Category Archives: Humor

Incogitant

Today’s Word of the Day at dictionary.com is incogitant. Not to be confused with incognizant or incognito, which google presented as possibilities. Incognitant is definitely a word, originating in the 17th century, though it does seem to be less popular than its cousins.

All three words have a common root, the Latin cōgitāre “to think” and the Latin negative prefix in-. it is when we add the suffix -ant “inclined to, tending to” that tweaks the meaning. Incogitant is defined as thoughtless; inconsiderate; not having the faculty of thought. While incognizant implies a sense of being unaware of something or unknowing, it is more in a passive or clueless sort of way, and incognito has to do with disguised identity, incogitant, with its tiny change in suffix -tant involves an element of willfulness. In fact, wiktionary simply defines incogitant as ignorant.

These days the streets are swarming with incogitant people. People who are not the least bit interested in knowing the truth, and worst of all, those who act on that ignorance to an extreme. Sound familiar? Maybe it’s just me. 🤔

Anyhoo…before I close this wordplay, I found one other reference while researching today’s word. A shout out to French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes’ (1596–1650) who coined the famous line, “cōgitō ergō sum” (“I think therefore I am”). Does that mean if I don’t think, I am not? Best to leave that one alone…along with the incogitant people of the world, unless of course, you engage them while incognito…just to be safe. My guess is they are incognizant that they are incogitant, precisely because they don’t care that they are either!

Here are a few Haiku then. Reminds me of another quote…”Never have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” 😊 okay…I’m done now. Have a great weekend!

“Let them eat brioche!”
an incogitant retort
spoken from privilege

Covfefe…say what?
Incogitant tweet perhaps,
or sly like a fox?

~kat


Glamping

PHOTO PROMPT© Jan Wayne Fields

Like two kids in a toy store, Todd and Julia filled their Camping World cart with hundreds of dollars worth luxury equipment: an elevated airbed, solar-powered shower kit, deluxe outdoor kitchen with propane grill and a French press.

Todd set up the tent and other essentials while Julia happily strung battery-operated lights around the campsite. After a gourmet dinner they settled in for the night.

“Just listen to that. Silence.” Todd whispered. “Isn’t this great?” he sighed.

“No,” Julia whined, “I miss noise. Can we go home?”

“Now?!”

“Now. Don’t hate me. I just don’t think I’m into roughing it.”

~kat

100 Words exactly for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Friday Fictioneers Challenge inspired by the photo above by Jan Wayne Fields.


Stoned-Oven Pizza

photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha via Unsplash

These days you can get pizzas with jalapeño peppers and taco sauce, BBQ chicken, cheeseburgers, pineapples, strawberries and apples, fish, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes on top!

But Louis was a purist; a second generation pizzeria owner who followed his grandmother’s original recipe, and it showed on Friday nights when the locals lined the block waiting hours for a slice of Mama Maria’s traditional pizza pie.

Some people believe tradition is an archaic chain to the past but Mama knew what she was doing when she insisted on strict adherence to the family recipe: dough rolled in cornmeal, brushed with olive oil, fresh tomato sauce, Italian sausage, mozzarella and a sprinkle of her secret herb blend…that smelled a bit like oregano!

😉~kat

A Three Line Tale for Sonya’s challenge inspired by the photo above by Cathal Mac an Bheatha via Unsplash.


Twittering Tales #45 – 15 August 2017

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About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt, and your mission, if you choose to play along, is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. If you accept the challenge, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. Have Fun!

Twittering Tale #44 – The Round-Up

microscope-275984_1280

Photo from Pixabay.com

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
Flaws, egos appear magnified when scrutinized under the lens.
Errors like straws float on water, he who yearns for pearls must dive below.

From Reena at ReInventions:
“Do we focus on the core or surroundings?”
“See only the impact of the environment on the core. Everything else is irrelevant.”
(126 characters)

From Michael at Morpethroad:
He looked closer. There they were.
Undiscovered microbes.
Waving enthusiastically.
One held a sign.
We can change your life. 
(139 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
You won’t believe what I saw when I put that sample of water under the scope. Please don’t drink anymore of that crap. It will kill you.
(138 characters)

From Sight11 at Journey:
Under scrutiny
Vision Originate..
Sigil, Animation
Detrimental, Essence
Perplexed, Demiurge
Anthropos, Execution

From Leena at Soul Connection:
“The finding I thought will gve lyfline to ppls took lyf of my old frnd who agreed for test.SORRY FRIEND”He said n burried Him in Dark Ngt.

From Susmita at Uniquesus:
Little Joe curiously peered at the microorganisms through his father’s microscope and a whole new world was discovered before his eyes.
(135 characters)

From Kitty at Kitty’s Verses:
Things get blown out of proportion at close quarters.A step back,yes this scary little thing could be an antidote for the dangerous disease.
140 Characters

From Martin at Martin Cororan:
Initially, being accidentally shrunk down to the size of an amoeba sucked, until he discovered other scientists the size of atoms and took up residence as their god.
139 Characters

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
Endless years of hard work made Dr. Nicholas the most famous scientist worldwide. But it also made him a recluse confined to his laboratory.
Character count :139

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:
Looking up, it saw a huge green eye.
It wasn’t the usual lady; it liked her body odour.
This one was pungent and rancid. Not nice at all!
(137 characters)

From Sandi at Flip Flops Every Day:
Excited about the new microscope, he told his son to find something for the slide. The boy laughed, “I picked a good one, guess what it is”

From Lorraine at In 25 Words, More or Less:
The returning Mars probe carried within it’s capture chamber microbiological proof of life on the forbidding enticing alien world, Earth.
(140 characters)

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
Sue spent 26 hours straight painstakingly staring into the scope looking for clues of interstellar life. Wait! I see Waldo? Time to go home.

From Di at Pensitivity101:
The message clearly said ‘Hello Mum!’ She was stunned.
In the other room, Mike was etching ‘April Fool’ on another slide.
120 characters.

From Vivian at Smell the Coffee:
Dr Casi had found the cure!
He peers eagerly as his sperm cells kill the cancer cells.
His alien DNA was mankind’s answer!
But who to tell?
(Twittering Tale -140 characters)

From Deepika at Deepika’s Ramblings:
Microscopic vision of thoughts and words magnifies your outlook manifold. So examine your words minutely, before you speak, dear, said Mom.
139 Characters

From John at Broadsides:
Look close, closer still for the unexamined life is not worth living

From Francine at Woman Walks Dog:
Aha the gene therapy worked, at last a human- spider hybrid. Think of its spiderlings spinning, sprinting, hatching a hundred eggs at a time. Power at last!

 

and mine:

Dr. Cole was convinced he’d found the antidote, but the virus was resistant. He assembled his notes with a warning for those who’d find him.
(140 Characters)

Bravo! And thank you, everyone, for dissecting the challenge this week! Once again, another great round of tweet-sized tales. Who says awesome doesn’t come in microscopic packages! 😉 Be sure to click on the links and visit your fellow tweeters. I often find the comments as entertaining as the tales! It’s all in the details you know…finite and brilliant!

Welcome to Twittering Tale #45! I found this interesting photo on pixabay by a graphic artist who goes by the alias 5arah for this week’s round.

It’s strange looking at first, but I found the more I looked at it, the less strange it seemed. Which, of course is what a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is hoping for. Or maybe it’s just a cloning experiment gone wrong…Poor Dolly lost her head in a petri dish!

At any rate, I know you will put on your thinking caps and get to the bottom of this freak of nature. And of course, as always have fun! We could all use a little more fun these days. See you next week at the Roundup.

Twittering Tale #45 – 15 August 2017

wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-2577813_1280

Photo Prompt by 5arah at Pixabay.com

Explore 6 landed on Kepler-438b. Capt. Dean sent live feed to Command.

“Wow!” they gasped, “a wolf-sheep!?”

Dean screamed, “No! A bird-sna…”

~kat 😉


Twittering Tale #44 – 7 August 2017

1476833681824-1

About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt, and your mission, if you choose to play along, is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. If you accept the challenge, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing us a new prompt. Have Fun!

Twittering Tale #43 – The Round-Up

 

From Michael at Morpethroad:
Ray loved to make tattoos.
Secretly he loved the pain his clients felt.
The buzz electrified him.
The heat of the iron rushed through him. 
(136 characters)

From Reena at ReInventions:
This is an elite business, and I only take committed clients. Don’t worry, it is not about the pain. My tattoos last beyond relationships.
(138 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and The Other:
Said he was a professional tattoo artist for fifty years. Looked like a trustworthy grandfather. Who knew he couldn’t spell nothing?
RegretNohing
(132 characters)

From Kitty at Kitty’s Verses:
No amount of coaxing relieved her of pains of separation.While time works in a funny manner, a tattoo would ease his pain.
Character count:- 122

From Jim at newepicauthor:
Now my arm will be worth over $600 after this beauty. This will put my whole body up over 7 grand. Next week I’ll get one on my face. Sweet!
(140 Characters)

From Sight11 at Journey:
A lingering ache
Periodical Intake.. 
Skin, absorbing time
#Senryu

From Di at Pensitivity101:
He’d wanted to be a dentist really, but white was boring.
So much nicer to be working in colour.
95 characters.

From Sandi at Flip Flops Everyday:
The true story behind his tattoo:
“…but I want an Evil Calypso!”
“All you can afford is an evil hippo.”
In his inebriated state, he agreed.

canceled_project___calypso_by_fan_the_little_demon-d823f5d

In his mind, he got this

 

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In reality, he got this

140 characters

 

 

From Leena at Through My Heart Web:
No Place Left On Me To Ink, Now Lets Tattoo Others N Fulfill Burning Desire.
(Months Later)
“Hi, I Want Smthng Btfl On My Neck”
“U Love Fairies?”

From Cara at Do the Flash:
17-year-old Daisy, who had bone cancer, designed a tattoo for her life. Uncle Aziz etched her vision on her shoulder with tears in his eyes.

From Willow at Willowdot21:
Telling 
A story
Totally absorbed in his art
Tantalizingly catching the eye
Only he can transform your skin
Oh! It hurts but it’s what you want.
(140 Characters)

From Michael at Flawed Masterpieces:
“I know she loves John Lennon, but did she have to get “Come Together” tattooed on both her cheeks?”
(Character count: 100)

From Kirst at Kirst Writes:
At your age? her kids smirked. Her husband was furious:
What have you done? Of all the trashy… I’m disgusted.
She grinned. The desired effect.
(140 characters)

From Martin at Martin Cororan:
With each stab of ink the message slowly revealed itself: I’ve only paid up to the words ‘I’ve poisoned you’. Wire £1m for the antidote…
138 Characters

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
You didn’t want to get sent to Tim for your mandatory numbered tattoo. Word is if you got Tim you left with more than a tattoo on your body.
(140 Characters)

From  Ghostmmnc at TeleportingWeena:
AS STILL as a CORPSE
After practicing his ink art on cadavers,
Gramps was happy to have his first live client.
88 Characters

 

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:
A dotted line with a message, “Follow the dots”. Starting at the neck, they now snaked down his stomach to his groin. Almost finished. OOPS!
(140 characters)

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
A tattoo “I love you my darling wife” would be a perfect anniversary gift thought Jim.  But was aghast. The wife got tattooed as “wifi”!!!
Character count: 137 letters

From Jane at Jane Dougherty Writes:
She sent him to have the new kitten tattooed. She began to worry when he phoned to ask, a bouquet of roses or a two-headed Chinese dragon?
(139 Characters)

From Dermott at Postcards from a Pigeon:
She talked him into tattoos of each other’s names, night of the ‘long talk’. One look love. She died, time the tattoo faded, not the memory.

 

From Lady Lee at Lady Lee Manila:
My hard life tattoed on me, every aspect and all lessons learned.
It’s like I’m bearing my soul for all to see.
I am who I am.
Let me be me.
(137 characters)

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
blue marks left on my body
are medals of your anger
indelible lashes on my soul
I veil them under the guise of blue tattoo art.
both gel well.

And my take on the photo…
“I feel like crap. Damn Tequila. What’s this? A tattoo? Who the hell is Sheila?”
“Morning you. I made coffee.”
“Uh, hi? You must be Sheila…”
(140 Characters)

I loved the tales this week! Your twittering tales were so fun…and some were poignant and inspiring! There were some really heart-wrenching, lovely tales, some funny “oops” moments, a few creepy stories and I learned about pet tattoos too. I posted a few of the photos that were included. Be sure to check out everyone’s page though. You all are awesome writers. Thank you all so much for joining the challenge last week.

This week, I picked a close-up of a microscope. What is the story of the person at the other end of the eyepiece lens? What is staring back at them from the slide? Does the microscope itself have a story? There are several possibilities for this random photo. I hope you have fun with this prompt. See you next week at the Round-Up.

Twittering Tale #44 – 7 August 2017

microscope-275984_1280

Photo from Pixabay.com

Dr. Cole was convinced he’d found the antidote, but the virus was resistant. He assembled his notes with a warning for those who’d find him.
(140 Characters)

~kat