"When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, i make an occasional cheese dip."
~A Confederacy of Dunces
"You can not fully understand something unless you can teach it to your grandmother." ~Einstein
"Life you life in a manner that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrott to the town gossip." ~Will Rogers
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. ~Bertrand Russell
20 May 2007
18 May 2007
the smallest of favors
i drove along the river with the sun kissing my skin, i watched the city water the dead. the small cemetery, with it's garden of generations of glenwood natives, sat still and drank in all that the current citizens could offer them. There were no flowers adorning the headstones, no flags marking the plots of the humble service men who lost their lives protecting the people of the small town they spent their lives, no families visiting their lost loves. All theat stood were six sprinkler heads spread thoughtout the grounds spraying their water about the tenants; tall, rusty, and satisfying.
It seemed appropriate that in this small sleepy town the only one to attend to the dead would be the one man who sets a seasonal timer. No one there except the passers by to make sure that their tax dollars are being spent well.
What would they think? Do the ghosts and spectors who haunt glenwood springs even know they are being attended to? Are they starving for more? Are they disappointed in those who put them there? What else do they want?
It seemed appropriate that in this small sleepy town the only one to attend to the dead would be the one man who sets a seasonal timer. No one there except the passers by to make sure that their tax dollars are being spent well.
What would they think? Do the ghosts and spectors who haunt glenwood springs even know they are being attended to? Are they starving for more? Are they disappointed in those who put them there? What else do they want?
17 May 2007
to thine self be true
If i have only learned one thing while living in colorado, it is that there is nothing more important than being completely true to my own morals and values.
Today, whilst walking around the meadows and hanging with amy, i saw a simple silver cuff with those words engraved on them. There were only two hanging on the model. First, i called kat to tell her as that has been her mantra for as long as i have known her. Then, as i told amy about them she suggested that we get them as "best friends" bracelets. As cheese-ball as that sounds, that is the best idea i have heard in a long time. Amy and i have become so close so quickly. It's funny. When she started in her newest position i didn't have enough faith in her. Her success taught me that there is nothing greater gift a person can give than their honest faith. I thought that she could do the technical part of the job but i was worried about her ability to connect as a supervisor with a group a students who were initially her peers. She has taught me that as long as i can hold on to my confidence and determiniation, there is nothing that i can not do. She has taught me that as long as i remember who i am, the values that i hold dear, and my convictions as a professional, there is nothing that i cannot accomplish. She has taught me that the only critic who matters is myself. If i can do my job well and fall asleep with a smile on my face then i have done a good job. She has taught me that i need to do all that i can do in every situation so that i can say, "there is nothing left for me to do." She has been a model leader and shown me the definition of leading by example. Mostly, she has made me laugh so hard, every day; and she has been one of the most consistent ears and shoulders and compassionate souls i ahve had here.
i can't believe that i ever doubted her.
i can't believe i have to learn to live without her constant presence in oregon.
Today, whilst walking around the meadows and hanging with amy, i saw a simple silver cuff with those words engraved on them. There were only two hanging on the model. First, i called kat to tell her as that has been her mantra for as long as i have known her. Then, as i told amy about them she suggested that we get them as "best friends" bracelets. As cheese-ball as that sounds, that is the best idea i have heard in a long time. Amy and i have become so close so quickly. It's funny. When she started in her newest position i didn't have enough faith in her. Her success taught me that there is nothing greater gift a person can give than their honest faith. I thought that she could do the technical part of the job but i was worried about her ability to connect as a supervisor with a group a students who were initially her peers. She has taught me that as long as i can hold on to my confidence and determiniation, there is nothing that i can not do. She has taught me that as long as i remember who i am, the values that i hold dear, and my convictions as a professional, there is nothing that i cannot accomplish. She has taught me that the only critic who matters is myself. If i can do my job well and fall asleep with a smile on my face then i have done a good job. She has taught me that i need to do all that i can do in every situation so that i can say, "there is nothing left for me to do." She has been a model leader and shown me the definition of leading by example. Mostly, she has made me laugh so hard, every day; and she has been one of the most consistent ears and shoulders and compassionate souls i ahve had here.
i can't believe that i ever doubted her.
i can't believe i have to learn to live without her constant presence in oregon.
20 March 2007
"yes, and..."
...a stab at short ficition. i havent been here in a while, so i thought i shake off the rust.
there are lines of poetry that spill out of these hills. the soil speaks different words to different people. tonight i heard the hills tell a group a teenage boys that they could fly like icarus and i saw their minds draw blue prints of their wax wings. One boy, i imagine his name to be brad, he had wings with feathers plucked from his father's big dreams of the duke jersey, crowds painting #5 on their cheeks, co-eds flocking to his perfectly sculpted point guards body, and half time pep talks with coach k. The wax was his guilt, saddness, shame, and disappointment. Another boy, looking like a Jack, had two big, beautiful, sturdy wings made from the hair and heart strings of his true love. the wax was her patience and sincerity; she wept tears into to it, over other boys, so that it matched the color of her eyes. the last boy, griffin, didnt have wings. he had two sturdy legs and a backpack. he was independent and self reliant and sure. he was the boy that would grow to be the man that the other, lesser men, would dream about being. Griffin would be the man who will have every thing he needs when he picks up a handful of the earth. eh will have a lover, companion, teacher, and friend all in one scoop of soil. he will have this where ever he is and whenever he wants. he will be provided for and able to give as well.
eventually, when these boys, brad, jack, and griffin, come back together as men, they will be just as they are now. their friendship will have remained constant through griffin's isolation, brad's failed marriage, and the loss of jack's thrid child. they will all want what the others have: the love and devotion of children, wild adventures with mother nature, and legions of adoring fans. they will think aloud about the secrets the hills and mountains and streams of colorado have told them and realize that mother nature was not letting them in on some divine secret; she was saying "yes, and..."
there are lines of poetry that spill out of these hills. the soil speaks different words to different people. tonight i heard the hills tell a group a teenage boys that they could fly like icarus and i saw their minds draw blue prints of their wax wings. One boy, i imagine his name to be brad, he had wings with feathers plucked from his father's big dreams of the duke jersey, crowds painting #5 on their cheeks, co-eds flocking to his perfectly sculpted point guards body, and half time pep talks with coach k. The wax was his guilt, saddness, shame, and disappointment. Another boy, looking like a Jack, had two big, beautiful, sturdy wings made from the hair and heart strings of his true love. the wax was her patience and sincerity; she wept tears into to it, over other boys, so that it matched the color of her eyes. the last boy, griffin, didnt have wings. he had two sturdy legs and a backpack. he was independent and self reliant and sure. he was the boy that would grow to be the man that the other, lesser men, would dream about being. Griffin would be the man who will have every thing he needs when he picks up a handful of the earth. eh will have a lover, companion, teacher, and friend all in one scoop of soil. he will have this where ever he is and whenever he wants. he will be provided for and able to give as well.
eventually, when these boys, brad, jack, and griffin, come back together as men, they will be just as they are now. their friendship will have remained constant through griffin's isolation, brad's failed marriage, and the loss of jack's thrid child. they will all want what the others have: the love and devotion of children, wild adventures with mother nature, and legions of adoring fans. they will think aloud about the secrets the hills and mountains and streams of colorado have told them and realize that mother nature was not letting them in on some divine secret; she was saying "yes, and..."
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