30 Day, 30 Stories

Check out my story today on Utah Children's Writers 30 Days, 30 Stories challenge. (Link here or click on the icon at the top right.)

Scams, or I'm Rich

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to 
many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Scams

I didn't realize until recently how many hard-hit people there were--especially in Africa--who stood to inherit billions of dollars. Sadly, they can't obtain their inheritance money without my help.

All I need to do is give them my full name and my bank account number. Then they can get their money, and I will get a huge chunk of it--or all of it!

Yay! We can retire!

I get about an email a week about some poor person, sick and dying (usually within the next two weeks), and through the grace of God they found me, and I have the power to save them--well, at least their money.

Just the other day I stood to receive 18.5 million! You'd think they'd pick a more realistic number.

Who believes this stuff? Do folks really fall for these scams?

What scams you are sick and tired of?

Monday's Question:
New Revolutionary Technology.

When Rhymes Go South

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Rhyme

As in, the worst rhymes ever. I love poetry, and I get that rhyming is hard. I have a lot of respect for anyone, songwriter or poet, who creates in rhyme. 

But let's be honest. Sometimes, it just doesn't work. Here are a few examples that make me ask myself, and you, What were they thinking?

=>From The Steve Miller Band, "The Worst Wombat in Mecca"

There are few things I won't find,
Some are better left alone,
Like that bulldog in the bathroom,
Like that wombat on the phone. 

Oh, yeah. Like that makes sense.

=>Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Into the Great Wide Open"

The paper said Ed always played from the heart
He got an agent and a roadie named Bart

If the best rhyme you can come up with is naming someone Bart, maybe you should start over.

=>Green Day, "Disappearing Boy"

Am I here or am I there
Or am I playing on the stairs
Am I in my room with my toys
I am the disappearing boy

Is it just me, or does this sound suspiciously like Dr. Seuss?


=>P!nk, "Who Knew"

If someone said three years from now
You'd be long gone
I'd stand up and punch them out
Cause they're all wrong

Really? She's going to stand up and punch them out? Punch them. Out.


What are some song lyrics that have left you palming your face?


*On a personal note, it is not my intention to slam these groups, some of them I actually like.

Tomorrow's Question:
I'm a Millionaire! (In Africa?)

May the Force Be You

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Qui Gon Jinn


And more specifically, what happened when he died?


In the early episodes of Star Wars, when a Jedi dies, their body vanishes. Becomes One with the Force. (I'm not an expert in Star Wars lore, obviously.)

Exhibits A and B:

Zip forward to 5:30 for the important part.




Both Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi evaporate upon death. Cool. I liked it.


Exhibit C:

Forward to 5:40. Qui Gon's body is still there, and later, they have a funeral for him and burn his body.

I was confused. And still am. Why didn't he evaporate and become One with the Force?

Was it because he was ultimately responsible for the rise of Darth Vader? Was there a lapse in the synapses of George Lucas's brain? I don't know. Someone please explain.

Tomorrow's Question:
Does that Really Rhyme?

Expecto Petronum

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Petronus


This really is the question of a lifetime: What is your petronus?

Well, there is a simple way to find out. Warner Bros has an official petronus app that you can access here.

It's a Facebook app, so you might need a Facebook account to make it work. But it's the easiest (and fastest) way to determine your petronus.

Hint: if you follow the link and click allow and it doesn't work. Close the window and try the link again. That worked for me the first time.

Hint #2: You have to really think hard about the questions to make it work. (As I recall, there are only two.)

Here's mine:

How cool is that?

Did you take the quiz? What is your petronus? Even if you don't take the quiz, tell me what you'd want or expect your petronus to be.

Bonus: Expecto Petronum

Although it always bothered me that we don't see the stag in this scene.

Tomorrow's Question:
May the Force Be You?

Over and Out

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Over


As in it's all over. For all of us. The end of life as we know it. How will we meet our end?

Will we run out of time, like the Mayans predicted? Will it all be over on December 21, 2012?

Will it be from social and economic collapse?

Will an alien species wipe us out?

Will we wipe ourselves out?

Or maybe the planet will have had enough and get rid us itself--like a giant flea bath. 

Or will it be a peaceful, beautiful thing?

If you can answer this question, you win! 

Bonus: REM - It's the End of the World (As We Know It)

PS: If the Mayans are right and it all ends in December, I'm going to be mad I wasted my time exercising and eating healthy!

Tomorrow's Question:
Expecto (fill in the blank)

All You Need Is Love

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.

is for Nice


Seriously. Why can't people just be nice? Is it really that hard?

I'm not talking about the end of terrorism and the onset of world-wide peace, I'm talking about the little, day to day things.

Like snide and hurtful comments muttered under our breath--or spoken out loud.

A compliment witheld. A congratulations that goes unsaid.

A friend turning on a friend because of a simple misunderstanding.

Why do people feel such a need to put others down? Why is it so hard to build up?
I really want someone to answer this question.

It's hard to sum it up better than Abraham Lincoln when he said:

When I do good I feel good.

Today's Bonus: Cheesy Pictures

Tomorrow's Question:
IDK, I'm winging it right now.