You may have noticed that I have an unconventional view on how long a week really is. I'm sure some would maintain that a certain fixed number of blocks ought to be mined, others yet might observe the movement of celestial bodies, the moon. I am none so strict.

The audience might appreciate a little more regularity. Can't you tell they are made of more of the rational stuff?

Anyway, since we last spoke, there were a few notable flashes in the pan in the territory.

A few flashes in the pan?

I have some projects on the go which I have been intending to share. The holidays have given me some time to tend to a few gardens that have started to get unkempt.

They won't care. But even if they do, then what's to stop them from taking your ideas?

To winterTo winter

Dear old man Winter, You come back around, don't you, any time young-man Spring needs his proud little Head beat in? You teach him good lessons.

...

In ~the_stacker_muse this weekIn ~the_stacker_muse this week

You know what would be crazy? Deciding to skip punctuation.You know what would be crazy? Deciding to skip punctuation.

Cormac McCarthy, the bestselling and Pulitzer-winning author of books like No Country For Old Men, The Road, and Blood Meridian, famously didn't like quotation marks, felt they cluttered the page, and so he didn't use them.
When dialogue happens in his novels, there are no quotes around it, and you as the reader just have to figure out when a line is narration or dialogue. He also didn't use semicolons or exclamation points or certain other forms of punctuation. While he didn't exclude commas entirely, he did minimize them, and instead used extra "ands" in place of where many other authors would use commas. He used periods normally.

I shared a NOSTR post from Lyn Alden which didn't get much attention here, but I reproduced the salient part above. I haven't read any McCarthy, in spite of the many times his novels were recommended to me. I do like when authors play with form and style. Maybe now I will pick up a book of his.

CLARISSA, retired concert pianist, says "I am who I want to be"CLARISSA, retired concert pianist, says "I am who I want to be"

by @plebpoet

@plebpoet challenged herself to complete a short story each month. That sounds like a resolution to me. I have been thinking about challenging myself to do the same, yet, now I hesitate to try to explain myself too much lest I do not really know my true motivation, although it's probably ~mostly_harmless. Maybe I will take a page out of @Undisciplined's book and make a regular (daily, weekly, monthly?) accountability thread.

What was shared read like the beginning of a longer series. The form feels somewhat undetermined, like it can go in many directions. It leads me to thinking this publishing format might call for new forms, if we are to leverage it for our literature (how much I have yet to learn about online forum/message bored writing). For example, I might be wrong in dubbing the Sagas as a serialized novel. I like the idea of serialization, but maybe the likes of Dickens would roll in their grave if they heard such a term.

UnPhiltered - Chapter 11 - The Covid DiariesUnPhiltered - Chapter 11 - The Covid Diaries

by @TotallyHumanWriter

I quite enjoy reading about Phil's nomadic life and writing journies. It is a privilege to glance down the microscope at the intimate truths about what it takes to make it as a writer. This post for me read a something of a memento mori as time's winged chariot hurdles us nearer the present, and I suspect, to the final chapter. I am sure there is so much that got left out. Perhaps he will publish an expanded version one day.

tell me about a time you were freaking stressedtell me about a time you were freaking stressed

by @cryotosensei

Sensei's prose here feels tight and calculated, as always. He brought some excitement in the way he told the story about the mundane task of picking up the kids. He told us the day's freedom was not worth the stress it caused, but mentioned little about what that freedom entailed ....

I'll share my story here. I was a kid. Maybe 15 or 16. My mother, single, had gone to bed and woke up with a terrible pain in her gut. Maybe it would pass, she thought. She went to work as usual. I got a phone call from her around lunch time because the boss had wanted to send her home. It was obvious she was not well, I could hear it in her voice. I went to pick her up (since it was summer vacation and I was not in school, so she left me with the family car.) I remember meeting her by the work-truck, and seeing her struggle to lift herself down. "Mom, don't you think you oughta see a doctor?" I probably had to insist, that is just her character. Strong woman. We went to a walk-in clinic. It was only about 5 minutes later that I was speeding toward the ER, I don't think I ever drove so fast in my whole life, for the Doc had said, "What were you thinking? Your spleen is about to burst. It could kill you." She spent a few days in hospital recovering. It wasn't the spleen but a kidney, of which, she also then found out, she only had one. I don't know if she would have died, but it felt like I was saving her life. No doubt, I was stressed, but I stayed laser focused as I rocketed her from the clinic to the ER.

AfterwordAfterword

This week, we saw all the usual suspects, with a few exceptions. I hope @Jimmyhoneyalchemist didn't run out of gas.

Happy New Year, everyone. May 2026 be filled with much great writing and many more sats.

Note: I have drastically reduced territory posting fees. This might hurt revenue a bit, but since were are in No Trust November, I thought I would try an experiment.

Therefore, I am re-framing my thinking about posting fees and wish to encourage anyone wishing to suppport the territory to 'boost' their post as they see fit. I figure, this way you can support the territory while pushing yourself to the top of 'hot' (100 sat boosts seem to do the trick during low-traffic periods.). Remember, 70% of boosts go to territories and 30% to rewards pools.

Happy boosting!