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August 2023 Prompts - Part 1
Sep. 7th, 2023 10:11 amI’ve done a bunch of things since I’ve been back, but I want to start catching up with the usual blog prompts. Note that I will be at LoserFest this weekend, so more of the backlog will have to wait until Monday.
1 – World Wide Web Day: Think about how much of what you do each day you do online. If the internet disappeared tomorrow, how would that impact your life? How would you have to start doing things differently (or go back to a pre-internet way of doing things)? It would certainly make it more complicated to make travel arrangements. Back in pre-internet days, I used a travel agent to buy plane tickets and make hotel reservations. And I made a lot more phone calls.
2 – Colouring Book Day: Were colouring books something you enjoyed as a child? Adult colouring is now a huge trend. Do you do colouring as an adult, or would you consider engaging in this activity? I loved coloring when I was a child. I’ve continued coloring as an adult, though less frequently. I’ve also used coloring books to design needlepoint canvases.
3 – Clean Your Floors Day: How often do you clean your floors? Do you have to deal with different types of flooring (carpeting in some rooms, hardwood, tiles, linoleum in others)? Do you use a regular vacuum cleaner or a robovac, or both? Have you ever gotten down on your hands and knees and actually scrubbed a floor – the whole floor, not just one stubborn stain? The short answer is that I don’t clean my floors nearly as often as I should. I have carpeting everywhere except the kitchen, bathrooms, and balcony. I often say that nature abhors a vacuum and so do I. I try to do a deep clean a couple of times a year, but the operative word there is try.
4 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: Are you a fan of chocolate chip cookies? Are you a chocolate chip cookie traditionalist, or do you like variations -- with nuts, or different types of chocolate, etc.? Do you have a favourite brand, or do you buy them from a bakery? Do you make your own? Will you share your favourite recipe? I like chocolate chip cookies, though there are other types of cookies I prefer. I pretty much never buy chocolate chip cookies, but I make them once in a while. I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle’s bag.
5 – Blogger Day: This day was created to celebrate Blogger, one of the oldest blogging sites. Did you ever have a blog on Blogger? What about on any other blogging sites (aside from Dreamwidth/LiveJournal), e.g. WordPress? Have you ever hosted a blog on your own webspace? I never hosted anything on blogger or WordPress, but I did keep an on-line journal on my own website (areasofunrest.net) for many years before LJ.
6 – Friendship Day: Do friendships change over time? Is friendship important to you? What is your definition of a good friend? Do you think you're a good friend? Friendships evolve as one’s life circumstances change. I’ve talked about this before, but I think most of us have a lot of situational friends, that is, people who we are friendly with because we share membership in some group or we work together. And those often fall apart if we move or quit the activity we knew them from. However, nowadays, we do stay in touch more casually through social media. Anyway, a good friend is somebody you can depend on. I talk frequently with my closest friends and we help one another when needed, e.g. giving a lift to a medical appointment. I try to be a good friend, though I suspect I’m not as patient as I might be with some people.
7 – International Clown Week: The first full week of August is International Clown Week: True or False -- clowns are scary and should not be celebrated. I’ve never found clowns scary.
8 – International Cat Day: Are you a cat person? Have you ever had, or do you have, cats as pets? Do you have a favourite breed of cat? I adore cats. While my family had a cat when I was a pre-teen, that was against my father’s wishes. Nowadays, I don’t have one because I travel too much. My favorite breed of cat is the Egyptian mau. I also like Asian cats - Siamese, Tonkinese, Balinese, and the like. But it makes far more sense to adopt a domestic shorthair, given the dire need of so many homeless cats.
9 – Book Lovers Day: Do you love books? Have you always been a reader? Did your parents read to you when you were young? What were some of your favourite books or authors as a child? How has your taste in books evolved over time? I have always loved books and reading. My favorite story about my parents reading to me has to do with my father. When I was a baby, he worked all day and went to college at night. He believed it was important to read to his children, but he was really busy. So he read to us from his textbooks and I got my bedtime stories from things like Introduction to Electronics and Principals of Cost Accounting for Engineers. The first book I remember was called You Will Go to the Moon but I’ve read widely all my life. Our school library had a series of biographies about the childhoods of famous Americans, for example. I also read a lot of Nancy Drew and a lot of Classic Comics adaptations of great books. My all-time favorite book is Alice in Wonderland.
10 – Duran Duran Appreciation Day: Do you appreciate Duran Duran – a band who pushed the limits of acceptable music video content and helped change the face of new wave music in the 1980s? Do you have a fave Duran Duran song or album? Duran Duran were never really my thing and I don’t think I can name a single song of theirs. In the 80’s, I was mostly a folkie.
11 – Play in the Sand Day: As a child, did you enjoy playing in the sand – either at the beach, or in a sandbox? Did you build sandcastles? As an adult, is this something that still appeals to you? I grew up on a small island. Of course, I played in the sand at the beach. I imagine building elaborate sand sculptures would still be fun now.
12 – Garage Sale Day (or Boot Sale, in the UK): Do you regularly, or occasionally, check out garage sales in your area? Have you ever organized one yourself, or in conjunction with some neighbours? If I’m out on a walk and I see a garage sale, I will stop to browse. My family used to have garage sales once or twice a year when I was growing up. Being a condo dweller, that’s not very feasible now.
13 – International Lefthanders Day: Are you, or is anyone close to you lefthanded? Do you know anyone who, as a natural leftie, was forced to learn to use their right hand, either by their parents, or at school? My brother is left-handed. As I tell him frequently, I’m normal.
14 – Bargain Hunting Week: Do you make a point of trying to find the best deals when you need to buy something? What is one of the best bargains you've ever come across? It depends on what it is. There’s only so much time I am willing to spend on comparison shopping, especially if I really need something. It wasn’t my purchase, but my favorite bargain story is about the time my mother bought 12 cases of bottled borscht (24 bottles a case) at our local public television station’s auction for $13. She’d called to bid $12, but somebody else had already done that. So she said, “okay $13.” We ate a lot of borscht.
15 – Relaxation Day: What are some of your favourite ways to relax? Listening to music and working on a crafts project. Reading. Napping. Going to live performances. Walking.
16 – Elvis Week: Are you, or were you, an Elvis Presley fan? While I like some of his songs, I was never a big Elvis fan. However, I do have to say that Graceland is a place that epitomizes what America is all about and every American should visit it once in their life.
17 – Thrift Shop Day: Do you regularly, or even occasionally, shop at thrift shops? Do you donate to them? What was one of your best or favourite thrift shop finds? I try to bring a box to a thrift shop at least once a year. I shop at them only now and then. My most recent great find was a straw handbag that cost me a whopping four bucks.
18 – Serendipity Day: Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. Have you ever experienced a particularly serendipitous moment? I am a great believer in serendipity, usually in the form of having planned to do something and then having something happen that I can take as an omen that I made the right choice. For example, back in 1998, the same day that I’d called to get a ticket on the Saint Helena mail ship, Saint Helena was the answer to the geography quiz on a radio show I listened to regularly.
19 – Break the Monotony Day: There’s a certain security in a steady schedule, but too much of the same thing gets you stuck in a rut and the monotony can just plain kill you. When was the last time you took a day to do something spontaneous? On Friday, I decided on the spur of the moment to drive down to Fredericksburg to go to a minor league baseball game.
20 – Radio Day: Do you still listen to the radio? Do you have an actual radio, or do you listen to satellite or streaming radio? What about talk radio -- are you a fan? I mostly listen to the radio in the car. I sometimes listen to on-line radio shows - one hosted by someone who went to my high school and one on a public radio station I used to listen to a lot in California.
21 – Poet's Day: Do you write poetry? Do you even like poetry? Do you have a favourite poet or poem? I write haiku somewhat regularly. I make sporadic attempts at writing light verse. I do like poetry. My favorite poets include Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, and Reed Whittemore. My favorite poem is “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” though there’s a lot to be said for Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse.”
22 – World Plant Milk Day: Almond milk, oat milk, soy milk... Do you use plant-based milk rather than dairy milk? If yes, do you use it instead of dairy in everything (tea/coffee, baking, cereal, etc.) or only in specific instances? Have you tried various types of plant milk? Do you have a favourite? Since I am somewhat lactose intolerant, I use plant milk regularly. I’ve found almond milk to be the most acceptable as far as flavor goes.
23 – Ride the Wind Day: Have you ever been sky-diving? What about hang-gliding? If not, would you ever try either (both) of those activities? What about something tamer, such as kite-flying or sailing? I wouldn’t go either sky-diving or hang-gliding. As for kite flying, I’ve done that frequently and own a few kites. The mistake most people make is trying to fly the diamond shape kites we made as children. Delta kites are, in my experience, the easiest to fly. I have, surprisingly, never been sailing though I’ve been on a cruise on a sailboat with the sails up. (I don’t count that as I had nothing to do with manipulating the sails.)
24 – International Strange Music Day: What is the oddest music you've ever listened to? I like a lot of odd drone-y types of music, especially Tuvan throat singing.
25 – Kiss and Make Up Day: Is there anyone with whom you have a long-standing argument or conflict? What would it take to resolve the matter? If you're currently at peace with everyone in your life, have you ever had a disagreement with someone that lasted more than a few hours/days? My brother and I have a complex relationship. That’s not something I want to write about publicly.
26 – Toilet Paper Day: This is a day we can all get our behinds behind! Did you know that toilet paper began its wide use in China by the 6th century? And by the 14th century, the Chinese had made advancements in toilet care, producing packages of special paper people could use in their wiping endeavors. In fact, it is estimated that the culture produced at least 10 million packages of toilet paper each year! So enquiring minds want to know -- do you hang your toilet paper so the paper hangs over or under? Do you have a favourite brand? Do you seek out more eco-friendly types of toilet paper, e.g. bamboo toilet paper or toilet paper made from recycled fiber? Having grown up with a cat, I hang the paper under. I also think it looks better. I try to buy more eco-friendly options, but often default to whatever is cheapest.
27 – Just Because Day: This day is meant to celebrate lazy afternoons at the beach, taking time off and doing whatever you want or feel like in the moment. So what will you do just because? Or what would you like to do just because if you can't actually do any just-becausing today? Being retired, every day is pretty much just because day.
28 – Crackers Over the Keyboard Day: Do you eat at your computer? Do you regularly clean (or try to clean) your keyboard? Have you ever had any mishaps while attempting to clean your keyboard? I don’t generally eat at my computer.
29 – Lemon Juice Day: Is lemon juice a staple in your kitchen? Do you use it for non-culinary purposes? Do you have a favourite lemon-flavoured food or beverage? I use lemon juice a fair amount, but only for cooking and baking. I make really good lemon and rosewater cookies.
30 – Beach Day: Do you like going to the beach? When was the last time you were seaside?
I love going to the beach. I find the crashing of waves against the shore to be incredibly relaxing. I think the last time I was at the beach, as in a nice sandy beach, was at Inch Beach in Ireland, but I did enjoy walking along the promenade in Douglas, Isle of Man.
31 – We Love Memoirs Day: Do you? I often enjoy reading memoirs, particularly travel-related ones.
1 – World Wide Web Day: Think about how much of what you do each day you do online. If the internet disappeared tomorrow, how would that impact your life? How would you have to start doing things differently (or go back to a pre-internet way of doing things)? It would certainly make it more complicated to make travel arrangements. Back in pre-internet days, I used a travel agent to buy plane tickets and make hotel reservations. And I made a lot more phone calls.
2 – Colouring Book Day: Were colouring books something you enjoyed as a child? Adult colouring is now a huge trend. Do you do colouring as an adult, or would you consider engaging in this activity? I loved coloring when I was a child. I’ve continued coloring as an adult, though less frequently. I’ve also used coloring books to design needlepoint canvases.
3 – Clean Your Floors Day: How often do you clean your floors? Do you have to deal with different types of flooring (carpeting in some rooms, hardwood, tiles, linoleum in others)? Do you use a regular vacuum cleaner or a robovac, or both? Have you ever gotten down on your hands and knees and actually scrubbed a floor – the whole floor, not just one stubborn stain? The short answer is that I don’t clean my floors nearly as often as I should. I have carpeting everywhere except the kitchen, bathrooms, and balcony. I often say that nature abhors a vacuum and so do I. I try to do a deep clean a couple of times a year, but the operative word there is try.
4 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: Are you a fan of chocolate chip cookies? Are you a chocolate chip cookie traditionalist, or do you like variations -- with nuts, or different types of chocolate, etc.? Do you have a favourite brand, or do you buy them from a bakery? Do you make your own? Will you share your favourite recipe? I like chocolate chip cookies, though there are other types of cookies I prefer. I pretty much never buy chocolate chip cookies, but I make them once in a while. I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle’s bag.
5 – Blogger Day: This day was created to celebrate Blogger, one of the oldest blogging sites. Did you ever have a blog on Blogger? What about on any other blogging sites (aside from Dreamwidth/LiveJournal), e.g. WordPress? Have you ever hosted a blog on your own webspace? I never hosted anything on blogger or WordPress, but I did keep an on-line journal on my own website (areasofunrest.net) for many years before LJ.
6 – Friendship Day: Do friendships change over time? Is friendship important to you? What is your definition of a good friend? Do you think you're a good friend? Friendships evolve as one’s life circumstances change. I’ve talked about this before, but I think most of us have a lot of situational friends, that is, people who we are friendly with because we share membership in some group or we work together. And those often fall apart if we move or quit the activity we knew them from. However, nowadays, we do stay in touch more casually through social media. Anyway, a good friend is somebody you can depend on. I talk frequently with my closest friends and we help one another when needed, e.g. giving a lift to a medical appointment. I try to be a good friend, though I suspect I’m not as patient as I might be with some people.
7 – International Clown Week: The first full week of August is International Clown Week: True or False -- clowns are scary and should not be celebrated. I’ve never found clowns scary.
8 – International Cat Day: Are you a cat person? Have you ever had, or do you have, cats as pets? Do you have a favourite breed of cat? I adore cats. While my family had a cat when I was a pre-teen, that was against my father’s wishes. Nowadays, I don’t have one because I travel too much. My favorite breed of cat is the Egyptian mau. I also like Asian cats - Siamese, Tonkinese, Balinese, and the like. But it makes far more sense to adopt a domestic shorthair, given the dire need of so many homeless cats.
9 – Book Lovers Day: Do you love books? Have you always been a reader? Did your parents read to you when you were young? What were some of your favourite books or authors as a child? How has your taste in books evolved over time? I have always loved books and reading. My favorite story about my parents reading to me has to do with my father. When I was a baby, he worked all day and went to college at night. He believed it was important to read to his children, but he was really busy. So he read to us from his textbooks and I got my bedtime stories from things like Introduction to Electronics and Principals of Cost Accounting for Engineers. The first book I remember was called You Will Go to the Moon but I’ve read widely all my life. Our school library had a series of biographies about the childhoods of famous Americans, for example. I also read a lot of Nancy Drew and a lot of Classic Comics adaptations of great books. My all-time favorite book is Alice in Wonderland.
10 – Duran Duran Appreciation Day: Do you appreciate Duran Duran – a band who pushed the limits of acceptable music video content and helped change the face of new wave music in the 1980s? Do you have a fave Duran Duran song or album? Duran Duran were never really my thing and I don’t think I can name a single song of theirs. In the 80’s, I was mostly a folkie.
11 – Play in the Sand Day: As a child, did you enjoy playing in the sand – either at the beach, or in a sandbox? Did you build sandcastles? As an adult, is this something that still appeals to you? I grew up on a small island. Of course, I played in the sand at the beach. I imagine building elaborate sand sculptures would still be fun now.
12 – Garage Sale Day (or Boot Sale, in the UK): Do you regularly, or occasionally, check out garage sales in your area? Have you ever organized one yourself, or in conjunction with some neighbours? If I’m out on a walk and I see a garage sale, I will stop to browse. My family used to have garage sales once or twice a year when I was growing up. Being a condo dweller, that’s not very feasible now.
13 – International Lefthanders Day: Are you, or is anyone close to you lefthanded? Do you know anyone who, as a natural leftie, was forced to learn to use their right hand, either by their parents, or at school? My brother is left-handed. As I tell him frequently, I’m normal.
14 – Bargain Hunting Week: Do you make a point of trying to find the best deals when you need to buy something? What is one of the best bargains you've ever come across? It depends on what it is. There’s only so much time I am willing to spend on comparison shopping, especially if I really need something. It wasn’t my purchase, but my favorite bargain story is about the time my mother bought 12 cases of bottled borscht (24 bottles a case) at our local public television station’s auction for $13. She’d called to bid $12, but somebody else had already done that. So she said, “okay $13.” We ate a lot of borscht.
15 – Relaxation Day: What are some of your favourite ways to relax? Listening to music and working on a crafts project. Reading. Napping. Going to live performances. Walking.
16 – Elvis Week: Are you, or were you, an Elvis Presley fan? While I like some of his songs, I was never a big Elvis fan. However, I do have to say that Graceland is a place that epitomizes what America is all about and every American should visit it once in their life.
17 – Thrift Shop Day: Do you regularly, or even occasionally, shop at thrift shops? Do you donate to them? What was one of your best or favourite thrift shop finds? I try to bring a box to a thrift shop at least once a year. I shop at them only now and then. My most recent great find was a straw handbag that cost me a whopping four bucks.
18 – Serendipity Day: Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. Have you ever experienced a particularly serendipitous moment? I am a great believer in serendipity, usually in the form of having planned to do something and then having something happen that I can take as an omen that I made the right choice. For example, back in 1998, the same day that I’d called to get a ticket on the Saint Helena mail ship, Saint Helena was the answer to the geography quiz on a radio show I listened to regularly.
19 – Break the Monotony Day: There’s a certain security in a steady schedule, but too much of the same thing gets you stuck in a rut and the monotony can just plain kill you. When was the last time you took a day to do something spontaneous? On Friday, I decided on the spur of the moment to drive down to Fredericksburg to go to a minor league baseball game.
20 – Radio Day: Do you still listen to the radio? Do you have an actual radio, or do you listen to satellite or streaming radio? What about talk radio -- are you a fan? I mostly listen to the radio in the car. I sometimes listen to on-line radio shows - one hosted by someone who went to my high school and one on a public radio station I used to listen to a lot in California.
21 – Poet's Day: Do you write poetry? Do you even like poetry? Do you have a favourite poet or poem? I write haiku somewhat regularly. I make sporadic attempts at writing light verse. I do like poetry. My favorite poets include Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, and Reed Whittemore. My favorite poem is “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” though there’s a lot to be said for Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse.”
22 – World Plant Milk Day: Almond milk, oat milk, soy milk... Do you use plant-based milk rather than dairy milk? If yes, do you use it instead of dairy in everything (tea/coffee, baking, cereal, etc.) or only in specific instances? Have you tried various types of plant milk? Do you have a favourite? Since I am somewhat lactose intolerant, I use plant milk regularly. I’ve found almond milk to be the most acceptable as far as flavor goes.
23 – Ride the Wind Day: Have you ever been sky-diving? What about hang-gliding? If not, would you ever try either (both) of those activities? What about something tamer, such as kite-flying or sailing? I wouldn’t go either sky-diving or hang-gliding. As for kite flying, I’ve done that frequently and own a few kites. The mistake most people make is trying to fly the diamond shape kites we made as children. Delta kites are, in my experience, the easiest to fly. I have, surprisingly, never been sailing though I’ve been on a cruise on a sailboat with the sails up. (I don’t count that as I had nothing to do with manipulating the sails.)
24 – International Strange Music Day: What is the oddest music you've ever listened to? I like a lot of odd drone-y types of music, especially Tuvan throat singing.
25 – Kiss and Make Up Day: Is there anyone with whom you have a long-standing argument or conflict? What would it take to resolve the matter? If you're currently at peace with everyone in your life, have you ever had a disagreement with someone that lasted more than a few hours/days? My brother and I have a complex relationship. That’s not something I want to write about publicly.
26 – Toilet Paper Day: This is a day we can all get our behinds behind! Did you know that toilet paper began its wide use in China by the 6th century? And by the 14th century, the Chinese had made advancements in toilet care, producing packages of special paper people could use in their wiping endeavors. In fact, it is estimated that the culture produced at least 10 million packages of toilet paper each year! So enquiring minds want to know -- do you hang your toilet paper so the paper hangs over or under? Do you have a favourite brand? Do you seek out more eco-friendly types of toilet paper, e.g. bamboo toilet paper or toilet paper made from recycled fiber? Having grown up with a cat, I hang the paper under. I also think it looks better. I try to buy more eco-friendly options, but often default to whatever is cheapest.
27 – Just Because Day: This day is meant to celebrate lazy afternoons at the beach, taking time off and doing whatever you want or feel like in the moment. So what will you do just because? Or what would you like to do just because if you can't actually do any just-becausing today? Being retired, every day is pretty much just because day.
28 – Crackers Over the Keyboard Day: Do you eat at your computer? Do you regularly clean (or try to clean) your keyboard? Have you ever had any mishaps while attempting to clean your keyboard? I don’t generally eat at my computer.
29 – Lemon Juice Day: Is lemon juice a staple in your kitchen? Do you use it for non-culinary purposes? Do you have a favourite lemon-flavoured food or beverage? I use lemon juice a fair amount, but only for cooking and baking. I make really good lemon and rosewater cookies.
30 – Beach Day: Do you like going to the beach? When was the last time you were seaside?
I love going to the beach. I find the crashing of waves against the shore to be incredibly relaxing. I think the last time I was at the beach, as in a nice sandy beach, was at Inch Beach in Ireland, but I did enjoy walking along the promenade in Douglas, Isle of Man.
31 – We Love Memoirs Day: Do you? I often enjoy reading memoirs, particularly travel-related ones.
