Category Archives: Blogs

PROMPT: Celebrity

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Which celebrity would you love to meet, and what would you talk about?

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Anne Carson just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Does that count as a celebrity? She’s still in the 15 minutes of fame that comes from the recent announcement. She’d be interesting to talk to about poetry.

If it does not count, I would have to say that the more clearly a celebrity would count, probably the less interested I am in talking to them. I can’t think of any A-list actors / actresses or pop stars that appeal. Maybe a few rock stars and standup comedians — e.g. Bruce Springsteen to talk about lyrics or Louis C.K. about jokes.

PROMPT: Good Person

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What does it mean to be a good person?

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I don’t know that it has a meaning. I tend to consider dualities in Taoist terms. Every Yang has a seed of Yin; the Yang flows into Yin and back again.

PROMPT: Bucket list

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What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?

To travel to, or to take over and rule with an iron fist? “Bucket list” seems a bit intense for the former. You make a plan and pack a bag. No one has to die here. [Unless one’s dream destination is North Korea, in which case, maybe.]

PROMPT: SEO

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What are your strategies for SEO?

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Well, I tried HBO (Human Brain Optimization) and look where that got me. I was thinking of going so far as adding a Reverse Image CAPTCHA in which any entity that could tell how many stoplights were in an array of photos would NOT be allowed into my site.

PROMPT: Know

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What’s one thing you know now that would have saved your younger self a lot of pain?

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I believe the distinction between knowledge and wisdom is that one merely needs to be able to understand knowledge, but one must be able to live wisdom. For example, one can teach a five-year-old Jesus’ lesson about turning the other cheek, and they may understand every word but still be struggling to live it sixty years later.

My point is that I’m doubtful that knowing anything would have saved me pain because I would have had to live it, and that takes time, experience, and struggle.

PROMPT: Weirdest Movie

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What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched?

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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It’s the only movie I ever both paid to see in the theater and walked out on. So, it might be a stretch to say I “watched it” because I don’t think I saw more than half.

PROMPT: While Traveling

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What’s the best way to meet new people while traveling?

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Don’t travel in a big tour group or cruise. As a single or a couple, one can’t help but interact with locals. Stay where nationals of that country stay; eat where they eat.

PROMPT: Aliens

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If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?

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Do you speak English? 你会说普通话吗？¿Hablas español?

Alternatively, do you have a spare Babel Fish?

Anything else seems pretentious. I certainly don’t speak Alpha Centaurian.

Tree Face [Senryū]

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two big eyes:
 face in a tree trunk
  unsettles me.

PROMPT: Underrated Life Skill

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What’s the most underrated life skill?

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Juggling. Because there is absolutely no way to learn it without failing thousands of times. It’s not the dexterity, but the tenacity, that is of value. Not to mention the lessons of neither rushing nor overreaching that it teaches. Some balls must be left to drop.