Inflating My Writing Career

First thing in the morning after breakfast, I called the Acme. My job was fine. Donna said as long as I was on disability, there was no problem. If I'd been out for six weeks without telling anyone, I'd be in trouble. I just had to let everyone know what was going on.

I spent a lot of the day checking out another write-for-pay site. One of the most popular legitimate write-for-pay sites is Helium.com. Instead of just posting whatever, you choose assignments they have listed for various "channels" on their sites, from the arts to sciences to creative writing. To keep things simple, I chose three creative writing assignments that are due next week - short stories inspired by the phrases "died happy" and "the last train" and a flash fiction (200 words or less) about "big girls." They don't pay much, but something is better than nothing at all, especially right now.

Between checking out sites and writing, I ran more Silver Spoons episodes. By the third season, Alfonso Ribiero had replaced Jason Bateman as Ricky's best pal. Franklin Seals came in as Alfonso's appropriately named uncle Dexter Stuffins, who also happened to be Edward's business manager.

The biggest change of all had nothing to do with the cast comings and goings...and everything to do with human nature. Ricky, his nerdy buddy Freddy, and Alfonso are all now teens in their freshman year of high school. Edward finds himself dealing with a trio of budding hormones, while Ricky navigates the ins and outs of dating, getting a job, and being popular.

Actually, my favorite episode of this batch was a very creative Halloween tale. When the power goes out on a stormy Halloween night, Edward suggests that Alfonso, Ricky, and Freddy tell ghost stories of their own. The four come up with a tale of three weary young travelers in 1891 (the boys, naturally) who find themselves trapped in a spooky old manor (the mansion with no video games or train track) inhabited by a Dr. Jekyll-type mad scientist (Edward), his stuffy monster (Dexter), and a beautiful young lady who tries to rescue them (Kate). Joel Higgins really got into this one - his movements, both as the Jekyll and Hyde side of the mad scientist, were hilarious.