The Wordsmith's Forge

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. \o/ Read about its history and how to celebrate it.

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Today is sunny and quite warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen house finches and a grackle.

My partner Doug raked the mowed patch, so that can be sown whenever the temperature cools off enough.  There's a chance of rain tomorrow.

EDIT 6/17/21 -- I sowed some of the little bluestem grass seed.  It went surprisingly far, so there is most of the bag left to reseed this patch or sow another.  Then I cut 3 spaces for wildflowers.

EDIT 6/17/21 -- I watered the grass seed.

EDIT 6/17/21 -- I planted the 3 spots with tallgrass prairie wildflower seed mix.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Folks have mentioned an interest in questions and conversations that make them think. So I've decided to offer more of those. This is the current list of coping skills.

12. Take a break or vacation.

Even a short break can make a big difference in relaxation and performance.  Here are some things to do.

This poem came out of the May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from fuzzyred, technoshaman, chanter1944, and my partner Doug. It also fills the "mentors" square in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by zianuray. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Today is sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen house finches and grackles.

We walked around the prairie garden discussing which part to mow so that I can sow the little bluestem grass seed toward the west edge.

By the time I got back to the house -- say, 10-15 minutes later -- the finches had drained the thistle sock.  They're pigs.  They're pigs with wings.  :D 

EDIT 6/16/21 -- We walked out to see the mowed patch in the prairie garden.

EDIT 6/16/21 -- I picked a bag of mulberries.

EDIT 6/16/21 -- I picked a bag of pie cherries.

EDIT 6/16/21 -- I picked a bag of mulberries.  Then I extracted the goddess statue from under the walnut branches.

I came across an article today about a lawsuit to ban menus without prices.

My thoughts on this ...

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Today is mostly sunny and mild.  A tree guy is supposed to come look at the fallen walnut this afternoon.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a small flock of sparrows, house finches, and grackles.

I picked a handful of black raspberries.  I found one wild strawberry ripe.

I saw a couple piles of large scat in the prairie garden.  It looked canine, but was very full of berry seeds.  Curious, I did some research.  It turns out that coyotes are omnivores and will eat berries.  As I have also found canine tracks in the mud of the fields around the house, this seems a likely answer.  Party on, dudes, there's plenty of food right now.  :D

EDIT 6/15/21 -- I picked a couple handfuls of serviceberries.

EDIT 6/15/21 -- I picked a bag of mulberries.

Tree guy is not coming out today, nor tomorrow.  :/  Possibly Thursday or Friday.

One of our relatives is launching a Patreon page, "Words by Trevor," and the featured setting is offbeat superhero fiction. The current plan is $3/month for 2 short stories, or $6/month for 2 stories + 1 original recipe.  I attest that Trevor's cooking skill is similar to my own, albeit with a somewhat different range of interests, so if you enjoy culinary adventure then that's well worth considering.

I thought this might appeal to some of my readers. To give you a peek at the possibilities, here is an excerpt from a recently posted story ...

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This week, the poetry of Polychrome Heroics is on sale for half price from Monday, June 14 through Sunday, June 20. This series is superhero fantasy. It features themes of heroism, coming of age, diversity, identity kink, family of choice, friendship, and cultural engineering. Sale prices range from $19 to $167.50, so hopefully there will be something for everyone.

Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support.  There are two open epics at present, so you may start another if you wish.  "Rainshadow Road" belongs the Daughters of the Apocalypse series. It needs $262 to be complete.  "A Celebration and a Consolation" belongs to Polychrome Heroics.  It needs $100 to be complete.

We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit. If you host a pool, please close it the day before the sale closes, so you have time to collect funds and turn them in on time.

Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.


Linkback perk: The followingpoems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale andtell me which poem you want to extend.
"Spirit of Truth"
"Everything That Blooms"
"In the Shade of the Mighty Oak"
"Let the Children Lead Us"
"Autumn's Palette"
"Pumpkin Spice Prosperity"
"Delight in Another"
"A Sense of Weather Changes"
"Ouroboros Insects"
"The Loving Embrace of Night"





About characters and storylines: The storylines feature multiple characters, so if you want poems about ONE specific character, look closely. The thumbnail descriptions here give some indication who features in each poem. The storyline pages are adding precise, complete information about which characters appear in each poem. If you need more than what's already visible, you can ask me.

About timing: If you want maximum choice, shop early. We usually send a batch of things to my parents near the end of a sale, and those poems will be posted as I have time.

About pools: Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to get the quarter-price rate. Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to buy a bigger poem. Yes, you can offer to match donations by other people. However, the wordsmith is not also a math whiz! After several attempts to find a way that I can work with pools and matches, I have concluded that this is over my head. (I did figure out how to avoid generating fractional pennies, though: all initial prices are now whole dollars, which means they cut evenly into halves and quarters.) So if you want to host a pool or a match, make a post for that in your blog or other venue, then comment here with what you're doing and include a link to wherever the discussion will be. You figure out the poems, you collect the funds, and when stuff is fully funded, you send me the money and the list of what it's for. Then I'll post the goodies. Please close the pool in time to collect donations by the end of the sale, so I can start posting pool poems no later than the day after the sale.

Before placing your order, please check this sale page to see what is still unsold! I will try to update the page as things sell, and it's likely to be the case that some poems will be marked SOLD before appearing in posts. People often buy things in batches, which means that selling gets ahead of posting. Also sometimes people ask for the same thing at the same time, so that not all overlaps are preventable. If you have alternate instructions in case you request something that has just sold, please include that in your message; otherwise I'll email you back and ask what you want to do.

Currently available are the following poems. Some are in series chronological order, and others are just kind of stuck wherever, because sequencing Polychrome Heroics is like trying to sequence a dozen different comic book titles from the same publisher. See the thread page for Shiv.


Poems that unlock sequels: "Escape a Thousand Memories," "Who Can Create the Future," "Good Food Choices are Good Investments," "Layering Flavors, Tastes, and Textures," "A Vibrant Symbol of the American Dream"

Poems that have prerequisites: "Who Can Create the Future," "Good Food Choices are Good Investments," "Layering Flavors, Tastes, and Textures," "A Vibrant Symbol of the American Dream," "The People Who Give You Their Food"

FOR SALE
14 poems, $2348  ÷ 2 = $1174
prices from $19 to $167.50

KRAKEN (2 poems, was $229, sale price $114.50)

"Solace, Hope, and a Tasty Snack"
Story Date: Saturday, April 4, 2015
Summary: Genna offers to teach Hatter how to make Salted Caramel Powerballs.
229 lines, was $115, sale price $57.50 POOL

"A Strong Set of Collective Values"
Story Date: Monday, July 6, 2015
Summary: President Latheef, Captain Left, and Dr. Infanta discuss social engineering to help connect the cultures of Thalassia and the Maldives.
227 lines, was $114, sale price $57 SOLD to Librarygeek


RUTLEDGE (9 poems, was $1638, sale price $819)

"Why People Hold onto Memories"
Story Date: Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Oscar and Labib deal with an unpleasant prelude to the Fourth of July.
453 lines, was $227, sale price $113.50

"Essential to Well-Ordered Living"
Story Date: Sunday, October 5, 2014
Gideon takes Ibrahim and sons to a thrift store for winter clothes.
568 lines, was $284, sale price $142

"Before the Nature Wants"
Story Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014
Liyan talks with other Syrian women, and discovers that Janna is unhappy in her marriage.
427 lines, was $214, sale price $107

This set needs to be posted in order:

"Escape a Thousand Memories"
Story Date: April 2014
Summary: Kardal Abdullah moves to Rutledge, Vermont and explores opportunities for education and employment.
139 lines, was $70, sale price $35 POOL

"Who Can Create the Future"
Story Date: June 2014
Summary: After passing a class on American food handling, Kardal applies for a job at Mandy's Diner.
76 lines, was $38, sale price $19 POOL

"Good Food Choices Are Good Investments"
Story Date: June 2015
Summary: After working at Mandy's Diner for about a year, Kardal Abdullah launches a Syrian food truck.
529 lines, was $265, sale price $132.50 POOL

"Layering Flavors, Tastes, and Textures"
Story Date: July 2015
Summary: Kardal tries a regular Vermont grinder, then invents the Hummus Buster sandwich as a Syrian equivalent.
156 lines, was $78, sale price $39 POOL

"A Vibrant Symbol of the American Dream"
Story Date: August 2015
Summary: Kardal's food truck attracts hungry teleporters.
670 lines, was $335, sale price $167.50

"The People Who Give You Their Food"
Story Date: 6 PM on August 19, 2015 outside of Aleppo, Syria
11 AM on August 19, 2015 in Rutledge, Vermont
Summary: A cape team wraps up a battle against terrorists in Syria, then takes salvaged ingredients to trade with a food truck in Vermont.
254 lines, was $127, sale price $63.50


SHIV (3 poems, was $481, sale price $240.50)

"Sharp Sauce"
Story Date: Friday, September 25, 2015
Summary: Shiv and Gray explore hot sauces in the kitchen.
238 lines, was $119, sale price $59.50 SOLD to zianuray

"An Elusive, Tantalizing Partner"
Story Date: Monday, March 7, 2016
Summary: Boss White and Buttons discuss possible changes.
216 lines, was $108, sale price $54 SOLD to zianuray

"The Only Real Stumbling Block"
Story Date: Monday, April 25, 2016
Summary: Tolli and Simon take Shiv to a private dinner party with a great cook.
508 lines, was $254, sale price $127 SOLD

Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen house finches, doves, and a squirrel.

A tree guy should come out tomorrow evening to check out the fallen tree.

EDIT 6/14/21 -- I picked a bag of mulberries.  On the way back, I discovered that the black raspberries are starting to ripen.  Also, the plum tree has green fruit on it, the first that I've seen.  :D

EDIT 6/14/21 -- I picked and pitted a bag of pie cherries.