PROMPT: Job

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Daily writing prompt
What job would you do for free?
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To pick nits, I think the defining characteristic of a job is that one earns money for one’s time and effort. Otherwise, it’s volunteering or a hobby — both of which are fine activities in which I’ve participated over the years — but they’re not “jobs.” In the case of a hobby, one should do it because one loves it and / or gains from it. In the case of volunteering, if you’re doing the work only because you love the activity, you’ve probably missed the point of the undertaking.

Falling [Lyric Poem]

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The days of riches are now behind.
 I think I thought I lost my mind --
 It fell into a deep, dark hole 
   When my severed head took a roll
   Up to the lip, over the edge,
  Falling -- I took a solemn pledge:
 That my skull drop so straight and true
   To hit bottom and rip straight through
      To the other side.

DAILY PHOTO: Shah Najaf Imam Bara, Lucknow

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BOOKS: “Attack on Titan, Vol. 1” by Hajime Isayama

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Attack on Titan, Vol. 1Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Kodansha

A bit like Starship Troopers in that it features a group of youths drawn into military service to defend humanity from an existential threat, this series revolves around humanity besieged by giants. This introductory volume opens many questions that it leaves to be answered, such as: what are the Titans? Where do they come from? Can humanity survive them?

What this opening volume does a good job of is building a cast of characters one can connect with, as well as showing how humanity has been losing ground to its mammoth enemies. The reader enters this conflict in the middle, humanity living in walled cities that periodically come under attack, and that not only sets a tone but builds engagement with the story.

I found this volume intriguing and would highly recommend it for comic book readers. Note: the book is formatted in manga style and thus reads backwards from the perspective of an English language book reader.

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“Night Rain Sent North” [夜雨寄北] by Li Shangyin [李商隐] [w/ Audio]

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When am I coming home? I don't know.
   At Bashan, night rains swell Autumn ponds.
 Recall, candles in your West Window?
   Ah, through night rains, to talk and bond!

The original in Simplified Chinese:

君问归期未有期， 巴山夜雨涨秋池。
何当共剪西窗烛， 却话巴山夜雨时？

Note: This is poem #298 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.]

PROMPT: Olympic Sport

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Daily writing prompt
What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
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Curling. I don’t know why. By all logic, it should be boring as hell, but – somehow – it’s like a slow-motion train wreck, and I can’t take my eyes off it.

Bird on a Wire [Lyric Poem]

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On a pleasant mid-Spring day,
   A bird landed -- no bounce or sway.
 It perched, chirping - as if in play:
   I blinked, and it'd flown away.

Purple Ring [Haiku]

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ring of blossoms
 around the tree trunk:
  still, as shadows creep.

DAILY PHOTO: British Residency of Lucknow

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“I like to see it lap the Miles –” (383) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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I like to see it lap the Miles --
   And lick the Valleys up --
 And stop to feed itself at Tanks --
   And then - prodigious step

Around a Pile of Mountains --
   And supercilious peer
 In Shanties -- by the sides of Roads --
   And then a Quarry pare

To fit its sides
      And crawl between
   Complaining all the while
 In horrid -- hooting stanza --
   Then chase itself down Hill --

And neigh like Boanerges --
   Then - prompter than a Star
 Stop - docile and omnipotent
   At it's own stable door --