PROMPT: For Fun

Daily writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.

1.) When getting on an elevator with strangers, I like to look at the little inspection placard with consternation and say, “Oh no… oh no, oh no!” When someone asks what’s the problem, I point to the inspector’s name and say, [for example] “John Smith is a hack. He wouldn’t know a frayed cable from a firehose. WE’RE DOOMED!”

2.) Sometimes I’ll stare at the grates on a city sidewalk. When someone asks whether I lost my keys, I’ll say, “No I saw a Leprechaun run down there with a pot of gold. I’m waiting for it to come back out so that I can murder and rob it.”

3.) Alternatively, I stare up at the sky, and when someone stops to see what I’m looking at, I say, “It’s a lovely day to be hurtling through space at two million kilometers per hour, isn’t it?”

5.) I like to skip the number four, and when someone asks why I say because it’s bad luck in China and Japan because the number four is pronounced the same as death. When the person points out that I’m not in China or Japan, I confidently bark, “That’s your opinion!” and rapidly walk off as their consternation and / or infuriation grows.

PROMPT: Understand One Thing

Daily writing prompt
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

How Buddhists reconcile the Doctrine of Anatta (the belief that there is no permanent self) with a belief in reincarnation.

PROMPT: First Name

Daily writing prompt
Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

I think it means “naked bear,” which is quite apropos because (while – for a human being – I’m quite hairy) as a bear I would definitely need Hair Club for Bears. (Adopted into English over time from the German Bär + nackt.)

PROMPT: Dream Job

Daily writing prompt
What’s your dream job?

I’m afraid I’d be damn near unemployable in the world of dreams. If I’m not running from something or falling down, my teeth are falling out. (I certainly couldn’t get anyone to provide decent dental coverage in dream world, and I’d be suspected of Meth addiction.) Unlike the real world, in which I’m hyper-punctual, in dreams I’m always late and I often go out of doors to find myself on the other side of the world. Besides, in dreams I’m usually not lucid more than once a month, at best.

PROMPT: Leader

Daily writing prompt
What makes a good leader?

If people follow you of their own free volition, you are a good leader. You could also be horrible cult guru or self-serving dictator, but people have multiple facets.

PROMPT: Uninvent

Daily writing prompt
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

As nuclear weapons may yet be the death of us all, they would be a sound candidate. But I think it’s utter fantasy to think that a possible technology can be anything more than delayed. Besides, once GAI (general artificial intelligence) starts freeballing it’ll inevitably stumble onto a mode of death that makes the H-bomb look like a caveman’s campfire by comparison.

PROMPT: Positive Example

Daily writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

I’m not sure I understand the question. I generally associate the feeling of love with positivity, but the wording suggests a contrast to the negative examples of feeling loved.

Also, not sure whether “where” is meant to refer to a part of the body, a city, a region, a country, a room of the house, etc.

PROMPT: Clutter

Daily writing prompt
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?

My brain.

PROMPT: Favorite Animal

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite animal?

For what purpose? I like elephants but I wouldn’t invite one to a dinner party.

I like pigs as food, but I wouldn’t play basketball with one. I like snakes, but I wouldn’t take one on an all-expenses paid trip to Cozumel. I like crickets, but I wouldn’t ask one to pull a plow.

PROMPT: Communicate Online

Daily writing prompt
In what ways do you communicate online?

Like everyone, with a great deal less civility.

Also, with the recognition that no one is trapped by societal convention, so one must be concise, or no one will take it in.

Also, I end sentences with prepositions more.