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In the Heat of the Night

12 October 2005 by MissMeliss

Recently, I joined The Alchera Project, and this bit of flashfic is my first submission.

Twelve-thirty in the morning, and it's still over ninety degrees outside, the night air calm as death and twice as deep. I'm wearing as little as possible – a strappy red tank top and matching panties – and my hair is pulled up into a messy pony tail-knot-thing on the top of my head. Ugly, but effective, it keeps my hair off my neck at least. I'm trying to read, but it's too hot to focus, so I just sit in bed and watch the dog sleeping on the floor.

The phone rings, and I answer it in a voice laced with sex, âœHey handsome. Coming home soon?â

The voice on the other end, my husband, my lover, laughs softly, and tells me he's on the way. âœWait for me in bed,â he says, âœI'm ten minutes from home.â I smile into the phone, and say I will.

He doesn't speak a word to me, when he comes into the bedroom, just strips in the dim light from the stars and the street lamps. He kisses my lips, my neck, then tugs at my shirt. Minutes, and several more pieces of clothing, later, we're moving together to the beat of the music from the bar down the street.

An hour later, we're both laying in the bed, sweaty, sated, and sleepy. He whispers something about it being really good, and then, louder, murmurs, âœLove you, baby,â and rolls over.

I lie there in the bed and listen to the sound of his breathing and the dogs, mingling in the darkness. I close my eyes, then open them, and stare at the moon, shining through the frame formed by the patio doors. Moonlight always seems so cool and serene, that for a moment I wish I could reach out and capture the glow, bathe in it.

Contemplating this, I fall asleep, or at least, I think I do, because the next time I look at the clock it's blinking 6:00 in inistant red digits, and the air is, if not cooler, at least not as thick.

Permalink at Moonchilde.com

Splashes

Apple Weather

9 October 2005 by MissMeliss

Today, in an effort to explain why I love this time of year, I coined the phrase apple weather. While it's true that apple cider is making it's annual re-appearance in the stores, I wasn't really referring to apples themselves, as to the fact that we're in a pattern of sunny, warm days and nights that are cool enough for flannel pajamas and small fires. Truly though, the analogy works, as apples are both crisp and sweet.

Earlier this afternoon, I sat in the sunny back yard and watched Cleo on perimeter patrol while Zorro did what chihuahuas do best: held the deck down. I think he must be a solar powered dog, because even in the hottest weather, he loves to sprawl on the patio and soak up rays. After, he comes and asks for attention, and he always smells like fresh line-dried laundry (and corn chips), and I scratch his ears and call him my sun-baked doggy. But I digress.

As I sat there, I reflected that what I love about this time of year is that even when it's in the mid-eighties, the breeze still has a bite to it that reminds me what the season really is.

In celebration of Fall, I sipped a pumpkin spice latte while re-arranging three bunches of seasonally colored flowers (blood red, maroon, and wine with yellow centers) into two vases, one for the kitchen table and the other for my desk. I haven't bothered to bring home cut flowers all summer, and I realized tonight that I really MISS that ritual, so from now on, even when we order groceries online, flowers will be included. (The secret, btw, to making grocery store flowers look good is to buy two or three bunches and re-arrange them.)

As much as I hate getting up early for it, I'm looking forward to choir practice and church tomorrow – what better way to begin a week than by raising your voice in song? I'm feeling so festive, I might even wear a skirt.

Yes.
I do own a couple.
And they're not even black.

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

Splashes

Boobiethon 2005

7 October 2005 by MissMeliss

The title is correct, and yes, I did submit my own picture (just now, so it may not be up til sometime tomorrow.) Fuzzy didn't even fret over it – after all, bra-shots don't reveal any more than the average bathing suit.

In any case, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and since even MEN can get breast cancer, you should all go visit Boobiethon.com and make a donation (or submit your own image).

Hey, it's all in fun, and it's for a good cause.

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

Splashes

On Location: Chimes and Chills

6 October 2005 by MissMeliss

This is an audio post.

To hear it and read the transcript, go here.

Splashes

Sleep Patterns

5 October 2005 by MissMeliss

I've been going through a period of extremely brief periods of sleep, followed by even more brief bouts of wakefulness, the end result being that I'm sleeping in two hour blocks, which is neither restful, nor particularly satisfying, though the dreams I'm having have been vivid.

Graphic even.

Too graphic for this blog, of course.
(You'll all just have to speculate.)

I've never been 'good' at sleeping. I'm nocturnal, with my mind really coming alive late at night, and then, I have an over active imagination which causes me to spook myself and then spend hours huddled in the dark with the sheets up to my chin, and with some form of contact with Fuzzy and the dogs, basically waiting for false dawnlight to peek around the edges of the vertical blinds and peer between the slats, giving me the sign that the sky is brightening, and sleep is now 'safe'.

It's ridiculous, of course.
And the thing is, I'm not afraid of the dark, I'm just weirded out by mental imagery, however staticky and pixelized.

Fuzzy's alarm clock dependency – five different alarms spaced over two and a half hours – does NOT help, because usually the first will go off just as I'm finally easing into REM and then the pattern will continue until the last one, which still does not provoke wakefulness in the man.

I share all this because lack of sleep has affected my coherence, and my momentary desire to write. At six AM I have lovely ideas, but turning on the light to write them down would wake me TOO much, so they float away.

On the subject of sleep patterns, I am curious:
Do you get eight hours of sleep a night, on average?
If so, is it at a “normal” time, or do you live in reverse, or on a stretched-out schedule?
And does your imagination ever get the better of you, even in adulthood?

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

Splashes

Cribbed from

4 October 2005 by MissMeliss
Your Life on Battlestar Galactica by bookwormdarlin
Your name
You hail from CapricaPiconTauronSagittaronIconArilonTrevorGeminonVirgonCanceronLeonisScorpia
You live to Be the greatest viper pilot everSlaughter every last cylon without mercyPreserve your way of lifeHave sex with as many crewmates as possible before you dieDuh – find Earth….who knows, all my joys were destroyed by the bloody Cylons
Starbuck admires your Viper skills
Baltar was heard whispering You look hotter than Six
Adama always calls you the last person he would ever sleep with
Apollo wishes you would stop sucking up to his dad
Tigh once drank to your Karaoke skills
Your Call Sign is Trigger
Your chances of being a cylon: 54%
Your chances of reaching earth: 30%
Quiz created with MemeGen!
Splashes

Do YOU NaNoWriMo?

4 October 2005 by MissMeliss

After a false start on the first of this month, registration for NaNoWriMo 2005 is up and running once more.

If you've ever thought about writing a novel, or even attempted to write one, but failed to finish, this event is for YOU.

Come find other insane scribblers who are committing to the attempt to write a 50,000-word novel from start to finish during the month of November.

If you decide to come along for the ride, be certain to say hello to Zoetrope on the boards there. (That'd be ME.)

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

Splashes

started it!

3 October 2005 by MissMeliss
Your Sexy Halloween Costume Is
Sassy Sister
What Sexy Halloween Costume Are You?
Splashes

HEAR THIS: Michi Regier

3 October 2005 by MissMeliss

I found her while searching for a piece by Julian Lloyd Webber. No, really, I did. You see, Mr. Webber once recorded a funky syncopated version of Paganini's Caprice No. 24, simply called “Variations” (it's a theme that flows through his brother's musical Song and Dance) and while I used to have a copy of it, the tape has long since disappeared.

Not that I even own a cassette player any more.

But I digress.

I was surfing eMusic.com when I found a violinist called Michi had recorded it. Admittedly, I saw the name and imagined some incredibly studious Asian prodigy. Instead, after following chains of links, I found a young woman from Colorado who fuses classical violin pieces with a Celtic and folk sensibility and also composes her own stuff, when she's not playing in bluegrass bands.

I was instantly entranced, and, since I still had 90 free downloads available, grabbed her whole album, Curved Space, and immediately added it both to my Napster list and my Zen.

I love her interpretation of the Paganini piece, but what I like even better are the Ukranian (I think) folk songs she's included in the collection of nineteen songs. She's a versatile player, switching from haunting allure to jaunty dance tunes laced with mischief on this disc, and would be a great introductory artist for people who think violin music is stuffy and boring. (Actually, my cello-bias has always made me feel that violins are too shrill, but she plays without any annoying shrillness at all.)

In her blogger profile, Regier refers to herself as a âœfiddle-in-istâ, and articles I found on the web intimate that she calls herself either a fiddler or a violinist depending on what she's playing at the moment. A true gypsy, she's played everywhere from Carnegie Hall, to the L'viv Philharmonie, to renaissance faires in Colorado, and performs reguarly in pubs and coffeehouses in the Denver area with the band DjypsyGrass.

Curved Space can be purchased from cdbaby.com or downloaded from eMusic.com.
Michi Regier's website can be found at michimusic.com.

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

Splashes

Breaking the Self-imposed Silence

3 October 2005 by MissMeliss

I’m not struggling for words, so much as for time in which I have the energy to write. As September wound to a close we had a blissful day of fall weather, followed by a new pattern of overcast morning skies and toasty afternoons, with the evening low still hovering in the 70’s – cool enough for evening coffee in the back yard, but not cold enough to turn off the a/c at night (our bedroom gets extremely hot during the day.)

Still we’re using the a/c LESS. It’s a start.

In other news, my new gig has gone live.

And finally, with the turning of the month, and the ritual flipping of the calendar page, comes the return of Pumpkin flavored foods, and Halloween decorating. A few of my neigbors have already decorated their lawns for Halloween. I think one should wait through the first week of October. If you have thoughts, feel free to share them.

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

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What I’m Reading: Bibliotica

Review: Death of a Billionaire, by Tucker May

Review: Death of a Billionaire, by Tucker May

For a first novel, Death of a Billionaire is remarkably polished, deeply entertaining, and packed with personality. I turned the final page already hoping this is only the beginning of a long writing career for Tucker May.

Review: Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd

Review: Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd

Hummingbird Moonrise brings the Murder, Tea & Crystals trilogy to a satisfying close, weaving folklore, witchcraft, and family ties into a mystery that’s equal parts heart and suspense. Arista’s growing strength and Auntie’s sharp humor ground the story’s supernatural tension, while Dodd’s lyrical prose and steady pacing make this a “cozy thriller” that’s as comforting as it is compelling.

Review: The Traveler’s Atlas of the World

Review: The Traveler’s Atlas of the World

It’s a celebration of curiosity — of countries we know by heart and those we might never reach, but can visit here, one breathtaking image at a time.

Review: National Geographic The Photographs: Iconic Images from National Geographic

The Photographs rekindles that same sense of wonder, distilled into one breathtaking collection. Across more than 250 images, National Geographic’s legendary photographers remind us what it means to see — truly see — our planet and ourselves

Review: Narrow the Road, by James Wade

Review: Narrow the Road, by James Wade

  About the book, Narrow the Road Genre: Southern Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming of Age Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Pages: 306 Publication Date: 26 August 2025 In this gripping coming-of-age odyssey, a young man’s quest to reunite his family takes him on a life-altering journey through the wilds of 1930s East Texas, where both danger and […]

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