All That Junk

pile-of-paper
Um, yeah.

I admit it; I’m a pack rat. Eek. I’m that guy who would be classified as a hoarder if he had a little less space and a little more junk. I have just enough junk that I can hide it away when company comes, but too much junk to keep it hidden for long, and that’s because it keeps growing. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those people who buys a ton of junk just because it’s on sale and then it sits around collecting dust. I have no idea where those people came from or how to get rid of them. I’m one of those people who collects things that are worth the time and energy.

For example, I collect:

** Concert ticket stubs

** Stickers from the Disney DVD Club

** Books

** Letters people have sent me from way back Continue reading “All That Junk”

2100

The barbed wire kept them separated, animals in cages that could see and speak with each other, but that had no physical interactions. Too much had passed between them to sever their mental connection, and yet they fought against their bonds in an attempt to find a way out. Or a way in, whichever one accomplished their goals for them most expediently. It had been a long, hard year living in the camps, with the green and gold lights turning on and off in synchronous rhythm, and with the dogs howling nonstop until all hours of the night. And that’s when she came.

They were staring at the large clock on the main retention building at midnight, together, yet apart, as they often were at the dawning of a new day, the man and the boy. Illuminated by giant fog lamps, the building took on a ghastly yellow glow not unlike sickly skin. They weren’t staring because of the view, however. They stood in those exact two spots, facing East, every night because it was when the second moon traded places with the first and could be seen with the naked eye. Even though the retention building only offered a partial view of the moon juxtaposition, it was the best they could aspire to, and they treasured it as if it were iron.

The woman emerged from the shadows to the North, which is why they didn’t register her presence initially, when she stepped out of the shade into the full light of a glow much brighter than their world had known before or since. Continue reading “2100”

No Fair

no-fair-480Fair (adj): free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice.

Wow. I think this is the first time I’ve ever actually looked up that word, but just looking at the definition I can see why one of the most repeated phrases I hear no matter where I am is, “That’s not fair!” Because, obviously, nothing is fair in life. There is always bias. There will always be dishonest people and dishonest practices. And injustice is the one thing that has woven the fabric of history together into the varied quilt it has become. So, why then do we still feel like everything has to be fair for us in our lives? Why don’t we just accept the fact that “fair” is a misnomer and always will be? Wouldn’t we be better off that way?

The simple answer is no. The more complex answer also ends with no, and for a variety of reasons.

Continue reading “No Fair”

Fifteen Credits

Temple University (aka the first three years)

I tell that joke whenever people ask me what college was like, but it’s a joke only insomuch as it wasn’t the best part of my life. The ten years part was very real. But at least it was only 10 years when you add in my two years of graduate school. That makes it better, right?

What I miss about college:

* Wearing sweatpants every day, all day Continue reading “Fifteen Credits”

What the Ground Revealed

The street was longer than most, I always thought, as I walked down the unending sidewalk that wasn’t even broken up by cracks from normal wear and tear. It seemed to stretch into tomorrow with its meandering gait that was anything but straight. And I walked it every day on my way to buy orange … Continue reading What the Ground Revealed