Archive for January, 2007
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Vanishing
by Brijida Prano
Vanishing
With a few strokes of my white sword,
I transformed the future and changed the destiny of lives unknown.
My love for you is mingled with the white blood of my weapon.
It lies in shreds on the floor,
Slain, wiped off the face of the white earth.
But I, its killer, never spoke,
So you never knew it [...]
3 Comments » - Tags: Brijida, poetry by Brijida Prano
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Déjà vu
by Brijida Prano
Déjà vu
When you were here,
The weather was dreary, biting cold, rainy.
The wet wind stung me like a thousand needles.
I thought of you.
I saw the gray sky, majestically fierce in its darkness.
Its turbulence mirrored my thoughts.
The asperity of my wool sweater disagreed with my skin,
While I inhaled the gracious scent of dead leaves and [...]
No Comments » - Tags: Brijida, poetry by Brijida Prano
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Life Drain
by Brijida Prano
Life Drain
Every day, every moment that trickled down
From the faucet of her life
She died, drop by drop.
Reflected in the pristine azure of each droplet of time
Were the visions of her heart.
Before her eyes a new droplet was being born
Out of life’s silver source.
She shrunk from this one, not knowing, not understanding
Why.
Obscurity.
Disappeared, meshed, melted [...]
No Comments » - Tags: Brijida, poetry by Brijida Prano
Monday, January 29th, 2007
Cindershinny
Bee had known, even as she finally gave in, that she would regret her
decision to join the school Cross Country team. She’d never liked
running. Though she was now almost on par with the average eighth
grader, it hadn’t always been that way.
As a kindergartner, the first time she’d run around that quarter-mile
track, she had [...]
3 Comments » - Tags: koop by Abby Koop
Sunday, January 28th, 2007
Chestbestland Westfordwoodshire
by Andrew Koop
Aiden Taylor Smith rode down the sidewalk on his shiny new tricycle. He left his cap on the front porch, so he’d know when he was back home. His house had a larger lanai in the back, counter-clockwise drainage gutters, and a few more flowers, but these differences were difficult for his seven [...]
2 Comments » - Tags: big-wheel, koop, war by Andrew Koop
Saturday, January 27th, 2007
Parks & Wreck
by Andrew Koop
We weren’t bad kids. What’s a bad kid anyway? Weird was what found us. Over and over it followed us like Pennywise on the playground.
Out in the big sunny park we played basketball for a few hours. We threw the fun colored football with the fragile tail on the end for distance — [...]
No Comments » - Tags: koop, park by Andrew Koop
Friday, January 26th, 2007
Labor Day
2 pm: I was eating Chicken on a Stick. I had yet to discover my emotional limits. Sarah Silverman’s bodily functions blared in the background. In the foreground, grunts, sighs, and screams emerged. This was Labor Day.
Week 41 and our odyssey had only just begun. The contractions came on full force — nothing like anything [...]
2 Comments » - Tags: birth, hospital, koop by Andrew Koop
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
Swimming Bowl
by Andrew Koop
January 25, 1998
Qualcom Stadium Attendance: 68,912
And the basement housed twenty if you held your breath. Jim Salvo hosted this party most years. Five guys from the softball team would bring their wives and a few kids a piece. This year, the shots started early — the teams were extra special.
You see, Father [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: church, football, koop by Andrew Koop
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
Gymatorium
by Max Mauney
Gymatorium: Selected Short Stories of Self-Loathing v.2.5.1
(optional install - version 3.0 release date TBA)
Caleb had paid for the damn two-year membership sixteen months ago, but he had stepped into the fitness center less than a dozen times since then.
“Today’s the day,” he decides aloud. “I’m going in!”
Upon entering Wellness Through Fitness [...]
2 Comments » - Tags: fitness, Mauney by Max Mauney
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
Take a Number
by Andrew Koop
She lives alone now. The stuffed animals are at the Salvation Army. Her Legends of the Fall poster lays rubber-banded under the crate which secures her stash of adolescence. Her answering machine states her name and a polite greeting without a trace of sarcasm.
Her old roommates send cards every year around this time [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: expectations, koop, media, movies by Andrew Koop
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
Game Day
My mind wandered and I started to put the pieces together. As the only child of a single mother, I was indoctrinated into a different world than most of these guys. I didn’t have a father or brother or uncle to teach me the nuisances of sports. I grew up lacking an affinity for anything athletic. My childhood was filled more with details of menstruation than Joe Montana. I knew all about PMS, but nothing of the PGA. When I heard a man say something about ERA, I had to remind myself he probably didn’t mean Equal Rights Amendment.
The trend continued through my teens and twenties. Throughout high school and college, most of my friends tended to be women. I was taken into their confidence. Suffice it to say, being “one of the girls” did little for my dating life. When a woman considers you a friend, she doesn’t want to date you. Even worse, she overlooks you as a candidate for any of her single friends.
Then, of course, comes “the assumption.” Thank goodness for the new millennium and the introduction of the metrosexual. At least now, my sexuality isn’t questioned the way it once was. Although, my fiancée’s role should not be overlooked either.
2 Comments » - Tags: football, Mauney, Superbowl by Max Mauney
Monday, January 22nd, 2007
The Club
Sadie Browningstone showed up bright and early for her 8:00 am appointment. There were things to discuss: the dull ache in her lower back; pain in the knuckles; blurry vision; pins and needles; possible side effects.
All of this was written in her notebook — the words painstakingly scrawled by her aching hands on such a [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: aging, koop, medicine, pills by Andrew Koop
Saturday, January 20th, 2007
Amendments
by Andrew Koop
We’d never been to a Gator game before. We’d always scoffed at the notion — showing up with thousands of drunken, violent, mainly redneck hooligans. But, this was different.
I had free tickets from a generous friend. So, Reg and I headed toward the stadium. I’d seen the crowds before, but never this closely. [...]
No Comments » - Tags: florida, football, koop by Andrew Koop
Saturday, January 20th, 2007
Lowball
I was up really late — having trouble sleeping, I clenched my jaw tight and waded through tired, bulky email inboxes. A half an hour in, I noticed an unread message. Something had come in from the design site. The message read:
E-commerce site with simple bold colorful graphics and quick response time.
Looking for help with [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: gonzo, onderdonk by Paul Kemp
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
Stricken
by Max Mauney
“I don’t understand, doctor. He was fine, just fine, two days ago.”
“Is there any history of this? Has this type of thing ever happened to your son before?” the good doctor inquired.
“No. Never.”
“Any family history of sudden hearing loss?”
“No,” Mrs. Payne replied weakly.
“Neither side? Yours or your late husband’s?”
“No, [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: Mauney by Max Mauney
Monday, January 15th, 2007
Pace
by Andrew Koop
Buster “Bunny” Shurgle was born February 29th in the year 1964 — the son of a big time, small town preacher in Arkswallows, Georgia. His father, Ace Shurgle, orchestrated four missionary trips per year. The rest of his time was spent with the community: working to rebuild houses, blessing pets, radio telethons, divine [...]
No Comments » - Tags: church, circus, koop by Andrew Koop
Friday, January 12th, 2007
Bored in Budapest
To be accurate, it was just Buda. Pest, I hear, is a whole ‘nother animal…
Mike and I loped down the dark street. We’d taken leave of the girls pajama partying it up in our Hungarian studio apartment. Call it a half loft…make it a fourth. They would snuggle up with the bottle of wine and [...]
1 Comment » - Tags: disco, gonzo, koop, travel by Andrew Koop
Sunday, January 7th, 2007
DOWNTOWN
by Andrew Koop
It all started pretty innocently. We were tired of sharing walls. Tired of only having one door. Still, we checked apartment listings all over town. Most didn’t allow dogs. Many looked insufferable — think cockroaches, unidentifiable stains, obvious undergraduate haunts — the rest waiting for a sucker in need of a condo.
That [...]
4 Comments » - Tags: florida, koop, poverty by Andrew Koop
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007
Community
by Andrew Koop
From block to block it’s different, but a common sense of dread pervades this place. A glance at each house wouldn’t give it to you — only after holding your stare for a few moments. You’d notice a minor detail leading to a disturbing, but inevitable conclusion.
A small, but well-cared-for home with minimal [...]
2 Comments » - Tags: florida, koop by Andrew Koop
Monday, January 1st, 2007
End of the Road Trip
Her head lightly vibrated against the glass of the passenger window as they flew down the highway. Only two hours on the road, seven hours to go. An eternity had passed since the return trip had begun. Over a week ago, they had made the trip north to her visit the in-laws [...]
