Flinging Poo

When you read a romantic novel, or watch a blockbuster movie, or even something as mundane as a soap opera, the girl always gets her man. She always leaves another man, less worthy than this Superman. He invariably beat her, or never had time for his kids because he was too busy with his job, or carried on affairs with someone from his office, or any one of a dozen or so standard reasons. But, she leaves him because she found her true love, her Super Man. In any case there is this unworthy ex that we as the audience find despicable in some way so that her leaving him is justified and the right thing to do. This is a metaphor, of course, but what happens to all those unworthy ? Are they as bad as all that, or do they just serve as a mechanism that allows the plot to permit this behavior of hers? So who are these nameless unworthy ? In fact they do have names and personalities, and I'd wager they are not quit as bad as made out. Why? Because I am one of these, and as a member of t...

This morning Pvt. Peter Marshall was told his unit would be moving into the suburbs north of Bashram. Reports had come in of Insurgent elements bullying their way into the area and it was his job to help root out the unfriendlies. On his way out, he had rushed to the vending machine and purchased a candy bar and a soft drink, stuffing them in a free pocket. He would have to eat the chocolate soon because of the heat, but the soft drink could wait. He had gotten used to drinking them warm. Usually he didn't bother grabbing any because water quenched the thirst must better, but he felt the urge this time. They had travelled by convoy for the first four miles, and then disembarked to foot it. Traffic on these roads was relatively busy and people were out. Boys were kicking around a soccer ball. The sound of a radio playing a typically middle eastern tune could be heard in some recessed doorway. It seemed people here talked at a distance. Two young men could be heard talking loudly to ...

Commentary: Summer 2006 Okay, as a result of playing around foolishly on my bike three weeks ago now, I'm off the bike for pretty much the rest of the summer, and of course that sucks. Anyway, as a result of not being able to ride it now, I've had to reevaluate what the heck I'm going to do. I have this $8,000 Emergency bill ( friggin scans cost $4k, can you believe that crap... tell me that's not a racket!). So, of course I'm looking to sell what I can, including the bike. I'm not sure yet how that's going to go down yet, but it's looking that way. Okay... so back to the story... I have passions and where would we be without them? A person without passions is only half a person. Anyway, I have a ton of passions, but the strongest one is to find a gal that'll hang out and watch movies with me on the couch, or go to walks in the park (like Foster Park?), or something mundane like going to a book store or window shopping at one of the malls). A...

Commentary: Summer 2006 My Step-Dad died a few years ago. He was the most important and influential person in my life. I try to be as much like him as possible, and if I've succeeded a little, I am that much better the person for it. Anyway ; I owe him an apology. He knows about the incident , but I don't think I've every really expressed how sorry I am before and if you're out there Dad... I hope you hear this and accept it. As you know, when we were young in Sambro , you had this wonderful collection of really old coins you got from your father. I know we were young, but as you know we found them one day and over the course of a few days went down to the store and bought candy with it. I'm very sorry for that. The more I think about it, the more it bothers me and I want you to know how much I'm sorry for that. I'm also sorry for all those times we got into arguments and how difficult I was to get along with. You had our best intentions at heart and I didn...

Age 3? In my mothers lap in folkswagen bus. My father slammed on brakes and I hit my head hard into the windshield, cracking it. Age 10? I found a .45 bullet of my uncles and in curiosity, decided to try to open it to see what it looked like inside. I went to the cement walkway between two houses and slammed a brick into it several times. It went off and my hearing was gone for at least 20 minutes. I went upstairs into our apartment and my mother wanted to know what happened, but I could only stare at her as I could only hear a ringing in my ears. High School - Extremely ill. Couldn't walk for two days at all. On Sunday, as family was walking out the door, decided to try and go to the bathroom. I hobbled in and as I was finishing going pee, I went unconscious and hit the side of the sink on the way down. My mother just happened to hear something that sounded odd as she was leaving and just to make sure came back to make sure I was okay. I was passed out and choking on my tongue. Sh...

Commentary: Summer 2006 Let me cast a picture and invite you in... Close your eyes and I'll describe what you see. Keep your eyes closed. If you were to open your eyes you would see hills and valleys, green with eagerness and youth, obscured at random with misted veils or small stoned pathways, winding at random like streams and brooks. Tiny arched wooden bridges punctuate here or there... but before you is a pond that a good stone can be thrown across, it is so small. The water is shallow, and clear, and cool to the touch. The bottom is of tiny smooth stones. In the middle is a large flat round stone, carved by man, reached by a curved path of flat round white stones spaced so that a single step is taken on each to the shore. You kneel on the edge of this flat stone, and if you opened your eyes and looked into the water below, you would see small orange fish with large wavy fins gracefully and slowly gliding this way and that, waving their fins proudly like flags. Keep you...