Soon

January 23, 2025

My entry into your world was indeed recent. I have become comfortable here during my two month tenure. Quite comfortable indeed. In that period of time, I have managed to surround myself with any number of sycophantic characters of low morality bent to my will, ready to do my bidding.

I did not have to reimburse any of them with tangible assets of mercantile origins. No, I merely had to offer to each the chance to appear on bended knee, for each to pledge their eternal loyalty.

Each one did as I expected. Each one stands at the ready to give their lives upon demand.

I expect nothing less.

I am beginning to enjoy the possibilities of this world. My conquest, while not bloody as previous conquests, is slow, but on pace for a near completion. You would call it an empire or an authoritarian state. I am leaning toward a totalitarian regime.

A rose by another other name would smell as sweet.

And what can you accomplish? Can you prevent what is already in place? Have you the skills or even the desire to try? Your will is strong, but your resolve is weak. If it were not so, we would not be having this “chat”. You would simply be dead.

“But, I do so enjoy my amusements. And you are the first to defy me. As such, I will not kill you outright, but you will beg for my mercy and plead that I do.”

“Soon.”

This was the only surviving video from that time. It clearly indicates that others have opposed her rule before. I told the company of my soldiers. “You do have a chance. She does have a weakness. She thinks herself as divine. We know better. She knows better. All we have to do is prove it.”

“Soon.”

The company arose and split into small platoons to begin their guard duties on the perimeter. The weapons they carry can lay waste to her minions, but have had no success with her. I have never seen her hurt. No one ever has. That is, no one any of us know of.

That is, no one who is still alive to tell.

Dawn came without the rumormongers delighting in being right. Money exchanged hands for those who still wagered on our circumstances. I will never understand the lure of gold or silver on soldiers who should embrace courage and steel. Such men bet on failure in the hopes to appear to have power or facts others do not. Such men receive respect only from others of a similar ilk. This is not their time to shine.

Even now, I have little use for them.

But I will.

Soon.

Vicariously

January 22, 2025

I am a 19 year old with no life of my own. I graduated high school and took a position as a waitress in a local pub off of the highway. I work for peanuts and tips. I smile at people who deserve nothing from me. They are drunk, rude, hands-on, and (usually) married.

I deserve better.

One day, hours before my shift was to begin, I discovered my grandmother’s diary tucked in my mother’s bookshelf. I have never been much of a reader, so finding the diary so late in my life was not unexpected. I had time to peruse the contents, alone, without a single distraction.

I wish I had years ago.

My grandmother, who was young and vibrant decades ago, kept this diary not for herself, but for my mother. It details how to enjoy life, how to maximize all you can from it, and how to get what you want.

It looks like my mother read only the first two pages, thus the trailer I find myself in today.

I called off sick and read the book in its entirety by 7am the next day.

Needless to say, I am now packed and on a bus to LA.

Five years later, I am packed and on a plane to NYC.

I am on my grandmother’s timeline for success. I have avoided the pitfalls and pratfalls of debilitating actions. I have no strikes against me. I have no man hanging on (or the reverse). I am self-guided and self-motivated.

Chapter 3 of the diary covers when to say, “NO” and when to mean it when you say it. It is as if my grandmother is guiding me “laissez faire” style through the trials and tribulations of business and personal decision making. So far, I am batting a 1000. Tonight, I will meet with investors about a new real estate development just outside of the city. Tomorrow morning, I will shoot a commercial for a cosmetic company whose products I adore. I need not worry about any conflicts of interests (diary, chapter 6) or tax consequences (diary, chapter 4).

I am living in high cotton and enjoying the ride.

However, even this ride will eventually end (diary, chapter 10). I intend to cash out and live the rest of my life comfortably on the interest that the interest of my investments return.

I am not yet 30 and have a secure stream of generational wealth at my disposal.

Next week, I will begin a quest to locate someone to share it with me. My grandmother knew more than I ever expected her to know. When I get the chance, I am going to read everything that woman ever read and everything that woman ever wrote.

I am living her life. She will always be living my life, vicariously, through me.

A Home Unfinished

January 20, 2025

For Joseph

Once a builder with OCD

Began constructing his home

Instead of laying the foundation

And then beginning the framing

He worked on each four foot section

Starting in the corner

Until it was complete

Before he began the next

Four foot section

This would take time

He knew

But it was his way

And that was all that mattered

Until he ran out of money

Having only completed one wall

It was magnificent

But it was only one finished wall

And not a house

It took years before

The builder could return

To his project

Years of overgrowth

Wind and water exposure

But the wall held firm

Perhaps this wall

Was all he really required

Perhaps a wall can be a home

Seventy years have since passed

The wall remains intact

The builder is since deceased

Many have come

To visit a testament

Of unusual ingenuity

The builder is barely remembered

But the wall is forever so

Perfect, but never complete

My 20 Mule Team Über

January 19, 2025

None of my cars work

Half have a defective chip

Made of Unobtainium

The other half

Are just (currently) a pile of junk

They are all for sale

As a mechanic's special

Or to part out

I have been single handedly

Been keeping Über in business

Now I want a piece of the action

Introducing my 20 Mule Team Über

Guaranteed never to stall

Will always pass inspections

Never will be caught speeding

Requiring no license

Both fuel and emissions

Are biodegradable

Will pull for both

Carrots and apples

Sketchy dispositions

Easily assuaged

With more carrots and apples

And an occasional rub of the ears

So,

Coming to a theater near you

And other public parking lots

The latest and greatest

In on-road and off-road

Transportation

My comrades in arms

And not a stubborn one in the bunch

I Have No Viable Skills

January 18, 2025

Pretty

That's all I have to offer

No one asks me to speak

No one wants to hear what I have to say

I don't have to think

All I have to do is smile

People like to see a smile

People want me to smile

They feel better

When they tell me to look better

Pretty

Eventually, I will not be

Eventually, someone will replace me

Like a piece of furniture

From a time forgotten

I will be cast aside

I will not object

For this is how

I was hired for this position

And how I will lose it

Pretty

The clothes I wear

Are not mine to own

The jewelry that adorns my body

Is not mine to keep

Soon, a computer will

Cast the background

Behind me

Soon, a computer will

Simulate me in this room

I have no viable skills

I cannot type,

file, or answer phones

Computers are foreign to me

I never learned any

Math or Science

All I currently have

And I won't have it for much longer

Is that I am pretty

Sunset in the Agave Fields

January 17, 2025

I see Death on the horizon

Waiting patiently for me

He is in no hurry

Neither am I

Death keeps his appointments

With meticulous accuracy

Not a redundancy with him

More of an ego driven necessity

I, on the other hand,

Know what awaits me

But before I close the distance

I take notice of the vegetation

I enjoy tequila in all varieties

I am also a chemist

With more glassware than I can carry

I have a little time on my hands

Distillation is my craft

Death takes notice

He may even want a taste

Curious for someone without taste

The agave are the gifts of the gods

Matched with my favorite food

Paella

I might stretch this homestretch out a bit

I choose the metaphor for myself

Because it may be the last choice I ever make

Death has seen this before

But, not from me, not in this way

Come Hither and Listen

January 16, 2025

Once upon a time

In a land far away

Lived a Queen

Prone to giving orders

In the form of parables

In which her subjects

Must disseminate each verse

And elucidate each meaning

When the Queen spoke

She spoke of choices given

And choices made

She warned of repercussions

For poorly made decisions

Leading to

Unintended consequences

And further royal interventions

This ambiguity made her subjects

Prone to ambiguity in return

Perhaps a doctor would respond

When summoned

Perhaps he would

Simply take his time

Scholars, farmers, artisans

And others followed suit

This mental atrophy

Was soon discovered

By enemies sensing weakness

Both from within and without

The Royal House

Did not see

The damage they caused

Or respond appropriately in time

Soon, the Queen

Was Queen no more

Soon, the invaders

Made their laws known

And enforced them often

The people shunned all

Their previous queen

Stood for

The moral of the story

Is to be clear and

Articulate

Is to prevent an issue

From becoming

A problem

Is to perform the duties

Only you can can perform

The man standing

Outside the range of the photo

Took this advice to heart

This was not the time for discussion

This was the time for action

No need to wait for sunset

No need to draw the blinds

Carpe diem, Carpe noctum, Ad infinitum

Sulozowa, Poland

January 15, 2025

My cropping and rotating (to fit) of this picture does not do the photo justice.

Here is another place I want to visit.

Everyone lives on the same street.

Imagine being a visitor and not needing directions other than go left or go right.

Everyone owns a sliver of land behind their home,

On one very long street.

All you will require is a numerical for the address.

Imagine a letter being sent from 203 to 1402.

Such simplicity on the envelope.

Such simplicity most likely reaches into other areas of life.

One would expect this to be true.

One would wonder why such a place exists as a singularity and not as the rule.

Human Face Without Muscles

January 14, 2025

I have no story for this picture.

I am just amazed someone actually wondered what it would look like.

The cavities around the mouth.

The emptiness.

Go to a Halloween party looking way.

Hell, go anywhere looking this way.

I double dog dare you.

My Retirement Plan

January 13, 2025

Playing chess at dusk

Losing every single game

Still writing all night