The Burrow Advent Calendar - 2010

Two years back, the Burrow mounted the "Advent Calendar" for the first time. An interactive feature, you could click on a drabble a day, everyday, leading upto Christmas. We hosted the project again, with a new set of drabbles last year.

This year, however, we are breaking tradition slightly- in our Advent Calendar we are counting down, not to Christmas, but to the New Year.

In addition to the Burrowers, most of whom you know intimately from this blog, Jan Morrison has contributed two drabbles, both accompanied by her stunning photographs. We also have the four drabbles that were chosen as the winners of the Drabble Dare # 11, one of which has already been revealed.

Do check out the Project, and be sure to book-mark the page so you can get your drabble a day, everyday.

Happy Reading.

Drabble Dare # 11 : Results

If you remember, and I would not blame you if you have forgotten, we had posted four images on November 7, 2010 and had asked you to drabble to them. We were overwhelmed by the quality of the drabbles we received - either you have been secretly drabbling for months, or you are just brilliant - and the task of judging the entries was anything but easy. But, strangely, the results were unanimous (I think we were all looking for a fresh interpretation, and all these drabbles had them) -

Image # 1 - Pole Star

Winner - Sue Travers

Image # 2 - ice sculptures

Winner - James C. Wallace II, Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma

Image # 3 - Poinsettias

Winner - Sue Travers

Image # 4 - Colourful beads

Winner - Marian Youngblood

Congratulations Sue (x 2), James and Marian.

We do normally post the winning drabbles here, but this time we are using them in the December Feature that we will be mounting at the Burrow. Do check back on December 1, for more details.


____
We only hold the creative licence for two of the four photographs. Attributions for the other two photographs here.

Drabble Dare Results and New Schedule

We swooned collectively when Jason posted this painting of a swashbuckling pirate-

It took us a couple of weeks to stop swooning long enough to judge the results. But we finally managed.


So without further ado, we present the winner of Drabble Dare # 10-

Rekha @ Random Soul Musings

Congratulations, Rekha. For winning Drabble Dare # 10, you earn a standing ovation and permanent bragging rights!!!


Here's Rekha's winning entry-

He surveyed the scene before him… the men in plume bravely waging a hopeless battle, muttered darkly, “Spanish Armada, more like foolish Armada’. He grinned savagely as limbs flew, blood spluttered everywhere, inhuman anguished cries were heard.

Blackbeard waited for the exact moment, his signature stroke to be unleashed... the young man beside him muttered ” slipping”…

He turned a blank eye, with gymnastic perfection somersaulted over the railing …

The opponent caught unaware, a swift plunge, the victory complete. “Hold on, your time will come” Alec Guinness to Errol Flynn with twinkling eyes and grin, as the curtains fell, audience clapped.

And now for something completely different.

As most of you who have been following this blog would be aware, we are tweaking the schedule slightly. Starting November, this is the schedule we would be following -

• Reading Monday - when we ramble about books, characters, lists and plots
• Topical Tuesday - when we write about something topical, or something we feel very passionately about
• Writing Wednesday - which also includes motivation
• Delusional Thursday - we met on a fan-fic forum - need I say more?
• Who am I Friday - when we talk about our world, our interests and our passions

After going through your suggestions regarding the Drabble Dare, we have decided to post an image on the first Sunday of the month, and announce the results on the last Saturday of the month. Watch this space for a new image on November 7, 2010.

Drabble Dare Poll Results

We asked!
You answered!
We analyzed!

And here is what we've come up with (or thereabouts... the reliability of my reporting has periodically been questioned, as Misattributing IS my superpower)...


Keep or Toss? KEEP!

Like or Not? LIKE!

(so those are very good news)

As to frequency... responses varied, but in conjunction as to WHY you sometimes didn't participate (the time involved, the TIMING involved, sometimes lack of inspirationality of the image...) But it just seemed wiser to reduce frequency. What we plan is a monthly challenge with some in-between reminders, so people who missed the ONE day, get another chance if they want it (or can do it later if a certain week is bad) and then between we'll talk about some of our other projects, maybe give you some samples of our various projects...



So, as of now...

We will post a NEW IMAGE the first Sunday of each month, then the LAST SATURDAY, post results (which are subject to whim and whimsy, because that is how we roll... or not... maybe it is just that we haven't yet clarified how that will go exactly...)

This particular image is STILL in effect... (because we've been under review as to how this would go) and you still have until next Thursday to write a pirating drabble...

At least one Sunday between we will REPOST and REMIND. But we will also give some prods mid week, as we think weekend readership is lower and weekday readers may just not know what all the fuss is about...

And so it has been declared! (you may get naked now! Or... curtsey now! Or eat lunch now!) Erm. Or not. (but we do hope you'll join us in a drabble now and again...)

Drabble Dare 9- Results!

It is that time of week again! The announcement of the 9th Drabble Dare winner. Oh yeah!

Rayna provided us with a wonderful image of the week.


Our winner of Drabble Dare #9 is . . . *drum roll*


KATY FOSTER- DUGAN!!!!!!!

Without further ado, here is her drabble:

I can’t believe that this was still happening to me. It has been three years since he died.

Three years and I still break into tears in public.

I see something he would like and then I remember, and it feels like he only died yesterday.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I just got a speck of dust in my eyes.”

As soon as she looks away I’ll reach in my purse that I keep stocked for days like this. I’ll pull out my sunglasses, I’ll fake a smile, and try to remember the good I still have in life.


Congratulations, Katy!

I hope to read more of everyone's drabbles in the future. Don't be scared, just write! Tune in tomorrow for the next image for Drabble Dare 10.

Drabble Dare # 8 - results!

I hope no one suffers from sore drabble muscles, because.... *drumroll* It is time for another round of DRABBLE DARE RESULTS!

It looks like there is a new star on the Drabble Sky of Fame (yes, there is a Drabble Sky of Fame - why settle for a Hall?), because AGAIN, this week's winner is none other than JULIA KENT! Congratulations!

You'll agree with me that she deserves to win two weeks in a row when you read the drabble:

“Who’s a pretty girl then?”

*whistle, whistle*

“Who’s a pretty girl?”

The men at the bar circle the girls, like birds of prey. In their minds they’re high-flying eagles, or perhaps peacocks. They strut and show their plumage desperately trying to attract attention. In reality, they are more like pelicans. Grounded pelicans.
I make my way to the bar for more vodka. Predictably, I am intercepted. I firmly decline the offers to visit his nest. He waddled off, his feathers clearly ruffled, to pick his next target.

I prefer my men the same way I like my birds – flying free.



Tune in again tomorrow for another Drabble Dare :)

Drabble Dare #7: RESULTS!!!

Welcome to this week's drabble results!!!

Because I am ME, and it is at my discretion (or digression, as the case may be), I am posting TWO winners today... One because it was perfect to the original meaning of the painting... shows a knowledge of the mythology and tells the tale that is supposed to go...


By Julia Kent

“Don’t look down son, keep your eyes above the horizon.  There is no need to fear, just follow my lead.  Nothing can hold us down on this earth, we will soar far above all others.  I will be a leader of men.  Stay by my side and remember what I have told you.”

My father mistakes my resentment as trepidation.  I focus on the horizon to avoid his gaze, not in agreement of his words.  He means to hold me back from my true destiny with his pithy rules.  I shall show him who is the true leader of men.


And the OTHER because it shows the perfect spirit of the Tart, and the Naked World Domination plans *tee hee*

By Maria Bratt

Don’t mind me; I’m just hiding in your bushes, looking in your windows. I like what you’ve done with the curtains, very fluttery. Why do you insist on baking at eleven-‘o-clock, shouldn’t that be done in the morning? I don’t mind, really, your new apron hardly does its job of protecting your delicate bits.

I am so glad a nudist moved into the neighborhood, it was so boring here before; nothing to look at but wrinkly men and old women past their prime.

Oops, was that a branch I just broke?

“Who are you?!”

 “Just your friendly neighborhood Peeping Tom?”

So congratulations, ladies!  Fabulous drabbles!

Drabble Dare #6 - Results!

In case anyone forgot how things generally run around here, it's Saturday! And that means we have a new drabble winner! But if I just tell you who it is straight off, that really doesn't do much for the whole building-suspense thing, does it?
So anyway, this week's image was this lovely photo, taken on the Isle of Skye (which hangs out off the west coast of Scotland, for those of you who didn't feel like looking that up). It's a thoroughly beautiful place, it has its own quidditch team (Pride of Portree, for those of you who don't have Quidditch Through the Ages near at hand), and I went to school with a cellist who grew up there (her name was Eilidh, if anyone cares, and I've borrowed the name for a character in the WiP, about which I'm sure nobody cares).

All right, all right, enough dithering.

And the winner is...

Kassy Sheppard!

Fairy Glen

Peeking out between two blade-trees, I see that the Big Ones are climbing through The City again. Their feet crush my favorite cluster of blade-trees, and they knock away my favorite sitting rock on the highest ledge of The City. Why do they continue to blunder about—their wingless, graceless selves? Why do they insist upon disrupting my peaceful morning with their thunderous uneven steps? What if we erased the Blank Expanse they carved through the blade-trees? Would they leave us then, and never return to ruin our homes and disturb our morning flights? Would they ever leave… in peace?

Congrats! Stay tuned for tomorrow's new image (or really, just hit the reload button sometime after noon GMT, that'll do the trick).

Drabble Dare #5 - results.

Hello everyone! It’s Saturday again (I know, they come around really quick, don’t they?), and that means it’s time for the results of this week’s Drabble Dare. This week’s image was a scene depicting a noted Briton called Samuel Pepys. Pepys is famous for the diaries that he kept for around ten years in the second half of the seventeenth century. A member of parliament, his recollections are an important source of information for that period in British history. He not only covered his personal life, but gave details on several key events including the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London. It was his connection with the written word that helped me to decide which image to use for the challenge.


Anywho, enough rambling, it’s time to announce the winner of this week’s Drabble Dare! Capturing the historical mood beautifully, and giving us a detailed (if brief) history of the depicted characters, this week’s winning drabble is a perfect little ditty of one hundred words. Without further ado, here is the drabble:

Image: Pepys and Lady Batten
Artist: John Digman Wingfield
Source: Wikimedia Commons








Hoping her own wasn’t trembling, she took the man’s hand. Gentlemanly he was, or so he carried himself before her father. His chivalrous demeanor impressed her, but his personality remained a mystery. The unknown waited for her at the end of the journey to her gentleman’s land.

Her recent marriage to this mysterious foreigner brought vast wealth to her family, allowing her father to travel, increasing his clients, and her sister to receive the medical treatment she needed. The benefits far outweighed her fears. For the love of her family, she continued on her journey.

She didn’t once look back.



Congratulations to Rosemarie Connolly! If you would like to read more from Rosemarie’s hand, you can find her blog here. And don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for the next Drabble Dare!

Drabble Dare #4- RESULTS

Drabble Dare #4- RESULTS


Journey to the Edge of the Map
by Joris Ammerlaan

It was my task to select an image for the weekly Drabble Dare. Easy, right? But I'm not much of an art person, and a particularly poor critic when it comes to things like color, shading, and facial expression.

Lucky for me, we can always plunder the prolific work of Joris. I popped over to his Facebook page and easily found something I liked.

The vessel (I'm going to call it a great galleon) is portrayed with large sails against a backdrop of a world map. I notice that the exaggerated sail size gives them proportions similar to the global map features; this congruency is further enhanced by the by the angular, criss-crossing map lines which make the continents themselves similar to the overlapping sails.

A simple "interpretation", then, is that the sails and map lines have complementary features because both provide the same benefit to the intrepid sailors: They make exploration possible.

Now let's consider the ship. It's comparatively small, and an actual ship is but a miniscule speck on the actual planet. But our attention is drawn to its connection with the sailcloth by way of the exaggerated boom (aft sprit?) at the stern. So the ship is part of the sails (and visa versa), which also makes the ship part of the massive, unexplored world on a scale that cannot be explained by its meager size. Thus I see this painting as very optimistic: The unknown peril implied by the title ("edge of the map") can be embraced with confidence thanks to the rational sciences of navigation and shipbuilding.

But enough of that. The Burrow wishes to thank everyone for their submissions, and with further ado, the Drabble Dare winner is:

Jan Morrison

And here is the winning drabble:

Why are you crying, boy?
I’ve never been to sea before. I’m scared.
Scared – of what?
The dragons and such-like at the edge of the world.
Ah.
Have you seen ‘em?
No. Come, sit by me. I’ll give you a bit of biscuit and tell you something.
What?
The dragons and monsters aren’t at the edge of the world.
They aren’t?
No, they’re at the edge of the map which we’ll never see.
Never?
Never. There’s some to fear but not sea monsters. I’ll keep an eye on you..
You’re a good man, Cook.
Eat up, the sails are hoisted.


CONGRATULATIONS, Jan!
Excellent job of capturing the spirit of the image. The danger, curiosity, and confidence were all there, encapsulated in two original characters and their natural dialogue. And all in merely a hundred words, too!

Tune in tomorrow for the new Drabble Dare challenge.

Drabble Dare #3- RESULTS!!!

When I chose this image, I was thinking of my son who is now 16 years old. I remember the day I brought him home. It was muggy, cloudy and a blistering 90 degrees Fahrenheit/ 32 degress Celsius. He was wrinkly and a little bit yellow with jaundice from the fevers and infections. However, at that very moment, he was my greatest joy and accomplishment. I thought to myself, "How could something so perfect come from me?" This image reminded me of the times I would give him a bath and he would fuss to no end. I miss those times. They seem so much easier than the angsty teenage years.


But enough of my digressions. We, at The Burrow, want to thank all of our entrants for their submissions for this week's Drabble Dare challenge. As a consensus, we voted on quality, content and relevance. However, there can be only one. Yes, that is from Highlander but I like that line!

The Drabble Dare winner of the week is:

Marjorie Napier

And here is the winning drabble:

Jules

He certainly had not wanted to go into the bath when he ran through the door this evening caked in mud from head to toe. He thrashed, crying out in protest, as I stripped his clothes and forced him toward the warm water. The mud that had once been dry and flakey had started to reconstitute in the bath. When the murky water had done its job, it was time to get him out causing him to fight and cry again. He stood shivering as I dried his tears along with his dripping form. Tomorrow we would do this again.



CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Tune in tomorrow for the new Drabble Dare challenge.

Drabble Dare # 2 - RESULTS!

When I took the picture of the cat sitting on the temple wall, I knew there were stories waiting to be told. What none of us anticipated was that there would be EIGHT of them, each more imaginative than the rest. Picking a winner was not going to be easy, so the first thing we did was check if they were EXACTLY 100 words long. Two were off by a single word, and much as it pained us to do so, we had to let them go.

Purists will tell you that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end. That a story should have detailed plotting and believable characterizations. A hundred words is inadequate for all that. It is hopeless to try and argue with purists, so none of us even try. We just concede that while 100 words may be inadequate for an entire story, it is sufficient for either sketching a story or for detailing a fragment that hints at a larger story. All qualified.

My instincts made me pick three favourites, but when I tried to analyse what I liked about each of them, I wasn’t able to. Time to call for reinforcements. The rest of the Burrowers checked in- the same drabbles emerged as the personal favourites of everyone who voted. I decided to trust my instincts.

I cleared my mind of all pervious conceptions, and read the drabble

s through one last time. The winner was clear.

Stacey Shackford!!!

Congratulations, Stacey!

And, without further ado, here is the Winning Drabble-

Why, hello there. You. Yes, you. You're looking fine

today, bibi. Mighty fine. Come here. A little closer. Closer. There. Yes. Nice. Your skin, it glows like the setting sun. Your eyes, emeralds. Your lips, as luscious as those of Sita, and pouting like hers as well. Why so sad, jaan? One who goes blind in spring sees only greenery all around. See that? That? Color, beauty, life. May you live a thousand years and may each year have a fifty thousand days. And may I have some tuna. Be a peach and share some of that sandwich, will you?

Do check back tomorrow for a new image to set your imagination afire.

The First Weekly Drabble Dare - Results!

I must admit sending our Drabble Dare out in the blogosphere was nerve-wracking. We did not know whether it would make it among the big boys and girls (such as blog hops and follower contests). We pictured two extreme scenarios – either our challenge would not get any responses at all, or we would get so many that we wouldn’t be able to handle them. The second was perhaps not very realistic, and I don’t think we should worry about that in the immediate future. The first was more likely, but fortunately we shouldn’t have worried about that either. Instead we ended up with a perfectly manageable (though still flattering) number of entries (I am not telling you how many, though…).


Once the deadline was up, all we needed to do was to pick a favourite.

To say this was difficult is the understatement of the year.

We had entries from lovely authors around the world. The drabbles they wrote were quite different, and yet all of them fit so well with the image. I considered picking one at random, but then that didn’t seem fair...

In the end I sat down and thought through what qualities I am thinking about when writing a drabble to accompany an image.

First of all the drabble needs to be exactly 100 words in order to be a drabble. Check on all entries.

Secondly, the drabble is supposed to be a mini-story. Naturally it is difficult (if not impossible) to include all the elements that normally go into a story, but at the very least I’d like the drabbles I write to hint at a story, even if they might only portray one tiny fraction of it.

Third, I really like the drabbles to be tied to the image, and I love it if they are connected in a surprising way.

Several of our entries still qualified according to these elements, but I was finally able to decide on one favourite (with two very close runners-up).

The drabble I picked is well-tied to the image. It had a (to me, at least) surprising point of view, and it invites several interpretations.

So...

The winner of the Burrow’s First Drabble Dare is… (I bet you all have scrolled down to this part anyway…)

*drumroll*



Erin Baughn

Congratulations! :) Pool party at Tami's to celebrate!

Conversation - Camille Pissarro

It was the dividing line between my world and something I couldn’t possibly imagine. If they were one and the same… no, that wasn’t possible.

The only person who had the ability to cross it was my father. My sister called him the ‘dimension traveler’, whatever that meant.

I had never seen anyone besides my family before I saw the girl. She was standing on the gravel road, sniffing the flowers that grew at the edge. She asked for me to come out and play. I shook my head. She stuck her hand and a flower over it.

Time stopped.

Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow – we will have a new picture up to inspire new drabbles from your pens (or keyboards, as the case may be).