Tag: dailyprompt

Posted on

JAFFA!

What are your biggest challenges?

Acronyms have a nasty way of creeping into our daily language, nestling in, and, poof; we forget the original meaning, and they are a word of their own – if they are pronounceable. This happened to radar and other terms. You’ll have to Google the meaning because I’ve forgotten. There see what I mean?
A university puts out an annual list of words that should be retired because of overuse. This year GOAT, the acronym for greatest of all time, is leading the list. They seem to think that we’ll all obey just because they say so. That’s not the way language operates.

Perhaps we should be more reserved in constructing these selections of letters, so they don’t trip so well off the English-speaking tongue. The inquisitive mind will find thousands of snappy acronyms popular in print but not easy to pronounce as a word in English: WYSIWYG( what you see is what you get) comes to mind. In English, it does not trip so smoothly across the tongue. Which raises the question, what about acronyms in other languages? would WYSIWYG fluidly flow from the tip of a tongue speaking another language?

Pursuing this a bit further, if WYSIWYG became an overused word, would it wind up on the banned word list? Or is there a rampant preference for banning only English words here? Prejudice?

OK, WYSIWYG is indeed just one measly little acronym from the Trans Voltaic Urdu family of languages. But dammit! the sheer ” English privilege” of this list bothers me. Can we sanction such linguistic exclusivity in a world seemingly growing smaller every year?
I say no and shall spend the year fighting it. It will be my biggest challenge of 2023, but I will persevere.

Justice and fairplay for all – JAFFA!

Posted on

Late at Night

What makes you feel nostalgic?

I try to avoid being up late. Staring into the fire can stir up too many memories, and nostalgia comes around stalking me from the roots of my recollections.

Nostalgia is a deadly foe. I know there is a natural shedding of details with older memories. Over time the edges are worn off both the sweet and the sorrowful.
It’s the sort of thing that makes a beautiful salubrious event out of an absolute hell-whacker of a day at sea in the middle of a hurricane. The details of how you “chummed the fishes” – tossed your cookies- are hidden.
But I can live with the sort of nostalgia that sanitizes the merely hellacious. It’s those dread trips down Memory Lane that scare me. The ones where you consider the woman with whom you never quite got together—those border on dangerous. You wind up turning a nasty little peccadillo into a sentimental affair.

The present may have its traps, but they are nothing on the traps set by memory.

Posted on

Creativity is where you find it

How are you creative?

My life as a creator gets split between woodcarving and writing, and the creative process is very different for each.
I – Writing
The old saw about writing about what you know works for me. I mine my background as a 1960’s folkie, anthropologist, sailor, and general screw-up all the time. I try hard to start with something that happened and then take off. Most of the friends I write about are now dead -the sixties, especially – were hard on the life spans of non-conventional types. Yet, I somehow managed to survive. I am astounded sometimes that I have survived this long.

II – carving
I spent most of my career as a carver immersed in 19th-century carving, predominantly maritime carvers. But while that is the “tradition” that my carving sprang from, it’s not who I am as a carver. At some point in the evolution of my carving, I decided that I was in love with the sort of diorama ship portraits done by sailors. And that’s where most of my creative energies are spent. I’m still experimenting, evolving, and finding techniques that work.
Where do I find inspiration? Well, I am an avid reader of the Maine Antiques Digest. I don’t buy antiques. But, I read the Digest because, on almost every page, I find examples of outstanding artistic creativity and inspiration.

Posted on

Planning

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

An old saying maintains that plans are ineffective, but planning is invaluable. It’s in line with the military proverb, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” But the information and intelligence gathering that prepared you for contact helped you endure.

With great sympathy to the “you can do anything you dream” crowd, I’ve described a very accurate depiction of getting older. Unfortunately, without some planning and preparation, Your contact with the enemy will become, in the words of another military truism, a cluster fuck. Even then, It may not be very pretty.

It was becoming clear last year that physical therapy would no longer make a bad hip a decent one. What nature had provided me was just plain worn out. Never being one to sit about idly, I knew that the old one owed me nothing. In August, I had the replacement, and by the end of November began to pick up the pace of life with the new hip.

So the new hip is among the things different now as the year ends and the new year starts. But also, there is a pressing realization that even with careful attention to your health and well-being, things wear out.
There are limits to planning as well as plans.

Posted on

Beating to Quarters

What skills or lessons have you learned recently?

Crafters and artists are constantly in motion learning new skills, altering perspectives, and looking for the next project that excites them. Tradition is fine, and working in a tradition laden with favored designs and techniques is also great. But boredom can set in and, with it, a creative staleness from doing the same old thing time and time again.

For several years I’ve been working on developing my skills in boat and ship portraiture. Although I’ve been doing the basics for years – your standard catboat, sloop, or little one-design sailboat- I’ve been tackling larger and more ambitious sailing vessels. The fundamental challenge is to carve a convincing portrait in about an eighth of an inch of relief carving.

This is easier when the wind is coming over the stern or aft quarter of the vessel but toward the viewer. Being a bit “chicken,” I avoided portraying ships as they might be viewed from aft, sailing away from the viewer. This year I created a design and tackled the approach.

The portrait was called Sloop of War and portrayed a small vessel of the Napoleonic Wars era that I imagine as Beating To Quarters to engage the enemy.
I have not solved all the technical problems with this approach, but that’s the beauty of new things. There is always more to learn and master.

Posted on

Travel Plans

What cities do you want to visit?

The cat told me I’d love to visit Cedar Rapids at Christmas or maybe Ottowa. She even said I would not need a return trip ticket.

I think she’s taking my eating her breakfast exceptionally well.

Posted on

Cartoons and Personality?

Maybe you can tell a lot about a person by asking them what their favorite cartoon is. I, of course, mean a still frame, not an animated cartoon. A lot about your disposition shows up in your choices. And it’s a lot easier to read than an ink blot test. You can tell if they have superhero hang-ups, prefer to keep their more profound nature hidden in secrecy, or maybe have a tendency to be litigious. Well, OK, that’s just me. We haven’t conducted the cross-cultural, random sample, and statistically clean analysis yet.

In the meantime, here are two of my favorites:

Posted on

Debt

Indebtedness will always be an issue. For most of us, there is little question of indebtedness to our parents or the people who raised us. We may also have similar debts to friends, spouses, and others who stand by us, even when we are less than perfect.

At some point in life, we form an appreciation of who not to be in debt to or for. Politicians, mobsters, pushers, loan sharks, and generally people too low to be mentioned are at the top of my list.

Bad debt? Payday loans, gambling loans, and too much credit card debt are among the ones to avoid. While I once carried around seven cards and seven thousand in card debt, I avoided gambling debt, debt to pushers or loan sharks, and favors owed to politicians and mobsters. It was among the few times I gained wisdom through listening and observing rather than plunging in.

Debt is something we could all do with less of. Debt for a home, car, or appliance may be unavoidable. But not all debt is equal or dischargeable with money.

Posted on

Eagle and Moose Visitations

Do you ever see wild animal

Big game to the Carreras cats and dogs are bunnies and squirrels. Of course, there are plenteous visitations by small birds. But the memorable vitiations were one fall when an immature bald eagle swooped in and grabbed a squirrel. The bold creature sat there and ate it in front of Xenia and Sam. They wisely retired indoors. But for days stayed close to the open door…just in case.

Less stressful was the visit that same fall by the moose. It just looked longingly into the yard for a half hour before moving on. Wisely Sam and Xenia choose not to hunt this large gangly creature.