Monday, June 30, 2008

The odd concurrent happenings of August 23, 1867 / Parentheses



10:55 AM: Inside the general store both Thomas Goffley and Herman Brewster utter the word "webster" simultaneously for completely different reasons whilst shopping for molasses and shoe polish respectively. Thomas, discussing the latest exploits of his recently knighted cousin (Sir Webster Goffley III), and Herman, referencing the author of his newly purchased dictionary. Both men overhear the other and regard each other with uncertainty, each party suspecting the other of eaves dropping. Once casual acquaintances, they vow to never speak to each other again.

12:18 PM: Local entrepreneur and owner of the Blue Bird Inn & Saloon Saul Rigby believes he's perfected his automatic molasses machine. He's rigged it so that when the heating mechanism reaches the ideal temperature a bell will ring indicating the batch is complete. At the precise moment the bell should ring, local drunk Rufus Dilpher spits into a nearby spittoon, making an eerily similar bell sound. Saul celebrates the molasses machine's success. Meanwhile the entire batch slowly burns, becoming inedible.

2:36 PM: Josiah Kilroy stares in the bathroom mirror of room #7 of the Blue Bird Inn & Saloon. He's just finished shaving off his moustache. He's happy never to see that trouble making facial hair ever again. It was time for a change. Just one floor below young Johnny Brewster stares into the bathroom mirror of room #2. He's just finished applying a fake moustache using his father's recently purchased show polish. He'll now get the respect he deserves. Things are about to change.

2:58 PM: Clem Tinker, standing outside the Blue Bird, points across the street, indicating his intention of climbing up to the roof of the general store. Meanwhile Miss Betsy Palamino, standing near the general store, points across the street, indicating his intention of visiting the saloon. Sammy "Jumpy" Litchfield misinterprets both hand gestures as warnings of trouble on either side of the street and overturns his stage coach while trying to maneuver the horses both left and right simultaneously. A month's worth supply of shoe polish spills onto the street as well as passenger Sir Webster Goffley III.

4:06 PM: Convinced his opponent is cheating, Rufus Dilpher rises from his chair at the Blue Bird Inn & Saloon and attempts to draw his pistol. Too drunk to aim, he fires a single shot that misses its target and exits the window. Meanwhile the crazy old codger Clem Tinker is on the roof of the general store again hunting sparrows. He foolishly fires his rifle at the blue bird painted on the window of the saloon across the street. Rufus' and Clem's bullets collide above Main street, falling harmlessly into Josiah Kilroy's and Johnny Brewster's front shirt pockets, temporarily distracting them from staring at each other and contemplating whether the recent addition and subtraction of their respective moustaches was a good idea.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Two sides to every story / Flapjacks



When life throws me a doozy
and I'm feeling ill-equipped
I look to a man called Righty
who gives this handy tip

Take it as it comes
Steady as she goes
Roll with the punches
cuz Lord only knows


Now this sounds fine and dandy
but to be extra sure
I ask a man named Lefty
who offers this simple cure

Duty calls
Full steam ahead
Balls to the wall
Sleep when you're dead

Now more confused than ever
with two sides butting heads
I take my own advice
and crawl back into bed

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Dad wears a medium / Mahogany


Drunk and high at the 1999 Rose Bowl it suddenly occurs to him that he needs to buy his parents a souvenir. He manages to make is way out of the crowded bleachers to the hallway, quickly locating a stand selling overpriced t-shirts. After a painstaking episode involving choosing the proper shirt design, fumbling with his wallet, attempting to do math, and exchanging awkward fistfulls of bills, he stumbles his way back into the stands and remarkably relocates his seat. There is a sudden lull in the crowd noise after he gets situated. No doubt a crucial 3rd down situation or something of the like but he misinterprets the silence as a mass inquiry as to his gift selection. Eager to oblige the expectant spectators he reaches in the plastic bag and produces the t-shirts, hoisting them in the air, one in each fist. He senses all 100,000 pairs of eyes fixed on him, seemingly unsatisfied with his proud display, wanting something more. It then occurs to him exactly what needs to be said, the missing piece of information that will surely quell the mass's lofty expectations.

"Got my dad a Medium. . . . . and I got my mom a Large!!!"

The crowd erupts in applause. He is truly a comic genius.  The star of the show.
Also Ron Dayne had just scored again.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Idea for a Nike commercial / Orb



0:00: You are running along a pristine path along a lake inhabited by swans and ducks. There is a cool breeze. You are alone. You can hear birds. You are breathing heavy and a bead of sweat stings your eye.

0:05: The path is now a bustling neighborhood sidewalk where local shop owners and street vendors nod their acknowledgments as you pass. Although you've jogged down these streets before and are familiar with the terrain you trip on an uneven portion of the concrete and temporarily lose your footing.

0:10: When you regain your stride you find that you are now in New York on Wall Street wearing a power suit, still jogging. Angry old men also wearing power suits are jogging along side you. Some are yelling "Buy" and others "Sell" and you manage to rid your mind of the spittle flying in your face and the sharp pain in your knees as you close your eyes to consider the state of your 401K.

0:15: The chopping sound of a helicopter causes you to reopen your eyes and you are now in war torn Angola. Bullets from pursuing mercenaries pepper the ground under your heels so you run even faster which is ok because your knees are now made of hydraulic machinery like those of a robot. They pump away seemingly independent of the rest of your flesh and you scream as time/space begins to smear around its edges.

0:20: Your scream turns back in on itself. This should make you choke but you realize you no longer need to breath in the physical sense of the word. Your surroundings are an indecipherable blur of pure velocity, save for a split second where it appears as if you are sitting in church except standing in the pulpit is a velociraptor. Your bowels release.

0:25: The black hole has torn your body, molecule from molecule, yet your mind is still in the moment, still in the race. Sound no longer exists so it's perfectly quiet. You take the final turn to head down the home stretch and you slowly surpass the progress of man in reverse at the speed of light. First the moon landing, then the birth of modern psychology, by the invention of the steam car, and finally past the discovery of the pacific ocean until you jog off of the edge of the earth and fall into oblivion, setting a new world record.

0:30: Image of Nike swoosh with the words, "Just do it".

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Subtle differences / Bassoon


His thoughts settled on the smiles of his children as the wind whipped through his hair.
His thoughts settled on the smiles of his children as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He savored the subtle aftertaste of the Merlot as the wind whipped through his hair.
He savored the subtle aftertaste of the Merlot as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He decided he'd name the puppy Dexter as the wind whipped through his hair.
He decided he'd name the puppy Dexter as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He realized he'd forgotten to call back his agent as the wind whipped through his hair.
He realized he'd forgotten to call back his agent as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He came up with a great idea for for a funny prank involving several large vats of red jello as the wind whipped through his hair.
He came up with a great idea for for a funny prank involving several large vats of red jello as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He applied a generous amount of pink lipstick as the wind whipped through his hair.
He applied a generous amount of pink lipstick as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He contemplated returning the chinos to Old Navy as the wind whipped through his hair.
He contemplated returning the chinos to Old Navy as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He asked Coach Jenkins again why he never got to play as the wind whipped through his hair.
He asked Coach Jenkins again why he never got to play as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He polished off the last of the box of doughnuts as the wind whipped through his hair.
He polished off the last of the box of doughnuts as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

He ignored the screams of pedestrians and the honks of oncoming traffic as the wind whipped through his hair.
He ignored the screams of pedestrians and the honks of oncoming traffic as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

It suddenly all made perfect sense as the wind whipped through his hair.
It suddenly all made perfect sense as the bullet ripped through the chamber.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Boy vs. fly / Quicksand


The boy slammed the window shut, trapping the fly in between the glass and the screen. "It's just a matter of time now" he thought. Sure, it wouldn't have the same dramatic effect as burning ants with a magnifying glass or plucking the wings off of butterflies but torture was torture. Without food, water, or companionship the fly would soon perish and the boy would once again claim mastery over the universe. He watched the fly bounce between glass and screen over and over again, most certainly inflicting substantial head trauma, not to mention excruciating pain. He sure hoped flies could feel pain. "That's what you get for landing on my popsicle" he said, now also hoping flies could hear and decipher English. He watched the futile maneuvers of the fly for a full 18 minutes before growing restless and deciding that death by water pistol would indeed be more sporty and swift. The short trip to the garage to fetch the plastic weapon was thwarted as he slipped on the remains of the melted popsicle he had previously dropped on the kitchen floor, striking his head on the marble counter top before landing on the slick linoleum. His mother, overhearing the fall from the next room, responded to the site of her dead son by opening the window and yelling for the boy's father who was outside mowing the lawn.
The fly returned to what was left of the melting, sugary treat.

zeroth life lesson: life and death battles should be treated as such and not taken lightly, regardless of opponent.

Friday, June 20, 2008

7 movie reviews courtesy of my in-laws / Porridge



Secondhand Lions 
Directed by Tim McCanlies. Starring Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Haley Joel Osment.

We thought this movie was great. Enjoyed the performances from Michael Caine and the kid from the 6th Sense.  Surprisingly there weren't that many lions though.  A cute story.

Directed by Tom Shadyac. Starring Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, and Jennifer Aniston.

Oh you really have to see this one. It's pretty wild. Jim Carrey is a riot and Morgan Freeman is also very good as God. A very funny movie with a good message too.

Directed by Audrey Wells. Starring Diane Lane, Sandra Oh, and Lindsay Duncan.

We liked this one a lot. Diane Lane was very very good. It had some sad parts but also some very funny parts. Made us want to go to Tuscany!

Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, and Cole Hauser.

A lot of great action in this one.  It did have some pretty violent parts though.  Bruce Willis is usually pretty good and this movie was no exception.  I could see there being a sequel to this one.

Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. Starring Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, and Tia Carrere.

We thought this one was really cute.  I'm not sure who did the voice of the little creature thing but they did a great job.  It had some really funny parts.  I wouldn't mind seeing this one again.

Directed by Tony Scott. Starring Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, and James Caviezel.

This movie had some really good actors.  Denzel Washington, Val Kimer, and the man who played Jesus.  Parts got confusing when they were talking about time travel but we still thought it was very good.  Action packed.

Directed by Nigel Cole. Starring Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, and Jon Alderton.

This movie was a hoot!  It really didn't have anyone too famous in it but the story was very clever and funny.  I don't know if you know what the movie's about but you don't have to worry about being offended because the nudity is all very tasteful.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Minor improvements / Slobber


A quick note to let frequent readers know that "zeroth life lessons" have been added to all posted parables (including this one (see below)). So click on 'parables' in the right side of the page to get your daily dose of whathaveyou and to learn some lessons.

Also anyone can add comments now, you don't have to be a "blogger".

zeroth life lesson: just because we haven't cracked the whole "hitching a ride in a wormhole ripped through the dimension of time" thing doesn't mean you can't go back in time and make things better.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Witty t-shirt guy / Thistle



He hadn't noticed him when he first took the picture. There on the front page of the Metro section, standing in the background of the photograph of the new community pool's ribbon cutting ceremony was a man wearing the wittiest t-shirt he had ever seen. Frank immediately brought the paper to his editor and pointed the man out.

"You weren't kidding" his editor said. "That's one witty t-shirt. The very idea that the phrase, 'Expand your Mind!?!?' could be accompanied by a picture of a man with his head in a vice. . . . that's just the type of paradoxal boost this city needs! I want you to find this man and see what he has to say about things."

And so it began. Frank spent the better part of the next week revisiting the scene and asking around about the witty t-shirt man's whereabouts. No one knew who the man was or where he could be found.

About a month later Frank was watching the morning news when something caught his eye. Standing behind the weather man amidst the audience members was the same man wearing an even wittier t-shirt. Frank scrambled for his phone and called the station.
"This is Frank Stale from the Pittsville Propheteer. I need to interview someone in your studio audience. He's the guy wearing the blue t-shirt that says, 'It's not easy being green'."
Unfortunately the man could not be located.
Over the course of the next several months the witty t-shirt guy was seen in the stands of a Pittsville city basketball game, in pictures taken at the local church's bake sale, and in security camera footage taken from the Hollow St. parking ramp - each time wearing an even wittier t-shit than the last.

First was a t-shirt with the words "Employees must wash brains before beginning to work" with a picture of a young man wearing a business suit getting a lobotomy. Next was a t-shirt that said "Did someone say, 'Did someone say ping pong?'?" with a picture of a man pointing to another man saying, "Did someone say ping pong?" Last was a t-shirt with the words, "I said, 'Quit grabbing my chest'." written in braille.

Soon word spread and everyone in town was on the look out for this witty t-shirt guy. Where was he from? What was his story? Surely if his t-shirts were this witty his words must be even more clever and thought provoking. Rumors began to spread that the witty t-shirt guy may be able to tackle the city's public transit system's budget crisis, that he might be the go-to-guy when it came to cleaning up the corrupt police department, and that he could address rising property taxes once and for all.

Then, one day, he appeared at the steps if City Hall bare-chested. Television crews jockeyed for position and thousands of people begin to gather. The absence of a witty t-shirt must mean the man was there to speak and the town was ready to listen. Hordes of microphones were set in place to capture his surely momentous first words.

"Uh. . . . . . . Better to wear a witty t-shirt for yourself and have no public, than to wear a witty t-shirt for the public and have no self. . . . . . . Ahem. . . . ."

The crowd was silent. "Tell us what to do" someone finally shouted.

"Ummm . . . . . . . . I've always thought that advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. . . . . . . . "

Just then a rock struck the man in the right temple, knocking him unconscious. Frank Stale wiped the chalky reside on his trousers, delighted by his good aim.

The people cheered.

zeroth life lesson: a witty t-shirt and a head full of wisdom does not a leader of morons make.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Numerous pointless talents and super powers / Albatross


- ability to memorize UPC codes
- can make oneself appear 20 lbs heavier at social gatherings
- reading the minds of fish
- can shuffle cards with alarming speed in a variety of artistic fashions
- ability to make time slow down but only when waiting in line
- building VCRs using parts of a laser disc player
- can beat Mike Tyson's Punch Out
- speed reading with little or no comprehension
- can state the exact number of Arby's in any major American city
- arm wrestling
- great judge of distance using furlongs
- can eat an entire horse of given enough time, freezer space, and is allowed to make hoof pie
- skilled at calligraphy

Monday, June 16, 2008

The plaque no one ever reads / Spatula


Right alongside the bike path on the northeastern side of McCarren park there's a large boulder with the following plaque affixed:

"Here lies the much fabled Slightly Slighted Stone."
"It suddenly appeared at this very spot on a Sunday afternoon about 15 million years ago. Scientists across the globe have been queried as to its origins but no consensus can be reached. Exactly 16.667% of the scientists agree its of martian decent, 16.667% declare it the fallen fruit of the now extinct rock tree, 16.667% say that local legend 'Caveman Carl' carried it here from his prehistoric living room, 16.667% are certain it's nothing but petrified dinosaur chewing gun, 16.667% deem it the half-assed and ultimately failed original attempt at Mt. Rushmore, and 16.667% claim that it doesn't even exist and that it's a figment of your imagination."
"Its origin notwithstanding, the Slightly Slighted Stone has brought tremendous luck to all who regard it as pertinent and general malaise to all who dismiss it as stereotypical, community-oriented, dedicated landmark mularky. Confucious was staring at this very rock when he came up with that whole 'even water can wear away the hardest rock' teaching. William Shakespeare once spent an afternoon sitting on this rock and composed 'Romeo & Juliet' before the park closed that same day. Eli Whiney used this rock to sketch his original design of the cotton gin. Phil Jackson kicked this rock in frustration before coming up with the idea of the 'Triangle Offense'. An impressive list of the human race's heavy hitters to say the least."
"So the choice is yours hot shot. You can take a moment and read this plaque, appreciate the stone's beauty and history, and allow good fortune to rain down on you like fire from the great volcanos that resided here eons past, or you can simply stroll your fat ass on by listening to your fucking iPod as you lick that ice cream cone and continue your life of struggle, uncertainty, and overall apathy towards your future and family."


zeroth life lesson: take the time to appreciate your community's landmarks lest you die lonely and unhappy.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Funeral bulletin / Burglar


Richard Zeroth. . A good life and a decent death . . In Memoriam
October 7, 1977 - June 13, 2064

"Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything." K. Vonnegut

We thank you for coming. We ask that you proceed into the appropriate room based on your relationship with the deceased.

Friends to the right. Enemies to the left.

. . . . . . . God Bless. . . . . . .


ENEMIES
Prelude Music-
-looping track of cats screaming
Opening Remarks-
-asshole next-door neighbor of the deceased
-Passing of Collection Plate-*
Single-Serving-o-Rice Line-
-choice of wild or brown
-Passing of Collection Plate-*
Musical Saw Duet- "We Were Wrong"
by ex-girlfriends who dumped the deceased
Revelation/Worship of lower torso
Tribute- "You Were Right All Along"
-representative from billing department of Sprint
-Passing of Collection Plate-*
Musical Selection- Eddie Bell (4th-grade bully)
"Sorry About That"

Benediction
Postlude Music-
-looping track of pigs being slaughtered
Dedication of the Grave


FRIENDS
Prelude Music-
-"Gonna Make You Sweat"(C&C Music Factory)
Opening Remarks-
-mother of the deceased
-Cribbage-
All-You-Can-Eat Taco Bar -
-choice of chicken or beef
-Campfire-
Slide Whistle Duet- "How Great Thou Art"
by Dan & Kristie Zeroth (brother & sister)
Revelation/Worship of upper torso
Tribute- "Genius? Yes. Super Genius? Probably"
-Steven Hawking
-Ping Pong Tournament-
Musical Selection- Rick Zeroth (father)
"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car"
Benediction
Postlude Music-
-"Easy Like Sunday Morning" (Lionel Ritchie)
Desecration of the Grave

. . . . . . . Refreshments. . . . . . .

*we thank you for your donation. All proceeds go to the construction of the Zeroth School for the Sublime

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Bad tracker / Tadpole


The southeast wind rustled through the trees above. No risk of his scent blazing his trail and making his presence known before he intended. He knelt and scooped a fist of soil and let in crumble in his fingers. It had the feel of calcisol, common in this region and ideal for tracking. A quick scan of the terrain revealed scattered acorns, brittle twigs, patches of grass, and a whole story of steps once laid, ways once walked, and paths once taken. He quickly located the print of his prey. He carefully traced its outline with the tip of his finger before dragging it across, making a line straight through the print in a dramatic foreshadowing of the owner's demise. In a matter of seconds he had masterfully deduced his prey's weight (185 - 195 lbs), direction (south by southwest), and distance (no more than 1/4 mile ahead). With his prize as good as had he spit, removed the rifle from his shoulder, and rose. A preemptive smile slipped across his lips as he raised his binoculars to locate the object of his pursuit. The view of a homeless man trudging through the woods in a pair of bunny slippers caused him to drop his jaw and rifle. They landed in the brush, somewhere near his ego and his bottle of deer urine.

zeroth life lesson: far is the fall of the overconfident woodsman.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

They'll never find me / Thimble


I found this spot behind the shed where the nettles grow and the beetles dwell

They'll look for me until I'm dead or I'm dragged back down to the depths of hell

I fit between the rusty can and the broken glass by the weather vane

They'll slither right by without a glance as they gnash their teeth and curse my name

I lay face down right in the dirt with my eyes closed tight and my chapped lips sealed

They'll spit and scream with their need to hurt as they ransack nearby farms and fields

I disappear in the dust and nails so my tortured soul floats to lands unseen

They'll cease their search when they find my trail for their spirit's caught in the in between

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Big idea / Chute


That's it!
Life-sized maps!
Of course!
Ha. Take an everyday, commonly used item and bring it to the next level. Genius!
Everybody uses maps! The problem is that they're so small. Someone's like, "Hey man, how far is it to the beach?" and you're like, "I don't know. Let me check my map. . . . looks to be about 3 inches." Not very helpful.
What we need is a map where a foot equals a foot and a mile equals a mile. No more confusing conversion tables or crazy math. No more shrinking things down so small you can hardly make them out. "What's that supposed to be? A lake? A mall? Aunt Ginny's farm?" You can't tell. Maps need to be bigger.
Life-sized!
Why didn't I think of this before?
I'll start by mapping out my kitchen and then make my way towards Europe. The floor should be easy enough. Just have to map out the linoleum pattern. Nothing but 6 inch by 6 inch squares.
It's sorta like tracing.
Of course I'll need plenty of paper.
Negotiating the stove might be a little tricky. I'll have to somehow move the map from the kitchen floor to the stove without losing my place.
And then there's the cupboards. Hmmm. I'll sort of have to wing those as I don't want to take all the Tupperware and dishes out. That would take forever.
Should still work.
I wonder if Rafael will be cool with me mapping out his apartment? As far as I know he's never let anyone else in that rat's nest. I get the creeps just thinking about mapping out his bedroom.
And there's the whole map folding issue. This is going to be a big map and I think I remember hearing that you can't fold any piece of paper more than 12 times.
Not to mention the curvature of the earth dilemma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hey! What about a camera that takes pictures of what you don't see?

Monday, June 9, 2008

Party 24-7 / Ejector seat


It's midnight on a Thursday.
Set my alarm for 6:15.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

By 1 am I'm sleeping.
Some snoring as I dream.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

2 in the morn it's quiet.
My slumber is pristine.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

At 3 am you guessed it.
Good shut eye is the theme.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

About 4 o'clock I wake up.
Head to the can to pee.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Come 5 am I'm rested.
But I'm still about catching z's
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

6 in the morn I'm at it.
Greet the day like it's my thing.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Clock strikes 7 and boo-ya!
Brushin' teeth so they stay clean.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

At 8 o'clock I'm outtie.
Gotta catch that 8:15.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

9 bells is when I clock in.
Work sucks as you'll agree.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Friday 10 o'clock meeting.
More teamwork is the theme.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

By 11 am I'm starving.
Gut sounds like a machine.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

It's nooner and its chow-time.
Great egg rolls at Chin Lee's.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

1 pm's the time for spreadsheets.
At pivot tables I'm the king.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

It's 3 and it's Carol's b-day.
Cake served with ice cream.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Come 4 pm I'm jonesing.
Getting sick of the routine.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Clock strikes 5 it's go time.
Turn off that computer screen.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Belly up to the bar by 6.
I'm the first one at the scene.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

By 7pm it's ugly.
I've upchucked on my jeans.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

The hour that's 8 is hazy.
I may have kissed Irene.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

By 9 o'clock it's over.
So drunk that I can't see.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

Stumble to my door by 10.
I think I've lost my keys.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

11 o'clock what happened?
Wife greets me with a scream.
But that's alright cuz Friday night;
I'll party like I'm nineteen.

It's midnight on a Friday.
Failed to meet my guarantee.
See that's my plight cuz on Friday nights;
I party like I'm thirty-three.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Thinkvoice vs. Wrongphrase / Wisk


Saul Thinkvoice walks into the elevator. “Walking into elevator”, he declares. A minute later he’s walking down the hallway to his office. “Gonna turn on my computer and check my email in a minute or so”, he states to no one in particular. Sitting at his desk Saul yells, “turning on computer!”

Daniel Wrongphrase can hear Saul from the break room. He motions his head in Saul's direction, acknowledging his coworker's annoying habit of speaking his thoughts and tells Samantha Dooley, "It's like they always say,'six of one, half dozen of the other'."
Samantha smiles and pretends to understand as she stirs her coffee.

Back in his office, Daniel types up and sends the following email.

Saul-

Per yesterday's meeting with corporate you and I need to 'stitch in time saves nine' if you know what I mean. Let's plan on working over lunch today with the hope that we can 'count our chickens before they're hatched' by EOD. I'll swing by beforehand. If there's time to spare maybe we can even 'all's well that ends well' if you catch my drift.

Hell in a handbasket-

D. Wrongphrase


Seconds later familiar words can heard bellowing from Saul Thinkvoice's office. "Just got a new email here! It's from that undecipherable lunatic down the hall. Opening up the email! . . . . Very confusing as usual."
Just as he was about to formulate a reply his phone rings.
"Phone's ringing! Picking it up now! Hello this is Saul Thinkvoice!"

"Hey Saul. Listen. I just sent you an email and I realize now that it may have come across as a little 'there's more than one way to skin cat'. You know what I'm saying?"
"I hate speaking on the phone with this retard because he makes no sense!"
"Ha. Good one buddy. Remind me to hear it through the grapevine next time you make lemons out of lemonade."
"I'm considering just hanging up and later claiming that there must be phone problems because other folks on this floor were abruptly losing their phone connections as well."
"In that case maybe lunch isn't a good idea after all. I've got a right mind to talk to Denise about your continual 'taking time to stop and smell the roses' so to speak. I'm a Senior Director of Accounting goddammit and I don't have time to 'still wet behind the-'"
Saul hangs up the phone.
"I wonder how many sick days I have left," he wonders.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Eight explanations of a shadow / Licorice whip

  1. Crazy coffee stain that keeps following you.
  2. Malfunctioning shoe laser.
  3. Stated side effect of those new vitamins you're trying.
  4. The rough image cast by an object blocking rays of illumination.
  5. Pure wackiness manifested in dark matter mocking your every move from below.
  6. Charles Grigsby playing one of his jokes again.
  7. What you look like to blind people.
  8. The past. The ever-lingering, god-damned, regrettable past.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Procrastination justification / Isosceles


Forcing yourself to do something has to be one of the hardest yet easiest things to do. Discipline is what the kids are calling it nowadays if I’m not mistaken. Oh how it pains me so - the simple act of gliding fingers amongst themselves in familiar patterns above letters - yet what joy can be rendered from the same elementary task.
I offer you this modest anecdote for clarification: If the mere course of taking out the garbage made you feel that much better about yourself wouldn’t you do it? Wouldn’t you do it twice a day? Wouldn’t you purposely engage in activities known to produce exorbitant amounts of garbage (cooking for a large number of people, unpacking boxes of bubble-wrapped flatware, starting trash fights, etc.) with the hope that you could fill that precious receptacle faster and faster making it necessary for another jubilant trip to the curb? Or better yet, start taking the trash out when it was only half way full. And that brings us back to this very sentence. Is this a half full bag of trash or a beautiful, heaping, plastic stretching so far that it's fading in color and ready to burst monstrosity?
Let’s just say that if this bag is indeed full, then the new trash bag taking its place was the last one in the box, thus leaving an empty box of trash bags and a new piece of trash. So goes the circle of whathaveyou.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The weak branch / Quiver


He'd never really taken the opportunity to appreciate how amazing the tree was. He slowly ran his fingers along the bark and made note of the seemingly endless expanse of cracks and crevices. He gently caressed a leaf, closely examining its semitransparent skin and followed it back through its veins to its stem, back through the hierarchy of branches and eventually back to the trunk. The tree was a complicated compilation of weather, time, and energy. It had endured and thrived and grew. It was what he was. As if the idea had been bottled up somewhere deep within and suddenly uncorked, the notion of climbing the tree now seemed so obvious he had already hoisted himself up before the thought had fully processed. Soon he was standing on a low sturdy limb with his eyes fixed on the younger, weaker, more beautiful branches that swayed above. Up there it was cleaner and brighter and newer. It was where he needed to be.

Moments later he noticed the tiny grooves in the pavement and the countless number of patterns they formed. They were extravagant and beautiful like the branches of the tree. He watched the blood trickle along these grooves, seemingly creating paths at random on its journey toward the street. Soon these tiny paths of blood intersected with others until it formed into a pool that gradually works its way from him, overtaking ants, dead blades of grass, and a cigarette butt. As darkness closed in on all sides he could only assume the blood would make it all the way into the street, crossing the shadow of the tree.

zeroth life lesson: just because something's breathtaking doesn't mean it warrants ascending.

Monday, June 2, 2008

5th-grader Billy Paterson over-utilizes his thesaurus / Magpie

Billy Paterson
Social Studies
Hr. 4

The Life of Henry Ford

Henry Ford was vaginally delivered on July 30, 1863 and degenerated on April 7, 1947.
He actualized spectacular and astonishing fruition with the Model T Ford, interlarded in 1809 and eventually engendered in 1903 on the maneurvering assembly meridian. Henry Ford was a foremost motif in the ecumenicity’s automobile industry for the sequacious 15 years. His manifestation modalities were intensively and exhaustively lucubrated and he moreover roused the pandemia instituting and broaching (1914) the then stratospheric stipend ramentum of $5 a period. Ford thus became a configuration of folklore, the native genius that could work anomies. He had capacious mechanical competency but his cessations were ambitted intuitively and viscerally rather than understandably and logically. In 1936 he and his offspring Edsel promulgated the Ford Foundation, to which they bequeathed much of the convocation’s accululation.
Henry Ford behooved a victim of his own attainment in that he cohered to the Model T too diuturnal of a duration, slagging to distinguish that its repute was languishing, and ergo squandered and astrayed first niche in the jalopy zeal to General Motors in 1926. He superannuated from his apogee enterprise billets in 1979 and 1980.

The End