Not a Replacement, but an Addition

Hey everybody, I just started a new fiction project called The Journal of an Unsound Mind. You can check it out at:

http://unsoundjournal.blogspot.com/

Haiku #2

old man in his car

reverse, drive, reverse again

he waves merrily

Willpower

When life sends it's fire your way;

What do you do?

Do you crumple beneath the malevolent fists of misfortune?

Lying there gasping for breath, do you give in and die?

No.

You stand undaunted; shaking your fist and screaming back into the storm.

Disapproval

"Umm... Scott... when are you going to shave?"

"I dunno... Why?"

"Well... I don't want... a brother with a beard."

"What? Why?"

"Just... because."

"But why don't you want a brother with a beard?"

"Well... you are 21 and people will think you are like... 35."

"What if you grew a beard? You'd be 5, but everyone would think you were at least 12."

"Woah! That would be Crazy!"

Haiku #1

red jalapeño

fiery capsaicin

calls seductively

Who Knows?

Maybe in a different life.

Not regretting, just thinking.

Her beautiful smile.

Her matter of fact way of speaking.

She is younger, but so much older.

Life hasn't treated her well, but it has shaped her.

Tattoos, cigarettes, piercings, and her deep eyes.

Because of Lance

Coffee Shop Manifesto

I have been to many coffee shops. I have seen what they can be, and what they can become.

I have realized that with love, dedication, and time a coffee shop can be a community center. A coffee shop can be that place where "everybody knows your name." A coffee shop can be a forum for life in all of its shades and forms. Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and soul.

This is what I am in love with.

I have decided that this is my calling.

My coffee shop will:

1. be welcoming

2. encourage hugs

3. have good coffee

4. have two copies of the newspaper

5. offer a student discount

6. have movie nights

7. offer a free cup of coffee and a pastry to anyone willing to play an instrument

8. have an extensive library of books

9. have a "give one; take one" book exchange system

10. have poetry slams

11. have community potlucks in the park during the summer

12. have all night "studythons" during finals week

13. have a "work for your coffee option"

14. maintain environmentally friendly behaviors

15. have a great sound system

16. have a "I bought a cup for you board"

17. have regular employee appreciation dinners

18. encourage impromptu dancing/singing

19. encourage openness, respect, and conversation

20. have a customer of the month award

21. have a bucket of dog treats on site for any dog out on a walk

Not Again

I am the weepy type; always have been, always will be.

It's my genes. I try very hard not to be, but sometimes I just can't help it.

I remember when my uncle Chris was moving to Florida. I had just gotten into art, and I wanted to draw him a picture for his new house.

Chris was always the one who encouraged the artist in me. He bought me a nice set of paints for my birthday one year. He told me to always practice and to never do drugs.

I drew him a picture. The colors were good, and the shading was perfect. My Mom and I went shopping for a frame. I framed it, wrapped it, and took it to the family dinner at Grandpa's house that night.

At dinner I gave it to my uncle, he loved it, and thanked me profusely.

And I lost it.

Tears of happiness, love, joy, well wishes, and gratitude to be sure... but still tears.

So in this tear-free medium, I want to express my happiness, love, joy well wishes, and most of all gratitude to all the people in my life who stand by my side in solidarity.

Center Point

"...knowledge is a quality of man, and so is ignorance; truthfulness is a quality of man, so is falsehood; trustworthiness and treachery, justice and injustice, are qualities of man, and so forth. Briefly, all the perfections and virtues, and all the vices, are qualities of man."

- Abdu'l Baha

This is the human condition; a series of contradictions. It is our gift, curse, and duty to be all and none of these. To shift, balance, and juggle every facet of who we are.