Denise DeVries, author

Getting out a different year and another pet.

Daily writing promptHit 5,000 steps today and drop your achievement here — we’re cheering you on!View all responses I don’t measure my walking by counting steps. I count rabbits and birds.

Daily writing promptWhat’s the most profound piece of advice you’ve been given? Did you take it?View all responses I have been offered many pieces of loving advice by friends and family. One that had a great deal of impact on my life was my pastor’s casual remark, “You need to get that light from under the bushel.” I’ve heard Matthew 5:14-16 many times, but I still preferred invisibility.…

Here are some of my posts from past birthdays… Questions Barcelona Metro Elephants’ graveyard

Daily writing promptWhat’s something you’d love to see in the future, but know you probably won’t live to witness?View all responses I choose to believe that I will see world peace and the end of hunger and sickness. If we think our desires, hopes and dreams are beyond our grasp, we stop trying to reach them. On the other hand, I’m fine with not seeing the 22nd century. I don’t plan to live…

Daily writing promptShare a proverb you think is completely wrong and make your case.View all responses “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” I’ve never understood this expression. If you eat your cake, you have it in your stomach! I grew up with many proverbs and rules for frugality. “Don’t leave a light on in an empty room.” “Eat what you’re served.” “Waste not, want not.” I know the…

Daily writing promptWhat’s a book that completely surprised you?View all responses I can think of two books that surprised me recently. Remarkably Bright Creatures and The Mountain in the Sea both have an octopus protagonist. I didn’t know that the eight-legged creatures are the most intelligent invertebrates. It’s amazing to think that those fragile bodies can carry brains capable of using…

Le chat de Charles On a day like today, I translated a poem about a cat. Tomorrow is the dogs’ turn.

One of the things I liked about school was the freedom to bite my nails. As soon as my summer haircut grew out, I’d twirl the ends and nibble the tips. I gnawed my way through a variety of school supplies and still had room for lunch. favoritetastes: library paste,pencils, pinkerasersmy Big Chief tablet paper,nails and mousy hair P.S. I realize in retrospect that this urge to chew was a sign of…

Daily writing promptWhat’s a moment that made you question reality?View all responses I question reality frequently and to various degrees every day, starting with, “Is it really time to get up already?” “Is that actually a dozen baby cardinals at the top of the dead pine?” I try to avoid news and sensationalist social media, but once in a while something catches my eye. A wave of incredulity…

Daily writing promptWhat’s a movie you expected to hate but ended up loving?View all responses I would never spend the time and money to watch a movie I expected to hate. However, I took a horror film class in college as a part of my German major. It required me to see some movies I would never have chosen myself. The first was Nosferatu, an expressionist retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula*. The…

Daily writing promptWhat is the meaning of life?View all responses Life is defined biologically as a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities with biological processes—such as metabolism, growth, and reproduction—from those that do not, generally marking the state of an organism between birth and death. The life test is much easier than the internet test of whether or not I’m a…

Daily writing promptWhat’s a word or phrase that annoys you?View all responses I have a long list of words and phrases that annoy me, but I have to tweak, pinch and prod it frequently when new ones appear. Today’s candidate is post-truth, a.k.a., lying. It joins nounified verbs and verbified nouns, along with newly invented words that are replacing perfectly good existing ones. Some examples are…

Daily writing promptHow do you stay motivated when learning something new?View all responses Recently, I have had a few opportunities to learn something new that requires diligence and mastery. I’m learning to use a publishing design program. My motivation is to complete projects and please the publisher. I’ve started a more challenging exercise program too. I’m motivated by the wish to improve…