Category Archives: Prompts

Plinky #something

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Prompt: Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

The word is doctor. Which is a little disappointing because it was a murder mystery; there are much better words in there.

What Comes to Mind:

  • Not one of these people is actually a doctor.
  • I should have invested in whatever company makes lab coats and / or stethoscopes.
  • Is there a penalty for not having a stethoscope with you? Like a little Smart car with a flashing light pulls up and writes you a ticket?
  • Why is that one cartoon doctor standing next to a pile of tires?
  • Mr. T as a doctor? Really? He probably came up with that automated blood pressure machine that tries to sever your arm in the name of medicine.
  • ProTip: Don’t let a small child hold the business end of your stethoscope while you’ve got it plugged into your ears. I’m just saying.
  • If my doctor’s smile was that big I’d wonder if they’d been in the medicine cabinet lately.
  • Blue: favorite color of doctors.
  • Did I mention that Dr. T has a gold stethoscope?
  • Enough. All these smiling doctors are creeping me out a little.

Plinky: What have you been putting off doing? Why?

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“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.” -Arthur Brisbane

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This really needs no explanation, does it.

When I talked to people about trying this legendary food as part of the Mt. Foodmore Eating Strange Snacks From Other Places Plan, the looks / significant phone pauses I received made me pretty darn a little nervous. The jar I bought on a whim remained unopened in my cabinet. I was going to get around to it, really, but maybe, maybe something tragic would happen. Like a long passed expiration date (and by long passed I mean three and a half minutes). But alas, this feisty condiment was built to last.

Now I know I could retire from the field of battle and no one would blame me, since the reputation of Vegemite is somewhere around the durian / stinky tofu level. But for some weird reason I’m determined to go ahead. After all, it’s beloved by an entire continent of people, so there’s a slim possibility it won’t make me weep, right?

Right?

The Museum of Popular Culture Presents

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2013: A Look Back at the Pre-Teleportation Era

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the site on which our museum now stands, this exhibit features items found when the building was purchased and converted into the space you see today . Here are some of the can’t miss highlights:

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Although some researchers have dated this artifact to the year 2012, it is mentioned throughout historical records well into 2013. Using complex mathematical calculations to determine the time and effort spent on the program has led scientists to conclude it was part time employment.

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Part of the basic food groups, this item marked anyone who ate it.  Very difficult to erase, this mark allows others in the group to easily confirm which members were accessing the food supply.

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This liquid was a primary source of hydration. Other varieties have been found, but the sheer number of cases found at this location alone suggests a deep preference for this drink.

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Scientists are not sure about the purpose of these woven pieces, but leading researchers postulate they were some form of dwelling decoration. Included in the collection are different sizes, shapes, and colors, all attached to pointed sticks. Perhaps these sticks were used in conjunction with the attached yarn to mount the pieces to the walls. We may never have the answer to this mystery.

Thank you for visiting our museum, and we hope you enjoy the exhibit!

Prompt:

It’s the year 2113. A major museum is running an exhibition on life and culture as it was in 2013. You’re asked to write an introduction for the show’s brochure. What will it say?

Travel

Posted in Out & About, Prompts by

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I discovered my love of travel while in New Mexico. Even though I was only in the Southwest for a few days, it was the first time in my life I felt I was ‘somewhere else’. When I got in it was dark, but the next morning I walked outside and saw a huge brown mountain rising behind the Target across from my rat trap motel the place I had stayed the night before. I stared at it so long anyone going by must have thought Target was putting out some kind of homing signal.

Travel can teach you a lot. For instance, during the New Mexico trip I learned:

  • If you’re planning to zip tie your suitcase closed, remember not to put your scissors in the suitcase.
  • When trying to rent the smallest possible car at the airport, if the agent stares at you and starts talking about ‘mountains’, bite the bullet and get a bigger car.
  • Japanese toilet seats are heated.
  • TSA dogs like gourmet brownies. At least that’s what the note next to the empty container in my suitcase said.

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What started out as a solo trip has morphed into a yearly tradition where my mom and I hit the road to check things off our ‘someday list’. We have our must-dos: market, aquarium, art museum, Duck tour. We do touristy things and eat ourselves to ruin. I usually come back with hundreds of photos and at least one fridge magnet.

And before we’ve even unpacked, we’re discussing where we want to go next year.

Extra Extra

Posted in Out & About, Prompts by

Woman Drives Around Aimlessly, Declares Day A Success

Everywhere but home– An unidentified local woman spent about six hours driving around Maryland and Virginia Saturday with no apparent purpose. Sources say she didn’t even have an idea of where she would end up, but simply headed out towards a convenience store for supplies.

‘I asked where she was going, and she just shrugged and said she’d know when she got there’ said a source familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified. ‘I think she ended up somewhere in Virginia!’ A swimmer at a beach in Maryland saw a small silver four door sedan pull up around 5:00 and a woman get out to take a picture.

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Alleged picture

After checking her phone, she drove off towards Fredericksburg Virginia, where witnesses say she dined at a local restaurant and made promises to come back to shop at the used book store. They remembered her hair sticking up in strange directions, leading some to theorize that her windows had been down for the entire day.

Camera footage shows her stopping to fill up her gas tank after returning to Maryland. A station attendant recalled hearing her say the day was an awesome start to her staycation. Witnesses have noted the sedan heading off in all different directions during the week, leading to speculation that other ‘scenic drives’ may be in progress.

Please visit our website for updates to this breaking story.

The Prompt: Write about something that happened over the weekend as though it’s the top story on your local paper.

A series perhaps?

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Someone (else… not me of course*): Creative part of brain, it is time to do a blog post.

CPoB: …..

Someone: Look, it’s been a while, and we need to post!

CPoB: *yawn*

Someone: I need you to focus here!

CPoB: Neener neener!

Someone: *sigh*

Enter the magical world of the internet. As well as being an endless treasure chest of procrastination, there are various resources to kick start a writer’s brain. Strictly in the interest of science, over the next several posts (perhaps more) I will be checking some of these out**.

I’ve been down this road before; in fact one of my NaNoWriMo books consisted of me picking a prompt every few days and adding it to my story. It started with a random character cooking a squirrel in his neighbor’s fireplace and ended with that same neighbor finding a jewelry box in a snowbank. I have a hard time deciding what was more fun: writing by the seat of my pants or the looks on others’ faces when they asked what my novel was about and I tried to explain. The story did end up making the bare minimal of sense, and turned out to be one of my more fun novel writing months.

And now I’m off to research these sites and plan future posts watch funny videos on Youtube. For science.

*I doth protest too much.

**No, I’m not being paid by these sites. I wish.