haiku

Souverniers become

dried, paper thin. Memories

remain plump with life.

Photo by: Osquer

haiku (for Mom)

A Mom would not miss

your premiere even if she's

the whole audience.

OneWord - so little time [premiere]

Unfortunately he had chosen the wrong occasion for the premiere of his mechanical earthworm. His twin sister's clockwork squirrel which not only stole the nuts from his packed lunch but buried them in the worm's dirt tank completely stole the hearts of the judges at the science fair.

* * * * * * *

I had to think for a second whether to use the noun or the verb of this one, Mom. Thanks for a versatile word.

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord still doesn't seem to be updating; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku

You’re not going to

believe what flavor dog food

someone's making now!

Photo by: Osquer

(Free sample from Pet Supplies Plus)

haiku (for Paperback Writer)

May life distract you

too much to notice headaches

‘til their pain is eased.

OneWord - so little time [headache]

"You have been without a doubt the most troublesome, incorrigible, obnoxious, stubborn headache it has ever been my misfortune to teach. However, your skills at math and at expertly handling your fellow students require of me that I offer you the position of my teaching assistant."

* * * * * * *

Aw, Paperback Writer, I hope you're not having one of THOSE days!

Photo by: Osquer - Edinburgh, Scotland, January 2002

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to be updating; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku

Snow clings, coating the

branches while I cling to my

coat, shaking off snow.

Photo by: Osquer

haiku (for Mom)

Any pawn can tell

you that even tiny steps

add up to big moves.

OneWord - so little time [pawn]

"I don't get it. Why did you say she made you feel like a prawn? Did she throw you in the pool? Dip you in cocktail sauce?"

"Now prawn, PAWN you idiot."

"Oh. So she would only let you take two steps at a time in a straight line?"

* * * * * * *

"Thanks for another good word, Mom!

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku (for Jay)

It was fun to spend

the afternoon loafing in

the kitchen with you.

Photo by: Osquer

haiku (for Dad)

Childhood enigmas

don't make all that much more sense

after we grow up.

OneWord - so little time [enigma]

"You don't understand," he wailed, "without that box this mission is for nothing."

"Actually, the contents of the box were our mission. When I blew up the box I had already removed what we came to get. The guards saw me blow up an empty box." Just then Rex came running down the passageway with the Enigma Machine strapped to his back. "Good dog!" I praised him, slipping him a bite of jerky. "They'll give you a medal, boy!"

* * * * * * *

Thanks, Dad, that's a great word!

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

Hey, Rob, I didn't think you'd mind if I let Pendragon write your haiku!

"What? Do you think you

look all that good when you’ve just

stepped out of the bath? "

Photo by: Osquer

OneWord - so little time [fire]

"Fire!" called out the sergeant, but nothing happened. "Fire!" He cried out again, but once more the men just stood there, their fingers on the triggers, but they would not shoot. "Why do you not fire?" He asked.

One of the men finally spoke, "Sir, the men have decided that no matter what crimes the prisoner is convicted of, we will not execute her. She is the only thing of beauty that has ever entered this prison and we will not destroy that beauty."

* * * * * * *

Another good word, Rob, thanks!

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

OneWord - so little time [whisper]

Snowflakes flitted to the bare branches with a whisper so soft that I only imagined I could hear it. Their delicate forms melded into one another like people becoming cliques… becoming groups…becoming a crowd. Their individual forms lost in their effect.

* * * * * * *

Thank you, my dear Jay, for a lovely word to write about. You know me so well.

haiku (for Jay)

Your kisses whisper

to my skin like snowflakes to

bare winter branches.

55 Fiction Friday

“Eleanor!”

Lady Eleanor was quite pleased to hear her Christian name torn in a gasp from the duke’s lips. It took all of her self control to prevent a satisfied smirk from overtaking her lips, but she did not even flutter an eyelid until he lunged to her side and took her hand in his.

[FIRST] [PREVIOUS] (to be continued...)

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku (for Rob)

I’ll try anything

to give my reptilian

winter skin moisture.

Photo by: Osquer

OneWord - so little time [reptilian]

“Get your reptilian fingers off me!” I snarled at him.

“Reptiles don't have fingers,” he replied, and to my unsurprised horror launched into a ridiculously detailed description of the reptile anatomy. Oh, well, at least it distracted him from trying to make another inept pass at me.

Thursday, January 18, 2007 21:30 EST

* * * * * * *

Thanks for an unexpected word, Rob. Let's see if I can work it into a haiku.

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku (for Paperback Writer)

My life may not have

magazine gloss but it does

have brilliant color!

Photo by: Osquer
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

One Word - so little time [magazine]

He emptied the entire magazine into the corpse, but it was no use. It just kept coming. "That's the problem with zombies, they just won't stay down." He gritted throught his teeth to me.

"Don 't say the zed word." I gasped, handing him another clip. "And aim for the head."

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 19:47 EST

* * * * * * *

Sorry about the violent bent of this drabble, Paperback Writer. I think I've been watching too much news and 24 and BBC.

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku (for Mom)

The continuum

of family weaves a thread

of home through the world.

One word, so little time [continuum]

The continuum of my thoughts was not only monotonous, but unbroken. Not only did my surroundings fail to distract me from the nagging notion which would not leave me alone, but they served to reinforce it with the influence of coincidental song lyrics on the radio and the scrambled headline of a folded newspaper.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 16:26 EST

* * * * * * *

Thanks for a good word, Mom. I knew what it meant from having heard it and read it in context, but I never had the occassion to look it up before. I always enjoy a new vocabulary word.

haiku (for Dad)

It is a funny

card. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I gotcha covered!

Photos by: Osquer
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

The Pick Osquer's OneWord Contest...

Well, OneWord doesn't seem to have updated today; so here's a contest to pick a word for me to write about. The first person to post a word in the comments wins. The prize is that I will use your word for my OneWord post. I will also write a haiku especially for you! I've got my sixty second timer set to go. Someone give me the word!

One of the best things about www.oneword.com for me was the fascination of being able to read other people's perspectives on the same word. So, if anyone out there would like to play along at home, I'd love it if you posted your own OneWord entry in the comments. Just set a sixty second timer (or guesstimate about a minute) and write whatever comes to your mind about the winning word for today. As they say on www.oneword.com (when it works) "Don't think. Just write." Then share your thoughts in the comments to my OneWord post. I'd love to see what you have to say!

haiku (for Jay)

Photo by: Osquer

Last balloon floating

from a bunch first sent flying

sixty-eight days past…

Photo by: Osquer, December 3, 2006

Balloons inflated November 9, 2006

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [create]

[Osquer 42]

I had attempted to create a new identity for myself, but even in my choice of pseudonym, my reality seeped through. I couldn't resist making an anagram of my real name. Sure the sound didn't match my ethnicity, but then it could be a married name. Hopefully it wasn't a guise I would need for long anyway.

January 15, 2007 05:48 PM (20:48 EST)

haiku (for Jay)

With bright sparks and a

warm glow, these fireworks fill my

heart with your romance.

Photo by: Osquer
Flowers from: Jay

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [well]

[Osquer 42]

I looked down into the well, but couldn't see a thing. "I don't know, girl, I think you're wrong for once. Timmy's not in the well." Lassie began barking again. "Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you properly before. You see, church services had just ended and I was ringing the big bell..."

January 14, 2007 04:51 PM (19:51 EST)

haiku (for Jay)

So pleasant to hear

you singing in the next room

while I'm baking bread.

Photo by: Osquer

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [ample]

[Osquer 42]

I had ample motivation to finish my task. The wizard who was gazing into the globe that was linked the one on my desk had imprisoned my entire clan in his power generator. I carefully mixed the compounds that would eat through the wall of the chamber and set them free. Once they were free, he would be powerless and I could rid the kingdom of him.

January 13, 2007 10:04 AM (13:04 ESt)

55 Fiction Friday

Lady Eleanor Weatherby approached the library. She planned things too carefully to ever be truly surprised. She was, however, shocked to see the image of her dead sister sitting opposite her own portrait. Her missing niece! She carefully assessed the situation and, judging it to be to her best advantage, fainted dramatically on the threshold.

[FIRST] [PREVIOUS] (to be continued...)

haiku (for Tom)

There’s something about

flambé that transforms mere lunch

to an adventure.

Photos by: Osquer

Flames by: Tom
(Who introduced himself as our "Japanese White Guy"
I have it on good authority that Nakama only has one employee who is actually Japanese. What they do have is fantastic food!)

[Click on photos to enlarge.]

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [scent]

[Osquer 42]

She had caught his scent and began to strain at the leash. "Okay, girl okay," I reassured her, "We're with you."

"Do you really think we'll find him?"

"If this dog has anything to say about it we will. He saved her as a puppy and she's determined to do the same for him now!"

January 12, 2007 04:18 PM (19:18 EST)

haiku

Okay, Pittsburghers,

name the tunnel entrance this

lion head graces.

(Here’s a hint: This photo was taken from nearby.)

Photo by: Osquer
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [cent]

[Osquer 42]

"I'm not paying one cent for that scent." He spluttered. "You got it all wrong. It was supposed to be 33 and 1/3 parts lilac to 66 2/3 parts lavender, not the other way around!" He stormed out; nearly knocking the bell from over the door he slammed it so hard.

"Oh well. I sighed to the cat. "I like it better this way. I'll just wear it myself." The cat purred on indifferently.

January 11, 2007 06:04 PM (21:04 EST)

haiku

Too busy trying

to avoid Medusa’s eye,

we can’t see her tears.

Photos by: Osquer - September 3, 2006
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Fibonacci Poem - for Pittsburgh commuters

The

Steel

City,

surrounded

by iron cold winds,

contracts its cold extremities.

Photo by: Osquer
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [sent]

[Osquer 42]

"I was sent here to fetch you Ma'am."

"Fetch me? Fetch ME?! How dare you!" The former Empress squared her shoulders and walked toward the door. The burly guard meekly attempted to take her by the wrist, but she shook him off like a lapdog. "Do not touch me. As if I would lower myself to tussel with you in an escape attempt. Don't bother. I know the way to the courtroom by now."

January 10, 2007 05:18 PM (20:18 EST)

tanka

I'd like to take this

opportunity to thank

whatever gods may

be for the honest person

who turned in my lost wallet.

Photo by: Osquer
Good Deed by: ?

haiku (for Jay)

A wise knight knows that

a damsel in distress needs

to be transported.

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [elevate]

[Osquer 42]

I tried to elevate the conversation, but the antigravity boosters didn't seem to be working. There was only one thing for it. "Uncle Albert," I grinned, "Did you ever hear the one about the Pope, the President and the Peach?"

Uncle Albert's eyes lit up, "Oh, yes! I love that one!" He began to laugh heartily which eventually carried him right up to the ceiling!

January 9, 2007 06:53 PM (22:53 EST)

haiku

The paper gazes

back at me, but will not let

me see its secrets.

Photo by: Osquer

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [contrast]

[Osquer 42]

The contrast of the contrail high above me from the cloudless blue was striking, that and the fact that it was the first of its kind that I had seen since the eleventh. I called my dad at the airport to ask if I should be seeing it. Yes, apparently the planes were flying again.

January 8, 2007 02:59 PM (17:59 EST)

haiku (for Jay, Paul, Luke and Kelly)

So glad everyone's

home for dinner. I picked the

right night for chicken.

Photo by: Osquer
Chicken by: Osquer ;-p
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [memory]

[Osquer 42]

There was a half formed idea rattling around in my memory, but I suspected that it had initially formed when I was a bit tipsy from the champagne at the opening of the new Science Building. That and the fact that The Professor's aide was chattering in my ear about his latest attempt to breed a long tailed hamster was making it very difficult to pin down.

January 7, 2007 12:13 PM (15:13 EST)

haiku (for Jay)

The spark of our love

will burn brighter and warmer

until it fills us.

Photos by: Osquer
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [bongo]

[Osquer 42]

I watched him approaching, my heart beating like a bongo drum. I had never been so nervous in my entire life. He stopped and turned to face me. "Well, well, what do we have here?"

"It's a self portrait," I smiled, hopeful.

"My dear, your choice of doing a nude of yourself underwater was quite bold and clever. Buoyancy does so much to counteract the effects of gravity."

January 6, 2007 08:07 PM (23:07)

haiku

Warm wet weather makes

for interresting hair days

quite out of season.

Photo by: Osquer

55 Fiction Friday

Archie stared at Jessica completely nonplussed. He could not remember anyone ever admitting an honest emotion to him. Witnessing his mother’s machinations had blinded him to the affection that his uncle had unsuccessfully tried to show him since his father’s death. Uncharacteristically without a sarcastic retort, Archie was relieved to hear his mother’s footsteps approaching.

[FIRST] [PREVIOUS] (to be continued...)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [little]

[Osquer 42]

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Very little actually. Even if I could explain myself in terms simple enough for you to understand, it would do no good. You might 'get' me, but you would never know what to do with me. Besides, I like the philosophy of 'never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.'"

January 5, 2007 04:44 PM (19:44 EST)

haiku

Hieroglyphics...not

quite ancient, but still rather

tricky to translate.

Photo by: Osquer
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [collar]

[Osquer 42]

We're going to have to find a way to collar this woman," he stated, his fists clenched on either hip. "Your grace, for give me for offering an opinion, but I doubt if you will find reigning in her ladyship an easy task."

January 4, 2007 05:10 PM (20:10 EST)

haiku (for Pendragon the parrot)

Great to be a bird

when the family’s grown tired

of holiday nuts.

Photos by: Osquer

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [tank]

[Osquer 42]

"He's going to tank on this one."

"No he's not! I know he can do it."

"Of course he CAN do it, but he won't."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't know you think he can do it."

I suddenly realized that he was right. So. I grabbed a Sharpie from my bag and wrote "I believe in you!" on my T-shirt. Then I climbed up on the rail so the contestants could see me. I knew he could do it. Now he knew it too!

January 3, 2007 07:12 PM (22:12 EST)

haiku

Even the smallest

dreams can fly if they get a

chance to stretch their wings.

Photo by: Osquer
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [cosmic]

[Osquer 42]

"You know, in the cosmic scheme of things, it really matters very little."

"Perhaps, but I am going to perfect this recipe if it kills me."

"Well, if you overdo the garlic like that again, it might kill me."

"Yeah, what was I thinking? Garlic is definitely not what's missing from my lemon meringue pie."

"This is just a thought. Have you tried using lemons?"

January 2, 2007 04:52 PM (19:52 EST)

Magnetic Haiku

Photos by: Osquer
(Clock on photos to enlarge.)

www.oneword.com - one word, so little time [eclipse]

[Osquer 42]

"All my life I've had to deal with you doing everything you could to eclipse my efforts! All I ever wanted you to do was be proud of me! Why couldn't you have a little faith in me?"

He stared at her, dumbfounded. All he'd ever done was try to protect her. He hadn't realized that he was also limiting her.

January 1, 2007 05:25 PM (20:25 EST)

haiku - Holiday Humor

Coincidental

placement causes amusement...

"Fa la la..." "Roar!" "Shrieeeek!"

Photo by: Osquer