mmmmmm capitalism!

In light of our country's recent economic downturn, I bring you an entry from my old blog:

Just a few excerpts from my economics professor [at Community College of Baltimore County Essex in the fall of 2007] during a class lecture. For those of you (Mohar, this is you) who know Obed [an education professor at Messiah]... this is Obed if he taught economics. None of this quotes are out of context. Sadly.

"The money makes you great! It gives you the will, the power, the love, to get up another day."

[To me, knowing I am a history major:] "If you don't plan what with to do with the knowledge of history, Magna Carta, and save all of your riches you receive from your knowledge, you will end up homeless, living on the street. You know what I am saying?"

"Profit Maximization is the goal! Cost Minimization is the key! If you have making six figures for IBM, you don't just be happy. You start your own business! You hire men in suits to work for you for six figures and they will be happy to work for you...but! You will be making ten tiiiiiiiimes!! that amount! You know what I am saying?"

"The knowledge of money is important, like the air we breathe."

"This money, it makes you have value. And this value is what makes America great."

Amen.


Peace,
Charlie


Now I would later find out that this man was not in fact my professor, but rather a professor who had been fired that week but was somewhat confused by what that meant. He apparently thought he was fired at the end of that semester. This explains why he sent away a lady at the beginning of class who said she was going to be our substitute, saying that he wasn't sick. It also explains why our real professor, a six foot tall black woman, stared him out of the class the next week.

If only I could have caught his name. This great country needs him now...

love,
Charlie

Factories and marching bands

This morning I woke up to the sound of "Holland" playing, off of Sufjan Stevens' beautiful album Michigan. It lyrically paints an August on the lake, and it is a warm day in mid-September as I write this, but still the song always makes me think of late fall..

Fall is my favorite time of year. The crisp taste in the air is perhaps God's very best creation. But "Holland" is for when that has come and gone. There are soft flurries with huge snowflakes out the window and I sip on some tea, curled up with a book under a quilt... all is calm, all is bright.

"And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper..."

I recently heard of an old friend who was going through a tough time, and everyone seemed to know exactly why except for that person.

I'd like to think I'm more self aware than that, but I'm not. My problems are simple and not devastating by any means, and yet I walk myself into the same troubles again and again like a lab rat who hasn't yet figured out that, no, neither door one nor door two has cheese behind them. I face setbacks and turn to my friends, confused at how this new set of circumstances could have possibly cropped up, like William H. Macy's character in Fargo, shocked that his plan (which involved thousands of dollars and staging a kidnapping) isn't still completely on track.

I am certain that my friends want to smack me awake, to show me my own reality, just as I wish I could with this old friend of mine. Perhaps they know more about me than I know about myself. In fact, there's a good chance of that.

Life is easier to view from the glass above it. Living it is the messy part. I'm saying nothing profound.

I love you guys,
Charlie

"I read the news today, oh boy..."

I really should get away from posting at the wee hours of the morning. The typos and run-on sentences are hard to read later.

At any rate, here's a duo of poems that I have been toying with lately. As always, please feel free to critique them. The first is an old one that I think is almost ready for public consumption and there's a new one in there too. Enjoy!


honesty is the best policy.

late one night, the Girl Who Never Lies
went into the bedroom of the boy she loved
and cut off his manhood
so she could truthfully say
that she hated all boys


death of innocence

two kids scared shitless
the boy wondering how
not bleeding could be a bad thing
and the girl wondering how
she could have become
the girl in those videos
from health class

they lay in the black
this kind of death is new
they wonder what was to be
and what will be now

together but
completely alone



Eh, since this is a weak showing after not posting for a month, I will toss a stupid haiku your way as well.


wasted opportunity

every line precious
the syllables dwindle down
this haiku sucks ass


Alright alright. I promise to have a real post up here this week or next. Promise.

Love,
Charlie