Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Write an opening paragraph of your blog with only one syllable words. --- Hi there! How did you know I liked tests, dares, one-word highs, puns, and jests, same as this prompt? That’s not all. Then, I love to taste tea, spice, sweets, sours, and all kinds of food, too. To test, I take a bite or a sip to feel the tang, the smell, the zest, or the dash. Then I run with my taste, to rise or fall, which spurs me on to new turfs, new lands, and new views. Do you like such stuff, too? If so, let me give you a tour in my land of verve and zeal. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Jacky ’s "Invalid Item" --- That’s such a sweet story and so meaningful in its brevity. As it is written for a micro-fiction contest, I can see how well its author depicted all that action in so few words. For that, I applaud the writer. Still, because it is such a good story, it deserves to be fleshed out, more so by giving a much deserved significance to characterization. The idea of it, though, that it is better to get a legitimate paying job than to commit unsavory acts for a bit of cash while facing some personal danger, is brilliant, and this is shown in powerful prose, like Hemingway, and is felt just as strongly by the reader. As the result, it made me think that so many of us settle for so little and sometimes, even accept playing into underhanded, devious, and unethical practices. In such situations, we always lose much more than we may gain. This is poor behavior and no rationalization of it can make it palatable. Agreeing with what we don’t want makes us lose from ourselves by burying our own needs and identity. Life is not always unfair, and just like the main character in this story, we can always aim higher and do better. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: What things do you like to blog about? --- Since we are using prompts, any kind of prompt is a joy and a maybe a challenge, and I especially like prompts that may involve deep thinking and may push the imagination more. Usually, I am not very comfortable with some specific thing I’ve already written about, possibly several times over. In addition, what I don’t much care for are the grade-school ideas for writing, such as “What did you do on your summer vacation?” since that type of prompt I’ve probably written for practically all my life. Still, when given such a prompt, I try to make it mine slightly changing the story I tell in it because, I think, in the first place, there should be no un-write-able prompt for a writer, as there are many ways to treat any one prompt. One more thing, I’d like to add is that there have been prompts I would have very much liked to write for but didn’t, only because for the day they were given, I had some other real-life, pressing matters to take care of and never did get around writing for those. Prompt: Did I ever tell you about the time I got lost.... yup, its your blog,, have fun! ---- Hahaha! No, you didn’t. I am quite curious, though, about how you got lost. I thought your sense of direction could outpace that of mine many times over. As for me getting lost, that doesn’t happen so much when my head is nailed in place, but give me a slight-to-severe life problem, I get lost inside my own house. “Why did I just come into this room now?” or “What was it I was going to pick up from the fridge?” or “Where did I sow my cell phone?” The last one is easy however. I just call my cell from the house phone, which there is a line in each room. When my husband was in the hospital and there was no hope for his getting better, each day that I drove back and forth, I had to make myself 100% alert so I wouldn’t end up in the next town or something. The hospital is about three miles to our house and I lived in this town since 1993, so you’d think I shouldn’t get lost, right? Think again. One day, when I parked my car on the driveway of my next-door neighbor, I wondered why everything seemed so unfamiliar. Then I realized my house was just a few feet away. That was the lowest point of my getting lost. No, I don’t do that anymore, and chances are I won’t, as that was the worst time in my life. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Beholden ’s "Gambol or Gamble?" --- This poet is playing around with words “foal-colt” in this tiny and clever poem, with a brevity and punch adding to its lines. A foal comes first, then the colt, and with coltish, the poet is probably referring to himself as someone who is not totally freed from childhood and grown into teenage, in horse-sense, sort of. This type of growth could refer to one’s actions or one’s progress in any area, say in writing or any other endeavor. Talking about horses, most of our instinctive behaviors with them have to do with emphasizing our partnership in a kinder gentler way of handling, the same as we should do with humans, as most horse-people portray their horses as almost human. Prompt: From The Crossing .. ’s "Earthrise" --- A poem of awe at the beautiful sight of our planet earth. The thrill and the excitement of the poet matches that of the first photo of our planet from a far-away angle. I assume the poet here is referring to the 1968 Apollo mission’s photograph, "Earthrise" over the moon’s horizon, taken by the Apollo 8 crew, Bill Anders specifically, in December 1968, showing Earth for the first time as it appeared from deep space. It was, at the time, an earth-shattering photo--pun-intended--and my first son was about a month old, then. Apollo 8 and other missions like it just flew around the moon first. Those were sensational, exciting, and romantic days when we were just beginning to court the idea of space travel. I remember those days very well because later on, when my first son was about to be nine-months old, he was trying very hard to stand up and walk. We had one of the earliest console color-TVs. He stood holding to it and was giggling with happiness when at the same time, when on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11 was taking his first steps on the moon. My husband quickly took a photo of the baby in front of the TV and of that moment. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Would you rather travel by car, plane, train or ship? --- All of the above and it depends. If I’m crossing the ocean, I’d rather be in a plane. In fact, I’d rather be in a plane for most types of travel that would require immediacy. Yet, a cruise ship is a lot of fun, too, if I’m on the Mediterranean or the Caribbean or some such place. I don’t look down upon car travel either. For most places, especially when we had little children, a car travel was a must since we could stop and take little breaks for them. Then, when I was young, I was in love with the trains. A train ticket would be the best gift for me. Still, I’d very much like to go on the transcontinental train ride in Canada and a shorter trip over the Rockies that I recently heard about. One mode of travel I’d stay away from, though, would be the buses. Not that I want to badmouth them at all, but that type of travel would be extremely inconvenient for me at my age. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Prosperous Snow celebrating ’s "Spiritual Transformation" ---- As usual for this poet, an insightful poem, pointing to the difficult route that leads a person to a higher sacred and spiritual life. As the definition of spirituality differs for each practice and each person, I’d rather leave out the details about such a journey. Yet, spiritual transformation is neither rare nor incomprehensible. It is, in fact, a process, which is a part of any spiritual life, with falling and getting up multiple times during the course of attainment. Even after such a journey is taken and a transformation occurs, a person’s task shifts from the initial hardship of attainment to the duty of conserving this new understanding. I think this is where the most difficult and critical work comes in. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: “It is always easier to learn something than to use what you have learned.” Chaim Potok, The Promise What are your thoughts on the quote? Can you come up with a few examples to illustrate this author’s point? ---- Using what we have learned, definitely, makes the learning worthwhile. Still, for learning alone, there is much to be said, as its effects are cumulative more so than giving aid to a specific area. While we learn something new, say a new language, even when we can’t use that language well, we still get an idea how other people who use that language think and feel and act. This in turn helps us in our general appreciation and outlook about people who are raised in different cultures and different languages. Still, that learning will be used more efficiently if we translate books from that language or use it as a guide to tourists. As to using what we have learned in its specific area, it is not always possible. If we have learned cooking fancy, it doesn’t mean that we can or have to get a job in a top French restaurant, but we can maybe write a book on cooking or maybe cook for our family, church, or temple gatherings. Then, had I studied fencing, it would probably give me better muscle tone or reaction time, but no way, would I easily find an occasion or a regular venue where I could practice it often, except if I somehow traveled back in time…a few centuries...? Just maybe? For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From icecoldjoosy2’s "Invalid Item" --- Exactly my feelings! “ To leap a(n) obstacle is like walking through fire.” In each life, there will be difficult and unbearable challenges. The necessary attitude here has to be along the lines of never-quit and keep-the-goal-in-focus. With such an attitude, we can face challenges and obstacles along the way, even if the odds for success may seem to be minimal. Who knows, we may just beat those odds! Then, some obstacles are worth fighting for but others aren’t. We must learn how to choose our fights, so when “we walk through fire,” the burns we get might be worth our pain. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Your pen just came to life.... the first thing it says is... --- “You know, that silly old hand that pushes me around hasn’t let me breathe or take a break since the day I was acquainted with it. She and the old woman she’s attached to have me flying around in personal journals, free-flow notebooks, countless papers that range from grocery shopping to daily-to-do lists to exploratory writings of character flaws to personal letters to other numerous things until my ink dries out. Then, when that happens, she inserts a new refill into me, which she bought from Amazon in a big package of countless refill sticks, to make sure I never know what rest is. The only time she lets me be is when she is at the keyboard of her laptop, which she lets me watch her fingers fly on the keys, but she doesn’t know that I talk to the keyboard and that poor keyboard is just as distraught as I am. Once we knew we were on the same boat, the keyboard told me its few tricks, such as acting as if its keys were stuck and confusing her after asking for the control panel’s help, ‘but those things never faze her out,’ it said. ‘We have nothing else left but grin and bare it,’ it said. I know what the keyboard means because the hand has a few tricks herself, up her sleeve, such as fixing the laptop and buying the refills for my insides, so she won’t have to set us aside. Truth is, with some people, you just can’t win. She’s a slave-driver, I say. Yes, absolutely. A slave-driver!” For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From poetchris5 ’s "Invalid Item" about depression. How do you deal with depression? --- Beautiful poem, by the way. But being a loner is not a negative in my book. For what I know, the best and the most successful people were loners; at least, the more successful ones needed some alone time. What made this poet unhappy and depressed was his focus on internalizing the situations and the people’s ways around him. Depression even a mild one is insidious and can hide in places where MRIs and X-Ray machines cannot penetrate. During the last year, I lived through quite a few things to be depressed about. The way I deal with depression, in its beginning, is not to think about the current situation, not until much later when I am emotionally ready. This is because focusing on oneself--more than other people and life itself--exacerbates or rather nurtures a baby depression. In the onset stages of a possible depression, after sending a request for help to the Higher Powers, I try to let negative feelings and sadness stay dormant for a while by focusing on things that take my attention away from them. Reading books--especially novels with grabbing characters and action or if non-fiction, a subject that truly interests me and/or what is in the book is new to me—tops my reading list. I read a lot as it is, but when I sense I am feeling down, I read as much as I can. During 2020,I read the entire Dickens' novels, plus close to a hundred more; some of those were whole collections. In addition to reading, I like varying my activities such as taking some fresh air in the morning even if it means just sitting on the porch for a short while or taking a short walk, as some reasonable exercise always helps a person. Then, I also got in the habit of making a to-do list for the day. I cannot praise the to-do lists enough. They regulate my time and my thoughts especially the clear-and-clean items are on them, as an orderly or somewhat organized surroundings help my emotional well-being. Having said that, I never hold myself bound to the list. If, at the end of the day, several items on the list are not done, then I simply add them to the following day’s list. It is a good idea not to be too hard on oneself for things undone. Then, later on, when I am ready to face the sadness and the negativity, I resort to journal writing--longhand, in a note-book--while being truthful to myself and thinking or somewhat philosophizing on the reasons, events, causes, and the internal workings of what made me so unhappy. And in addition, a poem on the subject by the 2021 Pulitzer Poetry prize winner Natalie Diaz Grief Work by Natalie Diaz I have gazed the black flower blooming her animal eye. Gacela oscura. Negra llorona. Along the clayen banks I follow her-astonished, gathering grief’s petals she lets fall like horns. Why not now go toward the things I love? Like Jacob’s angel, I touched the garnet of her wrist, and she knew my name. And I knew hers— it was Auxocromo, it was Cromóforo, it was Eliza. It hurtled through me like honeyed-rum. When the eyes and lips are touched with honey what is seen and said will never be the same. Eve took the apple in that ache-opened mouth, on fire and in pieces, from the knife’s sharp edge. In the photo her fist presses against the red-gold geometry of her thigh. Black nylon, black garter, unsolvable mysterium—I have to close my eyes to see. Achilles chasing Hektor round the walls of Ilium three times. How long must I circle the high gate above her knees? Again the gods put their large hands in me, move me, break my heart like a clay jar of wine, loosen a beast from some darklong depth— my melancholy is hoofed. I, the terrible beautiful Lampon, a shining devour-horse tethered at the bronze manger of her collarbones. I do my grief work with her body—labor to make the emerald tigers in her hips leap, lead them burning green to drink from the violet jetting her. We go where there is love, to the river, on our knees beneath the sweet water. I pull her under four times until we are rivered. We are rearranged. I wash the silk and silt of her from my hands— now who I come to, I come clean to, I come good to. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: What is more frustrating all the prompts to get to a human voice for customer service or sitting on hold after you get a human voice? I always wonder why we have to answer the questions with the automated system and then once we have a human we're asked the same questions. Is this tactic a way to thin out customer calls? What are your thoughts? --- You hit the nail on the head. I would say this is one of my pet peeves, but it is much more than that. Especially lately, with the Covid thing, most companies got rid of their regular workers and hired temps, most of whom are untrained and lack the proper knowledge that comes from knowing a company's ins and outs. Unfortunately, right at this time, that is during 2020 and up to now, I’ve had to make many such calls due to my husband’s passing. Several times, they put me on hold to drop the call half an hour later. Several times, their rep gave me the wrong information. Even my lawyer was exasperated, not knowing how to direct me through their maze. After each automated voice problem, even the human reps were enough for me to tear my hair apart. The questions answered several times over with each rep passing the buck to the next rep, and then, either misunderstanding me or understanding what they feel like understanding has been and still is a problem. I don’t know the answer to this. I think FCC is not doing its job well enough. Their consumer complaints site only takes complaints if the customer was serviced fraudulently. Still, if enough people complained, mostly in writing by snail mail or writing here somebody might do something. Just maybe! https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us For: "Space Blog" Prompt: Nixie🦊 ’s "Love is " What do you think love is? ---- I think love is the reason for the creation of everything. Then, pieces of that love were granted in smaller ways to the creation for their own use. For that reason, the original love is much greater than us or our understanding of it. The way I see it, on our human level, love might be invited but not dictated, nor can its expression be regulated. Love can neither be a reward nor a punishment. When it strikes, it is unpredictable and irrefutable. It neither can be measured nor does it belong to a territory or any one certain being alone. It is inherently free to do what it feels like doing. Love just is. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Make a list of things you would put in a happiness jar. ---- Not on a list but if I were to put anything on paper that made a difference for me throughout my life, it would be reading and my quest for learning as much as I can. Fact is, I never trusted any light-weight gimmicks such as happiness jars and similar projects, but I do believe in gratefulness and offering thanks to God for things that matter to me. Even that offering shouldn’t be forced and should come from deep down inside me, as if a private affair. The problem with such jars and projects, while they may seem to work on the surface, they do not come from deep down inside. Thus, they are forced activities and their effects are only ephemeral and short-lived. Then, as we grow older, things, people, or events that bring us happiness change, evolve, and lose something large or small from their earlier significance. As I value evolution or growth, placing too much importance in such projects could have a negative effect on my growth by making me bound to the items in that project. Still, I do appreciate the positivity any project brings into the life of a person, be it transitory, especially because such activities are very helpful for younger minds like those of frustrated teenagers. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From innerlight ’s "Blossom " --- Sweet little poem about a blossom. It reminded me of the time when I lived up north and of the joy that the first flowers of spring brought after a cold, long winter. Especially when I focused on every part of that first blossom, I could see exactly where the petals fused together to create the flower’s general shape and I found myself as a participant and not merely an observer of the emotional life of the plant. It was as if I was falling into the flower and experiencing its opening to the world from its insides. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: A day without laughter is wasted. Do you agree with this statement? --- No, I don’t agree, simply because you can’t laugh every day as if you are set on a timer. What if you’re in a funeral and the person you are closest to has died? Laughter, like any other thing, has to be genuine and warranted. On the other hand, there is much to be said about a good sense of humor. If laughter is the result of that sense of humor, it is even better. Creativity, a good sense of self, self-acceptance, and being conscientious can be the components of a proper sense of humor. The classic sight of a person slipping on a banana peel and falling makes me worried about the person who falls, and I don’t see why I could laugh at that. In other words, the reasons we laugh and the actions and intentions that are meant to produce laughter not only have to be funny but also proper and kind. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: TheBusmanPoet ’s "Greatest Gift" Write about the greatest gift in your Blog entry today. --- Yes, love is a great gift we can give to others and this poet has captured that idea in three short lines. Yet, to give love, one has to have a reservoir of it inside himself. How can one give away what one doesn’t have? I think, however, the greatest gift is the gift of life, although at times in our lives, we may fail to see it. But that lack of sight belongs to us and not to the gift. Life is a gift from God, Nature, or the Creation, whichever idea or belief you may be partial to. Chances are, not all of us are able to receive this gift fully. Some of us are given but just for a short period of time. The reason for the gift may be just about anything, but I suspect, it still has to do with love. Since it is such a great gift, I believe we should value and honor it the best we can. Then, we too can give similar gifts of life to others from parts and things of ourselves and from our kindness and good will, and I think that would count as honoring the major gift that is given to us, that gift of life. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” From The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Your thoughts on the subject? === I think the love in question here is the love or rather the respect people feel for themselves. Surely, if human beings neither like nor respect themselves very much, they can settle for any bad treatment or even abuse. Worse yet, relying on any one single person to make them happy can become a downfall because it means handing out to that person the entire control of their emotions and their life. Then, if the other person accepts the controlling role, that doesn’t say much for the one accepting such a job, does it? Who would want to lord over anyone and use anyone like a puppet? Maybe a tyrant, a tormentor, or a persecutor, but not a nice person. As faulty a practice as this is, it is rather common and we may all fall for it, especially in our younger, less experienced years. No one ever should be in charge of the locks and the knots of our well-being, except ourselves. More important yet, those of us who are raising children or in the business of educating children have to be vigilant that the children are not being put down or made feel inferior, but that they are encouraged to love and respect themselves. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Sharmelle'sThankfulExpressions ’s "Let me go The Christian Way!" === I enjoy and applaud the poet’s sincere feelings toward her belief system. That kind of believing insures the righteousness and moral behavior of its believer and signals the “salt and the light” to be in full effect. As there are many ways of belief to follow, each way and how it is honored in practice depends on its practitioner. A belief system works as long as the choices of that practitioner are not limited to the choices that compromise or settle for that which is more convenient or comfortable, rather than that which is truly best and pleasing for the entire creation. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: by Lyn's a Witchy Woman Macavity is helping me this evening with the prompt. He wants to know are you a cat person? A dog person? An animal person in general> Do you believe animals add joy to human life? ---- I am more of a cat person nowadays because of my 12 year-old Noche, who came into my life less than a year ago. She is a talker, meowing and sticking around me throughout the day. It is impossible not to love her, despite the fact that her real owners (my son and his then-wife) were about to take Noche to a shelter due to some problems she’d given them, mostly caused by the jealousy of their dog and the other cat. Maybe Noche understands that I butted in on her behalf when I said to my son, "Don't take her to a shelter. I'll take Noche." Then, I am also an animal person. I love dogs, wildlife, and even the cute salamanders that come into the porch to tease and entertain Noche. Another factor is I grew up with my grandmother, mother, and my aunt before she got married. My aunt was cat-crazy. She had countless cats and she would take in pregnant feral cats and help them give birth. She also instructed me in the care of newborn kittens, until my mother forbade me to go near her cats. She was worried about me getting sick with some kind of a cat disease, but I think her real reason was jealousy which had to have stemmed from the fact that I was getting too close to my aunt, as such things happen in families. And yes, I believe animals add importance and sense to our lives. Aside from all the joy and comfort they provide, the idea that we are sharing the same planet with them and the idea of nature repeating itself in all species in different ways make us more alert, observant, and appreciative of the creation and its Creator. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Tileira ’s "In the silence between breaths..." --- “In the silence between breaths I hear my distant phantoms wailing.” If this is not poetic, then, what is! The substance of the poem is significant, and in particular, one can adapt that to her/his situation or heartbreak without being specific about it. To say the least, I applaud this poet for her sestina. In fact, I applaud anyone for writing sestinas. I tried it myself a few times and found it fun but restrictive, and in no way, were they this easy as this poet makes them sound. This sestina flows beautifully, and it is full of meaning, in fact with emphasized and accentuated meaning. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" A family member has married outside of their race, religion, social class or broke some taboo. How did different folks react at first. After a year, or 5. --- My family? I love my extended family for there are all kinds of people from many countries, religions, and social classes in it. No kidding! As long as I have lived, I didn’t see or hear any untoward actions against people who married into the family. In fact, I ended up loving aunts and uncles who married into the family, regardless of where they were from, even more than those who were born into the long-established family members. The only exception, as I remember, was my grandmother who didn’t like it, but it was then--about 70 years ago--when I was a child. I heard her talk against such strong differences, but she always acted nicely and politely to her so-called “newcomers.“ Yet, breaking taboos would be more like it for getting the family dander up. Those taboos would have to be criminal acts like stealing, swindling, killing etc., and I don’t know of any such people in the family. Maybe they were overlooked or I didn’t notice it. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From dogpack saving 4premium ’s "Bat, Post, and More" --- This is a poem from the heart and I am glad those of us who have tough problems are writing about them. Writing about problems has to count as some kind of a comfort, in the least. I cannot truly imagine how hard it must be for the disabled to live among those of us who have no inkling of what the disabled are going through while they are being entangled in a web of medical and social factors. Especially with the pandemic, nowadays. Some might believe the disabled might handle the pandemic better than the rest of us, but with the places closed and restrictions on travel have to affect everyone more so the disabled. Even placing a mask on a face might take some doing on top of all the social disadvantages that were added on with the onset of Covid 19. Then, I do applaud the distinct strengths, talents, and courage in disabled people, and I hope all of us, the people in this world, learn to make an effort to notice and recognize the potential in our disabled friends, family members, and inhabitants of the earth. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Is there a difference between joy and happiness? ---- There are different ideas on the subject. In normal language, or rather among lay people, the feeling of joy is deemed to be more short-lived and sudden than happiness. Yet, it is quite the opposite with the way religion looks at the subject and the way the psychologists and those who research human behavior do. They believe that joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. Happiness, on the other hand, depends on external facts like other people, places, thoughts, events, or things. The main point is both feelings or states of being are positive ones. From the psychologists’ POV, aiming for joy is more beneficial, more lasting, and it signals an internal maturity in a person as it is not tied to external circumstances, and it avoids negative thinking as much as it can; whereas with happiness, one can go from a feeling of exhilaration to a heartbreak in short time, such as a child seeing a new toy and thinking it is for him but finding out it was meant to be a gift for another child who is his friend. Yet, joy is selfless; in the same scenario, the child who sees the new toy still feels elated by the thought that the toy could bring happiness to his friend. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Elfin Dragon-finally published ’s "Invalid Item" --- Such a nice, thoughtful poem of honoring one’s parents. I have to say, “Lucky parents!” Honor means paying respect and attaching worth to someone. According to most religions, parents whose children honor them are eternally blessed as are the children for their respectful behaviors. This is held to be the truth even when the parents may be parents who are, let’s say, not up to par. For being humans, some parents may be impatient, irritable, and faulty and may act and react badly in very many ways. For that reason, at some point, most people need to forgive their parents for some ineptitude of their upbringing. That kind of forgiveness is an important key to a happy life for everyone concerned. Where parents are concerned, they should be thoughtful of their children, to provide them with examples of righteous lives, honesty, respect for the laws, purity of actions, speech and thoughts, and then, parents should show love to their children even when they least deserve it, listen to them and value their thoughts and their ways of seeing the world, and be supportive, encouraging, and appreciative of their interests and activities. Then, when parents and children honor one another equally, it advances humanity with peace, prosperity, and progress in all areas. |