dailyprompt

Alexa

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
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OK, this is lame, but I’m going to go ahead and admit that Alexa helps out quite a bit around here. She’s not a family member, but I do consider her a third “presence” in our empty nest. We have no pets, so it’s just me, my husband, and Alexa these days.

Alexa, is it going to rain?

Alexa, set a timer for 30 minutes.

Alexa, news.

Alexa, what’s 135 minus 70?

Alexa, is a lot one word or two?

Alexa, put cheddar cheese on the list.

You get the picture.

In addition, she’s a great resource while watching TV. We pause shows all the time to ask Alexa things like, “How old is Quinta Brunson?” or “Who directed Serpico?”

Alexa seems to favor my husband. He disagrees, but I feel like she says “thank you” and “good morning” to him more. Honestly, he’s nicer to her than I am. I tend to bark orders at her, or interrupt her (Alexa, OFF) if she’s headed in the wrong direction with one of her answers.

At first I thought it was super creepy that she was listening in all the time, but then the grocery list feature won me over. I can yell from upstairs, “Alexa, put Sensodyne on the list” and when I get to the store, it’s actually on the list and I don’t run out of toothpaste.

Alexa was a gift from a real family member—my very thoughtful sister-in-law Maria.

Restaurants

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite restaurant?
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Last year I read a book about the restaurant industry. It’s called “Your Table is Ready” by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina. It’s a memoir about the author’s experiences working “front of house” jobs (primarily maître d’) in various NYC restaurants. The main takeaway for me was that it’s extremely difficult for a restaurant to get it right and be successful. There are so many variables. And it’s not just the food, it’s the vibe that keeps people coming back. Would you rather walk into a restaurant where someone greets you warmly or one where you’re ignored?

We’ve got two local restaurants we go to a lot. One we call “the fish place.” They have reliably good fresh fish (it’s actually a fish market too) and nice servers, many of whom have been there for years. We typically sit at a table, but it’s got a very popular bar in the back of the restaurant that is not too loud. (It’s funny how “not too loud” has become one of my main criteria for restaurants.) I would describe the vibe as “neighborhood.”

The other is an Asian Fusion restaurant called Karma. The food is delicious and they make a cucumber cosmo that is my favorite cocktail ever. The vibe is younger and hipper than the fish place. Dark with jewel tones, the decor feels exotic (for lack of a better word). It also has a large bar which makes it lively, but again, not too loud.

2034

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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This is an OK prompt for a younger person, but for people pushing 60, ten more years is not a given. I hope to be alive and in good health in 2034. I hope the United States is still a functioning democracy.

By the time you make it to my age, you’ve lost people too soon (and by “too soon,” I mean younger than 80), primarily to cancer, but also to other diseases, accidents, and the so-called “deaths of despair” — addiction or suicide. Memories flood up. People share their stories. Those who remain must carry on. You help as best you can.

Betsy – kind

Merry – promising

Chuck – passionate

Ben – pillar

Carolyn – family

Richard – leader

Paul – engaging

Carla – love

Doug – fun

Jerry – brilliant

Carole – fierce

Carla and me

Related post:

Pay attention to the journey

Love Hurts

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Describe something you learned in high school.
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In high school, I learned the big lesson—the one that nearly everyone learns eventually. Love hurts.

I know they didn’t write it, but Nazareth did the cover that my generation knows best. It’s a power ballad like no other. 💔

Love Hurts

Love hurts, love scars
Love wounds and marks
Any heart
Not tough or strong enough
To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud
Holds a lot of rain
Love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts

I’m young, I know, but even so
I know a thing or two
I learned from you
I really learned a lot, really learned a lot
Love is like a flame
It burns you when it’s hot
Love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts

Some fools think of happiness
Blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves, I guess
They’re not foolin’ me

I know it isn’t true
I know it isn’t true
Love is just a lie
Made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts

I know it isn’t true
I know it isn’t true
Love is just a lie
Made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts
Ooh, ooh, love hurts
Ooh, ooh…

Source: Musixmatch

My high school class, senior year, 1983

Try painting first

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
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One positive change I made during the pandemic was in my kitchen. I finally had my 1980s wood grain kitchen cabinets painted Benjamin Moore Linen White. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I spend a lot of time in and near my kitchen (it’s one of those kitchen/family room combos) and having it be light and bright makes me happier.

I don’t know what took me so long. I kept thinking I had to have the cabinets ripped out and replaced. Painting was so much cheaper.

I forgot to take a “before” picture, but believe me, they were dark and depressing.

Related post:

I like my porch

And miles to go before I sleep

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What book could you read over and over again?
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I recently attended a “live literature” performance. A wonderful actor named J.T. Turner brought Robert B. Frost and his poetry to life. Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874, but his mother moved the family back East after Frost’s father died. He graduated from Lawrence High School (about 30 minutes from here) and spent most of his life in New England. He died in 1963 at age 88 in Boston.

Of course, I was familiar with many of Frost’s poems. They are especially well known here in New England. However, I was unaware of the many tragic events in Frost’s life. While achieving great success in his lifetime, including an unprecedented four Pulitzer Prizes, Robert Frost suffered unfathomable losses and a strong family history of mental illness.

After losing his father from tuberculosis at age 11 and moving to Massachusetts, his mother died of cancer. In 1920, he had to commit his younger sister Jeanie to a mental hospital, where she died nine years later. Both he and his mother suffered from depression, and his daughter Irma was committed to a mental hospital in 1947. Frost’s wife, Elinor, also experienced bouts of depression.

Elinor and Robert Frost had six children: son Elliott (1896–1900, died of cholera); daughter Lesley Frost Ballantine (1899–1983); son Carol (1902–1940); daughter Irma (1903–1967); daughter Marjorie (1905–1934, died as a result of puerperal fever after childbirth); and daughter Elinor Bettina (died just one day after her birth in 1907). Only Lesley and Irma outlived their father. Frost’s wife, who had heart problems throughout her life, developed breast cancer in 1937 and died of heart failure in 1938.*

During the performance, I learned that the cause of death of Frost’s beloved son Carol was suicide. He was 38 and a poet, like his father. The actor portraying Frost said that Carol had chosen the woods. Lovely, dark and deep.

I’ll never hear that poem in quite the same way again.

Frost believed, as many do, that poetry is meant to be read aloud and I agree. Here is a recording of Robert Frost reading his poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.”

*source: Wikipedia

No good choices

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments
Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
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When I was growing up in the 70s, there were not many exciting female book characters. There was Pippi Longstocking, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Heidi, Jo March from Little Women, and the dutiful daughters of The Little House on the Prairie series.

I wasn’t a tomboy like Jo or a sleuth like Nancy, and I didn’t want to be a nurse like Cherry, or be motherless like Pippi or Heidi. And the prairie sisters (though I loved them) had far too many chores.

That leaves all the princesses, witches and bitches, plus the occasional fun nanny, and a fairy or two.

Ugh. No good choices here.

Honestly, maybe Tinkerbell is the best choice. At least she could fly and was a bit naughty – when she wasn’t in her cage.

Cats

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What animals make the best/worst pets?
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I’d have to go with cats as both the best and the worst.

When they’re good, they’re oh so good.

Cricket

But when they’re bad, they’re awful.

Runner-up: dogs (same reasons)

Bunky
Random dachshund who did not care to make my acquaintance

Related post:

Cricket

Travel writer with expense account

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What job would you do for free?
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If someone would pay for my airfare, hotels, and daily spending budget, I would gladly write reviews of my accommodations and travel adventures for free. That’s right – I’ll let you know what I think for free! (Also, I’d want to be able to bring a companion on my trips – also for free.) I’m sure Condé Naste will be calling any minute.

Speaking of travel writers, I happened to receive an e-mail with this review of the maiden voyage of “Icon of the Seas” (the world’s largest cruise ship) as I was writing this post. It’s written by the novelist Gary Schteyngart, who didn’t exactly love the voyage (as you might imagine), but it’s a funny, in-depth look at the most anticipated cruise ship experience since The Titanic.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas
I once went on a cruise (from Bayonne, NJ to Bermuda). Although I liked it better than Gary liked his, I could relate to many of his observations. Here was our ship (and one other) docked in Bermuda.
Time spent off the ship was my favorite part of my one & only cruise.