Daily writing prompt

What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

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The short answer is that living a long life sure beats the alternative, right?

I suppose the missing piece of this question is how do you define a long life? Is 70 years long? When I was 20 I would have said yes. Now that I’m 52? No, no, and no. What about 80 years? My father is in his 80’s and that no longer feels long enough. 90 years? Maybe. 100 years? Probably. 200 years? No we’re talking.

Heads up, readers, things are about to get a little dark here… You’ve been warned.

The other question here is not about length of life but quality of life. My mother made it into her 80’s before we lost her last year. She made it into her 80’s. On paper that sounds like success, but the reality was that her final few years were a nightmare of dementia and memory loss and constant physical agony. My father’s mind is still sharp as ever, but physically he’s in pain and barely able to walk. He’s also suffering from the passage of time in that his wife and all of his family that he grew up with and most of his friends are gone. Is that the quality of life you want in your later years? As stated at the start of this philosophical masterpiece, it’s better than the alternative. It’s also so sad and depressing.

Okay, that was way more sharing than I’m currently feeling comfortable with. Let’s put this post to bed now. 

Daily writing prompt

What could you do differently?

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I’m still not in a sharing mood (shockingly) so I’m not going to give specifics. Suffice to say if you ask me what I could do differently, my broken little brain is going to hyper focus 100% on negatives. You’ve been warned.

What could I do different becomes what must I do to stop failing as a human being. I must be a better husband, a better step father, a better son, a better uncle, a better brother, a better employee, a better supervisor, a better democrat, a better citizen, and a better neighbor… and that is just for starters.

The problem, of course, is that I don’t know how to do any of it. I’m working on it all though. I’ll do better. I’ll be better.

Daily writing prompt

If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?

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This one is going to need a list, babie! Here we go!

My potential billboard messages would include the following…

• Nazis are evil. Stop being/supporting/collaborating with nazis.
• Fascism is un-American. MAGA is fascism. Do the math.
• The January 6th insurrectionists are guilty of both being terrorists and committing treason.
• Life sentences for insurrectionists.
• Pro January 6th = pro terrorism and pro treason.
• Democracy Good. MAGA Bad.
• Trust Science.
• Science is real.
• Science is accurate.
• Science is reality. Religion is fan fiction.
• Toxic science fiction fandom is idiotic. Grow the fuck up, children.
• I am head over heels in love with my wife, Jen.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is better than you remember.
• The Star Wars prequels and sequels are both bad, but they are not that bad. Get over it.
• Tom Baker is still the best Doctor
• Zack Snyder needs to cut back on the slow motion. Seriously, bro.
• Kodak needs to try lowering film prices for a change.
• Wear a mask and wash your hands.

Okay… 18 potential billboards written out in about five minutes, all off the top of my head.  I could probably come up with 100 more if I spent a little time thinking about it. No, we’ll stop here. Maybe I’ll add a second post with more later (but probably not).

Enjoy, my gentle readers and only friends.*

*I am not sure when I combined Stephen King’s “gentle readers” line with A Clockwork Orange’s, “oh my brothers and only friends” but it’s sort of working for me. 

Daily writing prompt

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

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Neither?

Both?

I honestly don’t know. Maybe I just hyper focus on the present? I am not in a sharing mood again (shocking) so I am not going into details, but while I do often find myself thinking of the past (both recent and distant) and I often find myself thinking of the future (both near and far), I think I spend most of my time stuck right in the present.

At the same time though… maybe I don’t do any of that. Maybe I just don’t pay enough attention to my mind wandering through time to be cognizant* of where it spends most of it’s time travelin’ time.

Will I pay more attention to this question in the future?

Probably not.

*Pompous ass, Robbie and his $0.10 words. You’re welcome.

Daily writing prompt

What colleges have you attended?

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• University of Lowell
  • Fall 1989 to Fall 1991
  • Prior to my last semester (or was it the second to last semester?) the university was absorbed into the University of Massachusetts and changed its name to University of Massachusetts Lowell, or just UMass Lowell
  • Majored in Music with an emphasis in Sound Recording Technology
  • Did not graduate due to dropping out because I didn’t have the math background to get through the Calculus and Physics pre-reqs and didn’t know how to fix the problem so I quit
• Northeast Broadcast School
  • Not sure exactly but I think it was November 1992 through June 1993… that can’t be right, can it?
  • At some point after graduation the school was bought out or merged or something like that with the Art Institute schools. I don’t know if either of them even exist at all anymore
  • Majored in Audio Recording
  • Graduated with a certificate
• Middlesex Community College
  • Fall 1997 through Spring 2000
  • Majored in Computer Science
  • Graduated with an Associates degree
• UMass Lowell (again)
  • Fall 2000 to Spring 2004
  • Majored in Computer Science
  • Graduated with a Bachelors degree, thus ending my seven year run as a career student

Daily writing prompt

What are your biggest challenges?

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My biggest challenge is always getting around my innate need to procrastinate. There are things to do, so does Robert do them? Eventually, but for now? He does something else that is entirely unrelated. 

I feel as though the whole post-gastric bypass plan to establish an exercise and eating/drinking routine has helped but it hasn’t fixed my brain entirely yet. I may get there someday but it’s going to take time and effort. Also, I can’t procrastinate through the process. You understand, of course.

And there you have it, the first daily writing prompt of 2024. That doesn’t mean anything, I am just trying to get into the habit of typing 2024 instead of 2023. It’s going to take a while to burn the new year into my tiny little brain. You understand, of course.