sailboats are great! (unfinished no.2)

unfinished no.2

charlie wanted to sail since the first day he saw the sea
he ate his spinach and drank his chocolate milk
    so he could grow big and strong like all the sailors he saw
he built a blue sailboat out of popsicle sticks and
    bark from tough and tall trees
and sewed a patchwork sail from weathered tee shirt scraps and
    lonely yellow rain jackets
he packed his blue backpack full of cookies and crayons
    and set sail into the early morning sunrise

he sailed and explored and adventured across days and years and
    seasons, ages and eras and epochs of traveling time
and through rain and mist and sun showers and storms
    that howled like monsters in the nightlightless dark
the cottonball clouds and glowinthedark stars kept him company
    and he drew crayon kingdoms to remember all he'd seen
the castles and the rainforests and the deserts, and
    the cliffs and the icebergs and the tiny towns

one night the sunset glowed roseindigoblue on the horizon and
    charlie yawned as his sleepy eyes saw lights and land ahead
he knew he was home because of the way the little houses smiled all around
    and because his little brown dog waited waggingly for him on the dock
he jumped from his blue boat and ran up the hill to his house and
    found hot soup and a bowl of chocolate ice cream waiting for him



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challenge to make the world better: go outside and shovel someone's driveway for them. but don't wear all black and be super creepy about it. because then you might end up in the back of a police car. (human points, if you don't end up in jail: ten.) alternative: if you're at starbucks, buy a big hot chocolate and give it to the homeless person outside. because chances are, there's a homeless person outside. (human points: twelve).*

*human points may seem like arbitrary numbers. that's probably because they are. but wait, here's a scale:
 -->1-10: you're being a good human being.
 -->11-20: you're literally made of awesome. 
 -->21-30: you are out of this world good at being human. 
 --> anything above 31: either you're mother theresa, or you cheated.  

boxes of honey nut cheerios: three.

unfinished no.1

when you're five
you believe you're invincible
       (because you are)
you believe you can move the clouds
       by just asking nicely
you know that home is wherever your mom and dad tuck you in at night
       in the room with the dinosaur nightlight
       that keeps the monsters under the bed
you're a knight and a king and an astronaut
       all in the same day and all while
       wearing a red and blue striped shirt
the bumps and bruises from falling off your skateboard
       or from a crash landing when flying off the swings
       are just battle scars that make you smile
       after your mom kisses them and your tears dry
everyday is a treasure hunt and
       everything is a clue
you think the world is yours to explore
       (because it is)
       and the future belongs to you.

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challenge to make the world better: go for a drive and wave at strangers as you pass them. (a positive prank version of the old, honk-and-wave-the-other-way trick.) even though they might be confused and a little creeped out, they'll eventually appreciate the fact that a complete stranger was friendly to them and then they might keep the friendliness going. bonus human points* if you roll down your window and say hi, or give them a sandwhich.

*human points = extra points in life for being a real human being and making the world a better place. imagine that life is a game and to win you have the get the most human points. and kill the most zombies. but mostly, it's the human points part. 


boxes of honey nut cheerios: three. 


monday morning music:
the tallest man on earth

clouds&resolutions

i like looking at the clouds, not because i'm a flower child or anything because i'm totally not, but because they remind me of being a kid and children's books and just everything awesome about the world. because when you're a kid and looking up at the clouds you don't care that you have homework to do, or that you're fighting with your brother, and you don't know or care that the clouds are actually moving because the world is spinning around and around with you on top of it. (or is it wind? science was never my strongest subject.)

all you see is clouds that look like dragons and knights and monsters and your grandfather and france and pointing fingers and anything else your young and unhindered mind can dream up. that's why i love clouds.

the other day i saw this awesome cloud/cloud group because colorado has awesome clouds all the time.

i think it looks like a dragon twisting its head around towards its tail to firebreathe on whatever is following it. probably an airplane or a hot air balloon. and then it kind of morphed as the clouds moved and it looked like something completely different. cloudwatching is awesome. if you ever have writer's block or just a general lack of inspiration and creativity and imagination, just go outside and hope there are clouds and then watch some clouds!


anyway, now that it's 2011, i've got a fresh list of resolutions to not follow up on. although the top of the list is "actually follow through with this year's resolutions," so we'll see if that makes me work harder. my number two? "enjoy life and write more letters."


challenge to make the world better: learn some words in a foreign language so that if you ever go to that country you can brighten a foreign stranger's day by being able to say "i love you" and "please" and "thank you" and "you have a nice butt" (i'm going with swedish)

monday morning music:

rogue valley. album: the bookseller's house









boxes of honey nut cheerios in 2011: one. (i started before the year turned 2011 though, so i didn't really eat a whole box in two and a half days. but i could have.)