Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
I stole this song off of John Scalzi’s post from earlier this week.
I’d never heard of Burning Sensations or their MTV hit, “Burning of the Whale”. I listened to it and was intrigued. It appears to be about a guy living in a whale, and the production is a bite out of the eighties, just in a slightly different direction. I figure it’s a good theme song because it’s an artistic attempt, and it’s different, and they tried, and these things are what art is about, no matter which venue we pursue. Have a dream, apply some imagination and work, and put it out there.
embalmed with denigration
drowning in clichés
paralyzed with expectations
frustrated by delays
harpooned with envy
mesmerized by guilt
sucked into disappointment
sunken in the silt
riding all the waves
hoping in belief
searching for the way
getting stuck on a beach
Carpe floof (floofinition) – the enjoyment of the pleasures of a housepet without concern for the future.
In use: “Much spring cleaning remained but the cats and dogs’ loving looks inspired a carpe floof mood, and she found herself with her pets on a chair in the sun, eating a pastry while reading a book.”
I had a dream that I was searching for a combination. The combination would open the door and allow me to escape. It was all tres noir, black shadows, dim lighting, and unpainted cinder-block walls.
That led me to try to remember one of our bank account numbers. As I kept repeating the numbers, I wished for a ten-key number pad so that I could better visualize the number.
When I awoke, I knew the number without issue, but that whole repeating numbers sequence led me to “Jenny” by Tommy Tutone (1981). Many people know this number for some reason… Perhaps it’s because it seemed like it was being played everywhere.
Haflooftia (floofinition) – a housepet’s tragic flaw.
In use: “Cleo was generally a sweet tabby, but her haflooftia of sitting on the steps and preventing the dogs from going up and down almost led to her being re-homed.”
‘Nuff said.
Found myself singing The Cult, “She Sells Sanctuary” (1985). Sanctuary was on my mind, partly through writing and reading influence but also due to various news articles and local events. Locally, forty-eight hundred customers, including my house, have been without natural gas since Monday. It’s expected to be restored by Friday afternoon at my house. That diminished my sense of sanctuary but also stirred reflections on how much is accepted and taken for granted as a given – gas and electricity to heat and cook water to bath, drink, and cook; and protection from the elements. I see homeless people everyday that don’t have these things. I recognize they don’t have them and feel for them, but with my temporary losses magnified my empathy for people going without. As too many times with privileged folks like me, it takes an inconvenience to look harder and think deeper.
I thought my cats were singing today’s theme music. As I did the morning rituals of feeding cats, dressing, and foraging for coffee, they took turns stalking me, rubbing against my legs, sitting on my feet, giving me adoring gazes, and purring like mad. They wouldn’t relent, and I picked up that they were singing, “I got my mind set on you.”
You might recall the 1987 George Harrison cover of the 1962 song, “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You,” released by Harrison as “Got My Mind Set on You”, or the Weird Al parody, “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long”. According to the feline streams hitting my music stream (a wholly telepathic thing), the cats were singing the Harrison cover.
I’ll go with it, just to purge it from my stream.
Michael Seidel, writer 