Categories
miscellaneous

one

Is it getting better, or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?
You say one love, one life, when it’s one need in the night.
One love, we get to share
It leaves you baby if you don’t care for it.

Did I disappoint you or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love and you want me to go without.
Well, it’s too late tonight to drag the past out into the light.
We’re one, but we’re not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other… one

Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head?
Did I ask too much, more than a lot?
You gave me nothing, now it’s all I got.
We’re one, but we’re not the same.
Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again.

You say love is a temple; love a higher law
Love is a temple; love the higher law.
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt.

One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.
One life, but we’re not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One.

–bono, ‘one’

Categories
miscellaneous

auto insurance peculiarities

i just finished reading information on the 10 cheapest rides to insure. although neither the z nor the blazer were included, the article went on to explain why rates vary so greatly. i was surprised that an insurance premium isn’t necessarily based on the price of the vehicle itself, but moreso on the demographic it tends to attract.

for example, a camaro is likely to attract a young male audience, which has a stronger propensity for incident than the z, which (partially due to its price) is likely to attract males who are in their late twenties or beyond; a demographic much more likely to drive responsibly. so when the insurance on my brand new z was slightly less than a 3 year old cougar, now i have more of an idea why.

Categories
everyday minutae miscellaneous

timing is everything

the following editorial is my adaptation of an email from a brilliant writer/friend of mine to the north, saara. she cited a source of ‘thought for your week: timing is everything!’ by jill devine.

have you applied yourself in both thought and action with the best intentions in life, only to be frustrated with the results?

perhaps a book, melody, or film lifted your inspiration or motivated you in some way to pursue a dream; some goal that you’d never imagined, or maybe one left wayside for something more readily attainable. popular phrases such as ‘build it and they will come’, ‘you get what you pay for’, ‘give a little to get a little’, etc. help reinforce the notion that if you try, you will achieve. so what of the disappointment when having tried, our just rewards don’t follow? are you an exception to the proverbs, or is it something else?

part of the problem lies in human nature, the other for incomplete instructions. it is unmistakably human to seek the most instant gratification in any endeavour; but the truth is that not every reward is available at the flick of a switch, and that’s where the proverbs are incomplete–they don’t speak of the waiting period required for things to reach fruition, at least they don’t speak it in the same breath (think: ‘anything good is worth waiting for’). most ancient religious texts describe everything as having an order and a season.

for example, imagine a farmer swapping the seasons in which he sows and harvests his crops; he will likely find himself amid failure, at least in terms of his expectation to reap a viable product. he would do well to pay more attention to the calendar. or imagine the workflow of a baker. he can mix a cake batter all he likes, and even place it in the oven, but unless he endures a bit of waiting while it rises, he’ll have little more than a tin of goo to serve or sell.

unfortunately, we operate with the best of intentions and grand expectations, and feel defeat when at the end of the rainbow is more rainbow. If the results speak contrary to your expectations, double-check the season–you might just be early. don’t mistake ‘delay’ for ‘denial’ by life. timing is crucial, and patience is a vital ingredient when planning for success. the road to each reward is a variable distance, and your mileage may vary.

Categories
miscellaneous

mcjob (mick-jahb’) n.

a sidebar quote from this week’s ‘entertainment weekly’ magazine:

big mac attack of the week: mcdonald’s. the super sized fast-food behemoth is mcfurious at merriam-webster for including ‘mcjob’ (defined as ‘a low-paying job that requires little skill’) in the latest edition of its collegiate dictionary.

Categories
poetry

new, updated poetry!

update: poetry index has been fully updated!

Categories
everyday minutae

writing, and then not. justice is served.

i am making it a goal to update the poetry index on the site. i’ve met a few people over the past week who like (and like to write) themselves, and although my older work is strong enough to stand on its own, having recent work readily available is quite desirable. making visitors sift through hundreds of journal entries looking for stuff isn’t exactly ‘user friendly’.

on another note; i got a certain satisfaction yesterday while snail-mailing payment for an ebay auction. not because i was removing money from my account, but because of the envelope in which it was submitted. i’ll tell you why:

once upon a time, after being laid off from a job, the offending employer mailed an ‘exit interview’ along with a SASE; which triggered two distinct thoughts upon receipt of the materials. first, how tacky was it to ask a favour of someone from whom you’ve just abruptly stolen their livelihood? and if the information this interview intended to garnish was of any value, why didn’t they conduct it at the time of termination? second, i can have a pretty ruthless tongue when i speak through my fingertips, so in the best interests of burning as few bridges as possible, i found it more valuable to hold still my opinions; and recycle the materials. the page(s) of the interview used as scrap paper–the empty reverse sides to detail driving directions to job interviews. the postage-paid envelope remedied of its black, laser-etched addresses with simple white adhesive labels, now suitable to be reused to mail an ebay payment. a certain element of justice was felt in this.

actually, now that i think about it, that envelope had the same destination listed for both the addressee and the return address. what does the postal service do in the event of insufficient postage or misdirected mail with an envelope marked as such? it wouldn’t be a fair loophole for me to be able to write a letter to bill gates out in seattle, and instead of chipping in the 37 cents, to cheap-out and list him as both the sender and recipient, but omit the stamp. i would think they would deliver it as a sort of c.o.d. and ask the addressee to pay the remaining postage due in order to receive that parcel. anyone have an insight to this? let me know if you do.

look at that, a simple 2 sentence entry became this enlarged gland on the throat of my journal. oh well, at least it’s of sound content. and it took long enough to type that now i need to clip my fingernails.

Categories
art & photography

retardation-inducing compliment

a follow up to thursday’s comment about the company art-show materials, designed by yours truly:

as i was leaving yesterday afternoon, a small group of 2 or 3 guys passed by, and in that 3-4 second gap in time where you can eavesdrop into other’s conversations; i heard one of them say “that mona lisa is really good. my favourite”. it was an unwitting compliment that really made my day… as i walked the remaining 300 feet to my usual exit from the building, i must’ve looked quite the idiot with this giant grin on my face that was a sure sign of mental retardation to those who weren’t privy to my thoughts at the time.

on a related note, the ‘mona lisa’ was also my favourite, in terms of both final product, and in enjoyment to produce. i’ll have to see what i can do to get samples of them on the site here.

listening to: still virgin radio. can’t get enough of it!