Tag: dailyprompt

Compliments

Daily writing prompt
What was the best compliment you’ve received?
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There are two answers to this question. One is serious and professional and I will not give any details about it. The other is a goofy thing from when I was a teenager.

There are actually two professional things that I could use here. Two people who reported to me both said things that affected me in very positive ways. I will not share either thing because I don’t care to break confidence. I’m like a priest hearing confession and I ain’t given anything up. Well… like a priest without all of the child rape and atrociously evil cover ups. So really nothing like a priest, but you get the idea. Okay, enough about this one.

The compliment I’ll share is silly. I think I was a sophomore in high school. My friend Mike and I were trying to learn new musical instruments. Guitar for me and bass for him. We had a friend who could play the drums. We got together and had a jam. The drummer had an older brother who played guitar. He was in the room with us, just hanging out and listening. I was pretty new at guitar, but I had been playing music for years (on the saxophone and briefly on the trumpet) so musically speaking I kinda knew what I was doing and as a result I was picking things up on guitar pretty quickly. While we were jamming away I did… something. I am not sure what, but I think I was probably improvising something. The drummer’s guitar playing brother stood up and said, “I gotta take a walk” and left the room. I guess I impressed him a little.

That’s it. That’s the compliment. I never forgot that. My ego swelled four sizes that day. I was so pleased with myself that I may have actually started to glow. The post script on this was that the drummer’s guitar playing brother should not have been disturbed by anything I did because he was good. He was way better than me. I’m guessing he still is.

There is a third potential answer to this question as well. It’s actually a series of things. They aren’t compliments per se, but they affected me in similar Earth rocking ways. First, there was this woman who agreed to go on a date with me. Nice! Second, about a year later I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes. Nice! About a year later we stood in front of our families and we both said, “I do” to each other. Nice! Like I said, they aren’t compliments in the strictest sense of the word, but they have a similar affect. They are each like a huge compliment on steroids and multiplied by about 10 zillion.

And there you have it, folks. My compliment history in a nutshell. Happy Monday, everyone.

Let’s Take a Trip!

Daily writing prompt
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
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Any excuse to go on a trip. Any place, any time, any method of travel. The answer to today’s question; plane, train, bus, car, or bike is yes. Yes, please. Well… I’ll pass on the bike option, but other than that I’ll go for any of them. I love the fact that I can wake up and Boston, hop on a plane, and finish my day in California or anywhere else on Earth. Thank you air travel.

I also love a good train ride. There is something about kicking up my feet and relaxing while bombing across the country side without (too much) worry about traffic or anything like that. Trains are great. Busses… not my favorite, but still worth the effort. Busses are like trains but with potential traffic jams. Not quite as esthetically pleasing to my soul, but still generally acceptable.

Cars? Absolutely! I am always up for a road trip. Someday I will load up the car with travel stuff, grab the love of my life and get her into the passenger seat, and drive across the country. We’ll stop at every roadside attraction and scenic view we come to. It will be the most epic road trip in American history and we will crush it like experts.

I guess the thing we need to take away from today’s daily prompt topic is that I am ready to travel, any time, any place, any distance. The method of travel does not matter to me so long as we reach the destination safely and have a good time getting there. Except for bikes. I don’t have any real interest in traveling on bikes. Exercising on a bike is one thing, traveling on one… not so much.

Is Anyone Confident?

Daily writing prompt
Who is the most confident person you know?
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I read this question last night to prep a little for writing it up this morning. I honestly have nothing. Is it possible that something about my personality repels people who are confident? I can’t think of a single person in my life who is as self confident as they deserve to be. Everyone I know is smart and talented and capable, and all of them lack self confidence. All of them.

I wonder… does like attract like? I ask because I am the least confident of all of them. Out of the whole crowd of people that I know, none of them lack confidence the way I do. Is it possible that I am just projecting? Is it possible that people I know actually are very confident but because I am utterly without confidence I somehow can’t see it?

Everyone has moments of confidence. Everyone has moments of doubt. Maybe I just tend to focus on the doubt part and can’t really see the confidence part for what it really is.

Maybe I’m just bad at reading people. Maybe I’m just clueless.

Different Question, Same Answer

Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
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This isn’t a repeat question, but it is a repeat answer. My strategies for dealing with negative feelings are pretty much the same as my list of things that I can lose myself in. With one important addition.

When life is getting me down I often retreat to music. Listening to music, mostly. Yesterday I was sick with this asshole of a cold and I spent the day working while listening to old 1970’s Genesis records. It helped. I will likely do something similar today. Maybe a different prog-rock group. Maybe some Yes? Close to the Edge always hits the spot.

Sometimes when life gets me down I will go for a drive and ignore reality. Sometimes I’ll snap a bunch of pictures or something. All of the good things that I can lose myself in also help when things are going bad.

The one additional thing is my family. When things are going rough I can always depend on my family to be there to make me feel better. I am pretty lucky that way. I know not all middle aged red heads can say that about their families, and that’s okay. I’m just a fortunate guy in that respect.

Get Lost

Daily writing prompt
What activities do you lose yourself in?
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There are probably a lot of answers to this question. Most of the big ones are things that I write about here all the time.

  • Music. Playing it, listening to it, writing it, recording it, playing on my own, playing with other people. All of those things are guaranteed to cause me to lose myself.
  • Taking pictures. Photo walks, photography projects. Stuff like that. I start messing around and next thing I know two hours have passed.
  • Watching movies or TV. Hanging out in the living room with my family, binge watching a show or a movie.
  • Reading a good book. I have a hard time reading with my current glasses, but when things are going well I can really get lost in a good book.
  • Driving. Put on some music, head for someplace far away, get lost. Not literally, like… I know where I am going, but lose the time.

There are other things, but those are my favorites. Those are the ones that work best for me.

So Many to Chose From

Daily writing prompt
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
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Well, ol’ Robbie was fully enveloped by a nasty head cold by the time he went to sleep last night. Last week his wife dealt with it and was pretty much better by yesterday. For poor ol’ Robbie though, he got to the airport to pick up his step daughter and felt a little twinge in his throat. Uh oh. Two hours later he was planning on calling in sick to work the next day (today). Now he’s sitting on the couch with a nose too stuffy to breathe through and a throat sore enough that breathing hurts. Yippee.

What was I talking about (and why was he doing it in third person)?

Oh yeah, the daily writing prompt. TV series or movies that I’ve watched more than five times. There are a lot of them. I’m old. They pile up.

Star Wars. All of them. I’ve watched them all at least five times. Probably closer to 50 times. I can watch ’em over and over and over again. All of them. The same can be said of most of the Star Trek movies. The good ones at least. Not the one Shatner directed, but the ones that are worth watching. The top of the line Marvel movies are probably over five views by now. Winter Soldier, Infinity War, Endgame. Antman too, which is odd. Harry watched that puppy over and over again when it first hit iTunes.

As for TV shows, I don’t know if I’ve ever hit five views of anything. Dead Like Me is probably close. So is The League. The Mandalorian isn’t there yet, but it will be some day. Same with Andor. Maybe I might give Andor another watch while I’m sitting here sick today. Yellowjackets might be another show that hits five views. It’s at two right now and it’s only been out for a bout two years. The Walking Dead might get there too. I’m in a rewatch now. Season one has probably hit five views. I can’t think of anything else right now. I’m too sick.

Wish me luck today.

No

Daily writing prompt
Are you superstitious?
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First, allow me to let the great Jeff Beck answer this question (with some help from Rod Stewart and Ron Wood):

No, I am not superstitious. Sorry to let you down. Didn’t we just have to answer something about whether or not we believed in fate? Was that here or was that one of the 1000000 lame ass polls I’ve seen on Threads? I don’t recall.

Nope, I don’t believe in superstitions. I don’t believe in astrology. I don’t believe in fairy tales, especially ones about dudes who claim to be their own fathers. I don’t believe that walking under a ladder is going to cause me to have a bad day. I don’t believe in any of that stuff.

I do believe in Stevie Wonder though, and even more hero-worshipfully, I believe in Jeff Beck. I also believe that Jeff Beck did a session for a Stevie Wonder record and in payment Stevie wrote Jeff a song that he could use with his new metal band, Beck Bogert Appice. I believe that song was freakin’ epic.

While I believe in the epic nature of that song, I do not believe that the BB&A version was better than the Stevie Wonder version that Mr Wonder was asked to record by his label because they were afraid he had given away a potential classic… which of course he did. As big a fan as I am of the legendary Mr Jeff Beck, Stevie’s version is way better.

Both of those versions, however, are better than the version my band, Lizardfish, recorded at a rehearsal one day. Yeah, we played Superstition too.

So no, I am not superstitious, but I do know a couple of killer songs when I hear them.

I’m an Animal

Daily writing prompt
Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
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Given the frequency with which I post pictures of cats, the expectation here may be that I am going to compare myself to a cat. That comparison works in some respects but not others. Cats sleep all day. They are often considered to be lazy. Well, domesticated cats are at least. Those are qualities that I feel are accurate descriptions of me. Unfortunately, cats are also known to be ass kicking hunters who are always down with killing everything around them. They are very much pro-slaughter. Those are not accurate descriptions of me. I’m a peaceful guy. Maybe even a pacifist (unless we’re dealing with Yankees fans… or fascists).

So no, cats are not animals that I would compare myself to. Sorry. I asked Google Bard, or whatever it’s called now, to give me a list of animals that might work.

Here is what I asked, “give me a short list of animals that are known to be slow and lazy and are easy prey for predators.” (note, the response is slightly edited as it included images and some links which I have removed)

Here are some animals that are known to be slow and lazy, making them easy targets for predators:

  • Sloths: These masters of hanging around are incredibly slow-moving due to their low metabolic rate. This means they spend most of their day sleeping or hanging motionless in trees, making them easy pickings for jaguarandi, harpy eagles, and even some snakes.
  • Pangolins: These unique mammals are covered in tough scales, but they’re also slow-moving and have poor eyesight. When threatened, they roll up into a ball, which can protect them from some predators but not from determined ones like tigers and hyenas.
  • Armadillos: While some armadillos can burrow quickly, they’re generally slow-moving herbivores. Their main defense is their bony armor, but jaguars, cougars, and large snakes can still break through it to get to the animal inside.
  • Koalas: Koala spend most of their days snoozing in eucalyptus trees. This slow lifestyle makes them vulnerable to predators like dingoes and pythons.

It’s important to note that being slow or inactive doesn’t necessarily mean an animal is defenseless. These animals have evolved other strategies to survive, such as camouflage, venomous bites, or prickly defenses.

https://gemini.google.com/app/855452ea7906df52

Those are all good. Well, Koalas are super cute so they don’t work. Armadillos and pangolins… I think their defenses are too good to relate to me. That leaves sloths. Full disclosure, I was planning on using sloths for this post even before I went to the Google for advice.

Sloths! That’s the animal I compare myself too. Slow… lazy… all they do is eat and sleep and hang around… kinda painful to look at…

Yeah, that’s me. Call me Robbie the Sloth. Best animal comparison ever.

48 Years to Go

Daily writing prompt
Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.
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This one is dumb. Why would I write a letter to my future self? My future self would know everything I wrote about before I wrote it. Writing to your past self is an interesting exercise because your past self does not know what went down in the intervening time. Writing to the future? I guess you can argue that it is a time capsule. It works on that level. I guess. Oh well.

Hey, 100 year old me, it’s 52 year old me. Remember when you wrote this? We just had the kitchen remodeled. I hope the new cabinets and counters lasted a good long time. I hope you didn’t have to do it again, at least not too soon. How is Jen doing? How are the kids doing? If it is May 8, 2071 then Bellana is about to turn 70 and Harry is 68. I assume one of them is President by now, right? That assumption being on top of the assumption that We the People were able to do something about those pesky fascists who are trying to take over, of course. There is so much I want you to tell me about but you can’t because this silly exercise is not a two way street. I mean my future is a much more interesting topic than your past, right? Are they still making Star Wars movies and shows? Are they still as good as Andor? What about Star Trek? Still as good as Strange New Worlds?

There. I’ll send that off in the post, Back to the Future style.

Shopping Spree

Daily writing prompt
Where would you go on a shopping spree?
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Is this a fantasy type thing? Meaning money is no object, or are we supposed to give a realistic answer.

A realistic answer could have been IKEA, given that we basically just went on an insane shopping spree there in order to remodel our kitchen. It’s a case of blog imitating life… or the other way around, maybe?

For a purely selfish answer, I would go with a music dealer. Guitar Center would be the easiest answer. There was a story the members of Rush used to tell about when they got their first advance from Mercury Records. They all went to the best music store in Toronto and upgraded all of their gear. Neil Peart bought the Chrome drum set, Geddy Lee bought his first Rickenbaker bass, and Alex Lifeson bought his first(?) Les Paul. That’s sort of what I would do. I’d go into the store with nothing and come out with a whole new gig rig. A custom shop Gibson guitar, a high end Fender (or Marshall) amplifier, and maybe a few new pedals.

That’s a fantasy answer, but if I were really going nuts I’d go to a shop like Chicago Music Exchange (is there an equivalent in the Boston area? I’ve been Googling and found a few possibilities) where rather than shopping for new, high end stuff, I could shop for actual vintage gear. Legendary stuff. A Les Paul Standard made between 1958 and 1960 and a tweed Fender amp like a 4×10 Bassman from 1959 or so. The real stuff, not reissues. The stuff that’s worth about as much as a small house. Yeah, that would be my uber-fantasy shopping spree.

Honorable mentions would be someplace that deals in vintage cameras (if such places exist), or books, or records, or cats. Vintage cameras, books, or records, but not vintage cats… that would be weird.