe of the Week Remembered

We ran Ms. Post's VBotW 11/15/2012. She passed away recently. Rest in peace!
Tonight's Vintage Babe* is Markie Post!
(*a.k.a. Rule Five Thursday)

Quote du jour

"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."

- Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

The Upcoming Fight

Quote du jour

“If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom. ”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Quote du jour

Democrats: the Urban Crime and Drag Queen Story Time Party

- Robert Stacy McCain

Monday, August 9, 2021

Quote du jour

"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Sunday, August 8, 2021

It's My Party...

A Little Sunday Night Music

I Must Tell Jesus - Sounds Like Reign

"The Sundress"



"The Sundress" - a short story by Mary M. Isaacs

   Lucy was alone in the house that day. She was visiting with her grandmother while grade school was closed for the summer, and her grandmother had gone out shopping…

   Lucy preferred playing alone. She didn’t have many friends at school because she was so shy. Sometimes she felt invisible there, but it was better than being teased, which happened often--teased for her shyness and plainness. And at home she had to be the perfect child; she could never be just herself.

   Her grandmother’s house was an escape from home and school. No one bothered her there; her grandmother always let her do what she wanted. It was like being in another world. She walked up the steps, across the porch, and through the front door into a sheltered place. In that house, she was safe—she and all her imaginings, where she was in control of everything and no one was in control of her.

   It was an old house, right on the edge of downtown, two stories with both an attic and a basement. Lucy loved everything about it. Downstairs was a roomy entry hall, with leaded windows overlooking the front porch and a side window near the stairs that looked across at the blank white wall of the old hotel next door. From the hall, you could turn and go into the formal parlor or walk straight down a short corridor to the living room, the kitchen, a bathroom, and a back bedroom. Upstairs were five other bedrooms and another bathroom. Her grandmother lived alone, after Lucy’s grandfather died a few years earlier, so she rented the upstairs rooms to boarders to help make ends meet. There was Mr. Johnson in Room 4, for example. It was the smallest and plainest room, with an iron bedstead and a simple rag rug on the floor, and Mr. Johnson had lived there for as long as Lucy could remember. She never knew his first name. He was a quiet man and was gone all day. Her grandmother did not offer meals or allow hot plates in the rooms, so the boarders went out to eat. The other people always seemed like strangers, but Mr. Johnson belonged.

   The upstairs bedrooms varied in size and furnishings. Lucy played in whichever ones weren’t rented, especially the one with the apricot-colored satin brocade bedspread. Sometimes she took it off the bed and wore it, pretending that she was a princess in a beautiful ballgown. She wrapped herself in its heavy, slick folds and walked around slowly, stopping to look at herself in the big mirror over the dressing table. She played by herself for hours, while her grandmother did housework, cooked, or went shopping. Lucy didn’t like the upstairs bathroom, so she never used it; the floor was creaky and uneven, and it made Lucy nervous to go in there. But from time to time, her grandmother would unlock the door next to the bathroom and let her go up the steep, rickety stairs to the attic. There were interesting things up there: trunks that Lucy rummaged through and odd pieces of furniture no longer used in the rest of the house. Sun came in through several small windows, but the attic always seemed dim and mysterious. She felt especially secluded there; except for her grandmother, no one in the world knew where she was. The basement, on the other hand, was dusty, dreary, and overrun with spiders. She never went there.

   That afternoon, Lucy was playing in the formal parlor, which was right by the front door and seldom used. The door was usually kept open, but the room was saved for special occasions. Lucy played in there whenever she wanted to, however. Her grandmother never minded, and Lucy always put everything away where it belonged. There was a fancy horsehair sofa, a baby grand piano, a bobcat skin rug, and a huge, old-fashioned desk with two enormous, heavy doors that opened outwards. Lucy liked to play in the parlor on warm afternoons. The bobcat skin rug, stuffed head and all, was on the floor in the middle of the room. Lucy liked to lie on it and touch the silky fur. She always looked at the pretend eyes and put her fingers in its open mouth to feel the teeth and fangs. Today she was wearing a new dress which her aunt had sent to her for her ninth birthday. It was a short, white, sleeveless sundress, with red and white striped kick pleats on the sides. Lucy loved her new dress and wore it as often as possible. While she sprawled on the rug, she could feel the soft bobcat fur on her bare arms and legs.

   Lucy looked up as her grandmother appeared at the parlor door, pulling a rolling wire shopping cart. “Lucy, I have to go to the store to get some things for supper. The boarders are all out, and I will lock the front door. Don’t go out or open the door to anyone until I come home.”

   “Okay, gramma!” said Lucy. She heard her grandmother go out the front door and shut it afterwards. There was the sound of a key turning in the lock, and then the noise of the shopping cart rolling across the porch and bumping down the steps. After things became quiet, Lucy looked at the bobcat again, wondering how it had gotten caught. Where had it lived? Who had caught it? Why was it there in her grandmother’s house? She rested her head on the bobcat’s furry one, like a pillow, and thought about her questions.

   All of a sudden she heard footsteps moving around above her; then she heard the creaking of the wooden stairs as someone came down them. Lucy froze. No one was supposed to be in the house! When did one of the boarders return? Why hadn’t she or her grandmother heard them come in? Or had they been here all along? Maybe it was Mr. Johnson—that would be okay! But maybe it wasn’t him… She looked up at the open parlor door and wondered if she had time to close it.

   She didn’t. The next moment there he was, standing in the doorway: the newest boarder. She had barely even met him. He looked at her silently for a long moment, and then said, “Is your grandmother here?” Lucy wondered why he hadn’t heard her grandmother leave and lock the door. Or had he?

   He was wearing a knee-length terry cloth bathrobe; the belt was untied, so it was hanging open. He had placed his arms on both sides of the door frame and was leaning forward, which pulled the robe open even further. He wore nothing underneath. His whole body was hairy, and Lucy saw everything. She was too startled to say anything more than, “No, she’s out, but she’ll be back soon.” Then she turned her face away and looked back down at the bobcat’s head. She hoped that he would leave and go back to his room, but he didn’t. He said, “I’ll wait,” and then came into the parlor and sat down on the horsehair sofa, very close to her. He didn’t say anything more, but just sat there, looking at her.

   All Lucy could think was, "I have to get out of here!" After a moment, she stood up as calmly as possible and walked out of the parlor, even though what she really wanted to do was run. She turned and went down the hall, past the bathroom, and into her grandmother’s bedroom. It was dark in there because the shades were drawn. Lucy walked quietly around the bedroom door and into the closet, standing as far back as she could among the hanging clothes. She didn’t shut the bedroom door because it made noise, and then he would know where she was. And that door had no lock. But she did pull the closet door partway shut.

   Looking down at what she wore, she became worried. The white sundress almost glowed in the dark. She realized how easy it would be for someone opening the closet door to see her hiding there, as her grandmother’s clothes didn’t hang low enough to completely cover her. And, of course, her pale legs showed, all the way down to her sandals.

   Then she heard it: the soft sound of bare feet coming down the short hall. Because the bedroom door was standing open, she could tell when the footsteps stopped at the door. She knew that he was looking into the darkened bedroom. If he looked around the bedroom door, he would see that there was a closet; and if he looked in the closet…he would see her.

   Lucy held her breath and didn’t move, although she was trembling all over. Her thoughts raced wildly: “Someone please come home and make him go away! Gramma, Mr. Johnson, anyone!” Trying desperately to think herself truly invisible, to melt into the hanging clothes, into the closet walls; to stifle her breathing and blink out of existence there. To stop time so she could run away—why hadn’t she run out the front door and down the street until she found her grandmother? Why had she run back to the bedroom closet, from which there was no escape? She was trapped. And no one was there to save her.

   Now she heard nothing at all. Had he left to go back upstairs and she had missed the sounds? Should she leave the closet and look around the bedroom door? Or was he still standing there, totally silent, waiting for her to show herself? If she did, what would happen then? She had no idea what, but she was filled with dread. Would he grab her? What would he do to her? She was almost afraid not to find out. Lucy reached for the closet doorknob--but then hesitated...

*****************

   ...the cursor hovered over the button for a moment, and then Lucy clicked “send”. She’d done it—her story was on its way, the creative writing class assignment finished only hours before the midnight deadline. It would have been sent much sooner if she hadn’t hesitated so long. But she’d been nervous, sending in this story about an event that had stayed with her for so many years. Even just thinking about it made her feel a little peculiar in her stomach. If only she knew more about that day…writing about it had brought back many memories, but no remembrance of what had actually happened. She never could remember that. But the story had poured out of her--right up to the missing ending.

   The students had been asked to write a fictional story about an unexpected event. The assignment itself was unexpected, coming as it did on the first day of instruction, but the professor had been delayed returning from speaking at a writer’s conference. The TAs weren’t prepared to lead the class themselves, so they just moved up the first assignment and hoped for the best. Most of the students had been excited by the fact that each of the TAs would pick out a story to run in the English Department’s literary magazine. Lucy had trouble trying to think up a story until she recalled the event from her childhood. She was sure that nothing she wrote would ever be chosen, which is why she finally decided to submit such a very personal and true story, pretending it was fiction.

   Lucy shut down her laptop and got ready for bed. She had an early class the next morning and a bit of a distance to drive to get to the school. That didn’t bother her much, however. It would have been nice to live on campus, but as a transfer student from a community college out of state, she had lower priority for the dorms than incoming first-year students. Instead, she had found a room to rent in a residence hotel far enough away that the cost was reasonable, even with eating out factored in. Lucy had dreamed of going to this school ever since she had lived here as a child.

   Transferring as a junior was the only way she could afford it. If only her grandmother was still alive, she could have lived with her! Lucy smiled at the thought. “Gramma…” she said with love. She still couldn’t drive past the place where her grandmother’s house had once stood before being torn down years ago. She wanted to think of the house as it used to be, to pretend it was still there somehow, still there for her... She had crystal clear memories of the rooms, the attic, the furnishings, her playtimes, everything--except that one incident. Why couldn't she remember what had happened that day? She went to bed still wondering about that.

******

   Lucy was glad to be home the next day after endless hours of classes and studying on campus. Dinner had been fast food again, but she planned to get deli sandwiches or a big salad tomorrow. Maybe if she found a part-time job, she could move to a studio apartment where she could prepare her own meals. She dropped her books and backpack on a chair, got out her laptop and set it up.

   She opened her email; near the top of her inbox she saw one from her writing class TA. It would be the location of her section meeting tomorrow, she figured. That had not been set at the time of the first session; the students were told that they’d be informed later. She opened the email and started to scan the contents.

   And stopped cold. He’d chosen her story as his pick to be printed in the campus literary magazine? Lucy went back to the beginning of the email and read slowly, trying to comprehend every word. Yes, it was true—and he’d already sent it to the professor, who was editor in chief of the magazine! Her TA told her where the professor’s office was located. She was supposed to skip her section meeting the next day and instead meet the professor in his office, to discuss her story and how to prepare it for publication and for presentation to the class.

   Lucy started to feel panic and her stomach began to knot up. She never dreamed that this would happen to her. Why had she sent in that particular story? What had she been thinking? Her writing wasn’t that good—that’s why she was taking this class, for heaven’s sake! She figured that only her TA, and maybe the professor, would read it, to grade her assignment. Why her story? And why on earth hadn’t she substituted a different name? Even though it was supposed to be fiction, sooner or later someone would guess that the story was really about her; then everyone would know something intimately embarrassing about her private life. Maybe she could change the character’s name—yes, that might work, it wasn’t in print yet! She could pick out some other name and hopefully no one would suspect that it was a true story. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. All she had to do was convince the professor to accept the name change and pray that he would never guess that the story was true, and not fiction. She could do that. She had to do that.

***************

   The next morning, after a restless night's sleep, she drove to the school and walked to the building where the English department was located. She found the professor’s office and knocked on the door nervously. It wasn’t completely shut, so it swung open part way. Lucy looked inside and said a tentative “hello?” but no one was there. She glanced at her watch—oh, she was five minutes early. Maybe the professor had just stepped out for something. There were a couple of chairs facing his desk, so Lucy went in and sat down on one of them. While she waited, she thought again of her story, and that it was really going to be printed in a magazine. That was beginning to exhilarate her. But she had to ask right away that the girl’s name be changed. She couldn’t imagine that that would be a problem, but she hadn’t chosen an alternative yet. Maybe the professor could help her with that.

   Before she could go much farther in her thinking she heard the soft sound of steps coming down the hall, and then a voice spoke: “Good morning. It's Miss Layton, isn't it?" Lucy turned and saw an older man standing in the doorway. His arms were placed on the door frame as he leaned forward into the room. He continued, "Good story! Using your own name helped your imagination, didn’t it? That made it sound real, as if it had actually happened. But it stops too abruptly, leaves the reader hanging; it needs a stronger ending. If you put your mind to it, I think you can come up with one."

   He came into the room, but instead of going to his desk, he took the chair next to her. "What happened when Lucy stepped out of the closet?" He didn’t say anything more, but just sat there, looking at her.

   For a long moment, Lucy felt that she couldn’t breathe. She looked quickly around the room, but the door was the only way out of the office and it was beyond his chair. She was trapped. And no one was there to save her. Her eyes lost focus and she started shaking all over.

   The professor was instantly concerned. “Miss Layton, are you okay? What’s the matter?” He reached out his hand to touch her.

   Lucy shrank back as far away as possible, covering herself with her arms. She stared toward him with a dazed and shocked expression on her face, not really seeing him. “My dress…” she said in a high, tearful voice. 

   “What happened to my sundress?”



Mary M. Isaacs, Copyright 2019

Quote du jour

Faith is this extraordinary principle which links man to God; faith is this thing that keeps a man from hell and puts him in heaven; it is the connection between this world and the world to come; faith is this mystic astounding thing that can take a man dead in trespasses and sins and make him live as a new being, a new man in Christ Jesus.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Saturday, August 7, 2021

A Little Saturday Night Music

MOZART ON BANJO GUITAR (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik/Serenade in G) - Luca Stricagnoli

Best of the Web*


*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Culture
Feel Good Friday
Dolly Parton Did Something Amazing With Royalties From Hit Song
17 Arrested in Undercover Child Predator Operation, Including 3 Disney Employees
PUT CRIMINALS IN PRISON! -Robert Stacy McCain





Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Sunday Funnies, 07-31-21
Today's Toons 7/28/21
Today's Toons 7/29/21
Today's Toons 7/30/21





Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Senate Will Pass Unwritten Infrastructure Bill; Biden Hints Amnesty Included in Reconciliation Process
Sunday Afternoon/Evening Links
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden plans to give amnesty to 8 million illegal aliens all at once --- in a spending bill
In The Mailbox: 08.02.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden sacrificing the health of border agents to accelerate illegal migration into the country
In The Mailbox: 08.03.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Amnesty Is Not Infrastructure
In The Mailbox: 08.04.21
Larwyn’s Linx: Texas border town struggles under surge of migrant families and COVID-19
In The Mailbox: 08.05.21
Larwyn’s Linx: The Unvaccinated Are The New COVID Scapegoats: Are Vax mandates next?
In The Mailbox: 08.06.21



Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE DIRTY ROTTEN BIDENS FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Blondie: Atomic 🤯️

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Yvonne Strahovski and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Rita Moreno

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Paige

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: Jodie Comer

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

The View from Lady Lake - I've tried drinking by myself. What a stupid idea. Especially on Friday night.

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

If our "leaders" wanted us to be serious about taking the vaccine, they'd get serious about closing the southern border. You don't run into the theater screaming "Fire!" and then sit down to watch the rest of the picture.

- Mike B

Friday, August 6, 2021

Free Gun Friday

 



One Lucky Winner Will Receive: Aero Precision Rifle Package.

Product Description:

- Lava Field Camo by Weichel Armament

- Aero Precision M4E1 Enhanced receiver set

- 15" Enhanced M-Lok Handguard

- 16" 5.56 Barrel

- VG6 Epsilon

- Aero Precision BREACH Charging Handle

- Black Nitride BCG

- Geissele Super Semi-Automatic Enhanced (SSA-E) Trigger

- Magpul Furniture

- Crimson Trace CTS-1000

A total prize package worth over $1,600!


There's nothing free in Waikiki, but this is close enough! Enter here.

Quote du jour

“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, August 5, 2021

"Human Rights" - You Keep Using That Word...

I am not above arguing with liberals, but lately, I've sort of given up hope of ever winning an argument again. How do you win an argument with someone whp proudly proclaims their ignorance upfront as a starting point? My example is the debate over "human rights.

Adequate housing for everyone is an admirable goal, but is it a "human right"? What about health care? Is that a "human right"?

When your opponenet is arguing for "human rights", who could be so crass as to oppose THAT? The UN definition starts out in reality and then spins off into science fiction:
Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.
Interesting that they put "liberty" so far down the list!
Because you exist as human being, are you entitled to a place to live, grocercies, health care and a job "not granted by any state"? How does that work exactly?
The American view has been that folk were "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights": life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The government didn't give you life. That was provided you by your Creator. The goverjment was expected to help you protect your liberty, also granted to you by the Creator, and to protect your right to "pursue happiness".
That entailed working with your hands or your mind or both, to earn a living whereby you could purchase for yourself food, shelter, healthcare, etc.
Too many politicians are of the Beach Boy variety, specifically, "Wouldn't it be Nice". Wouldn't it be Nice if no one had to pay for their own healthcare? Wouldn't it be Nice if everyone had their own house? Wouldn't it be Nice if everyone had a guaranteed income? But, our economy doesn't work that way. One of the cornerstones of the human right of liberty, is the right to own private property. If I have to take away what you own, to pay for someone else's "right", then it isn't a right.
At this point, most liberals try to shift the argument to charitable cases, but there's a vast difference between thoise who can't work and those who simply choose not to. Besides, Americans are historically very generous to charity and would give more if they were not taxed as much. So, how do we bring liberals to a baseline reality from which we can begin to debate what policy should be? Or do we just stand there with our "Bigfoot is a libertarian" signs and talk past each other?
Like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride, liberals who speak of human "rights", that aren't... keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means!

Quote du jour

'You need great passion, because everything you do with great pleasure, you do well.'

- Juan Manuel Fangio, Formula One racer

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Quote du jour

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.”

- H. L. Mencken

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

The Schadenfreude Olympics

Is it any coincidence that the American athletes who most disrespected the American flag failed to show up on the medal platforms of the Tokyo Olympics? Megan Rapinhoe's Woman's Soccer team lost to Canada. Gwen Berry placed 11th in the hammer throw.

Quote du jour

When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'

-Sydney J. Harris

Monday, August 2, 2021

Quote du jour

"There are lies, damn lies and statistics."

- Mark Twain

Sunday, August 1, 2021

A Little Sunday Night Music

Phillips Craig & Dean - Shine On Us

Quote du jour

Western Christianity isn't dying out from natural causes. It's committing suicide

- Tim Stanley