I Have a Good One for This

Bloganuary writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

Oh yeah, I have a good answer for this prompt. I live in Methuen, MA right on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire state line. The town next door to us is Salem, NH (not to be confused with the witch trials in Salem, MA). There is a pre-colonial site in Salem that I have never been to but will visit (with my camera) one of these days.

It is called America’s Stonehenge.

I don’t have a lot of time to work on this post right now so let me see if the AI assistant can write a description of the place…

Located in Salem, New Hampshire, America’s Stonehenge is a mysterious pre-colonial archaeological site shrouded in intrigue. This enigmatic complex features a series of stone structures, chambers, and astronomical alignments, sparking numerous theories and debates about its origins and purpose. Believed to be over 4,000 years old, it is often compared to England’s Stonehenge due to its fascinating alignments with solar and lunar events. Visitors can explore the site, ponder the enigmatic stone structures, and delve into the captivating history and speculation surrounding this ancient enigma.

A.I. Assistant, because Robert was too busy (and possibly too lazy) to write a little description himself

This site has been on my to-do list for years and years. When I first got my first DSLR camera in 2009 I made a list of places to photograph and American’s Stonehenge was on the list. I never got there though… possibly because the place is supposed to be a bit of a joke. I mentioned it to my wife once, ages ago, and she said she wanted to visit it with me. Maybe this year, once the weather improves, will be the year. Then the next time the daily prompt asks this same exact question (it will happen at some point, we all know it) I will have to think harder to come up with a response.

Until then… queue the Spinal Tap song (which I would find a copy of on youtube if I wasn’t so busy right now).

(Non) Daily Haiku for You #134

I took two hours of sick time to bring the cat to the vet. Now my internal clock/calendar is convinced it’s not Tuesday when it is in fact Tuesday. Let’s write a haiku about it and see if it exorcises this particular demon….

Messed up inner clock,
Keeps telling me it’s Thursday.
That’s not even close!

Nope… my idiotic brain is still telling me it’s Thursday. Shit.

Fun Things

Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.

Five things I do for fun… I can do that, I think…

  • Spend time with my family. Jen, Bellana, and Harry. My wife and my two step kids. Anything any of us do together is more fun than I know how to describe. Even if we are just sitting around doing nothing, I love every second of it. I don’t think this needs any more detail. I love them and I love being with them.
  • Music. Playing it, listening to it, writing it, recording it, sharing it with other people, going to concerts, performing in concert. All of it. I love it. I always have. Guitar, saxophone, once for a year or so trumpet. It has more or less defined me since I was about 10 years old. Maybe even younger. 
  • Photography. I don’t call myself a photographer. I call myself an amateur hack who takes lots of pictures. Digital, film, iPhone, you name it. Even video, sometimes. I like going out and taking pictures. I like being home taking pictures. I like taking pictures.
  • Travel. Road trips, longer plane trips. Anything and anywhere. Going to different places and seeing new things is so much fun. Me, Jen, the kids if they are available. Let’s just hop in the car and go somewhere. 
  • One more… You can do this, Robert… Lately it’s been binge watching TV. We can throw watching movies into this too. Lately I have been diving head first into science fiction TV. What’s the deal, AppleTV? They just keep dropping excellent sci-fi on us and I am here for it. We can include watching sports here too. Hockey and baseball are the games for me. Harry and I went to a hockey game in person a few weeks ago and it’s reminded me how much I enjoy being in the room where a game happens. I used to have season tickets for minor league hockey and baseball teams and I used to go to NHL and MLB games multiple times a year. I forgot how much I missed it. 

Okay, there you go. Five things that I do for fun. Sweet.

(Non) Daily Haiku for You #133

Today’s daily haiku for you is brought to you by exhaustion. It was only 9:45am and I was already complaining about what a long day it had been. Oh, crud.

Stayed up late last night.
Woke up early this morning.
Time management fail.

Robert

Bloganuary writing prompt
Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

I’m American and I speak English. We generally don’t name our children based on the literal meaning of the word. It is more often based on how the name sounds when combined with the family name, and family history. My name is Robert because my father’s name is Robert and my parents wanted to name me after him. That’s it. My brother was named after our grandfather. My sister isn’t named after anyone directly, at least not that I know of, she got her name because my parents liked it. That’s it.

Having said all of that, I figured in the spirit of the daily prompt game I would Google the origin of the word Robert. What does it actually mean?

Robert is an old German name that means “bright fame.” It’s taken from the old German name Hrodebert. The name is made up of two elements: “Hrod” which means fame and “Beraht” which means bright. The name was introduced to the people of England by the Normans in the middle ages.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/robert-name-meaning-origin-popularity-5181543#:~:text=People%20Named%20Robert-,What%20Does%20Robert%20Mean%3F,Normans%20in%20the%20middle%20ages.

Bright Fame, eh? Okay. I guess. There’s no fame here, and there’s certainly no bright fame. It’s interesting to know, I guess. It may be what my name means, but it certainly doesn’t relate to me at all. Maybe if I had known the meaning when I was little I would have changed my life’s path a little. Of course I am not serious at all. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I didn’t know it when I was young, but Jennifer (which The Google tells me means “fair one” which I will absolutely buy) was in my future and I wouldn’t change anything out of risk of not making that myspace.com appointment back in 2006, you know?