Brave Like David
“I want to be brave like David someday.”
Now is not the time to tell her about the hellish techno-horror we are about to plunge into and how she’ll have to battle against the AI murder drones and help save the world from an evil AI overlord.
Tonight, I just hope the scary Amalekites doesn’t give her or her little sister nightmares.
“You will be brave, Lennon.”
I kiss her on the forehead and turn out the lights.
You will have to be.
The Ballad of Kevin DuPont
“Here are the three Pillars Of Pussy, my bro…. Gains, Gold, and Guns.” Master Dan’s words play on repeat in Kevin’s head all week. He slowly opens the nightstand drawer. Kevin lifts the gun out of the drawer. It is heavy, black, and cold in his hands. He slowly closes the drawer. Kevin returns to his bedroom, closes, and locks the door. “No one can fuck with me now.” Kevin whispers to himself. He lays the gun down next to his computer. Ready to provide and protect.
Who Do You Become
COMING SOON I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am. – Charles Horton Cooley “A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he’s being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a […]
Are These For You
I pretend not to be an expert on nylon yarn grades, extrusion, dye processes, and boarding. I pretend that I haven’t read the fashion retailers’ forecast for sheer hosiery products for the coming season.
I am a sommelier of silky things.
A Citizen’s Guide To De-Flocking Your Neighborhood
Like ridding your back yard of wasps – you can swat them one at a time, or you can locate the nest and destroy them all in one fell swoop. Swatting sucks. It’s slow, you get stung sometimes, and they just keep making more. In ridding our neighborhoods of mass surveillance cameras (such as Flock), I strongly advocate for the next approach. Some of you will still want to swat wasps. I’ll include a few notes to help keep you safe and free if you choose this path.
Rules For AI in Creative Work
When Lewis Carroll wrote *Alice in Wonderland*, he was not trying to trick you into believing that somewhere in England, a talking cat was dispensing Zen-like wisdom to passersby.
The Cheshire Cat was a vehicle for the wisdom.
When the love of your life cheated on you during your sophomore year of college and said, “They’re just a friend,” they were trying to get you to distrust what you were seeing with your own eyes.
Pink Suitcase
“What’s waiting for you in Tucson?”
Julie proceeds to explain her life: “I teach tennis, it’s my passion. My husband is in finance, he’s always gone, but I keep busy running my two daughters around to ballet and track practice.”
Her name isn’t Julie, to her, but it is to me. All women who live like this are named Julie.
“What about you?”
“I work in grey market pharmaceuticals”
“I’m a special adviser to the Swiss Consulate in Chicago”
“I’m an adult film actor”
“I teach 3rd grade”
I ponder the possibilities.
Hotel Casi
She imagines him sitting in the club chair in the corner.
She sips more wine.
She caresses her legs again. Do you like that, Jeff?
Warmth rushes through her body.
Do you want to see more, Jeff?
Gift of Tongues
Where the fuck did you put MY METFORMIN YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH MY MEDICINE AND CIGARETTES!!!” is what she means.
Everything You Were Looking For
She picked one up without thinking.
As she wrapped her fingers around it, his text from last night replayed in her mind, jolting her into a realization of how she was actually holding the vegetable.
Self conscious, she snapped out of it.
She quickly forgave herself. There was nobody around.
She picked up another cucumber, this time, holding it more imaginatively.
Unapologetically.
At its peak ripeness, every one of its cells were full of water. It was heavy. If it were a balloon, it would burst – but the dutiful cucumber held its water for the moment when someone would devour it.
The cucumber reminded her of him. His urgency.
His dimensionality.
His voice. The way he looks at her when she’s being bold.