Category Archives: Tales from the Tub

Sad Guitar

TBM 1708.13 DDOP-13: Sunday Brunch: Processing the Unimaginable

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Sad Guitar

Description:

How do I process unimaginable situations? With music.

Excerpt:

Whether it’s angry-girl rock that helps us find our inner strength, a lullaby sung to a fretful or fearful child, or a silly pop number that helps us rediscover joy, even in the midst of sorrow, music is the language that lives in our deepest hearts.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Italicized song lyrics are from “It’s Quiet Uptown,” from Hamilton: An American Musical, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
  • Image Copyright: joseasreyes / 123RF Stock Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:01 — 10.7MB)

Coffee and coffee beans

TBM 1708.12 DDOP-12: Untitled Mexico Project

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Coffee and coffee beans

Description:

The first bit of a new story. Total WIP. Opens in a cafe in Mexico.

Excerpt:

The server appears. He’s wearing a nametag that says “Carlos,” but every server she’s ever met here has been called “Carlos.” They’re always kids, these servers. Not children, but kids. They come to town to work in the restaurants the gringos frequent. They practice English and learn restaurant skills, and then they head to Mexico City or California or Texas, hoping for a better life. The kind that comes with air conditioned apartments.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: Merlene Goulet on Unsplash

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:35 — 5.4MB)

TBM 1708.11 DDOP-11: Blue Teardrops

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Description:

A circus clown faces the prospect of retirement.

Excerpt:

When the crowds were thin, though, and the children screamed with fear instead of laughing at their antics, the blue teardrops appeared at the corners of their eyes, their faces were updated in the Registry, and they disappeared. Some said they were going back to college; others found jobs as buskers making balloon animals in zoos and amusement parks, but every single one left Clown Alley, left the life.

Jack hadn’t come up from clown college either, but he was no kid. At sixty, he probably ought to be thinking about retirement, but he’d been born and raised in the circus. He was the last in a line of clowns that dated back to the first American circus.

He was a headliner among clowns; his name – Jacko – was on all the posters.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: Zs. Daniel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:07 — 12.9MB)

TBM 1708.10 DDOP-10: Stirring and Settling

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Description:

Part 4 of a series that began with “Steeping” in 2013. A Sarah & David tea story.

Excerpt:

Sarah dropped into the chair David had pulled out for her, taking in the bouquet of daisies in a glass vase, and the vaguely tea-pot shaped item sitting on a trivet and covered by a quilted cozy. “You arranged this? For me?”

“No,” David corrected. “I arranged this for us.” He lifted the cozy from the pot and set it aside. “Shall I pour?”

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: 123rf.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:14 — 10.0MB)

TBM 1708.09 – DDOP-09: Toxic to Dogs

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Description:

Inspired by a tweet from my friend Jancis last year, and written for 2016 HorrorDailies.

Excerpt:

“Greta? Greta who mixes weed into green smoothies Greta?” Yvette had never really gotten along with her, and things had been worse since she and Jason had begun dating. Greta had wanted Jason badly. “I had no idea she could bake. Maybe she’s useful after all. Pass me another?”

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: 123rf.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:38 — 9.2MB)

tea and scones

TBM 1708.08 – DDOP-08: Stewing

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tea and scones

Description:

Part 3 of a series that began with “Steeping” in 2013. A Sarah & David tea story.

Excerpt:

“I didn’t want it to be ‘fine,’” Sarah snapped, though the look on her face made it clear that she hadn’t meant to speak quite so sharply. In a more neutral tone, she continued, “I wanted it to be good. It’s my last day of work until the holidays are over, and I wanted things to feel festive.” She gestured to the floral center piece and the lit candles. “Special.”

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: 123rf.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:36 — 10.4MB)

Copyright: vvoennyy / 123RF Stock Photo

TBM 1708.07 – DDOP-07: Preferably Smooth

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Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_vvoennyy'>vvoennyy / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Description:

Technically a piece of Gotham fanfic, but you’d never know it if I hadn’t told you. (Note: I thought this was from 2016, but I wrote it in 2015.) Just a quick ficlet.

Excerpt:

Surprisingly, it’s not the mook holding your bodyguard’s head, blood from the severed neck dripping on the cold tile.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: Copyright: vvoennyy / 123RF Stock Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:38 — 4.4MB)

Asbury Park NJ Carousel House

TBM 0817.06 – DDOP-06: Sunday Brunch: Carousel of Memories

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Asbury Park NJ Carousel House

Description:

My Sunday Brunch column from April, 2017. The Asbury Park boardwalk, and particularly the carousel, are the touchstones of my childhood.

Excerpt:

Outside the carousel house, the twilight of evening is melting into full darkness. The scent of hot dogs and cotton candy mixes with the salty brine of sea and sand. The lights on the rollercoaster are reflected upon the glassy ocean.

The night feels made of magic.

I am twelve years old, and I have no idea that it will be the last time I see the boardwalk with its rides active, with children running back and forth, with indulgent parents and grandparents handing over money in exchange for pretzels with mustard, paper cones full of popcorn, or wax-coated bags of salt-water taffy.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit: Personal collection

Contact Me:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:50 — 7.7MB)

Maximus, 2017

TBM 0817.05 – DDOP-05: World’s Biggest Chewtoy?

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Maximus, 2017

Description:

My dog, Max (Maximus) will be nine in December. This story may or may not have taken place exactly as described, about eight years ago.

Excerpt:

“Everything I write is crap,” I said. “And my column is due tomorrow. I forgot to pay my cell phone bill and it cost seventy-five dollars to get it reinstated.  I ruined dinner and I’m too tired to cook anything new, and your dog ate my t-shirt.”  I was in tears by the time I finished my litany, but my husband was smirking. “Stop laughing! It’s NOT funny!”

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit 123rf.com

Contact Me:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:12 — 10.7MB)

Whispering Guitar

TBM 0817.04 – DDOP-04: Whispers and Some Kind of Understanding

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Whispering Guitar

Description:

Not so much a ghost story, as a story with ghosts in it. Written for 2016 HorrorDailies.

Excerpt:

But Mama never believed me when I told her that my invisible friends told me these things. She’d just tug on one of my braids and tell me I was lucky to have such a vivid imagination, and maybe I’d be a writer someday.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image credit 123rf.com

Contact Me:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:21 — 14.0MB)