jstro, followed by: garblesnix yanek BinkiKitty RNKarenER Barringhupite Congrats, Jon! The entries were a blast to read - thanks everyone! There are a couple of points I would like to address regarding this (and any) challenge run here. First, any questions that come up during the challenge should be posted to the announcement thread. By doing so, we can air issues and resolve any potential problems. For instance, there may have been many others who, like Gurami, felt the challenge was too limiting. If we discuss things like this prior to closing, perhaps we can fix the problem(s). Then I (or any other challenge manager) can rewrite the challenge and extend the deadline, if appropriate. Second, since the challenge is always posted to the front page and is visible when clicking on the "Contests" link in header to every page, I do not post specific notices in other forums. That said, if anyone feels a particular challenge should be announced elsewhere, please let me know so I can contact the moderator/coordinator of the other forum(s). Like you, I am interested in ways to increase participation in our challenges but would like the opportunity to discuss the matter with the other forums before irritating anyone. Now, for next month's challenge we're going to try something just a little different. Jstro still gets to pick the theme, but I'm going to ask someone else to handle most of the challenge management. Any guesses as to who it will be?

6 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms? I can only imagine why mentioning the number of bathrooms in a new release was so important.

I'm very pleased that dido6 has joined us as coordinator. She's done a fantastic job as part of the magazine and will fit in here perfectly.

Nope, you didn't mess anything up. I just didn't get any notices that entries had been submitted. Not that I should rely on emails, but when I do get them I make it a point to read them, even if I'm short on time and can't spend much time on the computer.

A fish that can't swim flounders in the water.

1. Romarch: The suggestion for the challenge as put forth by nocturnesch is for the writer to remember being a person but suddenly in an animal's body. This could either be handled by switching places with your (or someone else's) pet or just waking up being a pet. It would be very lonely if you woke up as a pet without anything else being around, however. So I'd suggest placing yourself (or your character) in some type of household. The other household members don't have to switch places, just you/your character. For instance, you're married and have a few children as well as a cat, dog, and some fish. You wake up to realize you're the dog and the dog is you (now your spouse's mate and children's parent). BUT you remember being married and having the kids, not the dog. You might still think like a human, but being in an animal's body will not allow you to express your thoughts as you would being a person. You will most likely need to keep in mind physical differences (movement limitations/advantages, verbal/non-verbal communication styles, and so on). That's a little twisted, but I hope it helps. 2) This brings up a point about the contest in general. In the challenge I have included this statement: "Describe the events of the day from your new perspective and your feelings, desires, hopes, dreams, etc." This statement is meant as an aid to help people frame their story - it's not required that submissions follow that exact recipe. Just make sure your story deals with the theme of role reversal and you'll be fine. I apologize for any confusion my challenge wording has/may cause. Feel free to discuss the matter in this thread. 3) Capitalization of breed names. I'm not sure how to handle this either, so don't fret it. I suspect caps would only be used when referring to a breed by its full, formal name. As dialyn pointed out, Boston terrier should be capitalized while beagle probably wouldn't be, since there are varieties of beagles. It's more confusing for cats (I think) since breed names are not always proper names. Siamese, Persian, Russian blue, Maine coon, and so on are proper names. However, domestic short-hair, long-hair, calico, and tabby are not. Sometimes, when I can't find anything else to watch, I'll catch some of the best of breed shows on Animal Planet. It seems that when animals are being judged the breed name is always capitalized since it's a classification instead of just being a description. In other words, use whatever form you feel like and don't factor that into your decision when voting.

That's Chico, the youngest of my two. His older brother, Sluggo, is too shy to pose. BTW, Chico was trying to call his rap partner, CatzUp. (Couldn't resist that one, living 14 miles from the Heinz plant in Pittsburgh.)

Congratulations to the winners! Thanks to everyone who entered, making this a fun challenge to watch.

Javascript is not permitted in the forums or galleries. At least it's not supposed to be. You could post this in the Community Center forum and ask the the programmers add this feature to the site. Just make a good case and ignore the flames.

Please give it another try. I just changed the entry portion of the contest by deleting the "File Upload" function. Simply enter your text in the "Notes" section and everything will be fine.

I wasn't able to get online last night. Thanks for posting the challenge, dialyn.

Anyone is welcome to post a challenge at any time for the entire forum. Other forums can be included as well, so don't feel the need to limit it only to writers. In other words, go for it!

Thanks for tallying the vote, dialyn.

Since we have a tie between garblesnix and Gurami, the next forum challenge is up the them. It'll be interesting to see what a team can devise.

Hope the move went well and that your phone and cable get installed when scheduled. Enjoy the time away getting your new house settled.

I fancy that it did, only everyone was so engrossed in their own affairs it went ignored.