I prepared my persona. I was “Veronique”, with black hair, green eyes and 40EE breasts. Veronique, of the whip, the chain, the ball gag- with no bra and a short denim skirt. Veronique, who could discuss the relative merits of the Japanese Rabbit Pearl and the Pocket Rocket, and cater to fetishes from stuffed animals to cigars. Veronique, whose typed script ran to six eloquent pages.
Having a conversation with my dad has been somewhat difficult lately. Not so much being able to catch him at home or finding the time. No. My dad’s hearing is almost gone.
He was a printer who started more then 30 years ago in an industry that’s all but dead, thanks to the [...]
Dead silence, as the lines on the road grew, were overtaken, and passed by.
“Now who’s the bad influence around here?”
Pale hand. Slapped.
I was so damned tired. It had been a long day. Week. Month. ..months
One of those warm days that come out of nowhere in November, the sun beaming off the snow into my eyes and heating up the day in a way most un-Novemberlike.
I tossed my jacket over the handle of [...]
John Babcock, the last WWI veteran died this year.
He was born in 1900. That’s hard to fathom, when my youngest was born in 2004.
Take a moment to process that. He was born on the brink of a fresh century. He wasn’t allowed on the front lines, because he enlisted when he was 16.
My eldest is 14. Going to be 15 this year.
I can’t imagine her putting her life on the line to defend her country.
Arianna attached herself to a strong hand and dug in her fingers.
Criagan peeled her off, and chattered nonsensically at her, leading her off to the living room.
Birdlike whispers floated towards the front hall. The occasional word could be made out through the breathy cadence. Words like angry. Words like throwing. Daddy, and Mommy. Like Fighting.
As I lay on the table, watching my sister begin to shape the tattoo to the extreme topographical challenge that is my left leg, I basked in what was to come.
I had no idea that the change would be as profound as it is.
Let’s back up a little bit.
I don’t dwell on the fact that [...]
H1N1 also made it’s debut this year, inciting waves of terror through those who watch the news and are brought under the spell of overly dramatic news broadcasters.
It’s.
The.
FLU.
Yes. It’s a particularly nasty strain of flu.
No, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to die if you catch it.
I really wish that people would cease being so sheep-like and start to think for themselves.
I suffered from Scarlet Fever as a child. Perhaps that’s why I refuse to take this pandemic so seriously. I’m sure they don’t get the awesome, fever induced hallucinations I experienced, though.
A measure of success is how many “things” you have. Keeping up with the Joneses. Families losing everything in the frantic struggle to live large. Most people aren’t capable of sustaining that kind of lifestyle, but will bankrupt themselves trying. Shiny new cars, gold jewelry replaced by platinum, and damn. Those grillz are just Fab-U-Lous.
“So I’m crawling up the shore, and now I’m in pain. I can feel every grain of sand digging into the raw meat that’s spread out, like a red, oozing butterfly. I’m leaving a trail, and I don’t think I can move anymore. It’s still coming, though. Amazingly, it bellies up on the sand, and just keeps coming for me…”
Like a Jewish mother, insidious and all caring. Concerned for your well being, while the finger of shame points directly at you. It isn’t your fault that you’re murdering our planet, and that our children will gasp for a single breath of unpoisoned air. You’re just ignorant.
Life is an ever changing, flowing, chaotic river. I find myself carried along at some points, and fighting the current at others.
If I looked forward from 5 years ago, I don't know that I'd recognize myself. I've had LASIK, taken up SCUBA diving, taken children and reptiles into my home, moved to a house, gone back to swimming and biking. I hope to get beyond my learner's permit this year. I have more tattoos and decorative holes then I used to.
Most of these are superficial, though. I remain, Jesse Star.