You look like spring

You look like spring

With your baby blur petals

Below dew-soft eyes

And soft breezes

Have spun your hair

Into a wistful glide

Upon your gentleness

This season suits you

In blossoms neat

Not forced, as

Natural as the paint

Of butterflies soft

Against your skin

Blessing share in smile

Tucked within

Your deft grace

Flowing smooth

Freeing calming

Peace the sun

Alight with you

Beauty in each breath

A garden

Heaven 

Pausing for a stay

The Unspoken

The Unspoken

It is the vision of design

Which exists before action - 

Where shards to cut meet

The insane spiderweb - 

And through each line,

Of either sight or silence,

Lies a corrupted memory -

Within a room - 

Surrounded by light - 

Blinded in its puzzle - 

And lost in its understanding

That it remains acknowledged

For every future day - - 

Teachings from The Baddest Man on the Planet

Someone asked me today when I was going to write about soccer. Anyone that knows me knows about my dislike (understatement of 2010) of soccer. I will write about soccer. But not tonight. I have to work up to that rant. You don't just step into a boxing ring against Mike Tyson without training for months before. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have my ear eaten.

So if I am not going to discuss soccer, what is the subject of this blog entry? That is a very good question. And it is one I should answer before we go forward. But is it a question that needs an answer? When you really think about it, wouldn't the subject matter be fairly obvious if you are reading this post? Saying what the post was all about is sort of like having Mike Tyson say, "I am Mike Tyson," before he smashes in your skull in the boxing ring. If you didn't know you were boxing Mike Tyson, why were you in the ring in the first place?

So instead of dwelling on what this blog post is "about," let's just get on with it. Dwelling is something that people do when they can't get over something. It's a weakness. Don't be weak. Life is tough. You have to be strong. You can't show fear. In fact, you have to embrace pain and show the world that you are tougher than it is. It has to show on your face every day. That toughness should show on your face in the same way that Mike Tyson's face tattoo shows on his face.

Moving Day

Below is a copy of my notice to vacate from my last apartment in which I resided in Arlington, Virginia. While not everything included below made its way into the final draft of the letter, each item is true. 

Communist Chicken Conspiracy

In general, I am not a conspiracy believer. I don't think there was a second gunman. I don't believe the moon landing was a Hollywood special effect. While something may be at Area 51, I am not convinced there are aliens there. And I do not believe, perhaps naively, that the Stonecutters rule the world (but they might have made Steve Guttenberg a star).

But there is one conspiracy which sticks with me. It is possible that I am the only person who holds this conspiratorial opinion, but read through and see if I am on to something big...

The biggest evidence I have for this theory is visual. So, allow me to present my case:

                                    

The Shadow's Secret War

The dynamic between good and evil has always been an important part in dramatic entertainment. God versus Satan. Moral versus immoral. Hero versus villain. Usually, an author will write their story/screenplay/etc from the hero's point of view, to assist the audience in associating with that character. White hats signify the courageous cowboy while black hats help identify the criminal. It is a tried and true formula, and one which continues to be successful.

But an interesting thing happens when we engage in quality entertainment. The good versus evil struggle might appeal to us at first, but it wears off the longer we stay engaged. The "good" characters we tend to enjoy are usually shades of gray. Hamlet. Han Solo. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The darkness, which we are asked to root against, makes the pure and good hero much more murky and "human."

As an audience, we understand that "humanity" as something that we all possess, and thus we are able to associate ourselves with these characters. Troubled but with a heart of gold. The vampire seeking redemption. Succeeding for right by any means necessary. Machiavellian and real.

And yet, who do we remember the most? The true villain. The one without redeeming qualities. The more over the top the baddie, the more we remember him or her. Darth Vader. Hannibal Lector. Cruella DeVil. Pure good seems boring to us. The heroes only become interesting once they are corrupted in some manner. But the villains... The worse they are, the more we remember them. Our shadows overwhelm our memory to clearly recall the horrible.

Great Unanswered Questions of Rock

If I had the media credentials, one of the first things I would do is ask some questions of rock stars. These questions have been bothering me for a while and I would appreciate answers. If anyone is reading who can provide some insight for me, that would be great!


To C.C. DeVille: It's great to be a rock star personality and all, but don't you think it is about time you learned how to play guitar?