h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now you're reminding me of bad music jokes told by my teacher in school...like, Bach had 13 kids, because he had a virginal in the attic to practice on...

Great sense of humour, your teacher had then eh? .

Can you tell a joke like that here? (looks over shoulder). Course you can. . wink wink

OK so, out of weird times come forth weirder times , no erm.... the Hallowe'en contribution written in stream, although I did crop and trim a bit. I wasn't prepared for an almost true story to come out, hmm, I have spent half my life on that five to midnight bus, and my father died recently, so it helped to write it, but the Hallowe'en backdrop was great to work with.

I made it into a Guide Entry, so I can change the peculiar present tense when I find a way how . That's how it came out, and I can't seem to change it for love nor money.

I left in some of the strange stream phrasing, because it seems like me, and let's face it, it wouldn't be mine if it wasn't slightly askew.

Slightly??

. Writing it made me happy, and kicked me out of my nervous mood. Thanks, as ever, for being patient and loyal friends. Now I can run away. teehee



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As always, that is breathtakingly beautiful. Thanks, I'm saving that for Halloween in . It's perfect.

That was really a story CC. Very poignant. Wow that was the first time I used that word. Thanks for sharing this.

This is a lovely story, which mixes the poignant reality with the otherworldy to great effect. And there's nothing wrong with writing in the present tense - lots of modern writers do it.

I know what you mean about feeling that you're 'a funny old lady who can't talk on the computer'. I feel that way too. I can generally manage words but posting photos is beyond me, unless I can call on my husband or son, who are

Aw my luvs, you are so kind. . I am hoping that one, or all of you, will break into my studio and remix this offering, crop it and add some brushstokes to the canvas. . You'll be doing me a favour. I think the Post Ed might have the keys to my studio. . That's like my Guide Entry box. . You have my permission.

Really? You think the present tense can stay. Phew, well, it was going to take me about six weeks to try to fix it. Very weird, that present tense, but it makes me happy.

So happy to be supporting as always. (clutches heart).

heheh. So now, mvp, we can keep each other company. Two funny old ladies together, scuttling through hootoo, with our sandwiches in our carpetbags.

Speaking purely for myself of course. I'm sure you're not a funny old lady. More like a mad writer, with 200 biros in your carpetbag. Or do you write on laptop? OK, a laptop, a packet of cheese sandwiches and a map of hootoo in your carpetbag.

Nicely and wonderfully mad, of course. .

I had a carpetbag once. It was amazing. I felt like Mary Poppins.

That would be a neat piece of luggage.

We now have *two* scary stories for Halloween, thanks to ITIWBS, who had a very weird encounter with a fish once.

More, more...

I like the idea of two funny old ladies together, scuttling through hootoo, with our sandwiches in our carpetbags.

Mine would be a cycle pannier. The 200 sounds about right, a notebook, glasses and cheese sandwiches.

A map of hootoo would be good, to stop myself getting lost in it. Or would it? Is part of the charm of hootoo going off on some unexpected thread and finding , and ?

.

I like the idea of you two old ladies scuttling round hootoo with sandwiches in your carpet bags

I would like an expandable bag with extension charm like Hermoine Grangers

Yes!

Bike panniers are the best! My bike panniers (and what's in them) are a map of the inner me. . Uh oh, that's worrying. .

And magic bags like Hermione Granger's . I had a feeling that Hermione Granger might have been something to do with Harry Potter, but I had to check. .

My brother's kids can't beleeeeeve I haven't read Harry Potter. Sooo embarrassing, their Aunty. .

Hermione Granger's bag makes me want to know more.

It's interesting, the luggage of life, and what we put in it. What??? . Funny wording. I could start a self help course.

The Luggage Of Life (And What We Put In It). .

I always longed to be a girlie girl, with a neat little handbag all crammed with exotic makeup and perfumes.

In my dreams. .

I carry a little mirror, but that's just for when I get a bug in my eye, when I'm on a bike ride. . I have a pencil case in my handbag, all crammed with coloured crayons, plus a calculator, algebra workbook .. ahem ... still at it ...

... but then I need a daypack and sometimes even a holdall, for portable synth and huge books on graphic design, and then there's my chocolate bars and squashed pieces of cake from a few days before, wrapped in a napkin, which I have forgotten about.

PS That's a strange coincidence, I just saw the Peer Review entries on the front page, and Galaxy Babe has written about Mary Poppins, the film! With the magic carpet bag!! (oops, I spelt it carpetbag).

That's amazing, thanks GB. (I'm too shy to go into Peer Review to say this.)

Wait ... (referring back to a bright idea I had a couple of posts ago)

The Luggage of Life (What you get out of it, depends on what you put into ...it)

Yes! It's a winner! No chance, someone would have thought of that about 30 yrs ago. . That's the trouble with the internet, I think I have all these incredibly original ideas, only to find that someone got there even before I gurgled my first gurgle.

The Luggage of Life and What You Put in it. What an intriguing idea, well worth thinking about.

I have a feeling mine would look like my mother in law's geological collection (which is now lodged in boxes and bags round my house.) Mostly lumps of boring grey rock, with some things that scratch if you touch them, and only a few interesting fossils and pretty gemstones.

Heheh, I like that. . The things that scratch if you touch them conjures up images of mysterious little entities lurking in the corners of the bag. . Perhaps they are the seeds of ideas for your next novel, and they have to be protected.

Sorry madam, you can't take those giant rocks onto the plane, we will never take off with that lot on board. No henges in the hold. .



Question for the Post Ed. Can I change my story a bit, now that's it's earmarked for the Post? I've gone all nittypicky. Most unlike me. I'm worried. . Just little tweaky changes that won't ruin the flow and the staggering brilliance .....(ten thousand winks and laughter)..... of the piece? Do I put a new draft into my Guide Entry box, alongside the old one, or change the old one?

Just change the old one. Then let me know when you're ready, and I'll grab that one.

OK thankyouverymuchsir. I will work on that in the next week or so.

I'm just a noodge, making sure people get working, so there's no deadline crunch.

Good to have a bit of a noodge. .

I did the edits already. Didn't take as long as I thought. You won't even see the join. Funny how these little things matter, sometimes.

Sometimes I can't even hardly look back once I've written something, once it's out of my system. It all looks too peculiar, like staring at oneself in the mirror whilst under the influence of some terrible fever, but this one is OK, so I think I am evolving.

I might evolve into a fossil, that would be nice, then mvp can carry me in her bag. I like fossils.

Thanks. Artists must work at their own pace.

oh god, talking about online communication skills

catcuscafe, that is a beautiful piece of writing

I don't seem to have said that and I was sure that I had