I walk outside to go to work, and…

Get a lesson in parking on the hill…

Sharon, you Bi#$@ !
———-
“No opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.”
- W.H. Auden
Join me in a song?

Five Questions

Kath, I owe you this one…
It’s been sitting in my inbox since I asked for it a month ago…
Anyone who wants five questions of their own need only ask, and I will send you five.
Remember the rules of this are that I ask you five and you post them, nothing else will fly…

—–
#1- In order to attain true happiness in life, you must own an exotic animal that will be a gift from the Denver Zoo. Which animal do you choose. Why?
I choose a Bengal Tiger. Because, (Incoming sentimentality….) Dad always called me his Tiger.

—–
#2- What famous venue/restaurant/landmark that you love from OR would you like to transplant to Denver?
I almost want to say that I couldn’t do that because they are where they belong and they belong where they are… but for the sake of the question… I would move Powells Bookstore (along with the triangle at the intersection that contains the coolest interactive sculpture ever.) and I’d put it where the Pavilions is.

—–
#3- Nature or Nurture. Which is it. Why?
Both:

I am what I was when I first met the light,
I am what became of lullabies every night,
I am what my parents carried within,
I am what they told me again and again,
This me that you know is an intricate thing,
The ‘ins’ and the ‘outs’ made this human being.

(Hope that was sufficient, it’s the answer that came.)
—–
#4 – Your most favorite dessert in the whole wide world. And why is it your favorite. Can you recreate it to your liking?
Good gracious Kath, what are you trying to do to me?!
In the last minute alone I have suffered cravings for at least eight fantabulous confectioneries.
I honestly don’t think I could pick one.
This is my answer for the moment, and I promise I’ll keep thinking on it until I come up with something reasonable.
—–
#5 – You have met the girl of your dreams. She is perfect in every way. She has a 300 piece teacup collection that goes where ever she goes. You hate teacups. You loathe them beyond belief. How do you handle this situation?
My first and ‘gut’ response to this question is: “She’s not the girl of my dreams, She is not perfect in every way. This is an unfair question, I demand you retract it.”
My answer to this question is: “[Insert her name here], you can have an entire room devoted to your teacups, as long as they stay there and I don’t have to deal with them. In turn, I get a room devoted entirely to my hobbies and you don’t have to deal with them. I love you.”
—–
once again, sorry it took so long Kath, and anyone who wants questions need only email or leave a comment…
(also, random note, anyone trying to mail me at my Yahoo address will be SOL, it is inactive…)

Just for fun: The color of my Soul

I don’t normally do these things… But for some reason, when I saw it on Kath’s Blog, it struck me as interesting. So I went and took it, and was pleasantly surprised by the result.

What color is your soul painted? Grey Your soul is painted the color grey, which embodies the characteristics of elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, strong emotions, balance, and cancellation. Grey falls under the element of Water, and symbolizes the moon, tide, ebb and flow. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Life and things and the like…

I could spend hours recalling and typing all the things that have happened to me in the last week or two, while I have been away from blogging. Or I could just freak out…

OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! OMG!!!!
Jack White is a freaking GENIUS!
These White Stripes have the right stripes,
Icky Thump makes my heart go thump!
Listening to this CD, I am reminded why classic rock is classic, and why Robert Plant is a god amongst rockers. Jack White is looking to join him here real soon. My oh my.

… ok, done freaking out.
time for an…
Emo journal entry…

Dear Diary, sometimes I think you’re the only one that understands me. Also, money and girls stink.

… ok, enough of that…

I’m on Facebook now, add me.
Anyone want to sell me a house for cheap? I’m really done moving all the time and want somewhere to hang my boots for a while.

I had some other things I wanted to write in here, but I can’t remember them at the moment.

Open casting call for pods…

Podcast: a portable form of internet radio.

Why should you know this definition?

Because there’s a new one in town.

A new podcast that is, not definition…

It’s called Pipes & Pints.

It stars my friends Arthur, Cuyler, and Robert.

There’s two episodes up now.

Oh, and I’m in the second one…

So go listen to my tiny little voice (which I hate, but which others say is normal).

You know….

sometimes I just don’t feel like blogging.

see ya when I do…

Diem Ex Inferis

I don’t even wanna talk about it. It was that rough.

I bought something, it’s funny because Todd and I were talking the other night about how we’ve been generally staying away from the Deal-a-day sites because they get too tempting. I said that the one exception was that I was looking for a new monitor, but that I’d not had much luck. Lately all I’ve seen on Dealsucker are these massive (40-something inch) refurbd’ HDTVs. Of course, the very next night, what do I find but the size, brand, contrast ratio, and price that I’ve been looking for… NEW!
Then I sez w00t!
Now I can give Tony back his fifteener that I’ve been borrowing, and Cragislist the 21′ CRT monstrosity that is taking up nine cubic feet of my room. By the way, that CRT is an old NEC pro monitor that retailed in ‘97 for $2079. Two flippin’ grand!

it’s lonely in my brain: words…

If I blogged and no one came,
Would my blogging be the same?
Would I still tell of movies and friends,
Or would my words have other ends?
Would my opinions break no hearts,
Would I write about your smelly farts?
Would my deepest secrets come to light,
Like a burglar caught in bright floodlight?
Would my nonsense lead to brilliant wit,
Or come popping out like a drunk girls tit?
Is there anything I wouldn’t say,
If no one came to my blog today?

———-

If I wrote down my every thought,
The friends I have would soon be naught.
…But a though doesn’t count if thought only once…
If I said everything that came to mind,
I’d utterly wish that I could rewind.
…Sticks and stones leave bruises, but words are Nukes…
If I did everything that I wanted to,
I wouldn’t be me, and you wouldn’t be you.
…A deed begun, can ne’er be undone…
The things we do and say and think,
Are portions written in permanent ink.

…put the D at the end, you get Unkind Donuts.

The DVD has ended and I have closed Google Talk, the conversations have ended and the menu keeps repeating, but the brief piano chorus is pleasant enough that I don’t really mind. What movie? Oh yeah, sorry, it’s Wordplay. I gave it **** of ***** on Netflix, need I say more?

Long ago I put some things on an Amazon wishlist, then I went and forgot about it. For my birthday this year, Mom and Dad got me some things off of it. To tell the truth, it kinda freaked me out when Dad said he got the stuff off of my wishlist. I wasn’t sure that I still wanted the things that he might have gotten me. When the unwrapping revealed that I’d been given an Issac Asimov book of mystery shorts I was somewhat relieved. Now that I’ve started reading the book, I’m thrilled. I really enjoy these stories and their characters and so on and so forth. This is definitely not the first book in the catalog, but the stories stand alone and I’d recommend any of the collections. Readers, do yourself a favor, pick up a Black Widowers book by Asimov (the one I got is ‘Return of…”).

Next up on Netflix… Murderball (at home), Pizza, Land of Plenty, and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, then it’s off Deeper into the Depths of Darkest Documentaryland… lordy I’m a Geek. Alliterate THIS!

words…

It’s after midnight
I just went into the Kitchen
It was dark and I knocked some stuff down
Glass and silverware, it was really loud
Yet my roommates snore like boulders.

I just don’t think that’s right
They’re both passed out n’ sleepin’
I doubt they even turned roun’
I really don’t think I’d be proud
To sleep while hell froze over.

The Daily Dime: Never Saw it Coming

I initially wrote this story for the very first week that Cuyler and I did the Dime, way back at the end of March. It’s a story about a little girl and a horse, It’s longer than most of my Dime stuff and I never got around to typing it. Enjoy…

———

Never Saw it Coming
- Gabe Thexton
———

The girls’ mother returned from the ranch office, pausing a few feet away to watch her daughter bond with the yearling horse.
“What are you going to call him?”
The little girl beamed. “Diamonds.”
“Diamonds? With an ‘S’?”
“Yes mommy, with an ‘S’! See, there’s three of them… One, Two, Three!”
“I see, ok, Diamonds it is.” her mother said.
The girls’ smile seemed permanent as she slid her hands across the three white patches just behind the ear of the colt.
“Ten more minutes and then we have to leave.”
“OK.” She sighed It isn’t fair she thought to herself, I don’t wanna move to the city, I don’t care how cool it is.

The truck bounced slowly down the road. The girl stared out the back window until her mother spoke. “Lucille, please buckle up.” She sat with a huff, and watched with tears in her eyes, as they passed under the arch and she read through the drops her least favorite phrase in the world. ‘Thanks for visiting The Sky – Ranch and Stables, come again soon.‘
“I will.” she said into the quiet of the truck cab.
“What?” her mother looked over quizzically.
“Nothing.” she turned, looking out the window, resting her chin on her hands.
Their drive wasn’t far, straight then left. All the houses on their street backed right up to ‘The Sky’. Her mother broke the silence as they pulled into the driveway.
“I’d like you to go straight upstairs and finish packing your room right away.” She nodded in response, the afternoon was almost over and the remainder of the evening passed quickly.

Lucille finished packing and opened her window, sitting on a stack of boxes. She watched her siblings play in the back yard, and her eyes constantly drifted outward, scanning the huge ranch for any sign of the colt she was being forced to leave behind. It’s my horse, why can’t I stay here with it?

“Hey Lucy!” POP! She fell backwards, boxes tumbling, and landed fortuitously on a pile of blankets. Her older brother Sam had hurled a whiffle ball at her window. She raced downstairs and out the back door, nearly taking out her four year old sister Marie. She flew off the steps and with a happy scream, launched herself at Sam. And then she was hanging in the air, her shirt pressing into her armpits. It was Alex, the oldest, he and Sam always took sides against the girls. It wasn’t fair Marie is only four, she can’t even play all the stuff we do, I’m always by myself.
Their mother stuck her head out the door. “Alex, put your sister down and go pick up the pizza from D’Alessios’. The rest of you pick up these toys and get them packed.”

They picked up their toys…

They ate good pizza…

And against all odds, Lucille Martin forgot her worries and slept like a small boulder that night.

Her father carried her to the truck the next morning, and they were almost halfway to the city when the truck bounced over a pothole and she opened her eyes, half awake. Sam let out a shout. “Lucy’s awake! We can finally have breakfast!” Lucy poked at her eggs, they weren’t very hot and the spring in her seat cushion was broken, it was one roadside diner that would be forgotten easily enough. Her mind drifted back to Diamonds. I hate moving, I hate Daddy’s new company, I don’t even care how big my new room will be, and who wants a pool anywa?y, that just means more chores.

They moved in, the house was huge, the neighbor kids were cool, her teacher was nice, and Lucy began to adjust to her new life. One night, seemingly out of the blue, her friend Alice called. She wanted Lucy to come out for a visit. They both had three-day weekend’s coming up, their mothers worked out the details. They’d meet halfway, at that Diner with the cold eggs and broken springs.

It was fun being back in the country. Thursday night Lucy and Alice terrorized the neighbor-boy. Alice had a crush on him, Lucy sang “Alice and Tommy, sittin’ in a tree…” Alice knocked her off the bed, and Lucy landed, fortuitously, in a pile of blankets.

“I miss the horses.” she said, rolling over onto her sleeping bag.

“The colts are old enough to ride now.” Alice spoke softly, and her words were followed by slow breathing. Soon she was snoring and Lucy was alone with her thoughts. She tried to sleep, but she couldn’t, all she could do was think, and all she could think about was her horse.

Alice woke as the sun crept into her bedroom. Her tired head bobbed as she headed downstairs for some breakfast. Her mother heard the creaking stairs. “Morning you two.” You two? Alice thought for the briefest of seconds, and remembering Lucy, turned and sprinted up the stairs. Now fully awake, she burst into her room, and launched herself onto the bed. She slid clear off the other side and landed giggling on the pile of blankets.
Alice stopped giggling.
“Lucy?” She checked the closet.
“Lucy!” She flung the bathroom door open. “Mo-om! I can’t find Lucy!”
“Calm down honey, her mother said she sleepwalks, check the basement or something.”

She checked the whole house, once, twice, and it was on her third time round that she noticed her missing ‘Bratz’ pillow. The pillow that Lucy had been sleeping on, then she noticed that Lucy’s things were gone too.

“Mo-om! Her stuff is gone!”

Her previously unconcerned mother now panicked, and it was Alice who had to gather the family for a search of the neighborhood. She went to Tom’s, sent her mom to the Martins’ old house (just in case she had been sleepwalking), and her dad drove all around the neighborhood. When their search turned up nothing, her dad called the Martins. He was surprised to learn that they were not too far away. He hung up the phone. “They were making a day trip out of a business stop Albert had to do. They got the whole family in the truck, They’ll be here in an hour.”

The Martin family sat in their four-door F-350, silently passing the mile markers. Their day had turned sour in a matter of seconds as their mother had explained that…

“Lucille is missing and we have to go find her.”

Alex, Sam and Marie fidgeted in their seats, unable to enjoy even music. Worried and upset, they waited out the drive. Alex tried to move their thoughts, he tried to play Twenty Questions, but Marie only wanted to ask where Lucy was. The road dragged on, but finally they reached familiar territory. The ranch was now on their left, and of in the distance was a row of houses that they knew to be their old neighborhood.

It was then that there was a collective gasp from the back seat of the truck, and the Martin children shouted…”Look!”

Then, with great excitement, and from oldest to youngest, they exclaimed…

“It’s Lucy!”

“In The Sky!”

“With Diamonds!”

———-
This has been a Daily Dime short story.
Read more stories, and find out more about the authors at:
Daily Dime Dot Ning Dot Com

*Authors note: Sorry, I couldn’t resist.