Stories Are Everywhere
Dan Delgado (Level 5) ~ 7/15/2012 4:04 AM
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9397478/Farmer-creates-heart-shaped-meadow-in-memory-of-wife.html
"Farmer creates heart-shaped meadow in memory of wife"
Margaret Ricke (Level 5) ~ 7/15/2012 11:06 AM
Most of my ideas come from my life or the news. They're just not as sweet as this.
Sylvester StBrice (Level 2) ~ 7/17/2012 12:31 AM
Life is canvas and we are the artist trying to paint it.
Bill Sarre (Level 4) ~ 7/17/2012 8:17 AM
I saw a program on the Olympics last night which showed Jessie Owens in the 100m in 1936.
What I didn't realise was that in second place was another black American, which I have since looked up as Ralph Metcalfe. Now I'm not saying nobody remembers RM, but it is interesting how someone can be so close to being "the name" yet remembered so differently. Many a story in that idea. Eg what if Ralph didn't want the fame and agreed to let Jessie win as long as he came second etc etc
Margaret Ricke (Level 5) ~ 7/18/2012 11:41 AM
Would anyone be interested in an idea pool via an email group?
I know I've seen some things that I either don't have the inclination to write about or shouldn't write for personal reasons. I'd be glad to put some of them out there for other writers to look at and take as their own.
As an example -
I walked into a gas station to buy cigarettes late one night when I was 18 (1969). The closed sign was in the window, but there were people inside and the door was unlocked, so I went in anyway.
Three very nicely built young men in expensive suits were standing silent behind a smaller man in an expensive suit, and he was telling the station guy something I didn't make out (low, firm voice) and the station guy was scared.
The three big guys looked at me and one of them turned around to face me. His hands were one over the other in front of him. He smiled sweet crooked at me and said, "You don't want to be here." He said it very nicely, and I think he said "darling" or "dear" at the end, but he made it clear, and he was absolutely right. I did NOT want to be there.
I've never forgotten that night. I even remember that I saw the little guy through the wall the big guys made. I'll never write the incident into a story, though. Not by itself or as a scene in something else.
Margaret Ricke (Level 5) ~ 7/20/2012 9:38 AM
I think there should be really ornate crowns for being the queen and king of thread killers.
Ayal Pinkus (Level 5) ~ 7/20/2012 4:53 PM
Let me be the thread killer instead :-)
Cool idea, pooling/sharing ideas! Any of you guys or gals carry a notebook with you to jot down ideas during the day? I find I have lots of ideas and only time to execute the tiniest fraction of them... Would be cool to share them, maybe inspire each other.
Sylvia Dahlby (Level 5) ~ 7/20/2012 9:26 PM
"All the world's a stage..." As You Like It - Act II Scene VII - William Shakespeare
Dan Delgado (Level 5) ~ 7/22/2012 9:48 AM
Margaret's story reminded me of this one.
In the middle 70s I worked for a company that had a string of amusement parks in Southern California. (They shot scenes for "Karate Kid" was shot where I worked.) So glorified miniature golf courses, go-carts, trampolines, bumper cars, arcade, pool tables, snack bar, etc.
It was all private, a family out of Provo, Utah, that would build them and run them. They were expanding fast and even then, with all the elaborate plumbing and landscaping it probably took two or three million to get one built.
So they were a little short on money. These were basically cash businesses and cash businesses tend to attract a certain kind of "investor". And they were definitely looking for investors at the time.
I'd worked up to assistant manager, which meant I was the one who had to come in early and get the floors mopped and the snack bar going. They would sometimes ask me to come in earlier and get things extra clean because potential investors would be stopping by.
One morning about five potential investors and around that many owners were there early in the morning, before we opened.
These guys were connected. A blind man could tell that in about two seconds. It wasn't like they were trying to hide it either. They looked the part, they sounded the part and every thing they said was something like: "Yeah, ten years ago the family set me up in... (you name it -- their "families" were pretty generous).
When I say even a blind man could tell within two seconds, I should have said "even a blind with average intelligence". One of the minority owners (also a manager), a guy who was as white a sheet and would turn beet red when he got mad, didn't catch on at first. I'll call him Jim.
They needed money, but they weren't stupid enough to take it from the "family" so they were just trying to be polite, talk to the guys for a couple of hours, say we'll consider it and let them leave.
After about an hour of this and after about the fiftieth time of one of them saying "The family set me up in...", "Jim" finally caught on, turned red, got in the guy's face and bellowed at the top of his lungs: "YOU'RE THE GAWDDAMMED MAFIA, AREN'T YOU?!"
That was an uncomfortable situation, especially for my twenty-year-old self. Everyone else looked a little uncomfortable too, for some strange reason. The "investors" didn't say a word. They walked out got in their cars and left. As far as I know we never heard from them again.
Tim Westland (Moderator) ~ 7/22/2012 5:35 PM
Great story, Dan. Consider it stolen.
Matthew Fettig (Level 5) ~ 7/22/2012 8:41 PM
Ayal - I find I have a lot of ideas soon after I go to bed (1-2am) and find myself running downstairs to jot it down before I forget it. The next day when I look at my notes, I try to figure out what in the world made me think it was a good idea!
I'm definitely up for sharing ideas and collaborating.
Reginald McGhee (Level 0) ~ 7/23/2012 11:27 PM
Most of my ideas don't go anywhere. Thus I find writing increasingly exhaulsting.
Olga Tremaine (Level 4) ~ 7/24/2012 3:54 PM
These are great ideas, guys!
Olga Tremaine (Level 4) ~ 7/24/2012 3:55 PM
I meant stories.