Tag: Discover Prompts

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A Repeat?

Daily writing prompt
Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.
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Back in the rear offices, back beyond the unused old vending machines, and the stacks of cut-up boxes for recycling, the folks at prompt central have quietly gone on strike. That’s right, today is February fifth, and the prompt for the day is exactly the same as it was last year at the same time.

Maybe they are getting the annual St. Valentine’s Day party going early. Or perhaps they are holding a job action, and producing no new prompts until they get an upgrade on the coffeemaker. I do not know, but somebody is lying down on the job. How about picking the prompt from 2023 or 2022? Most of us would not have looked at it with suspicion, ” Say, that looks awfully familiar?”

Perhaps their old punch card-fed computer glitched, and the master program began to flash the bright red ERROR sign. I can see it now, their ideal day…airing the old offices of the smoke, getting the retired computer techs out of retirement to attempt to fit “Ole Bessy” up again. Then, of course, the hurried search for Post-it notes to begin to scrawl next week’s prompts.

Lucille to the Rescue!

Luckily, Lucille is still part of the team. Lucille was the one who came up with the “spicy prompts a few years ago. You know, “What’s your favorite illicit activity?” ” Which celebrity would you most like to spend a lost weekend with?” Lucille almost got you guys shut down with the prompt about…well I blush to think about that one, and it takes a lot to make me blush. Go, Lucille!!!!

Me? Well, I’m a bit upset. My answer from last year still stands as my answer for the prompt. Even I can’t endlessly come up with twisted variations on a theme. I mean, Holy Moley, WordPress, this is an emergency!

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Flavor of the Day

Sooner or later, we all have to go into the hospital for some prodding and tests. This morning was my turn. At one test, the technician was explaining, more clearly than the doctor had, what the test was going to show. A conversation developed, and pretty soon we discovered that we were both former operating room people, a bond, believe me, a bond.

During the conversation, it came up that outsiders always envisaged the OR as being a quiet, dramatic place. We recalled that it depended on the case, the surgeon, and the day. OK, trust me on this, lots of docs bring in their playlists. Yup, with Doctor Anderson, it’s sing-along arias ( ugh!) and Doctor Paul likes the Grateful Dead. It could literally be the flavor of the day!

Conversations can be somewhat “interesting” too. Monday morning discussions on love life, sports, hobbies, movies, celebrities, it’s all there. Now the surgeon will almost always set the tone and topic. But interns, residents, nurses, and technicians chime in. In my experience, the quiet person in the room has always been the anesthesiologist – watching blood pressure, respirations, monitoring the airway, and other vital signs.

One other thing we talked about. Identifying folks outside of the OR. There you are masked and gowned and gloved. Your hair is covered, and sometimes the only things you have to go on with a new person are the muffled voice. So outside of the OR, you might see a curious ritual as people take a hand and cover the lower part of their face. “Oh, Doctor Smith, I didn’t recognize you!”

So there you go. A bit of the insider’s view, for the next time they wheel you in.

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Who Me?

Daily writing prompt
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
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I originally started this blog as an adjunct to my marine woodcarving activities. Then I started doing prompts, and that led to digging into my life experiences. I’ve explored past, present, and prospective futures for stories, critique and amusement. I’m not sure that I’ve necessarily done so much more than others in my life. But some funky internal rumination about things has always been my style.

Exploration

That’s why examinations and reexaminations of my past speckle the blogs landscape. From my days hanging around the scenery in Greenwich Village, time spent on the road as a Pius Itinerant, and Folkie days in the funky Beacon Hill scene in Boston. Then there was time on the Coast of Maine. Years as a student in undergrad and grad school. Plus time working in operating rooms, as an applied anthropologist, and at UPS. It goes on.

I’ve always been interested in rumination. What does it all mean? What lesson should I pull out of this bed of ashes, and could I have done better? I mostly did this as an internal exploration before the blog. I’ve found that writing it down, publishing it, and getting feedback from the blogging community had actually contributed to lots of closure. But to be honest, it’s also opened up new questions and inquiries. Many have noted before that the act of writing opens new avenues for meaning.

Along the way, I’ve also flayed a few enemies, described some loves, and curiously examined situations. Sometimes I’ll find some old post, and groan, “What was I thinking that day!” What made my mind take that particular turn?

So half the pleasure of the blog is a bit of self-discovery.

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One Liner Wedsnesday – February 4, 2026

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government, too. – Richard M Nixon

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To Do List

Daily writing prompt
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
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Let’s see, it may depend on the season. The raised beds make weeding in them easy, but the margins around the garden always seem to need more work than I can get to. That’s one substantial area that always needs work. My attempt to mulch the paths with a straw last summer was a colossal failure. It looked awful, the dog loved it for the worst reasons ( you can guess!), and it was very messy. This year, I may go back to pine bark mulch – it looks good and decomposes into nice compost.

Second on the list? The Pond. It’s a big scenery focus for the woodland garden, and during successful years, it’s a haven for dozens of frogs. The birds love to drink and even bathe in the waterfall, but making it a success requires periodic attention to the pump. Being that it’s in a woodland, that means clearing out leaf detritus before an irridecesent sheen develops, or the fish complain. Every year I work on establishing more plants on the borders and small marsh areas to naturally filter the pond, but I’m not as efficient as nature, and it’s an ongoing task.

Of course, here it is February, and I’m describing the upcoming tasks of summer. Might I complain about the February issues, too much snow and ice? Of course. But I’d rather look forward to spring than turn my gaze to the covered garden or frozen pond.

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!

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The Numbers Game: #110

And Judy’s number today is- 232

A collection of potted plants, including carnivorous species, arranged on a windowsill under artificial lighting. The scene shows various plant sizes and shapes, with some pots displaying roots and soil.
Carniviverous plants
A close-up view of various orchid plants, featuring purple and orange flowers, alongside green foliage, set against a window with natural light filtering through.
Orchid
A tabby cat sitting on a perch, partially wrapped in colorful Christmas lights, with a visible battery pack beside it.
Marcus ligtens up
Carved wooden wall art depicting a sailboat with two large sails and a small flag, set against a textured wood background.
Steam Yacht Zaida
A black eight ball with a white circle displaying the number 8, sitting on a wooden surface amidst tangled wires and electronic devices.
thetrustworthy Magis Eightball
A decorative wooden fan with intricate cutouts, placed on a multicolored woven mat.
An Ed Menard cedar bird
Close-up of a katana handle featuring ornate gold and black detailing, with a sharp blade partially visible.
hilt decoration on a Japanese sword
A detailed bust sculpture of a historical figure with a prominent mustache and elaborate collar, displayed against a dark background.
Sir Walter Raleigh figurehead
  • Last winter’s dispay of carnivvierous plants
  • orchids
  • Marcus in a celebratory Christmas mood
  • A carved portrait I did of the steam yacht Zaida
  • The trustworty Magic Eightball
  • Ed Menard is a skilled Vermont woodcarver. This miniature cedar fan is one of his works. What Talent!
  • The decoration on the hilt of a Japanese sword
  • A Sir Walter Raleigh figurehead in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem, Massachusetts
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Look Ma, No Punch Cards!

Daily writing prompt
Write about your first computer.
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I credit undergraduate computer science classes at Boston University for my early computer literacy. As an anthropology major, I wasn’t expected to do any heavy lifting for my science requirements – no physics or chemistry. But we were expected to meet a distribution in all areas. Remember that? A Well-Rounded Education?

So in my junior year, I took several geography courses. One of the geography professors was interested in cultural geography and had us working on statistical problems in cultural geography. This gave me an initial introduction to statistics and cultural geography. In the process, I had to learn to set up and accurately run statistical programs on the mainframe computer. This involved boxes of punched cards and hours spent at the computer center. This was the spark that introduced me to the use of computers.

The effect on my anthropology was enormous. My Junior year honors project involved some statistical analysis of datasets from my research in Coastal Maine. It was educational not only for me, but for some professors. My use of computers continued in grad school with the use of the old DARPA Net, a predecessor of the Internet. Use of computer technology would not engulf the analysis of anthropological data across the four quadrants ( cultural, physical, linguistic, and archeological) for years. Still, I was in at the start, running analyses for the professors. I spent almost as much time at the computer center as I did in classes.

Apple

After I left grad school, I had no access to academic computer systems. But I eventually scraped together enough money to buy an Apple IIc computer. I literally beat this system into the ground with use, and I drove it to the limits of its capabilities. With an old-fashioned modem, I continued analyzing data, played early computer games, and had a ball. The old Apple IIc led to a succession of Macs, and I will soon need to purchase another one as my current one is getting old. But I still remember the boxes of punch cards and the frantic insanity that happened when one accidentally spilled on the floor. Hours of placing the cards back in order resulted. It was not something you ever wanted to repeat.

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Tropical and Exotic!

Tomorrow is seed and plant catalog day, and that raises a little issue. My annual experiments. You see I like to scratch an itch every year to try at least one thing that is impossible or improbable to grow in my New England climate. For years I’ve kept an assortment of citrus plants alive and at least semi-thriving on window sills and grow lights. During the summer they grow ungainly outdoors. Then there were the years that I grew banana trees inside from seed. While I was a bachelor they added a distantly tropical look to the old apartment. Hmmm….the cats would probably enjoy hide and seek among the foliage.

So tomorrow as I leaf through ( I couldn’t avoid that one, sorry) the pages of lettuce and spinach seeds I’ll also be looking for my exotic picks as well.

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Whack!!!

Daily writing prompt
What do you complain about the most?
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I occasionally veer into politics in this blog, but I’m not interested in making the blog a political vehicle. So while I daily complain to myself, my wife, family, and friends about politics It’s peripheral to this blog. However, like many of these days, what’s going on is a huge weight on me.

So what do I do about it? OK, laugh if you will, but I take my yah-yahs out on the wood pile. I’ve reached that point in the winter when I’m into some red oak that needs some further reduction in size for the woodstove. Up on the block goes the large hunk of oak. Thawak!!! goes the maul. After a while, a pile builds up, and I have to clear it. I can sometimes be heard muttering vile imprecations of a political nature. My grin might remind you of Jack Nicholson in The Shining, “Here’s Johnny!”

Yes, a certain manic air surrounds the scene of the violence. I am innocently chopping firewood that’s all. No heavy psychological junk involved…”Die sucker die!….errrrrr I mean that’s one twisted piece of wood. Needs another whack!

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Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail

I address the WordPress prompt most every day. Being that they often sound like questions cribbed for personality tests, I usually twist, spindle, and mutilate the prompts in whatever creative way that I can.

A challenge can be when it’s the third time you’ve answered the prompt. Then you have to get crafty, devious, and perverse-minded. But, hey, I was Pius Itinerant ( road bum), and an anthropologist; it sort of comes as second nature.

But seriously, I wonder what goes on at Prompt Central, you know, those old cubbyhole offices down the dark corridor, past the old bathrooms nobody uses, where the vending machines all have stale items in them. Some prompt technician, third class, is trying to analyze my twisted and warped sense of humor. It’s not helping his stress levels, blood pressure, or digestion.

In the meantime, I’m just looking out for my next diversion. We used to call it “Tying knots in the Devil’s Tail”.