Dan Antion

Oh So Social – SoCS

Modelo draft
Cracker Jack Train

It’s Saturday, and David and I have braved the wind and the cold to get to the bar for a much needed bit of relaxing. Cheryl is here and we’re going to have an adult beverage, maybe some food as we wrestle with Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Linda reminds us, so I’ll remind any Thursday Doors stragglers that pingbacks may still be broken – check to see that your link landed where it should have. As for Linda’s prompt:

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘prize.’ Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!”

If we were having a beer, you’d be wondering about social media, among other things.

“Did you lose a bet with Elon Musk, Dan?”

“Excuse me? That’s an odd question, David.”

“I’m not sure it’s odd given what I’ve been reading.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been reading a menu, David. You guys have been here for several minutes, and no one has ordered anything.”

“I will have a John Howell’s Special, Cheryl. I’m guessing Dan will be having a beer.”

“OK. Now you guys can go back to the odd and unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable? How did that get thrown in?”

“Dan, you’ve been tweeting this week like there’s a prize at the bottom of the box of Twitter.”

“Now that’s an odd analogy, David, but I did like getting to the bottom of a box of Cracker Jack.”

“Here’s your beer, Dan. David, here’s your bourbon, seltzer and ice. And the prize for you is three cherries. Dan what was your favorite prize?”

“You have to guess, Cheryl.”

“I’d say the gizmo where you had to put the little BBs in the holes.”

“You’re close. My favorite was the one where you had to run the BB around a maze. David, what about you?”

“I liked the models. There were some you had to make, but others, like trains and planes were pre-assembled.”

“OK, but back to my original question, what’s the concern about me and Twitter?”

“It’s just that I’ve seen a lot of tweets from you. I was wondering if you’re tweeting more often or if all the good people left.”

“All the good people?”

“I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean that to sound like that. I only meant that I follow what I consider to be a group of good people—yourself included—but I’ve been seeing more of you lately.”

“Well, I have been using twitter a bit more lately, but mostly to call attention to others. I haven’t been pontificating.”

“That’s good.”

“Which part?”

“Both, Dan, both. I did notice a few tweets about your books.”

“And…?”

“And books by others. So, what’s up with that?”

“I read how twitter is in danger of becoming an overdone reduction.”

“A what?”

“Ooh, I know what that is.”

“Can you fill me in, Cheryl?”

“Are you having another round, David?”

“Yes, of course.”

“When you’re trying to concentrate the flavors left in a pan, if you go too far, you waste away all liquid. You’re left with a sticky, burnt coating on the pan.”

“So, that’s happening to Twitter?”

“People are worried about it happening.”

“Is this because good—I’m sorry, you know what I mean—people are leaving, Dan?”

“People, good or otherwise are leaving, but Twitter has also allowed a lot of bad actors back on the platform.”

“Don’t say platform.”

“Why not? That’s what it is, David.”

“I know, but I don’t like the word. It’s a techie word, like ‘bandwidth’ and I don’t want it creeping into the normal daily lexicon.”

“So, I might not be good, and now I’m not normal?”

“Dan, you’ve never been normal.”

“He’s right, Dan, but we like you. Here’s your Modelo and David, here’s your stuff.”

“What’s so special normal, anyway? I mean it’s like being average, right?”

“Again, it’s your people that put average in the center of a normal distribution.”

“My people? David, who exactly are my people?”

“People who think technology and math and science are normal. I mean, it comes as no surprise that your favorite prize was a puzzle.”

“But David, I’m not tweeting about math and science. I’m tweeting and retweeting what authors have to say about their books and the books they are reading, or their tweets and blogs about writing.”

“You’ve also tweeted about Artificial Intelligence, Pittsburgh sports and about trains.”

“Like the prizes you liked finding at the bottom of the Cracker Jack Box?”

“Touché. Maybe you are normal, Dan.”

“I don’t want to be normal, David.”

“I was being kind. You’re in no danger of that.”

By the way: For the folks who look for my posts according to my normal schedule, there will be a post on Tuesday. Two Review Tuesday returns.

I have been tweeting more often lately, and, at least according to my search, I’ve introduced a new hashtag #StoriesWorthSharing – If you’re still on Twitter, Tweet or Retweet some stories worth sharing. Use the hashtag if you like, but spread some good news, some good blogs, some good books. We don’t want to let all the good stuff boil off.

Maybe the sun will melt away the frost
Tulips
The sun keeps trying to break through
The sky was changing rapidly in the high wind we had this day
Everything covered in ice
Ice, wind and sun
My favorite puddle
The puddle at the end of our driveway is freezing over
That court is covered in a thin layer of ice. I remember walking out on the once with Maddie.
These drops are beginning to freeze. Vibrations from the garbage truck did not move them
Partially frozen drops
This drop is frozen
Also frozen
The sun broke through for a few seconds
This puddle is freezing
This flag seems to love the wind


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

All available on Kindle Unlimited!

77 comments

  1. This made me laugh Dan. Thanks for a great post and good on you for not being normal. I always appreciate your retweets. I’m not great with Twitter but love it for seeing what’s happening in the world.

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    • We’re about 10 degrees warmer than you are, but I’m not sure which way it’s going. I remember the “Why Be Normal?” bumper stickers. I think it is overrated. You have a 45-year-old flower in your house – that’s not normal, but it’s pretty cool. I hope you have a nice weekend.

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  5. I have been using Twitter for about ten years and have to say I don’t see a change. Maybe it is the crowd I run in, but the lunatic fringe has always been there, and I never engage them. It really doesn’t matter which platform they use, haters love to hate and the best thing to do is stay out of their way. Loved the frozen drop photos, Dan. Great use of the prompt too and as always thanks for the mention.

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  6. Oh, nice snark! My day can now commence! Apparently the concept of being normal really sharpened your word knives. I had an especially good time at the bar this morning. There is something about the name “Cracker Jack” which is fun, and that certainly figured in. As for all that ice, you found the best possible reason for it: it makes beautiful photos. Good luck to those tulips!

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    • I’m glad I could help get your day moving along. I’m late for my walk today, trying to wait until it’s above 20°F. We’re sitting at 19 and holding. As for normal, I’m not sure I can or want to get there. I hope you have a great weekend!

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  7. Great time at the bar today! Personally I think if any of us were actually “normal” we’d be in a psych ward somewhere! Cracker Jacks was one of my favorite cavity producers. I couldn’t eat them fast enough to get down to the prize! It never occurred to me to dump them out onto a plate and get the prize first! Now that’s definitely not normal!🥴

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  8. WP is stalking me Dan! WTH? Unfortunately, this is normal for WP. 😡

    Love the puddle reflections and the partially frozen and totally frozen raindrops. Hope the tulips survive the coming storm.

    Old Glory is really at home blowing free in the wind and not at half staff. Beautiful sight. Long may she fly.

    Ginger

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    • Wow, Ginger. Your battle with WP spilled over into my laptop. As soon as I replied to your first comment, my screen went blank and I was kicked out of my own blog! What did you do to the Happiness Engineers?

      If those tulips survive the storm, they will soon be nibbled for breakfast, or perhaps a late night snack. That bunch is right outside the porch, under which the bunny lives. I planted them without much thought. I’m sure the bunny appreciates it.

      This new flag (replaced in October) is really good in the wind. Its predecessor was gradually torn to shreds. This one seems to love the wind, and I love seeing it fly.

      I hope you have a great weekend as we get ready for winter’s late arrival.

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  9. The train picture brought back good memories. What a prize!

    I’ve got 2 Twitter accounts & I noticed the good people leaving but after a lull, some have come back & new good people have joined the ranks. More than once my alt Twitter account has saved me. Bookish people that we are which means I’ll be using #StoriesWorthSharing a lot.

    Happy Saturday Dan!

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  11. “I was being kind. You’re in no danger of that.”–what a great ending line. There are so many wonderful quotes about being weird, but one of my favorites is “Whatever makes you weird is probably your greatest asset”–author unknown. Stay weird, Dan. Happy weekend to you.

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  13. This was fun, Dan. I enjoyed seeing the toy train. I know companies market differently in various regions of the country. Maybe that’s why I never got anything that good out of the Crackerjacks box. It was always some kind of very thin plastic that you couldn’t even figure out. The best one was a ring — that almost looked like a ring.

    What the heck is going on with WordPress today? Hardly anybody seems to be out there…
    Have a satisfying Saturday. Hugs.

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  14. Great pics Dan especially the frozen rain drops. The bubbles in the rain drops are a give away on the frozen. As for being not normal my favorite response it Thank you, that is the nicest thing anyone has said all day !

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    • The article suggested that if they allow all the previously banned people back, and too many non-toxic people leave, the overall nature of the platform will change. If that happens, companies won’t want to advertise and things will get even worse. I think there is still hope. I follow a lot of good people on Twitter.

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  18. Well, I don’t miss Twitter at all, Dan. It’s a bit of time that I’ve gained and annoyance from the not-so-nice people that I’ve lost. I miss sharing posts, but it was hard to do that without scrolling and reading all the crap that made me crazy. Keep on Tweeting, though, because the other good people look forward to it.

    Happy weekend!

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    • You are missed, Mary, but I understand. I filter what I see by organizing lists, and then following lists in Tweetdeck. If I couldn’t do that, I’d probably only read about 5% of the tweets I follow. I find tweeting from WordPress the easiest way to spread good stuff. It’s not tagged to you anymore, but I still do tweet your blog posts most days.

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  19. Ahhh, You have my favourite kind of photographs: leaves, reflections and water droplets. And you my friend are the perfect amount of normal with a little unusual thrown in for interest.

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  20. Thanks for the witty and informative post! Overdone reduction is a good one to remember. You may become the last good and intelligent person on twitter. I love the water drops in various stages of freezing and the sun bursting through the sky.

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  21. I never got into Twitter so, when I deleted my account, I’m sure I wasn’t missed… but it felt good anyway :) I do enjoy some of the funny and snarky Twitter threads that show up on certain Facebook sites now and then.

    You have some lovely raindrop shots. After it stops raining here – if it ever will – I’m going to see what I can come up with. Succulents are especially lovely after the rain.

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  22. Good on you, Dan. I left Twitter long before the peak of the nonsense hit and haven’t looked back. But I understand what you’re hoping to accomplish. I love that sunspots in the pine needles shot. ❤️

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  24. Hi Dan – I don’t do Tweeting … but if I can I do I step beyond the boundaries …I’m not good at following the crowd – but of course (good me!) conform if necessary … cheers Hilary

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  25. Oooo, I love that one of the sunglare with fuchsia spots! Gosh, I remember when Cracker Jack had cool prizes. I liked the puzzles, too, and anything you had to assemble. I was so sad when the prizes got crappier and crappier. And you kids get off my lawn!

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  26. Nice job with the prize prompt. I’ve never tweeted other than to tweet at home at bird imposters. Your tweets sound productive and encouraging – all good things happen with those kinds of tweets. I love your frozen droplet photos and the favorite puddle and the flag. I’m jealous of the sprouting flowers…spring can’t come soon enough for us in the midwest! Happy end of February to you!!

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    • Thanks Shelley. Spring has been trying to come early here. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to get snow, so those buds might not be happy. Also, since they’re close to the house (where the snow tends to melt) the bunnies might find them easier to eat.

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  28. Super bar banter, Dan. I have a Twitter account, but never use it- no time. I think you’re normal, which is a complement. Love the photo gallery, especially the puddles and big flag.

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  29. HI Dan, an interesting discussion at the bar. I think Twitter is a bit of a cyber rubbish heap, but sometimes you experience interesting and valuable finds in a rubbish heap, and that is why I stay. The artists and writers communities on Twitter are vibrant and fun. I don’t follow anything else at all.

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