InterNutter

Challenge #01395-C300: Don't Feed the Birds

Person 1: (Panicked and running) "There's a dinosaur in the time machine! THERE'S A DINOSAUR IN THE TIME MACHINE!"

Person 2: (Vaguely annoyed) "Again? Those sneaky bastards..." -- OohLookShiny

Callie looked vaguely alarmed as Baz dug into his mini-fridge and extracted a sausage.

"Don't worry," he said, "It's chicken." He casually strolled down to the temporal lab where a black-and-white feathered dinosaur waited and watched expectantly. As Baz entered, it burst into song.

"That... sounds like a magpie..."

"Probably one of their descendants," grinned Baz. He dangled the sausage at the proto-bird. "You wannit? You wannit?"

KreeeEEEdle koodle koodle koodle COO COO WrrraaAAAAAAK COO!

Baz ripped a tiny bit of sausage meat off and tossed it towards the animal's mouth. It fielded the morsel with evident expertise and looked expectantly at the rest.

"There ya go. You know it's good, right? Back where ya came from, now..." Baz wound up and tossed the rest of the sausage into the vortex, a trick that worked to send the animal back to that from whence it came.

Baz dusted his hands. "Right. That's tha--"

KOODLE KOODLE KRRREEEEEOOOOOO COO COO!

Baz turned. In the portal there was not one, but a family of five black-and-white feathered dinosaurs, all singing for their supper.

"...you cheeky buggers," murmured Baz in appreciation.

(Muse food remaining: 13. Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories! Or comment below!)

Success?

My Da always used to say, "Nothing succeeds like a toothless budgie," and none of us could stop him. Well, the much-gassed-about nommables recipe is technically a success. In that Beloved likes them.

It is NOT a success for my energy levels.

Today's recipe is... well...

Expectation:

Reality:

But never fear, dear readers, I shall document how this absolute disaster unfolded and what I plan to do to make it better next time.

Noms

Implements:

Measuring spoons and cups
2 mixing bowls

Challenge #01394-C299: Gods Grant It

In some religious systems the ruling Deity 'rides' or speaks through a member of the congregation. Like Lois McMasters Bujold's "Saints" I wonder if it's more of a problem than an honour. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I firkin LOVE anything written by Lois McMasters Bujold]

One good thing about taking shelter in an abandoned temple, Josephine mused, was that one was technically close to the gods. She'd prayed at half of those altars in the dead of the night. And now, at

Sdrawkcab

So let's recap:

I forgot to post yesterday's Instant on Tumblr
Nobody noticed
I spent so much energy fetching the ingredients for the proposed noms that I had zero energy to actually make said noms
I had trouble going to sleep last night
I had trouble staying asleep last night
I woke up tired
And the process of making myself make those noms meant that I missed out on most of my morning activity. Including my daily walk and dog-annoying.

I have

Challenge #01393-C298: Meeting of the Lost

Alphas have the charisma and make the most noise, but it's the Betas, and Gammas who do the most work. -- Knitnan

[AN: Alpha theory is a relic of Victorian thinking and all that 'might makes right', 'survival of the fittest', strength==power bullshit. The creatures we think of as 'Alphas' actually wind up winning the least female attention and losing out in the genetic lottery. I'm a writer, I research this stuff for fun]

He thought he had found some of

MONEY!

Beloved got paid, yesterday, which means I have money in the bank today. Which means that I can go out and get the life essentials, like almond milk, tub fruit, and ingredients for some adjusted noms.

The recipe originally hails from this tumblr post but I've done some twiddling.

I've replaced the sugar with Stevia, and the peanuts with almonds, and will probably remove as much of the salt as I can get away with by default. Since you can't get salted,

Challenge #01392-C297: Liminal Time and Space

Night people. Those who by choice, obligation or calling walk or work the Night Shift. -- Knitnan

Children of the night... what interesting lives they have. Those who work from dusk to dawn work in liminal time. Where the strange is not just expected, it is background radiation.

People turning up to their workspace in PJ's, half their PJ's, and minimum legal clothing are a fine example. And though everyone talks about that one time a dude came in wearing a live

Good news, everyone!

I got the short list back from the lovely people at AR&E, agent-finders at large.

I also got a very nice letter saying I should try all of them at once, just for the ego boost. I'm sorry, Beverly, but all the ego boosting in the world is not worth one atom of being rude.

Agents and writers alike tell you every day that simultaneous submissions, especially lying about it by omission, is beyond nasty. Just. No. The letter says

Challenge #01391-C296: Strange Customers

Being alive put him at a severe disadvantage -- OohLookShiny

[AN: My instant thought on this is Miles Vorkosigan, but I'm trying to exercise myself here...]

This had to be the strangest motley crew to ever find themselves in Dr Mellitus' offices. One human boy, three automatons. The doctor had been intellectually aware that Junkers cobbled together their own creations from the waste-piles, but this was the first time he'd seen some that looked that way.

Especially the short one. She had

Broken 'flow'

I get used to doing things a certain way. I get up, wee, weigh myself [89.3kilos. The first time I've been below 90 since age 20!], water the garden, rouse the kids, shower, and get on with keeping everyone in line.

Then I do my blog, Instant Story, and any other writing that I want or have to do.

But when things screw that up, it really screws up.

Yesterday, I assumed that I'd done my Instant. Why? Because yesterday was

Challenge #01390-C295: O My Mona

A soft smile hiding gritted teeth -- OohLookShiny

He called her Mona, for the smile that echoed the legendary painting. She never talked. Never opened her mouth. Never made a sound. The only communication he ever had from her was her soft and mysterious smile, and the glint in her eyes.

Not that he cared. He took his pleasures from her and left the money with the man who ran the House. But there was just something about Mona.

He came back

Fun times ahead

I've been trying to transfer my music files into #myphonebygoogle, with varying degrees of success. Our current, dropbox model has hit a snag, in that the phone must be active in order to download.

Google Pixel has a maximum activation period of half an hour. There is no 'never' option and no assumption that a user is clever enough to hook the phone up to a power source whilst that shit is going on.

I mean, come on, google. We were smart

Challenge #01389-C294: Inevitable Failure

"Hey, I might constantly manipulate people to stack things in my favor, but actually cheating is pushing it a little bit too far," -- OohLookShiny

"It's like this," said the campaign manager. "We gerrymandered, and you're still losing. We've changed the voter ID laws, and you're still losing. We've criminalised a majority of the folks who would never vote for you, and you're still losing. We've sent out false messages about easier ways to vote to the youth demographic and you're still

I am frustrate

On the continuing saga of New Phone Wat Dis(aka #myphonebygoogle), I have finally combatted the hassle of getting my music data onto my actual phone. The caveat being that the file manager in question will also play random shit that's content for games. We'll work around that when the time comes.

And speaking of workarounds... I did some 3D drafting for Bitzer's new hip handle, this morning. And once done, it should have been an easy matter to transfer those files

Challenge #01388-C293: Cheerful Charlie

"No worries, Mate! No problem." -- Anon Guest

[AN: Other phrases that Aussies have learned to fear, especially those who remember Joh "I live to fuck up your life" Bjelke-Peterson, are "Don't you worry about that" and "She'll be right" ::twitch::]

If there was a worse curse for a ship's human, T'kethi couldn't think of a worse option than a N'Ozzie Engineer. T'kethi repeatedly set herself reminders to never again pick a human based on pure aesthetics.

They were all ugly, squishy

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Indie writer seeks audience with an audience. Paying customers welcome. [pronouns: ze/hir] Daily free stories happen because it is an excellent counter to Writers' Block.

Challenge #01395-C300: Don't Feed the Birds

Success?

Noms

Implements:

Challenge #01394-C299: Gods Grant It

Sdrawkcab

Challenge #01393-C298: Meeting of the Lost

MONEY!

Challenge #01392-C297: Liminal Time and Space

Good news, everyone!

Challenge #01391-C296: Strange Customers

Broken 'flow'

Challenge #01390-C295: O My Mona

Fun times ahead

Challenge #01389-C294: Inevitable Failure

I am frustrate

Challenge #01388-C293: Cheerful Charlie