dailyprompt

  • A Book for Every Day

    An epic novel takes time to absorb, so reading it over and over again, irrespective of its literary prowess, linguistics, and message, could end up feeling like a chore. There are a few novels I’ve read multiple times, A Prayer for Owen Meany among them, but it was over a period of years, decades in…

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  • Viruses, irrespective of their origins, have one universal characteristic: they cannot travel over water. So, for example, if you were standing on the beach with the ocean to your right, you could rest assured that no virus could attack you from that direction. Also, if you are old enough to have read a newspaper on…

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  • Less is More

    Mmm, what would I want carrying my name? The first thing that comes to mind is some sort of structure. But definitely not a tunnel; in the event of an accident, I wouldn’t want people stuck inside me. It would be somewhat ironic if I had to call my wife and tell her, “Honey, I’ll…

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  • You Poor, Dumb Bastard

    Dear Miserly Old Prick, In the event that you’ve lost track of time (doubtless you have; it’s a symptom of living too long), it’s 2062, and you’re 100 years old. Congratulations. But are congratulations in order? Should longevity count as an accomplishment? Let us examine the situation, shall we? Presently, you’re enjoying life with the…

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  • Owl At Home

    I’m a basic man, a conservationalist in my accepted wisdoms, who practices the art of minimalism. I am also a salt-of-the-earth Italian who believes in attacking matters one at a time and correctly. Some call it OCD; I call it focus. If I’m doing something, rest assured, it is not a frivolous whim but a…

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  • I tend to lean into the extreme, to see how far I can push my body. For example, whenever you see a guy jogging in 12 degrees with a windchill factor of minus five and think to yourself, “What a moron!” chances are that moron is me. And when you question the sanity of a…

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  • The Look

    It’s said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If that indeed is the case, that repetition and expectations as they pertain to results equals insanity, then I am insane. It’s no longer debatable. For example, for sixteen consecutive years, I’ve tried explaining to Rocky the…

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  • My mission? It depends on which stage of life one is in when asked the question. In a spiritual sense and in a practical one, my twenty-four-year-old self had a much different mission than the man writing these words. Then my mission was to build a career that would help me rise to what I…

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  • My ’77 Heart Throb

    Yeah, I know, in retrospect, the red and white ’77 Cadillac Eldorado was a classic pimp-mobile. But what can I say? I was fifteen—a tasteless teen who had yet to develop any sense of sophistication. I grew up in inner-city Philadelphia in a neighborhood whose curbsides were littered primarily with Chevrolets. But my around-the-corner neighbor…

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  • Often, inspiration can hide in plain sight. Our minds take in thousands of images per day, and our ears pick up clusters of words, whole thoughts, and fragments. Amid such a mishmash, it’s difficult to determine our true influences: that which stands at the forefront of our minds or what lurks in the depths of…

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