Vows

I've been asked to officiate my good friends' wedding.
Becoming ordained: 2 minutes.
Writing vows: more than 2 minutes.
Reciting vows: Like thirty bucks probably, maybe forty. Depends if the caviar is from Belarus...


Dearly beloved,

We are gathered here today to unite these two souls in matrimony.

As you are sitting here, we ask that you also be here in the moment...

We ask that you quiet the constant voices of yesterday and listen to the voices of now.

We ask that you consider the importance of this day, the importance of this moment in time.

We ask that you quietly consider that in time, ...with time, ...and at one time or another, we have all had our moments.


This moment is here and now.
This moment is for these two people.
This moment is for Norianne and Tommy.

When you see them together, several things become apparent:

The flirtatious glances are obvious, the love is sincere, and the happiness is infectious.

With a combination of strength and discipline, these are people we look upon - that society looks upon - with respect and admiration.

We celebrate this union (today). We celebrate this time of clarity. We celebrate this moment together with them.

With the bond we create today, we not only strengthen their future, we strengthen our appreciation of life.

(ring, ring, kiss)

Goood morning facebook stalkersss!

Oh, alas, another day of sporadic addiction. Should I check, did I check? When did I visit last? The plethora of reticent scrolling, guffawing, ogling...

Should I Like that? What are the ramifications of doing so? Repercussions? *hover...hover...* Wait, should I comment? I have something quirky to say.

Should I hit Enter? That's a big step... This reef is so cozy, the water so warm...and my little eel head can recoil so quickly, away, to safety in the corals behind the wall of intangible others.

Ooh! A birthday! Hmmm, what to say...

Ha, that's funny...'Pen is broken, please use finger'. Do I like that? What does it mean? Did someone actually miss the joke? Do I know everyone here on this little branch of sea kelp well enough to risk it? My entire reputation hangs in the balance. *sigh* Oh, what a conundrum...

Whoa, what just happened? I thought that person was dead. Now they have the audacity to Like something I was going to Like ?! The nerve...

Oh well. It's probably for the best... *scroll, scroll, scroll*

Epiphany

Uncertainty certainly fills the air,
Of what, for whom, and often where,
The tide rolls low or heavens break,
The rain arrives, abrupt, awake.

At last it shines for you, or yours,
A simple glimpse of what affords,
The tiny wonder, ever once,
Behold the jest, he laughs as much,

And wait for time, and times to be,
As what, or how, you wish to see,
Yes live and live, alive, alive,
You have but one thing to survive.

Your mind, your heart, your soul of sorts,
It rains, it pours, the plenty stores,
Of mighty power grows within you,
Changing paths where none direct to,

The way, the truth, the sum of parts,
Of how you might, and should be smart,
The best of you, the best of me,
Comes sprightly in epiphany.

Utterly backwards

It's astonishing to take a step back and see how utterly backwards things have become - in most areas of just about everything - and for how long this unbridled regression has endured. Sure, there have been some accomplishments, technologically for the most part... But as an overall society, one has to be disappointed at the overall scope of impractical ignorance and apathy.

Speaking about the USA, quality of life and general sentiment has plummeted since I was in college. Tuitions are exorbitant, health care is not a guarantee, housing has crashed, banks have arrogantly given our hard-earned tax dollars as bonuses for "good performance," and wages have hardly kept up with inflation. Add to that the personal liberty issues that seem to have bubbled up to the surface, a 'major in minor things' mentality as I coin it, along with religious zealots who stoke their political campaigns on those platforms, and we are left scratching our heads.

When the very first episode of MTV's 'Real World' aired in the mid-90s, I sighed to myself and thought, nay knew, that this was the exact moment when everything had changed...permanently...for the worse.

Glorifying the average. A race to the bottom. Majoring in minor things. Watching people doing things so mundane, yet so self-aggrandizing, that we are literally standing on the bar. Even the news is absurd. Most of us will happily admit we get most of our news from John Stewart, a satirist. We need to feel entertained in order to feel anything about anything. When and why did this happen? I don't have an answer unfortunately...

While one acre of hemp yields as much as four acres of trees, we focus on casual marijuana use.
While those who are proponents of drug testing for welfare recipients haven't a fucking clue that welfare consists of more than just food stamps, they are one pink slip away from seeking Unemployment Insurance benefits - a part of the welfare system.
While this country was founded on the principle of separation of church and state, political hopefuls insult us with moral attacks.
While people worry about who will be elected President, lobbyists and corporations have a monopoly on our government, who by the way should be ashamed of itself for its absolute impending dissolution.
While Israel urges the USA to back its efforts to invade Iran, we propagandize it in our media to that end. What about the coup d'etat in 1953? What about this country supplying arms to Iran during Iran-Contra? what about falsely accusing them of supplying weapons to Iraq and Syria? 

Face value is not fact. Face value is opinion, of a writer, to an editor, distributed in soundbites to you...while you watch any number of MTV's 'Real World' iterations, microwave your Monsanto meal, and escape the reality that things are utterly backwards.

Singularity

I find it fascinating that we are on our way to Singularity - the point at which computers will surpass human knowledge. We've recently begun using devices which make communication easier. But in doing so, our collective proclivity is toward aversion.

By that I mean we prefer to type/text rather than talk. Will we one day have no use for our vocal chords?

6weeks - maybe a new novel/novella

Chapter I

     The first six weeks of a new relationship are without question the best time in a man's life. Sure, I suppose there are others... Winning in Vegas comes to mind. Hell, winning at anything comes to mind... But those first six weeks, when everything is new and nervous, when the sex is unbridled and complex, and when the exuberant telephone greeting or wide-eyed grin are unfettered...those are the six-week chunks of a man's life that we remember when the shit hits the fan. 

 

      Women would probably say the same, but they would be full of shit. They remember everything, all at once; a cacophony of vacillating extremes packed into emotional time capsules, digested in large gulps with spoonfuls of ice cream... Not that lowfat shit, either...the good stuff, and lots of it.

      I know, I know. What about the day your first child is born and, oh, what about your wedding day, and oh, what about your first time?

      I like kids... I mean, what's not to like? They don't owe me money and they like dinosaurs, a perfect combination if you ask me. They do smell funny, though...like some sort of anti-pheromone - shoe polish – onion ring medley, I can't quite place it.

      Wedding day? Please. The most equitable weddings I've attended were at City Hall. No crowd, no fanfare, just a stranger with a robe and a few minutes of beautiful synergy.

      The first time? How about I don't waste your time...

      Don't ever believe anyone who tells you not to worry; that things will get better. Don't get me wrong, I'm a positive guy, an optimist at heart. If I weren't, I'd have hurled myself off of the big, red bridge with the other fifty who did so just last year. Must be the ride of a life... I've never skydived, but I would imagine it's like skydiving without the fear. After all, you'd have to cram, and shove, and stomp fear into a brand-new, shiny, little, metal box in the deepest, darkest corners of your mind to consider jumping out of the known world, no matter how bad. It's sad really. I think those with that demented proclivity should simply find further depths of reality in the poor, forsaken lives of any third-world country... Surely a remedy if there was ever one.

      A few have lived to tell about it; the jump that is. One kid survived with a broken tailbone when he tried to impress his friends on a field trip. What the fuck is wrong with kids these days? When I was a kid, impressing your friends meant eating peanut butter with pickles (which, as it turns out, is delicious)... Now, it seems coming inches from death is the new black.

ABNA

Well, apparently there's a big contest that happens on Amazon.com every year and my timing couldn't be better. Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award accepts up to 10,000 manuscript submissions between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5.
I've submitted mine (and re-submitted revisions a million times) and am sort of excited about it. I don't expect to come close to winning, but it's always constructive to be judged against your peers, like it or not...
The winner gets $15,000 and a flight to some fancy party and many other non-cash prizes are awarded for runners-up. I just want to see reviews and comments. But alas, this is a game of patience. The following dates are benchmarks in the contest:

2/5 - Submission deadline
2/23 - 2,000 submissions (1,000 in General Fiction, 1,000 in YA or Young Adult Fiction) are chosen.
3/20 - 250 from each category chosen (Quarterfinals)
4.24 - 50 from each category chosen (Semis)
5/22 - 3 finalists from each category chosen.

I'd be quite happy to reach the quarterfinals...


(edit) *fist clenched, teeth gritted* "Next year!"
I learned a lot about the industry simply from a few weeks of banter on the forums of the contest; the multitudes of miniscule details that make a great 'pitch,' which is all they used to determine who moved into the second round. No hard feelings, my pitch is much improved now and looking forward to next year's ABNA.