"Buzzed"

two red eyes stare back at me from behind a mop of black.
the holes in those jeans seem too big to be decent.
yet there they are, on a body that i believe to be my own.
my lifeblood in its left hand, its fuel in its right-
merge the left with the right and the billowing smoke
--inhaled through its nose? perhaps.
a rainbow of shades accompanies me
through this horrible fantasy
i can fly-no just fall
that's not the endless sky
a towering wall
of flames--
just fine with me. as long as the left stays lit by right,
that which is real--is it there?
nowhere in sight.

"An Ode to Food."

You'll nourish me, but no matter anymore.
The pulp I've reduced you to represents your core.
No more suffering with entanglement in the teeth-
through me you've gone, never to see
the good you've done.
Reduced to one
piece.
Have your last fun
being flushed away--
your motion never to cease.

Machine in the corner.

Set up beside those huge machines,
the word processors of yore-
my fingers fly across the keys.
This "typing" is a bore.


Each day, early in the morn,
the bulking mass of metal
lurked forlorn
in the corner.
Passed by through the years of progress,
its worth nearly forgotten,
this Selectric called to me to suggest:
"Come see, how in past days it was done."


With a rattle and a bang resembling
the backfiring of a Model T,
This ancient behemoth, with paper rolled in,
ready to run-
to be frank,
the touch of each key
responded like a gun.


"Welcome to a world without backspace,
without the laziness of delete.
Here, mistakes and errors you do not erase
but thoughts you carefully complete."


My typing slowed for want of ease
but quality of my prose
substantially rose-addiction to instant correction appeased.


That fateful morning-a normal day in June,
a transformation-realization-what it really means
to slam the words onto paper, not merely a screen-
solid, tangible product from which the whole story-
past, present, future-can be gleaned.

Why Don't I Get It??!

It's been two long hours
And these faces laughing for that time and beyond.
Confusion reigns in this poor 
mind of mine-all common sense seemingly nearly gone.
And suddenly, a smash of realization
This joke understood, a product of my careful contemplation.

Another Day.

A loud alarm jolts me from my slumber, 

and as my head hits the floor, I realize

It's back to the daily grind-time to go

slave away at a computer screen, to the chagrin of my burning eyes.

Breakfast's not ready because the missus handed her ring

to another lucky man. Just one more chance!

One bite after the other, I'm living hand to mouth.

Eggs made like those lost years, sunny-side down.

The trek to work full of mystery-

Which train's stopped? Which highway's jammed?

None more restricted than my own tight mind.

Alas-the $50 for gas too high for

my meager paycheck to handle. 

Ten minutes added to my walk to work,

through the torrential Seattle downpour.

"You're late again! What do you think you are?"

The boss expresses his concern once again.
"A human worker, sir. This and nothing more."
"Well you can take that attitude and grin

and shove it."

Now worthless, the journey back home

adds to the bitterness in this brain

just an energy drain

on the whole world I've played.

Back in my apartment my bottle keeps me company

But at the end of it all, we are born and dead alone.

Cruel existence, the hole in my conscience like the

crack in the roof-

Soon shot through by both barrels of a shotgun. 

Back from Germany.

Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know that I am back from the Germany exchange trip that I was on for the last 2 weeks or so. Once I get over the proverbial Jet Lag, I'll post about the wonderful stuff I acquired there.
Vikram

Kodak playsport Zx5 camcorder.

I just got this camcorder for my birthday, and it's awesome. Compared to my [relatively] ancient Flip Video Ultra HD from two years ago, this one is simply amazing.
Capable of 1080p HD recording and 720p HD at 60 frames/sec, this one has got it all. Included is waterproofing, shockproofing, and dustproofing, meaning I can take this thing anywhere without worrying about it breaking. Considering that one of the first videos I took with my Flip (720p only) was during a rainy marching band competition, I think these features will come in handy sooner or later, especially since I'm bringing this one to Germany in a few days.

Here's a non-comprehensive list of the basic features of this camera.

-four effects: high saturation, 70s film, B&W, sepia
-waterproof 3m
-shockproof 1.5m
-dustproof
-compatible with class 10 SDHC cards up to 32 GB (I've got a 16 gig card)
-in-camera trimming feature
-glare shield automatically activated
-image stabilization
-takes 5.3mp stills

(NONE of these features are included with the Flip. Two years of improvements show.)

Enough talk.
PICTURES:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.238615009501885.78481.100000601637808&l=d6bf369d6d


VIDEOS:
Typewriter Day 2011
BoeBot line following