Writing Prompts 2022

[taz_39]

I got lazy about these last week, this is to catch up.

And yes I did realize I was also dating them with December 2021 dates. smh.
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01/24: What is your least favorite chore?
A: I haaaaaaaate scrubbing the shower. It never seems to get fully clean, there's always peeling grout or mold somewhere I can't reach or stains that won't come out of the tile. I can scrub and scrub and scrub and it only takes a few uses for the shower to look dirty and used again. It's basically never actually clean and I hate it.

01/25: What do you like about your neighborhood?
A: Mostly, the neighbors, the other homeowners across from us and on our other side. They have been absolutely wonderful. They alert us when they see something's up on our property, they share tips with us and gripe about the HOA with us, and we exchange baked goods at Christmastime. We really couldn't ask for better neighbors.

01/26: How often do you check your phone?
A: Right now, very often. This is because in the pit between numbers I need to pay attention, and that can be hard to do with the repetitive nature of the show. Musicians used to read books or magazines in the pit; now I read a book on my phone. I am also beginning to look for jobs for when the tour ends, so I do a little of that or scoping out what will be in the next city. Not to mention checking social media, paying bills, ordering supplies, etc.

01/27: What would you miss if you stopped using your smartphone for 48 hours?
A: Hopefully that would not be 48 hours in a new city, but if so, I would deeply miss Google Maps. Sure I could look up places and directions on my computer before heading to a destination, a la 1990s Mapquesting, but often if I have to walk miles to get to a necessity I like to look while I'm there to see what else is around, or to find a bathroom or food or avoid dangerous areas. That and Messaging in all its forms. This is how I receive last-minute changes to our tour schedule, including emergency covid tests and unscheduled rehearsals, while out doing something else. If my employer can't reach me when something happens, that's pretty bad news.

01/28: How do you feel about getting old?
A: What an apt question considering that my birthday is in two days! I will be 38. How I feel about getting old changes from day to day, but majority of the time I'm pretty ambivalent about it. Everyone gets old if they are lucky enough, right? On one hand I feel glad to have "made it" as far as I have, and hope for another 38 good years. On the other hand I feel the clock ticking down and know that time wears on the body and causes all sorts of issues that I will have to face, some of which will not be pleasant. So I try to be preventative, and think ahead, and preserve what I have. But I'm also realistic: there is only so much I can do to "prevent" aging, and I mostly want to embrace changes with joy and curiosity. Currently I am fascinated by my growing number of grey hairs and how they suddenly appear on my clothes, stark against the black of my concert clothing. I'll have to keep an eye out! lol

01/29: What's your favorite breakfast food?
A: I love all breakfast food, so much. Probably because I have a sweet tooth and so much of it is sweet. My favorite go-to breakfasts are oatmeal with yogurt, and toast with eggs and/or nut butters. My favorite "special" breakfasts are All The Carbs, such as pancakes or crepes or muffins.

01/30: What is your favorite thing to eat or drink during winter?
A: Not sure I have a specific favorite, but hot soup is always more of a winter food, isn't it? A hot bowl of ramen on a cold day is magical. Or chicken soup when you've got a head cold. Or tomato soup with gooey, crunchy grilled cheese, or Italian wedding soup with a piece of nice crusty bread.

01/31: How often do you stay up past 3am?
A: Not very often at all. Had some all-nighters in college and sleepovers at friends' houses when I was young, but somewhere in there I probably at least dozed. I've done it for real maybe once or twice. It's hard to stay awake straight through for that long.

02/01: What was your favorite subject in school?
A: I liked arts classes, and also English Lit. In Lit class I'd usually read the whole lesson book (which was essentially a bunch of short stories or bits of larger novels with discussion prompts) by the end of the first day while the teacher was reading the syllabus. I loved reading. I also loved science but had some pretty awful science teachers. Still wonder what might have been if someone had encouraged me toward STEM.

02/02: If you could change a decision you made in your past, what would it be and how would it change your life?
A: Well, there are a few to choose from but: I would be there a few days before my mom passed away. A few days before her death, my stepdad called and said this might be my last chance to talk to her. And I didn't go. Giving the excuse that I had church choir rehearsal. Because I was afraid that my dad and stepmom would be angry with me for choosing my mom over church stuff. It was one of the worst decisions of my life and I deeply regret it. In those days I made a lot of decisions around conflict avoidance. Choosing the wrong action could come across as favoring one parent over the other, which resulted in yelling matches or punishments or maybe just plain "we're disappointed in you" which was the worst of all. So I 99% of the time chose the path of least resistance. Would my parents have let me go see my dying mother without dirty looks or a lecture or holding it over my head later in life? We'll never know. I wish I could take that choice back.

02/03: With what are you happy to be done doing?
A: This is going to sound cruel and it probably is, and I don't care because it's the truth. I am happy to be done trying to meet the expectations of my parents. Because they're dead. Honestly, everything that I did pleased my mom one way or another, so I would have loved to keep trying to please her and making her happy for the rest of eternity. I'm referring to my dad and stepmom. They loved me and my sisters in their own way, which was a strict way, a discipline-first way, and in a way that clearly showed that while they loved us, we would never meet their expectations for what kind of people we should be. My dad was proud of me...when I accomplished things. I don't think he was ever proud of Just Me, Sans Accomplishments. With he and my stepmom, there was always something lacking, something that they needed to critique. I didn't date whom they wanted, I didn't dress to their standard, I didn't have enough friends or Christian-enough friends, I didn't pursue a stable career, I didn't go to church enough, I didn't get married when socially appropriate, I scandalously lived with two caring and kind gay men during college, I continue to scandalously live with a partner who is caring and kind and wonderful. All of these are things that have never been let go, have never been accepted, have always been something to keep in the back pocket to conveniently bring up when it's time to "air dirty laundry", even up until last year.
But now all that is over and done. No more trying to be someone else every time I go home for a visit. No more feeling ashamed or guilty because my parents disapprove of this or that. I can live a good life, as myself, without causing problems for anyone else. It is actually pretty liberating.