Prompts

Comfort Food and more  . . . Prompt #727

Excerpted from the May 2023 issue of the Sonoma County Gazette: Research over the past 20 years shows the same result time and time again: when we’re stressed, we want what researchers call high energy and nutrient-dense foods—those snacks, treats and meals that are high in fat and sugar. Comfort foods improve mood, reduce loneliness and connect us to cherished memories, often linked to childhood. A craving for comfort food typically stems from an extreme emotion, including happiness, meaning we reach for comfort foods even to celebrate. Comfort foods often trigger our reward system by releasing dopamine, a hormone and neurotransmitter. When we take a bite of that comfort food, whether it’s a hot fudge sundae, peanut butter and apples, tikka masala or a double bacon cheeseburger, dopamine floods the brain and gives us a huge boost of pleasure feelings. Any negative feelings we may have been experiencing before—stress, anger,…

Sparks

Writing

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Writing By Cheryl Moore A silver tongue would be nice A pen that wrote golden prose Or poetry would be better.   How would it feel to be Billy Collins Whose books sit On my bedside table?   His small journeys Make magic of the mundane Of ordinary daily events   One poem describes Sitting at his desk words flow Seemingly without his bidding   I sit at my desk Pen posed over paper Nothing comes out   I could doodle a picture Make it look like a word And start from there   Would it be like opening a tap With words pouring out Given enough time?   My words wouldn’t be golden Nor even silver Probably just tin   Maybe Billie’s don’t flow golden Until he works and revises As most good writers must…

Prompts

I wish I had known . . . Prompt #726

I wish I had known . . . Response by Muriel Ellis: I don’t think I would really want to have known what my life would bring. Of course, I wish I’d done some things differently, made more time for the family I loved. I wish I hadn’t abandoned writing for so many years, over and over again. I certainly wish I’d known when I heard the grim news “malignant,” when it applied to lungs that it did not mean horrendous surgery with scant hope of recovery. And I wish that, before I knew all would be well, that I had actually written all those letters of accumulated love and wisdom that I planned to leave for my family—maybe even a page or two for assorted nieces and nephews and their offspring. Well, I didn’t. And, yes, I know it’s not too late, but that’s another story. Life is full…

Prompts

Discoveries and Inventions . . . Prompt #717

It seems there is a new-fangled contraption invented almost daily. Imagine . . .  before there were cars, printing machines, and cell phones . . . when these were new . . . Horseless carriage . . . Motor wagon . . . Model T Printing Press . . . Manual typewriter, Electric typewriter Tin can telephone . . . Telegraph . . . Rotary phone with curly wire attached to a wall, Princess Phone Electricity, hot and cold water from a faucet. Imagine what our parents, grandparents, ancestors thought of these. Will you engage in the next innovation? Imagine what the next invention will be. Just Write! #amwriting  #iamawriter   #justwrite

Prompts

Trompe L’oeil . . . Prompt #716

Writing Prompt: Trompe l’oeil Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase that means “deceive the eye.” It’s used to describe a style of painting that uses shading and perspective to make a two-dimensional painting appear to be three-dimensional. Wikipedia From Webster’s Dictionary: 1. A style of painting in which objects are depicted with photographically realistic detail. 2. Something that misleads or deceives the senses, illusion. Examples of trompe l’oeil: Creative Blog Write about: Trompe l’oeil. Artist David Zinn has been creating original artwork in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan since 1987. For more than twenty years, he freelanced for a wide variety of commercial clients while simultaneously sneaking “pointless” art into the world at large. His professional commissions included theatrical posters, business logos, educational cartoons, landfill murals, environmental superheroes, corporate allegories and hand-painted dump trucks, and his less practical creations involved bar coasters, restaurant placemats, cake icing, and snow. Now, thanks to…