A.Word.A.Day drabble – 5/25/10: bagman. Trying to keep it happy and sexy, but it’s Just. Not. Cooperating.
A Word A Day by Anu Garg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bagman
PRONUNCIATION: (BAG-man, BAG-muhn)
MEANING:
noun:
1. One who collects or distributes money from illicit activities, for example, in a protection racket.
2. UK: A traveling salesman.
3. Canada: A political fundraiser.
4. Australia: A tramp; swagman.
5. Golf: A caddie hired to carry a golf player's clubs.
ETYMOLOGY:
From the literal senses of the words bag and man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He comes in every Tuesday and orders the number 78, which doesn’t exist. And every Tuesday, my parents fill a take-out bag with protection money and hand it over, their faces expressionless. His face is just as blank as he gives them a five-dollar bill and takes the bag.
This is the Tuesday that I lose patience. I follow him out of the restaurant and into an alley.
“Hey! Filthy piece of mob shit!”
He turns and reaches behind him. I tense, but he’s holding his wallet. He adds a wad of cash to the bag, smiles, and walks away.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
worse than I thought - so behind on AWAD
It's worse than I thought. I thought I needed to catch up on A Word A Day from May of this year, but noooooo, I left off reading them from May of 2010!! What the hell is wrong with me?!?!
So now if I write TWO drabbles a day, I'll be caught up maybe six months? Must learn to buckle down. It's never too late, right?
In other procrastination news, I still want to send a thank you note to Laura Bradford, to whom I pitched at Moonlight & Magnolias, which was Sept. 30 - Oct. 2. I'm just not sure how to address her ("Ms. Bradford"? "Laura"?) or exactly what to say. It was a really informative meeting, and she was very nice about having to completely shoot me down, even saying to go ahead and send her a synopsis and the first 100 pages despite not being able to sell M/M to any of the publishers she works with. So I did want to let her know those would be coming.
On a more forward-looking note, I recently read again the idea of writing 100 words a day, but in this scenario, you try to write 100 words a day **for 100 days**. That made me think of a friend of mine who will not write on Sundays because she's fairly religious.
I get taking a Day of Rest. I don't like to work on Saturdays; it's about the only religious thing I do. BUT! I realized recently that having Shabbat (and Jewish holidays) go from sunset to sunset is pretty smart -- someone who is very strict about these things could still write every day AND not work on Shabbat if they wrote before sunset on Friday and then again after sunset on Saturday. (As you may have guessed, I'm not that strict. And I don't consider writing to be "work". Maybe if I got paid (more) for it. :) )
So who's with me, at least 100 words every day for 100 days?
So now if I write TWO drabbles a day, I'll be caught up maybe six months? Must learn to buckle down. It's never too late, right?
In other procrastination news, I still want to send a thank you note to Laura Bradford, to whom I pitched at Moonlight & Magnolias, which was Sept. 30 - Oct. 2. I'm just not sure how to address her ("Ms. Bradford"? "Laura"?) or exactly what to say. It was a really informative meeting, and she was very nice about having to completely shoot me down, even saying to go ahead and send her a synopsis and the first 100 pages despite not being able to sell M/M to any of the publishers she works with. So I did want to let her know those would be coming.
On a more forward-looking note, I recently read again the idea of writing 100 words a day, but in this scenario, you try to write 100 words a day **for 100 days**. That made me think of a friend of mine who will not write on Sundays because she's fairly religious.
I get taking a Day of Rest. I don't like to work on Saturdays; it's about the only religious thing I do. BUT! I realized recently that having Shabbat (and Jewish holidays) go from sunset to sunset is pretty smart -- someone who is very strict about these things could still write every day AND not work on Shabbat if they wrote before sunset on Friday and then again after sunset on Saturday. (As you may have guessed, I'm not that strict. And I don't consider writing to be "work". Maybe if I got paid (more) for it. :) )
So who's with me, at least 100 words every day for 100 days?
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
recap: Drag Star at LeBuzz -- Oct. 10, 2011
Let's see if I can make this as pretty as Bryonna Nobles-Stern makes her posts. :) Since she was still out of town on Monday, I decided to go to LeBuzz and take up the mantle of Drag Star blogger.
A couple of warnings: I know I’ll misspell names, so please let me know what to correct, and I apologize in advance for my craptacular photographs. Is it me or my camera??!?!?!!
Also, if there are blogs/fb pages/websites I've missed, please let me know!
BTW, welcome home, Bryonna, sounds like you had a great trip!
Kat was there when I got there,
and the guy sticking team stickers on our boobs was Paprika Jones, who of course looks completely different out of makeup.
Fiera Ice came over to say hi:
and she turned 21 at midnight. Happy Birthday, gorgeous!
The first contestants up were from Team Jasmine:
Evah Destruction Antoinette, who performed an awesome Ke$ha mix
and Coochie Coochie Coo, who tore it up to a mix of Halloween songs
Winner: Coochie Coochie Coo
Team MVP (Monica Van Pelt) was next, with Dynisty, who started out slow and sweet
and then broke into the amazing dancing that is her signature.
(Sorry I don't have a pic of her up on the table RIGHT NEXT TO ME)
Lyra Lee did not lip-sync, but actually *sang* Lady Gaga’s “Show Me Your Teeth”
with two super cute vampire backup dancers
Winner: Dynasty
Third up was Team Heather:
Fiera
(it's not blurry, it's artistic)
and Nina Bonita Brown who had some help from Dynasty
They performed some cute song about cars that everyone else knew but I didn’t because I’m old. :P
Winner: Fiera
The last contestant was Angelique Simmonz, who was the only contestant from Team Destiny that night, and therefore was the winner from her team.
After the contestants, the Divas performed
Jasmine Antoinette
Spot on with her lipsync AND hilarious
Monica Van Pelt
You can't tell how gorgeous this dress was from this photo. Beautiful autumn colors.
Destiny Brooks
Nikki Minaj's cuter sister
and Heather “Double-D” Daniels
Classic showgirl with nine-foot long legs. Yes, I know there are breasts, but I couldn't stop staring at her legs. Ladies, when the judges tell you to wear fishnets, this is what they're talking about.
then some of the contestants who weren’t competing this week
Kaymen Syder who is such a magical performer that I’ve decided my drag queen story needs a drag king in it
SO artistic. Not blurry or too dark or off-center or anything....
Annayiiah Lyden
Alexia DeeKay
Everyone did a great job, including the DJ and the staff. The cigarette smoke makes me want to burn my clothes after I leave, but it's always a fun time and a lot of lovely people.
Who's up for their Oz tribute this Friday? Next Friday?
A couple of warnings: I know I’ll misspell names, so please let me know what to correct, and I apologize in advance for my craptacular photographs. Is it me or my camera??!?!?!!
Also, if there are blogs/fb pages/websites I've missed, please let me know!
BTW, welcome home, Bryonna, sounds like you had a great trip!
Kat was there when I got there,
and the guy sticking team stickers on our boobs was Paprika Jones, who of course looks completely different out of makeup.
Fiera Ice came over to say hi:
and she turned 21 at midnight. Happy Birthday, gorgeous!
The first contestants up were from Team Jasmine:
Evah Destruction Antoinette, who performed an awesome Ke$ha mix
and Coochie Coochie Coo, who tore it up to a mix of Halloween songs
Winner: Coochie Coochie Coo
Team MVP (Monica Van Pelt) was next, with Dynisty, who started out slow and sweet
(Sorry I don't have a pic of her up on the table RIGHT NEXT TO ME)
Lyra Lee did not lip-sync, but actually *sang* Lady Gaga’s “Show Me Your Teeth”
with two super cute vampire backup dancers
Winner: Dynasty
Third up was Team Heather:
Fiera
(it's not blurry, it's artistic)
and Nina Bonita Brown who had some help from Dynasty
They performed some cute song about cars that everyone else knew but I didn’t because I’m old. :P
Winner: Fiera
The last contestant was Angelique Simmonz, who was the only contestant from Team Destiny
After the contestants, the Divas performed
Jasmine Antoinette
Spot on with her lipsync AND hilarious
Monica Van Pelt
You can't tell how gorgeous this dress was from this photo. Beautiful autumn colors.
Destiny Brooks
Nikki Minaj's cuter sister
and Heather “Double-D” Daniels
Classic showgirl with nine-foot long legs. Yes, I know there are breasts, but I couldn't stop staring at her legs. Ladies, when the judges tell you to wear fishnets, this is what they're talking about.
then some of the contestants who weren’t competing this week
Kaymen Syder who is such a magical performer that I’ve decided my drag queen story needs a drag king in it
SO artistic. Not blurry or too dark or off-center or anything....
Annayiiah Lyden
Alexia DeeKay
Everyone did a great job, including the DJ and the staff. The cigarette smoke makes me want to burn my clothes after I leave, but it's always a fun time and a lot of lovely people.
Who's up for their Oz tribute this Friday? Next Friday?
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
A.Word.A.Day drabble – huzzah or huzza
Today's drabble uses characters from the pirate novel, but it's rated G, which I can hardly believe myself. A post about Moonlight & Magnolias to follow later today, I hope.
A.Word.A.Day – Sept. 7, 2011: huzzah or huzza
A Word A Day" by Anu Garg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
huzzah or huzza
MEANING:
interjection: Used to express joy, applause, encouragement, etc.
noun: An instance of appreciation or applause.
verb tr., intr.: To cheer.
ETYMOLOGY:
Of undetermined origin. Perhaps used originally as a sailor's hoisting cry. Earliest documented use: 1682.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that is how I shall use it for the daily drabble I’ve been putting off.
--------------
“One, two, three—”
“Huzzah!”
“One, two, three—”
“Huzzah!”
The sail crept up the mast in increments, Nate and Jeremiah pulling the line with all their strength after every count of three while Barnabas dealt with the slack, coiling it neatly several feet away to keep the younger men from becoming tangled in it.
He was no longer one of the young, strong men who hoisted the sails, but it took many hands to keep a ship afloat, and he’d be shrouded and dropped overboard before he shirked his duties. He grinned, shouting the last “Huzzah!” with the others.
A.Word.A.Day – Sept. 7, 2011: huzzah or huzza
A Word A Day" by Anu Garg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
huzzah or huzza
MEANING:
interjection: Used to express joy, applause, encouragement, etc.
noun: An instance of appreciation or applause.
verb tr., intr.: To cheer.
ETYMOLOGY:
Of undetermined origin. Perhaps used originally as a sailor's hoisting cry. Earliest documented use: 1682.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that is how I shall use it for the daily drabble I’ve been putting off.
--------------
“One, two, three—”
“Huzzah!”
“One, two, three—”
“Huzzah!”
The sail crept up the mast in increments, Nate and Jeremiah pulling the line with all their strength after every count of three while Barnabas dealt with the slack, coiling it neatly several feet away to keep the younger men from becoming tangled in it.
He was no longer one of the young, strong men who hoisted the sails, but it took many hands to keep a ship afloat, and he’d be shrouded and dropped overboard before he shirked his duties. He grinned, shouting the last “Huzzah!” with the others.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A.Word.A.Day – Sept. 7, 2011: gesundheit
A Word A Day" by Anu Garg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gesundheit
MEANING:
interjection: Used to wish good health to someone who has sneezed.
ETYMOLOGY:
From German Gesundheit (health), from gesund (healthy) + -heit (-hood). Earliest documented use: 1914.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Borrowing the characters from another story that isn’t finished. The only people I’ve heard say “gesundheit” after someone sneezes are either Jewish or German (or both, I suppose). YMMV.
-----------------------------
“Mom, I told you, we’re not putting lights on the house.”
“But it’s Christmas!”
“But David’s Jewish; I’ve been over this with you—”
“Niall.” David rubbed Niall’s arm. “It’s okay. Your parents are here, we’ll have lights this once.”
“I hate doing this to you. It’s your house, too.”
“And I hate arguing with family.”
“Thanks. I owe you.” Niall smiled, then his face contorted and he sneezed.
David said, “Gesundheit!” just as Niall’s mother said “God Bless you!” and they each offered Niall a tissue. Niall hesitated, then took both.
It was going to be a long holiday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gesundheit
MEANING:
interjection: Used to wish good health to someone who has sneezed.
ETYMOLOGY:
From German Gesundheit (health), from gesund (healthy) + -heit (-hood). Earliest documented use: 1914.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Borrowing the characters from another story that isn’t finished. The only people I’ve heard say “gesundheit” after someone sneezes are either Jewish or German (or both, I suppose). YMMV.
-----------------------------
“Mom, I told you, we’re not putting lights on the house.”
“But it’s Christmas!”
“But David’s Jewish; I’ve been over this with you—”
“Niall.” David rubbed Niall’s arm. “It’s okay. Your parents are here, we’ll have lights this once.”
“I hate doing this to you. It’s your house, too.”
“And I hate arguing with family.”
“Thanks. I owe you.” Niall smiled, then his face contorted and he sneezed.
David said, “Gesundheit!” just as Niall’s mother said “God Bless you!” and they each offered Niall a tissue. Niall hesitated, then took both.
It was going to be a long holiday.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
drabble on A.Word.A.Day – Sept. 8, 2011: bada-bing
Still catching up. Even if I do two each day, it's going to take awhile to get through all of them sitting in my inbox.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Word A Day by Anu Garg
bada-bing
MEANING:
interjection: Used to suggest something happening effortlessly, emphatically, or predictably, implying "Just like that!" or "Voila!"
ETYMOLOGY:
Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative of the sound of a drum roll and cymbal crash or a rimshot (hear it). Earliest documented use: 1965.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes: The following drabble is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is entirely unplanned and coincidental. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Oh, and I apologize if this comes off kind of racist. But doesn't everyone make fun of Italians? ;)
--------------------------------
“Ya know, Vinnie, I don’ know if I’m happy or sad that it’s finally over.”
“I know, right? It’s like, we’re not gonna be famous anymore, but then we don’t got those fuckin’ cameras in our faces every second.”
“Exac’ly, like, now we can do whatever we want, even if it don’t go down so good wit’ the producers.”
“There somethin’ you been wantin’ to do, Mikey?”
“Yeah.” Mikey put his hands on the back of Vinnie’s neck and kissed him. Vinnie didn’t hesitate. He kissed him right back, and bada-bing, there were the fireworks Mikey had been waiting for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Word A Day by Anu Garg
bada-bing
MEANING:
interjection: Used to suggest something happening effortlessly, emphatically, or predictably, implying "Just like that!" or "Voila!"
ETYMOLOGY:
Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative of the sound of a drum roll and cymbal crash or a rimshot (hear it). Earliest documented use: 1965.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes: The following drabble is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is entirely unplanned and coincidental. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Oh, and I apologize if this comes off kind of racist. But doesn't everyone make fun of Italians? ;)
--------------------------------
“Ya know, Vinnie, I don’ know if I’m happy or sad that it’s finally over.”
“I know, right? It’s like, we’re not gonna be famous anymore, but then we don’t got those fuckin’ cameras in our faces every second.”
“Exac’ly, like, now we can do whatever we want, even if it don’t go down so good wit’ the producers.”
“There somethin’ you been wantin’ to do, Mikey?”
“Yeah.” Mikey put his hands on the back of Vinnie’s neck and kissed him. Vinnie didn’t hesitate. He kissed him right back, and bada-bing, there were the fireworks Mikey had been waiting for.
AWAD -- "attaboy"
ETA: I forgot! Anyone reading these drabbles is welcome to post their own drabble based on that day's word, either in the comments below or on your own blog. No prizes planned currently, but maybe there will be random drawings sometime in the future.
---------------
Going back to my attempt to kill three birds with one stone: 1) catch up on my A Word A Day emails by 2) writing a daily drabble (based on that day's word), which I then 3) post to this blog.
I've been getting further and further behind. Seriously, it would take 30 seconds to read the damn Word, its etymology, the usage examples, and the quote, but...see the name of this blog? Yeah.
I was going to use the AWADs to drabble once before, but it was a week of depressing words and I just couldn't do it. So here's to new beginnings. Plus, I'm going to start with the most recent and work my way back to those depressing ones waaay down in my inbox.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.Word.A.Day -- Sept. 9, 2011
attaboy
MEANING:
interjection: Used to express approval or encouragement.
ETYMOLOGY:
Alteration of "That's the boy." Earliest documented use: 1909.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not fiction this time, but I’ll try to keep it drabble length.
The first thing that came to mind when I thought about the interjection “attaboy” was Will Phillips, the ten-year old (twelve now) who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school because he doesn’t believe that America does have liberty and justice for all. Specifically, he feels that LGBT Americans are denied certain rights that straight people have.
Ten years old. He saw what he felt was an injustice and he spoke out against it. How many kids would do the same? How many adults? Attaboy, Will.
---------------
Going back to my attempt to kill three birds with one stone: 1) catch up on my A Word A Day emails by 2) writing a daily drabble (based on that day's word), which I then 3) post to this blog.
I've been getting further and further behind. Seriously, it would take 30 seconds to read the damn Word, its etymology, the usage examples, and the quote, but...see the name of this blog? Yeah.
I was going to use the AWADs to drabble once before, but it was a week of depressing words and I just couldn't do it. So here's to new beginnings. Plus, I'm going to start with the most recent and work my way back to those depressing ones waaay down in my inbox.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.Word.A.Day -- Sept. 9, 2011
attaboy
MEANING:
interjection: Used to express approval or encouragement.
ETYMOLOGY:
Alteration of "That's the boy." Earliest documented use: 1909.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not fiction this time, but I’ll try to keep it drabble length.
The first thing that came to mind when I thought about the interjection “attaboy” was Will Phillips, the ten-year old (twelve now) who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school because he doesn’t believe that America does have liberty and justice for all. Specifically, he feels that LGBT Americans are denied certain rights that straight people have.
Ten years old. He saw what he felt was an injustice and he spoke out against it. How many kids would do the same? How many adults? Attaboy, Will.
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