The lovely and talented Shannon Butcher tipped me off to CBC's Canada Writes contest at the 11th hour last week and I managed to squeak an entry in just before the deadline (my usual M.O.).
I was quite thrilled to receive a call from the cool folks at the CBC Wednesday informing me that I was one of three regional finalists in the contest! Woohoo!With my short piece about - wait for it - Pa Ingalls taking a dump! Yeah, that's right. I'm all class.
Longtime readers may remember the longer version of this piece from a couple of years back. I got to read the much shorter version for a broadcast on BC Almanac this afternoon. I was asked to alter the on-air version slightly, specifically the last line. They let me keep the grunting part but I guess "Pa took the biggest dumps in all of Kansas and Laura was proud" was taking things a little too far.
Check out the Canada Writes site for the other (much classier) contest entries! The contest continues next week with a new writing challenge and an interview. Will my endless repository of pioneer bathroom humour win the day?? HISTORY WILL DECIDE!! Or perhaps the judges.
In other news that shocked the world today, the dog refused to go out for her evening stroll.
Oh, she wagged her tail like crazy as I snapped on her collar. She gleefully sniffed the elevator, charged to the lobby door, got outside, saw that it was raining in sheets and immediately put on the brakes.
I pulled. She held her ground. I coaxed. I cajoled. She would not be moved.
Finally, I gave a mighty yank. Her neck wrinkles bunched up around her face as she dug her heels in.
A passing hobo called out "Hey lady - she doesn't want to go with you." I was forced to concede he had a point.
The minute I let up on the leash, the dog wheeled around and made a beeline for the door. We came back upstairs. I took off her leash. She looked at me as if to say "now what?" So I said to her: "Now what? Now nothing! That was IT, you IDIOT!"
I guess it's possible that she didn't feel like getting all wet again - I mean, it's true she no likee the water. But I suspect that she might also be getting back at me for this:
