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 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." CHARLIE CHAPLIN  Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte        This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts. |
| Prompt: Write about your first love — be it a person, place, or thing. --- I like the place or thing idea because so many things surfaced from the depths of memory. With people, eh! I can count it on the fingers of one hand, if that! Still, it is difficult to remember that far back, but I think it was the fish pond in the backyard with red-colored fish gliding in the water. The pond was circular and quite deep, maybe at the height of a tall man. I am guessing this was because the fish retreated to the bottom in cold weather. I wasn’t allowed to go near it alone, which possibly suggested to me that there’s danger in love and in all hidden things when they are so deep that you can’t see the bottom. My mother would hold me tight from my waist and let me watch the pond with quite a few fish in it. Maybe her holding me back did it, that resistance of mine, which would surface many years later. Once a cat stealthily neared the pond. It could have been a stray or one of the cats that belonged to my aunt who lived with us, I can’t exactly recall. That cat hooked her front leg and let her claws into the water, almost catching one of the fishes. Someone shooed it away, saving the fish. What one loves can be in danger, too. Another reason to stay away from it, right? Another reason to avoid the hurt. The fish weren’t always so lucky. A while later, when I was a bit older, I saw a cat catch one of those fish. After that, a wire mesh was stretched on the pond. I am not too sure that wire mesh was strong enough to save the fish from the cats. Maybe it was just the adults' wishful thinking and their need to do something about it. |
| Prompt: What was the last book you read? --- The Likeness by Tana French Here’s the review I wrote for it. "The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, Book 2)"  I am on a Tana French kick. This was the fourth book I read written by this Irish writer. It is a murder-mystery, and I neither read nor like anything about murder, but this woman’s handling of her subjects is far beyond what the genre suggests. They are literary to the bone and much longer than the average murder/police procedural type of novels. In fact, some murder/mystery buffs are complaining of the length of her novels. I am in the process of reading another one, now. If Tana French writes it, I’ll read.  |
| Prompt: "Weeds are flowers, too once you get to know them." A. A. Milne What are your thoughts about this? ---- I love this quote because there are so many ways of looking at it. First, some weeds do have flowers. They may be tiny or unnoticeable but they are flowers, nevertheless. Then, some weeds are medicinal to the degree that their value is much more than the fancy-looking flowers. In addition, in the metaphorical sense, the hardships we consider weeds in our lives are there to teach us, to make us become hardened to ills of the world, and to make us become aware of our personal shortcomings. To wrap it up, “a weed is a flower in an undesirable place” is the idea, but a weed can be in an undesirable place through no wish or its own. An example could be a person like me who dislikes politics but is forced into the Congress, kicking and screaming. Just think about that! What we consider weeds, we need to look at from this point of view, too.  |
| Prompt: David Foster Wallace said, "Good fiction’s job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" Do you agree and what do you think good fiction’s job is? --- Yes, I agree, but that’s a simplification of what good fiction can do. I believe that a lot more things exist as to what good fiction does. To begin with, good fiction holds a mirror to all there is inside and outside of us. Sometimes that mirror disturbs or comforts or even encourages to take action. Encouraging is more than comforting, isn’t it? For example, a person reading about a story during the French Revolution may look at the injustices in his own country and may begin to speak up. Then sometimes, good fiction advises us not to take action, too, as that action could be deadly, by giving examples of what might happen in this quixotic, paradoxical life of ours. Yet another job of it is teaching us about our world, its history, its geography. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I finished reading a novel, The Weight of Ink, about the Jewish refugees in England who escaped the torture in Iberia. This part of history, even though I was good with history in school, must have escaped me. So I started reading a non-fiction book on the treatment of the Jews in Spain and Portugal during the twelfth to sixteenth centuries, called The Jews of Iberia. That good book of fiction stimulated my curiosity and taught me a thing or two, and I am not even Jewish, although I do believe I might have Jewish ancestors. Good fiction also entertains. I am now reading another book from an author in Amsterdam who has written about his experiences in an old people’s home and he admits to turning those into fiction; in other words, he’s making up most of the stories. From that point of view, he is really entertaining me, which is much more than providing comfort.  Prompt: Is there a difference between your personal memories and your history as others know it, and what intrigues you most about how other people recall the past? --- Surely, there are a lot of differences between the actual events and what I remember about them because, as a human being, I can’t be certain I am 100% objective about everything as all human beings have some degree of emotionality and interpretation. To top it off, we all own imperfect brains that mix everything up such as imagination and reality, the residue of past experienced affecting our way of seeing things, and rejecting or embracing negative stuff, which the behavioral experts tell their subjects to never give oneself a negative command since the brain has the knack of turning “don’t do this!” to “Do this!” As an aside, that may be why smokers and fans of other vices can’t give up by just deciding not to do the deed. I don’t trust other people’s memories, too. For example, my cousin who has a much better memory than me recalls the naughty deeds we did together through rose-colored glasses whereas I either reject recalling those memories or think of them as stuff to be embarrassed about. I can’t believe she even thanked me for filling her childhood with fun.  |
| Prompt: Happy Midsummer's Eve or Midwinter's Eve Summer solstice or winter solstice depending on where you live and how you see the day. Use these words in your entry today: faeries, realm, Lilith, stag, bonfire, marshmallows, and supermarket. ----- “Lilith, what an idiot! She believes she has descended from the realm of faeries,” Connor murmured as he searched into the supermarket bag for marshmallows to put on the grill. “Now, she says she’ll accept me if I install a Stag Fire Pit in my backyard, just because today is the Summer Solstice. Who does she think I am? Am I cutting money?” “You don’t have to do anything,” came Lilith’s voice from behind him. “I took care of it already. Ready for you to jump in.” Connor turned around to glimpse Lilith as she flew away over the treetops. “Look over there!” she pointed to the biggest bonfire Connor had ever witnessed. “Oh, no!” Connor’s house was crackling in flames. |
| Prompt: "Poetry is meant to be heard." Mary Oliver Do you agree with this? ------ I love Mary Oliver. Still, I think poetry has to be felt internally, first. Hearing the sounds does have an effect like music comforting the soul, but to me, it comes second, not first. The sounds of the words and lines depend on an external sense, the hearing, but feeling has to do with the heart and the mind. The way I look at it, meaning tops everything else in any art but especially in poetry, which, as an arranged piece, has many sides to it such as topic, message, rhythm, and word choices. Most newbie poets have the impression that poetry means using a poetic language and techniques to express important thoughts or ideas in a more beautiful, complex, or compressed way than prose, and that its beauty, complexity, and other heightened external qualities make it what it is. I may accept their assessment only from the point of view that the full beauty of a language, any language, can only be released through poetry. It is true that poetry has a lot do with the deft handling of the language, but that may not be enough on its own because language needs the meaning and the feeling of the poet to become poetry. This is why it is very difficult to comment on, let alone review, any poem. We can only do this from our own impressions and understanding of the work. The poet herself or himself might have had a very different take on that very poem. I think, on this topic, I am more inclined to go with Emily Dickinson’s words. “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only way I know it. Is there any other way?” Hence, as far as poets and poetry aficionados go, I say, “To each, his own!” |
| Prompt: "The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention." Alan Watts What is your take on this? ==== From birth on, we construct the ego ourselves as some kind of an identity, but if we are smart enough, we turn it into the dynamic part of our personalities. This is because the ego becomes a mixture of all our suspicions and beliefs about ourselves that may usually stay hidden inside our subconscious but always ready to pop up and create strong emotional reactions. It may show up as being fake and artificial or as a personal strength, depending on how we treat it and look at it. For the same token, the ego is not necessarily negative, although most people think it so. It is, in fact, made up of positive and negative parts, the positive part being self-esteem and the negative arrogance. There is a huge difference between arrogance and self-confidence. I am not sure which part of the ego Alan Watts is talking about here. Possibly, as most people do, he considers the ego as being only the negative part. The ego is not the real self, but the learned/artificial self mostly with the real self attaching itself to it. Who we are is who we are whether we focus our attention on it or not. The negative part of the ego, on the other hand, requires great attention to itself. This is why it is so difficult to figure out if a person is confident of his skills and who he is or else, who he is and what he can do has gone to his head. |
| Prompt: Flash Fiction: Write a short story about a clock. ==== She says she hates my tick-tock. She says if she had her way, she would send me to the dumps as if I am a ticking bomb about to explode. She even asked her best friend to take me off her hands. That fool! Would her life go on and on, if she didn't have a clock? Where would any life be if it had no pulse? Why doesn't she understand I’m her pulse of time, which she is in? Maybe I’ll just do this. I’ll keep ticking faster and faster. This will make her time shortened in this life. Yes, I’ve already started making her clock go very fast. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.... Isn’t revenge sweet! ------- Also, this: "Chiming For Home" |
| Prompt: Give us a taste of summer – either through a recipe, or a memory or story that expresses summer to you. ------ When a Newyorker, “A Taste of Summer” used to mean events at the Central Park. Now that, it has been more than a couple of decades that I’ve become a southerner, “A Taste of Summer” means outdoor grills, dips in the pool, or the ocean, fans and air conditioning. Also, in summer, nutrients in most fresh produce are at their best. Since it is almost always summer where I live, here’s a lunch or dinner recipe for grilling fans. Corn on the Cob and Chicken-Mango Skewers Grill corn cobs that have been brushed with melted butter. Put those on the side to keep them warm until the chicken is done Toss chicken cubes with salt and pepper. Cut mangos in small pieces. (You can substitute avocados for mangos or you can use them both. Just make sure the avocados are not mushy.) Soak a few wooden skewers in water. Then thread chicken and mango on them. Brush with oil or melted butter. Grill them covered, if you have a covered grill, over medium heat or broil them at least three to four inches away from the fire, turning the skewers until the chicken pieces are no longer pink, possibly 10-15 minutes. Serve together with corn-on-the-cob, with lemon and lime wedges, and possibly with a green side salad. |
| Prompt: How would you see the world through rose-colored glasses? --- A song says: “These rose colored glasses That I'm looking through Show only the beauty 'Cause they hide all the truth” Exactly my point. That is why I do not wear them. At least, I try not to, which is kind of difficult because I am an optimist, especially when it comes to people. How would I see the world if I dared wear them? There comes a mouthful. What I see/imagine has to include the entire planet. If we pick on the USA or any one nation, it won’t work. I guess I’d start with no wars, no tariffs, no visas, no misunderstandings. Clean air, clean oceans, and clean land, respect for animals and all life. Respect and understanding among all people. Respect for all theological beliefs. Children and people with disabilities to be given utmost care and compassion. Not doable! I know that is all too much to hope for but you forced those rose-colored glasses on this realist. |
| Prompt: "You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean." Oprah Winfrey What are your thoughts about this? ----- Oprah insists this is all about how one sees oneself. That is, you either believe you can do nothing and take in on the chin and roll with what is thrown at you or you believe you can change things and fight for things larger than life. I believe Oprah was talking about herself and where life took her and her role in it. She means to say we become what we believe we are; although, from birth on, we are all told what to believe and what not to believe. Thus, we are all brainwashed at one time or another. Yet, those who are crowned as highly successful, like Oprah, realize what it is they are being forced into believing, fight against it, and change such beliefs about themselves. Even if this takes guts to do, it gives them a certain vision to go after their desires, rejecting the limits they are made to stay in and they aspire to do most wonderful things that are unheard of. This is what I think Oprah is saying. My thoughts on the subject, however, differ from hers somewhat. Although I trust the notion that you become what you believe you are, not everyone has the mind and body, let alone guts, to put up such big fights. That Oprah was successful in her quest doesn’t mean that everyone else will. Some people who believed they can do big things have perished on the way. In Greek mythology, a metaphorical example to this is Icarus whose father fashioned waxen wings for him to escape from Minos’s prison. Overcome with the hubris that he could fly, Icarus soared into the sky and flew too close to the sun, which melted his wings and he fell into the sea and drowned. Thus, I think it is good to believe in oneself and work hard toward what one wants, together with the acceptance of the dangers ahead and one’s own limits in overcoming them. . |
| Prompt: She studied her face in the mirror and it shattered in a million fragments. Have fun with however you take this.. ------ She studied her face in the mirror and it shattered in a million fragments. She was startled. How could this happen? And at the worst time, while she was waiting to be served brunch along with her co-workers in Joe’s Café. Someone had to have been clumsy with the glue. She glimpsed her boss Clem, actually second-in-command. He was staring at her with dismay. Oh, oh! Clem's left eye was leaking into his nose, and he wasn’t aware of it. Darn! Due to the rank-rule, she couldn't let him know. For herself though, she had no other option. It was up to her to fix her own face. She managed to rise, picked up her pieces, and went through the corridor into the restroom. Eyeing the mirror over the washstand, she rearranged her face. She worked at it until she got it right. It was wobbly, but maybe, it would last until the end of the meal. Whether it lasted or not shouldn't matter much. She was still considered to be a rookie in putting herself together, but it was hard to tell anyone’s expertise since they hadn’t mastered everything perfectly, especially after the robots had gotten rid of the humankind. |
| Prompt: What are your rules for courteous phone use? -- To begin with, I hate talking on the phone. I’d rather talk to people face to face or communicate via other means. Then, I expect that whoever calls first takes leave first, unless he or she makes me hang up because of empty prattle. This is because talking on the phone is for sending and receiving messages. Not for socializing. Also, if the connection is bad (as is with some cellphone companies) and I tell the other person his/her voice is breaking, I expect a channel change from them or something like, “I’ll send you an email instead, since this connection isn’t working.” Above all, I expect politeness--from myself and others--in addressing, talking, language usage, and whatever else makes us decent human beings.  Prompt: Make a Gratitude List. I don’t know if I can make a list because I am grateful for just about everything, even the things I sometimes complain about. A few decades ago, I used to write down in a notebook everyday, finding at least 10 things in each day to be grateful about. Nowadays, since my time is more limited than even when I used to work, I think of 10 things every night when I go to bed, after my in-bed reading is finished. If there is one specific thing I am really grateful about, after everything that I have and everyone that I love, is the electronic technology and its making so many books available to a whole lot of people. Tied to that is the number of people who are reading and who would possibly not read, had this technology weren’t so easily available. I don’t like it when people badmouth today’s technology. To me, it is manna from Heaven. If I hadn't tasted it, I would never imagine it could ever exist. |
| Prompt: Although envy is one of the deadly sins, do you believe it may somehow hide a redeeming quality inside? ======= I think there are degrees of envy, but no one ever bothered to categorize them. It is true that jealousy and covetousness permeate envy, but there is also that side of it that makes a person think, if so and so is doing something so right, maybe I can do it, too. or that person is so talented; I wish I could do that, too! I think this side of envy may be its redeeming quality. Most envy is secret. Only in that part of it that leads to crime or in the words of the envying person, envy comes out into the open. Positive envy rejoices in human achievement; on the other hand, negative envy is the deadly one, especially the kind that attempts to stop, undo, or mar the achievements of another. |
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But good job quickly redirecting back to the positive things.
