Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Succinctly Yours #167: School's Out


It's time again for Succinctly Yours! The idea of this fun challenge is to use the picture to tell a story in 140 words or 140 characters. The bonus word was “radiate.” For some reason I felt this week's photo begged for a limerick, which I've never tried before. I followed the rules for the first one, but cheated terribly (and alas, forfeited the bonus) in the second. Still, I had a lot of fun. Thank you, Grandma's Goulash


There once were three men from Pompeii
whose walking was more odd than I can say
when running on a track
one did radiate back
but the third was the one blown away. (130 characters)


There once were 2 brothers from Algiers
Who attended M.S.W.* for years
During the graduation pomp
They did flail and romp
And from the ground graduated over their peers. (140 characters including the asterisk)

*The Ministry of Silly Walks


Mr Pudey: …I have a silly walk and I'd like to obtain a government grant to help me develop it.
Minister: I see. May I see your silly walk?
Mr Pudey: Yes, certainly, yes. (He demonstrates.)
Minister: That's it, is it?
Mr Pudey: Yes, that's it, yes.
Minister: It's not particularly silly, is it? I mean, the right leg isn't silly at all and the left leg merely does a forward aerial half turn every alternate step.
Mr Pudey: Yes, but I think that with government backing I could make it very silly.
~Monty Python


14 comments:

  1. Hilarious ending quote, and I think the WWWPs should get together for lunch or dinner and write round-robin limericks. They are great fun.

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  2. Hari OM
    oooohhh my goodness - that 2nd one is super. Limericks are a challenge in themselves so commendation is surely yours for taking the added stress!!! YAM xx

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    1. Thank you for making me feel better for cheating...! ;)

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  3. Haha! Love these, especially the second one. Appreciated the Monty Python bit, too. I pictured it with John Cleese and Eric Idle. What a pair!

    P.S. Blogger keeps kicking me out. :/ This is my third or fourth try at leaivng a message. I'm REALLY persistent. lol

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    1. Lisa, I truly do appreciate your persistence! I have to admit that quote makes me giggle every time I read it. HUGE Monty Python fan here, in case you couldn't tell!

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  4. Is there anything you're not good at writing? Love these!

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    1. Lynn, you always say the nicest things. Thank you!

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  5. Tammy--I forgot to mention: the rhythm of your limericks is spot-on. (Sometimes I'm a bit more "creative" with the rhythm--AKA rhythmically off-the-path.)

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    1. You're too kind, Sioux, because I know a few lines did their own silly-walk off the path!

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  6. OMG you are the word whisperer. You tame everything you touch... or set it aflame.

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  7. Wow, Linda - I'm so flattered! Especially coming from someone who makes words sing like you do!

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  8. So very nice, the limericks, Tammy. They are fun to write too. Getting them to be within the 140 characters might be a bit hard, but doing it with exactly 140 would take some really fine tweaking to keep the count and rhyme. Mrs. Jim has an M.S.W. degree, it is a Masters of Social Work.
    I used to watch the Monty Python Show but I'm not sure it is even on our TV anymore.
    Thanks for checking in with me again. We've been out of the country, to Europe, for a month and half. We returned Saturday night.
    ..

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    1. Thank you, Jim! I have a surprising number of friends with an M.S.W., so now Mrs. Jim and the rest can claim it really stands for the Ministry of Silly Walks. I used to think it was The Institute of Silly Walks, by the way, but web research showed otherwise. Hope you enjoyed your trip, and thanks for stopping in!


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