You’d always act on a whim, move forward without much thought for the consequences.
But your reckless actions have finally caught up with you and now you’ve paid the ultimate price, leaving me to mop up after you, like some bottom-feeder.
Written for these daily prompts: My Vivid Blog (unresponsive), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (mercurial/and), Word of the Day Challenge (whim), Ragtag Daily Prompt (mop), The Daily Spur (bottom), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (death).
Deb, over at Nope, Not Pam, has this weekly challenge called A Letter a Week where she gives us a place, an emotion, an adjective, a verb, and an animal all starting with the same letter. Then she asks us to write a post using those items and the letter she has given us, which this week is the letter I.
Here are Deb’s I-words:
Place – igloo Emotion – insecurity Adjective – illogical Verb – idolize My animal – impala
I idolize you, but my insecurity often causes me to make illogical choices.
Like the time I bought you that used Chevy Impala for your birthday even though I knew you didn’t have a driver’s license.
Or when I suggested that we escape the rat race, build an igloo in a remote part of northern Alaska, and go totally off grid together. What was I thinking?
And remember when I told you that my insecurities and poor decision-making skills would cause you to leave me.
It’s time once again for E.M. Kingston’s The Sunday Ramble. Her prompt is based upon a certain topic about which she asks five questions. We are invited to ramble on about that topic however we wish. Today’s topic is “uplifting chatter.”
E.M. said that with all of the negative things we are facing on the news, she wanted to give everyone a forum to uplift one another through the responses to this ramble. So let me see if I can dig deep to find some “uplifting” answers.
1. When you feel negative, what techniques do you use to bring yourself up to feeling positive?
Stop reading or watching the news and watch “Young Frankenstein” on TV.
2. What is a smell that made you smile when you woke up today?
Freshly brewed coffee.
3. An owl is known for its wisdom, what are you known for?
I’m known for not being an owl.
4. Do you know any good recipes? If so, can you share one?
Funny you should ask. This afternoon I’ll be grilling some surf and turf in our backyard. For the turf (New York strip steak), I will marinate the steak for a few hours in a mixture of barbecue sauce and teriyaki, season it with garlic powder, onion powder, and Montreal seasoning. I will then quickly sear it on both sides and then grill it for a few minutes until it’s medium rare. For the surf (lobster tail), I will be butterfly the tail, brush the meat with olive oil, and season with sea salt and black pepper. After grilling meat side down for a few minutes, I’ll flip the tails and brush a mixture of melted butter, garlic, lemon juice, smoked paprika, and cayenne over the lobster meat and continue grilling for another minute or two.
5. How do you console the people around you? (Online or in-person)
In person, there’s nothing better than a hug or a cuddle. Online, I send my thoughts and prayers.
Yeah, right. 🤣 Actually, I think the best way to console someone online is through expressing some empathy for what they are going through.
The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.
Don’t you hate it when your tacos, burritos, or wraps come apart as you’re eating them, making a mess and dripping all over your shirt or pants? I know I do. That’s why this week’s Who Won the Week winner is a team of students at Johns Hopkins University. They have created a unique solution for one of dining’s greatest frustrations: the burrito or wrap that keeps falling apart.
Photo credit: John Hopkins University
As part of Engineering Design Day at Johns Hopkins University, a group of students created Tastee Tape, an adhesive meant to keep burritos, wraps, and similar food intact.
They tested a variety of ingredients before choosing the combination that was edible and safe, but strong enough to contain larger wraps.
“First, we learned about the science around tape and different adhesives, and then we worked to find edible counterparts,” said a Johns Hopkins senior majoring in engineering who helped work on the project.
After several months of testing prototypes, the team created rectangular strips measuring half an inch by two inches. To use the tape, a strip is peeled off a sheet of wax paper, wet thoroughly, then applied to the food.
So congratulations to these ingenious students who have come up with a way of keeping it all together (“it” being tacos, burritos, and wraps).
What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?
If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has given us a theme for songs that mention the words Appearance, Image, Likeness, Object, Picture, or Photograph. The song I chose is Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.”
“Kodachrome” was written by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his third studio album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon in 1973. It’s named after Kodak’s now-discontinued film brand Kodachrome, which is a registered trademark of the Kodak company and was commonly known as a type of color film the company started marketing in 1935. Kodachrome was discontinued by Kodak in 2009.
“Kodachrome” peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. Interestingly, the song was not a hit in England, partly because the radio stations rarely played it. The BBC had very strict rules about commercial endorsements, and they would not allow stations to play songs that seemed to push products. The song was also banned by the Federation of (Australian) Radio Broadcasters.
Simon was working on a song with the title “Coming Home” when the word “Kodachrome” came to him. He had no idea what it meant, but knew it would make for a much more interesting song than “Coming Home.” The song became an appreciation of the things that color our world, and a look at how our memories are framed to fit our worldviews.
Simon sometimes sings the line “Everything looks worse in black and white” as “Everything looks better in black and white.” He changes it a lot, and claims he can’t remember which way he wrote it.
Here are the lyrics to “Kodachrome.”
When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school It's a wonder I can think at all And though my lack of education Hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
If you took all the girls I knew When I was single And brought them all together for one night I know they'd never match My sweet imagination Everything looks worse in black and white
Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away Mama don't take my Kodachrome away Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome Mama don't take my Kodachrome Mama don't take my Kodachrome away Mama don't take my Kodachrome Leave your boy so far from home Mama don't take my Kodachrome away Mama don't take my Kodachrome Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
This, That, and the Other 