Riddle for the Weekend

In lieu of my "People don't like long posts" rant, I'm leaving you all with a short post. It's a riddle that I wrote for a gentleman I knew who had been on Jeopardy. He and I used to exchange puzzles and riddles and I wrote this one just for him. Take a stab at it. There's no prize at this point if you get it right, but I'm curious to see if anyone gets it. So without further ado, here it is:

This thing I'm thinking of in my mind,
This thing it still affects the blind.

If you think it's fast, you're probably right,
but it'll never be as fast as the speed of light.

When it moves, it moves like the sea,
and it does indeed come from that riddled tree.

This thing you can feel when it hits your face,
but this thing you can never embrace.


Good luck and have a great weekend and remember, your answer must make sense for EVERY line in the riddle.

The Short of It

My most recent post was quite long actually and I've noticed the same trend rearing its ugly head.

People don't want to read long posts.

I used to be a very regular blogger about 3 years ago and what I noticed was, my short posts got comments and questions, but my long posts were often overlooked. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why this is.

People don't want, to take time out, to read long posts.

Let's face it. We all have 100 things on our to do lists. Each of us has our own network of fellow bloggers that we want to keep up with and when we are faced with a post that takes us more than a couple minutes to read, we often simply move on.

My latest post was no different. While I did get some feedback, it took about 3 days of me keeping the post active to achieve the same number of comments that a much shorter post or quip would in just a few hours.

People don't want to read long posts.

This keeps popping up in my mind. I knew better, yet I posted a long post anyway. Seeing the lack of activity though, reinforces my desire to just keep it simple. So, my apologies for asking you to take extra time out for my recent long post. I'll do my best to keep it slim, yet entertaining in the future.

I better stop before this one becomes a long post, because let's face it: People don't want to read long posts!

Former Novel

Here's a snippet from a former novel I was working on about 6 years ago or so. Forgive the grammar please, it's my arch enemy, right next to spelling.



“I’m sorry ma’am; you just can’t get in alone. Couples only! Not only that, but you don’t exactly look like your at the right place honey…” The doorman exclaimed in a tone of annoyance. He motioned to the next couple in line to come forward and asked for their ID’s. Normally, Kristen wouldn’t even think about going into such a sleazy club, but somehow her search had led her here. She needed to get in, was desperate to do so and willing to do anything.

“I’ll help you,” spoke the feminine voice from behind her left side.

Kristen turned in question to see who was offering and noticed a beautiful black haired woman dressed in a manner the pope himself couldn’t look away from. Her slender figure filled out the skin tight dress. The dress itself was jet black, matching her hair and pierced with holes up and down the side revealing just enough skin to drive any straight man insane. Her dark colored lips revealed that this woman had more of a exotic persona than could be ignored.

“Excuse me,” spoke Kristen in a confused tone. “Do I know you?”

“You don’t have to, but if you want any chance at getting in this club, you are going to need my help. It just so happens to be your lucky night, because my date turned out to be all talk in the end and so here I am…” The dark haired woman spoke in a slightly seductive tone and at several points in the conversation looked Kristen up and down as if sizing her up for something.

Kristen thought on it for a second before quipping “…and your name is?”

“Falicia,” spoke the woman as she extended her hand in a gesture of good greeting. Kristen didn’t feel right about something, but dismissed her concerns as she considered her other options. She returned the greeting and they shook.

“I’m Kristen.” Their eyes locked in a mutual embrace as they exchanged pleasantries. “I’m kinda new to the scene, so I hope you can forgive my attire,” said Kristen as she displayed her less-than-formal wear.

“Not at all, Kristen. In fact, most of the people here are more concerned with being comfortable, not that you don’t look ravishingly beautiful in your t-shirt and jeans.” As she spoke with a hint of sarcasm a very strong woman walked past them towards the entrance. She donned a black leather outfit worthy of Halloween and carried a leash in her hand that led to a young man. The man wore a matching black leather outfit and had a collar on his neck. She walked him in past the bouncer and doorman.

Kristen blushed enough to cause her to look away. She was somewhat flattered and yet somewhat embarrassed at the truth of the statement, noticing everyone else around her. She was entirely underdressed for any club, even the kind without dress codes. She had heard rumors of what went on in this place, but couldn’t pretend to be something she was not, so she opted to avoid the gothic gear and instead went for just being clothed.

“Let’s not concern ourselves with all of that now though. Come with me.” Falicia held onto Kristen’s hand and led her to the front door. She looked at the doorman and as they exchanged glances, he didn’t ask any questions, but instead stepped aside letting both girls in.

Upon entering the club Kristen had to let her eyes adjust between the darkness and flashing lights. The light show was mid-session and it played tricks on her mind as she saw people around her move as if they were in slow motion. The glimpses she caught of everyone around her revealed more leather clad couples, some of which were taking part in acts she couldn’t quite bare to watch. She had heard of blood raves as a teenager and even considered going with her “bad boy” boyfriend in college, but Kristen was just too… well, Kristen.

Falicia continued to lead her by the hand past the dirty tables, blood stained cups and dark paraphernalia. Kristen held her fear and concern at bay and tried to stay strong for her sister, after all if a place like this couldn’t shed some light on how to track down a twisted kill with blood fetishes, no place would.

As they approached a darker corner somewhat hidden from the barrage of lights and music, the two eventually took their seats. Falicia offered her a drink, not caring what Kristen would prefer. In fact, the drink was someone else’s, gained from a former patron at a nearby table. Kristen tried not to show her dissatisfaction with being given someone’s drink, not knowing what foul substance could be in it. She took it with a look of gratitude and set it on the table in front of her.

“So what brings you to the underbelly of social normalcy?” Falicia looked at her with hidden emotion as if bluffing a foul hand at a poker match. “Usually when people want to ‘try new things’ they tend to carry themselves a little differently than you are right now. Somehow I think you’ve wandered off the beaten path for more than just a good time…”

The corner of Kristen’s lips curved up revealing a slightly embarrassed yet obvious facial expression that screamed ‘you’re right.’ “It’s true, I haven’t been anywhere like this before, but I’m not here for me. I’m here to find a friend of a friend.”

“And does this person know you are looking for them, or are you simply a stalker with an open book policy?” Falicia played with the black pearls that hung gently off her neck just above her breasts. She never took her eyes of Kristen, peering at her with intent.

“Truth be told, I have a message to give this woman, but I’m having a hard time tracking her down. She doesn’t know me, nor does she know I’m looking for her, but I have nothing to hide. Well, except for a little embarrassment given my current circumstances.” Kristen lifted her eyes up and around surveying the room she sat in.

“An attractive innocent woman with a mystery message… I can’t say I’m not intrigued, but you are a terrible liar. I can see you have something to hide and it’s your prerogative either way, so I won’t pry.” The women’s eyes locked in a battle of wits as Falicia tried to draw out some form of emotion from Kristen. “I’ll tell you what, there’s a phrase that has withstood the test of time and its more than suitable for this very occasion.”

“What phrase is that?” asked Kristen. Her brows rose up in curiosity,

“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. It just so happens I know where to find the person you are looking for.”

Kristen shot forward out of her chair, but soon realized how quickly she was reacting. She caught control of herself and asked, “How can you know where to find her, you don’t even know who I’m looking for?”

“You obviously don’t have any clue who you are sitting with here. You need only know that a girl has her wiles and in the end if I want to help you, you’ll get what you are looking for. So, make me want to help you.”

Kristen returned Falicia’s gaze and began to contemplate her options. She knew she had no reason to trust this woman, but also knew she had no other leads and felt shy on ally’s these days. “What did you have in mind?” Kristen regretted the words, even as she spoke them.

Jumping Genre Batman!

As a general rule of thumb, most of my reading in the past has been of books that are educational. I strayed away from fiction novels for the most part, not because I didn't enjoy them, but because I felt I always had to prove something to my peers and family. This thought process drove me to pick books that would "teach me something," rather than entertain me. I did have a few fiction novels in there, but mostly I stuck with books that explained how things were or are.

Some examples of books in my library are

The Knight in History

A Brief History of Time

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything

Recently though, I've begun to back down from that type of reading and really delve into the imaginary world of fiction. Like I said, I rather enjoy it, but it used to be trumped by the educational reading. As I look at fictional work, I find that I tended to stay in the sci-fiction/fantasy genre, but recently I gave in and tried some recommendations by fellow readers. "LOOK Ma, I'm expanding my horizons!"

One such read was the Twilight series, which, I understand most of us are sick of hearing about, but let's be honest...it was a pretty good read. At least I thought so. I would have never picked it up, had I known what it was really about, but I was duped into reading it, because a co-worker told me it was a book about vampires. After finishing the whole series though, I found myself realizing that YA fiction wasn't a category I should stray from anymore. Previously, I'd avoided it, thinking that it was childish or somehow not as literary-powerful. I was wrong. Another such read was the book Shiver. Just finished it yesterday (Amazing how much reading you can do when you're home sick). Again, I was very entertained by it and I've been playing around with the idea of writing a YA fiction novel.

How about you all.

Do you have any genres that you used to avoid and were pleasantly surprised when you tried them out?

Have any of them influenced your desire to write in a different genre than what you'd consider "your speciality?"

No Post Today

Sorry for the lack of post/comments today, but I had the day off for some dental work AND apparently, the sinus infection has done a round robin between the 5 kiddos and my beautiful bride-to-be and now it's back to me!

BLAH! Will it ever end!?