PROMPT: Favorite Place

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite place to go in your city?

The park. (Works no matter what city one might consider “my city.”)

PROMPT: First Impression

Daily writing prompt
What’s the first impression you want to give people?

My conscious mind would only tell lies about this. While I’ve long been aware that I’m an introvert, it’s only more recently come to my attention that I have resting-“get the hell away from me”-face. It’s nothing I ever purposeful cultivated, and — now, being aware of it –I’m trying to be more discerning. (But I have a lot of decades of programming to work against.)

PROMPT: Book

Daily writing prompt
What book are you reading right now?

Forty-Three Ways of Looking at Hemingway by Jeffrey Meyer; a biography of Ernest Hemingway that is written in an interesting and creative way. Rather than a chronological telling of life events, the book relates Hemingway’s life to a series of other individuals and events.

PROMPT: Live Anywhere

Daily writing prompt
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Someplace inexpensive, with beaches and hikeable hilly / mountainous terrain within a reasonable distance, and where beer prices are not disproportionately high vis-a-vis the general cost of living. FYI — I call the latter the “stick-up-the-bum” index because if beer prices are relatively high, it usually means they are heavily sin-taxed (it’s not an expensive product to make,) and so disproportionately high beer prices suggest the society is trying to micromanage personal behavior. I may or may not want a beer (I’ll want one,) but I prefer to live in a society with a live-and-let-live mentality. Candidates exist in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Central Asia / Caucus region.

PROMPT: Coolest Thing

Daily writing prompt
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?

I once found a $100 bill half frozen into the snow on a random stretch of sidewalk in a not-so-great neighborhood. It’s only now occurring to me that it was literally the coolest thing I’ve ever found because it was encased in ice and snow. I acknowledge it’s not so “cool” in the colloquial sense of the word.

PROMPT: Routine

Daily writing prompt
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

The part that feels routine.

PROMPT: Famous or Infamous

Daily writing prompt
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?

The most famous people I’ve met are famed for their scholarly or political contributions to society, which is to say 98% of the population have never heard of them.

What I am really sad to say is that I’ve never met anyone truly infamous. I keep hoping one of those scientists will turn evil, but they just stay nerdy.

PROMPT: Pet

Daily writing prompt
What is good about having a pet?

It’s a friend who may not understand what you’re going through, but who will never talk… and sometimes eagerly helps with the digging when you’re burying the body. Try finding a human friend like that.

PROMPT: Personal Item

Daily writing prompt
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

I think it was a sword, back in the days when swordsmanship was among the subjects i studied. But I can say, with some measure of pride, that I really don’t know for sure because I don’t really put much value in owning things and have become ever less interested in possessing more stuff.

When you’re a traveler, they’re all just anchors, and not goods.

Anything expensive I buy better be absolutely essential, have multiple uses, or —ideally— both.

PROMPT: Podcasts

Daily writing prompt
What podcasts are you listening to?

I don’t properly listen to any, but I watch clips and segments from many on YouTube — mostly those of comedians, but some of a popular science or current events / international affairs / macroeconomic nature.