A little boy
Named Eliot
Hard shell
Various shades
Of green
Has parasites
Once a boy
Now a girl
Named Ellie
Quiet peaceful
No more anger
Identity crisis
Solved
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
My Father
He stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, just slightly taller than I am. Even at the age of 60, gray hair is just beginning to encroach on his dirty blonde hair and a receding hairline is only slightly noticeable. He has this blond spot on the back of his head where he was hit in the head with a bottle as a teenager. As a kid I tried endlessly to mess up his hair but my efforts were useless. His hair was and still is in a permanent part to the side with a distinct wave on one side.
His muscle mass has decreased over the years and has been replaced with a slight protruding abdomen, nothing compared to his overweight brothers. Compared to them he is still the lean, muscular stick figure he was 30 years ago.
My father has always had distinct jowls but now that he is older his cheek pads have begun to sink. His eyes are blue and his skin is tight. Only minor wrinkles line his face. He never wore glasses until his 50’s. He now wears round aviator glasses that have left red nose pad imprints on the bridge of his nose.
Once, at a water park when I was just a young boy, I couldn’t find my dad. I wasn’t wearing my glasses and I was seeing nothing but blurred bodies. I walked up to a man and said, “I can’t find my dad.” The man looked around and then pointed, “I think that’s your dad.” Sure enough it was. I guess you could say that I am my father’s son.
If my father were to be a movie star he would have been James Dean. The hair and the build of James Dean match up to the image I have of my father when he was in his 30’s. There was a girl in high school that told me, “Boy, if you look as good as your father does when your 40…” Just imagine James Dean at the age of 60 and you’ve got my dad.
His muscle mass has decreased over the years and has been replaced with a slight protruding abdomen, nothing compared to his overweight brothers. Compared to them he is still the lean, muscular stick figure he was 30 years ago.
My father has always had distinct jowls but now that he is older his cheek pads have begun to sink. His eyes are blue and his skin is tight. Only minor wrinkles line his face. He never wore glasses until his 50’s. He now wears round aviator glasses that have left red nose pad imprints on the bridge of his nose.
Once, at a water park when I was just a young boy, I couldn’t find my dad. I wasn’t wearing my glasses and I was seeing nothing but blurred bodies. I walked up to a man and said, “I can’t find my dad.” The man looked around and then pointed, “I think that’s your dad.” Sure enough it was. I guess you could say that I am my father’s son.
If my father were to be a movie star he would have been James Dean. The hair and the build of James Dean match up to the image I have of my father when he was in his 30’s. There was a girl in high school that told me, “Boy, if you look as good as your father does when your 40…” Just imagine James Dean at the age of 60 and you’ve got my dad.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Color
How do you explain color to a blind person? I have been told that the blind can see color or at least can identify differences between varying color textures. But blind people can’t see exactly what people with vision can see. Even if they were to identify a color that doesn’t mean they can see the color how we see it. Let’s consider a person who is color blind. I can think of a time in elementary school in art class when a fellow classmate was making a sculpture of a baseball player. He began to paint the baseball bat black. We began to ask, “Why are you painting the bat black?”
“I’m not painting it black. This is brown,” the classmate responded. We told him that it wasn’t but he didn’t believe us. To him the color black was our brown. All color is, is what society defines it as. What if you and I both look at a color, I identify the color as red and you identify the color as red? Simple, we both see the same color and agree that the color is red. But now what if I saw blue but knew it as the color red? What if somehow my brain reversed colors? The only reason why we know color is because someone taught the colors to us. Parents point to something and say blue, red, yellow, black, and slowly we learn colors. Who’s to say we see the same thing. What we see is only interpreted by our brain. What if I see blue but know it as red? How would we ever know if what we saw was the same? I don’t think that color should come down to a cut and dry answer. When I consider my classmate from elementary school, I think that color can be considered subjective. Color can be based upon your perception. How many times have people debated, “What color is that?” “Is that black or blue?” Is that green or blue?” “Black or purple?” How do we explain color to a blind person when blind people see something different than our eyes can see? I’d love for a blind person to try and explain what they see. It’s like people communicating in two different languages.
“I’m not painting it black. This is brown,” the classmate responded. We told him that it wasn’t but he didn’t believe us. To him the color black was our brown. All color is, is what society defines it as. What if you and I both look at a color, I identify the color as red and you identify the color as red? Simple, we both see the same color and agree that the color is red. But now what if I saw blue but knew it as the color red? What if somehow my brain reversed colors? The only reason why we know color is because someone taught the colors to us. Parents point to something and say blue, red, yellow, black, and slowly we learn colors. Who’s to say we see the same thing. What we see is only interpreted by our brain. What if I see blue but know it as red? How would we ever know if what we saw was the same? I don’t think that color should come down to a cut and dry answer. When I consider my classmate from elementary school, I think that color can be considered subjective. Color can be based upon your perception. How many times have people debated, “What color is that?” “Is that black or blue?” Is that green or blue?” “Black or purple?” How do we explain color to a blind person when blind people see something different than our eyes can see? I’d love for a blind person to try and explain what they see. It’s like people communicating in two different languages.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Trolly
Who would have thought
Ten years ago
In study hall
He copied her Latin homework
They stood within ten feet
As photos were snapped
Of each other with someone else
He took her best friend to the prom
The college years flew by
But they stayed in touch
Reconnected by default
In a hometown
Where no one else lived
Halloween was their first kiss
And even though they drifted
Fate would have its way
Another first kiss on New Years
Soon a ring appeared
And of course she said yes
Suddenly a house emerged
Hammer and nail, sand and paint
The entire time, he wanted to faint
Trees falling over, sinkholes and smashed glass
More beads of sweat
He wiped from his brow
One thing was for sure
The house was made with love
From family and friends
Who helped along the way
They day quickly approaches
They would tie the knot and say I do
Who would have thought
Ten years ago
That these two
Would be husband and wife
Sometimes you find
What you’re looking for
Right in front of your eyes
Ten years ago
In study hall
He copied her Latin homework
They stood within ten feet
As photos were snapped
Of each other with someone else
He took her best friend to the prom
The college years flew by
But they stayed in touch
Reconnected by default
In a hometown
Where no one else lived
Halloween was their first kiss
And even though they drifted
Fate would have its way
Another first kiss on New Years
Soon a ring appeared
And of course she said yes
Suddenly a house emerged
Hammer and nail, sand and paint
The entire time, he wanted to faint
Trees falling over, sinkholes and smashed glass
More beads of sweat
He wiped from his brow
One thing was for sure
The house was made with love
From family and friends
Who helped along the way
They day quickly approaches
They would tie the knot and say I do
Who would have thought
Ten years ago
That these two
Would be husband and wife
Sometimes you find
What you’re looking for
Right in front of your eyes
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
