April 2012 – Business as Usual

So it’s April now. April the first no less. A day many associate with frivolity, humour, japes, shenanigans and tomfoolery but at heart is basically a day about lies. Now I’m a big fan of lies, they’re useful when used properly, they protect, they comfort and they enrich. After all as Elim Garak once said “The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination.” I gave some thought as to putting together some form of ruse for April Fool’s Day. Something perhaps witty, tongue in cheek, perhaps even something believable. There were issues with such a plan. In order for it to truly be an April Fool it would have to occur suitably before midday, but midday is the time when the blog is usually posted, any such deviance from this routine would draw suspicion the lie would be obvious, flawed, pointless. I would also like to credit what scant readership that I have with some semblance of a discerning mind, an ability to see through such an obvious ruse as an April Fool’s Day prank. So in the end I decided against it. But there is something to be taken from the associated sanguinity. A lot of what I’ve written recently has been frightfully grim and dreadfully dark. Not pieces which exactly inspire a raucous case of the giggles. So this month’s picture will be something quite ridiculous.

Let’s be honest here, this image is what my brothers would refer to as being “proper daft like.” It’s a fossil of the internet, my own research shows it first appearing on a Russian website sometime in 2004 but before that? Who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve encountered it before on your journeys through cyberspace. After the bad-news and sadness of last month I’m calling it “Business as Usual,” a title which I think nicely contrasts the general ridiculousness of the picture. I’m sure by now all five of the people reading this know the drill. Here’s a picture, you have exactly one Earth month to compose a short story (or as I call it wordascope) of approximately 1000 Human, Earth words based upon it. You then tell me about it, then I tell everyone else about it. Then we all have a big slice of cake and feel all happy inside (The cake may or may not be metaphorical.)

So with the picture at our disposal let’s put on our writing hats, start flexing our word muscles and inject ourselves with one unit of state approved happiness.

*Wheee!*

Sam Kurd – Neon lime pavement

Ali George – Ali’s wordascope was due to go up on her blog on the 27th. Sadly it hasn’t appeared. Technical problems and bad internet voodoo are likely to blame.

The Rogue Verbumancer – Everyone loves toads

The original blog post responsible for spawning this rampant frivolity can be found here and the post where the entries were originally collated, here.