This video describes an instance of reverse benchmarking in restaurants.  Instead of trying to mimic what other people do well, identify what they do badly and do that  well. 


I routinely use this in my writing.  I look for things that other people do badly or not at all, then I write those things.  Also I never have the patience to wait around for 20 years while other folks work through the whole identity literature process.  New trait?  Trait-having hero!  Done.  This is how I wind up with things like An Army of One (neurodiverse characters making their own culture), The Bear Tunnels (Native American time travelers), The Moon Door (women with disabilities who become werewolves), The Ocracies (everything but monarchy), The Origami Mage and Path of the Paladins (ace heras), P.I.E. (a hera who doesn't fall for a jerk), Polychrome Heroics (superpowers that involve more than crime and crimefighting), and The Steamsmith (a black, genderqueer, British, steampunk engineer).  

Go ahead, throw me prompts for things that nobody is doing well, or doing at all, in any relevant prompt call.  We can fill that gap together.

Tonight we made grilled cheese with the pretzel bread that we bought recently at the Marshall Farmer's Market.  It turned out really well.  :D

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I found this protest sign amusing.

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "support" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.  This is the last of that batch.  Check the Poem tag to see the others; it's a batch of 6 total, all with that red gift icon.  \o/


"Fatherhood Is Support"


Fatherhood is
more than just DNA,
more than just being
married to a mother.

Fatherhood is
about support.

It's a treetrunk leg
for a baby to cling to,
strong arms tossing
a toddler into the air.

It's a hand on the back
of the bicycle right after
the training wheels come off --
and knowing when to let go.

It's clapping at recitals,
at school plays, at all
of the sporting events
or other performances.

It's a calm voice from
the passenger seat
while learning to drive.

It's paying for college
and going to graduation.

It's the everyday words
that become an inner voice,
heard and remembered,
absorbed and echoed:

I knew you could do it.

This poem was written as part of fishbowl week in July 2024, based on a conversation with a_natural_beauty. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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