“This leftover orange dreamsicle frosty has a really good consistency even after being in the freezer for a few days!”
I said this to myself, at 12:30AM, after having slept for four hours and royally fucking my sleep for the next few days, while checking on my daily tasks…
Anyways, short post today for the daily writing prompt because I have a VERY lengthy post coming later in the morning. (It’s finally time to share my round 1 submission from this year’s NYC Midnight short story challenge!)
Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
A few months back my Dad decided to tag along with my sister to one of the game stores in town where she could pick up some Lorcana cards. During that trip is when my Dad learned about a tabletop game you might have heard of called Necromunda (part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.) He watched a couple of guys at the store playing and was instantly drawn in.
Now, that encounter was solely for my Dad as I obviously was not there, but it is the precursor to the events of this past Saturday.
My Dad was welcomed in and the guys explaining the rules along with everything he needed to play. Then the store owner helped him pick out the things he needed to play but he didn’t buy anything on that particular trip. He waited until the next time, when he could ask me to come with, to buy the things he needed. You see, one of the most important things about any of the Warhammer kits you buy is that they aren’t pre-assembled and painted. My Dad knew that I had been dabbling in painting miniatures, and that if he asked I would handle all of that for him. Which I did end up doing.
I had never worked on any Warhammer stuff before, so it was a new experience for me. My Dad wanted me to bring my painting stuff to his house so he could spend time chatting with me while watching me work. I only ever came over on the weekends for a couple hours or so at a time, so it took a while to get things done. (In retrospect, I now know a few things I could have done differently to expedite the process.) It took a few months to get done because there were multiple weekends where we didn’t get together for our usual family gatherings. Sick kids, sick parents, bad timing all around for various reasons.
Anyways, I got all ten of the little guys assembled and painted, and my Dad brought them to the Warhammer store here in town (rather than the original game store we went to) so he could talk to some guys there about playing.
If you’re still with me, this is where MY encounter with a stranger was positive.
My Dad asked me to meet him at the store, so I obliged and headed over. When I got there the store owner was walking my Dad through how to play, and a couple of other guys were assembling and painting their own minis. The topic of painting came up, obviously, when my Dad mentioned I had painted his for him, and we all got to talking and sharing. The guys showed me what they were working on as well as a finished piece (some really cool mech thing with long skinny legs and a rail gun or something hanging from underneath) and I shared some of the things I had painted for Black Rose Wars and the Totally-Not-Atraxa that I had printed and painted.
We had a good conversation all around, and seeing other people work on (and struggle with) painting minis really helped me realize that, even with imperfections in my painting techniques, they were more or less like me in that area. That even if I keep to myself most of the time with this hobby, I am not alone, and not everyone will be as good as the people I see on Instagram.
Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
Have you ever felt like some aspect of your life has caused the rest of it to feel boring or stagnate? That’s kind of where I was before I landed in my current job. The same thing day after day, week after week, and struggling to move forward.
About nine years ago I was working the overnight shift at Big Red Circles Mart when two separate events happened that required different decisions.
The first event was when I was contacted by a third-party head hunting/hiring agency that wanted people with tech experience for a temporary job in my area. In retrospect the job was very straightforward and easy, but at the time I felt some anxiety about whether I should accept the work. I needed the money, what little it offered given the circumstances, and I figured I could add it to my resume when I eventually left that overnight job. The hangup was some irrational anxiety about the risks of what it might do to my primary job. I pushed aside the anxiety, talked it over with my bosses, who were cool with it, and made sure there weren’t any scheduling conflicts. I signed all the required documents and NDA’s, gathered my tools, and set off to complete my tasks. There were no repercussions with my primary job at the time, which made the next part a little easier to handle.
The second event piggybacks on the first, taking place about five or six months later. A different hiring agency contacted me for a more permanent position. The one I’m in now. The anxiety was back, but I knew this opportunity would be better. That anxiety was easier to deal with a second time, so I made the jump.
It was those decisions to fight my anxiety and insecurity, to take those risks, that helped me get to where I am today.
What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
The world is huge, and there are far too many places for the average person to ever visit in their entire life. That said, even less people will visit places like the bottom of the ocean, Antarctica, the Arctic Circle, and other extreme places.
Those places are not on my list of “never want to visit” (for obvious reasons.) Instead, I saw a clip online of a place I never want to visit where tumbleweeds covered EVERYTHING to the point that a truck with a plow attachment (normally used for snow, or so I thought) was trying to clear the road and they got buried underneath. That place, according to some comments, is South Jordan, Utah. Tumbleweeds suck, and to have them blowing around in the dust filled wind and blanketing everything in spiny, thorny hell? That’s a no from me.
I know there are other places in the world that live on the same list, and tumbleweeds are more of an “inconvenience” than a real danger (on their own) but that’s just where my mind went first because the clip was fresh in my mind.
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts how my family has had an impact on my life, and in those posts I’ve only really mentioned my Dad or brothers. Maybe I’ve mentioned that I have a sister, but I haven’t shared much of what she has done for me.
The way my family has looked out for each other has changed throughout my life. As a kid, after our Mom passed away, my older brother did his best to help out my younger brother and I while Dad was busy working to provide for us. I don’t want to say my sister was nowhere to be seen when it came to looking out for us, but I’m sure that, outside of one particular event, she was doing what she could behind the scenes, so to speak.
A little more backstory for today’s prompt. Our Stepmom passed away a couple of years ago, and in the months that followed we all did what we could to spend time with Dad to make sure he was okay. He had been the one taking care of our Stepmom the last few years of her life battling cancer. One of the things he did was jump on the opportunity to buy the house next to my younger brother and his family. Not so he could move closer, he fully intended to stay on the farm with the horses, but so that my younger brother could move his family into it. With five kids they needed a larger house, and since our older brother was living with them it made it cramped.
So here’s where I cover the “positive thing” that my sister did for me.
I live over 30 minutes away in a major city. I have my life here. I had no idea any of this house business was going on and it all happened so quickly. My Dad had already made the decision to buy that house when he called me to say he was only considering it and ask for my opinion, as well as ask if I would like to move in with my older brother in the smaller house. Although he was asking if I would “like” to move it was very obvious he was just hoping I would jump on the opportunity. No real consideration for how I felt about it, or the fact that he was dropping this on me out of nowhere. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I told him I needed to think about it, and even though he accepted that response over the phone I could tell by his tone he was assuming it meant “yes”. My sister called me not long after I ended my call with him. She had heard what our Dad was doing and talked him down from his assumption that I would want to move. (I do want to move, and get my own place, but I want to do it on my own terms.) As much as we love our Dad, sometimes it’s hard to stand up to him when we know he means well, unless we’re standing up to him on behalf of another. So, my sister, who lived across the State at the time, stood up for me because she knew I was struggling mentally and emotionally with how to handle this abrupt situation with our Dad.
I know my Dad is likely still lonely, even though he got two new puppies last year, but I couldn’t bring myself to move closer to him (or the rest of my family.) Not when my current life would have to change drastically, and I have my sister to thank for falling on that sword. (Especially since last year, due to work, she ended up moving back this way and now shares the smaller house with our older brother.)
Alright, first thing, this sounds like another one of those prompts that sounds like a security question for your account and the information could be used maliciously if someone decides to scrape blog posts.
If you’re curious how that could work, I couldn’t explain it properly, but the idea would be to scan blogs for the Tag that corresponds to this prompt, making a note of them and any public information, and then scanning the actual blog post to find words that match a database of restaurant names. Boom, list of names/emails and favorite restaurants. Pair that with information from other sources (like those companies that sell your information) and you have potential for security breaches.
NOW, with that warning out of the way, I’ll answer today’s prompt in a roundabout way.
My favorite restaurants (plural) are typically places where I can get fried rice or tacos/burritos.
When I get food from a place that does fried rice it’s usually ordered with some kind of chicken dish or with a fair amount of sauce to drizzle over the rice.
When I’m craving tacos or burritos it is hit and miss where I go because sometimes it isn’t about either of them, but rather something like a really good dessert. I’m a sucker for a good churro or slice of tres leches, so when I’m in the mood for those I definitely don’t go to Taco Bell.
(For the record, I mentioned Taco Bell because I know I’ve never used that as the answer to a security question.)
Anyways, that’s where I’m at when it comes to restaurants. I’ll eat just about anywhere, but those two particular categories are top of the list.
I’ve never been one to come up with a super detailed “5 year plan” let alone a “10 year plan” but I do hope to be SOMEWHERE in 10 years.
Well, to start, 10 years from now I’ll be 46. Roughly the same age as the eternal mental image I have of my Dad.
With that in mind I think I’d like to see myself having accomplished multiple things. He had worked on and completed his Master’s and Doctorate somewhere thereabouts, but I don’t know that in today’s current higher education system I would want to start down that path. Maybe things will be different a few years from now (to really line up with the relative timing of when my Dad started his Master’s program.) Instead I’d rather see myself having published a few novels regardless of how successful they turn out. Of course, this requires putting effort into my writing projects over my 3D printing and painting projects.
I would also like to see myself in a house of my own within that 10 year window. Maybe even in my second house, which would be slightly larger because maybe I’ll have met someone and started a family!
I’ll leave things there and not saddle myself with too many expectations. Just need to work on one thing at a time.
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
It’s unfortunate that happiness can’t be a steady state of mind or being and that we have to constantly chase it, but that at least gives most of us the drive to live.
That drive to chase our dreams and trying to attain happiness can sometimes overshadow the simpler things in life that can bring us happiness. That’s where my mind goes when I think about the “everyday things” in the prompt. Not to overlook simple things that bring happiness when life is hectic.
The first everyday thing that came to mind that brings me happiness is one of my roommates cats. When they first moved in a couple years ago the cats were very shy and avoided me. One of them is very sweet and warmed up to me very quickly while it took months to get to the point where the other would even approach me to sniff my hand. That second one, named Boogie, is incredibly vocal and with the loudest purring I’ve experienced in a cat. What brings me happiness (to get back to the prompt) is the way Boogie will talk back at you, loudly, from time to time. It’s definitely one of those “you have to be there to experience it” kind of things, but that’s one that brings me happiness.
The other four everyday things that bring me happiness are all relatively the same or interconnected.
I love solving puzzles and problems. That burst of joy when something clicks and I make progress is what keeps me coming back. Solving puzzles in games, figuring out a solution for problems with crafting and hobbies, making connections for potential synergy with mechanics in Magic: The Gathering when building new decks, and (on a work related note) solving a problem at work that involves scripting or formulas. All of these are interconnected because of the way my mind works and processes information, and each one can bring me happiness in their own ways.
I’m sure I could come up with more “everyday things” to throw out that bring me happiness but then nobody would want to finish reading this post so I’ll end it here
Happy Friday, and I hope you all have or find those “everyday things” that bring you happiness!
I think I’ve forgotten just about everything I learned in high school (which isn’t difficult to do considering I procrastinated, napped, and slacked off the whole time.) In some ways it’s a miracle I graduated at all.
However, there are still some things rolling around upstairs that I can dig out.
The opportunities I had in high school in Colorado were different from the ones I had here in South Dakota. For instance, Physics was a Senior only class out here but I had started it in my Junior year before moving away from Colorado. After we moved (and an additional few weeks or so off) and I was able to go back to school I found out that the curriculum was a couple months behind what it was in Colorado. Similarly, reading and English was a little behind. It had never occurred to me before then, but that’s when it dawned on me that educational standards varied across the country.
Another variation: small farm towns in South Dakota prioritized offering Agriculture and Farming classes, as well as some practical skills. I didn’t retain much from the Ag classes, but I do remember a decent amount from the Welding class. (Yes, we had an entire class dedicated to welding, and it was awesome.)
Thinking about it now, I’m curious to learn just how different the educational curriculum is in many parts of the country and the rest of the world. What kinds of information and skills are prioritized?
A couple months ago I saw an ad on Facebook for a writing contest with cash prizes and writing feedback for all entrants, and since I’ve been on this journey of getting back into writing consistently, I thought I might give it a try. I was a little suspicious of how they were going to afford cash prizes until I saw there was an entry fee, but that only made me more suspicious of the whole thing. Was it actually a scam? Unfortunately, at the time, the deadline for signing up was only a day or two away and I knew nothing of writing contests so I had to do some quick research.
Thankfully this particular contest appeared reputable with a long history, so I signed up.
Anyways, the contest itself, through NYCMidnight, was for writing short stories. According to the rules there would be four rounds, and each entrant would have a limited amount of time to write based on a randomly selected prompt setup, of which the final output would be judged and a certain number from each group would move on. The rules also stated that we couldn’t publicly share our work until ten days after results for the round were announced. So, I won’t be sharing my round one entry here just yet.
Sadly, I did not pass round one, and now I’m just waiting for feedback. Cash prizes aside, that was a big draw for me to sign up, so I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of feedback I get on my writing.
I’m always looking to improve, so I’m not going to let this loss discourage me from continuing to write. Once I get my feedback and the ten days have passed I plan on sharing my one short story here, and then maybe you all can also provide some feedback!
The Dragon's Grove 