Saturday, August 26, 2006

Hiding in the Shadows

I want a space where only the random stranger can see me. So it's off to myspace for everyone else, and just me here. Which is what I want. Sometimes, I want to be alone. Alone in the distance, away from the crowd, to stand back and enjoy a cacophonously serene moment, before I plunge back into the crowd. Like a moment of Zen at a crowded, noisy bar. To live in the spaces of others, in the cracks, unknown, unloved and alone. To be seen and unseen, observe the world from within, because I see myself in their eyes, shades of being and feeling. My reflections from afar, unweary and unknowing, still clinging to the ever-dwindling supply of the commdity hope. But yet, take heart, for all that is needed is but an ounce, a modest amount, you will agree.

Alone in the Night.

Friday, August 25, 2006

[Help Desk Dude]: So what's your problem?

[Me]: Well, I just got a new computer, and one of the programs isn't working.

[HDD]: Which one?

[Me]: Well, the [Really Important Program]. I need it to perform my main job function.

[HDD]: (clicking in background) Ah, I see. Ok, we'll need to reinstall it.

[A few moments of clickity-clack and setting up NetMeeting so that he can control my computer.]

[HDD]: Well, let's try installing [RIP], since it failed the first time. (clicks on program)

[Several minutes later...]

[HDD]: Wow, that's taking a long time.

[Me]: Yeah. I also don't know if you have to install something else first, or what.

[HDD]: Huh. [Noises in background.] Wow, it just got pitch black here.

[Background Voices]: "Whoa! It's dark out there!" "Isn't there some kind of warning?" "I think we should be moving to the second floor or something...aren't we supposed to?" "So where do we go?" "Well, isn't it supposed to get darker earlier this time of year?" (Pitch black. In August. At 6 pm. In Minnesota.)

[Me]: What's going on up there?

[HDD]: It got really dark all of a sudden. There's been warnings and stuff all day.

[Me]: You know, if you have to suddenly leave, that's okay....

[HDD]: Nah, there's just been warnings.

[Me]: Well, really, if you have to go...you can go.

[HDD]: [More clickity-clack.] I think I'm going to stop this program and try reinstalling the other [RIP].

Saturday, August 12, 2006

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****************

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***************

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Friday, August 11, 2006

Poem.

For there you are,
hurt, lonely, sad
crying in the night,
reaching to the stars,
for a rescue, a hope, a dream
something worth redeeming.
A whistful demon stands nearby,
a creature who knows torment,
who can smell and hear it,
eminating in waves outward
from your lonely spot in the street.
Demon is helpless to help,
but It sympathetically cries with you,
It wants to help you so ever badly,
wishing It were Angel, not Demon,
so that It could scoop you up in Its arms,
to hold and comfort you,
to smile light and feed you,
to care for you and set you free.
But, alas, the Demon knows
that It will never, ever have
that kind of power to squander
for if It does find it, Demon will use it first,
and It knows that such is the reality of things.
So Demon turns away in lament,
for both you and It, useless as ever,
and hopes that one day you get what you want.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Dear Jim Davis,

Thank you for giving poor Jon a girlfriend! You don't know how disappointed I've been in the last five years of reading Garfield that he hasn't had one. I certainly didn't expect Liz the Vet to go out with him, but that's a nice touch. Please don't end it next week with a "ha-ha fooled you!" kinda thing, because that would be wrong, and I don't know if I could bear to read Garfield after that. It's been funny to read his attempts at dating, but at some point, it starts to get painful to read about his constant failure. And I would think there's still Comedy Gold even if he has a girlfriend. I certainly don't expect Garfield to be totally happy with it.

But again, thank you.

Sincerely,
A Long Time Garfield Reader