The Advantages of Not Having a Car

Most of the time I don't really care one way or the other about owning a car. During the past eleven years I have owned a car about half of those have been without a car.

Owning a car can be liberating. Being able to just go anywhere at anytime is a privilege most car owners don't appreciate. Of course owning a car means it is your responsibility. Gas, maintenance, insurance, state inspection, and gas. Being without a car means not having to worry about those things. If you ride the bus someone else takes care of it. Of course everything is a trade off. For not having the responsibility for the bus you have to go where the bus will take you when it takes you there.

Last night I as I leaving Hastings I walked by the outside patio of their cafe and heard someone speaking. Curious I walked closer and realized that it was poetry. Later I would find out it was a gathering of poets and poetry lovers who get together twice a month to read poetry. I sat in on the rest of the readings and had a good time listening to the poetry. If I hadn't been on foot walking to the bus stop I wouldn't have heard them. I would have missed out on this experience. I would have missed a chance to make new connections with these people. I didn't really talk to anyone cause well I tend to stay quiet until I get to know people better but I'm going to go back next time they get together and maybe I'll get up and read something myself.

None of this would be possible if I had a car. So sometimes not having a car can lead you to things you might not otherwise find. It can make you slow down and see things you might have missed.

Poetry Corner

Ok so I was trying to write one thing and something entirely different sprang to mind. It has either been a very long time since I posts a poem or the first time I have. I'm a bit too tried to look right now. So with out any more a ado I bring you:


"Sounds of an Author"
by Gillian Gilbert (Gilly) [Last name withheld]


Scribble Scribble Scribble

Note Note Note

Write Plot Write

Plot Write Plot

Read Read Read

Rewrite Rewrite Write

Rewrite Plot Write

Rewrite Write Rewrite

Read

Rewrite Rewrite Write

Write Rewrite Rewrite

Read Read

Rewrite Rewrite Rewrite

Let Story Escape...

[END]

Out of Sorts/Rambling Post now with poetry

I'm feeling kind of out of sorts. I don't quite know how to describe it. I don't feel depressed, I think, but I not exactly happy or mellow. I feel empty. Hollow. I am feeling a little disconnected from things. This feeling started today I think. I can remember laughing at a comic earlier. I canremember laughing and what was funny but now I can't laugh. I feel tired. I may just need sleep.

---

Head full of cotton
Empty heart
Smile for them

Strained voice
Red eyes
Laugh for them

Tired body
hollow mind
Be happy for them

---

Yeah, I get to feeling like this and I write bad angst ridden poetry.

I was going to go the movies today but I woke up late and then I got caught up in rereading through the archives of A Softer World. I read all 418 strips. Hmm you know, A Softer World isn't exactly a light fluffy happy comic. A lot of the strips are actually kind of depressing. Maybe I should avoid four hour binges of semi-depressing comics.

Tomorrow I'll be going to the mall early to pick up a book I ordered after like five unrelated people recommened it. The book is Palimpsest by Cat Valente. I've heard very good things about this book and will report back on how it stacks up to the hype.

Oh yeah, part 6 of "Am I Memorex?" went up last night and the first weekly compilation will be up later. You know what, hold on a sec.. there, it's up now here. Part seven will post Sat morning.

Thats all I got right now.

Poetry writing in AIM

I was looking for one friend on AIM and found another that I hadn't talked to very recently. We chatted a bit and then she suggested writing poetry back and forth. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to write on command but once she wrote the first stanza ideas started blossoming. I had a lot of fun writing this. We only got two stanzas each but we'll be writing more in the future I hope.

Reba: i am at the window looking
for someone who is up the road
she is hiking hitching striking
she is speaking soft slow code

i know her and she knows me
we met so long ago
she is walking talking magic
i am something, but i'm slow

Me: I left a while long ago for greener fields
Saw two oceans
Walked through snow and fog
Passed the world by

But no greener pastures
My body wandered far but my heart stayed home
One more trip to make
Homeward bound to see she who waits by the window

Reba: i see her coming up the porch steps
how'd i miss her stalking gait
she's so pretty fucking gorgeous
i feel my heart scream, stupid trait

once in a while i heard her voice
through dreaming and through phone lines
she's standing outstanding emergency landing
her eyes are fire, lost and confined.

Me: She who has waited too long stands at the door
Greener pastures then those reflected
In her eyes do not exist
I stand silent on the porch

Windchimes fill the silence.
Did I travel too far?
Our eyes meet and great, what a treat
The gulf in my heart closes as the door opens