Tuesday, March 25, 2008

the kids from the meadows


I tried.
you must have known,
I tried.
it was as neon as the lights you raised me under.
our skin shone pinks and blues like fish
deep
under
water.
we learned to turn shit into oxygen coughing our ways through the days
our faulty filters doing their best to
keep us alive.
somehow,
we survived.
we survived.

Monday, March 24, 2008

an A for effort



The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson. ~Tom Bodett

we are students for much of our life. the pop quizzes and essay exams of our school days get replaced by the challenges of life. but in life there is no scantron, there is no study guide, there is no multiple choice. you have long since graduated and yet tests find their way to your metaphorical desk and you tap your head with your #2 pencil and you rack your brain for the right answer. you press your pencil to the paper and you make a tight little circle filling in the hole completely or perhaps sloppily straying outside of the lines or maybe you leave too much of it undone--the machine unable to register an answer at all. do you get a C+ or an A for effort? is this a pass/fail situation?

there is no right answer. is there a right answer?

what does it mean when it's the same test over and over again? are you stuck in the same grade until you pass? a perpetual freshman in the test of life. benjamin franklin said "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong." will we always have 100 tries? is the only way to get it right to eliminate all the ways to get it wrong? there are books upon books written on all the subjects. you can cram all night, but in the morning, the light startles your squinting eyes, and you realize how very little you know. you comb your hair. you sling your bag over your shoulder. you head out ready for today's lesson. you are a good student not because you know all the answers, but because you are willing to learn.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

finally



18 days. 14 hours. 38 minutes

finally I can get my hands on a dodger dog again. that's right folks, the new season fast approaches. mr. jimmy george and sara kaye and myself are proud holders of season tickets. not sure where to find me on a friday night?...check the top deck at dodgers stadium. march 31st is opening game and it's the dodgers 50th anniversary in sunny california so I am expecting some kind of prize--maybe a dodgers seat cushion or a dodgers helmet shaped radio. either way, I'm getting a lime in my $12 dollar beer. oooh, and the peanuts. can't wait! we're gonna be great this year, I can feel it. go team!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

the burning bright


photo by RockFotoMachen













photo by RockFotoMachen


so we did it. our first show. it could have been better and it could have been worse. that doesn't matter though, what matters is the doing. we propelled ourselves to the place that was waiting for us. we did not hide in the corner, we shone in the light. now all we have to do is keep the burning bright.












photo by scott schultz

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

the sum = 6



flat land. flat chest. moved. mountains.

if you had to sum it all up in 6 words, what would you say?

smith magazine, recently published the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure. it's a book filled with lives summarized. I went to their site to summarize mine and found the whole process quite satisfying. take a look, there are all kinds of great one-liners. get to know a stranger in less time than it takes to shake a hand. get to know yourself.