Saturday, February 28, 2009

सुन एंड मून Sun and Moon


G'day.

The refrigerator ticks like a clock - a ticking clock that keeps food fresh and cold. It has been clicking and ticking for the last several months. I should be concerned, but not knowing what it means is just fine for now. It is still rather new and it still keeps things cold. Just a nervous tick. Nervous it might run out of food, perhaps. Is your refrigerator running out of food? Then you better catch it, and fill it with food. Ah, pranks. It quietly moans as if to gain strength for the next click, the next tick.

In between ticks I hear rain dripping off the roof and pinging the air conditioner. Not as steady as the fridge - more occasional. A polyrhythmic exercise - 7 vs 4 and 9 vs 5 and other more complex combinations that would make any ethnomusicologist salivate. It's been an all day event with brief downpours, sullen drizzles and occasional placekeeping mists. The rain picks up steam and the beat outside on the A/C unit turns into a timpani roll. There's an occasional rimshot as an acorn makes its way from branch to air to roof to air to air conditioner to air to my ear to my brain to my hands to the keyboard to the screen to the blog to your eyes to your brain. STOP. These heavier beats are few and far between, sometimes days measure the lapses in rain music. The refrigerator continues to keep time.

Tomorrow sunshine will fill the outside world. Sun - the glow with a silent voice all its own, Vitamin D, antidepressant, grower of food, maker of light, Moonfriend - Sun. While I can appreciate its appeal, I prefer its spinoffs more than the original. Shade, moonshine and earthshine among others have more mystery and depth than the yellow circle in the corner of every child's drawing. I'm not being totally fair. The sun holds its fair share of secrets. It has a great poker face. So great we're told from a young age not to even look at it. The moon we look at almost every time it makes an appearance, ever changing but predictable. Rise and fall, wax and wane. Alias: Wayne Gibbous.

The sun itself is the bright-eyed cover for its sinister pox. Sun spots have a twisted agenda all their own - a motion and language all their own. See spot. See spot run. Sun spot run. Sun spots are the price we pay for the bounty the Sun gives us. Wayne Gibbous (if that is his real name) would care more about Sun Spots and their malicious intents if he didn't maintain such a safe distance from the yellow menace. Plus, he only shows up for a few days then hides on the dark side listening to Pink Floyd. The rest of us are stuck listening to Katrina and the Waves, day after day after day. Lucky bastard.

So, that's a rough introduction to the scene and a few bit players (and a major character) that find themselves knee deep in Vitamin D on a most peculiar October night and day.

G'night.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

थे लाश The Leash


Anticipation. Anticipation. You hit the power button and your laptop awakens from a brief slumber. Wait for it. The startup screen slowly reveals itself. Tap tap tap taptap tap enter. You log on. Dell runs through a series of antibodies, antiviruses and other protective layers you'll never really understand. Doubleclick. Firefox opens. Your pulse quickens as you scroll down your list of favorites. Bloglas McBlogland is just one more click away. And on this special day... you're treated to some brand spanking new prose. No limericks this time around. No haiku. No iambic pentameter. No mnemonic devices. No feng shui. Poetry in motion, if poetry was prose and motion was utter stillness - poetry in motion.

Brown Dog licks you repeatedly. Licking the same place again and again and again. Again. There must be infinite layers to your flavor - appreciated only through intense lickery. No. There is an end to it. Brown Dag takes his leave. Wanders about. You only hear an occasional sniff in the near distance as it searches for something else to lick or lay down upon. Brown Dog's disappeared once again. Black Dog would always find trouble in these silent moments. Brown Dog only finds more silence in these silent moments. Retreating to its quarters with no bribery or incentive. Other times, no amount of bribery or incentive would coax such movement, only The Leash would yield the desired result. The Leash - master and friend, punishment and reward, restrainer and liberator, noun and noun, smile and frown. The Leash - the latest thriller from John Grisham now in paperback and in a theater near you. Denzel Washington plays disabled lawyer Gruden Peters who has a service dog named Valdez. Big oil has nearly taken control of the US government and only a missing capsule of microfilm from 1988 can stop them from winning a Supreme Court case that will put Jacob Exxon in the White House. Un-ironic spoiler - the microfilm was in the dog's leash which falls to the floor when --> Valdez jumps up and gives Exxon a black eye. Sadly reviewed as Grisham's most uninspired work since The Paralegal.

G'night.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

You know it's tax time...


Don't be fooled by the lame title... this blog post is CHOICE!

Despite the preaching in my previous post, I find myself indoors computing on my couch. Granted, it's cold and dark outside... so indoors is the place to be. I will find my way to a new spot in the room. The corner by the bookcase looks good, if my expanding arse can fit there, I'll do it.

It didn't fit. So off to another corner. Also cramped. But I've found a spot on the floor. Mickey McWeenis has taken a spot on the couch - so everyone is comfortable.

TOPIC: The guy on the side of the road who's dressed up as the Statue of Liberty trying to get me to get my taxes done with those that hired him.

It's wrong on so many levels. I won't deride this guy... he's out getting relatively fresh air and exercising all day long for what can't be a whole lot of money. An honest living. While the obvious concern is the quality of tax advice one might receive from a company that has a mascot out on the street drumming up business, my thoughts go elsewhere. How is this guy evaluated? What training has made him polished enough to meet management's expectations? Was he taught the big Moses gestures or is he just riffing out there? The guy on Market Street and Gordon Road here in Wilmington NC is INTO it. I respect him. Eye contact with every driver. Cold as hell but he's doing his thing. How many people drive by and flick him off? It's got be in the thousands by the time April 15th rolls around. I tip my hat to anyone who does a job I could never do... and insane tax mascot, I tip it to thee.

disclaimer: I don't wear a hat primarily because it makes me look like I'm nine years old. This was not a problem when I was nine, but after say fourteen... it was time to hang it up. Nevertheless, I tip my hat figuratively.

Life Quiz:
1. What do you want to do with our life? fill in answer here: ___________________
2. Every day I ___________________
3. If your answer to #2 has nothing to do with answer #1 you've got a problem.

Dream every night, act on it every day and you've got a shot. Keep your eye on the ball and follow through.

It amazes me that my brain saves some quotes from my past and won't let them go. People I spent all my time with growing up, I can't remember a single thing they said to me. But a few things said to me by otherwise peripheral characters in my life stick out so strong. I'm not really sure why. I'm not sure if everybody's brain works like mine (pretty sure that's not the case - probably a good thing) and does the same thing. Keep your eye on the ball and follow through is one such phrase... damn good advice.

BLOG UPDATE: I hope to write more consistently with no purpose or direction. I failed my own life quiz. Time to keep my eye on the ball and follow through.

word.