Saturday, November 03, 2007

Saturday the beautiful, M's b-day and so on

marlie and candles

if someone is in our life
and we are talking to them
and we know we are talking to
them
and we know they are
sort of listening to us
and sort of thinking what to say
and sort of lost in whatever whatever
we are awake
and in conversation

this is hard,
and in a dream
last night
i was explaining the Gurdjieff
idea of remembering ourselves
to a group
of people
and was remembering myself
as i did it.

amazingly high
feeling

and now,
for the
glories of today:

Marlie had party at garden
semi surprise
and very nice.
see her almost blog; MarvelousMarlie.blogspot.com

and National Writing Month
continues:

today's excerpt:

“And if you kill yourself, then I’m a failure, so we can have something in common. Would you like me better if I were a failure.”

Jasper grins. Twenty five. Wound up. Rich kid out on his own. Confused as hell. Pissed about the poverty of the spirit that seemed central to all the jobs that wanted him. Spoiled a bit, parents paying for therapy. Poor little rich boy with the usual lack of love and self confidence of those who haven’t had to overcome real obstacles.

“Yeah. I’d like you a lot better if you were a failure, too.”

“Okay. I am a failure.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“My boyfriend just went off with another woman after I discovered them making out together in a park that he knows is practically my favorite place in the world.”

He looks at her. She is sad. A little. Not enough. But still. That is kind of a failure. “How long were you together?”

“Five years.”

“Okay. That counts as a failure.”

“Feel better?”

“Actually. Not really. But I like you more.”

“I’ll try to fail more often.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Okay. I’ll try to learn from my mistakes.”

“What mistakes did you make with him?”

“I didn’t listen to his silences and learn that they were unhappy and not just private.”

Jasper gets scared. This woman is smart. He doesn’t really hate her. He desperately wants her to like him, no, love him, why couldn’t he have had a mother with sensitivity and intelligence, or at least one of the two. A drinker and a stinker and someone who’s idea of thinking was to call the Democrats “socialists.” What a stupid bitch.

“I hate my mother.”

“So do I,” says Karen, somehow wanting to confuse Jasper’s poor me, little child bereft and alone act.

“You hate my mother without even knowing her. Because she was so mean to me?”

“Mean Mom. ‘Mean’ means, didn’t do what I wanted. No, your Mom is fine until proven guilty. Mine was an insensitive cow. For a couple of minutes I’ll join in your indulgence and hate her.”

“A couple of minutes? I’ve hated my Mom for years.”

“And that’s got her to shape up? The way killing her will.”

“You are going too fast.”

“Killing yourself punishes her. She feels bad that she has failed with you. It bothers her until the stupid shit that always diverted her from paying real attention to you once more diverts her and she is back into lala land.”

“She is from L.A.”

“Okay. I’ll hate her, too. Does one good to hate all the insensitive Moms in L.A.”

“That’s a lot of Moms,” says Jasper, almost with humor. Gallows humor is always the first step. No, is a crucial first step to finding a philosophy of living in a fucked up, narcissistic, lopsided and shitholes world.

Is that really what she thinks the world is????

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Friday, November 02, 2007

Friday to You, Friday to Me



the sun came
out
and
big baby that I am
i am happier
now that
i am
warmer

National November Writing Month
continues,
la, la
another 3000 words

Someone else doing this
and her reasons it's a useful
deal
at Klosekraft nyc blogchick

a piece of today's

Therapy as hints and suggestions for a little shift here, a little option there. Milton Erickson sending people on hikes up Squaw Peak. To get a larger view. To use their big muscles. The breathe real air and connect with Earth.

“When’s the last time you been to the Overlook Hike, Ronnie?”

“Do I look like I need a camp counselor?”

She waits. The smart ass answer is, ‘Yes,’ and she’s wondering what the answer will be if she slows down, waits and really looks.

Slow down she tells herself.

Slow down, she tells him, inside. Who knows if he is listening. It would be wonderful if he would listen to the quiet secret voice she sends out. Sometimes to clients. Sometimes to friends. Sometimes to troubled and needy folks around the world.

Soldiers in Iraq. Iraqis in Iraq. Women if Africa and the rough cities of America. Hungry children. Species on the verge of extinction, having no idea that they are their kind are about to be the last.

A wish for peace and fairness in the world sweeps over her.

“You look worried and afraid, Ronnie. What can you tell me about what you’d like to have happen today.”

“I want a better Elaine.”

“Can’t do.”

“I want her to shut up with her criticism and blaming and complaining.”

“Can’t do.”

“What the hell can you do?”


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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Day of the Dead


Every day
some die
some are born

every breath
we are there
or we are not

life
the miracle
why are we so dumb
that sometimes
only death
can
wake us up?


started National November Writing Month
today

last night:
didn't think i could do it
this morning:
thought the same
and then
three pages
and a bit more
testing ideas
and whatnot
and got some clarity:

did 3000 words today,
starts like this:
HUSBAND TROUBLE

“Hello.”
“Hello, yourself.”
“I need help.”
“How would that help look, Elaine?”
“My husband would be nicer?”
“That’s a question or a statement?” asks Karen. Karen’s “office,” the back porch of her house, in nice weather. It was fall, one of those warm Indian summer days in Northern California with the clear skies, and balmy sun that reminded you of spring.
“I want to have a happier marriage. Ronnie doesn’t treat me very well. He’s always gone. And when he’s home he ignores me, or is cranky with me, or critical.”
Karen wonders: an affair, or is he just a dick. Speaking of which, her mate, Phil was….Stop, Karen, you are being paid to pay attention, not to meander.
“Tell me about the cranky part.”
“I don’t like him when he’s cranky. I want to cry. Or scream.”
“Do you ever scream?”
“All the time. I’m a bitch around him, Karen. That’s what I call you, isn’t it?” Karen nods. “He brings out the worst in me. Honestly, I can see why he never comes home, because as soon as he does I start in on him.”
“So he’s not the only cranky one?”
Elaine laughs. Mid-thirties. More dressed up than usual. Who was she trying to impress? This therapist? Herself? Show herself that she was still an attractive woman even though Ronnie didn’t seem to think so. Why is she wasting her time talking about Ronnie. Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie, the asshole, all she ever does is think about how mad he makes her, and here she is talking about him. But maybe that’s what therapy is all about. what is therapy all about? Feeling better. She wants to feel better.
“I want to feel better.”
Karen nods. Wouldn’t we all, she thinks.



want more
buy the book
when it's done

ciao
chris

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