Soulless and Hollow

The world sucks and everything feels plastic and trivial and empty and tedious and insincere and indistinguishable to him.  Every book that he read, every movie he watched, and every time he turned on the news, it left him numb.  Sex wasn’t doing it for him anymore, because he felt like a hollow shell and the world kept on taking pieces of him away.  He had become desensitized and his whole world had turned grey, as he was stuck in a void of empty space that he could not escape.  His regrets over the past mistakes that he made, had finally swallowed up his soul.  He was paralyzed and not able to move forward in his life, as his burden was just too much for him to carry.  He packed up all of his regrets in a suitcase, hoping that by not being able to see them, that he might finally be able to ignore them.  However, that didn’t work, as he remained frustrated and unsettled, and he was constantly pondering what he should have done differently.  He knew that many other people had made mistakes and they were able to accept them and move on in their lives, but he just could not seem to forgive himself.  His wife had caught him cross-dressing, wearing her intimate garments and although he enjoyed doing this, now all he could feel was shame.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #171.

Alternate Dimension

I have always been fascinated with the idea of traveling from one universe to another, but I didn’t think that I would ever be able to create a wormhole that is stable enough to allow me to do this.  I am a particle physicist, and I am currently working with high-energy colliders.  The energies generated by the subatomic collisions are thought to be powerful enough to rip space-time itself, spawning wormholes and I am trying to develop a gateway into another universe, or another dimension that is in our universe, but hidden from us.  I am on a quest to unlock the hidden shapes of alternate dimensions that exist in our universe, and I feel this can be accomplished by deciphering the influence that cosmic energy creates.  I think I am getting really close to visualizing what the six-dimensional geometries described in String Theory will look like.  Einstein gave us his general theory of relativity telling us that space can expand, contract, and bend.  If one dimension were to contract to a size smaller than an atom, it would be hidden from our view, but if we could look at this on a small enough scale, that hidden dimension might become visible again.

The high energy collider is capable of producing micro black holes which appear in the collisions, but they disintegrate rapidly, and I just need a way to keep them open.  Once I am able to accomplish this, that will open the door to yet unknown possibilities.  I have used my imagination to access the 5th dimension, and the 6th, and the 7th, and more, as my mind has no limits and there are no boundaries to what is possible.  I put my mind in a trance letting it sink into an abyss which allows me to enter these alternate dimensions where all unknown things can become known.  There is no limit to the power of my imagination.  I have no idea how many hidden dimensions are curled up within the 3 -D space that we inhabit, but when I find one, you can bet that I am going to be the first person to see what is happening there.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #170.

Eye of Providence

Looking into the eye provides lots of information about your emotional state, as most people who gaze at it will be creeped out and filled with nervous shivery apprehension.  This all-knowing, all-seeing eye is said to be a window to your soul.  This omniscient entity will look deep into your heart while its beams are emanating out in all directions and many people refer to it as the eye of the world.  The Eye of Providence has been with us since the dawn of time and it is a reminder that no sin will go unpunished, as it sees you when you are bad or good.  It is ever watchful and nothing ever escapes its gaze.  The eye is the only thing we have to watch over Big Brother who is always watching you.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #169.

Replicating Reality

Oscar Wilde said, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”  The idea is that our perception of life is changed by art, so that nature sometimes seems to imitate paintings we have seen before, giving us these emotions, we felt when looking at those paintings.  Leonardo da Vinci said that every painter paints himself because we are all human.  Humanist art tends to present the human body in a state of heightened realism where muscles, curves, and genitalia are emphasized as creations in God’s image.  Sarah was a young artist who was struggling to find a style, but since humans have been making art since the dawn of time, and some of them had no education in what materials, techniques, or theory that they should use, Sarah decided that she wanted to give it a try.

Sarah watched the movie Caddyshack on TV last night and she got inspiration from the character Ty Webb who was played by Chevy Chase.  He stated, “There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen, and all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball.”  She knew that he was telling her to trust her instincts, so she could believe in herself and have the confidence to let things happen.  If she followed this advice maybe she could see her future, and become her future, by making her future.  She needed a vision, that she could stay true to, and it had to be something which would allow her to work hard to transform this vision into reality.  Sarah sat on a bench between these two statues hoping to get this vision which she could follow.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #168.

Home For the Newts

Clementine came from a town where they called her the woodcutter’s daughter.  She’s brown as the bank where she kneels down to gather her water.  She carries it back to her cabin with a love that the river has taught her.  The life of a woodcutter requires chopping a lot of wood.  Her dad does his best, but he is often misunderstood.  If the woods are wet, that is never good.  He cuts the tree down to its roots.  It is hard work swinging that axe, but it is good for his glutes.  At the end of the day, he removes his boots.  He allows his boots to air out on a stump.  He tells his daughter that she is looking plump.  She knew she was fat, but at least she wasn’t stupid enough to vote for Trump.  Clementine took the ducks down to the river for a swim.  Her dad tries to cross a footbridge on a whim.  Sadly, the bridge collapsed and that was the last we saw of him.  Clementine left her dad’s boots out on the cut tree trunk.  Her dad was known to be a drunk and his boots always stunk.  The ferns strived inside of that pair of old mossy boots.  Clementine really loved nature and she would never do anything that pollutes.  The boots reminded her of her dad and they made a nice home for the newts.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #167.

The Apology

As a gift recipient, I figured that I was supposed to open my present right on the spot and not have to wait for anything.  I have always enjoyed opening up presents, but I was so disappointed when my wife told me that this wasn’t for me.  I figured the gift was her way of showing me that she was thankful for me being in her life and I was so happy that she put so much time and effort into that gift for me.  That wonderful scent of chocolate hit my nostrils as soon as I opened it and I couldn’t resist trying a few of them.  You can’t blame me, as the sign told me to open it and how was I supposed to know that it wasn’t meant for me.  There was no gift tag stating who it was from and who it was for, so I just assumed it was for me.  I told my wife that I am very sorry for acting like a child with no self-control, and that I would go out and get another box of chocolates for her to give to her boss and I would wrap it up again for her.  She screamed at me and told me that these were special custom-made gourmet chocolates and that she had to wait 4 weeks to get them in the mail, so they were almost like irreplaceable.  These pure Belgian chocolates came in a unique stunning array of flavors, assortments and designs to ensure that her boss would feel truly special.  She talked with her boss’ wife to make sure that this personalized selection was exactly what he wanted and now everything was ruined.  I apologized again and then I told her how good these chocolates were knowing that I would be spending the rest of the week in the doghouse.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #166.

Time Tunnel

A massive top secret government project known as the Time Tunnel was built to launch mankind into the past and the future.  In order for the travelers to get to their destination, they needed to walk through a nine-foot drum that spun around creating this kaleidoscope effect, making them feel like they were flying through the shaft into the past or the future.  Bradley and Jessica were scientists that were selected to go back to ancient Mesopotamia to witness the greatest party ever thrown.  Bradley was involved with the creation of this time tunnel and he designed the pulsating power-core of this complex, which was frightening, as it was constantly spitting out sparks and smoking profusely, but he told Jessica that there was nothing to worry about.  Jessica holds a doctorate as a Professor of Art History and she is an expert on the Neo-Assyrian Empire thus she picked out clothes for them to wear, so they would fit in and go unnoticed.  The region was open to invasion and trade, therefore they spoke a wide variety of languages and Jessica was proficient in both Akkadian and Aramaic and as a result that, language would not be a problem for them, as long as Bradley kept quiet.

Jessica was a former beauty pageant winner, and she was strikingly beautiful, and the plan was for her to pose as the Queen of Qal’at Sherqat and Bradley would be her servant.  She wanted to investigate concepts of beauty and attractiveness in ancient cultures, and to explore how these concepts relate to gender, hierarchy and power.  This required Jessica to stand above all other mortal women as a paragon of ideal beauty and imperial power, who dressed to impress, emulating the appearance of beauty that connected her to the Akkadian goddess Tashmetu which the people held in high regard.  Jessica was not sure that she could pull off this look of representing a microcosm of the universe while expressing mortal, metaphysical and divine beauty, but this was a lifetime opportunity for her, and she was not going to miss out on it.

The king of Assyria Ashurnasirpal II invited almost 70,000 people to this inaugural event that celebrated the completion of his new city of Kalhu, so this was thought to be the perfect place for these time travelers to go visit.  Ashurnasirpal invited the whole country to attend and visit his extravagant palace, and with all the dignitaries coming from foreign lands, this would allow Jessica and Bradley to stay incognito, concealing their true identities.  Ashurnasirpal hosted this grand affair because he wanted to be recorded in history for future generations and this was the perfect place for the time tunnel to lock onto.  The city of Kalhu had no rival and everyone wanted to see what he had accomplished.  The party would last for ten days with everyone being given food, and drink, being bathed, and anointed, so they could be sent back to their lands in peace and joy and taking about this party for the rest of their lives.

When Jessica and Bradley arrived at the palace, the party was just kicking off and they were introduced to the real Queen of Qal’at Sherqat, which made their plan go down the tubes, but she was quick on her feet, and she introduced herself as a dignitary from the province of Anatolia.  They survived that close call and then Bradley wanted to try some of the beer that everyone else was enjoying, just to see how it compared to the Budweiser that he drinks.  Since Bradley was introduced as a servant, he was asked to help carry these large vats of beer and after he finished his work, he was allowed to indulge in this daily staple that was an essential component of social life.

Ancient Mesopotamians are known for their sexual appetites and prostitution was widely practiced in this time period.  The king hired many women to satisfy the sexual desires of all of his guests.  These girls mostly came from the lower classes, and they prostituted themselves to fulfill debt-related obligations in the hope of escaping poverty.  Jessica knew that this was a customary display of immorality, having naked women at dinner parties who were willing to engage in whatever service was required of them, but even though she was not a prude, she found this totally shocking that the mating went on for ten days.  This was considered to be an honorable occupation, because it was pleasing to the gods.  The prostitute was skilled in making the bedchamber delightful, which was food for the men that could afford them.  The nude women would cup their breasts to advertise their services letting all the guests know that they were ready and available.

Jessica collected all the information that she was looking for and she told Bradley that it was time for them to head back home.  Bradley replied that this sounded like a brilliant idea, but he had not perfected how they were going to return to their own time period yet, however he would be able to have them jump to a new place in time.  Jessica was mad at Bradley for not letting he know that they would be lost in the vortex of time, but she had enough of this place and said, “Let’s get the blank out of here!”

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #165.

Channel Markers

I just purchased a Cuddy Cabins Boat, which is a compact sportsboat with a forward cabin that allows me the option to spend the night on my boat if I park it in a secluded cove or at a campground or marina.  I can tow it with my truck and it’s comforting to know there’s a toilet on board.  I took my wife out on it the other day for a cruise beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA and it was a delightful trip for us.  As we made our way under the bridge, all we heard were the sounds of the wind blowing and the water splashing against our boat.  The water under the bridge was turbulent, but I consider myself to be an experienced boater, so I was not worried.  This was a special trip and we each left a little bit of our heart in San Francisco.  My wife noticed some harbor seals relaxing in the sun, and there were a bunch of western gulls all around us.  We are both birdwatchers and we spotted an osprey sitting on a post that was sticking up out of the water.  My wife asked me, “What are those wooden poles that are sticking up out of the water?”

I told her that they are called channel markers and that they are used to help boats travel safely on waterways so that they do not end up in low water and run ashore and they also allow you to avoid sand bars and other hazards.  Treated wood pilings are used throughout most marinas, because the wood is known for its incredible strength and durability.  They could be placed in the water to protect an oyster farm, or they might be used to break up incoming waves by removing their power and protecting the beach from costal erosion.  They can act as a seawall protecting the shore line from big powerful waves to create more stable beaches.  These pilings essentially chop the larger longer waves into smaller ones taking the sting out of them before they crash into the shoreline.  I think that they add a certain charisma and charm to the waterfront and when the tide goes out, and when sand levels are low, these posts can sometimes be seen on some of the beaches.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #163 where the image credit comes from Mohamed Almari @ Pexels.

Don’t Come Here Again

In the early 1970s, I went with a bunch of my friends to check out this house which was rumored to be haunted.  The story as I remember, involved an invalid who fell down an elevator shaft inside of the house and it was said that they would materialize as a ghost.  It was a three-story house set back into the woods off an isolated road.  Some stories said that Emma Swanson was pushed down the shaft by her mother’s lover and that they were never able to clean up the blood that was dripping down the shaft.  I am very skeptical, and I knew that these stories were all elaborations, and that people will see what they want to see, so if they go there expecting to see a ghost and they hear floorboards creaking, that will turn into spirits walking through the house.  Anyway, it sounded like a fun way to kill some time, so I parked my car a couple of blocks away and we all went to see the mysterious house.

It must have been a nice house at one time, but now it was abandoned and run down.  We saw a bunch of beer cans strewn all over the property, so many other kids had been to this house before us.  It was dark that night, which made it even more scary and the perfect night for seeing a ghost.  We heard that Emma was a thin, young woman with long dark hair in a wheelchair wearing a tattered white nightgown and there were stories about kids running out of the house screaming after she appeared to them.  Eddie was goofing around knocking on the walls to make it sound like there was a ghost in the house, but once we realized that it was him, we stopped reacting to his nonsense.  We saw the famous elevator shaft, but no dripping blood or ghost, so since there was absolutely nothing going on in this house, we got bored and left.

We walked back to my car, and then this older man shouted at us to stop.  He waved a gun at us and told us that he had the right to shoot all of us as he was the caretaker of the abandoned house.  I thought he must have been crazy, because who waves a gun at a bunch of innocent teens.  He said he wanted all of us to get into his car as he was going to drive us to the police station for trespassing and vandalism.  We didn’t destroy any property and we didn’t even think that trespassing in an abandoned hose should be a crime.  I tried to talk him into putting the gun down, by saying that we would do anything he asked us to do.  I let him know that we didn’t damage anything and that we were only there for around 20 minutes.  I also told him that if he didn’t want anyone trespassing on this property, that he should put up a sign to alert people of this.  He said that every time he puts up a “No Trespassing” sign, that somebody always rips it down.  I told him that we got his warning and that he would never see us again around that abandoned house.  A couple weeks later he put up a big neon sign that nobody could miss.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #162.

Breakfast Club

Henry’s wife Allison had gone through episodes of anorexia, bulimia, and she also had a binge-eating disorder, where she would not eat anything, or purge what she ate, or consume unusually large amounts of food feeling that she was unable to stop eating.  Allison just got back home from an inpatient eating disorder treatment program.  The doctors, dietitians and nutritionists enforced the principal that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, because it breaks the overnight fasting period, and they told Henry to make sure that Allison always started off her day with food that would provide the essential nutrients required for good health.  In the program Allison was diagnosed as being a borderline, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant personality characterized by her feelings of extreme social inhibition, inadequacy, and her sensitivity to negative criticism.  Henry needed to step in and become her coping mechanism to help his wife to establish healthy eating habits again.

Henry got up early every day so he could serve Allison a balanced breakfast with whole grains, protein, and fruit or vegetables.  He called his wife to the table and asked her how she was feeling this morning.  Allison replied that she was fine but not very hungry this morning.  Henry said, “You can’t skip breakfast, because it provides you with energy and it will help your concentration.”  He told his wife that he just read about a survey by the National Weight Control Registry, that found people who ate breakfast were more successful with long-term weight loss than those who regularly skipped the first meal of the day and besides breakfast helps your metabolism and can help prevent overeating later.  Henry told Allison, “You don’t want to end up back in that treatment program, so you must eat at least some of your breakfast or you’ll experience body weakness latter on in the day.  If you keep skipping breakfast then you will end up having a heavy lunch, so you gotta eat something right after waking up to boost your brainpower and mental performance throughout the day.”  Allison reached out for a waffle, took a bite, and said it was good before smiling at her husband.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #161.