Do you need a break? From what?
I travel for a break from the ordinary. I spend time at home (wherever that might be) for a break from novelty.
PROMPT: Break
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Tag Archives: dailyprompt
PROMPT: Invention of a Lifetime
If “most important” means having both a broad and profound societal impact, then the answer would have to be the internet. [Though I learned through said internet that Arpanet was already operating before I was born. So, if you consider the internet to be a simple progression of Arpanet, then my answer would be a lie.]
If “most important” means having the greatest benefit to mankind in terms of improved quality of life or lifespan, then it’s probably some medicine. Which one? I have no idea. [Maybe that breakthrough that both won the Nobel and made it much easier and quicker to get the COVID vaccines out (mRNA translation, or whatever it was called.)]
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PROMPT: To-do
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
Write a to-do list.
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PROMPT: Cook
Thai curry — red, green, massaman, it makes no difference. It tastes good, smells good, and is nutritious — at least in the way that I load it with vegetables. And it requires all those satisfying cooking actions — i.e. slicing, dicing, etc. Also, it’s simple and mistake-forgiving to an extent that even someone unskilled — such as myself — has a hard time fouling it up.
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PROMPT: First Computer
My first computer was my brain interfaced with a No. 2 pencil. Yes, I date that far back in the technology stream.
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PROMPT: Sports
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
Combatives: i.e. Boxing, Wrestling (real, not acted,) Muay Thai, Judo, etc.
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PROMPT: Lottery
What would you do if you won the lottery?
The first thing I would do would be to say, “How did I win the lottery without buying a ticket? That is some fine luck.” Then I would get paranoid that it was like one of those Korben Dallas, “Fifth Element,” set-ups.
While I do admire how Voltaire became a wealthy man exploiting the mathematical ineptitude of his nation’s “lottery authority,” I’m pretty sure the kinks have all been worked out such that the house always wins.
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PROMPT: Books
What books do you want to read?
I’d love to read all the good ones, but even with my voracious approach to reading I barely make a dent.
Here’s the top of the list of books I’m excited about right at the moment, by category:
Travel lit related to an impending trip to the Caucasus region: “A Man Was Going Down the Road” by Otar Chiladze; “Ali and Nino” by Kurban Said; “The Burning Tigris” by Peter Balakian; and “Kvachi” by Mikheil Javakhishvili.
Related to a Chinese literature (in translation) kick that I’m on: “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” Luo Guanzhong; “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” by Pu Songling; “In the Thick Woods a Deer Is Seen at Times” and “A Pair of Swallows Fly” [The latter two are bilingual poetry translations of works from the Tang Dynasty and the Book of Poetry, respectively.]
Books and editions coming out this year: “Judo Unleashed” by Neil Ohlenkamp; a new verse translation of Kamo no Chomei’s “Hojoki” translated by Matthew Stavros; “Nuclear War” by Annie Jacobsen; and a new translation of Natsumi Soseki’s “Kokoro.”
Related to things I’m working on presently: “Thinking, Fast and Slow” Daniel Kahneman; “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell; “Gut Feelings” by Gerd Gigerenzer; and “The Meaning of Travel” by Emily Thomas.
Long overdue: “Metamorphoses” by Ovid; “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio, and I should probably finish Joyce’s “Ulysses”
Odds and Ends: “Rental Person Who Does Nothing” by Shoji Morimoto; “Is This Anything?” by Jerry Seinfeld; “Sick in the Head” by Judd Apatow.
Are you sorry you asked yet?
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PROMPT: Missed Attractions
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
From Bangalore: Yercaud, Tirupati, and Kanchipuram are all within a five-hour drive, but we haven’t visited.
I’ve got to say that the Pandemic was good for seeing a lot of destinations that were too long for a daytrip, but near enough to do with a couple / few days. We saw many sights in Karnataka, and a few in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Because of uncertainty around flying and getting caught in shifting quarantine requirements, we did a lot more ground transportation trips closer to Bangalore that we were pretty certain we could get home from if there was an uptick in numbers.
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PROMPT: Fun
List five things you do for fun.
1.) Read; 2.) Move; 3.) Juggle; 4.) Hike; 5.) Breathe
