Writing Prompt: Friendship

I might despise this weeks writing prompt. I have put off the writing it for as long as I can, until I was called on to pick the next writing prompt for the week. It kicked my rear in gear and forced me to actually complete the writing assignment.

Writing Prompt:What is the best thing about being your friend?

Every time I started to write about this prompts, I felt like I was writing a resume on why you should be my friend. It makes me nauseous. It is like preparing for an interview, where you have to sell yourself and that self being the best version of yourself. 

So with lots of thought and then even more over thinking, the best thing about being my friend is the access one gains to my cats.  My cats are fur covered devils that will charm your socks off. They demand that even the most allergic and praise their majesty.

In fact here is proof of their talent and majesty:

I am a Pizza

This weeks Prompt:  If you were going to design a pizza after yourself, what would be on it, and what would each of those ingredients represent.

I know that I picked this weeks writing prompt, but the more that I look at the questions, the more it begins to feel like a Caliper Interview question.

I feel a little ridiculous that I spent as much time thinking about this question as I did.  I have probably asked my husband half a dozen times what he what type of pizza would I be. I was running the gambit on toppings and what they could possibly symbolize. If I said extra cheese does that mean to imply that I think I am cheesy? If I said spicy sausage, does it become an innuendo to something more? The line of thought moved onto the best pizzas I have ever eaten and what was on them.  I have had pizzas that have had peaches on them, and other that are more taco than pizza.  Then I thought about shows that I watched that talk about pizza. (If Ugly Delicious doesn’t make you want to eat a pizza, nothing will.) There is so much symbolism when it comes to food and food shows love to talk about it. However, it still did not answer the question on what type of pizza I would be. 

It then came to me. 

I knew I wouldn’t be a traditional pizza. There is nothing wrong with a traditional pepperoni or cheese pizza. Millions of people love them and they are a standard at any pizza party.  I personally am an introvert. Parties are something that are fine every now and then, but I wouldn’t’ want to be at one all the time the way a pepperoni pizza is. 

I would be breakfast pizza.  It would cover all the aspects of my personality. The cheesy, the salty, the starchy and a little bit of spicy, but over all filling and full of protein. A pizza that is a little unique but not outside the spectrum of normal. 

Breakfast Pizza: Hashbrown crust topped with scrambled eggs, cheese, peppers and diced ham. 

Writing Prompt: Family History

 It is pretty obvious to any that read this blog, that I am at best an inconsistent writer. I probably spend more time in my  head then I do putting words down. My dear friend, Faye sent me a book of writing prompts over the holidays. She picked up a copy for herself. In an effort to get the words out of my head on a more regular basis, we are going to pick a new writing prompt every Wednesday and then spending a couple of days to do something with it.  Faye has picked this weeks writing prompt.

Writing Prompt: Do you know any interesting facts about your family history, if so what?

I am loosely interested in genealogy.  Mostly I like to know where the bodies are buried and if I ever needed a kidney, who to go to.  This means I have done a little bit of genealogy on both side of my family tree. Someone on my mothers side of the tree at one time was very much interested in genealogy and completed almost 8 generations  of tracking that almost makes me feel like British royalty. They included a little bit of history on the starting point of the family.

I think that one of the most interesting points in family history is that Solomon Scholl who is used as the starting point in the genealogy was a farmer, cabinet maker and undertaker. I have to marvel at the different career changes through out his life and it gives me hope that if I ever feel stagnant that I can dig up the energy to change my direction.  It also give me a laugh that I got into genealogy to know where the bodies were buried and here is an ancestor that literally knew where the bodies were buried. 

Zombie Anniversary

Every year for our wedding anniversary, my husband and I try to do something special. This year we had a loose theme to our anniversary road trip. I loosely called it Year 10 - The Zombie Anniversary. 

Now, you might be asking, what sort of things or places may a person go/do on a Zombie anniversary.  I am glad you asked. Some of these events need little to no explaining on how they are related to zombies, but trust me they belong. 

Zombie Anniversary Highlights 

1. Rocky Horror Picture Show
2. Abominable Dr. Phibes
3. Castle Halloween
4. Space Acorn
5. Evans Cemetery 
6. Monroeville Mall
7. Living Dead Museum
8. Carnegie Natural History Museum
9. Carnegie Art Museum

Rocky Horror is not just a catchy cult musical, but a story about a mad scientist bringing their creature to life. Is a zombie not a creature brought back to life? Therefore Rocky Horror is a zombie musical.

Abominable Dr. Phibesis a Vincent Price movie where the antagonist is pretty much a walking corpse seeking revenge upon the living. That might be the summary or plot devise of most zombie movies. 

Castle Halloweenis a fascinating museum that is dedicated to the history, origin and continuation of Halloween and Halloween traditions. While the proprietor is not keen on the horror aspect of Halloween, there were many historical tie ins for undead and celebration the dead. 

Evans Cemeteryis the cemetery where Night of The Living Dead was filmed. What is more zombie themed than one of the most famous zombie graveyards?

Monroeville Mallis more than just a failing shrine to consumerism. It is also the film site for one of the movies that inspire killing zombies in unique ways. That movie being Dawn of The Dead.  In addition to maintaining the majority of its structure from its gory film days, it contains a bust of George Romero, the progenitor of the zombie of modern culture. 

Living Dead Museumis not just a museum that features George Romeros famous works of film art, but discusses the media evolution of the zombie. 

Carnegie Natural History Museumhas unique animal displays that show an animal being half bone and half taxidermies. It is a fascinating to look at and has a slight Return of the Living Dead vibe to it.

Carnegie Art Museumliterally has a sculpture in bronze by Thomas Schutte called Zombie VIII. It is a unique piece of work that makes me wonder what the other pieces in the collection looked like. 

Now you are probably wondering, how does the Space Acorn tie into a zombie themed excursion? In December of 1965 an object fell from space.  In 1968 Night of the Living Dead was released. In the movie there is discussion of a comet that fell from the sky and may have caused the calamity with the undead.  

Gift Idea

 Now that it is November, the Christmas holiday decorations are in full bloom.  There are certain stores that I am just avoiding to avoid the glitter.  Part of the holiday season, means finding gifts for loved ones and family. I am going to share with you the gift that keeps on giving.

A gift that will not only provide emotions but create memories. 

A gift of a potentially haunted object.

It doesn’t matter where you live, thrift store and antique store are a staple. Anything you buy at thrift store or antique market has the potential to have memories attached to it. What is a haunting but a memory of a person or event? 

This gift is simple:

1. Find an object that speaks to you. 
2. Write about a potential history of the item
3. Gift the item to someone

You want an example?  Absolutely.  

 

The Dog:

When I was a young girl, my mother had a dog named Riley. Riley was a sheepdog mixed with terrier. My mother loved this dog, and took this dog with us when we moved across country.  Riley was sweet as can be, but epileptic. There wasn’t any sort of trigger to what would cause an epileptic episode for Riley, so all of us learned how to take care of him when he would start to shake and drool.  This statue is a memory of the epileptic dog of my childhood. 

If I were to gift this statue to my mother, it doesn’t matter how ugly it is or that the eyes look like they are trying to escape its face. Adding a little story to the statue would guarantee that she would keep this monstrosity forever and ever, because it is now haunted with a memory.  

Bread Ape

  I am sure that you have heard the old saying “Some people make bread. And some people bake apes.” I think that I might fall into the later category.  I also may have made that saying up.  No one bakes apes.

My friend Tanya gave me a bread starter. It is kind of like a tamagotchi. Occasionally I need to feed it and take it out for a walk and sometimes even make bread out of it.  This is my first attempt at turning a tamagotchi into bread. 

I am pretty sure I made an ape. I don’t think that bread is supposed to look like this. A yeasty, warm bread ape. I am currently letting it cool, before I chop its face open.  

I don’t know if this counts a bread win, but I tried. That counts for something, right?

Deciphering Dreams

I thought I would share something out of my dream journal.  If you are into deciphering dream, I would be interested in your interpretation. 

Niece 

Dream

I had the most terrifying dream. I was teaching my Niece how to drive. We were rounding a corner and instead of easing on to the break and turning she hit the accelerator and went straight in her panic. We drove into a house via double doors and them up the stairs. The nose of the car touched the master bedroom door. We eased the car to the street and the placed the doors against the frame. Then spent time looking for paper to leave a note/ apology. The owners came home and were so happy that we were fine and had meant to replace the doors anyway. The owners name was Debra. My Niece was very sheepish over the whole thing. Like this isnt the first time she has driven a vehicle into a house. I am pretty sure I was more upset than either of them.