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Tales from the Tub

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Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.com
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1908.03 – DDOP.03 – Little Fears

3 August 2019 by Melissa

Robot head looking front on camera isolated on a black background

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.03-DDOP-03-LittleFears.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Flashfic.  A Basil and Zoe story. Zoe has lots of little fears…

Excerpt:

Then, too, she isn’t always certain she’s cut out for normal life. She’s never really learned how to live in one place all the time, and even when she was on the ship with Basil, he was going on remote missions. Their time together is counted in days and hours, not in weeks, months, years, and she can’t imagine what it would be like if she… stopped.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Learn more about the Dog Days of Podcasting
  • Learn more about The Literal Challenge

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.03-DDOP-03-LittleFears.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:17 — 5.2MB)

Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub DDoPDDOP 2019Dog Days of PodcastingFlash Fiction 1 Comment
Violets by ernesto bruschi

1908.02 – DDOP.02 – Ione

2 August 2019 by Melissa

Violets by ernesto bruschi

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.02-DDOP-02-Ione.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Flashfic.  This piece was meant to be erotica but didn’t quite turn out that way.

Excerpt:

You know you shouldn’t be looking. Because this girl – and she is a girl – likely sixteen, seventeen at the oldest – is a student at your school. Because she’s underage, untouchable, unspoiled. And you are none of those things.

Links and References

  • Guest Reader: Mark (the Encaffeinated One) Kilfoil (Wandering Out Loud)
  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Learn more about the Dog Days of Podcasting
  • Learn more about The Literal Challenge

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.02-DDOP-02-Ione.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:37 — 3.8MB)

Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub DDoPDDOP 2019Dog Days of PodcastingFlash Fiction
vienna-reyes-616728-unsplash

1908.01 – DDOP.01 – Like Smoke

1 August 2019 by Melissa

vienna-reyes-616728-unsplash

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.01-DDOP-01-LikeSmoke.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFiction. Inspired by world cup soccer and a recent visit to Madrid.

Excerpt:

I apologize for my bad language skills. “Me Español es muy mal y Mexicana,” I explain.

He counters, “Me Ingles es como humo.” Like smoke.

But I understand more Spanish than I can speak, and even though the Castillian accent throws me a little, somehow, we manage to communicate.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Learn more about the Dog Days of Podcasting
  • Learn more about The Literal Challenge

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1908.01-DDOP-01-LikeSmoke.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:52 — 6.1MB)

Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub DDOP 2019Dog Days of PodcastingFlash Fiction 1 Comment
101543498_s

TBM-1901.01 – 2019-This Will Be Our Year

1 January 2019 by Melissa

101543498_s

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1901.01-2019-This-Will-Be-Our-Year.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog This will be our year. All of ours.

Excerpt:

I know I’m not the only person who was more than ready to kick 2018 out the door, and welcome in the promise of a new year. Like a brand new pad of drawing paper, a brand new spiral notebook, a brand new computer with a virtually empty hard drive, a new year is a blank canvas, as yet untainted by politics or pain.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • “This Will Be Our Year” was originally by the Zombies, I used the cover by Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1901.01-2019-This-Will-Be-Our-Year.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:36 — 9.1MB)

Tales from the Tub 2019DDoPDog Days of PodcastingEssaysOther People's WordsPersonal Essay
Entenmanns

TBM-1812.30 – DDOA-024 – 8thDayAfterXmas

30 December 2018 by Melissa

Entenmanns

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.30-DDOA-024-8thDayAfterXmas.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog Entenmann’s coffeecake – the taste of home.

Excerpt:

And more often than not, the dessert would be an Entenmann’s coffeecake. The kind with a crumb topping and pastry cheese filling. That taste, slightly metallic from the foil tray, but always just enough sweetness to temper the strongest of coffees (or the brattiest of little girls) was the taste of my childhood. I remember it as strongly as I do my grandfather’s raisin bread or my grandmother’s meatballs or her recipe for pasta e fagiolli, which, by the way, is nothing like the swill they serve at the Olive Garden.Train whistles never sound anything but mournful. My friend Stonefish says it’s just the physics of sound, but I think it’s more. I think there’s a romanticism associated with trains that never quite leaves us.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.
  • “The Twelve Days After Christmas” was written by Frederick Silver

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.30-DDOA-024-8thDayAfterXmas.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:20 — 3.4MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventDDoPDog Days of PodcastingHolidailiesnostalgia
sandra-ahn-mode--cropped-350283-unsplash

TBM-1812.29 – DDOA-023 – 6thDayAfterXmas

29 December 2018 by Melissa

sandra-ahn-mode--cropped-350283-unsplash

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.29-DDOA-023-6thDayAfterXmas.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog Musings on trains, real and toy.

Excerpt:

Train whistles never sound anything but mournful. My friend Stonefish says it’s just the physics of sound, but I think it’s more. I think there’s a romanticism associated with trains that never quite leaves us.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.
  • “The Twelve Days After Christmas” was written by Frederick Silver

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.29-DDOA-023-6thDayAfterXmas.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:26 — 4.4MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventDDoPDog Days of PodcastingHolidailies
bossier-city

TBM-1812.28 – DDOA-022 – 3rdDayAfterXmas

28 December 2018 by Melissa

bossier-city

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.28-DDOA-022-3rdDayAfterXmas.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog Recording from Bossier City, LA, where we drove to see my aunt.

Excerpt:

I had a pot of coffee sent to the room (literally, they sent an urn) and we shared one enormous slice of cheesecake, and it was a nice way to catch up without anyone having to wash a dish. I gave my aunt and uncle and cousin some Dude, Sweet Chocolate, which is possibly the best chocolate on Earth, and they gave us local coffee and biscotti, made by the people in the care home where my cousin is a nurse.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.
  • “The Twelve Days After Christmas” was written by Frederick Silver

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.28-DDOA-022-3rdDayAfterXmas.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:38 — 2.7MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventDDoPDog Days of PodcastingHolidailies
sheridans

TBM-1812.27 – DDOA-027 – 2ndDayAfterXmas

27 December 2018 by Melissa

sheridans

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.27-DDOA-021-2ndDayAfterXmas.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog Sheridan’s: an Irish whiskey drink I first tasted in Mexico.

Excerpt:

And you can’t buy it in the states.

So every time I visit my mother in Mexico, I make sure to have enough pesos leftover to buy a bottle of Sheridan’s and a bottle of really good Tequila at the duty-free store in the Cabo airport. I prefer to use pesos because they give you a discount for using cash, but it’s also a good way to burn leftover pesos.

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.
  • “The Twelve Days After Christmas” was written by Frederick Silver

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.27-DDOA-021-2ndDayAfterXmas.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:25 — 3.4MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventChristmasDDoPDog Days of Podcasting

TBM-1812.26 – DDOA-020 – 1stDayAfterXmas

26 December 2018 by Melissa

butterflytopper-e1545884363647

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.26-DDOA-020-1stDayAfterXmas.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Blog Tree toppers, as requested by Nuchtchas.

Excerpt:

Two trees means two tree toppers. The main tree, which is seven-and-a-half feet tall and is in the dining room, has a traditional angel on top. For the longest time, when Fuzzy and I both worked nights doing tech support for Gateway, we had a gold moon as the topper, but as our marriage matured our trees grew in stature (well, we kept upgrading to larger ones) and the moon was soon relegated to normal ornament status. I bought the angel a few years ago because she seemed serene, and she reminded me of a Renaissance painting I’d seen once..

Links and References

  • Read the text of this piece at MissMeliss.com
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.26-DDOA-020-1stDayAfterXmas.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:52 — 3.9MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventDDoPDog Days of PodcastingEssays
45933665_s via 123rf.com

TBM-1812.24 – DDOA-019 – A Prayer for Advent

24 December 2018 by Melissa

45933665_s via 123rf.com

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.24-DDOA-019-A-Prayer-for-Advent.mp3

Description:

#Audio. #Prayer A series of advent prayers, for each of us, and for the world.

Excerpt:

In this holiday season,
May the darkness of winter
Be dispelled in this festival of lights,
And may the darkness of ignorance
Be dispelled in the strength
Of compassion, reason,
And sharing.

Guest Readers

  • Christine Fiore (Megapodtastic)
  • Mark (the Encaffeinated One) Kilfoil (Wandering Out Loud)
  • Mike Luoma (Glow-in-the-Dark Radio)
  • Nuchtchas (Nutty Bites)

Links and References

  • Read the text of these prayers at the UUA website.
  • Check out all the participants in the Dog Days of Advent.
  • Dona Nobis Pacem was performed by violist Trenton Wood

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:

  • Twitter: @Melysse
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TBM-1812.24-DDOA-019-A-Prayer-for-Advent.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:47 — 4.1MB)

DDOP Advent Dog Days of Podcasting Tales from the Tub 2018AdventChristine LaBruna FioreDog Days of PodcastingMark the Encaffeinated OneMike LuomaNuchtchasPrayerTrenton Wood

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  • TBM-2501.01 – Prayer for the Morning 1 January 2025
  • TBM-2412.28 – Dogfish Days of Advent – Mermaid Minute: ChristmasTide 28 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.24 – DogFish Days of Advent – Sacrificial 24 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.23 – Dogfish Days of Advent – Christmas Shards 24 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.20 – Dogfish Days of Advent – The Gift of the Mergi 21 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.19 – Dogfish Days of Advent – We Mermen of Ocean Are 19 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.17 – Dogfish Days of Advent: Flames of Winter 17 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.16 – Dogfish Days of Advent: Sandy Klaws Is Coming To Town 16 December 2024
  • TBM-2412.14-Dogfish Days of Advent: – Excerpt from A Mer-Child’s Christmas With Whales 14 December 2024
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What I’m Writing: MissMeliss.com

Sacrificial

Sacrificial

The tree stood in the living room, centered in the arch of the window, its branches unadorned – naked. Despite being both artificial and pre-lit it had been there for several days because Ellie insisted that even plastic trees had to acclimate before they could be decorated.

Flames of Winter

Flames of Winter

We fill our homes with candles that represent nothing more than a cozy glow, and we gather ’round our gas logs or Franklin stoves even when our houses are fitted with central heating systems, because there’s something – some magical thing – about fire that seems to drive away the stress and darkness of winter in a way that electric light never can.

The Gift of the Mergi

The Gift of the Mergi

A handful of pearls. That was all Nerissa had. Oh, she’d grown up in Poseidon’s Grotto, with abalone combs and aquamarine and moonstone gems, but when she’d left the great ocean to marry a land-walker, she’d forfeit her jewels and pirate’s treasure hoards and kept only the handful of her nameday pearls.

What I’m Reading: Bibliotica

Review The Rise of the Mad March by Robert Espenscheid, Jr.

Review The Rise of the Mad March by Robert Espenscheid, Jr.

About the book, The Rise of the Mad March  Genre: New Adult / Coming of Age / Friendship Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing Pages: 374 Publication Date: May 9, 2025 This one is for all the rock bands who never headlined the big stage, who never needed protection getting to the limo, who never made any money, who […]

Review: The Calendar, by WM Gunn – with Giveaway

Review: The Calendar, by WM Gunn – with Giveaway

  About the Book, The Calendar Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 302 Publication Date: April 3, 2025 Scroll down for Giveaway Long-range monitors detect a massive rock plunging through space on a path toward Earth. Will it miss our planet, deliver a glancing blow, or destroy Mankind? And how will people react to an uncertain future? […]

Review: Houston Skyline, by Carol A. Taylor

Review: Houston Skyline, by Carol A. Taylor

About the book, Houston Skyline: Selected Poems Houston Skyline by Carol A. Taylor is a collection of poetry inspired by a life filled with change and growth. From her humble beginnings in rural Texas, where her family lived simply, to her career in the high-rises of the business world, and later to her years as […]

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