My Pictures Of You

Cheese Soup The Magical Elixir

June 21, 2026

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

My mothers recipe for Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

Box of Elbow Macaroni

Can of Campbells Creme of cheese Soup

Salt

Milk

Breadcrumbs

This is gather complicated. Make the soup per instructions on the can. Boil the macaroni and then pour the cheese soup over the macaroni. Put in casserole pan. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

That was my childhood favorite. I remember one time my dad added kidney beans and I was disillusioned for a week.

I don’t necessarily not have a stimulus and favorable response with any foods. There is no magic transport. I am vegan so it eliminates many chances for instant transport back to childhood hood.

There for certain foods I detested as a kid, but I eat now. Our families text each other each time we have sauerkraut. I text my brother every time I make hotdog and beans. I never had them as a kid, but my brother Rob ate them all the time in his preschool.

An aside

Now that I’m my grandparent about the only things, the grandkids in the United States like are the chicken nuggets. They didn’t even even exist when I was a kid.

That’s a bit of a moot point because I don’t think I ever left childhood. It should be noted my vegan mac & cheese is fantastic.
Destination Unknown

June 20, 2026

What’s a book, movie, or TV show that you wish you could experience again for the first time?

A phenomenon I find interesting is reading something I have not looked at for a long time.

I have a story entitled Can’t Get Here from There that will be published in August. I wrote most of the story while on vacation.

It is a story of a destination unknown, where two travelers land in a destination unknown. When I wrote the story I envisioned Colombia.

It has been on the shelf for about six years. I read it recently as if reading anew. It reread it and cleaned it up and submitted for publication.

Music

I still remember having a cassette tape of the first two REM albums discreetly put in my pocket. I loved those two albums dearly. I like living moments such as this and love finding music that is different sparkling new and hits my ears perfectly.
Pixie Dust

June 18, 2026

If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be and why?

This may sound odd, but I would like to learn how to unhide my prompt on this platform. I always have to start writing using my cell phone save it as a draft and then I can do some actual typing on my tablet.

Speaking of Superpowers (fiction)

An excerpt

Oh, to have a superpower when it does not exist. I was running along the banks of the Rhine one lovely Sunday morning. Being an American in Germany is an easy thing however it has its complications. I am always amazed by the trees along the banks of the river. They are maple types as I have seen similar trees in the States. In Germany, these trees get a fresh haircut in late winter and by June they look like any other tree. I was curious about the process and started a conversation with one of the crew. He must have noticed my accent and tried to switch to English. It is an annoying habit I adore. It helped me out today until it did not. I will clarify later.

My German is not that great, but I get by. The workers were happy to engage with me as they welcomed the interruption on this day. German workers never are in much of a hurry, yet they get things done. Today had a harbinger of spring yet it felt like snow on the horizon. I was genuinely curious about the trees. Even in her baggy overalls the woman working the trees had a certain glow and it was obvious this job kept her in fine physical shape. She told me she was going to take her lunch break and told the other two people on the crew to swing around in an hour. She said she wanted to go to a bookstore in the neighborhood. There we sat on the picnic bench, and she started to weave a tale of mystery and imagination that I will always remember. Yes, she was pretty enough, yet her story telling technique was captivating.

She told me how the elixir from these trees helped with everything from your libido to learning languages. Without warning., she blew some pixie dust from the trees into my eyes, and my life has never been the same.
Hocus Focus

June 17, 2026

What is one way you have grown this year?

Life is one big placebo effect. In a way I’ve become a lot better at talking through issues.

I do have a case of ADD and I tend to hop from task to task. We discussed and researched this and one of the side effects of ADD is taking criticism personally.

So naturally I had to research this in more detail. The research does point towards that being true.

I went to my doctor and talk through the problem and was issued a prescription.

I’ve been taking the medication for about four months and my focus seems to be a lot better. I have been following tasks to completion.

The thing is, I’ve always been pretty good at big projects and following them to completion. if you involve people in the planning process, it is easier to get buy in.

Here’s a case in point where we were both an integral part of the process.

Moving is a monumental project with many inner related steps. If two people are on the same page the results should follow.

I think we did well.

As I was writing this, I noticed the window on the back door needed cleaning. I finished writing this instead of instantly getting up to clean the smudges on the back door.

Tiny steps my friend.