Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh

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  • prompt 77

    Think back on your most memorable road trip.

    Beautiful American Scenery: Image from Google

    It was in late October of 2018 when I took my first road trip from the East of the Atlantic Ocean to the West of the Pacific Ocean by bus. I was a would-be Antonia from O, Pioneer by Willia Carter, who wanted to claim better luck this time in the West. I wanted to do it in the original pioneer spirit, having read By Ox Team to California by Lavinia Honeyman Porter and Overland Journey by Horace Greeley. So I took The Hound of Troubadour, aka Greyhound Bus, from Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC to Los Angeles, Califonia.

    What I knew as a non-stop Greyhound to Los Angeles turned out to be six days of transferring to 3 other buses at transfer stops and five nights on the bus without heat in the shivering temperatures of the treacherous Mid-Western climates. I befriended an elderly lady who got on the bus with me from NYC to our mutual destination. So I wasn’t all alone, but those young passengers who constantly talked for two days on the bus were the only carbuncles invading the peaceful orderliness of the bus. Naturally, when they got off the bus to their stop, everyone applauded.

    After the arrival at my destination, I felt like Julius Caesar, who said, “Veni, Vidi, Vici.” (I came, saw, and won). And I crossed the Rubicon River on a steel wagon, even if it was not driven by six oxen like Lavinia’s wagon. Following Horace Greeley’s advice on moving to the West in the fashion of Lavinia Porter made me on par with these brave 19th-century souls who had made it thus far to the outpost of their comfort zone. And that’s not the end because I still see the West, particularly California, as the Wild West with all those place memories that envelope the region and possess the inhabitants’ souls. And I am a frontierwoman trying to claim my happiness among the swashbuckling cowboy-wannabes, glittering demimondes, and hostile nomadic dwindlers. ✨⭐️🧚‍♀️

  • prompt 76

    What snack would you eat right now?

    Snacks are like faerie food comprising chips, crackers, nuts, and sweets, an airy guilty pleasure gratifying but vanishing at one fell swoop. And I would eat the following faerie food if it materialized now.

    Gummy Worms – Not by Haribo, which is too hard to chew, but by Black Forest, which is Delight.

    I love it 😍

    Keebler’s Reduced Fat Club Crackers – I love this! I have been in love with this faerie food for 20 years. Softy, buttery, and airy! It’s a pinnacle of faerie food.

    Wheat Thins Reduced Cracker – It’s 100% Whole Grain, and I love the texture of it, not to mention the taste.

    Last but not least wholesome nature 😅

    Lightly Salted Cashews – Almond is too hard, pecan too big, but cashew is the fittest. I can see why the nuts were popular snacks during the Elizabethan period in England, especially for theatergoers.

    So these are my favorite faerie food I would eat right now. My lunch hour in the office is also beginning to end. Signing off. 🤓

  • Prompt 75

    Come up with a crazy business idea.

    Busy at my curiosities shop 🌟⭐️🧚‍♀️ image credit “Kiki’s Delivery Service”

    It is said that those of us whose zodiac animal is Tiger are better suited for being employers. But I am an employee and have always been. Today’s prompt topic is apropos of my dormant nature suppressed by the immediate need for livelihood. Under the Universal Literary License, here’s a list of my business proposals.

    Welcome to our shop! 😃

    1. Erasing the Past – I will find a path to memory lanes for clients and send them to the moments of regret to erase the carbuncles so they can start afresh. Dr. Steven Hawkings said we can never go back to the past, while we can reach the future, but there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his theory or hypothesis. When they return to the present, then they will not remember anything. No more mindless and inefficient counseling or therapy that will only exacerbate the pains of the wounded souls and keep them anchored in the ditch of the past.

    My shop assistants: Toro and Camille from L to R 👍

    2. Hearing Aid to Understand the Animals (exclusively adjusted to cats) – There are apps invented for understanding your cats’ sounds, but mine will not need to be downloaded but purchased at my store. I have mastered understanding the language of animals, specializing in the Feliani Silvetris (Domestic Cats). Cats can be very vocal, just like my Toro and Camille. Domestic cats have developed their lingual structures under the influence of humans. Besides, cats in the States speak differently from their counterparts in other parts of the world. My cats are bilingual understanding English and Korean. With my Hearing Aid, you have no qualms about what your cats are trying to speak.

    3. Automatic Automobile – No, not the one from Tesla. My cars will not need Driver’s Licenses to drive them. The age limit for driving my Automatic Automobile will be from 18 years old to as long as you can go around. The 18 years of age is what Arstitole believed was the ready age for marriage. You can rent it for 20 dollars for a day. Don’t worry about accidents at all because they are magically operated.

    4. Glamour Spell Book – The book has been licensed by Pixies, German faeries known for this spell to make women beautiful. I know that beauty is only skin-deep, but you can’t deny that it attracts others to learn more about your inner self. There are copies available, but you have to buy them at the store. Not available online. No more celebrity-owned beauty. It’s the democratizing of beauty for all.

    My Curiosities Shop is open to all who need my magical items. I sell Magic, Dreams, and Hopes using my Witchcraft under the influence of my stars and fire and water, two alchemical elements of my spirit. But mind you if you exploit them for any selfish purpose or malice, they will change their natures.

    Toro will watch over my clients. 👍

  • prompt 74

    Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

    Image credit from Google

    I still remember when my father bought me a pretty red-colored Sanyo Walkman as a birthday present in middle school. It was in 1986 when the Norwegian pop band A-HA was my idol – or some call it Puppy Love-. So, my walkman, which became a unique noun for any portable stereo cassette tape player back then, was my most precious possession for listening to my favorite band’s music. It was equivalent to today’s iPhone. So we’re my music cassette tapes.

    I used to tape off many pop songs from radio shows: Duran Duran, Madonna, Wham, Tears for Tears, Cindy Lauper, Sandra, etc. It was when MTV was in its prime, so it was all about their looks and gestures, not to mention easy, bubbly music tunes. I loved it all, and although my musical taste is quite eclectic, the 80s music is the best of all, unlike these days. (Already! LOL). Since then, my musical horizon has widened, but the first impression is the most indelible. By the way, Duran Duran is still alive and kicking, so it’s good to see them, especially to their loyal adoring fans.

    Come to think of it, I feel privileged to have lived two centuries, having witnessed the advent of the Digital Age and enjoyed its bells and whistles. I wonder if this is what it was like to live between the Bronze Age and the Metal Age at the Fall of Troy. I wonder if Aaenas escaping from the burning Troy into the Great Era of Rome would have felt the same? 🤓

  • prompt 73

    What is your mission?

    Image from Google

    Sometimes, I just want to call it a day in my life. Blue or Black, Low or Dark. You call it depression, but I call it existential despair, which is not clinical but – well – existential that empirical situations shape the way I look at the world, not knowing what the purposes of my life are.

    I’ve read Dr. Viktor E. Frankl’s books about logotherapy, including his memoir because he is someone I could associate with in terms of his remarkable resilience and mind power to overcome his horrific experiences at the death camps during WWII. He said three values help us to find the purposes of life, which are Creative Value, Experiential Value, and Attitudinal Value. Of these values, I am practicing the Creative and Experiential Values by reading and writing because these are something I have been doing well since my childhood. Or I should think so.

    That said, my immediate mission is to finish the books I have downloaded on my Kindle, such as Think Again by Adam Grant and The Greeks by Philip Matyszak, to write book reviews on them. Writing book reviews is another habit I have been doing since the beginning of my nine-year-old blog. But these days, under the pretext of exhaustion from the job, I haven’t done it, so this will be my immediate mission.

    Another mission is to keep living a life, even if I don’t know what it leads me to. These days, I frequently contemplate why I should continue to live. But those who come back from near-death experiences or death said living is much better than death. Since I have not been dead yet, I can only believe them. After all, you must believe someone who has gone through such an ordeal, right? Like Dr. Frankl, who survived the Auschwitz.

    I think of the motto I created, which will be my credo for missions in life: “There’s Hope, There’s Light. Clear Mind, Open Heart. Keep Calm, Always Write.”

    Peace. 🌼💫🧚‍♀️🌍

    My motto created by me⭐️

  • Prompt 72

    What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

    I heard that Cher has publicly defied growing old. Sometimes, youth comes with beauty, which is what Cher has achieved under the spell of medical magic. Has she made deals with spirits or consulted Dr. Faust?

    The Greek gods knew too well that aging is a mortal’s Achilles Gun. So when the immortals favored selected mortals, they deigned to bestow eternal youth on them either by giving them ambrosia or throwing them in the amber of a fire. But then you have to make deals with whoever promises you with the gift of youth.

    Cicero said nature has its things in place, and each age of human life has its place in nature. So, not acknowledging it is asking for trouble, such as Vampires. There are also Madonna and Cher, who may be vampires in the beautiful woman’s hiding. They are strong-willed, successful women with money to purchase their tickets for youth. Besides, they never reveal their actual ages in public. Are they ashamed of being considered as women of their ages? Don’t they also advocate women’s rights? Isn’t agism another tacitly recognized form of discrimination in our society?

    Regarding aging, I also think about the movie Logan’s Run, where people aged 30 and over become executed under the pretext of being rejuvenated. It’s a society of youth and a cult of beauty. If you are not young, you are not beautiful anymore. That is a formula in our world today.

    I am growing old, and to be perfectly honest, I am also scared of it because I can see the streaks of my hair being shades lighter. As a working woman, looking young is essential to survive in the workplace, whether you agree or disagree. But I don’t want to become a Vampire by making a Mepistolean pact. I want to be like Cleopatra, whose age can not wither, nor custom can stale her infinite varieties. Mind you, Plutarch, in his Heroes, commented on Cleopatra that her intelligence and manner of speaking were the jewels of her beauty. Or like Sophia Lauren, who still looks divinely beautiful without looking like a Vampire because it matters how your inner self looks.