She's Gonna Dream Up the World She Wants to Live In..

His DVD is not there. Disappointed, unfulfilled, not wanting to return to the office just yet, he wanders between the bookshelves and on the spur of the moment decides to borrow a book. It occurs to him that he almost always borrows a book because he "heard it was good", or "knows the author", or "always wanted to read this one". When was the last time he picked something up without knowing anything about it, and finished reading it? At this point he laments the deliberate nature of his life, and panics that he has lost the ability to make instant decisions; to just know what he wants. He makes a promise to borrow a book by an unknown author, based purely on the blurb.

On the bus home, he gets to know the stranger. The tale is not as visceral as a Woolf, nor as intricate as a Tolkien, but the pages turn and turn. The story tells of a girl in the Witness Protection Program. She drifts from name to name, Middletown to Middletown. She can forge no identity of her own, so she lives vicariously through the people she sees. At night she repeats her name to herself... the anchor.. but she also retreats to the family she can never have in the home she can never set up.. the sails...

<Esc> <Shift> :wq

High Hopes

First, they wait to see if they have any Hope at all. When that worrying pays off, they wait to see when they will have their chance to choose. Will their rendez-vous be in jeopardy? Now they wait patiently for their chance to choose something that might not be built; that will only be ready in 5 years, if it is. They wait wondering if others are eyeing the same ones they are.

They wait to see if the ash High up there will continue to clear up, or suddenly take a turn for the worse. Will their rendez-vous be in jeopardy?

He wonders if all the worry is worth it. He considers a life without goals, ambitions, or desires, "'cos then you'd have no worries, mate."

"No thanks, mate."

Jazz Thieves

To be honest he is a little disappointed. He begins to think that he has fallen for the hyperbole once again. Fortunately, the food by the river is as he remembered it. He is grateful that his friends like it too; they at least will not leave feeling tricked. Afterwards, as they wander aimlessly on the roads, it is a craggy old Seminole that points him and his party in the right direction. With the promise of music and warmth they keep on. Once they turn the corner they are faced with a line of watering holes, like before. People stream in and out, like before. The stage is packed, but who's playing? Who's paying? A sense of purity, unlike before. And the best part of it all? No beads.

(circa ENAR 2010)

Enjoy the Silence

He has a great many things to do, but he dillies and dallies and dithers and delays. In his mind: An incessant background noise that just will not fade out. The run was good but not helpful. He managed to cover 3 miles in 25 minutes, but the annoying sound kept up.

He puts on his Sennheiser headphones and turns up the volume, hoping to overpower the hiss. He starts surfing randomly - the model PageRank navigator. The sound is getting louder.

Poor girl, Pandora, is drowning.

Fed up, he shuts the notebook and picks up his notes/books. Almost immediately a smile breaks out on his face.

It was the sound of procrastination.

One of These Days

He wonders why he is treated differently when different guests arrive. He cocks his head to a side and tries to figure out what he has to do to get attention more regularly. He cannot understand why Master ignores him when Master's special friends are around. Is Master ashamed of him? Why would that be the case?

When Master is sad he feels very anxious. He would do almost anything to please Master. In fact he does. He rarely barks at the things he finds funny or irritating nowadays. He knows it annoys Master and so he suppresses all his most instinctive emotions. He cannot bear to disappoint Master that way. He has stopped sniffing even flowers - they used to be his favourite. Now he doesn't take a second look at them. Surely the Master knows what he has given up for Him?

But he feels so helpless when Master ignores him. He whines quietly and slinks away.

Run Like Hell

While he is supposed to be coding, his mind wanders to the gym. He pats himself on the back for completing 4 miles without the knee-guard on Wednesday. If he manages to repeat the distance today, he will have made it 11 miles in a week. Metamucil, his friend in the mornings, threatens to force him off the treadmill and back onto the throne.

He wonders if he will be able to eventually reduce his time down to 8:00 minutes per mile; if he will be able to repeat this distance next week. Will he get fit enough to run the marathon?

The calfs cry out for a massage even before the run - will the Wife oblige? Suddenly the phone rings - it is the Wife. Is she calling with a pre-emptive 'No'? No.

She has fallen while running and is hur

How Can You Have Any Pudding If You Don't Eat Your Meat?

At lunch he wonders to himself, "What is the best way to eat Asparagus?" It truly is an ungainly opponent for one who strives to be so elegant, he ponders. It occurs to him that it is not really the fault of the vegetable. Rather it is the fact that none of the common utensils handle it very well. The stalks simply roll off a spoon, while using a fork offers an awkward view, when the stalks are long, of a gaping mouth towards his lunch buddies. Of course there is the option of cutting up the Asparagus into smaller lengths, but it seems too much effort for something of so little volume. The Asparagus is not being a cooperative prey.