Random and Out of Order

A Short Poem By Me

I want to fib

I want to sieve

I’m a data miner

For a pot of gold

In fake expressions

I wanna get

Your very first pet name

For a pot of gold

And It is getting old

They keep on searching

For a pot of gold

And I'm getting old

I've seen you lived in Hollywood

And worked in Redwood

You crossed the ocean

With Mastercard gold

Been in the data mine

It's such a fine line

That keeps me searching

For your credit card

And I'm getting hard

Keeps me searching

For a pot of gold

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?The Reading Eagle I was younger my entire life. As an adult, I’m am a voracious reader.. As an adult I have read to my kids as much as possible. It is one of my favorite things to do.. We didn’t have many books in the house as a kid. My parents were TV watchers.. My grandfather had a book and I believe it was called the Encyclopedia of Baseball.…

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why? I spoken a previous post about three books that had an impact on me earlier in my life. That is Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much is True and Frederick Backman’s A Man man called Ove. Let’s Go Swimming However, there is one book that has a tremendous influence. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George…

What fears have you overcome and how? If somebody were grading this paper, this paper is destined for a C minus. I will hand it in, in time. The first thing that comes to mind is phobias. Apparently there’s a difference between a fear and a phobia. Fear is a natural, rational response to a real threat or danger, helping keep you safe. A phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by an…

Describe a few simple things you do that brings joy to your life. Mornings I have never in my life been a morning person. waking up early in the morning brings me great joy. The quiet and the solitude and the focus of thinking is special that time of day. Lightning Bugs A summer evening with fireflies, and the far off distance of thunder has a special memory to me and every time I see them, I…

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen? When the kids wake you up at 7:00, you make their favorite breakfast and head to the playground to start your day. You have no other choice You don’t make it happen, it simply happens. That is what hiking is all about, that is what running is all about. I tend to be all over the place jumping from task to task.…

I just found this photo on an old Calendar from many years ago. We used to have the calendars done at Kinkos. This is a photograph when my son Max and I climbed Mt. Saint Helen’s. We just reached the summit and we were starting our ascent down. This sometimes can be the most difficult part of the hike. What’s pretty neat about this photo is that it was taken by a complete stranger. He snapped…

Our son who lives in Berlin, gives the most thoughtful gifts. I just came across a gift he gave me about two years back. It is a large edition of Calvin and Hobbs All in German. I started reading it again this morning. You would think that would be easy, but it’s actually not. There are so many idioms and figures of speech. There are so many ways of saying things. I said this before I’m…

Do you practice religion? That’s a very complicated question with a very simple answer. Maybe I find religion to be one of the most interesting subjects one can explore. I’ve spent many years being a member and contributor of a Unitarian Universalist church. Does that mean I practice religion ,no? Does it mean I explore religion. yes. Story of Tim Tim is one of the people I admire greatly.…

Do you remember life before the internet? My wife she is a school principal and I spend plenty of time listening to stories that happen over the course of her day. She told me this story today that I found relatable, funny and a little bit sad. She had a student who got in trouble for aggressively chasing another student. He was a nervous third grader and when asked what happened out there on…

My education was more business and marketing and my profession much the same with a lot of computer programming. But I do like to tell stories.  And I generally abhor typing. Lately I’ve been having a high rate of acceptance by magazines for short stories. There is a story I penned called Hellbent which is a story about a person who gets stolen in jail for a crime he did not commit. He has no…

What are you good at? The main boss is sitting behind his desk and just told me I don’t have attention to detail and my handwriting. Is subpar. Especially my cursive. He looks up anxiously from his desk and asks me tell me Mark what are you good at? I feel like my job is on the line, but I don’t care that much. I think for a moment and try to be as organized as possible. Hefe it is like…

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable? Yesterday morning we went to the farmers market downtown and then headed over to a vegan restaurant nearby. We ordered two smoothies and a vegan BBQ sandwich. I am not sure what happened as the staff had one issue after another including a broken juicer and employees showing up late for work. Our meal took over an hour. Having it all is…