Tagged: 712 More Things to Write About
#42 – Write the Names of Five People You’ve been Jealous of.
The people I’m most jealous of our the people that are able to go into any social situation and be able to rise above it, not matter how awkward it might seem. Most of them know the right thing to say and do at exactly the right time to win people’s respect. Funny and outgoing, charming and witty. Some of them would probably be surprised with my opinion of them, maybe even disagreeing with me. Two Adam’s, a Dustin, a Mark, and a Sarah. All people that seem to be able to make friends wherever they go without overwhelming fear and anxiety.Of course, then I’d have a lot less time to do my own things, so there’s that.
Behind the Random: I don’t usually get too jealous of other people. However, when I see how easy it is for other people to make friends or just fit into a group, I definitely feel a little green monster on my shoulders. The joys of being an extrovert with social anxiety, yet still needing that human interaction to stay sane, am I right?
#324 – Pick One Pop Song…
…you loved as a child. Listen to it and write for at least five minutes without stopping.
When I was a kid, I loved the song Thriller by Michael Jackson, but not for music. It was the music video that got me hooked on it. Even when I was little, I loved zombies. Which was a little strange, because I hated being scared and, I’ll be honest, the music video scared me a little bit. Still I watched it though, because it had dancing zombies in it.
And now I don’t know what else to write about that. Maybe I should just move on then. I could talk about Vincent Price and his iconic voice in that video. That man was made for horror movies. Still, I never really cared for his roles, especially in Edward Scissorhands.
That movie though is a bit of a wash for me anyways. I don’t quite understand why so many people are so in love with it. Maybe it’s the whole outsider thing that teenagers can relate to or something, which should apply to me as well but it just doesn’t. Personally, I feel the whole movie is dull and slow with only a little bit of comedy to make it tolerable. It could also be Johnny Depp. Actually, that probably has more to do with it than anything else.
Oh, and look at that. Time is up. I would have thought I’d have more written after 5 minutes but I guess not. I did pause a few times to try and think of something to write. Aw well. On to the next one!
Behind the Random: When I was younger, I didn’t care for music. I wasn’t raised in a home that played a lot of music unless my parents were cleaning. So I kind of associated music to housework, which would explain why I avoided it for the first 15 years of my life. I’m still not to musically inclined, but now I find that I like to play music when I clean too. Weird the habits you pick up from your parents.
#185 – Outline Four Points…
…of the platform for your “third party” candidate.
Education – Because education is never a bad thing. An informed and knowledgeable society is a better one, allowing those who might not be able to afford a higher education to get one, thus improving their way of life and the lives around them. Better jobs mean more taxes coming in, helping to improve the overall system. Cast away the business model mentality of schools and focus on achievement rather than overall numbers.
Healthcare – Focus more resources on easing the suffering of people and less on the cosmetics of life. What’s the use of a being able to get a four hour hard on and smooth skin at an old age when your mind is so addled that you don’t even know you are, let alone who’s touching you? So before we continue trying to prolong our lifespans, we should probably improve the time we have first.
Crime – Repeat and dangerous offenders, people who are more or less irredeemable to society have no place in it. Constant drains to the system, stealing money away that could be used for better things. It may be cruel, but it’s time to eliminate these problems permanently. I’m told that the death penalty does nothing to deter criminal activity, but I can think of at least one less criminal on the streets.
Social Assistance – There will always be people who ruin things for other people who genuinely need the help and it’s our job to weed out those people. While it’s difficult to account for everybody’s actions, mandatory drug testing for all applicants of social assistance would help ensure that the money is being used for what it’s supposed to, not for illicit substances.
Behind the Random: I wanted to take a tongue in cheek approach to this but I guess I’m just not feeling all that funny today. So I actually wrote about some of my personal political beliefs. This is rare for me, since I don’t normally voice my opinion on things. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about society, it’s that you don’t talk about politics, religion, or sports teams without some kind of backlash.
#112 – You Have a Chance to Celebrate Your 21st Birthday Again…
…What kind of party would you have and who is on your invitation list?
Just a night in playing games or watching movies with some drinks and my closest friends. Maybe sitting around a fire, swapping jokes and stories. I’m not a party guy really and I don’t like to go out that much. Bars are too crowded with expensive drinks and music that is too damn loud, even for a 21-year-old me. Pubs and lounges are okay, but there’s still people I don’t know around and I prefer a more intimate setting so that I don’t have to share my space with strangers. I guess I’m just a simple guy who likes to keep things small.
Behind the Random: I cannot remember my 21st birthday at all. And it’s not for the good reasons either. It was a pretty unremarkable time for me back then. I had recently left my last group of friends and found myself more or less on my own, except for my girlfriend at the time. Fortunately, I stopped caring about celebrating birthdays a few years earlier, so it’s not a big deal.
#683 – Write about America…
…as a freshly defected North Korean.
It is a strange feeling, being allowed to wander the streets with no soldiers on every corner, it was a surreal experience that I could barely process. So many people outside, of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Never before have I seen such variety in my life. I did not think it even existed.
Before, I had heard stories about how fat Americans are. I was not prepared for how many there were, however. And it is no wonder. American stores are so full of food. Large stores filled with shelves upon shelves of food. It is so easy to get such fatty and sugary foods, to become addicted.
However, I’ve learned that Americans are not as ignorant and evil as I was taught they were. Yes, they are prideful and arrogant, but I have learned I know no more about the outside world than they do. Perhaps even less. Many ignored me as I passed, another stranger on the street. Occasionally, I met someone who was interested in where I was from, showing patience as I struggle with their language.
I am told that I am able to speak my mind. I’m reminded of that everywhere I look. People demonstrating against their own government. Protesting against the actions of corporations. Advertisements using attractive women in provocative clothing to sell their products. Even complaining about things that don’t matter in the big picture. No one stopped them. Nobody was arrested or killed or disappeared in the night.
The city is dirty and loud and crowded. I read about the crime that rots at the countries core. It sickens me and I can see the corruption worming itself through the soul of this nation. However, I also see there is goodness in people, volunteering to save children and animals and the environment. Stories about neighbors coming together to help each other in times of need. It can be uplifting.
America is truly a strange place and reminds me that I’m far from home and I am at peace with that.
Behind the Random: America is a strange animal. On the surface, it is everything that the rest of the world believes it to be. Loud, obnoxious, prideful, dirty, and cheap. However, when you get below that, you learn that her citizens are no different than anyone else in the world. There are good ones and bad ones. Greedy, generous. Angry, calm. Happy, sad. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting more than a few Americans in my time and most of them were good, honest people trying to make it through this world just like myself. So for me, the idea of the stupid, fat American is a terrible stereotype no better than the cowardly Frenchman or the drunken Scotsman.
#335 – Describe the Room Where the Murder Took Place…
…from the victim’s point of view.
As the world came back into focus, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a rich thick coppery stink that clogged up my nose and forced me to suck in a breath through my mouth. It reminded me of that time I found an old porkchop deck. Just a rotten meat sort of smell.
I blinked a few times and I could finally see where I was. My head throbbed and I could feel something sticky on the side of my face. I went to wipe it off when I noticed that my hands were tied to the chair I was in. Panic set in as I started to remember what had happened earlier. I’d come home after a late night of working and someone had attacked me from behind. Before I could fight back, something hard and heavy hit me and knocked me out.
My head cast about for some way to escape or to even figure out where I was. It appeared to be a basement of some kind, with cement floor and walls. Rafter were above me, rotted and old. I was in the center of the room with nothing around me. Along one wall, I could see metal objects hanging from hooks. Most of them were blades of various size, some smooth and some serrated. Others were less reconizable, but just as frightening. It was like looking at over-sized tools that a dentist would use.
On the wall on the opposite side was covered in pictures. No, they weren’t pictures. I squinted in the low light and realized that they were IDs, credit cards, and various other items someone would find in a wallet or purse. There had to be over a hundred of them, maybe even two. This only made my fear even greater, if that was possible.
I began to rock the chair, hoping to knock it over and maybe break it. That’s what they did in the movies, isn’t it? I was able to get a good head of steam going and was almost over when I felt something heavy and meaty land on my shoulder, pushing me back down. I looked over to see a thick hand pressing down on me, the fingers dirty and covered in a red dried up substance. I didn’t want to believe it was blood, but I couldn’t convince myself.
Slowly, the chair began to turn around, forcing me to see what was behind me. It was a big man, wearing a blood spattered apron and a medical surgery mask. Other than that, he looked completely naked underneath it. He was bald with a wild eyed look and a nasty scar that ran from his forehead diagonally down across his nose to his jawline on the opposite side.
I tried to say something when I noticed what was behind him. Hanging from hooks tied to the rafters were bodies. Over half a dozen, all dead and cut up in various places. Now I knew what that smell was. I wanted to throw up. Swear at the man. Beg for my life. Scream for help. Before I could do anything though, the big man grabbed me by the throat, crushing it so I couldn’t even breathe, and leaned in. In his hand, a very sharp looking scalpel edged closer to me.
That’s when I knew I was going to die.
Behind the Random: I was never really a fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies in general, but there was a scene that involved the villain Leatherface and one of his victims in his shed of horrors that just stuck with me years after I’d seen it. So I took some inspiration from that for this one, just to make it interesting.
#606 – What You’d Know…
…that you don’t know now, if you’d grown up in South Korea.
I’d know I could kill a person.
All males in South Korea are required to serve in the military for a number of months sometime between the ages of 18 and 35, of which I am. This would lead to training with weapons, vehicles, and various other instruments of war. I may never have seen combat, but I’d have been prepared for when it came.
Knowing myself as I do, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I wouldnotbe joining the Navy. Navy means ships which means water which means oceans which means sharks. I will not be on that ship. And before you try and tell me that no shark can breach a metal hull, I’d like to point out that it’s an irrational fear and cares not for your vaunted logic.
More than likely, I’d join the Air Force. Flying could be cool and, if I was ever shot down and killed, I’d have a great view before I died. You can’t get that on the ground, in the trenches. Unless you get blown sky high, but that isn’t really something I’d like to happen. For some reason, the idea of dying going up has less appeal than dying going down.
Regardless, living in Canada, I have less than no interest in military service and so don’t have to enlist if I don’t want to. I don’t hold anything against those who choose to give their lives in service to their country, it’s just not my cup of grenades.
It’s generally agreed on that it’s good that I don’t have access to firearms, explosives or a tank.
Behind the Random: I’ve never had interest in military enlistment or even learning how to shoot a gun. I have absolutely no training physically or mentally in what it would take to kill another human being. So while I know ways to kill a person, I don’t know that I could.
#528 – As Robert Frost Wrote…
…”Two roads diverge in a yellow wood.” What does the sign at the intersection say?
All roads lead to Rome
Take us back to our home.
It’s not where we would be
But instead the journey
That matters to us in the end.Some roads are long and dull
Senses deadened to a lull.Others lift and dip, twist and turn
With no regular pattern to discern.
In the end though, it’s all the same.We all reach our home one day
Getting there this way or that way.
So choose your path and stay the course
As stubborn as a mule or horse.
You’ll get there one day, you’ll see.
Behind the Random: This was a tough one because I didn’t want to do a simple one line answer but I wasn’t in the mood to do a story so I looked up The Road Not Taken and tried to follow the format. Unfortunately, time and energy were not on my side so I had to cut it a little short.
#559 – Recall a Childhood Photo…
…Narrate the events that led up to the moment that photo was taken.
I’d had it with these people. There’s no way I could stand to live with them for another moment, I decided. Always in the way and never giving me my privacy, plus they were bossy and always telling me what to eat and when to go to bed. I flipped open the paper and began perusing the classifieds, determined to find a place of my own. I knew living on my own was the right choice. I flopped on my back and turned the pages, my eyes scanning the articles to find the perfect place for myself.
I needed a place that allowed children, and maybe pets if I decided to get a dog or cat later. Definitely close to a park. That was just a must. A kitchen, however, wasn’t that big of a deal since I didn’t know how to cook. Or even a bathroom really. Just a place I could put all my toys and blanket.
However, as I went from one ad to the next, a sudden realization hit me. Something that never occurred to me that would make finding a new place to live impossible. I couldn’t read. With sadness, I rolled on my back and stared up at the strange markings, wondering what they meant.
Behind the Random: I don’t have many pictures from when I was a kid and the ones I do have don’t have much context to them, especially personal reflection from a time I scarcely remember at all. So it’s more fun to make up a story instead.
#340 – Narrate an Uncomfortable Conversation…
…between a father and son without using any dialogue.
It was that time. That time that every father dreads when they have to sit their son down and talk to them about the birds and the bees. So when David called in Brian, there was a lump in his stomach that quickly moved up to his throat. He didn’t know how to start the conversation he’d rehearsed in his head a hundred times since Brian’s 13th birthday. A part of him just wanted to blurt it out, get it done and over with, then go back into the living room and watch a movie. David knew it wasn’t going to be that simple.
Brian sat in front of his dad, feeling a little awkward. He knew he wasn’t in trouble, his grades had been great lately, and his dad had been acting a little weird around him lately, so he kind of had an idea of what was going on. It was something he wasn’t looking forward to having sit through either.
So when David began going on about that special period of Brian’s life, Brian just sat there and nodded along. He had no question, not wanting to drag it out further than it would be, and just agreed quietly to everything his dad had to say. It wasn’t easy and most of what David told him he’d already learned in sex ed and from television and movies. The rest he’d kinda figured out for himself as he went.
It took less than twenty minutes for David to go through his whole thing, which made him feel better when he reached the end. Brian confirmed that he understood everything that David had to tell him and that it was important life information that he would need as he grew up. At first, there was an attempted hug then a failed handshake before the two finally just nodded to each other and walked away.
David made his way to the living room, craving a beer, but feeling good about doing his job as a parent. Brian went to his room, wondering how he was going to tell his dad he’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant.
Behind the Random: I never got ‘The Talk’ when I was growing up. I learned about sex and puberty and such through sex ed. By the time my mom tried to have the talk with me, I was pretty much covered. Personally, I don’t have an issue with kids learning about growing up in school (even though this story is clearly says otherwise). Do I think every kid should have to take it? No, of course not. I believe it is the parents right to control what their kids learn and don’t learn in school. Some argue that can make kids ignorant if no one else teaches them, but then that should be on the parent’s head, not the schools. What can I say, I’m a big fan of consequences.
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