Not much writing going on in the Barbed Words house. My week can pretty much be summed up as: Packing. Work. Packing. Coffee. Packing. Packing. Coffee. Taking child to doctors. Tea. Iced Bun. Chemists. Going to charity shop. Gardening. Gin and tonic. Pasta. Packing. Coffee. Packing. Charity shop. eBay. Tea. Gardening. Pizza. Top Gear.… Continue reading Wednesday Week
Author: Barbed Words
What I Go to School For
Although in Rome, I enjoyed the life of a lady who lunches (or drinks cappuccino, at least), once back in England I needed to find work. As I have children, I wanted a job which offers flexible hours and time off in the holidays [Sure your poor work ethic didn’t have anything to do with it?? – Ed. Shut… Continue reading What I Go to School For
Another Six Words
Another busy week and another week of not writing much. But I did manage to enter the Six Word Story Challenge again. So a total of six words written in seven days. Go me! The theme this week was 'Horror'. My entry summed up a terrifying experience that I'm sure we've all been through: The stubborn… Continue reading Another Six Words
Getting Lazier with Six Word Stories…
Hmmm, I seem to have lapsed into blog silence since the A-Z Challenge. Things are a tad stressful at the moment - we're about to move for the third time in a year. There's too much to do. Too much to think about. And blogging is one of those things that's very easy to drop… Continue reading Getting Lazier with Six Word Stories…
Z is for Zoooooooom
Hurrah!! The #atozchallenge is over and I can go back to posting twice a year. It's been quite a stressful process; trying to fit writing daily posts in between work, cooking, cleaning (alright, maybe not that) and watching Friends. Trying to find tenuous links to stories or snippets I'd already written. Worrying about losing most of… Continue reading Z is for Zoooooooom
Y is for Yoghurt. Or Yogurt.
...for our American readers. Yoghurt is defined as, 'A semi-solid sourish food prepared from milk fermented by added bacteria.' Mmmm, tasty. As well as being a fine fodder, it also has many other uses: Bad joke alert!!! Two cups of yogurt walk into a bar. The bartender says, "We don't serve your kind in here." One cup of yogurt… Continue reading Y is for Yoghurt. Or Yogurt.
X is for Xenodochial etc
Today's #atozchallenge explores the wonderful world of one of my favourite groups of people. Xenodochial: Hospitable; kindly to strangers Xanthippe: Ill-tempered woman Xenoglossia: Person's knowledge of a language never studied Xanthocomic: Yellow-haired Xenodochium: Building for the reception of strangers #Fawlty Towers All x-rated words from phrontistery.info
W is for Willies
Today’s #atozchallenge was going to be W is for Work. I started writing an amusing, yet insightful, post about work and all its difficulties – the stupid targets, ridiculous appraisals, having to deal with people who are total dicks, the wasted time when I could be doing something more productive, like writing blog posts or watching… Continue reading W is for Willies
V is for Victoria Wood as Seen by Me
I felt genuinely upset by the death of Victoria Wood last week. Other recent celebrity deaths, such as David Bowie or Alan Rickman, have also saddened me but Victoria’s shocked me. I think it’s because of how young she was and that she was regularly in my living room (via the TV, sadly not actually… Continue reading V is for Victoria Wood as Seen by Me
U is for Urn
What's a Greek urn? About 1000 euros a month... Yes, I know the picture is the yet another type of 'Urn', but it makes me laugh almost as much as when Top of the Pops showed a backdrop of darts champ Jocky Wilson to Dexy's Midnight Runners song, 'Jackie Wilson Said'. I particularly like this sort of urn. I don't… Continue reading U is for Urn
T is for (Can’t) Think of Anything
#atozchallenge
S is for Scraping the Barrel – Photos from the Italian Lakes
I've put this post under S but, quite frankly, it could just as easily gone under R for Random or Running out of Ideas. Anyway, photos from a fabulous trip to the Italian Lakes a couple of years ago. Mainly Lake Garda and Lake Como - they've sort of merged into one in my mind… Continue reading S is for Scraping the Barrel – Photos from the Italian Lakes
R is for Renegade Writer
Another story (well, the first chapter) for today's A-Z Challenge or rather #atozchallenge - I'm trying out Twitter... Renegade Writer Arnold took the final sheet of his 90,000-word novel, Strike Hard, from the printer and added it to the rather impressive looking stack of pages on his desk. It had taken over eight months of trying… Continue reading R is for Renegade Writer
Q is for Quite Amusing
My favourite genre of books, films and TV has to be comedy. I'm not too fussed how silly, rude, offensive or highbrow it is, just as long as it's funny. I like funny one liners, long drawn out stories, limericks (not poems - bleh) and songs. And I can forgive a lot in people if they… Continue reading Q is for Quite Amusing
P is for Pop Song Rewrite
I enjoyed writing my Check Out story so much, that for today's A-Z Challenge I've gone for another pop song tale. Can you guess the song before you reach the end?? One Foot on the Platform Eric dragged his bags down the station steps, the echoes of his row with Ginny still ringing in his… Continue reading P is for Pop Song Rewrite
O is for Optimism
Today's A-Z Challenge is a brief one but I'm optimistic that tomorrow's will be longer... I'm going to share another dictionary definition because I really like this one. The word optimism comes from the Latin optimum meaning 'best thing' and is defined as: Noun An inclination to hopefulness and confidence (Yep, got that) Philosophy a) The doctrine,… Continue reading O is for Optimism
N is for Naughty but Nice
Thanks to the '80s marketing campaign, I literally can't see a cream cake without saying (usually in my head, but not always), 'Naughty but Nice' in a slightly camp manner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zswOFJZ4vZE Slightly interesting fact is that Salman Rushdie came up with the 'Naughty but Nice' slogan whilst working as a copywriter. He also wrote the memorable… Continue reading N is for Naughty but Nice
M is for Monkey
Following on from my success with cute cats, for today's A-Z Challenge we're going down the marvellous monkey route. This cute little spider monkey lives in a rescue centre in Guatemala. Aw. This monkey doesn't live in Guatemala. Instead, he's the star of cult '70s show 'Monkey'. Or, as anyone who's ever watched it would say,… Continue reading M is for Monkey
L is for Losing Regulars…but Gaining Cat Lovers
I joined the A-Z Challenge as a way to get back into blogging. Since returning from Rome, I’d lost interest and couldn’t rustle up any enthusiasm for it. Once I’d committed to the idea, however, I thought, 'Aha!' (As in a sudden realisation, not as in the lovely 80s band. Although, to be honest, I do… Continue reading L is for Losing Regulars…but Gaining Cat Lovers
K is for Kat
Another 100 word story for today's A-Z Challenge. And, no, this one didn't win any prizes either... Kitekat Bob “You love that bloody cat more than me,” moaned Ian. “That's not true,” I said, filling Bob's bowl with organic double cream and rubbing his head. “It's him or me,” said Ian, as he headed up… Continue reading K is for Kat
J is for… J
Ah, poor old J. Sometimes I feel that it gets a poor deal. It’s not one of the most obvious letters in the alphabet. It’s not as vital as vowels or as rampant as those tough Ts, Ps or Ns. Looking at my Oxford English Dictionary, J has one of the smallest sections: a mere 12 pages… Continue reading J is for… J
I is for Innovative Ideas to Make a Living
A friend* and I are always discussing ways to make enough money so that we can give up work. From writing educational books or inventing apps to running a coffee shop or baking cupcakes, we've been through hundreds of ideas. But her latest idea sounds like the easiest one. Apparently,men people will pay for… Continue reading I is for Innovative Ideas to Make a Living
H is for Happy Birthday (Cake)
Hmmm, I think I'm starting to stretch it slightly with my tenuous alphabetical links to the A-Z Challenge but it's my blog so I can pretty much do what I like 🙂 This is an amazing Rainbow Cake that my eldest daughter made for my youngest daughter's birthday. Not only did it look INCREDIBLE but… Continue reading H is for Happy Birthday (Cake)
G is for Grasping at Straws…
Ok, things are a bit busy today and, as I wasn't organised enough to have a whole month's worth of posts written in advance, today's A-Z Challenge is an incredibly bad story I wrote for my Creative Writing course a few years ago. I seem to remember that I hadn't done any preparation for the class… Continue reading G is for Grasping at Straws…
F is for Foodies
Today's post subject is taken from my A-Z Challenge Suggestion Box: 'Why don’t you write more about Italy and its heavenly cuisine through the rest of the month? At least, that is what I want to know more about. A closeup of a gelato stall, tossing pasta, cooking seafood…. drooool! You get the picture right?' Good… Continue reading F is for Foodies
