An Eighth Shot of Espresso: Coffee and Creativity on Mum's Third Shift

(6 Greek, 5 Hindu, 2 Japanese, 2 Chinese...and 1 English) There are sixteen words for love: 1) Agape , unconditional with no if, and, or but my goodwill towards all 2) Eros , physical purely an appreciation of the body with the soul. 3) Philia , brotherly love affectionate regard friendship 4) Storge , parental from a mother or a father to a child. 5) Philautia , to oneself concerned with one's own happiness or advantage 6) Xenia , hospitality welcome to my house mi casa e tu casa. 7) Kama , longing craving for the senses pleasure of all kinds 8) Shringara , rapture emotional bonding the giddiness of your presence 9) Maitri , compassion giving love in so many little ways food, comfort, kindness 10) Bkhati , devotion praying to your Deity day after day for peace 11) Atma-Prema , love for self we are all one, there is no distinction, no difference 12) Kachou Fuugetsu , love of nature feel the wind in the trees, the heat of the sun and get to know yourself 13) Koi no Yokan , love a

If all you look at are numbers statistics popularity you can be primed for disappointment. Four views three of those blogs promoting crypto and AI. Negativity and drama fueling clicks and arguments. Pandering to an audience hungry for content. Bad news generate revenue good news generate grumbling "this never happened. give me proof it did". Bite sized chunks for a ant sized attention span. Flashy music and graphics fake smiles and outrage hollow laughter covers unease. Desensitized to the horrors that life can unleash. "It could be worse" backseat analysts pass judgment. The hidden gems are buried in the dross: you have to make the effort to find them. If you want to open your mind and your heart and lift your spirits defy the algorithm.

The randomness of it all: teddy bears, smiley faces and the faces of customers sitting in the diner Quick pen strokes capturing the weariness the cheerfulness the hustle and bustle of servers coming and going from the kitchens shouting "corner!" to prevent collisions and the chatter of the old style cash register. Tiny pictures crammed into every available space a capture of a time when all eyes are turned away but a snapshot of the moment still exists.

Prompt: A World without Music (from The Writer's Retreat Kit by Judy Reeves ) It was strange, to move about with absolutely no sound. No birdsong, no rustle of leaves in the trees, no soft footfall in your wake. A world of complete, utter silence. Yes, every color was perfectly balanced to the eye. The feel of silk as it whispered across your skin. The tart sweetness of a newly peeled orange on your tongue.The smell of roses and wintergreen and the aroma of a homecooked meal. Yet something feels off, not quite right. Although everything else in this world is perfect, it is not perfect. There is something missing, something quite important. The world is bathed in perpetual quiet, and it's unnerving.  

  The candle burns brightly from both ends as the storm quiets down the flames flicker as they slowly reach towards each other not at the same speed or at the same intensity. The wick that runs through slowly and inevitably brings them together it may take days weeks months years as wax sizzles and drips onto the floor and freeze into all sorts of shapes out of view and forgotten. Will they finally meet or will one burn out before they can immolate each other?

 More #vss365 responses in haiku and tanka. Prompt words are marked with # #greed not just for funds time, affection, attention it's never enough #rats scurry around wondering at the wide wide world through their simple eyes. Today I ran my fingers along the edge of the kitchen knife. I had to come face to face with all possibilities. What am I to you? #Chopped liver, fancy but bad? Parade me around serve me on silver platters, but you can't live without me. Colors on my #brush pastels, the color of spring sunny storms abound. A contradiction: approval is so #fluid one day it is good the next, according to whim withdrawn because of reasons. So day after day I #muster the energy to face all of it. Old wise matriarch she always kept the peace and held it together the #glue who oversaw all that fell apart at her loss. The leading questions #probing for what I do know what you keep hidden. #Cathartic feeling when someone confirms to you that you aren't nuts that