On a drive down a country road you pick up a hitchhiker. Not one you can see, it's something you just sense, a ghost in the backseat of your car. It's a woman, you just get that feeling. Peeking in the rear view mirror you see nothing but the hair on the back of your neck is standing to attention.

What's her story, that ghost hitchhiking a ride in your backseat? Was her death a tragedy or just an unfortunate accident?

I'm watching The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. If you were trapped two years in the past from someone you fell in love with (like a fluke situation in The Lake House) how would you communicate and what would you do that would show up in the future.

Keanu's character planted a tree at the building site where Sandra's future apartment was to be built. What a great romantic gesture. What could you come up with?

Can you write something using 200 characters (not counting spaces) or less?

*Late Nights, Caramel Coffee and The Sims.

My body craves bed, all snug and comfortable. My face feels tired and wants to close off for the night. But here I am, playing The Sims, drinking caramel coffee long after midnight has come and gone.*

A good way to twist your words around to fit into a tight spot. Count your letters online at Letter Count. For those who can't do 200 letters try 200 Sacred Words. (Found this the next night).

I also found the Word Count Journal:

Sometimes a little bit really does go a long way. In Word Count Journal, by gradually building up your writing stamina and discipline, you will see just how easy it is to get a whole lot done. By simply writing a set number of words each day, every day, you will write a whopping 66,795 words at the end of one calendar year. Little by little, through the power of series, the total of your written words will add up to more words than contained in the average novel.

A really annoying wizard has just turned you into a worm. As you're tunneling down through the garden you find an odd looking seed. Of course, it is the size of a boulder to you now and, really, most seeds look odd. Still, there is something unusually odd about this seed. You can't move it, far too big for you as a worm. But you squirm around it give it a couple of pokes. It gets a tiny crack and a root pushes out. Right in front of you it starts to grow, leaves shoot out and grow up towards the sunlight. Curious to see the plant above the soil you dig and squirm your way up. It's already sprouting a few flower buds. Someone must have really dumped on the Quick Gro. In a few minutes it has flowers, red and shiny petals, like a softer version of a lily. In another hour the flowers have gone through their whole life cycle and are now seed pods, ripening at the end of their stalks. One drops off right near you. It splits open and a new batch of seeds splatters all over the garden.

You decide to mosey along, see if you can't find that wizard and get changed back into yourself again. But you are stuck. Totally dried out and immobile, like a worm caught out in the open on the pavement after the rain. It's painful too. You didn't feel it as long as you were staying still looking at the flower, your attention absorbed.

You need to find water, right away. Or maybe you can remember that spell to make it rain.... How does that one go again?

Blog Talkers: Goals

Where were you at midnight, when it became 2008? What sort of goals did you set for yourself for 2008? Have you met those goals? Are you working on those goals? Have your goals changed? If so, how? What are your goals for the remainder of 2008? Are you looking forward to 2009? Or are you just taking one day at a time?

I'm not a great goal setter. I tend to take everything as it comes along. I especially don't want to set big, high goals and then disappoint myself again and again. That just makes you feel discouraged from trying.