Down On Ferry Farm

The car saga seems to be over. A week later, I finally got my vehicle returned to me. Seems to be running just fine. It feels really weird driving it again – where the brake and gas pedals are and the angle of the steering wheel. I was in such a small car I could barely fit in it. The crummy thing about it is that the folks who fixed it used up all my gas. I had a little more than half a tank when I dropped it off and it was almost empty when I got it back. Anyhow, that should wrap up my car problems for a while. I was looking for an MP3 version of the classic Billie Holiday song “Strange Fruit”… but the version I was looking for had Sting crooning this deeply moving warbler. Okay, I didn’t find the Sting version but I found several others by notable artists such as ‘Siouxsie & The Banshees’, ‘Tori Amos’ and ‘Nina Simone’. I was looking for this song because of its haunting melody but S&TB version sounded like an awful 80’s remake of the song. Lots of strings and terrible elong

Tuesday – It is my familial duty to purchase the turkey for our Thanksgiving get-together each year. Usually I had my pick of full-fledged turkeys at work but I don’t have that job anymore. My mother also mentioned that having a whole turkey is a waste and she’d rather deal with turkey breasts. Anyhow, I go Tuesday night to pick them up. By the time I get to the grocery store, all they have left is frozen turkey breasts. I buy them in hopes this is okay (turns out, it is – lucky break). I drive them over to my parents so they can be cooked for Thursday’s dinner. I’m driving away from my parent’s place and I notice that the temperature of the vehicle is running rather hot. It’s raining like a son of a bitch and the wind is howling like crazy. I’m several miles away from my parent’s house and I see some steam rising from the hood. The car starts running a little rough. More smoke rising. Uh-oh… better pull over. I pull into a Wendy’s parking lot and raise the hood. It’s still pouring bu

For some reason I’ve been thinking about childhood recently. I’ve had a very stressful week and I suppose I’m regressing. I also heard the Queen of England was coming to Jamestown in 2007. It reminded me of the countless times my family and I camped in Jamestown. My parents had a single mother for a friend and I hung out with her son, Bobby. At the campground was a row of about 8 phones (heaven knows why…). Anyhow, I’d stand at the last phone and tell Bobby the number. He’d get the operator on the line and make a collect call to that number. The phone I was standing in front of would ring. “Will you accept a collect call from Bobby?” the operator said. “Yes I will”. Obviously, this is in the days before they could verify that the number being called wasn’t a pay phone. Another time, a group of us had gotten Bobby to lay down on a picnic table near the back of the campground (in the ‘spooky’ part of the place) with only flashlights to illuminate our faces. We got him to believe we could

I can’t believe it. I’m back. After a long drought I’m back to some creative writing. I’m sitting here downloading songs and it just comes to me. I used to love that feeling of having inspiration strike and let it flow through you. After having said that, you’re really not going to like what I’ve written but this one speaks to me on a couple of levels. It was inspired by 2 specific events that happened this week. One was by an action taken by Superman, which I really don’t need to discuss. I’m actually proud he took the step and – well, maybe pride is not called for, but – I’m happy for him. The other event happened to me. Honestly, the actual event hasn’t happened but it’s been discussed. It’s only been discussed by one of the members of the event. Confused? It’s about something I wish would happen, I’d like to happen but shouldn’t happen. Prepare your jaws to drop: it’s about an affair with a married woman. {gasp!} I know what you’re thinking. I can see that sly smile on your face. “

A few years ago I tried to write something called “The Maintenance Manifesto”. The basic premise was that everything in our lives needs maintenance. The problem is that there are so many things that could be applied that it spun out of control. I even tried to just apply it to my life and I could see it being larger than an unabridged dictionary. Here’s an example of where I was going: You get up in the morning, woken by an alarm clock that is plugged into the wall and powered by electricity that you pay for every month. You bought those sheets at Sears with money from a job in which you are paid for doing some kind of service. The money you made also pays for the breakfast that you eat and every light you turn on. You must maintain your current lifestyle. You must shop for groceries to maintain your current level of health. You need to appear at your job and maintain your current pay. You need to lock your doors so that the things you’ve bought aren’t stolen. You need to cut your gras

Have you ever gotten one of those ‘questionnaires’ from a close, personal friend? You know, the ones that ask about your favorite color, whether you prefer Coke or Pepsi, and details about your most embarrassing moment. In certain situations I’m a liberal and in some I’m a conservative. I get to pick-and-choose which situations are which. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why you would want to know if I’ve ever been in a car accident, gone nude in public or had a sex dream of someone I really didn’t like. Why would you want to know this? Morbid curiosity? If you were truly my friend, you would probably know these things about me already and there would be no need for you to ask. If you want to know something about me, just ask and I’ll ignore your request later. I also don’t understand about paparazzi. What would make an average (at best) photographer take a long-lens shot of a movie star having a private moment? Mind your own friggin’ business! What’s worse is that these people