Tag: bloganuary

Fear

Bloganuary writing prompt
What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?
View all responses

I have to admit that I am struggling to find an answer to this one. I have a couple of thoughts, but nothing I would ever share publicly. The difficulty is the second question. There are a lot of things I am scared to do, but none of them are things that I would ever consider actually doing, you know what I mean?

There is one thing that comes to mind that fits the spirit of this daily prompt. One thing that I am scared to do that I will do if the circumstances require it… or at least I would consider doing it in the right situation. What is it? Move out of the United States.

In 2016 the prospect of a nazi winning the US presidency led to a lot of discussion about possibly emigrating to a new country. Jen and I discussed it a little and agreed we could not leave our family behind even if we did find ourselves in a fascist dictatorship. We talked in general terms about where we could go. Some place where English is the first language and (hopefully) had a warm climate. In the end we didn’t leave even though the nazi did win the white house. 

Unfortunately for American Democracy and for civilization, that same nazi is running for president again. His rhetoric was bad in 2016 but it is already so much worse now. He is openly talking about dictatorship and half of the registered voters in the United States are still supporting him. He may be in jail by the time the election rolls around (he should be in jail now, but he will never see the inside of a cell because that’s how corruption works, right?) but he’s still going to win the republican nomination and he still could win the general election in November. 

If he wins again, do we consider leaving the United States again? Maybe. I think we will at the very least need to revisit the discussion. The topic is a little terrifying in terms of figuring out where to go, figuring out how to get there, figuring out the legal issues, and not to mention the implications for the US itself. It’s pretty scary, all right. Would I do it? No, I don’t think so, but I would have to think about it. We’ll see what happens. 

Would we move to Canada? That would be easiest but it’s cold there. England? Scotland? Ireland? Australia? I think Scotland would be the favorite for us, though it’s cold there too, isn’t it? If it were just me it would probably be Ireland, but for my family as a whole it would be Scotland. I doubt it will ever come to that, and the prospect is very scary to me, but if it does… I guess we’ll see.

Complain

Bloganuary writing prompt
What do you complain about the most?
View all responses

I complain about a lot of things. I will give you a list and you will see that the things I complain about the most all boil down to pretty much one thing.

  • Fascists and fascism
  • Nazis and nazi-ism
  • Maga
  • Trump and trump supporters and trump sympathizers and trump collaberators
  • Americans whose words and actions are anti-american and anti-democracy
  • Insurectionists
  • Treasonists
  • Anyone who helped or supported or sympathized with the attempt to overthrow the democratically elected president on January 6, 2021
  • Anti-science
  • Anti-vax
  • Anti-evolution
  • Climate change deniers
  • Misogynists and/or incels
  • Bigots
  • Qanon
  • People who abuse children
  • People who abuse their spouses

You see the trend there? That’s the serious list. That’s the real response to the question. Now I’ll give another, shorter (I hope) list that’s more sarcastic and more in the spirit of kidding around and lowering whatever tension I just built up with my real list.

  • People who drive too slow in the fast lane on the highway
  • Winter weather
  • Traffic jams
  • Morning commutes
  • Evening commutes
  • Country music
  • Television commercials, especially the ones that pimp drugs with awful side effects
  • Did I mention snow?
  • Websites that autoplay video, especially when the audio is not muted
  • The New York Yankees or the Montreal Canadians

There… that’s a good lighten-the-mood kinda list… though I should probably delete it and let the serious list stand on it’s own. I feel a bit like a coward leaving the second list, but what can you do, right?

My Favorite Sports

Bloganuary writing prompt
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
View all responses

There was a time…

There was a time when my social life more or less consisted of watching sports. I’d say 50-60% of what I did with my free time involved watching sports. There was a period in my life where I had a partial season ticket package (10 games) for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, a full season ticket package (40 games) for the Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League, and then during the summer we split a full season ticket package for the Lowell Spinners of the New York Penn baseball league (I think it was about 50 games and we went to half of them). At the same time I used to follow the Lock Monsters on road games because there were six AHL teams in New England. I would go to road games in three of the other five locations. Along with all of that, there were playoff games for the Bruins and the Monsters. One AHL season saw me go to maybe 50-55 games. Crazy.

Now? I still follow hockey and baseball closely, but I rarely go to games in person, and I have a tough time fitting actually sitting and watching games on television, or listening on the radio, into my busy schedule. I still hang on every goal and every run, but I miss tons and tons of every season. 

So the answer to the question, what are my favorite sports to watch? Hockey and Baseball. The Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Those are my favorite teams. I also follow some NCAA hockey but my old school, UMass Lowell, is seriously crappy this year so they are tough to follow. There is a minor league baseball team in Manchester New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats who are in the Toronto Blue Jays system, but I haven’t been to a game there since 2007. This year I am hoping to get to a game and maybe follow them on the radio a little bit. We will see.

No Call Part 2
Boston Bruins vs Calgary Flames, October 19, 2006
352
Boston Red Sox vs Texas Rangers, June 30, 2007

Fantasizing About the Lottery

Bloganuary writing prompt
What would you do if you won the lottery?
View all responses

We have all played this game, right? I mean all of us who live somewhere that holds money in high esteem, of course. 

You hit a big lottery, what do you do with the winnings? Before my wife found her calling as a software engineering genius she was an accountant. My father was an accountant too. My brother is a CPA. Why are these things important? Because all of us would work together to come up with a plan for dealing with the money that would not involve blowing it all in the first few years the way a lot of big lottery winners do. 

Here are a few things we would do……

  • Pay off any outstanding loans including student loans, cars, and the mortgage
  • Upgrades to the house and the cars and the general living situation
  • Figure out a way to use the money to generate an income, either through an endowment or a trust or something that will let us live as well as we can off of just interest. 
  • Make sure my step kids are set financially including a home and some sort of endowment or trust fund so that they are in a position where they won’t have to worry about money ever again
  • Make contributions to our extended family. Our parents and my brother and sister would get a chunk of the winnings to do with as they pleased, but the reasoning on our end would be for mortgages and college funds and healthcare and such. It’s doubtful we could set any of them up for life, but we can help as much as we can
  • Make similar contributions to a few close friends. Again, mortgage and college funds being the hope, but it will be their money to do with as they please. The trick would be figuring out how many friends we can help. It probably won’t be many, but we will do what we can
  • Research the hell out of charitable foundations and establish relationships with organizations working toward some of the things that are important to us. Diabetes research, cancer research, dementia research. Things like that. Find organizations that are doing good work and not screwing over their donors or their targets and donate as much as we can to them
  • Buy a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard

That’s the gist of it. I’m sure if we did hit a honkin’ big lottery we would make significant changes to the plan based on the amounts in question and the general situation as it stands in the moment, but this feels like a good plan to start with at least.

My Effin’ Life

Bloganuary writing prompt
What books do you want to read?
View all responses

I used to read constantly. I’ve worn reading glasses since I was a kid. A few years ago my eye glass prescription needs changed and I had to switch to progressives. That made sitting down and reading a book more difficult. It’s more stressful on my eyes and they get tired very fast. 

At the time I was commuting to work over and hour each way four days a week. I had a very active Audible account and I was listening to piles upon piles of audio books. When the pandemic hit I inactivated the account. I don’t do well with audio books when I am not a captive, driving audience. That means there have been very few books read (in any manner) since early 2020.

I am going to need to have a new eye test one of these days. There’s a part of me that wants to get a set of reading glasses again to go along with the mid-distance computer glasses I have and the progressives I wear when I am not sitting at my computer. That’s a lot of money for specs though so probably not.

There is one book that I started reading a little after xmas though. I’m only on chapter three and have only been reading a few pages at a time. It’s a memoir. It’s Geddy Lee’s My Effin’ Life. I am very driven to get through it but it’s hard to find the time or the energy. I will read it. I have to. It’s a moral imperative. 

Family Traditions

Bloganuary writing prompt
Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
View all responses

Nope. I don’t think I want to. 

Well… okay… I’ll give a couple of holiday season things that I know I’ve written about before, just for the spirit of the thing. I’m having a weird morning and I’m not in a sharing mood so I’ll stick to public-ish info, m’kay?

Both of these little traditions come from my beloved wife Jen’s family, long before I came into the picture. The first happens at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Just after the clock strikes 12:00am to start the new year, one of us opens up one of the doors to the house to let the old year out and someone else opens another door to let the new year in. Cool, huh? I like that one. It’s little and silly but it’s us.

The other tradition I’ll mention is the xmas eve party. When I first started dating Jen her family had an annual xmas eve party at her mother’s house. When we bought our house in 2010 the party moved from there to here. Everything was fine and on schedule until Covid messed it up. Once things calmed down we got sort of back on track. With the kids living in Vermont right now we moved it back to Jen’s mother’s. This year it also moved to the day after xmas due to some busy holiday schedules. It still happened though and it was just as fun as always.

There you have it. Two little family traditions that are not little at all. They are both wonderful. I write this all the time, but I am so grateful and happy that Jen and the kids and the extended family have welcomed me and allowed me to be one of them. It’s one of the things in life that makes me happier than I could ever describe. 

Leisure

Bloganuary writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
View all responses

Two days ago the daily prompt asked for five things we do for fun. I said be with my family, music, photography, travel, and TV.

Today they ask us what we enjoy doing most during leisure time…

Insert the sound of a frustrated sigh here.

Two days. It took them two days to repeat a question. Is the “bloganuary” well that dry already?

So then, what do I enjoy doing most in my leisure time? I don’t know… maybe… spend time with my family, music, photography, travel, and TV? Something along those lines. Go back in time two days to get a smidge more information.

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.
View all responses

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).

Fun Things

Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
View all responses

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.

Cats Need to Listen to Me

Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
View all responses

There are a few potential responses to this one, but if I had to narrow down to just one thing I want my cats to understand it would be this:

Just because you can see the bottom of the food bowl, it doesn’t mean that you are about to starve to death. There’s enough food in there to keep you alive for a while, and I will top off the bowl soon enough. Calm down.

Now having said that, Robin Sparkles has an interesting response to the food bowl getting low. She gets extra super friendly. Where she normally barely acknowledges my existence, when the bowl is even slightly less than full she comes to me practically begging for attention. She rubs up against my feet when I am walking by, she head butts me when I am sitting down, she meows at me, the whole works. All the things that cats do to remind you that they are there and to trick you into thinking that they love you. All of it. It’s not enough to make me purposefully let their food get low… but it’s a close call sometimes.

A couple of honorable mentions include the following:

Yes, cats. I am aware of the state of your litter box. I am always aware of the state of your litter box. Relax.

No, cats. You are not allowed in the cellar. Not since Lilly tried to claw her way through the central air duct or when she tried to climb over the top of the ceiling to get behind the wall board where she would get stuck and I would never, ever be able to find her or rescue her. Get out of the damn cellar, both of you.

This last one is going to come up tomorrow, and then again on Thursday. Yes, cats. We have to put you into the cat carrier in order to take you to the vet. It is not punishment or torture and I am not some kind of nazi death camp guard. Stop making me feel like one. It will all be over soon enough. Just be patient and accept my apology. Good kitty.

144/265
144/365