C.K. Edwards's Blog, page 7
June 8, 2015
Daily Ambivalence - the disturbing history of glue
Most people have used glue, or at least seen a bottle of glue at some point in their life. It is a common household product that few in their hectic dash through life pause to consider.
Let us do that now. Pause. Consider. Glue.
For one, glue comes in all colors of the rainbow and is used to join disparate surfaces together and make them one.
Wow, that actually sounds like a metaphor for one of modern society's magic words. The "d" word. That's somewhat disturbing.
Disturbing is also a word that starts with d. But it isn't magic.
Dragons are magic though. And they start with d.
The disturbing history of glue . . . eh.
Let us do that now. Pause. Consider. Glue.
For one, glue comes in all colors of the rainbow and is used to join disparate surfaces together and make them one.
Wow, that actually sounds like a metaphor for one of modern society's magic words. The "d" word. That's somewhat disturbing.
Disturbing is also a word that starts with d. But it isn't magic.
Dragons are magic though. And they start with d.
The disturbing history of glue . . . eh.
June 4, 2015
I wonder what empty feels like
Does it feel like this? Inside your mind. More. Inside some cavity you feel but can't see, a mystic nothing, unsearchble, a fountain of story you took from without thought, but now you cast your net and it isn't that the net comes back empty, the net doesn't come back at all.
That's probably hubris.
Whining like that presupposes exchange, that a pen can bleed infinity dry, that my mind can see an end to circles. My melancholy is less than a nothing, a petty criminal, a repeat offender come to steal hope at the end of one miracle as another miracle gets set to unfold. I've met this melancholy before. I saw him last time and the time before, but hope stolen is hope gone. It returns when it returns.
That's probably hubris.
Whining like that presupposes exchange, that a pen can bleed infinity dry, that my mind can see an end to circles. My melancholy is less than a nothing, a petty criminal, a repeat offender come to steal hope at the end of one miracle as another miracle gets set to unfold. I've met this melancholy before. I saw him last time and the time before, but hope stolen is hope gone. It returns when it returns.
June 1, 2015
Daily Ambivalence - obvious statements
I have a friend who makes observations sometimes that are pretty obvious. The thing is, he offers them up like they are oral nuggets that could be worth millions. Things like:
Obvious statements . . . eh.
My wife really enjoyed her time at the mall yesterday.or
If my wife says she spent "about 20 dollars" that's code for she spent 50 dollars.or
If we are going somewhere and need to leave in ten minutes and my wife says "I'm almost ready, I just have one more eye left," that means we're gong to be an hour late.I'm nice about it whenever he says stuff like that, but in my mind I'm always thinking, "Duh."
Obvious statements . . . eh.
May 27, 2015
New tradition after writing a book
I decided I will post this poem each time I finish a book. Maybe I'll update it from time to time and tweak a word. I like to write poems. I don't think I'm great, but I'm pretty sure I'm not embarrassingly bad. Here you go:
This book will endmy work of some days,meager collection of metaphor and similearks in story that rose and fellshifted setting and by degreesfaded in strength.
You are derivative of other works, I say,yet you will shine for some,a fitting first for sequels spun in inkjet loins,a child that will bear my name.
Silent, without voicebut full of words, the riddleI say you were formed in a thinking womb of months or yearsthen birthed to impartial scrutiny,released now, fleeing to the world an infant,fresh into the hands of strangersto cherish or abuse.
Tomorrow I will place pen on paper,parent skills awanting,and create another.
May 26, 2015
Daily Ambivalence - a telephone used to actually ring
My daughter has a purse. It's big and it's one of those purses that is so ugly it's cute. Not too many things can be so ugly they achieve cute status. Purses and chihuahuas maybe. With women, the uglier a purse or a chihuahua is the more the woman likes them.
That never worked for me in high school. The fact that I was ugly just meant that I was ugly. It sucked, but at the same time, it wasn't confusing. Life was simpler back then. People who were ugly remained ugly, telephones sounded like telephones, and when you saw a chihuahua you kicked it.
Everything's upside down these days.
Today the guy sitting next to me on the train just got a phone call. His ringtone sounded like the tardis. I mean, I start looking for David Tennant but it's just a phone. Right now I can hear both sides of the conversion. It's the dude's mom calling from Florida.
And look, there's a chihuahua in that girl's purse. I almost reflexively kick the darn thing but I've learned from the last time. Too bad. I like kicking chihuahuas.
A telephone used to actually ring . . . eh.
That never worked for me in high school. The fact that I was ugly just meant that I was ugly. It sucked, but at the same time, it wasn't confusing. Life was simpler back then. People who were ugly remained ugly, telephones sounded like telephones, and when you saw a chihuahua you kicked it.
Everything's upside down these days.
Today the guy sitting next to me on the train just got a phone call. His ringtone sounded like the tardis. I mean, I start looking for David Tennant but it's just a phone. Right now I can hear both sides of the conversion. It's the dude's mom calling from Florida.
And look, there's a chihuahua in that girl's purse. I almost reflexively kick the darn thing but I've learned from the last time. Too bad. I like kicking chihuahuas.
A telephone used to actually ring . . . eh.
May 22, 2015
The battlefields are many
The order comes from a man who received his from another man who probably received the same from another and so on up a chain of command you do not know and wouldn't care to.
Doesn't matter. The only order that counts is the one given directly and it is to go and take that hill from the enemy.
Undiscovered country.
You are compelled to move. The hill is a hill, not unlike the hill you took yesterday and the hill you will take tomorrow. If anyone knows the significance of the hill, all you know is that it isn't you. Will this rise in elevation hold significance for some on a distant date? Will there be a memorial marking at least the day, if not remembering you?
A day in fatigues or another day at the keyboard. I am set to take another hill, write another string of words, not compelled by orders any stronger than the incessant clamor in my head.
In the grand scheme of things, will it ever matter? Who will mark this day besides myself? Just another hill.
Doesn't matter. The only order that counts is the one given directly and it is to go and take that hill from the enemy.
Undiscovered country.
You are compelled to move. The hill is a hill, not unlike the hill you took yesterday and the hill you will take tomorrow. If anyone knows the significance of the hill, all you know is that it isn't you. Will this rise in elevation hold significance for some on a distant date? Will there be a memorial marking at least the day, if not remembering you?
A day in fatigues or another day at the keyboard. I am set to take another hill, write another string of words, not compelled by orders any stronger than the incessant clamor in my head.
In the grand scheme of things, will it ever matter? Who will mark this day besides myself? Just another hill.
May 20, 2015
Enter to win a free copy of Pocket Hole
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Pocket Hole by C.K. Edwards Giveaway ends May 23, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to WinMay 18, 2015
Daily Ambivalence - I can only afford breakfast at Melanie's
Not that Melanie's breakfast is all that bad.
She does under cook her eggs and she serves links instead of patties. When she makes her orange juice and the directions say add three cans of water I suspect she adds four. Her hash browns aren't shredded but instead are cubed and she always glares at me when I ask for ketchup. By way of cold cereal the only choices are corn flakes or raisin bran and she won't stock anything else but skim milk. And her cream of wheat has huge lumps in it. I know there are people who prefer it that way but not me.
Dude, I guess I hate breakfast at Melanie's.
I can only afford breakfast at Melanie's . . . eh.
She does under cook her eggs and she serves links instead of patties. When she makes her orange juice and the directions say add three cans of water I suspect she adds four. Her hash browns aren't shredded but instead are cubed and she always glares at me when I ask for ketchup. By way of cold cereal the only choices are corn flakes or raisin bran and she won't stock anything else but skim milk. And her cream of wheat has huge lumps in it. I know there are people who prefer it that way but not me.
Dude, I guess I hate breakfast at Melanie's.
I can only afford breakfast at Melanie's . . . eh.
May 15, 2015
Ran out of milk
I woke up this morning and there was no milk in the fridge.
I'm not sure how that happened but the ramifications of no milk in the fridge are horrific.
I took the train to the station and then ran the rest of the way to work. Then I did a little weight lifting. In today's society what do you cap that off with? A protein drink, of course. And if you don't have milk for your protein drink, what do you use?
Water.
I'm drinking it as I type this and it tastes like death.
I'm not sure how that happened but the ramifications of no milk in the fridge are horrific.
I took the train to the station and then ran the rest of the way to work. Then I did a little weight lifting. In today's society what do you cap that off with? A protein drink, of course. And if you don't have milk for your protein drink, what do you use?
Water.
I'm drinking it as I type this and it tastes like death.
May 13, 2015
So you finish a book
So you finish a book.
Sure there's the fireworks and crowds of well wishers pounding at your door all hours of the night, but when that fades you are left alone again in your mind. Characters that had moved in and taken space have left.
Possibly you killed them and they shant return. Others found their denouement and have no need to ever see you again, lost wholly to their happy ends.
And you alone in your mind.
Some writers are rather loose and will shack up with the next promising protagonist that happens by. Indeed, I know some writers who have hordes of amorous heroes and heroines clamoring to be the next conquest.
Other writers bid adieu to a story and are more like the widow returning to an empty home after throwing a last flower on a casket set to be lowered. A lifetime with a soulmate is over and recreating that same magic will take time.
I am more like the latter. Sometimes I wish I was a little more strumpet-like.
Sure there's the fireworks and crowds of well wishers pounding at your door all hours of the night, but when that fades you are left alone again in your mind. Characters that had moved in and taken space have left.
Possibly you killed them and they shant return. Others found their denouement and have no need to ever see you again, lost wholly to their happy ends.
And you alone in your mind.
Some writers are rather loose and will shack up with the next promising protagonist that happens by. Indeed, I know some writers who have hordes of amorous heroes and heroines clamoring to be the next conquest.
Other writers bid adieu to a story and are more like the widow returning to an empty home after throwing a last flower on a casket set to be lowered. A lifetime with a soulmate is over and recreating that same magic will take time.
I am more like the latter. Sometimes I wish I was a little more strumpet-like.
