Category Archives: personal blog

Monty’s Very Short Shorts – Silk

#Silk

Quill of Mnemosyne @ Threads

One of the things that got me started writing regularly (daily in fact) was to write ‘Very Short Stories” using prompt words provided on Twitter under the hashtag #VSS365. In 2020, I wrote a very short story (or poem) for everyday of the year. These, with accompanying illustrations, became my first major project and resulted in Monty’s Very Short Shorts:

Monty’s Very Short Shorts

After the project concluded and with the later demise of Twitter I no longer did this daily practice and worked on other projects. But recently, I discovered that “VSS” was alive and well on Threads and the writing community there is quite supportive and engaged. So I decided to try my hand at it again. I’m not sure whether I’ll do this everyday (and even if I do I’m not sure if I will repost to my Blahg or not), but let’s give it a go. Here is the latest Threads VSS (now I’m up to date…):

#Silk

I had everything planned out, an intimate dinner, romantic soundtrack, rose petals spread across silk sheets. A perfect evening for three. 😉

Be well,

Monty

Monty’s Very Short Shorts – Courage

#Courage

carrierendellwrites @ Threads

One of the things that got me started writing regularly (daily in fact) was to write ‘Very Short Stories” using prompt words provided on Twitter under the hashtag #VSS365. In 2020, I wrote a very short story (or poem) for everyday of the year. These, with accompanying illustrations, became my first major project and resulted in Monty’s Very Short Shorts:

Monty’s Very Short Shorts

After the project concluded and with the later demise of Twitter I no longer did this daily practice and worked on other projects. But recently, I discovered that “VSS” was alive and well on Threads and the writing community there is quite supportive and engaged. So I decided to try my hand at it again. I’m not sure whether I’ll do this everyday (and even if I do I’m not sure if I will repost to my Blahg or not), but let’s give it a go. Here is the first second third Threads VSS I participated in from a few days ago:

#Courage

She laid herself bare,
All her doubts,
Her questions,
Her insecurities,
Exposed, naked,
And raw for me to see —
All courage to me.

Be well,

Monty

Monty’s Very Short Shorts – Honey

#Honey

carrierendellwrites @ Threads

One of the things that got me started writing regularly (daily in fact) was to write ‘Very Short Stories” using prompt words provided on Twitter under the hashtag #VSS365. In 2020, I wrote a very short story (or poem) for everyday of the year. These, with accompanying illustrations, became my first major project and resulted in Monty’s Very Short Shorts:

Monty’s Very Short Shorts

After the project concluded and with the later demise of Twitter I no longer did this daily practice and worked on other projects. But recently, I discovered that “VSS” was alive and well on Threads and the writing community there is quite supportive and engaged. So I decided to try my hand at it again. I’m not sure whether I’ll do this everyday (and even if I do I’m not sure if I will repost to my Blahg or not), but let’s give it a go. Here is the first second Threads VSS I participated in from a few days ago:

Seeking Honey Pot

Double-oh-seven has nothing on me,
Oh! I’ve got something you’ve got to see
(so go ahead and DM me)!
I’ve got secrets to spill,
Take me at your will
(I’ve needs to fulfill)!
Seeking honey pot,
No need to eavesdrop
(Your lips on mine will have me talking non-stop)!

Be well,

Monty

Monty’s Very Short Shorts (continued)

#Open

carrierendellwrites @ Threads

One of the things that got me started writing regularly (daily in fact) was to write ‘Very Short Stories” using prompt words provided on Twitter under the hashtag #VSS365. In 2020, I wrote a very short story (or poem) for everyday of the year. These, with accompanying illustrations, became my first major project and resulted in Monty’s Very Short Shorts:

Monty’s Very Short Shorts

After the project concluded and with the later demise of Twitter I no longer did this daily practice and worked on other projects. But recently, I discovered that “VSS” was alive and well on Threads and the writing community there is quite supportive and engaged. So I decided to try my hand at it again. I’m not sure whether I’ll do this everyday (and even if I do I’m not sure if I will repost to my Blahg or not), but let’s give it a go. Here is the first Threads VSS I participated in from a few days ago:

#Open

It doesn’t matter if a door opens if we’re unwilling to walk through it. The analogy of doors being opened or closed in life keeps popping up these days. Along with lessons on the futility of banging my head against locked doors and the irony of it all when there are new doors freely opening if I only just look up. Perhaps the door isn’t as shiny as another, but it’s not about the door itself. It’s about the life that we reveal after walking through.

Be well,

Monty

Another Night in QiDong – 小龙虾 Edition

Last night Mrs. Monty and I spent another night out and about at the seaside of QiDong. This time we went out for 小龙虾 or Xiao (small) Long (dragon) Xia (shrimp) which is an awesome name for crawfish in my humble opinion. I didn’t take a photo (sorry, we were too anxious to dig in and once we did our hands were in too much of a mess). Thus begun over an hours endeavor to consume 2.5Kg (about five and half pounds) of these mini-dragons — sounds much more than it is considering 80% of the thing is head and claws, but nevertheless it was still a feast. We opted for 香辣 (Xiang La) flavor, which was “flavorfully spicy” in all the right ways. By the end of the evening my fingers were burning from the combination of shelling all the critters and the spiced oil coating my hands. We also had a few skewers of BBQ, but nothing compared to the place we went previously, so I think I’d reserve this particular restaurant to crawfish marathons as the ‘lil dragons were super fresh, very clean, and amazingly affordable (2.5Kg for less than 20 US dollars).

Aside from the food, it was the perfect “street” ambience as we sat outside among a bunch of other families with just enough drama to be entertaining. Given that our hands were busy, and our mouths were full, it was the perfect diversion. The BBQ part of the kitchen was also in view from our table and the gruff boss/chef was quite a character. I got a sense that it was much better eating there than working there, but I guess that is pretty much true of any food establishment.

At the end of the night, after fishing out the very last of the creatures from the red eddies of spicy broth, Mrs. Monty was thankful that I took the time for our not so little dragon feast. It’s something that I don’t do too often as its so much work for each little morsel. But in China it seems that the more difficult something is to eat, the more delicious it becomes. Perhaps not such a bad analogy for the way life works?

Be well,

Monty

Let Your Light Shine! (an invitation)

I’ll be starting to host a fellowship soon. It’s a fellowship from the church that I’ve been participating in the past couple years — moving from a ‘wanna-believer’ to a believer still with questions. (always seeking!). This journey was the main subject of my last poetry collection “Seeking the Light” and I’m now moving forward to trying my hand at hosting. What I appreciate about this church is its openness to seeking and understanding. If I hadn’t felt that openness and willingness to understand non-believers or diverse beliefs, then I wouldn’t have been willing to open my heart to God the way I have.

Here is a brief introduction of the upcoming series and link to register if you’re interested. I would love to see you there.

Upcoming series! LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!

Many of us have lived feeling hidden, put down, not loveable enough, not celebrated enough and shamed by the things that have hurt us.  If you have ever felt trapped into trying to be what everyone else wants you to be, or haven’t felt FREE to be WHO YOU WERE CALLED TO BE, this upcoming series is going to be a powerful chance for HEALING and FREEDOM and to LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!!

God’s Word says not to put our light under a basket.  With HIM we get to be our TRUE SELVES!! Christ helps us to love and see others through His love and light.  Christ is calling us to LET OUR LIGHT SHINE, so that all those around us can see what MORE IS POSSIBLE with GOD and how we can be LIGHTS of the WORLD!!!!

Link for registration

The time for my session will be Friday’s in US 8:30pm (East)/5:30pm (Pacific) — the option in the registration uses my given name “Scott”.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

May you be blessed!

Be well,

Monty

An Evening in QiDong

Last night we had bbq, pieces of squid, pigs, and various veggies on sticks. All seasoned to a nice level of spice. We sat along the water where there was a strong enough breeze to blow the mosquitos away. The air itself was warm and the movement by the wind brought welcomed freshness. So did the draft beer, which was light but not watery. A perfect dinner companion. We walked there and back. The return served as an effective digestive – just far enough to feel productive without breaking a sweat. Overall, it was a perfect evening in QiDong.

Be well,

Monty

Early Morn

I never realized how much light bends upon the horizon;
Brightening up the early morning hours before the sun peaks into view. The sky a mix of blues and yellows as the night ebbs into morning. When suddenly an explosion of orange breaks across the sea announcing the new day’s arrival.

All this happening in the span of minutes. Nothing like a horizon event to emphasize the speed at which we are living. Ironic that flying around the galaxy like a spinning top is so peaceful. And now an hour or so later, the sun’s pace having slowed, the sea’s blues ripple with a cooling breeze. All this before the house awakes. #Joy

Be well,

Monty

Introducing “Seaview”

Mrs. Monty and I had the privileged opportunity to pick-up a nice little place near the sea (from the map it looks like we are somewhere on the border of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea). The property is actually part of a large development by Evergreen (the huge property developer that went bankrupt and was in the news a couple of years ago). Property prices dropped precipitously with the bankruptcy, and made buying a place reasonable. One might think that this would be a bad idea, but our goals are not investment but rather just to have a nice place away from the city with a great water view to hang out in. The development itself seems fairly healthy. Most of the properties were bought up prior to the bankruptcy, so the association fees are being collected and the maintenance is very good. There is also a five-star hotel within the development that attracts visitors to keep the place feeling ‘alive’.

This picture is from a couple weeks ago (we are now in the rainy season so we’re pretty socked in).


Our place is on the 29th floor of a 30 floor high rise with nothing built between us and the sea so there is an uninterrupted (and pretty darn nice) view. This isn’t on the ocean with the sounds of waves and such, but it’s pretty good considering we’re only a couple hours outside of Shanghai. And the sea breeze is the greatest. There is almost a constant light (or not so light) breeze that keeps the air fresh. With the windows open creating a cross-apartment air flow, it is comfortable even during this humid season.

The place was a bit worn from disuse and there were some upgrades that we decided to make so we haven’t moved in yet. We expect to be able to move in by the end of the month. One of the biggest changes we made was replacing the veranda windows from traditional small paned panels to a large panel that provides a bigger view. We also took down a wall between a small kitchen veranda and the kitchen/dining room which creates a great little breakfast nook that also has nice view of the beach, which I’m thinking will be my go to spot for great sunrise views with my morning coffee.

So far everything seems to be progressing well and no regrets. The only possible downside is that I’m now feeling a bit envious of all the retirees. I’d like to be able to spend a lot more time here than just a long weekend once in a while. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I can sneak in more remote working days!

Be well,

Monty