Candle Light 55

Light from the candles
flickered in the slight breeze
created as the stranger walked by.
The subtle change in light
wasn’t noticed.
On cat feet, he crept
ever nearer to the unsuspecting host.
Clenching and unclenching
the object in his hand,
he let his presence become known.

“Fuse wasn’t worth a damn. I changed it."


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This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.

If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________

Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.

Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

Back from the cold

Upon my return from my company's week long "International Sales Meeting" (big deal, we have a facility in Paris and an office in the UK - the rest of us are pure Americana) I have had little time to read my favorite blogs, let alone write. So just to torture you all, I am going to vomit a technicolor recap of my missing week. Random and self serving. Read on if you wish or leave now while you still can.

First and foremost, our meeting took place in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. No big deal you say? Well, for a Northwesterner whose winters average just over 50 degree days, it is a very big deal. Temperatures were in the single digits with wind chill to the minus whatevers. Fortunately, our meeting was indoors and Minneapolitans (?) were smart enough to build their city with so many covered sky walks between buildings that you really didn't have to experience the cold.

But COME ON....we have offices in Las Vegas and LA. What the hell is wrong with meeting in a warm weather locale? Jeez.

Day One - Just kidding. This was a sales meeting run by operations, so if I gave you the daily blow by blow, you would never read my blog again. Let me just say I was pleased to have been able to stay awake during the hours of mind numbing power point presentations as dry as a 90 year old virgin's....and if I hear one more person say, "Let's take that discussion off line" I may become homicidal.

So the highlights included the way we were fed. That first night we had dinner at Fogo De Chao, an authentic Brazilian Steakhouse. If you love red meat, it was paradise. And I love red meat. Picanha, Alcatra, Costela, Fraldinha, Beef Ancho plus lamb, chicken and sausage. Man, I wish there was one on the west coast closer than LA.

I spend a little time on the road, but not as much as some sales people and usually not a week at a time, so I had time to rediscover what I like about extended living out of a hotel room. No having to put the toilet seat down. Someone else made my bed. No commute. Room service at the company's expense. No running out of hot water in the shower. No sharing a bathroom. No cooking or cleaning up dishes.

We also got the results an assessment of strengths and weaknesses test that was taken months before this little party. Of course, I came out as an analytically heartless bastard whose greatest desire is that you know nothing about me. Pretty spot on, I'd say. Mrs. MM took the test upon my return and she is completely the opposite of my result. She is a human being with feelings and creativity. How she stays with me, I have no idea. I'm just lucky, I guess.

Other highlights - Got to go to my first NHL hockey game in a corporate suite. Minnesota Wild versus the Detroit Red Wings. A 5 to 2 win by the Wild. I was rooting for Detroit. I tell you what, that is a fast and furious sport. I was impressed by these athletes and the pace of the game. If Portland had a real hockey team, I would go watch. My big disappointment - no fight. I think there might have been some kissing on the ice. Get with it boys. Hockey equals fighting. Let's have some animosity here. We also walked through a park in downtown St. Paul filled with beautiful ice sculptures. An amazing show of creativity and near frostbite.

So now I am back and am trying to catch up but the back log of blogs is hopeless. Guess I will just start over beginning today. I hope to get back to leaving my sterling and witty comments. I may even write a sentence or two.

Missed you and I'm glad I am back in from the cold.

Sunday Snowman 160

As the warm sun beat down,

the melting snowman

hoped for just

one more freeze,

one more cold, deep snowfall

so he could feel the soft touch of children's hands.

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This Sunday 160 was written thanks to a training I went to this last week in Minneapolis. As a group, we were asked to write our thoughts when someone said snowman. We were given two minutes to write.

Most listed what made a snowman - Three rolled balls of snow, rocks for eyes and mouth and a carrot for a nose. Of course this was a bunch of sales people who have very little experience with creative writing, so I didn't expect much.

What can you do with only two minute and a one word topic. Sounds like a challenge for another day. What do you think?
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As to 160's....If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules. For the original Sunday 160 post click here.

The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

Sunday 160 - Pushing up.....

Green fingers
pushed slowly up
through the cold, hard dirt
reaching for
the light of day.
Even frost and snow
wouldn't deter
their mission.

To colorfully bloom.

This is a Sunday 160. If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules. For the original Sunday 160 post click here.

The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

___________________________

Some have thought my posts have been very dark of late, so I am changing it up a bit. I just find dark easier to write...no big deal.

Also, for those who I regularly follow and who follow me, I will be going to Minneapolis for my company's "International Sales Meeting". I hope to check in now and again and maybe even write, but they basically are holding me and all of the other sales staff captive from Monday to Thursday night, 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. I hope people do stupid things so I can entertain with a blog. We'll just have to wait and see.

Can it hurt me?

After having heard strange noises,
seen and felt entities
that were not of this world,
Lana decided to put up obstacles
to keep them away.
She hung sheets and blankets
from the ceiling at odd angles
to create a maze.
This seemed to keep them at bay,
but why was she now coughing up blood?

This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.

If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________

Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.

Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

Boys will be Boys

BERLIN, Germany - According to an Associated Press story, eight teenagers were hospitalized after consuming chili sauce in some kind of 'double dog dare ya' challenge (that's 'zweimal hund wagen du' in German). The sauce was reported to be 200 times hotter than your table top Tabasco which is a relatively mild 2,500 Scoville Units.

The stuff these kids were chugging was a whopping 535,000 Scoville units which for you pepper aficionados is the heat from the juice of a Red Savina Habanero pepper. One of the three hottest peppers known to man and almost a many Scoville Units as pepper spray.

Now here is the real surprising fact about this story - the teenagers were all boys. Okay, so that really isn't all that remarkable. When was the last time you read a story about teenage girls participating in some lame ass, dangerous and stupid activity, not counting the 'pregnancy pact' of 2008 or anything related to Twilight. What female is going to go along with a "let's see how close we can get to burning our insides out" challenge. I'm guessing....not many.

I will admit as a young man, er, boy, I participated in a number of pretty darn dumb ideas. BB gun wars were one such idea. Gather all the guys from the neighborhood who own a bb gun and head off into the woods to shoot at each other. The one thing we never did was go to our moms and say "Hey, Mom. Me, Tommy and Dennis are meetin' up with a bunch of the guys and are going to shoot each other with bb guns until someone cries." Nope. Moms never knew, injuries were hidden and head shots forbidden...we were dumb but deceptive.

What I want to know is - is it the Y chromosome? Is it the testosterone and all the wonderful accoutrements that come with it? Or is it just the underdeveloped mind of a teenager?

hear the rain

The audible rain
landed glancing blows

on all it struck.

Blurring vision

of an odd mix of

naked branches,

bowed fir

and skies

painted in hues

of gray,

blue,

pink and white.

Dusk called the clouds home.

They hurriedly dropped

their heavy wet burden

to hasten their trip

lest darkness overtake them

leaving only

echos of heavenly tears

on a black pallet.

Help!

Brushed my teeth while the water ran,
splashed half a glass down the drain.
These luxuries we take for granted,
while Haitians stand in line for drinking water.

_________________________

This is a Sunday 160. If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules. For the original Sunday 160 post click here.

The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

___________________________

Helping in Haiti

If you want to help the victims in Haiti check out web sites for Medical Teams International, Mercy Corps, World Vision, World Concern, American Red Cross, World Food Program, CARE or check you local newspaper for listings. Since you are all very computer literate, I didn't create links to the organizations mentioned here. You are on your own. Help if you can.

Real or imagined......

Long bony fingers gripped
the frayed edge of the curtain.
In a corner of the room,
Sara tried to make herself
as small as possible,
hoping she couldn’t be seen.
The curtains fluttered.
The hand disappeared.
Sara glanced around the room
looking for the creature.
Had it been real or was it her imagination
again.

_______________________

This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.

If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________

Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.

Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160 (if they exist)

ebb or flow

Inspiration ebbs and flows.

The flows are exhilarating

like the rush of cold and

powder that strikes

your cheeks during

a fast slalom

down a well groomed trail.

The ebbs are catastrophe.

Wild thoughts enter

and die

as if sinking

ever so slowly

in quicksand.

The more the thought struggles

and tries to get out

the deeper it sinks

into a smothering abyss.

Many thoughts have recently

been under the false pressure

of needing to keep writing.

To keep a presence.

All the wrong reasons.

Forced creative

is as harsh

as a cheese grater

on a knuckle.

It brings back

old memories of

client deadlines,

not the fun of writing

for love

or about love

or about the love

of the dark places

that haunt

the far reaches

of the mind.

Must stop the struggle and just allow the flow.