*Magnify*
    June     ►
SMTWTFS
      
2
9
16
23
30
Archive RSS
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://writing.com/main/profile.php/blog/joycag/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/27
by Joy
Rated: 18+ · Book · Experience · #2003843
Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts
Kathleen-613's creation for my blog

"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
CHARLIE CHAPLIN


Blog City image small

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.

David Whyte


Marci's gift sig










This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts.
Previous ... 23 24 25 26 -27- 28 29 30 31 32 ... Next
January 6, 2020 at 5:11pm
January 6, 2020 at 5:11pm
#972813
Prompt: “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Herb Simon
Why is paying attention and noticing what’s on the outside and the inside of things so important in our time when we have a wealth of information bombarded on us?


----

Attention is a precious resource because by using it we flush out the irrelevant information and focus on what is important to us. This takes some discipline and learning and there are several books on the subject. One of them is The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker, which I just finished reading; although this book has many exercises for honing one’s attention, some of them may or may not apply to every person’s attention problems. Still, it offers some help by reminding us to look around, carefully, and notice.

In fact, it is important to train ourselves on the subject. A simple example to untrained attention is the inability of attack victims not being able to describe their attackers even when they have seen them. Mostly, they see the color of the clothing on the attacker, which may not mean much to the police as clothing can easily be discarded.

Usually, starting with me, we are all guilty of focusing our attention, not on people or the buildings or what’s around us, but on our devices and concerns that pertain only to us. It is funny rather tragic that so many people walk on the street looking at their cellphones, and consequently bumping into things and people.

Unfortunately, directing our attention constantly at those computing devices or cellphones can work against us, as their content and messaging, even if informative and entertaining, may not be in our best interest all the time. To begin with, they drive us to distraction, letting us omit what may really be most important for our welfare, be it in difficult situations or with family and friends and other societal give-and-take. it may just be a wise idea to take some time off each day for noticing things in nature, around us, and in our families.

January 2, 2020 at 12:11pm
January 2, 2020 at 12:11pm
#972475
Prompt: Have you ever felt embarrassed by things you used to like?

----

I don’t think so. Not at my age. When I was a teen, just about everything embarrassed me. I used to blush a lot too. Then, I would get embarrassed for blushing.

No more! And not especially with the things I like. Plus, it has been a very long time since my teenage years.

The definition for embarrassment is a feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness. Sometimes, the actions of those close to me, not finding the exact word I am looking for, a messy house, a faux pas that slips from my lips, and things like that embarrass me. Those things are my dislikes, too. Then, I am also embarrassed not for myself but on behalf of other people who openly point out to others’ tiny mistakes, putting those mistakes in public spotlight.

How one wishes to be seen and what is perceived by others has to do with embarrassment. Embarrassment Is not the same as shame as shame has moral overtones such as the failing of one’s character. Embarrassment may be painful but it is only the result of some insignificant social mistake, which we are all bound to do.

As to the things I like to do-- like writing, reading, watching YouTube, and nature--, they are what I like, and there is nothing embarrassing about one’s likes.


January 1, 2020 at 12:51pm
January 1, 2020 at 12:51pm
#972381
Prompt: Happy New Year! Prompt: What are your plans for 2020, this New Year?

==========

I don’t really make plans or come up with resolutions due to self-protection. This is because if I promise something to someone (including me) and can’t do it, I beat on me rather badly, and I am no masochist.

But do I want to do things this year? Yes. Several. At the beginning.

First, I’ll try to stay alive as that is the first rule for anyone of us.

Then, since I am a reader first and I read quite a bit as it is, I’ll concentrate on reading more of the classics this year, and I hope, works of better contemporary authors, which isn’t a given. Sometimes a brand-new author can come up with a knockout book while a famed award-winner produces a dud. Not being sure of the outcome, I’m crossing my fingers on this.

Then, I’ll try to finish writing the first draft of 2019’s NaNo novel. Although I wrote 54K in November, the story isn’t finished.

Then, I have had this habit of writing little notes on pieces of paper when an idea strikes or I come across a quote or something. Eventually, those notes made up such a big mess. They had taken up so much space, in boxes and such, that I threw away a big lot of them, but I thought the better of it. I thought I should keep what is left of them inside my purses and around my desk or stuck inside books and notebooks. So last month, I started copying them into a private item here in my WdC port. This will take some time but I want to finish or continue it. If I can finish it, I can copy the file into several places for future reference and delete the item here. I believe WdC to be more reliable than any Cloud space I have anywhere.

Another thing is I want to give away some things from my closet and the household items as I don’t want to turn into one of those crazed hoarders. These things I want to do, but I am not putting any pressure on myself to do them.

Other things, I want to keep the status quo and hope that nothing turns worse, breaks, and changes into something that would hurt or annoy me.

December 27, 2019 at 6:51pm
December 27, 2019 at 6:51pm
#972122
“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.” ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Discuss this quote in your blog and how it relates to you.


----

in a nutshell, Louisa May Alcott, the heroine-author of my early teens, means to say in a nutshell, “Live your life well. You can do it!”

Most of us, in our earliest years, use a mental image of a perfect life for ourselves. Still for most of us tricks of fate or life have a way of fooling around with us and messing up that image. What Alcott is saying that she knows how it can be done; we have to take charge and persevere.

Sounds so easy, right? Nope. What she says feels almost condescending to me as I feel I am being talked down to. Life is not that easy. Just read about the camps in World War II. Some of us have unspeakable difficulties that cloud our lives and we may face troubles that affect the way we look at and handle things. Enough said.

On the other hand, if you have an average beginning in life, why not try to make your life to become the best one for you? A clear, acute vision and strong perseverance are what is needed. Maybe a few people can achieve using that key to open door of their castle in the air. With a few alterations, if I may add.

Of course, in Little Women, Jo was the heroine and what we, who were big readers at that time, wanted to emulate her. Although Jo came out okay, I am not too sure she reached her (internal) dream 100%, either. Because nothing is perfect. Sometimes along the way, we feel complete for a while and learn to smile at life. If that may be all we can hope for, so be it. That is still a success.

December 22, 2019 at 10:17pm
December 22, 2019 at 10:17pm
#971895
Prompt: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,” Dostoevsky
Discuss the role of attitude in our lives. What is the difference between actions and attitudes? Are we always aware of our own attitudes?
(And if you wish) Were there any instances in your life where you were disappointed with your own attitude, not your actions but just the attitude?


-------

Attitude is a person’s belief, feelings, knowledge, and internal behavioral urge about an idea, object, or event. Many things influence our attitudes. Even when we think we are acting rightfully and rationally, it is a good idea to always watch oneself and ask questions such as: what is the way I am feeling about this subject based upon? Is something in my past influencing me or the ideas of my group and friendships?

Most of the time our attitudes influence our actions, so it is a good idea to examine each and every attitude before we act. Even though some people foster different attitudes inside themselves, sometimes, they act either to cover up for them or to gain some kind of favor from a person or society. Then, there are instilled attitudes inside us by our upbringing and backgrounds that make us act automatically without thinking for the best action. This is one reason we may be almost never aware of our own attitudes, and thus, we defend our actions resulting from them vehemently.

Although I do try to keep my attitudes in check, there have been many instances of wrong, automatic actions on my part; mostly wrong for my own welfare, though.

The reason I picked this saying by Fyodor Dostoevsky is because, during my formative years, I was awed by his writing and also because this author lived such a dramatic life.

In a nutshell, Dostoevsky began life wanting to read widely and write; however, he was arrested for belonging to a literary group that read books the tsarist regime chose to accept as being dangerous. He was taken to be executed with several other men. After all the rituals of execution were performed and the prisoners were lined up to be gunned down, the announcement of pardon by the tsar was read. The author’s sentence was reduced to four years in a labor camp in Siberia and compulsory military service later while in exile. This sentence didn’t let him have time to write but gave him an enormous amount of material, feelings, ideas, and attitude for his later years.

His resolve to write was never shaken and his attitude had even grown stronger toward his object of desire. I think his attitude and strength under such terrible conditions are to be admired and maybe even emulated.



December 19, 2019 at 12:25pm
December 19, 2019 at 12:25pm
#971706
Prompt: Do you believe in karma and what goes around comes around?

---

I may say sometimes that what goes around comes around. Do I believe it? I sort of wish it were true. I think it is true only at times but not in all cases or for everything since I have witnessed people who have done really rotten things get away with those and lead perfectly happy lives. When such a person gets a bad illness or dies, people say he got what he deserved. But then, don’t we all die and aren’t we all liable to get terrible diseases?

Yet. there is something to the idea of karma. Just that dread of its existence can stop some people from doing any evil stuff. Then when something senseless happens in our lives, we search for reasons and answers at least inside our minds, and we wonder if in some unknowable way we had a hand in our own misery, even if we can’t recall what we did. Also, the idea of things happening at random doesn’t agree with my thinking, either. I do believe in some kind of an order in the universe.

Maybe as the Hindus insist, we’ve had other lives where we weren’t so up-to-par people and now is the payback time.

Still, I am not sure if karma exists; yet, I wouldn’t vouch for its non-existence, either. If there’s an order to the universe, which I believe there is, then some sort of action-reaction mechanism must be built into it. Whether it’s a tit-for-tat reaction or not is beyond my comprehension.

December 18, 2019 at 1:46pm
December 18, 2019 at 1:46pm
#971654
Prompt: What was the best year of your life?

====

It is hard to choose. I usually recall incidences rather than the years.

We can never really know what the best years are. In youth, one has the strength of the body, but also the lack of life experience. When we get enough experience to make heads and tails of everything, then the body starts going down and you lose people along the way.

If I have to pick though, I guess when I was nineteen was a very good year. I was in college and very hopeful and happy with where I was, but then when I was 26, I had my first son, and then when I was 32, I had the second son. They were all good years, all with some difficulties, but then, I can’t pinpoint a year without any difficulties or annoyances. But those three years were the best.

Second to them, is the year I met and married my husband when I was 22. I count it second to the above three, only because I had to fight my mother tooth and nail to get her to agree to our marriage. That took a lot out of me, and that is why it wasn’t the best year. Otherwise, if I didn’t have to fight so hard for my choices, it would have been the best year.

My present few years are not so bad either since my husband and I have been together about 53 years, and we always had a good relationship. Now that we are old, aging takes a bit of a toll on our everyday lives, such as we can’t travel like we used to, and we have to deal with our creaking and croaking bodies. Other than that, I would count the last twenty or so years as best, too, since vocational and child-raising problems are left behind and we have what we need. Nothing in excess to become a problem but enough of everything to keep us going.
December 12, 2019 at 1:02pm
December 12, 2019 at 1:02pm
#971354
Prompt: "I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then." Jimmy Buffet Do you agree with Jimmy?

-----

Who am I to disagree with Jimmy? *Rolling* Although at my age I have stopped looking for adventure, since adventure has been finding me on its own.

After all, aren't we all stunt (wo)men? We’ve all lived and are living in iffy situations. Even when we think we've established a good setup and we’ve got it made, we don’t really know we’ve got it made for good.

First, nothing ever stays the same. Things can change in the blink of an eye. Those people we’re attached to leave, change, or die. Things break, corrode, or are snitched away from us. Then, because we have this sugar-plum-fairy idea of forever-happiness, we minimize, look over, or discard those negative or even positive happenings.

For all of the above reasons, if we are alive, we are living an adventure, as adventure is allowing the unexpected happen to you. Some of us, because we’re control freaks, take it upon us to up the ante with adventure by climbing mountains, jumping in parachutes, or trekking inside the jungles of any kind.

Whether we knowingly seek extra adventure or not, every decision we make will be made with incomplete information. There is no escaping that. There will, however, always exist a lot of unknowns even if we think we’ve arranged everything to our liking. Thus, complete happiness is impossible, if for nothing but for noticing all the misery in our immediate or long-distance world.

In which case, we can only hope for a lift, be it only now and then.

tiny heart


"Happily Ever After (Now And Then)" by Jimmy Buffett

I've been a stand-in, a stunt man
I've takin' some falls
Troubles... I've had my share
But one has to learn how to run before walkin'
'Round breathin' that million air

Take it from me cuz I found
If you leave it then somebody else is bound
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure
When yours, it could have been

Some people never find it
Some... only pretend, but me:
I just want to live happily ever after every now and then

I've been in vans and in bands
On and through stages
One thing I can conclude
One has to learn havin' fun is just smilin' through
Those Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Take it from me cuz I've found
If you leave it then somebody else is bound
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure
When yours, it could have been

Some people never find it
Some... only pretend, but me:
I just want to live happily ever after every now and then

Some people never find it
Some... only pretend, but me, hell:
I just want to live happily ever after every now and then

December 11, 2019 at 6:22pm
December 11, 2019 at 6:22pm
#971316
Prompt: What things in your life have caused you to have separation anxiety?

========

Separation anxiety is an abnormal clinging to a person, situation, or even a thing.

Separation anxiety are usually seen in children. That is why playing peek-a-boo with babies is good. It makes them realize someone they think is gone is there but not seen easily. I don't recall being clingy to anyone in my life; maybe I was in childhood but I don't recall it or anyone talking about me being clingy.

This is probably because I don’t normally cling to places or things, but people getting seriously sick usually unnerves me. I might have a slight separation anxiety concerning my husband as he is older than me and we have been together more than half a century, but it is not to the degree that it renders me useless, and I don’t really cling to him in the first place.

I might have other worries, mostly hidden and very slight though, like being in an accident, being incapacitated to a degree that I can’t do anything for myself, a hurricane hitting the area, or something bad happening to my children, neighbors, or friends. But none of these worries is so bad that I can’t function. I just don't like it when such a thought occurs in my head.

December 7, 2019 at 12:19pm
December 7, 2019 at 12:19pm
#971096
Prompt: Set a timer, and spend five minutes writing a stream of consciousness post.

======

This is my favorite type of writing. In fact, I do this almost every day. It is midday now. 12:15. Saturday, December 2019. I think I’ll talk about my desktop wallpapers today. Because this is what I have in front of my eyes. At this time, I have the wallpaper of a placid ocean view with only a calm blue ocean under blue sky and a silhouette of a lone seagull in black. Smack in the middle of the wallpaper is the silhouette of a young girl, sitting watching the ocean. I love this wallpaper because it reminds me of myself when I was a young college student. The hairstyle of the girl is long with the ends curling upward at her shoulders. I had the same hair, then. On top the wallpapers toward the right side, I wrote in Gimp, a quote, which I don’t know the origin of, that says “In the end, all is between you and God. It was never between you and anyone, anyway!”
I don’t know why this quote talks to me. Maybe it reminds me of my deep-down part. I change my laptop wallpapers often. This one I use repeatedly, especially when I need to calm down, and this is the season to remind oneself to calm down as there are many exciting things and excited people all around. I found out that I don’t like to look at snow scenes. In real life I loved looking at the snow, especially under moonlight, as when we lived up north, we had a two-acre semi-wild yard with lots of trees and a clearing toward the back. The moonbeams would come through the branches, creating a hollow effect, but the snow on the clearing would shine like a whitish cover. No photo I have taken of it has done it justice, but the vision of it in my memory. How did I come to my once-upon-a-time backyard? I was talking about wallpapers, wasn’t I? So going back, before this wallpaper, I had another wallpaper last month. It had the cute photo of a small white dog with friendly eyes. On top of that one, I had written, “Joy, don’t slouch!” in Gimp, I only use Gimp to write on images. This one was to remind me of not slouching since I kept that wallpaper all through November while I was doing the NaNo, and I sat at the computer for long periods of a time. I don’t sit at the computer for very long, usually, but I keep going and coming throughout the day. Since I got an android for a phone, I check my email and other stuff I used to check on the laptop. This is why I don’t sit at the computer for too long nowadays, which is for the better because of my slouching habit. Recently I bought a shoulder brace to help me not slouch, but as I write this I am laughing because the brace is hanging at the back of my chair, as I forgot to wear it when I sat down at the laptop. I think my five minutes are up.
December 5, 2019 at 10:52pm
December 5, 2019 at 10:52pm
#971045
Prompt: Can we ever have too much of a good thing? A bad thing? Is there really a healthy balance?

---

This is a speculative prompt, which calls forth a highly personal answer from each person. In addition, a healthy balance depends on who the person is and what he considers to be a good or a bad thing.

As an example, in fastcompany.com, on 12/3/19, this was the headline: “AI is moving too fast, and that’s a good thing
This rapid rate of innovation gives us all the chance to gut-check what we really want out of this technology—while we still have time to affect its course.”


As emotion detection and facial recognition are two of the features in AI, there may be some people who think AI is a bad thing, unless if you ask DeepMind and many technological and commercial companies that are already in the process of trying to adapt AI technology to their needs.

Can there be a healthy balance? I don’t think so. If you ask me, I welcome any progress or any attempt at progress in every area. A so-called healthy balance, in this case, would hurt the progress of technology. I believe this is one of those things we’ll learn to get a good use of only by trial and error.

Accordingly, a good, bad, or healthy balance in anything depends on each person’s individual assessment.


December 5, 2019 at 11:42am
December 5, 2019 at 11:42am
#971009
Prompt: "As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." Audrey Hepburn What are your thoughts about this?

-----

Helping oneself comes easily. We are all conditioned and possibly programmed even before birth to take care of number one. This is sometimes called the survival instinct.

Helping others comes later.

Some help those who have the same troubles or illnesses they or people they care about are suffering from. This, I call, helping through sympathetic sorrow. Nothing wrong with it, but it still refers back to one’s own self.

Some volunteering organizations and charities try to entice people into helping by saying or implying that:
*Star* Helping others feels good.
*Star* You’ll find a sense of purpose.
*Star* You can forget your own troubles and find happiness through helping.
*Star* Volunteering is a social activity. You won’t feel lonely.
*Star* If you help others you may live longer.
*Star* Helping others is a life-altering experience you need for your own growth.

Now, when you think about all these reasons, don’t they point to one’s own self, again?

Then, maybe just about everything reverts back to one’s own self.

I think the wish to help others should come from within oneself, through the simply feeling of empathy. Empathy is easier to feel toward individuals. In such a case, one’s helping should be subtle as to not make the other person feel indebted.

Also, talking about myself, I was raised to take care of what I did through the act of living. For example, when I stood up from a sitting position, I had to make sure the chair was pushed in or the cushions smoothed back to their original position. And if I were to see something messy, it would be a good idea to try to fix it.

This is because we live in a world where we have to make sure it stays livable for others because we are all one family: The human family.

Whether the good we do comes back to us or not.

December 4, 2019 at 12:27pm
December 4, 2019 at 12:27pm
#970953
Prompt: If a butterfly lands on you, do you think it is a message from a loved one who has passed?

----

No, I have no such illusions. I am sure, on the other side, my loved ones are busier with more important things than messaging poor old me. *Rolling*

According to scientific sources:

If you find a butterfly coming down to rest on your arm, it's probably just looking for salt. According to Animal Corner, there is a belief that butterflies landing on you will bring you good luck, but, in all likelihood, they're simply attracted to your sweat.


Mixed flowers in a basket



Prompt: In your opinion, what qualities would make a perfect brother and what qualities would make a perfect sister? And if you have one or the other or both, in what ways would you want them to change?

-----

Leave it to me to come up with a prompt that I cannot answer myself. *Bigsmile*

I have no brothers or sisters. Boy, did I wish to have them all my life!

But I have cousins; wonderful, fantastic, capable cousins, each one a gem. In fact, one of them is my best friend for life.

Do they make up for the lack of siblings for me? No!

Since all of them have their own siblings. And guess to whom they run to when they need something. Their own siblings first. Me, later, if ever.

That is why all my life I wanted a sibling, which-at my age-I want no more because it is a major impossibility since both my parents are gone.

My cousin/best-friend tells me I should be happy because I had the best of everything that they didn’t have. The way I look at it: Big deal! Material things don’t count.

Cynthia Hand, in Hallowed, says, “Christian is staring at us. He’s an only child and could never understand the delicate joys of sibling abuse.” It may just be that I am a glutton for such a delicate joy! *Laugh*


December 2, 2019 at 12:54pm
December 2, 2019 at 12:54pm
#970858
Prompt: Signature foods and creative writing.
What do you think about signature foods in general? Then, when you are writing about a setting, have you ever created for or assigned to a city or town a signature food, such as Philly's cheesesteak and Chicago's deep-dish pizza?


----


In general, signature foods are fun, like gumbo in Lousiana, Cheesecake, bagels,and pastrami sandwiches for NY, Boston Cream Pie and New England Clam Chowder for Boston, Crabcakes for Baltimore, Key Lime Pie for Key West, beignets for New Orleans, and sourdough bread for San Francisco, which is what I can think of at the moment. And although this was my prompt, for the life of me, I can’t recall a signature food associated with a place in fiction. Go figure!

I can, however, recall many works of fiction that had to do with food. Such as Like Water for Chocolate,The Joy Luck Club, Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Ichabod’s slapjacks), Pudding in Harry Potter, and I can also think of Green Eggs and Ham, which my kids were never tired of listening to, back in the day. I should have changed their names into Sam-I-am.

This I’ll remember, if I live long enough, to assign a signature dish to an imaginary city and maybe build a whole story around it. Maybe next NaNo? If anyone wants to use the idea, they are welcome to it, too.

And look who's talking! Although I made it to 53 K, this year’s NaNo isn’t finished yet. *Rolling*

That my mind works in circles is an understatement.
November 30, 2019 at 12:41pm
November 30, 2019 at 12:41pm
#970729
Prompt: If you could be somewhere warm right now, where would you chose and why?

---

I am already in a place warm, right now. Then, sometimes, when the heat is too much, I dream of Alaska and put up snow photos on my computer’s screen.

I guess it is human nature to want the opposite.

This, I think, is due to the ambivalence we feel about our own minds and selves. Also, life gives us many choices. Most of the time, this makes us feel we didn’t make the right choice, even if the outcome of the leftover choices could have been similar or worse than the choices we’ve made. We have to admit that each choice is a trial and each trial has the potential for errors.

It is fine to accept the trial and error choices we’ve made; after all, look at evolution. Its every trial has a different outcome. Fish can’t live on land. We can’t really breathe underwater. Birds and some insects can fly, but most animals and people cannot do that on their own. All these are the results of the many different choices evolution has made.

The reason for our discontent might just be due to nature's urging us to change, so the status quo may lead to new creations, findings, and experiments.

Coming back to the “somewhere warm” question, have you ever heard of what we, in Florida, call ‘snowbirds’? Snowbirds are those folks who live up north during the hot summer months and move to Florida before during the cold season. Nomads of a sort, so to speak. Yet, that, too, has its negative issues, since I know several snowbirds who complain about keeping house in two places that are so far away from each other.

As I said earlier, human nature!
November 29, 2019 at 12:06pm
November 29, 2019 at 12:06pm
#970688
Prompt: What songs would we find on the mix tape of your life?


----

This was a fun prompt: I had to think back and hard!


Good Morning! (From singing in the rain)
I Know What It is To Be Young -- Orson Welles
One Moment in Time --Whitney Houston
I dreamed a dream
The Great Pretender
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Raindrops keep falling on my head
Just Walk Away -- Celine Dion
Con Te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye)
Leaving on a jet plane
Far Away Places
Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
Fascination
Historia De Un Amor --Luis Miguel
You raise me up -- Josh Groban
Amazing Grace
It’s impossible- Perry Como
The first time ever I saw your face---Roberta Flack
Can’t help falling in love -- Elvis
Dance me to the end of love-- L. Cohen
You decorated my life (Kenny Rogers)
Through the Years (Kenny Rogers)
I did it my way @@ *Rolling* My final Comment: Yeah, sure! Big Deal! *Rolling*
October 17, 2019 at 4:19pm
October 17, 2019 at 4:19pm
#968020
Prompt: What books are on your winter reading list?

---

The books I want to read, if put on a long list, would probably go around the earth’s circumference a couple of times.

At this point, I only know month by month the number of books I'll read because in Minja’s group, we each pledge to read a number of books at the beginning of the month, but I have more than six thousand books in Kindle and not enough lifetime left to read them. *Laugh*

What I am now reading and enjoying very much is the Orphan of the Salt Winds by Elizabeth Brooks.

What I have in mind in the near future are:

A couple of books by Anne Rice about Lestat
Placebo by Joe Dispenza
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
Lights on the Sea by Miquel Reina
Unbreakable Mind by Matthew Piper
CRED by Ben Parris our Ŧĥē Beŋ
The Shadow Writer by Eliza Maxwell
Dragon’s Teeth by Upton Sinclair

It wouldn’t be a surprise if I only read a few of the books above and turned to other books instead, as I usually do.


Mixed flowers in a basket



Day 2023 October 16, 2019

Prompt: "I remind myself once again that there is time, plenty of it, for favored rituals if you simply decide there is time. How do you feel about rituals?

Everyone has rituals when you think of it, especially for taking care of our bodies and our homes. That is a given.

Then I have rituals such as reading in bed while listening to soft music before going to sleep. That is my most favorite downtime.

Writing every day is a ritual, too. I try to get in some writing be it in my blog, a notebook, or something else.

Making lists for just about anything is a habit, too. I couldn’t live without my lists.

Checking on friends mostly online is another ritual.

I have other hobbies and things that I do but intermittently and if needed
.
I guess I could do other things, too, but every single moment of my day is taken.
October 9, 2019 at 4:54pm
October 9, 2019 at 4:54pm
#967532
Prompt: "I always cling to things that remind me of being a kid again." Melanie Martinez How do you feel about this quote?


========

Oh, yeah! I do that a lot! With or without realizing what I am doing. Melanie Martinez hit a nerve here.

For example, when the book sites send me the titles of books on sale, I am immediately drawn to the titles of children’s books, even though I don’t know that such a book belongs to the children’s genre.

Then for a very long time, inside my head, I likened the people I met to fairy-tale characters. One of my neighbors doesn’t know that she is Pippi Longstockings. The others…let’s not go there. This could take too long.

Also, when I hum a song, it is usually from my childhood, and I do it without realizing it. Songs like one-little, two-little Indians and the alphabet song.

Small wonder my kids adored me when they were little, and then, as soon as they grew up, they looked at me with an expression on their faces that might easily have meant, “Yech! Who’s this?”


October 5, 2019 at 10:46am
October 5, 2019 at 10:46am
#967280
Prompt: Happy World Smile Day! Share a list of ten things that make you smile.

---

Here are 10 things, the first five happen almost always and because of them, almost all my photos come out with a grin on my face.

The second five can happen but that is usually a rarity.
In Wdc:
1. When I see a helpful and encouraging review on the Reviewing Page.
2. When I come across an informative and/or uplifting post anywhere
3. When I find out a member does something nice for another WdC member or members
4. When SM comes up with an innovative, fun, and helpful programming addition to the site
In Real Life:
5. When I find out people I know and care about are well and happy.

6. When I do everything well on a list I have written or even finish doing whatever is on the list.
7. When I don’t forget to finish one chore before starting another one
8. When I can come up with an innovative idea for a writing project and find out that it may just work
9. When I don’t feel tired in the middle of the day with still things to be done waiting for me.
10. When the politicians and others act like human beings instead of savage beasts in the jungle, not to insult the savage beasts, btw.


September 30, 2019 at 10:12pm
September 30, 2019 at 10:12pm
#967044
Prompt: Do you think, in some restaurants, choosing what to eat from an intricate menu can resemble an odyssey? If you had such an experience, how did you handle it?

-----

Once, about fifty years or so ago, I ended up looking at a menu with no prices on the items and everything in French. Though I can decipher French, I wasn’t familiar with the fancy names for the dishes, as the cook was a self-important snob, and possibly he made up some of the names for the dishes, and the restaurant, people were only allowed in as someone’s guest or by invitation. We were somebody’s guests. There were only four tables and about 8 -10 people at each table. As to what to make of the menu, we asked the person who took us there.

After the meal, the cook visited each table and talked to the customers, trying to find out what they thought and became mad if you said, “okay” or “fine” or something simple like that. You had to talk gastronomically. I think I pulled it well enough, but hubby was totally stunned. He looked at the guy in fear and said, pointing to me, “Whatever she says goes for me, too.” *Rolling* The man stared at him and made a gesture.

At that point, the person who had taken us to that place came to our rescue, addressing the cook by name and making small talk. So, we were off the hook.

I don’t think there are such places left in NYC, anymore, but then, I wouldn’t know for sure, as over the years, I learned to avoid most snobs.


1,703 Entries · *Magnify*
Page of 86 · 20 per page   < >
Previous ... 23 24 25 26 -27- 28 29 30 31 32 ... Next

© Copyright 2024 Joy (UN: joycag at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Joy has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://writing.com/main/profile.php/blog/joycag/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/27