Day 83: This makes my blood boil

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 83: This makes my blood boil

In 2010, I started this blog on the recommendation of a friend. I struggled with a number of issues, I needed a place to vent, and according to her a blog was the perfect place to do it.

While the majority of my posts are neutral, or even humorous, every now and then a venting post pops up. Today is one of those days.

I read on Facebook the other day that Kim Kardashian had another baby. Only she didn’t give birth to this one, she used a surrogate. The price of the baby $45.000

This, in my opinion, this is the most despicable thing any human can do and this makes my blood boil on so many levels.

It’s not like Kim can’t have children. She had two, so why a surrogate? Did madam not want to ruin her figure with a third pregnancy? Was she scared of the labor? She claims that her doctor said that another pregnancy would endanger her health, but that’s just bollocks. If a third baby endangers the mother’s health, then just don’t have a third baby, it’s as simple as that. But some people just never have enough. 

Put yourself in the place of the surrogate. This woman must have been so desperate for money that she agreed to have a baby for another woman. Then imagine the agony as that baby was snatched away from her. And for what … a lousy $45,000. She should have asked for $45 million. With a net worth of $175 million, it’s not like madam can’t afford it.

How such a thing can be allowed in our society is beyond me. Call it what you want, this is human trafficking at its dirtiest. Why are the rich allowed to get away with this?

In my opinion, someone like Kim Kardashian shouldn’t be allowed to have children in the first place. Bash me if you like, but she is a slut. Imagine for a moment 'her' kids growing up and going online.  This is what they will find …

And it won’t just be her kids finding these pictures, it will be their friends and peers as well. ‘Her’ kids will be so proud of her. 

Another thing I don’t understand is how anyone can just have a kid or multiple kids with no questions asked. Think about it, a license is needed to drive a motorized vehicle, to carry a firearm, go hunting, go fishing, or flying. A license is also needed if one plans house renovations, to keep a dog, or if a professional such as a doctor, a teacher, an electrician or a plumber wants to practice their trade. One even needs a license to get married. But apparently, they buck stops there. Once married the couple, whether rich or poor can breed to their heart’s content. If they can’t afford the kids, they get welfare from the government with no questions asked or no warning not to have any more kids. No, they can keep on breeding and collect cheques.

With $175 million to her name, Madam K won’t be collecting any welfare cheques but that doesn’t justify having a third kid. Why can’t she accept that she can’t have more kids or be happy with the kids she has? Why use a surrogate.

And she’s not the only one. Other women who used surrogates are Sarah Jessica Parker, Tyra Banks, Jordana Brewster, Nicole Kidman, Lucy Liu … do you see a trend here? All women who had to watch their figure for the sake of their careers. They are despicable monsters!

And it's not like they are going to raise these kids themselves. No, a nanny will do that. So you honestly see Kim Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker or Tyra Banks going get their hands dirty on changing diapers? Do you think they will get up at 3:00 a.m. for a feeding? No, that's what nannies are there for. So why have these kids anyway?

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Day 82: Halley Copperfield

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts 

Day 82: Halley Copperfield

Many of you have ‘met’ Halley, the kitten we adopted from a Toronto Cat Rescue foster home just over two weeks ago. We love her dearly, she’s a sweet little thing, but every now and then she’s testing my patience. Take this morning for instance …

Around seven Dieter left for work and Halley was of the opinion that I should get up too. Having worked until long after midnight, I was in no mood to face the day yet and told Halley to bugger off. In response, she started trampling all over me and eventually came and sat next to my face.

That's when I smelled it … a distinctive earthy smell. As I opened my eyes I noticed that Halley’s white fur bore a hint of brown. I closed my eyes again though, it was too early to worry about that now.

By the time I woke up again the earthy smell had somewhat diminished and Halley’s white fur was almost back to normal. I did wonder though, what caused the smell and the color change.

A little later on, Halley pulled a disappearing act. After breakfast, she usually ‘helps’ me making the beds, but today Halley was nowhere to be found. For the next ten to fifteen minutes I looked all over for her and when I couldn’t find her in the usual places I moved on to some unusual spots: in the kitchen cabinets, in the bathroom cabinets, underneath the beds … the little bugger was nowhere to be found. Calling her name was of little use as she doesn’t respond to her name yet but I gave it a shot anyway which was met with complete silence.

By now, worried out of my mind, I searched the house all over again, calling Halley’s name as I went along. And then I heard it, an ever so faint meow and it seemed to come from the laundry cabinet. Upon inspection, I couldn’t see Halley though. I riffled through the linens but … nothing.

Fortunately, right that moment, Halley gave another faint meow and that’s when I noticed her, she was trapped underneath a laundry basket. “How did you get under there?” I asked her. She looked at me very innocently, like she didn’t have a clue either. My guess is that she was in that empty basket, tried to jump out, hit the rim and the basket flipped over, thus trapping her under it. Anyway, no harm done.

I had barely recovered from this ordeal when Halley pulled a second disappearing act shortly after lunch. With the morning’s experience still fresh in my mind my first port of call was the laundry cabinet, but Halley wasn’t there. I searched and searched but she was nowhere to be found.

Dammit, Halley where the hell are you, I thought. As on cue, I heard her meow and this time it came from the kitchen. I rushed over and looked in the cabinets, behind the fridge, and behind the washing machine. She wasn’t in any of these places. “Halley, where are you? Show yourself!” I called with urgency. And would you believe it, the little troublemaker peeped out from her hiding place. Her hiding place being … (wait for it) a bag of potatoes. 

As I lifted her out her white fur was coated with brown dust and she smelled of the earth. I remembered that smell of when I first woke up this morning. Sleeping in the potato bag was obviously not her first time.

If she keeps up these disappearing acts, we're gonna name her Halley Copperfield.

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Day 81: Scam targeting self-published authors

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 81: Scam targeting self-published authors

If there’s one thing I hate it is scammers, particularly those who target self-published authors as they are such easy prey. They are looking for exposure leading to sales and scammers zoom in on this.

The other day, I received an email from Aimee A. stating:

 “I hope you do not mind me emailing you; I am emailing you because I would love to review your work on my website. My site is a book reviewing website which has received a great response from readers and now that I have a loyal following who I adore, I am always on the lookout for great books I can feature for them. I discovered your work and I loved what I saw, so that is why I am emailing you today! Your work looks wonderful, and you clearly are passionate; passion is a quality I love because I am very passionate about reading so I hope we are able to work together”.

My guess is that Aimee never read or even seen my work and that a few hundred other writers have received the same message.

Having been around the block a few times, I can smell a scam a mile away and so I cut right to the chase. I asked her how much she is charging. Her response … $75 per book. Her excuse is that she charges this fee because her reviews generate sales. She added that she is a mother of four.

I don’t know what this has to do with the price of eggs. Whether she’s single, married or a mother of a dozen, that’s none of my business and it is certainly not going to influence my decision whether or not to work with her. It was her decision to have four kids and she shouldn't ask others for support to feed and clothe them.

Other self-published authors may not be so wary though and actually believe the nonsense this woman is selling. I had a look at her website and there are indeed a number of books there, mainly mainstream published and yes, they have a good deal of comments. There are also a few self-published works (obviously self-published authors have already fallen for her scam) but they have no comments at all.

Most noticeable is that the mainstream books have quite a long review, too long if you ask me. The book isn’t just reviewed it is summarized. The self-published books on the other hand only have a rather short review, like Aimee couldn’t be bothered with them.

What I do wonder about is … where does she get the time to read all these books? I know a few women with one or two children and their main complaint is that they no longer have time for themselves. They have a husband and their kid(s) to look after, a house to keep clean, laundry to do, shopping to do, meals to cook, etc.

My guess is that Aimee doesn’t actually read any of the books she features on her website, but goes on Amazon, reads the synopsis of the book and a few comments and then elaborates on what she’s read. Also known as creative thumb sucking. 

And for that, she charges $75. Not a fortune, but if ten people fall for her scam that’s a nice sum for her.

I very much suspect that she hasn’t read any of my books, so how can she review them? The email that she sent me is clearly generic and not well written. You would think that for someone who reviews books for a living, her grammar and sentence structure would be better.

Fortunately, I’m not dumb enough to fall for her scam and neither should you. Be on the lookout for someone called Aimee A. and when she contacts you via email or Facebook, and tries to sweet talk you, send her packing. She's a scammer.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Day 80: Fundraiser for Holly

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 80: Fundraiser for Holly

2017 didn’t end well for us and 2018 is not off to a great start. Remember how we lost Mickey at the beginning of December? As if the loss wasn’t bad enough, the cost made a serious dent in our financials. Between the doctor’s consultation, the X-rays, the euthanasia and the cremation expense, this tragic episode cost us in the region of $600.

Now yesterday we had to spend another $500.

On Wednesday, Toronto got a break from the freezing temperatures and enjoyed a glorious sunny day of a whole 7 degrees C (44 deg F). Whether it was the mildness of the day or the sunrays, we’ll never know, but Holly was desperate to go out on the balcony. She sat by the sliding door, meowing, looking at me and adding a few decibels to her meow.

I didn’t see any harm in letting her out. It had been called for days, after today the temperature would dip down again, so she might as well take advantage of this ‘warm’ sunny break and get a breath of fresh air. So, I opened the door. Holly tentatively stuck her nose outside, followed by the rest of her head and then paw per paw stepped outside. Less than five minutes later she came back in, the fresh air was obviously a bit too fresh.

The next day Holly started to sneeze. Whether it was the cold air or something else, who knows, but Holly now had a cold. At first I didn’t think anything of it, after all, everyone catches a cold from time to time and gets over it in due time, but in Holly’s case, it went from bad to worse. When she stopped eating and drinking I knew it was time to take her to the vet.

Since Halley was due for her second inoculation, an appointment was made for her too.

At the vet’s Halley was checked first: heart, lungs, ears, eyes, joints, fleas, and finally two injections.

Up next, Holly, and she too had her heart and lungs listened to. When her temperature was taken, it turned out that she had a fever. She got medication and the vet suggested a change in her diet. Apparently, the food we’re giving her (I won’t mention any brands) is not good and we have to switch to something better.

When I was presented with the bill, I nearly needed medication (for my heart) … $491. Why, oh why did I give up on my dream to become a vet? Not only would I have made a ton of money, but I would have saved a considerable amount on my own lot.

Anyway, a friendly woman who knows about my 2017 and now 2018 vet expenses suggested that I ask for financial assistance through ‘Go Fund Me’. Asking for money! I was horrified by the thought, I’d never asked anyone for money (except when I do the annual Toronto Cat Rescue fundraiser), but never anything personal.

“Oh get over yourself,” she said. “Lots of people do it for lots of different reasons. Go for it. What do you have to lose?”

So I did. I created a fundraiser named 'Holly's medical expenses'. https://www.gofundme.com/m74s3q-hollys-medical-expenses

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Day 79: Update on Halley

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 79: Update on Halley

Halley has been with us a little over a week and it’s been … how shall I put it … exhausting. Kittens are wonderful, but kittens are all trouble. Trouble with a capital T.

When Halley wakes up, she bounces on the bed like she’s on a pogo stick and buggers the other cats (Charlotte, Gabriel, and Holly) until they agree to get up. If they comply Halley is happy with the result, if they don’t she proceeds to nipping their tail, their legs, feet or even ears. Eventually, they all give in and get up.

Her next victim is me. Sleeping in in the morning is a thing of the past. At a certain time, Halley seems to think that I’ve slept enough and starts trampling all over me. If I ignore her and turn over, she goes on to rubbing her cold wet nose against mine or even softly biting it. That usually has the desired effect, but if I want five more minutes she moves on to something else … purring directly in my ear. When she practiced that trick for the first time yesterday morning, I thought a helicopter had landed next to my bed. I couldn’t believe that such a small kitten can produce so much noise.

When we’re all up and about it’s time for breakfast. Kitten food for Halley, regular food for Charlotte, Gabriel, and Holly. While the latter waits patiently for their plate, Halley follows me wherever I go and weaves between my feet in the process.

When everyone is fed and watered it’s time for my shower. Holly always joins me in the bathroom but ever since Halley came on the scene I now have an audience of two.

While I get myself ready for the day, Charlotte, Gabriel and Holly do much the same. They have a wash and then go in search of a place to nap. But not Halley, sleeping is not on Halley’s agenda. Oh no, she’s going to help me with the daily chores.

Making two beds used to take between five to seven minutes, now it takes … I don’t know, a lot longer. People who have or had a kitten will know exactly what I’m talking about. People who never had a kitten just have no idea how much trouble making a bed is with a kitten around. It takes forever to get the sheets and the duvet smoot, because kitten jumps, bounces, claws, bites, and generally messes things up.

Putting groceries away … OMG, that’s just a nightmare. Storing stuff away in the upper cabinets is no problem, but storing things in the lower cabinets …  well, that goes something like this …

Open cabinet door – remove the kitten from the cabinet. Reach for bathroom tissue. Remove kitten from bathroom tissue. Remove kitten from the cabinet. Hold kitten with one hand while storing away bathroom tissue with the other. Repeat this any number of times.

When putting stuff in the fridge I have to stay alert too. While I’m putting away butter and cheese on the top shelf, Halley is checking out the lower shelf. I guess she got that tip from Holly, who was an expert in fridge inspection.

So far vacuuming has not presented a problem because the noise seems to scare Halley, but sweeping … well, if you have any kind of an imagination you might have some idea of how that goes. I no longer sweep the floor with a brush, but with a brush with a kitten attached to it. I tried to remove Halley a few times, but she hangs on for dear life. And does she mind getting dragged all over the hardwood floor? Not at all. On the contrary, when done, Halley looks at me with her little face that seems to say … are we done? That was fun.

Doing dishes is also no problem because Halley is far too small to jump on the counter, so instead she sits next to my feet, giving an occasional meow for attention. It’s hard ignoring those pleas that translate to ‘Pick me up’ but no, no way, Halley walking on the counter top is way too dangerous. She might a) fall into the dishwater or b) fall off the counter. Not that there’s no danger on the floor. As I dry the dishes and put them away, I move around and so does Halley, so I have to watch my step.

With the chores done, it’s time to go on the computer. By now, all the cats are fast asleep, but not Halley. Oh no, she’s like a Duracell battery, she just keeps going and going and going. At times, she just sits quietly and watches the screen, more of than not though she tramples all over the keyboard, at one time even switching the computer off.

So, sweet as Halley is, she’s also a packet of trouble. I don’t know how mama cat does it with five or six kittens. The poor cat’s nerves must be in tatters.

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Day 78: Countries I’d like to visit but (probably) won’t

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 78: Countries I’d like to visit but (probably) won’t

In my post of yesterday, I mentioned that there are countries that I would like to visit, but for one reason or another, won’t. I traveled quite a bit already. Being from Belgium it’s not difficult. Belgium is bordered by the Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxemburg, all within driving distance, as are Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. The latter five take a little longer to reach but it's doable.

Countries I would like to visit but (probably) won’t are:

Australia

I would dearly love to go down under to see the kangaroos, wallabies, koala bears, and the colorful parrots, but two things are stopping me. One is the flight time. I’ve read online that visiting Australia can take between 22 and 36 hours, depending on the airline. 22 hours in an airplane … no, I can’t imagine doing that. When I fly to Belgium it takes about 7 hours and that’s about as much as I can take. Another detail that stops me are the spiders. I’ve read that Australia has some huge beasts and is actually home to the largest spider on earth.

India

Ever since I saw the movies ‘The Best Marigold Hotel’, ‘The Second Best Marigold Hotel’, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, and ‘Million Dollar Arm’, I’ve developed a fascination with India. While it doesn’t take as long to get there as Australia, with a 14 to 18 hour flight time it’s still a horrendously long trip. Another thing that stops me is the food. From what I understand India likes spicy foods. My neighbor from Sri Lanka recently presented me with a few samosas. “Are they spicy?” I asked her. “No,” she said, “they are very mild.” So I took a bite. OMG my throat nearly caught fire. If this is what she considered very mild, I wonder what really spicy tastes like.

Russia

I would love to see the Red Square in Moscow, Victory Square in Leningrad, the Catherine Palace in Pushkin and see the Bolshoi Ballet in performance. I worked with a Russian girl once and when I asked her if she’d ever seen the Red Square, she shrugged and said she saw it every day on her way to work. I guess it was as ordinary to her as the CN Tower is to Torontonians.

America

It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to visit America, more specifically, New York. I want to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, the various bridges, Central Park, and all other tourist attractions.

These are just the top four but there are other countries I would like to visit. I’ll probably never get the chance, but that okay, with the Internet I can go anywhere I want without having to endure the heat, the cold, or crowds of people.

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Day 77: Hitting a snag

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 77: Hitting a snag

It’s day 77 of this writing project and some of you might have wondered what this is all about. What it’s about is simple, I have a list of 365 tasks. Tasks such as:

- The Professor: Write about a teacher who has influenced you

- Mirror, Mirror: What if your mirror started talking to you

- The Stars: Take inspiration from the night sky

- Fire Starters: Write about building a fire

- Fashion: Write about a fashion model

While some tasks work out, these five definitely did not.

For instance …

I can’t write about a teacher who influenced me because no teacher ever has. Actors, singers, and writers have influenced me, but definitely not teachers.

What if a mirror started talking to me … holy crap, I think I’d get a coronary right there on the spot.

Taking inspiration from the night sky … not really working for me. I see the same stars every night (everybody does) and in the event that something exciting is going on, like a super moon or a meteor shower, I miss it. If something is going on in the sky, the sky is packed with clouds.

Building a fire … I’ve never built a fire and if I were to start now the superintendent and the management of my building wouldn’t be too pleased.

Writing about a fashion model … give me a break. I have zero interest in fashion models.

So, there you have it. Even though these writing tasks are supposed to help to get the creative juices flowing, there are topics that just don’t work for me.

Yesterday’s task was to write about a dragon. Well, that didn’t work either. What I know about dragons would fit on a postage stamp.

Today’s exercise was geography: write about a country you’ve never visited and why you would never go there. Seriously, if I was to write about such a country (countries actually) I would offend quite a few people.

So, I’ll do the next best thing. Tomorrow’s task is: write about countries you’ve never visited but would like to. I can most certainly do that.

Stay tuned …

Now, in addition, I’ve taken on posting daily calendar quotes. These are not my ideas, these are quotes that I get from my 2018 calendar. 

Today’s quote:

Despite the many images of cats lapping up milk, most cats are lactose intolerant.

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Day 76: A new addition to the family

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 76: A new addition to the family

Everyone, meet Halley. Halley was adopted from the Toronto Cat Rescue last Friday.

Originally, her name was Ella and while it’s a fine name, I didn’t really take a fancy to it. In my native language (Flemish) Ella is too close to ‘ela’ a term of caution. When a cat, or dog or a child is about to do something naughty, it is warned with ‘Ela’, meaning … don’t do that, I saw that or something to that effect. So, we started thinking of a different name.

I posted Ella’s picture on Facebook and asked members of two cat groups what they would call this kitten. There were a number of suggestions, but none of them were suitable. Some proposed male names, which were not acceptable as Ella is a girl, others came up with nicknames, which I didn’t consider because I prefer a proper name. My other cats are called Charlotte, Gabriel, and Holly, so Ella’s deserved a proper name too.

Someone suggested watching Ella for a few days and the perfect name would become obvious. As it turned out, it did. The perfect name for our little rascal is Halley, named after Halley’s Comet. Just like the famous comet she’s predominantly white, she has a long tail, and she races around the place.

I’m sure that in the weeks and months to come, there will be plenty of updates on Halley, so watch this space and see our little kitten grow up. For now, enjoy these few pictures and video. 

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Day 75: Happy New Year

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 75: Happy New Year

It’s January 1^st and I would like to wish all my readers all a happy, healthy and contented New Year.

When I read the wishes that are flying around on social media, and the resolutions being made, it always amazes me the kind of effect a new year has on people. 

Today we're getting a fresh start, but if you think about it, we get lots of fresh starts over the year. Every 30 days or so we start a new month, every 7 days we start a new week, and after every night dawns a brand-new day. Yet February, Monday or any other month or day of the week comes and goes without anyone taking any notice. It’s only January 1^st that has people hopeful, forgiving, and in the best of spirits.

Even though we wish each other a happy New Year, chances are, we’ll hit a few snags along the way. People will die, people will get sick, lose loved ones, lose possessions, lose jobs. Along with smiles, tears will fall. So here are my New Year’s wishes to you.

If you’re sick, I hope you’ll get better soon. That you get up from whatever has you feeling down, and start whistling a tune.

If you’re unemployed, I hope you’ll get work. And with any luck, your boss won't turn out to be a jerk.

If your bank account can do with a boost, I hope you’ll get a windfall. Be careful though that your newly acquired wealth doesn’t become your downfall.

If you’re struggling with a problem, I hope it gets sorted out. Whether it’s something you need to talk or write about.

If you wish for anything in particular, I hope you get what you desire. Don’t overthink it, just go for what you want to acquire.

If life seems bleak and you feel you have reason to complain, keep in mind that the sunshine will come after this time of rain.

Be kind to yourself and to others, we are all mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers.

Now that 2017 has been laid to rest, all we can do is give 2018 a warm welcome and hope for the best.

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