05/16/23

I was born in a small space in between a bright metal sign and a brick wall.

That’s just where I hatched, I had no say in the matter.

My mother would come feed me for the first few days, then me and my siblings started to fight over food, and sometimes I didn’t get any. Sometimes I got all of it.

As I got older I started to move around. Flap my wings. Push up on my legs.

Then one day I moved too far. I lost my balance and fell a long distance from the sign and wall to the ground. I was ok. I was light and didn’t get hurt, but now my mother won’t feed me.

It was a combination of things. A flaw in the nest, my siblings pushing me, and my mothers hasty construction. On the ground, I can still eat food, so why hasn’t my mother come to feed me?

In the nest, I would somtimes take naps inbetween feedings, and as I get hungrier and hungrier, I think that’s what I’ll do. I’ll sleep until she come back.

I sleep and sleep. Waking for a second here and there.

I sleep until I start to dream.

I dream of huddling with my siblings, and then hopping to a nearby, bush, then I dream of learning to fly.

I love to fly. In my dreams I fly and fly and make the long trips my mother makes each year to locations far away. I dream of building my own nest and having my own babies and feeding them and protecting them.

I dream of flying until my mother no longer needs to come back for me. I no longer need food and I am free.

Flying on a warm spring breeze.

I've got what you've got

I got my Booster shot today.

On my last birthday I had Covid and was stuck at home. I am hoping beyond hope I can have a better birthday this year.

With the built up antibodies from having Covid, getting three vaccine shots, and everything else, I should be good.

The guy who gave me the booster shot said, “You should be bulletproof,” when I explained all of that to him.

I’m here with my big orange cat sitting on my lap and I’m thinking of my old cat Cammy.

Rest easy little fluff puss.

Early Admittance

He was the only one in line.

The panel was starting in 20 minutes and he was the only one that showed up.

As it all dawned on him and he started to notice what was going on around him, he saw that the door to Hall C was actually wide open and there wasn’t anyone at the door.

He waited another few minutes then he slowly walked in and walked all the way to the front of that hall and sat down.

Roughly 500 people could probably fit in Hall C. He was the only one.

Minutes went by and the panel was about to begin, and still no one was in the Hall with him.

Was he in the right place?

Did he have the right time?

The right day?

As he sat there and it now was only three minutes until the panel started, he began to panic.

Was he dreaming?

Was he dead? Was this the afterlife?

Two minutes.

His cold palms were sweating and he let out a nervous burp.

Back and forth he went regretting even coming here. They did this all for just him? They will cancel when they come out.

Will they even come out?

One minute.

Shouldn’t someone come out and let him know what’s going on?

He suddenly yelled an awkward “Hello,” and his voice cracked.

He was still alone. Always alone. Maybe dead.

Oh god, what a wasted this had all been. The whole thing. No one cares about it. Just him?

Well fuck.

It’s time.

Just now.

The panel is starting.

Here it goes.

Very Little Time

Kyomi felt that rough hollow thud that she had felt more and more frequently throughout the years.

Like her heart had suddenly dried up and the dry husk had decided to beat anyways. It was at once, painful and scary.

Kyomi took a deep breath and stopped washing dishes long enough to settle her heart beat and wait for her heart to settle into the normal rhythmn.

Racoo was sitting on the kitchen table contemplating a particularly hard crossword clue, when he heard the deep breath and saw the hand on Kyomi’s heart and knew what had happened.

Racoo could feel it too.

“Kyomi, what is a five letter word for,” Racoo started.

“Not now Racoo,” Kyomi breathed and whispered lightly, “there’s very little time.”

A Friendship

Kyomi and Racoo were best friends, despite their difference in appearance and priorities.

Racoo cared much more about trees and nuts than Kyomi.

Kyomi cared much more about hot tea and painting than Racoo.

“Hello, my gray little friend,” said Kyomi as she hovered over to the edge of the porch in the early morning.

Racoo was occupied with a little project in the grass when Kyomi paid her morning respects.

“I’ve seem to have lost a rather meaty walnut somewhere around here,” said Racoo, his hands shaking and his exasperated tone indicated that he had been at it for awhile.

Before he could fully look up at Kyomi, she had pulled a perfectly fine walnut from her sweater pocket and was extending it out towards Racoo. He saw the walnut, then flashed a wink and a smile at his wonderful friend as he hopped over to the nut and recpectfully grabbed it out of her hand.

“Thank you, my dear,” Racoo offered.

“You’re most welcome”, said Kyomi.

AGES Part 0.1

Sir Addison Tazewell died seven times on his way up the mountain.

At the moment his heart would beat no longer a blast of lightning would shoot down through the blizzard and bring him back. The lightning wouldn’t strike him, but the amulet he wore around his neck, and with each strike a searing pain would rush through him greater than only the last time his soul was brought back by the last lightning blast.

He died four times from falls, once from the cold, and once he decided to take his own life and start over after being trapped in a ravine and too tired to climb out. The magical blast of lightning filled the amulet wearer with a burst of energy upon being resurrected.

Standing on a rocky plateau and almost at the road he was climbing for, he was relieved to think that it had been almost three days since the last time he had to be brought back. Grabbing his amulet with a gloved hand, he noticed cracks in it that weren’t in it days before. The amulet wasn’t going to hold up much longer and he needed to be more careful.

Climbing fast and recklessly up one of the largest mountains on the continent was not something that Addison would usually do, but he had a purpose beyond himself. He needed to get to his wife and child on the other side of the mountain before the storm and starvation took them.

Single Out The Dream

You should write

Write about that dream

The one with the Harry Potter vibe

The Necromancer’s Nephew

He has to resurrect the dead to save the living

in a doomed hellscape

Write about that dream

The one with the long red carpeted halls

and heroes fighting gods.

‘AGES’

An epic tale of the pointless nature of faith

and how saving the world is just something to do

Write about that dream

The one in the mall

A concentration camp food court,

where there’s that vent to get out

Write about that dream

the one that’s like the rest

where the world ends

and someone goes to save it

and it’s probably too late

But what else is there to do?

The Grinding

Fill the baskets

Light your tube

Mend the porch swing

sort your lubes

swap out the furniture

play your game

finish another puzzle

find more shames

Message your mom

Buy the ham

Talk to your brother

Lie with the lambs

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Scream at your neighbor

finish the game

mow down the bumps

remember their names

blow out the candles

finish your list

make for the border

straighten your wrists

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Manage Ronald and Cameron

turn down the song

Hold all your anger

you cannot be wrong

Have you had enough?

Have you had enough?

Collect all your interests

Get in the line

Make plans upon plans

For which you won’t have the time

Have you had enough?

June 26, 2011 – Detroit, MI – Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard

Venue: Fox Theatre

This was the first time I saw a show at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. It’s an amazingly beautiful theater.

I was in Detroit with my girlfriend at the time and we made a weekend of it and saw Matt & Kim two days before we saw Eddie.

The Fox Theatre has an incredibly small lobby and Eddie had a hug merch booth in the middle of it that was hard to get around.

I got fan club tickets, but they were about 10 rows from the back of the floor, underneath a good bit of the balcony. The crowd was noisy and there was a lot of whooping and hollering in the back of the crowd that was really annoying during the quiet songs. A drunk dude behind me started yelling for rock songs at one point and was screaming ‘Even Flow’, while Eddie had his ukulele out.

The performance was great. He played a couple of the rare songs that i loved from a recording of his at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in California a few years earlier. My favorite Eddie Vedder solo song is ‘You’re True’ and he played it at this show.

Glen Hansard and Eddie played ‘Falling Slowly’ and ‘Hard Sun’ with Eddie, and ended the show beautifully.

June 08, 2013 – Columbus, OH – The Postal Service, Advance Base

Venue: Express Live!

This was a really great show celebrating the 10 year anniversary of The Postal Service’s one and only album.

I went with my brother Joe and the weather was fantastic.

The major highlight for me was seeing Jenny Lewis sing and perform alongside Ben Gibbard.

Another awesome thing is the simple fact of seeing a band play live that only has one album. They played their entire album plus 3-4 other songs, so as a completionist, I like that I have heard it all.

Two months later they would play their last show and they haven’t played since.

August 24, 2009 – Columbus, OH – Modest Mouse, The Dutchess and the Duke

Venue: Lifestyles Communities Pavilion

My first proper Modest Mouse show.

I went to this show with my friend Liz, when she still lived around here. She was a huge fan of Modest Mouse and we used to go down to Columbus regularly to see a friend down there.

They played alot of the songs that I have heard since, but I really enjoyed them playing their rare song ‘Ohio’ during the encore.

It was a good show and it wasn’t horribly crowded in the pit, which was very different from how it would be for future Modest mouse shows in Columbus.

December 16, 2008 - Columbus, OH - Eagles of Death Metal, Two Cow Garage

Venue: Newport Music Hall

I don’t remember many details from this show, but it was one of the first times I went to a show at the Newport in Columbus.

I was with my girlfriend at the time and we got there early, so we could get a spot along the balcony.

The opening band was a local Columbus band. Eagles of Death Metal were great and they played ‘Kiss The Devil’ during the encore, which I remember being amazing.

My other random memory of the night was leaving the venue and slowly going down the narrow stairwells that lead from the balcony, back to the ground level. Someone was saying “Let me Holla At you”, from a Chappelle’s Show sketch.

Then everyone kept repeating it.


January 26, 2019 — Cleveland, OH — The Soft Moon, HIDE

Venue: Grog Shop

This show was weird and ended up being scary and awful. At least the drive home was.

The opening band HIDE was a very scantily clad woman with a deep voice, singing about dark stuff. She walked back and forth in front of the stage while a man played electronic stuff.

The Soft Moon was fine, my girlfriend was a fan, so the tickets were part of her Christmas present.

There weren’t many people at the show and as we exited, we knew why. Somewhere between 3-6” of snow had fallen while we were in the show and it was a weekend night, so the plow truck weren’t out.

It took almost 2 hours for me to drive home and most of the way home I couldn’t see the lines on the roads or the highway. I almost stopped at a hotel in Akron on the way, but ended up making it home safe.

Whitney was exhausted from the day and ended up sleeping on the way home. I envied her.

It was incredibly stressful and one of the worst trips back from a show I have ever had.

September 20, 2017 -- Cleveland, OH -- Big Thief, Dear Nora

Venue: Mahall’s

This was a great show at Mahall’s Bowling Alley.

The sound is always good and Big Thief was excellent.

I remember that the song ‘Paul’ being especially powerful and my friend Chuck, who was there with me, said “Wow”, afterward.

I don’t remember many other details from this show, but I do remember the opening band ‘Dear Nora’ gave off a weird vibe. There was an older lady with a younger man and it just felt weird.

June 03, 2016 – Cincinnati, OH – Bunbury Festival (Day 1)

Lineup: – The Killers, Mudcrutch, Haim, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, The Wombats, The Mowgli’s, The Shelters

Venue: Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove

This was one of my favorite single days of any of the festivals I have been to. My friend Chuck and I made it a 2 day, 2 festival trip by going to the Nelsonville Music festival the day prior, and then driving from Athens to Cincinnati over night.

The Killers were great, but Haim and Charles Bradley were amazing. Of the 2-3 times I have seen them, this was their best performance. During this performance, I don’t believe Charles Bradley was sick, as he was when I saw him at the Forecastle Festival.

This was also the one and only time I got to see Tom Petty, as he was fronting Mudcrutch. Chuck and I stood far in the back of the crowd and caught a few songs, but sadly we were not Mudcrutch fans.

The Killers played the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song as well as an Interpol cover. That field was extremely crowded and Chuck and I huddled over off to the side.

The Wombats were great. The Mowgli’s were super positive and annoying. They have a song with the lyrics ““it’s whatever forever, it keeps getting better.” They then repeat this over and over. They are like if the Mickey Mouse Club stayed together into their 20s and 30s and kept treating adults like they were children. I found them extremely annoying.

Despite the Mowgli’s, I found the entire day to be great.