1st of November to the 15th of November

We are almost at the year’s end. It was as previously mentioned a fast one. At this point in time, a tenth of Germany is sick with some type of respiratory disease. Not our family. Knock on wood. After the holiday, the slow and cosy Christmas feeling will not (yet) set in. Almost every day from now until the new year is filled with something to do. If I get some time to think, I will make a plan how to use this blog/mailing list in the next year. Maybe the 20 people that read this can give me their input? Should I write in German or English? What should I write about? Comedy, life, politics, books or games? Let me know! Here we go with one of the last batches of stories I have written according to writing prompts from a book.

1st of November: “A character with immortal life - what are their struggles”

What would they struggle with? I believe they would struggle with leaving mortals back behind, but then they get used to it. What they would struggle with is that some perishable items that they love will never make a comeback. What if our immortal characters have been big fans of Crystal-Pepsi? That stuff will not make a comeback. What if their favourite restaurant closes? Their favourite car not produced any more? Those super comfy socks that you had trouble finding in the first place - never again to be produced. Surely there are ways to uphold whatever our immortal characters wants to hold on to. But that might be a full-time job. Meticulously remember recipes, step-by-step-instructions and juggle relationships with your influence to keep a restaurant going. Playing companies like puppets on strings to keep your product in production. Doesn’t sound fun!

2nd of November: “Choose a painting and spin a story around it”

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun - The Woman Clothed with the Sun, her brother the Man Clothed with the Moon and their heir the Child Clothed with the Water struggled for centuries. One day a beast rose from the sea and devoured the Child. There were no signs of that beast before, the sea was calm. Only ominous red clouds darkened the sky. As the clouds covered the Moon fully, the Great Red Dragon announced his second coming. A roar shook the earth and the beast took the Man while he was asleep. In complete silence, the Woman woke up and felt that something was wrong. Her brother not in his chambers and the child missing since the day before. As she walked to the chambers of her brother, the silence became deafening. Wings rose up and out from broad shoulders that cast a shadow over her shining presence. The end was nigh. Her glowing body in a last ditch effort looked at the best. The Great Red Dragon and the darkness. The hierarchy of power forever changed.

3rd of November: “Truman Capote a simple saying”

The early bird catches the worm. - As the strongest snake breaks the shell, the fastest lion rips into the gazelle, and the most aware cat avoids loosing one of nine live to the dangers of the world. The law of nature dictates who will survive and strive.

4th of November: “The inner life of pets”

I always wonder what goes on in our cat’s tiny brain. She is a strange one. She was found in a rubbish bin in Shanghai. Chewing on plastics to stay alive at maybe 4 weeks old. People say that cats think of us as giant dumb cats, but I don’t think that applies to our cat. She still likes to chew on plastic and just looks at us when we catch her doing it. She is afraid of the outside world and very wary of other humans. We got kind of accepted, but she always sends mixed signals when she wants to be pet, as she runs away at first, and so she makes us chase her. Most of the day, she sleeps under a blanket in some room, and she talks a lot when she wants something. In her world, we are just there to provide food and help out with tasks. Not like servants, more like tools, and it is all our fault. She wants to be shown where an insect went that she hunted when it disappeared out of sight, and she wants attention and to be chased, sometimes pet. Her day must be really boring with all that sleep, or the dreams must be wonderful. Only the zoomies she gets late at night are the exercise her body craves, and the two and a half giant tools are just that.

5th of November: “A fidgeting person in a waiting area without telling the reason for the anxiety”

She just sat there. I noticed her right away. Pulling at her skirt and picking up those pieces of lint from her cosy looking pullover. Everyone else in the waiting room did the usual stuff: staring at a phone, combing through the provided magazines, or talking to the other old people and sharing complaints. No phone in her hand. Not getting up to grab a magazine. Just alone with herself and avoiding the gaze of the old ladies. It is customary to clean up and dress up for a doctor’s visit, but she was dressed to the nines. The blazer on the stand was clearly hers and matched that beautiful skirt she had on that was modest and professional at the same time. I wonder where she comes from. No bag and maybe not a planned visit to the doctors. However, she seems prepared to be here. Every once in a while, she adjusts her hoop earrings. She shifts a bit in her seat. It’s almost 9 o’clock and I get called into room number five. On the way, I notice a recruitment poster: “The job with a purpose - be part of the future - a future in healthcare”.

6th of November: “Research in writing - describe an interesting article you found”

This comes really easy to me. I find myself easily too invested in something that has no impact on me or the people around me, nor do I have any way of changing the outcome of said thing. So for this exercise, I learned about monstrous veganism. Frankenstein’s monster has been identified as one of the first creatures in writing. A creature, human or non-human, that is not born in the traditional sense and feasts exclusively if at all on non-animal products. Fascinating. The fact that these creatures do not consume animals as a differentiation from humans that induces anxiety and fear in the protagonists or people that encounter said creature I find especially interesting.

7th of November: “Colloquialism to represent a place”

This would be easier in German, but here we go. “Oi, mate! You have a fag?” is the first thing that comes to mind, but there might also be something else. For example for the longest time in China I have heard on the subways “Let’s get ready to alight from the left side.” and poked fun at that bad translation, where in fact that is correct and still used in Taiwan for example, so even though that might not be colloquial at all, but it makes me think of a certain place and even time.

8th of November: “A god’s eye perspective of myself”

So there is this dude. A nice fellow. Coming from a super rural place and has lived in big cities for the most part of his life. He learned some languages and is fascinated by martial arts. Some dude who was in his own head a lot until he hit puberty and read books as if the earth is running out at some point. When stressed, this guy becomes analytical and calculating, which is usually not his nature. This guy has an unusual sense of humour and likes to talk about things that people surrounding him might not have enough context, that he sometimes also forgets to provide. I don’t think there are dull moments with that man, and it is easy to convince him and change his stance if he is proven wrong or factually corrected. You might think he is into spirituality, but in reality he is likes to read up on it and find stuff that is proven to work and scientifically underlined. A guy to hang out with that wears his heart on his sleeve, even to his detriment.

9th of November: “Judge a book by its cover”

Let me pick "Lapnova” for this, as I have bought it and not yet started. I believe this book will be about someone that represents innocence and purity. The little sheep on the cover looks beaten down and struggling, so I gather from that the protagonist probably will have to struggle with a lot of hardships and horrible things that happen to him/her. The minimalist style and the drawing (it looks photorealistic) of the sheep I find visually appealing and a very cool cover. It seems so simple, but also screams: this is a classic novel that deserves such a poignant cover. So I think this book will somehow touch me and put me through a lot of emotions. I can’t wait to read this!

10th of November: “If you would write an esoteric blog, what would it be about”

100% this would be a blog about debunking esoteric bullshit. I would look at all the charlatans and crap products that are marketed. I would then write about the product or claim and the people they target with said product or claim. Then I would check if there is any proof or studies of the product or claim that make it work or to the contrary. Also, I would introduce an evilness rating. Meaning, I would check if there is harm in doing whatever the product or claim says and if they specifically target people that struggle and are willing to try everything and spend almost anything on that product or claim. So the ultimate evil stuff would be something that convinces people that have some sort of cancer to just spend boatloads of money on something that doesn’t work at all and on top of that tries to convince them that scientific and medical solutions will not help or even worsen their condition. Yeah, that would be my blog, but there would also be stuff like: meditation is good…

11th of November: “A story of a veteran you have heard or know about”

I mean, I have never really got to know my grandfather. He died when I was 3 or 4. A tall blond man that was eighteen to 20 during world war two. A man that joined the army and became part of a terrible regimen. Someone that when the war ended fled and avoided the final “meet ups” with his fellows that turned out to be firing squads or just places where they hung people from your group. I just know this from heresay, but I found it fascinating that this man somehow ended up meeting my grandma. A woman that was great with languages and pretty smart that later on translated for the Russians during the GDR and so politically couldn’t have been more different from her husband made it through a lot of years. I don’t think my grandpa was a “nice” guy. I highly doubt it. For sure he was marked by the experience in the military and rightfully so. We are not in America where we honour every veteran and I think that is okay. There are no good wars. It’s all shit and produces more shit and ruins peoples lives.

12th of November: “A chance encounter between two strangers”

Mask, heavy-duty miltitary green duffle bag, black clothes. It’s all there. 20 minutes to his big moment. He is shifting around on the front bench of this rented white van. Less than a minute to the doors of the bank at the least frequented time of the week. He checked that while scouting out the place for months. The gun he has ready looks very real and only he knows it is not. 10 minutes, he makes his way into the back of the van to put on the black clothes, the mask and swung the diffle bag around his shoulders. 1 minute he leaves the van and marches towards the doors. There right in front of the automatic doors someone bumps into his shoulder. “What the fuck!” they shout at each other in a jinx-buy-me-a-coke kind of way and they both look up and down at each other. The other dude is the same height, voices similar, same duffle bag, and only one of them wearing all black, the other camo. That is not a time to place or argue for both of them, so they nod at each other. They both have that awkward half-smile under their masks and head into the bank. Almost empty apart from the three clerks. They had to the same teller and pull their guns out of their holsters, point it at head level around the three people like a classical stand of. “Hand me the money!”, they say like creepy twins that complete each others sentences.

13th of November: “A friends status update spun into a story”

As we are entering a time of debauchery. A time where some weirdos will eat sausages and sauerkraut on Christmas and the rest just feats on some roast meat and knödel with kraut. There are also the cool and laid back uncles and aunties. The ones with seemingly no worries during these times. The red wine they sip on all day become part of their outfit during the holidays. They are not stressed. They have wine and enjoy their own company, however they also don’t mind fellow wine sippers. They are comfortable everywhere and just wait for the slip of the tongue of someone in the family and the ensuing fights that they observe from the couch or walking around as confident as if no one would be there with their glasses. Keep the wine flowing and you will know too, that: “Dinner and Wine combined make Winner”.

14th of November: “A fight is taking place in the kitchen describe everything but the people”

There is another kitchen roll flying through the air. The floor already covered in red wine and broken glass with a pair of shoes already standing in a puddle, but without human feet that fill these shoes. Just shoes alone, sad and in disorder, looking to be put in a place that is more familiar to them. An arm wipes the kitchen board and sends spices and some cuttlery flying to the floor. This is all surrounded with the beeping of a smoke detector and that provides a beat for the insults that get thrown around the room like other handy appliances that can be grabbed. As the throwables in close proximity wear out the the hanging cupboards are opened by dirty hands. The underside of the cupboards is a trap for the smoke that constantly leaks from the oven. Dishes get grabbed and get converted to heavy frisbees and the walls get hit as the shoes on the floor get showered in china pieces.

15th of November: “A positive affirmation for myself”

You have the right to take up space, to be in places and to be heard. Your words have weight and power. You make people smile and laugh. They feel that you are in a good place and want to take their hands and lead them there. Your intentions find fertile ground. You are heard and understood.