Tag Archives: dailyprompt

Daily Writing

Collections? They’re hidden.

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Do you have any collections?

In drawers, in boxes, and stashed in closets. My collections, which started in childhood, and continued through adulthood are now simply nostalgia and a glimpse of fond memories.

I can still recall that fateful day in third grade when my older classmates brought out their Magic: The Gathering cards. It was still early 1995 and Magic was making a splash with the release of the Ice Age expansion.

I had up until this moment been happily paging through Archie comics during my break periods. However, Magic was a whole new world that I felt driven to explore.

I convinced my parents to give me the money to buy a booster pack. Once I got back to school the next day, I traded all the cards in the pack to my classmates. I left that day with enough cards for two decks.

I continued collecting Magic cards and playing matches with my friends until the end of Summer when I encountered a fellow who was nuts for Baseball cards.

Having contracted a similar strain of sports fever, I traded away my Magic collection for Baseball cards.

I must say, In my adult life I have often regretted that decision.

Later, when a friend was visiting from Canada, I got to see his Magic collection. This was the spark that reignited my love for Magic cards. 

Sometime after getting into Magic, the Star Wars Trading Card Game (TCG) was released. My dearly departed best friend Cedar and I both collected and played Star Wars TCG.

I got my Executor Star Destroyer card from Cedar. Later I pulled an Executor variant from a booster pack. I still have the two cards in a hard case back to back.

In late 1996 I joined legions of aspiring Pokémon masters as I took up the Pokémon TCG. I had been quite enamored of the Gameboy game and the cartoon and so was more than happy to shell out my allowance for some more cardboard.

With Pokémon, I didn’t have anyone to play with so I taught my mother how to play and then bothered her whenever the mood struck.

After Pokémon it was Yu-Gi-Oh!, I pulled the foil Gate Guardian from my very first booster pack. That got me hooked.

This repeated with a few different card games that I don’t recall the names of and that likely no longer exist.

Aside from trading cards, I have an extensive collection of domestic and foreign coins including quite a bit of silver coinage.

Some coins came from working in retail while others have been gifted to me by relatives. I inherited my maternal grandfather’s coin collection and I’ve purchased some coins myself.

Notably, I purchased 5 sets of the Pride of Two Nations silver coin set which features Liberty and the Maple Leaf of Canada. I’m selling 3 of the sets on eBay.

To a lesser degree, I have dabbled in collecting bottle caps, stamps, liquor bottles, (photos of) custom license plates, stones, jewelry, and seashells. Oh, and the PEZ dispensers. I have the Star Wars, Lotro, and Harry Potter Limited Edition PEZ sets.

While I no longer possess them, I had a moderate collection of heavy blocks of sediment filled with semi-ancient shells and bones. I was quite enthralled by fossils for a period after an excavation when I was enrolled in Cub Scouts.

I’ll leave aside my digital collections of Pokémon, literature, and Internet Obscurity, and call this the end.

Thank you for taking the time to read my response to this writing prompt.

Questions or comments? Please leave them below.

Have a great day!

Daily Writing

Job for a day? Maybe Barista

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What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

I love coffee and I really appreciate the effort the people at my local drive thru coffee shop go though to make a good cup of Joe.

I think we’ve seen the cool designs that get put into the foam on cups of coffee on social media.

There are some truly artistic designs. I would like to try out being a batista and learn how to make Latte art.

Daily Writing

Community Service

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What do you do to be involved in the community?

I was taking part in trash pickup for around six months at the local landfill and surrounding grounds.

Between all the locals bringing in their trash and the big semi trucks hauling it away you get a lot of waste that gets scattered or blown away.

So what I was doing was going around with a trash can slung over my back and one of those grabber-poles and gutting all the small bits strewn across the landscape.

It was an endless process, there was always more trash than could be humanly picked up. I was happy if I could get a hill or ditch clear each day. The next day though it would likely be covered in trash again.

It’s surprising how many households put recyclable and compostable materials in with their trash.

I grew up in a fairly “green” town in the Pacific North West and so planet friendly living is engraved in who I am and how I live my life.

We make sure anything and everything that can be composted goes in a bin and that bin gets regularly emptied into a bucket.

The buckets will either get dumped in the compost pile with grass clippings or they’ll get buried in the garden beds directly.

Depending on weather and the propensity of bugs, we usually get good yields on our crops. Our growing zone is 5b-8b here in NC.

We have Tangerine and Lemon trees grown from seed, a peach I bought as a sapling, and three bamboo groves.

It’s all been a work of love and often curiosity. Just this morning I noticed the seeds in a cut apple had partially sprouted.

I planted them.

Maybe we’ll have a new addition to the garden next year?

That’s it for today. Sorry, I got a bit off track with the garden.

Questions and comments please put them below. Have a great one!

Daily Writing

The morning. If it’s still around when I wake up.

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When do you feel most productive?

Last night I went to bed at 4:58amn the day before it was 6:01am the sky was brightening and the birds were singing.

If I can manage to go to bed at 11pm I have great mornings in which I am super productive. I study best in the morning when my mind is sharp and focused.

Somehow I find excuses to stay awake. I get thirsty and instead of tea or juice, I have coffee. I often find myself wanting to watch TV come bedtime. I’ll suddenly recall a show I never finished or one I want to re-watch.

Sometimes I’ll be so enthralled by what I am thinking on that I will stay up late imagining stuff.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about real estate. I browser property listing and day dream about my dream house. Often, my mind takes it further and I get in to a Sim City imagination mode where I think about building small towns on sections of the map.

Before the towns I was imagining hybrid diesel electric fire trucks, and before that it was starting a non profit to support formerly incarcerated women.

All sorts of imaginings keep me awake. But on the rare few nights when I go to bed on time I have wonderful mornings.

Thanks for your time. Questions and comments please put them below. Have a great day!

Daily Writing

Camping? Not since childhood.

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Have you ever been camping?

I think my last time camping was when I in the Boy Scouts. We had a big meet up with the other area chapters which included the Sea Scouts.

I recall that on a different camping trip, I had left the tent door open and it rained. The tent and all my belongings were soaked through.

If my tentmate is reading this, I’m very sorry for the wet night.

My Hometown is Pretty

I spent the night and the next day shivering in my Long John’s near the campfire. A sorry sight indeed.

I also forgot that I had packed my spare (dry) clothes in the bottom of my pack. I was struggling with ADD back then and was often spacing out important details. I only noticed the clothes after I returned home and was unpacking.

Earlier camping trips included visiting the natural hot springs in the Olympic Mountains of WA. Skiing trips at Mount Rainier and Mount Baker.

There were a few camping trips that included my mother. We camped in the designated park area at Fort Warden. She preferred the comfortable surroundings of home for the most part.

One season, while on a beachside camping trip, in our small sailing skiff, my father raided a seagull nest for eggs. He fried them over the fire on an old steel barrel lid that he found washed up on the shoreline.

I experienced #Vanlife early on. My father had outfitted his old dodge van with a bed, wood stove, a gas cooker, and various other comforts of home.

We would sleep in the van when he went to craft shows like Best of the Northwest and to the Barter Fairs in Eastern Washington out near Tonasket, Yakima, and Omak.

Actually, I was born at the general hospital in Tonasket. Although my family eventually settled in Port Townsend, after their step van broke down, the sagebrush and scrub land was always a second home for me.

That’s it for today. Thank you for reading.

Questions and comments, please put them below, and have a great day.

Daily Writing

I would, if I could, but I’ve been disenfranchised.

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Do you vote in political elections?

Disclaimer: This is a sensitive topic. I won’t be hurt if you decide to not read it.

I can remember my first election where I was eligible to vote was in 2004. Bush and Kerry were facing off and I managed to get picked as an alternate delegate.

The orignally selected delegate was unable to attend and so I was activated and went to cast our ballot at the primaries.

I recall the exciting energy that seemed to suffused the air. Neighbors who normally were quite reserved had become animated and agitated.

The actual casting of the vote was sobering and I found myself back at school with little changed.

I voted Democrat in 2004 and 2008. Growing up my father, who is British, had said that the Americans would never elect a black president because racism was so engraved in this countries culture.

It was certainly surprising that Obama won, not once, but twice over. I was hopeful for change.

Change did not come, rather things got worse. Obama was not a peacemaker, but warmonger. The same, however, is true of Hillary, Biden, and Trump.

For the 2012 election, I looked for an alternative, the democrats had lost my vote but I still wanted to vote, it was my right.

In modern terms you might say it was a civic flex and the little “I Voted” sticker was swag.

I was aware of the Green party but did not feel they were quite in my direction.

I eventually found the Libertarian party and switched to them. In the 2012 and 2016 elections, I voted for the Libertarian candidates.

And them in 2020, I was stripped of my voting rights. Disenfranchised is the term that gets bandied about.

So, I would if I could. Vote that is.

Thinking back now I don’t believe the Libertarian party was a particularly good choice for myself. Their platform leaned pretty heavily into the Christian faith and its tenets.

There was a strong push to move many government functions into the private sector, a playstyle which I would consider to be shortsighted at best.

They seemed to think that all that was needed to end poverty or homelessness was to throw money at charities or leave it up to a church to sort things out.

A lot of wealthy folk in that party. Big on giving, not so much on helping in-person.

A spot of good news is that come August, I will have been restored in full of my voting rights.

Just in time right?

Oh, if only that were true.

I now face the issue once more of needing a party that aligns with my moral and ethical beliefs. I have looked and found a few that touch on various points, but sadly none that truly fit my wants.

Maybe what I really need to do is start my own party. A useless effort I know but who knows, right?

Perhaps somewhere out there in big old America is someone else who shares my feelings and beliefs.

If I find the courage, I might just ask.

That will be it for today. Comments or questions? Put them below.

I’ll leave you with these words from a great YouTuber,

“If you made it this far then you my friend are a true legend and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Daily Writing

The 4th of July

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What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

Independence Day

For myself, I would say Independence Day (America) is my favorite holiday.

While I rarely partake the cup of patriotism, I’d happily blow something up if given half the chance.

My mother and I would sometimes buy fireworks from the TNT stand but I recall a few years when we went to the reservation to purchase our fireworks. They always had the best ones.

During the summers I would often hang out with my best friend, Cedar. We would play in the woods, the fields, and most often on the beaches.

I quite like the little tanks that roll around. I also liked the battleships you could put in the water and they would propel themselves a short distance.

The day after the 4th, you would often find unspent fireworks half buried in the sand dunes. Bottle-rockets were a favorite of mine. I especially like the ones that whistled as they went up.

The sounds and the sparkle were entirely captivating.

Orcas

I think the allure of fireworks lies in the environment of my upbringing. The violent explosions of bombs were so far removed that they became something of a fantasy or fiction.

My parents weren’t interested in guns or the military. Their own parents had served honorably, but it was not something my parents ever aspired to themselves.

Old Cannon

I recall a neighbor in the “Old Funky Boat Yard” had a miniature hand cannon salvaged from a tall ship. I remember one cloudy day he took it out of case and carefully loaded the ball and gunpowder. It was incredibly loud when he discharged a shot out towards the old rail trestle.

It was absolutely marvelous!

While I was in the Boy Scouts I had narrowly missed an opportunity to shoot at a rifle range. The instructor had finished for the day and we were left to mess about with archery instead.

The first, and likely last, time handling a gun was at the National Guard base near Astoria, Oregon.

While attending the Tongue Point Job Corps Center I had the opportunity to try my hand at a sort of virtual firing range that was built into the interior of a vehicle. My memory is a bit spotty, but I think it was a semi truck?

The rifle was real, so we had to be instructed on how it worked and received some basic shooting instructions. I enjoyed the experience but I had some difficulties sighting with my glasses.

Nowadays, I have returned to simply watching explosions from a comfy seat. I don’t care much for live action violence. I mostly stick to Sentai Squad and Mecha anime when I am in the mood for it.

Well, that will be it for today. Thank you for taking time to read my post.

Questions or comments can be left below. Have a great day!

Daily Writing

Nervous? On Edge?!

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What makes you nervous?

With the changing seasons comes the arrival of numerous creepy crawly, slithering, and fluttering critters that I honestly could do without.

What would otherwise be a nice walk through the wooded sections of my property becomes a nerve-racking experience as my eyes are nearly constantly glued to the forest floor in search of copperhead snakes.

Photo by Heather Smith on Pexels.com

When I head to the attic to retrieve more suitable seasonal attire, I am often greeted by the screeching of the bats whose ire I earn year after year.

The garage, pump house, and shed with gobs of warm pink insulation provide excellent nesting materials for mice and rats. I have it on good authority that they also feel it is a good place to use the bathroom…

The basement seems to attract no end of centipedes, millipedes, and pill bugs.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

And lastly, a new arrival not seen before are the earwigs, which have decided to spend their meager lifespans in the small, moist crevices of our mailbox during the day.

Worse yet, they seem obsessed with squeezing themselves into envelopes and magazines and then promptly dying, leaving me a surprise to find.

I don’t care for the colder months or snow, but I do miss not having to worry about where I step or what I pick up.

Nervous? YES.

Thanks for taking a moment out of your day to indulge this fellow.

Any questions and comments? Just drop them below.

Daily Writing

SNS Usages

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How do you use social media?

I never quite got a handle of the best use for social media platforms.

I think I must spend the majority of my time watching YouTube videos.

I am not sure if I would really consider YouTube to be a social media platform. Beyond the comments section, there is little interaction with viewers.

I tried my hardest to adapt to the likes of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter when they were just starting out. It was all just so foreign to me.

Especially Facebook. I mean my friends were just a walk away or I would see them in class. I didn’t see the need for it.

My Instagram account is just mostly pictures of food or the garden. I also made a separate account for gaming stuff.

I did use reddit for a long time to talk about doing games and offers in Swagbucks and other services. In fact, some of my early successes with this site came from what I learned from blogging subreddit.

At some point though I deleted my reddit account. I don’t recall why I thought it needed to be so.

Twitter never really took off for me. I don’t think my tag use was good. I would either use too many or not enough.

I also tried my hand at Tumblr, but I didn’t like all the adult content on the platform. No matter how many times I blocked someone or said I wasn’t interested, the site kept pushing adult content into my feed.

Instagram also has a problem with mature content. There are many accounts that are used to disseminate adult content despite the terms of service.

Reporting those accounts is useless. No humans are involved in the process and bad actors have free run of the platform.

The world of social media can be dangerous. You need to stay alert and be careful of what you click on.

That’s it for now.

Questions or comments put them below and thanks for reading.

Daily Writing, Errant Literary

Primitive Man

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Daily writing prompt
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?
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Many years ago I got hooked on YouTube videos about self sufficiency and living in nature. There was stuff about building bamboo houses, making bricks, forging bronze tools, and clearing land for rice paddies.

At some point I got it into my head to try making a primitive furnace out back. The soil in these parts is all red clay and I thought I could replicate what I was seeing on the TV screen.

I spent a couple weeks tearing up the lawn, cutting down trees, and digging a large pit. My first goal was to make charcoal. So, got together a bunch of wood and built a tepee shaped tower.

Afterwards, I worked the clay into coils and blocks and built a very ugly tower around the wood and then filled in any gaps. I left a small opening near the ground in the pit and the top had another opening.

I then spent an hour or so trying to light the wood on fire. It did catch, but after awhile the clay began to dry out and crack in spots. Parts of the clay fell away from the tower. Worse still, I had left air pockets in the clay and they began to explode.

After getting hit with little bits I panicked and dumped a bucket of water on the tower. Now, if you go out back all there is left of the furnace is a lumpy spot on the lawn. It is overgrown with weeds in that one spot, if you pull up the weeds you can still find parts of the clay bricks.

It was a sobering experience, I learned my lesson and stick to watching YouTube and not living it.