Saturday, July 5, 2008

Can You Wordzzle Me Now!?


Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th. Stop by RAVEN'S NEST and check out this week’s Wordzzle posts. It’s the patriotic thing to do.

I’m going to keep Finola going. Here’s what she’s been up to this week.

Ten Word Challenge: handy, operation, gratitude, parallel bars, the color purple, manic depressive, Puget Sound, fragmentary, perpetual motion, secretive

And for the Mini Challenge: sympathetic, filet of sole, mysterious stranger, elephantine, music


Panorama Pendegrass could barely hear the voice on the other end of her cell phone. The music in the seedy Vegas bar was far too loud and the mysterious stranger sitting across from her was seriously limiting her ability to concentrate. He sat very still, his face hooded in shadow, all the while his eyes appearing to be in perpetual motion.

“Can you hear me now?” Finola shouted into the phone. She had hoped finding the cell phone would come in handy but the parallel bars of a signal were fading and she was inexperienced regarding its operation. Spread out around her were the fragmentary clues into her childhood. A sympathetic clerk at the school had allowed her a few moments to copy what she could from the elephantine mass of papers that constituted her permanent record. Finola felt a wave of gratitude toward the clerk; so few people had ever been kind to her. She pushed the files away and found last week’s copy of ‘The Puget Sound Gazette’. Her face was plastered across the front page. Finola’s mind became fuzzy again as she scanned the news story. The Headmistress was quoted as calling her a “secretive child”. The shrink brought in to profile her gave the press a certain diagnosis of “manic depressive” with “tendencies toward fantasy and violence”. Finola agreed with the fantasy part, real life was unbearable, what was there to turn to if not fantasy? She was confused about the violence. The hand grenade had been a prop from last year’s school play. Carrying it had given her a sense of power and control. Once she left the school grounds she no longer needed it.

Finola grew tired of reading about herself. Her filet of sole TV dinner was getting cold and she didn’t like using the oven. She wasn’t sure how it could still be working and wasn’t eager to press her luck. She performed her nightly routine. She drew the curtains to make sure not a sliver of light could be seen from the road. She lit the candles and double checked that the door was locked. It was only then that she could settle down and continue reading ‘The Color Purple’. She really liked the Oprah character.

And there ya have it!


The combination of too much wine and too many pieces of birthday cake have rendered me more than a little bit brain dead so there was no way I could tackle doing the 10 and the mini. Continuing Finola’s journey was enough of a challenge.

38 comments:

Raven said...

A challenge perhaps, but brilliantly handled. I love that Finola was calling Panorama Pendergrass and can't wait to discover what comes next on that front. I love all these serial stories and now the extra layer of having them weave into each other. Amazing. Hope you recover from yesterday's festivities.

Akelamalu said...

You did a fab job on the Finola story. I love that so many are doing a series instead of different stories every week.

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Dianne! If too much wine and birthday cake rendered you a little brain dead, I would hate to see you on a really bad day. This was brilliant and enjoyable reading. Well done. Lisa.

Jeff B said...

I shuddered at the thought of a filet of sole TV dinner! Ewwwe

The use of parallel bars as part of the cell phone was quite clever too.

Richard said...

I am totally into this story and wait with baited breath for the next installment. (perhaps some mouthwash can cure my fishbreath)

Missed you at Raven's did not see you up on the Mister Linky.

Wine and birthday cake sounds good, but slightly gastrointestninally dangerous.

Rich

Dianne said...

raven - I'm enjoying the serial stories too! I mentioned in another comment how it made us a "merry band of wordzzlers"
I'm thrilled to be a bit hungover and sugar crashing. It has been too long since I had a lot of fun. Yesterday's party was great - even though it rained on us.

akleamalu - thanks!! serial wordzzles are the wave of the future lol

so glad you enjoyed Lisa!! thanks :)

jeff - thanks for the clever comment :) my head felt so fuzzy this morning ;)
My Mom used to feed us Swanson TV Dinners all the time! My brother used to say she was preparing us for prison lol

Dianne said...

rich - I was late to Linky today. I have to survive my headache before I can even consider my stomach ;)
I'm really glad you're into the story since I love the attention to detail you have in your serial stories.

Karen said...

Nice Wordzzle. Very cool. Enjoy the rainy day...blah!

bobbie said...

Gee, Jeff, I love filet of sole.

I'm really glad Finola continues.
But tell me - does this mean there really IS such a thing as a permanent record? I thought it was fiction, just used to threaten us. Does anyone ever really read one?

Great story, Dianne.

Jeff B said...

Bobbie, I like filet of sole too, but in TV dinner form I'm not so sure it would be all that tasty. I mean look what they did to Salsbury steak. Yikes!

(btw- I'm just having fun with ya.)

Dianne said...

thanks karen - the one good thing about the rain is it made my neighbors go inside for a while ;)

bobbie - I chuckled to myself when I wrote 'permanent record' - I was threatened with one for years!!

Jay said...

There's no such thing as too much wine OR too many pieces of cake. Especially the too much wine part.

Chicks who carry hand grenades around with them are cool. Gives them a bit of a dangerous edge. ;-)

Betty said...

I'm enjoying all these serialized stories. I'm trying to get the nerve to try one.

Mom Knows Everything said...

I look forward to reading these every week!

Anndi said...

You do a wonderful job with this. Kudos!

Unknown said...

I'm loving these so much...I'm already worried about how I'll fit the writing and the reading of the blogs into my school year schedule! Argh! I should just enjoy them while I have the time and not worry about when I don't. But you've got me hooked!

Kimmie said...

ROLFMAO! A merry band of wordzllers"! That is so damn funny...honest to God. I can't wait to see what Finola gets herself into next week. Thanks for the ongoing story. :-)

Oh, and I could really go for a piece of birthday cake with buttercream frosting! YUmmmmm! Wine gives me a headache, so I steer clear.
Hugs,
Kimmie

Dianne said...

jay - Perhaps I'll come out with a line of hand grenade inspired accessories.

betty - Just Do It! Bet it would be great!!

tammy - I appreciate that, thanks

thanks anndi - they're fun :)

kim - living in the moment, although I know what you mean - work always getting in the way of stuff I enjoy.

kimmie - the wine sure gave me a headache!! lol
I'm glad you enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy yours.

Carletta said...

I liked this! I too agree that the parallel bars on the cell was a brilliant idea.
Filet of Sole TV dinner - oh my gosh - too funny!

Thanks for coming by today and reading my first try.

the walking man said...

Need some insulin and a needle Di?

Dianne said...

carletta - your first try was great! hope you Wordzzle every week :) glad you liked mine

mark - oh yes!! thank you.

Daryl said...

Well done .. clearly you dont give yourself enough credit ..

:-Daryl

maryt/theteach said...

Dianne, I'm back from my visit to Boston but I didn't get a chance to do the Wordzzle this week. Your wordzzle is excellent... seems like lots of people are writing serially. Hmmmm! I like it! :)

Crazy Charlene said...

dianne
too much birthday cake didn't prevent you from rising to the occasion of another great wordzzle
chapter ~~great writing

~~~~~~~~~~PLAWYK~~~

Dianne said...

thanks daryl- and yes I don't, I'm working on that :)

welcome back mary, hope you had a good time! I'm lovin' all the serial stories. hope you have the chance to Wordzzle this coming Saturday

thank you Charlene!!

Crazy Charlene said...

i so totally stole the free tibet and marriage equality buttons

~~~~~~~~~~~PLAWYK~~~~~~~~~~

tt said...

You know...had the Fipster been a girl I would have named her Finola! AND...I saw a toy grenade at a store on our travels and immediately thought of her! I should have bought it and kept it in my purse so I could feel her power. :)
As usual kiddo...I loved the story and love where it's going.

Dianne said...

charlene - that's great, spread the word!!

tt - Finola the Flamingo!! how cool but not good for a boy, would create such issues lol
thanks sweetie!! glad you're enjoying the story.

RW said...

Your such a talented person Dianne!

Dianne said...

thanks Roger!! you're pretty talented yourself - great photos and running a weekly contest! :)

Ivanhoe said...

You really did a great job! This would be too big of a challenge for me. But you have the brain cells :o)
Have a great day, Di!

Leighann said...

Too much cake, are you insane? Too much wine, yep, you're insane! *giggle*

My poison of choice this weekend came in the form of Bahama Mama, Hurricane and Zombie!

MMMM Rum!

Dianne said...

ivanhoe - thanks for that vote of confidence in my brain cells! :)

leighann - of course I'm insane ;)

I LOVE all 3 drinks you mentioned, especially Zombies!!

Ron said...

BRAVO DEAR GIRL!!

You are so creative and funny!

My favorite...was the last line about The Color Purple and Oprah.

Brilliant, Dianne!

P.S. I hope your drink RED! I do...and I LOVE it!

Dianne said...

ron - I do drink red although they only had white at the party. my favorite is a good merlot. and thanks ron for such kind words :)

SMM said...

Hey Dianne....I enjoyed reading Finola's story and from what I can se your doing a series. That's even more challenging. Let me settle into Wirdzzle some more and then maybe I'l join you in doing a series as well :)

Minnesotablue said...

Dianne: You continue to dazzle!

Dianne said...

smm - I didn't start a series until I'd been doing the Wordzzle for quite a while so I know what you mean about settling in. Your first entry was great!! so glad you joined in. :)

Wordzzle Dazzle - I LOVE it minnesotablue thanks!!