Day: July 17, 2018

FOWC — There’s Always One

Fandango11 Comments

67A05420-F885-4FC6-8935-39A41FB73CC9Do you remember back in school when the teacher would do roll call every morning? As the teacher called out each student’s name, we would each raise our hand and respond with a resounding “here!”

But there would always be that one pompous kid, the one every other one of us thought was a real asshole, who would, instead of saying “here,” would call out “present!”

What a jerk. Just being different for the sake of standing out. I’ll never forget that obnoxious kid. Oh, what was his name? Let me think. Hmm.

Oh wait. Shit! It was me. Damn.

Written for today’s Fandango’s One-Word Challenge, “present.”

#FOWC — I Can’t Remember

Fandango35 Comments

029D2ABD-EF5E-44B0-B156-AD0D71F27DF5I used to have a world-class memory. I could remember dates and events and facts and stories. Now I can’t even remember to write a post in response to my own One-Word Challenge, which for yesterday was the word “memory.”

Well, okay, that’s not entirely true. I did remember, but between watching that fiasco in Helsinki yesterday morning and then spending the day and evening giving the grand tour to out out-of-town guests, I just didn’t get around to it…until now.

But I have noticed that my memory lately ain’t what it once was. With our visitors this week, my wife has been relating stories about trips she and I have taken and things we’ve done together as a couple or as a family in the past and it’s almost as if I’m hearing about them for the very first time. I’m just smiling and nodding as she’s telling these stories, but I seem to have no personal recollections of those “fun” times.

And it not just not being unable to recall things from the distant past. My wife asked me the name of that restaurant we went to for dinner on the Saturday night before last. I was unable to remember our even going out to dinner together, much less the name of the restaurant. And that was less than two weeks ago.

Or my wife and I will be watching TV and my wife will ask me to get her a glass of water. So I’ll get up, head to the kitchen, the cat will follow me there, I’ll put some fresh food in his bowl, and head back to the living room and sit my ass back down on the couch. “Where’s my water?” my wife will ask.

D’oh!

This is freaking me out a little. More than a little, actually. I’ve read and heard a lot about early onset Alzheimer’s and dementia, and one of the early signs is a memory problem, particularly when it comes to remembering more recent events.

I don’t think I’m there yet, and it could be much worse. As former Vice President Dan Quayle once said in a speech in 1989 before the United Negro College Fund, “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful.”

(For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Dan Quayle’s comment was a mangling of the Fund’s slogan “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” It was Quayle’s “covfefe” moment.)

I’m still playing your guide, so I may be a little scarce again today.

FOWC with Fandango — Present

Fandango33 Comments

FOWCWelcome to July 17, 2018 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “present.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.