This is My Life

Closed eyes.

Sleep or deep concentration?

Relaxation or contemplation?

So many ideas dumping in.

Sleep seems impossible.

Change is good right?

Life is good but unpredictable.

Life is wonderful, or it should be.

What is tomorrow?

Lazy day.

Open.

Productive.

Screaming.

Calm.

Like a wind chime,

Silent, loud.

Depending on the day.

Sunrise on a cloudy day.

Just as brilliant, just not as noticeable.

This is life.

Everyone Needs A Little Joy Sometimes

"I can't believe they are making me get this stuff for her! They know I don't even like her! God it is hot out here today! Ugh! This just pisses me off!" Joy thought as she walked into the store. Grabbing a cart at the entrance she scooted back to the bakery.

"I am looking for a pie,"she scowled at the bakery attendant while half smiling so she would not come off as a complete bitch.

"What kind of pie would you like?" the attendant responded in the most polite and helpful voice she could fake.

"I don't know," Joy said while thinking,"and I don't fucking care either. Maybe something the bitch can choke on when she digs into it." Faking a smile again she asked, "Well what kind is good. It is for a friend's birthday at the office."

"Well, right now we have the fresh peach pies; they are delicious. We also have our Margarita pies in lime or strawberry. My favorite is the strawberry!"

"I'll take that one," she said hurriedly, "Where are your cards located?" she asked while fumbling through her purse to avoid more contact with the girl than necessary.

"Just head to the front of the store and they are past the flowers. You can't miss them!" the attendant directed with a smile.

Joy threw the pie into her cart and stormed off to find the most generic lifeless card she could. As she arrived at the cards she saw a simple small card of a cupcake cut-out and grabbed it. She did not even care to read what was inside. She threw it on top of the pie and stood anxiously in line.

"Excuse me!" she scowled still waiting in the check out line.

"Yes?" the cashier replied, stopping his conversation with the customer in front.

"Am I going to get a ticket where I parked?" Joy asked oblivious that she was interrupting someone else's conversation with the cashier.

"Well," he responded, "if you parked in one of our parking lots, then no. Where exactly are you parked at?"

"I am across the street in the empty lot. You guys own that right?"

"Nope, that is not ours. You could be towed...how long have you been in the store? If it hasn't been long I would not worry about it." Turning his head to the customer he was helping he smiled, gave a wink from his right eye and said, "Thanks. You have a great one! We'll see you later."

Butting in again to his salutation Joy responded, "I haven't been here too long. I better not get towed!"

The cashier looked at the pie as a way to talk about something not so awkward, "Boy that looks really good."

"Yeah," Joy responded while looking at her Blackberry. "Can you just throw it all in one bag?" she ask impatiently.

"I don't want to ruin the pie since it will not sit flat in the bag, but I will put all the other things in a bag for you," the cashier replied.

"Oh, you can put the pie in the bag, just put it in on its side. I don't care. I just don't want to carry it. It will fit sideways..." She trailed off as she started looking back at her Blackberry.

The cashier gently angled the pie box into the bag being careful not to let the pie slide out or to have the whipped cream top get smooshed in anyway. "Success," he thought to himself as he had it placed in and stabilized. "Your total is $32.87," he said with a grin.

"They better fucking reimburse me for this!" she thought to herself while swiping her credit card.

"There you go. Here is your receipt" the cashier uttered.

"Thanks," she said with a grimaced look. He handed her the bag. She threw her purse into it, with no care for the pie, and stormed out into the heat again.

"Wow, I'd hate to be the person who's birthday that was for," said the chubby blond lady who was behind Joy in the line.

"Right!?" said the cashier, laughing in utter shock as to how Joy totally smooshed the pie with her purse.

They laughed together.

"So how is your day going?" the cashier began.

The Coffee Shop

Looking out the window into a parking lot of dull colored cars made him turn back to his magazine. There was something relaxing about this place, something he enjoyed, and it wasn't just the coffee.

Tav had been cooped up in the house for so long with nothing to do, it must have been the change of scenery that relaxed him. It could have been the abundance of space that he was enjoying since his small rental was crammed full of the furniture he had. Even with chores looming at home, he knew he did not want to leave the coffee shop. He was in a wonderful solitude. He was, for the first time since he moved to Pittsburgh, at peace.

He always thought himself a creative person - someone who did not just think outside the box, but kicked the box to the curb and built a whole new container. The past few years had been a bit rough and he felt as if he lost his muse. His creativity was bust and he had to find it again. Here, in the bright and quiet coffee shop he was waking up again.

He could hear the old wood flooring creek as patrons walked by. He looked up to see people shuffling about, pulling out laptops, putting them away, going to the self serve coffee dispensers. He heard the clank as the old man stirred the cream into his coffee mug with the long narrow spoon. He looked up just in time to see him place the spoon into the "dirty" container with what sounded like a thunderous clink.

What had brought Tav to this place. Was it his laziness since this was close to the house? Was it his lack of knowledge of other coffee houses to go to in this new city? Was it divine inspiration sending him there knowing it would wake up his senses? Whatever it was his creative thoughts were flowing. Thank god for his Blackberry where he could store all his thoughts as they hit him.

He looked back to his magazine. The silence was rarely broken except for the occasional creek in the floor boards and clink from the cups. He began day dreaming of what he would do with his dreamt up lottery winnings. He lost his place so many times in the article he was reading he was tempted to just shut it. "I would look pretty weird just sitting here dazed staring into dreamworld," he thought to himself as he turned the page to show others he was really reading it.

"Creativity is so much more exciting when you have the money to do something with it," he said when the next idea flew into his mind. "How will I even go about this concept? How will I find financing? I need engineers and a metallurgist to tell me if this is even possible." These thoughts filled Tav's mind as he typed his next best idea into his phone.

He looked at his watch to realize 3 hours had passed and it was time to get home to make dinner. Once he began thinking of food his stomach groweled to confim his hunger. He closed his barely read magazine, took his mostly empty cup to the counter and walked out into the real world - creative thoughts ending at the door along with his ambition to do something with them.

Reason For This Blog

I was sitting at the coffee shop the other day reading and losing myself in thought. I have wanted to create a new blog and nothing came to mind until that moment. I was going to have a blog where I would write and share a photo with the writings. I was going to make a creative blog where I would be able to do what I am ok at, but also, hopefully, get better at it. So here it is, my new blog. I hope you all like it. Hell, I hope someone reads it sometime. Inspiration my be slow, so check back on occasion for updates. Hopefully they will happen more often, but you never know.