Tag: dailyprompt

Daily writing prompt

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

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In answer, so much depends on the situation. Clearly, standing on a platform in front to a large audience is different from getting on a train and smiling at fellow passengers.

I almost needn’t say, first impressions are incredibly important. Every textbook echoes that line. For all our advancement and sophistication, judging people in the first couple of minutes we meet them is imbedded. Maybe it’s some ancient human defence mechanism that discriminates between friend and foe. We can be ready to embrace or flee at the drop of a hat.

There’s the core of an answer. First off, in most situations, the impression to give is that of a potential friend. If the people in question are openly threatening, then precisely the opposite comes into play. Call it “caveman” but these human responses are intrinsic.

Daily writing prompt

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

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The power of 1976. At an age when the future was a blank page. Specialness of that 12-months, almost unsurpassed in the analogue world. Years of 45 rpm. Music was brilliantly diverse. It wasn’t only Punk bursting onto the scene. Pink Floyd’s pig flew over a London. The Eagles release Hotel California. Dylan, The Stones, Led Zeppelin and Elton John travelled the world. Presley was around. The Beatles continued to be news. Eric Clapton became persona non grata. The range of acts was astonishing, going from the Bee Gees to Bob Marley. From Donna Summer to Queen. The Rocky Horror Picture Show to Abba.

As if to stress the innocence of the time. Filming starts on Star Wars. If a time machine was ready to use at the press of a button, I’d go back and say: you guys may have something with this strange movie. Of course they would ignore me. Lucky me.

Daily writing prompt

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

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Two ways of going at this question. If you have ever seen the frolics of a kid then the answer is to have boundless energy jumping on and off of anything that gets in the way. Naturally, I am talking about a young goat. A bale of hay becomes a launching mechanism. A tower to observe the world. Two bales of hay become the peaks of two mountains that have to be traversed in great one leap. Playfully a kid hones its skills and masters gyroscopic balance.

Now, I know what you really meant with that question mark. In the world of Winnie-the-Pooh there’s one character that sums up being youthful, energetic, honest, haplessly and hopelessly optimistic. That fictional character is Tigger. To me he’s the most childlike of Pooh’s woodland friends. So, if you want to remain a child at heart think Tigger.

I suppose I could suggest a third approach. I could get all biblical and say: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. That doesn’t answer the question. Instead it puts a lot of weight on being a “kid at heart”.

Daily writing prompt

You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?

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A million more wishes and a million more to correct the mistakes made with the first million. And finally the abolition of all genies wherever they may be.

That’s what happens when you ask an open question without conditions attached. I accept, my request might be difficult to handle. The 4th wish would have to be – please give me the mental capacity to manage all these wishes. The 5th wish would be – please don’t let me do anything irrecoverably stupid.

I am presuming that the magic genie in question has limitations. So, requests like – please make me a time machine will be processed according to the physics that rules such things. A super potent genie could easily get themselves, and me in huge trouble if a simple error eliminates existence.

Daily writing prompt

Who are your favorite artists?

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Nice question. I can’t put one artist above all others. It’s a ridiculous question to ask. Not only that but as the days go by my likes and dislikes shift like sand on a beach. It’s not as if I am wholly inconsistent. It’s that moods and emotions move. Intangible criteria are not fixed in time and space. Top that with constantly learning about works that are either new or previously mysteries to me. The questions are never ending.

For a start, my thoughts instantly go to the visual arts. What image has had such an impact on me that I want to keep going back to it? In going down that road I’ve not considered dance, music or literature. Is one medium more important than all the rest? Of course not.

Although, I cannot forget seeing German artist Katharina Fritsch big blue chicken (cock) in London, it’s her Mouse and Man[1] in Dusseldorf that sticks in my mind. Now that’s potent.

I think David Hockney[2] is oversold but I wish I could paint like him. His brush dances. Forget his portrayal of people it’s the forest, the trees, the country lanes that hit me the most.

Edward Hopper[3] is a master of scenes placing people in situation that are mundane but are far from dull. Transforming the ordinary into the exceptional.

I’d be mad if I didn’t mention Vincent van Gogh[4]. So many great images to choose from. In this case I’ll go to his Irises. I do enough gardening to spend time looking at flowers. Capturing the vibrance of nature so that the life force of the flower cascades off the painting, now that’s magic.

Caspar David Friedrich is on my list. I saw “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” on display at Hamburg’s Kunsthalle. It’s an often-used image. Put aside the corruptions, the original has a message that says to me – there’s always something beyond what you can see.

And that’s just a 10 minute list.

[1] https://www.iainmasterton.com/image/I00006p4TTPTNQtE

[2] https://www.hockney.com/index.php/works/digital/arrival-of-spring-woldgate

[3] https://www.gettyimages.fr/photos/edward-hopper-paintings

[4] https://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/irisesindex.html

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite time of day?

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Meat Loaf sang: “And wherever you are and wherever you go. There’s always gonna be some light.” That moment of light, when the sun returns from its overnight meanderings. It’s not so much the first moments of sunrise but the first moment that its catches my eyes.

I might be hiding behind the pillows trying to pretend it’s still dark. As the clock ticks there’s a moment when the pretence must end. Yes, I like a bright summer sunrise morning. Not a cloud covered sky but those sharp rays of sunshine. Laser like shining through the bedroom curtains.

The possibility of a new day is an unwritten book. It’s a time of day that shifts like sand. It could be half five, it could be six. It might be seven. Time flexes as the days go by.

Each day, as if a light bulb switches on, I’m awake. Senses alive. Greeting the new day. Emerging as if all time past existed only as a dream (fine – that is an exaggeration).

Morning persons, like me, are the nemesis of the late-night hawks. They prefer the dying embers of the day as if to wish the day never to pass. Me, I’m happy to meet the dark. Prospect of tomorrow is the best promise.

Daily writing prompt

Create an emergency preparedness plan.

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Plans are great. Professionally, I spent years and years making plans of all different shapes and sizes. Some collected dust on shelves, some turned out to be wholly inadequate and others did the trick, at least in saving time, money and potential harm. The often quoted saying “no plan survives contact with the enemy” has a ring of truth to it but it’s a million times worse not to have a plan when faced situations that are likely to be harmful.

It seems obvious to say it. Making plans for other people and making plans for oneself are not the same. Training staff and having a detailed plan of what do in a flight emergency is essential. As a humble passenger, sitting in an assigned seat, I expect an aircraft to safely go where it’s supposed to go. So, am I properly prepared for the one in a million event?

If I can, I always book an aisle seat. Having people climb over you to get to the loo isn’t such a big deal. It’s the elbows of the 20-stone man in the middle seat that’s more annoying.

Listen to the safety briefing. Read the safety card. Count the rows of seat to the nearest exit. Yes, I do. I try not to be that– oh, I’ve heard or seen that a hundred times before type of bore.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to work through my private emergency plan. Closest I’ve come was a flight landing on one engine at Düsseldorf Airport. The heart raced a little when looking out of the aircraft window. I could see airport firefighting vehicles chasing us down the runway.