Stoical Geezer

Old Companion Nine years— a quiet partnership of keys and thought. My Google PixelBook, faithful as a good pen, and quality paper, carried drafts, doubts, and small morning revelations. Today it went dark! I am gratified for the long service given, yet disconsolate at its sudden silence. But the desk is never empty for long. A new machine arrives tomorrow— Lenovo, bright with promise, its MediaTek Kompanio heart eager to wake the screen again. Hope, like a cursor, blinks— patiently waiting for the next line.

#Emoetry prompt for 3/6 is #Gratified

Gratified by nine faithful years—
disconsolate at the sudden silence.
Still, hope powers on.

#writingcommunity #poetry

Thx, rage politics.

"The U.S. was the only country surveyed where a majority had such negative views of their countrymen."

US: 53% say their fellow citizens are morally BAD.

Canada: 92% say fellow Canadians are GOOD. ❤️

wapo.st/4d4DgLi via @pewresearch.org @washingtonpost.com

#OnThisDay 6 March 1899: Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is patented by Felix Hoffmann at the German company Bayer. Aspirin was first sold in powder form and later in tablets (1915), becoming a top-selling global drug.

#OnThisDay 5 March 1853: Piano company Steinway & Sons is founded by Heinrich Steinweg (later Henry Steinway) in New York City. Due to massive success, a factory was later opened in Hamburg, Germany, to supply the European market, while the Queens, New York factory serves the Americas.

@jason-h-abbott.bsky.social
The #2WordPrompt for 04-MAR-26 is: Buffer & Wire

Morning—
like a wire
stretched tight,
tension resonates
with things unsaid

I step back,
sip the steaming cup—

a small buffer
between dream
and demand.

#Prompt

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#Emoetry prompt for Pi day 3/4 is #empty

Eager for inspiration
Mind poised to write
Pen hovering bravely
Thoughts… nowhere in sight
Yet another coffee first.

#writingcommunity #poetry #acrostic

Fever in the Strait The sky is no longer a canopy, but a grid of coordinates and heat. From the tower of a carrier deck, the birds of steel take flight, shaking the salt of the Mediterranean from their wings to find a target in the dust. The desert does not heal; it only waits. The old map is a jagged wound, torn open by the sound of a thousand suns blooming over Isfahan, and the silence of a compound in Tehran where the shepherd is gone, but the fire remains. Between the dome and the drone, the air is thick with the ghost of diplomacy— a paper bridge burned at both ends. We watch the horizon for a sign of morning, but find only the glow of a closing strait and the steady, rhythmic pulse of a region breathing through its teeth.

@jason-h-abbott.bsky.social
The #2WordPrompt for 02-MAR-26 is: Wound & Tower

Maps are just paper until they bleed; then they become a debt that fire cannot pay.

#Prompt

'Unlike the United States,' Says Security Chief, Iran 'Has Prepared Itself for a Long War' | Common Dreams ​"Trump plunged the region into chaos with his 'delusional fantasies' and now fears more American troop casualties," said the secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larjani.

Interesting, and concerning, perspective ...

www.commondreams.org/news/iran-re...

#OnThisDay 2 March 1959: Ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point in Sydney, Australia; estimates of $7m and four years to complete project balloon to $102m and 14 years.

Tonight’s moon hangs luminous and self-possessed, a burnished coin pressed into a cobalt sky. Craters etched in quiet relief, it floats beyond branches, serene and indifferent to our small concerns. Captured on a Pixel 8 Pro—yet the real marvel is simply looking up.

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#Emoetry prompt for 3/1 is #Bitter

Political folly is loud in the moment
and obvious in the aftermath.

#writingcommunity #poetry

My #contemplation for 2026-02-28
Do not confuse stillness with stagnation.

Stillness is a state of being; stagnation is a state of stuckness. You can be perfectly still while moving toward your highest self, just as you can be incredibly busy while remaining completely stagnant.

Under headlines that howl, Nothing feels steady. Claims swell beyond fact. Outrage outruns reason. Metrics bend to narrative. Falsehoods travel fast. Opinions pose as proof. Rumors dress as research. Truth arrives winded. Algorithms applaud extremes. Balance looks naïve. Loudness wins the hour. Even the patient grow uneasy.

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#Emoetry prompt 2/28 is #uncomfortable

When lies grow louder than facts, the honest grow uncomfortable — and the shameless grow confident.

#writingcommunity #poetry #acrostic

A new journal is not a new life—
only a cleaner mirror.

#Poetry #Freeverse #Journaling #Fountainpens

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#Emoetry prompt for 2/26 is #withdrawn

Withdrawn from the noise,
I gather what I control—
breath, thought, steady will.
The world shouts beyond my reach;
I answer only with calm.

#writingcommunity #poetry #tanka

#Contemplation for 02-26-26

If you keep your footing, that is success.

To the Stoic, success is internal. The world provides the storm, but you provide the stillness. If your character remains upright while the chaos swirls, you have achieved the only victory that matters: self-mastery.

Sterling on the desk today: three quiet companions in silver — two fountain pens and a pencil. Weighty with intention, they carry the patina of years and the promise of fresh ink and graphite. Tools for thought, for letters, for the slow pleasure of writing by hand. ✒️

#fountainpens

#OnThisDay 24 February 1932: Malcolm Campbell sets world land speed record speed of 253.96 mph driving his famous Blue Bird car at Daytona Beach, Florida. He eventually exceeding 300 mph in Utah in 1935.

#OnThisDay Feb 22:
1732 – George Washington born in Westmoreland County, VA
1819 – The Florida Purchase (Adams–Onís Treaty)
1879 – First Woolworth’s store in Utica, NY.
1978 – GPS is born with the launch of Navstar 1
1997 – Dolly the Sheep, first mammal clone from an adult cell

#contemplation for 2026-02-22: Release the need to correct every error you notice.

An act of radical acceptance, shifting focus from "fixing" to "being," saving energy for what truly matters. Letting the world be imperfect, prioritizes internal peace over external control. Presence over perfection.

Today's #contemplation:
A calm mind shortens long days.

By trading anxiety for presence, you enter a flow state that lightens your cognitive load. You aren't shortening the clock; you're just removing the heavy weight of the hours.

KitKat - my ever present, watchful, companion.

@jason-h-abbott.bsky.social
The #2WordPrompt for 21-FEB-26 is: Clue & Trick

No clear clue in sight—
the mind plays its quiet trick,
shadow over fact.
What I thought was certainty
melts like frost at first daylight.

#Prompt

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#Emoetry for 2/21 is #pensive

A nation grows pensive when promises grow loud and proof grows scarce.

#writingcommunity #poetry

#OnThisDay 21 February 1947: Edwin Land unveiled the first instant camera, the Polaroid Land Model 95, in New York. Using special film, it produced a sepia print in about 60 seconds. Inspired by his daughter’s question—why can’t I see the photo now?—it went on sale in 1948 for $89.95.

#OnThisDay 20 February 1962: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth aboard Friendship 7. He completed three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes, overcoming manual control issues and a potential heat shield failure during reentry to splash down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.

@jason-h-abbott.bsky.social
#2WordPrompt for 18-FEB-26 is: Thumb & Consult

My thumb hovers
over the screen—

a small emperor
of impulse.

Scroll.
Pause.

Consult virtues—
wisdom,
courage,
justice,
temperance.

The thumb executes,
but virtue
requires
a moment’s restraint.

#Poetry #Stoicism

@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social
#emoetry for 2/18 is #mind-blowing

Headlines at dawn—
mind-blowing stupidity
masquerades as strength.
Tariffs rise like brittle walls;
we all pay the mounting cost.

#writingcommunity #poetry

My #contemplation for 02-18-26
You are allowed to pause without falling behind.

Growth isn't linear. In nature, nothing blooms all year round. Pausing isn't a "break" from the process; it is part of the process.

On a long-ago business trip, I had the rare good fortune to attend a performance at La Scala. Beneath its gilded balconies, music rose and wrapped the hall in something close to reverence. It was more than memorable—quite magical, a night where work faded and art took command.