Tiger's Blog

Celtic Dawn - Totem Animal Challenge

The Raven and the Cat, sworn enemies, faced each other across the battlefield, their bodies undulating menacingly in the wind.. Behind each, other creatures followed; the Badger, the Crow and the Griffin seconding the ebony Raven; the Cock, Wolf, and Wren backing the hissing Cat. As the blare of a horn split the cold dawn, brave Celtic warriors from Southern Sunderland, lifted their heavy shields, reflecting the rising sun off the Ravens’ wings. Unruffled by noise or clime, fierce,…

Continue

Added by Tiger on March 5, 2011 at 12:29pm — 3 Comments

Whispers

Ten women of a certain age. Whispering behind their hands, sussing out secrets. Trading pictures of graduations, weddings and christenings. Comparing notes on diets and surgeries, failed marriages and affairs, careers and retirement plans. Ten women of a certain age, all sipping white wine and speaking at once. Welcome to the 40^th reunion of the class of ’70.

Added by Tiger on October 20, 2010 at 10:41am — 5 Comments

The Party

All gussied up in her new outfit, a sunshine yellow sweater and bright, colourful print skirt, she held court in the big chair next to the fireplace. Helium-filled balloons floated over her head, bouncing as her petite body wiggled with joy. Bright, crumpled paper littered the floor around her small feet, reaching up to the growing stack of cards and boxes that filled in the space around her .

Oohs and ahs greeted each new unveiling. A silver bracelet followed a green scarf, a book… Continue

Added by Tiger on September 30, 2010 at 3:25pm — 5 Comments

Counting the minutes

It’s 7 a.m. and I’m staring sitting at the table staring at my empty hands, wondering what to do with them. Normally I’d be clutching my second or third mug of high-test coffee, but, on doctor’s orders, I’m trying to cut back on my daily caffeine intake – damn that bastard -- and I’m beginning to think cutting back a body part would be more tolerable. Preferably one of his body parts (use your imagination).

I’m only allowed one cup per day and my dilemma is when to have it: first… Continue

Added by Tiger on July 6, 2009 at 9:43am — 6 Comments

Food Challenge: Ode on a Hot Dog (with sincerest apologies to Keats)

THOU still unsavoured gem of pleasure,
Thou bastard-child of Succulence and slow Roasting,
Epicurean muse, who canst thus express
A piquant flavor more sweetly than Parsley, Sage or Thyme.
What mystery haunts about thy fellow travelers,
Of mustard or relish, or of both.

Added by Tiger on May 26, 2009 at 5:08pm — 2 Comments

Growing up

At four, she learned that Santa doesn’t really bring brightly wrapped dolls and Easy Bake ovens.

At six, the beautiful tooth fairy morphed into a parent sneaking into her room late at night to place a silver dollar under her pillow.

At thirteen, her first love, Jimmy Marks, dumped her for cheerleader Alison Moore.

At seventeen, acceptance to the local college did nothing to dull the pain of the thin envelope from Princeton.

At twenty-four, 2 months before the birth of their… Continue

Added by Tiger on May 24, 2009 at 10:33am — 7 Comments

Sigh of Resignation

These days, times are hard for everyone; housing is down, unemployment is up and the stock market is still doing a flawless impression of the Coney Island Cyclone.

Is it a secondary trend against a primary trend, a market correction, recession, or depression?

I don’t know and frankly, I don’t care; all that matters is that I’m out there competing for a job with 13.5 million others, drinking cheap(er) wine and eating at home every night (oh, how I miss restaurants and… Continue

Added by Tiger on May 21, 2009 at 4:26pm — 3 Comments

Spring Day

A bright spring day, spent pottering happily in the garden, tending the earth, at one with nature. Asparagus spears poke their heads up, testing the warmth of the sun’s rays.

A few hours of tilling and weeding fill the air with the clean, rich scent of rich soil.

Seedlings are gently transplanted into freshly dug soil, enriched with compost and organic food. The tender green sprouts lovingly tucked into beds of mulch, safe from the threat of weeds and the evening chill.

A cool… Continue

Added by Tiger on May 18, 2009 at 9:30pm — 3 Comments

Mom

My only child - four legged and furry - is not very talented at expressing herself with words. So for Mother's Day I'm sharing the poem a good friend received from her 10-year old son. I think he has great potential as a contributor here.

My mom is the creator of me.

My mom is a cast protecting me from the cold harsh world.

My mom is a heart, loving and comforting me when I'm sad.

She is a helper opening doors for my future.

But, most of important of… Continue

Added by Tiger on May 10, 2009 at 10:41am — No Comments

Emptiness

I wanted to write him a love song, but I had no music in my heart, no melody in my soul. Sonnets and poems are beyond my limited capabilities, no Shakespeare or Shelley in my genes. A picture paints a thousand words, but my pallet is colourless, my canvas blank.
How do you tell someone how much you love him when inspiration is elusive? I ache to express my feelings, the pain is physical, almost tangible.
There is no other way, I must just say it out loud: I love you.

Added by Tiger on May 4, 2009 at 2:02pm — 4 Comments

The Odor of the Night

I can smell my sweat, the distinctive, rancid sweat that comes only from abject fear. The noise is just outside the door, coming closer, ever closer. I reach for the gun next to my pillow, the one my ex left, just as he left me. The creature comes through the doorway, black wings spread wide, mangled lips drawn back revealing bloody fangs clutching the maggoty remains of its last prey. I shoot once, twice, over and over until, spent with exertion, I heard the click of the empty cylinder. The… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 28, 2009 at 9:02pm — 6 Comments

Brotherly Love

Grudgingly, my brothers agreed to take me with them to the matinee, moaning and groaning that it was unfair, embarrassing even, to have to take a “baby” along; but it if it came to a choice between a kid sister or no movie – well, they weren’t stupid. From their superior ages of nine and eleven, they looked down their noses at my mere five years and, no doubt, dreaded their friends’ anticipated snickers, sneers and name calling when they showed up at the Roxy with "her" in tow.

I… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 19, 2009 at 9:25pm — 4 Comments

The Cleansing Ritual

Deep in the forest is a place of peace and harmony, undisturbed by technology or urban gentrification. A waterfall flows, washing away hurt, cares and fears, cleaning the soul.

At the bottom, a pool of clear, blue water reflects wishes, hopes and dreams, blending one into the other. This is my retreat from reality, my “other” world, where I can be anything I want. This is where I come to be at one with nature and to find myself when I’ve… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 16, 2009 at 3:42pm — 10 Comments

Canine economics

As a Golden Retriever, Clue (as in “hasn’t got a”), doesn’t understand the current economic climate. She doesn’t seem particularly interested or really care if it’s a secondary trend reacting to a primary trend, a market correction, a recession or a depression –- but when it impacts her food bowl, well that’s something else.

As long as the expected meal appears in her bone-decorated, pottery bowl promptly at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. when her well-tuned internal clock goes off, and as long… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 12, 2009 at 10:56am — 9 Comments

Sons and daughters

I read a quote in the New York Times today, it was from a Chinese farmer who said "A girl is just not as good as a son; it doesn’t matter how much money you have; if you don’t have a son, you are not as good as other people who have one."

At first I thought, “How sad”; then I realized my father held the same belief. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a son – he had two – but that he had a daughter who wasn’t as good as a son.

He took no interest in his daughter’s education or… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 5, 2009 at 10:48am — 6 Comments

Night Terrors

My body is pinned down on the mattress and I struggle frantically to free myself from my attacker but I’m not big enough, not strong enough to throw off the suffocating weight; terrified, I feel his breath coming closer, warm and fetid.

The evening news had been full of the ski-masked criminal who, for the last three weeks, has climbed through open bedroom windows late at night and raped, then strangled his victims.

I fear I’m going to die; my panic mounts as I inhale his… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 4, 2009 at 4:00pm — 6 Comments

The Gifts of Love

When they were young, unmarried and in the first throes of love and passion, Sara gave him a silky cashmere robe -- hand-combed from Kashmir goats -- and she wished for a white, satin negligee; he bought her cotton, Scooby-Doo shorty PJs.

On their first anniversary, Sara defied convention and gave him a set of custom titanium golf clubs -- woods, hybrids, irons and a putter, with a monogrammed leather bag -- and she wished for tickets to a Broadway show; he bought her a box of… Continue

Added by Tiger on April 1, 2009 at 9:40pm — 7 Comments

Challenge Wordplay 6 – the picnic

Tilly and Hiram strolled along the sand in Burt Reynolds Park dressed in their Sunday Best, sipping their ice-cold Nehi sodas and munching their warm, foil-wrapped sandwiches – Cubans -- the sharp bite of pickle mixing with the soft melted cheese and the tang of the ocean’s salt air.

They walked side by side, she occasionally reaching out to delicately wipe a drop of mustard from his lip, he to gently touch her arm, emphasizing some remark in their conversation – nothing overtly… Continue

Added by Tiger on March 29, 2009 at 12:33pm — 4 Comments

The Storm

My mind is a dangerous place, treacherous and deceitful at times, serene and joyous at others, a never-ending source of insight and blindness, pain and pleasure.

Fear stems from my inability to predict, resist, control, and yes, sometimes even cope with, the environment therein.

At first my mind is wildly out of control, spewing ideas like an manic pitching machine; the ideas coming at random speeds – 5, 90, 35 or 79 per minute – a maelstrom of creativity, assailing,… Continue

Added by Tiger on March 29, 2009 at 11:18am — 3 Comments

Why?

Frank looked up at the ceiling, hoping to catch a stray waft of air from the arthritic overhead fan that fought a valiant, but futile, battle against the cloying, oppressive atmosphere in the sweltering room.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his face, down his neck and shoulders, rivulets joining to form sopping pools under his clothes.

Subconsciously he sniffed the air, analyzing the pong of his personal sweat, weighing its contribution to the ferrous stench in the… Continue

Added by Tiger on March 22, 2009 at 10:36am — 5 Comments

The 6S Social Network

Tiger's Blog (32)