Tag: thoughts

May 22nd, 2024

Journal Writing

May 22nd, 2024

Bury the Hatchet

They say you should bury the hatchet, but no one ever provides specifics. Where exactly should I bury it, and how deep? Am I going to need a shovel to dig the hole, and then what do I do with that? I mean, this is already sounding like a lot of work. I’ve also heard that you should never dig yourself into a hole. But here I am, potentially digging myself into a literal hole with a shovel, which feels like I’m setting myself up for trouble.

Then, there’s the whole issue of proximity. Imagine the police find a dead body buried somewhere near where I buried the hatchet. I don’t think the police are going to believe me when I say, “I didn’t kill that person. I just buried the hatchet.” Of course not! They’d probably roll their eyes and say, “Sure, buddy, that’s a new one.”

At that point, my only option would be to go on the run, hiding out in the woods like a modern-day fugitive. And what do you need when you’re hiding out in the woods? Firewood. A hatchet would be handy in that situation, but unfortunately, I’d have just buried mine. I can see it now: sitting in the cold, shivering under the stars, cursing my overzealous adherence to idiomatic expressions.

So maybe I should take the advice less literally. Instead of physically burying the hatchet, perhaps I’ll just let bygones be bygones and avoid any unnecessary run-ins with the law. And I’ll keep my hatchet where it belongs—safely stored away, ready for more practical use like splitting firewood or, you know, carving pumpkins.

May 18th, 2024

Journal Writing

May 18th, 2024

Cat Got Your Tongue

If the cat got your tongue, what has the dog got of yours? I know some people use the phrase, my dogs are barking, to state that their feet are hurting. So, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the dog got your feet? If you are on your feet all day working like a dog, and your dogs are barking, you can get dog-tired. Often, when you are dog-tired, your eyes get droopy, or maybe Droopy, the dog, gets your eyes? If your feet are always sore, you might want to invest in new shoes, especially if an old man has been playing knick-knack paddywhack on yours. Do yourself a favor, give a dog a bone, and buy yourself a new pair.

If you find yourself doing what the song also says and come rolling home (probably drunk), you might want to have some hair of the dog that bit you. I would assume the same is true for a pooch, which maybe had too much hooch, only they would have some hair of the human instead. It would appear a cat only gets your tongue; meanwhile, a dog gets your feet, eyes, bones, and hair. Now that I’ve let the cat out of the bag about that, I wonder, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” and out of what, for that matter.

September 30th, 2023

Journal Writing

September 30th, 2023

Felicity Loves Company

I won’t keep Misery company, but I will gladly meet Felicity for coffee. Misery likes his coffee black, while Felicity prefers hers sweet. Misery will complain about how it tastes and call it mud, but for Felicity, every cup of joe is a cup of joy. Misery hates waiting for his coffee when Felicity can’t wait because she knows it will be great.

Misery bellyaches when Felicity has such a fire in her belly. Misery doesn’t like the young barista because he’s an old miser. Whereas Felicity is forever young at heart and loves to make new friends. Misery is a giant pain in the neck and wants to wring somebody’s neck for it, while Felicity will stick her neck out to save yours. After coffee, Felicity is ready to start the day, but Misery wants to go back to bed because he woke up on the wrong side of it. I know I will always be in good company with Felicity.

September 10th, 2023

Journal Writing

September 10th, 2023

Werehumans

There is never enough light in the day. There is never enough light in the night, for that matter, either. This fact is more noticeable on a night when it’s a new moon. Be very cautious during a new moon because not only is it extremely dark, but that’s also when legend has it wolves turn into werehumans. Never under any circumstances do you want to be bitten by one of them, or you might start doing crazy things like wearing clothes and paying taxes. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy going around in the nude and haven’t had any tax collectors at my door for years. I’m not sure why. Perhaps others think there is too much light in the day when I do that.

In all seriousness, though, there are many things to like about the night. The perfect time to get to first base is when it’s pitch black. However, when stealing a kiss, check it’s your girlfriend and not a skunk. Although, I’m sure skunks make good kissers. Pepé Le Pew, need I say more? It’s just that, in the dark, it’s hard to be sure it’s a skunk, not a cat with white stripes painted down its back. No cat is going to get my tongue! In any case, you better beware because if you feel her nibbling on your ear, it just might be a werehuman instead.

Another great thing about the night is nightmares. Where would we be without those? Am I right? Once, I had this nightmare. I was transformed into a werehuman and hit by a car while chasing a fire truck. Ever since, I’ve been afraid to commit arson anymore, fearing that the dream might come true. I ask you: Now, who will make sure there’s enough light in the day, let alone the night?

January 11th, 2023

Journal Writing

January 11th, 2023

Now Fear

When I was a kid, I wore No Fear T-shirts. Ironically, as an adult, I now fear many things, even getting a stain on my shirt. Whenever I find myself in even the slightest of conflicts, my fight or flight instinct kicks in, and I almost always opt to jump on a red-eye flight over getting a black eye. I will take a trip to just about anywhere besides the grocery store to fetch a bag of frozen peas to prevent my eye from swelling. Furthermore, everyone knows when you have a black eye that only black-eyed peas work. Thanks to recent supply shortages, who knows if they will have any in stock. Whenever I need to go to the supermarket, there is always a certain level of apprehension that goes along with it because you never know who you will bump into. If you bump into the wrong person, they might give your other eye a matching shiner. Another reason I dread going to the store is that I suffer from an eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach condition, which is only worsened by the fact that they are both already swollen at this point. Now, since I didn’t submit to my natural tendency toward chicken-heartedness, I’m buying black-eyed peas, a whole chicken, and a 10-pound burlap sack full of potatoes to go along with it. After said shopping spree, and with the rising cost of groceries, comes the worry that I will not be able to pay my bills for the month. Now, instead of a No Fear T-shirt, you might see me wearing the burlap sack with two raccoon eyes digging through your trash can. That is definitely something to fear.

September 2nd, 2022

Journal Writing

September 2nd, 2022

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot-Long

They say you should never start off on the wrong foot — but if you’re anything like me, you’ll start off on a couple of wrong inches at least. And speaking of feet, why do we call it a foot when most people’s are less than twelve inches long? Unless you wear a size fourteen, in which case, congratulations on finishing clown school. I was a clown school dropout, which is how I landed in the high-stakes world of sandwich artistry. Oh well, I guess if the shoe fits, right? I promise this won’t turn into some kind of running gag.

But starting off on the wrong foot isn’t just for relationships — it happens in the kitchen too. Burn your lettuce? Wrong foot. Mistake mayo for tartar sauce? Definitely the wrong foot. Drop an entire foot-long sub on the floor and invoke the five-second rule? “Hey, you sunk my battleship… no, wait — my submarine… sandwich. Either way, I lost.” That’s a wrong foot, a wrong knee, and probably a wrong elbow.

Now, I’ll admit I’ve had my fair share of wrong-footed moments outside the kitchen too. I like to keep souvenirs and gifts from girlfriends in a shoebox — I’m sentimental like that. I mean, is there really any other way to be sentimental? But more often than not, those girlfriends would end up walking all over me. And yes, I promised this wouldn’t turn into a running gag, but I never said I wouldn’t stumble my way into a walking joke.

One particularly pedestrian relationship left me with a shoebox full of memories and a smoldering desire for closure — quite literally. After the breakup, I decided to set fire to the shoebox — or at least I thought it was the shoebox. I was so sad I swear I had to listen to The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” a hundred times just to feel better. Turns out, I accidentally torched a shoebox full of my recipe cards instead. So now, I’m not only down a relationship but also my instructions on how to make my Yellow Submarine Sandwich. Let’s just say I ended off on the wrong foot, the wrong fire marshal’s list, and quite possibly the wrong setting for flambé. My kitchen’s seen more smoke than a sock pirate ship under attack — and if you’re wondering, yes, that’s the same scoundrel band of sock pirates that stole my laundry. Lucky for me, it’s easier to escape them when your sandwich doubles as a submersible — complete with pickle torpedoes.

So, whether you’re navigating love or foot-long subs, the lesson remains the same: make the best impression you can. And if you do start off on the wrong foot, at least try not to burn the shoebox. Or the lettuce. And definitely not the submarine.

Essay: Food for Thought

Essay Writing

Essay: Food for Thought

You should have a thirst for knowledge rather than be power-hungry. They say that knowledge is power, anyway. Knowledgeable people know when and when not to use said power. There is a reason they call it food for thought — ideas are a delicacy. An idea, according to a dictionary, is a formulated thought or opinion. The operative keyword here is formula. It is important to be well-read, so we can discern and decide for ourselves if we are being bottle-fed or misled because people in positions of power often have a tendency to try and sugarcoat everything. Interestingly, the word intellect itself is defined as the power of knowing distinguished from the power to feel and to will, or a person with great intellectual powers. The capacity for intelligent thought is associated with having great power but is only absolutely achievable, while also maintaining separation from one’s feelings or will. That is why we must strive to think before we act. True understanding comes from the ability to understand others and our differences. We should all seek to obtain a diploma in diplomacy from a class on having class.

March 25th, 2020

Journal Writing

March 25th, 2020

Limited Time Only

After a long day, when you are winding down, the day seems shorter as the clock winds away. Each tick of the second hand draws ever nearer to the stroke of midnight when all is black and still. It is at this hour, I neither wish to be asleep or awake for fear of what I shall miss. Tomorrow is but a modest promise that one today will break. We know that time is of the essence but what exactly is the essence of time? Is it to serve only as a reminder of how limited we are by it when time itself seems limitless? What would be the purpose of that but to create a culture of incredible impatience? An impatience that leads to rash decisions, rashes can result in sores that leave you looking not unlike Job, and crying out to God asking why, to which God will just look at his pocket watch and sigh.