Tag Archives: Holidailies

454 - Wreath

TBM-1812.06 – DDOA-005 – The Briar Wreath

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454 - Wreath

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic Getting the perfect holiday wreath takes a special effort.

Excerpt:

But this year, this year, Master Gavrel wanted something different, something organic. So, he went to the winter wood. He knew that others had gone before him, seeking a wreath from the Order of the Brambles, and that most had come back injured and empty handed, while others had not returned at all.

Links and References

  • Read the text of The Briar Wreath at MissMeliss.com
  • Reader: Clay Robeson (read more about him here)
  • Check out the December Reflections prompts here.

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 a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:08 — 4.3MB)

TBM-1812.05 – DDOA-004 – My Darling and Clementines

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Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic A woman and her husband share a snack of clementine oranges

Excerpt:

He’s eating the oranges one at a time, methodically peeling and sectioning each one, then slowly savoring each petite section. These tiny, sweet, citrus fruits are his latest addiction, and a welcome replacement for the near-constant stream of gummy candy that came before them.

Links and References

  • Read the text of My Darling at Clementines at MissMeliss.com
  • Reader: Christine LaBruna Fiore of Megapodtastic
  • Check out the December Reflections prompts here.

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 a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:08 — 4.3MB)

123rf-Morning-Coffee

TBM-1812.04 – DDOA-003 – Morning Light

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123rf-Morning-Coffee

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic A woman has a moment of quiet reflection on the beach on Christmas morning.

Excerpt:

Annie wrapped her hands around the warm mug, letting her fingers meet through the handle. Her new ritual was to send a silent prayer to the universe: for peace, for patience, for wisdom.

She sat there in communion with sea, sand, and sky until the sun had risen completely. Then she drained her mug and rose – more stiffly than she would have liked – to her feet and moved closer to the water’s edge, where the sand was smooth and damp.

Links and References

  • Read the text of Morning Light at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out the December Reflections prompts here.

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 a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:11 — 5.7MB)

Christmas Piano

TBM 1712.22 DDOP-Advent-06: I Pray on Christmas

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Christmas Piano

Description:

#Audio. A mother finds solace in music during a delay at the airport.

Excerpt:

Kathleen stared up at the status board, and couldn’t help letting out a frustrated groan. Her flight had been delayed. Again. She liked her life as a road warrior, for the most part. She got to stay in lovely hotels, spend time in all the great cities of the world, and, she would probably never run out of frequent flier miles and first class upgrades. Flight delays, however, were something she would never enjoy.

Still, there were times when she longed to walk through the door to her own home to a sloppy, drooly greeting from her dog, a nearly ancient flat-coated retriever named Parker. (He was named after her childhood crush, Parker Stevenson, whom she used to watch every week on The Hardy Boys. No one, she thought, had ever made a better Frank.)

Links and 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.
  • Photo Copyright: viperagp / 123RF Stock Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:43 — 10.0MB)

Menorah

TBM 1712.09 DDOP-Advent-05: In Every Age

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Menorah

Description:

#Audio. Happy Hanukkah! It’s the second night of Hanukkah, so this is a Hanukkah story.

Excerpt:

She played the chord again, and saw the children gathered around her focus their attention. And why not? They’d grown up with digital instruments: violins and cellos that relied on computer chips for their tone, guitars that made their sound through a wireless amplifier, and pianos that could be rolled into a cylinder the size of a zip-top sandwich bag. Her guitar didn’t have any chips, and it couldn’t be made smaller. It was wire and wood and care and love and history, and its lines were the only ones Sylvia had caressed since her beloved Harry had passed on five years before.

“I’m going to sing you an old song now,” she told them. “And you’re going to sing it with me. It’s in Hebrew. So, listen once, and then repeat.”

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.
  • Photo Copyright: karaidel / 123RF Stock Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:51 — 9.9MB)

Poinsettias

TBM 1712.07 DDOP-Advent-07: Poinsettias

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Poinsettias

Description:

Flash-fiction written for 2016 Holidailies: A young woman and her grandmother add Holiday Magic to some seasonal plants.

Excerpt:

The inside of the greenhouse is a technological marvel, with heat lamps and misters and every kind of measuring implement ever invented to track growth rates and division patterns, to determine optimal climate zones and confirm hardiness. Even the ceiling was programmable on a section-by-section basis so that day-lilies could thrive next to night-blooming cactus if the Gardeners so desired.

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.
  • Photo Source: Flash-prompt Facebook Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:11 — 8.0MB)

Album Cover: Earha Kitt Santa Baby

TBM 1712.05 DDOP-Advent-02: Only If It’s Eartha Kitt

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Album Cover: Earha Kitt Santa Baby

Description:

Flash-fiction: an aunt and niece discuss the holidays and Eartha Kitt.

Excerpt:

The older woman’s dithering lit a fire in her niece. “Aunt Lena you have been playing hermit at Christmas since I was sixteen years old. I’m twenty-six now, and Brian is probably going to propose on Christmas Eve, and I want my only aunt to be there.” She took a beat. “Besides, who else will I be able to mock all the cheesy Christmas music with?”

Links & References:

Only If It’s Eartha Kitt, at MissMeliss.com

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.
  • Photo Source: Flash-prompt Facebook Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:54 — 4.9MB)

Cardinals

TBM 1712.03 DDOP-Advent-01: The Coming of the Cardinals

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Cardinals

Description:

Sunday Brunch essay from Modern Creative Life.

Excerpt:

Rather, I’m a backyard bird-watcher. I enjoy following the antics of the bully Blue Jay who drives the starlings and finches out of the trees, only for them to settle right back in. Winter comes with doves, one of whom insists that the birdfeeder is really her nest. She never stays in it for long, though. In spring and summer, we have robins and hummingbirds who buzz our windows and skim low over the puppy pool, stealing sips of water, or using it as a bath. (We don’t chlorinate the puppy pool.)

Links & References:

The Coming of the Cardinals at Modern Creative Life

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.
  • Photo Source: Flash-prompt Facebook Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:38 — 10.3MB)

TBM 1512.20 – Christmas at Mission City Coffee

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The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Holiday Tub

Show Notes

Christmas at Mission City Coffee

I recently published a book of holiday essays, The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the (Holiday) Tub. This is one of the pieces – an essay about an impromptu coffeehouse concert.

Credits

Music

Music for this episode was provided by Mevio’s Music Alley, a great resource for podsafe music. Visit them at music.mevio.com.
Opening: “Soap in a Bathtub” by Stoney
Closing Music: “You Can Use My Bathtub” by Little Thom

Production

Recorded and Produced using BossJock and Audacity.

Links

The original version of the essay: Christmas at Mission City Coffee
The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the (Holiday) Tub – Kindle
The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the (Holiday) Tub – Paperback

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:43 — 9.2MB)

Holidailies 2014 #14: Stars and Stories

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Excerpt from Today’s Show:

But I know we need to keep warm here on earth
And when your shawl is as thin as mine is, you tell stories.

Links:

MissMeliss: (MissMeliss: The Bathtub Mermaid)
Holidailies (http://www.holidailies.org/)

Credits:

“How Palestinians Keep Warm,” by Naomi Shahib Nye
“Why Not a Star?” by Margaret Gooding
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.

Music for The Bathtub Mermaid is provided by Mevio’s Music Alley, a great resource for podsafe music. The standard opening song is “Soap in a Bathtub,” by Stoney. The standard closing song is “You Can Use My Bathtub, by Little Thom. Additional music used for the Holidailies project is “A Podcast Christmas Theme” by Tom Shad, and “Village Song” composed by David Popper and performed by Cello Journey.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:37 — 7.9MB)