Tag: dailyprompt

It’s all my grandad’s fault

BJ Sikes, author1 Comment
Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
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For most of my young life, I HATED my middle name. It seemed so boring. So Plain. It even rhymes with plain. Plain Jane. I mean, yuk, right? That was young me. I appreciate it a bit more now. But back then, Belinda Jane just struck me as a terrible combination. It was my grandad’s idea. Apparently, there were a couple of newspaper comics during WWII that he was fond of. He told me when I was little that he named me after the characters, Belinda and Jane.

Let’s unpack that for just a moment, Grandad. So One: my parents let you name their firstborn? Okay, I guess they were young? And Two: you decided to name me after a couple of comic strip characters? WTH?

It gets better. I finally looked up these comic strips and they were not exactly as described to me by my dearest grandfather. He said they were a couple of cute blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls, just like me. Not that I was particularly blonde but okay…

So here’s Belinda. Uh huh. Cute little blond-haired girl. I can see that my grandad would’ve seen his baby granddaughter here.

But back to the topic of this post, my middle name, Jane. Apparently not everyone thought that Jane was Plain. Here’s the inspiration for my middle name, Jane from the Misadventures of Jane.

By http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6323978, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21760001

Well. Grandad. Weren’t you the lad?

Ban the word “utilize”

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If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I have an irrational hatred for the word “utilize” for REASONS.

Okay maybe just one. It means practically the same thing as “use” but sounds more, I don’t know, fancy? Educated? And people just drop it in here and there for no good reason. Just say use, folks! Really. You don’t sound more intelligent when you say utilize.

I dug around looking to see when it’s the right word. Basically, if you’re using something for an unintended purpose. So if you are hammering something with your shoe, you are utilizing your shoe. You can still say use and it’s correct though.

That’s it. So I am in favor of banning “utilize.” Please?

In my back garden…

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Dimity Hubbub and Gytha Ogg, chickens

Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.

…there are three hens in my back garden who are silly, silly creatures. They don’t do anything in particular that’s odd for a chicken and yet their antics make me giggle. Just watching them run across the garden to get to their favorite spot to scratch makes me laugh every time. Running chickens are so very silly, all waddly and plump. If I need a mood boost, I go out and watch my chickens.

Pandemic: are we done yet?

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How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

The Covid-19 pandemic: weird times to be sure. I am still not sure that it’s over for me mentally. I spent so many months glued to the statistics, stuck at home, and only seeing people through a screen. It’s hard to get out of that mindset of fear.

I thought I would have loads of extra time to write, edits, publish stories. After all, I didn’t have to commute to work, there were few opportunities to socialize and I was home ALL THE TIME.

Did I write? Nope. Edit? Nope. I survived. No room in my head or heart for creating. Now that we are in the tail end, I have finally regained my creativity.

I still work from home and our social life is minimal so there is more time to be creative. I published a book, the first in seven years. I am close to final edits on another. That pandemic reset worked well for me.

How about you, dear reader? What has changed for you?

Name that star

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Daily writing prompt
If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
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Photo by Daniel Torobekov on Pexels.com

I think it would be fun to have a star (as in an astronomical body) named after me. There are milliona and millions of visible stars so I don’t think it would make me stand out in any way. Not like naming an arena after me. I’m not much for notoriety, so that would be fine by me. But what name would I choose? First name? Full name? Pen name?

How about you, dear reader? What would you have named after you?

Five years from now?

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What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

It usually is asked in a professional setting, like in a job interview and it makes my skin crawl and my stomach clench: where do you see yourself in five years? I don’t know the answer to that question. Am I supposed to come up with some lofty ambition? And if I do, does that then make the questioner feel threatened? Or say something humble so they want me around? Ugh!!! And who even knows what their life or the world will look like in five years? I detest that question so much. So very much. Ugh.

Dream home

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Write about your dream home.

To be honest, my home is probably 75% there. I live in a Victorian with a mid-century addition. I adore the high ceilings and sturdy baseboards and door frames. It has hardwood floors in some rooms but laminate in others. In my dream home, they would all be hardwood. The windows are thin and tall, just how I like them. I think the biggest changes would be in the bathroom and kitchen. My dream bathroom is an actual room, not a little closet. Enough room for a clawfoot tub, a shower room, a toilet room and a window looking onto a beautiful secret garden. Kitchen would be all tile with updated appliances and wooden cabinets.

And I’d move the whole house to a quiet village in the North of England, with hills and trees all around, and a sweet little cottage garden.

Who would I be?

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If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?

See just one day isn’t much time so that really opens up possibilities. I like being me but it would be fun to step into someone else’s shoes just for a day. I think maybe someone glamorous and famous, just for that experience. I choose Angelina Jolie. She’s definitely glamorous and seems to have a fascinating life.

Who would YOU choose?