Awmmmmm.

We are gathered here today to welcome this new Awm into the world....


He shall now become a member of this most honourable society of Awms.

He shalt carry on the Awm legacy proudly and with great.... Awm-ness.

And he shall pass this most honourable position down through the progeny of his peers...

And he shall never eat kiwifruit, for it is sacrilege.

Nor have an abnormal passion for iguanas, because he shalt know that penguins are da bomb.

And he shalt procreate with these penguins, yea, and he shalt create a superrace, known to all as the prenguins, and they shalt become the downfall of the iguana civilization, and shalt rule the earth. Meekly.

And then his prenguins, and they shalt become as one with the iguanas, so that the Earth may not be destroyed by their meek warfare.

Amen, and they shalt have glorious tea parties, and play croquet on the lawn, and yea, they shalt have spines.

And with their spines and at their tea parties, they shalt realize the most glorious of all items, that they might have: the toast points.

Yea, and they shalt feast, and yea, the good Lord shalt provide for them with infinite numbers of toast points, for He is good.

And the race of Awms that shalt from then on be known as the prenguins, and also as the Iguanguins, will also discover the joy and happiness that is provided by the Great Lord in the Sky, who's name shalt go unmentioned, other than to call Him, Larry.

Yea, and this shall be a sign unto them, and the great, Unnamed Larry, in His great goodness, shalt provide, and yea, He shalt show them, by a light in the sky, the home of the race's fosterchild, the sloth." 

And from this glimpse back into the future, yea, they shalt realize their true purpose on Earth, relating to their relatives, the sloth. And the Great Unnamed Larry shalt say unto them...

'Yea, go forth, my children, and do my bidding, and honor my name and thy uncle Joe, and make lasagna.' 

And they shalt make such wonderous lasagna, that it shalt call forth from the Great Place Up There, a great and glorious being, who shalt be known as thy bestie, Charlie. And they shalt be so impressed by Charlie, that they make him many-fold of lasagna.

Yea, and the good Lord Larry be praised, they shalt create such a wholesome and good lasagna that it shalt make the fur on their chests grow to such stuff as is only found in the most luxurious sloths, and they shalt create from it a magical cloak in in it envelop Charlie.

And Charlie shalt see what glorious creatures these be, and he shalt give them their own land, as to make such glorious hybrid babies as have ever been seen. And to their offspring they shalt feed much of thy lasagna. And Charlie shalt call this cloak, his cloak of Invisibility.


Yea, and these offspring shalt frolic in this land of Lasagna, and Charlie shalt benevolently offer them shreds of his old jackets, and on these they shalt kneel, pray and supplicate to Larry for more marinara sauce.






NB: Credit for this post goes in part to Emma, who ingeniously thought up half the tale. Many thanks! 

A Thought

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.
--Nicole Krauss



That pretty much says it all.

Right...

When there was nothing
There had to have been something
Otherwise there would have been
No nothing to be nothing
Right?

When there was something
There had to have been nothing
So the something would feel
Like it was something
Right?

When there was me
There had to be a you
Or I wouldn't have felt
Like I was anything at all
Right?

I'm all right now.

Give Me The Strength....

In the US, and many other Western countries, obvious, heartfelt displays of emotion are not exactly frowned upon, but are generally saved for a more private setting. If a person (especially a man) cries in public, this makes people uncomfortable. Those of us involved in theatre or other performance know that "over-acting" is what many directors look for and praise, but it is hard to get people to overact because they subconsciously feel that a large display of emotion is "bad" or inappropriate. This is caused by our Western society's preconception that emotion, and the display of it, is a sign of weakness. This has changed more in the past century, but it is still subtly a part of daily life. 

This idea, of emotion being "bad" or incredibly private and not fit for public viewing, has been utilized for centuries: in countless civilizations, those who were strong were the people who displayed little or no emotion in public. Why, you ask? Because emotion is one of the basic human traits--humans feel and love so deeply that they have to show their feelings; it is how they communicate and thus form bonds, which are very important to the human psyche. Wherever this idea of emotion being a sign of weakness came from, it may have something to do with the fact that people are always searching for more. They do not want to be just human, and in ancient times especially, they wanted to be immortal or divine. And how do you show that you are not human? Why, you refuse to act human; you refuse to show the depth of feeling and emotion of which humans are capable. 

Humans are all about strength, but it is very odd (and a classic display of mankind's pigheadedness) that the only way we can be strong is if we appear to be something we are not. In this case, we hope to appear divine or immortal, or simply "better" than we are, by abandoning our humanity. One of the things that makes us great is our ability to feel. And we refuse to feel, or if we do feel, we do so in the dark of night. We are afraid that people will think worse of us for our displays of emotion. The Maori people of New Zealand, however, are exactly the opposite. Their haka dance and other religious and cultural rituals use emotion as a means of expression. This can actually make more Westernized people uncomfortable--it is our instinct to eschew those  who show all of their feelings. 

Anyone who has ever seen a haka, though, will tell you that although emotion is supposed to be a sign of weakness, the Maori are strong, and much more intimidating than their Western counterparts. This just proves that emotion, an essential human quality, does in fact make us stronger. The traits of humanity are not to be shunned in favor of divinity--they are to be embraced, because now more than ever, the human race needs strength. 

never thought this way before

silent winter sky
smoky grey suffocate
i start to shiver

then there was a smile
push impending clouds away
flicker and then more

in my mind is a
sharp scent of honesty
and a hint of sun

(did i mention the music?)

It Doesn't Have Words

All I can compare it to is a chord
One of the piano ones that you think requires 11 fingers
With a bunch of notes (what are notes anyway) that
Wrap around you like something you can't explain
It doesn't keep you safe it
Makes you want to jump and sing and scream and cry
Run laughing through the proverbial meadow
But maybe the only reason you're running is to get closer to the chord
See if it sounds as good up close
As when you heard it all those years ago
From across the meadow.

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning

Taste of last night still in my mouth

Last night's mascara smudged around my eyelids 

Still dazed, I stumble 

Down into the world 

Outside echoes my mood 

The one green spot looks as though it is about to be overtaken by the all-encompassing gray that is late January

And the gray and green

The scent of coffee, bitter, hovers in the air

Like the green that is slowly fading 

The word "muster" comes to mind

And it, once so grand, so proud and brave and determined, seems tired and stale

It would have mustered, had it not already

Again it would have sallied forth

Had it not been tired out from a constant stiff upper lip

I would have mustered

Had I not already sallied forth

Not already been exhausted from that front, that stiff upper lip

Maybe I see a little green coming back from that tired tree

Maybe the gray might be receding

Maybe I can try to muster again