Pale Rider

I woke up early today, and decided that I wanted some cool air instead of my daily dose of bread and eggs. So I decided to play "stare into the horizon".

I looked, and looked some more. And then I saw a cloud of dust fast approaching me. I looked closer, and I saw a very pale horse. The rider was paler still.

And then I understood that it was death. The lone horseman of the apocalypse who could outrun my mind. As I readied myself for my last journey, the horseman spoke to me:

"Some days just happen to be good. Today just happens to be one of those days."

First Death Anniversary

It's been a year today that I died. A year of existing only in body, grinning at the grisly memories of my departed spirit. A year in which I have become responsible, dependable, and utterly mundane. A year in which I have continually hated myself for having become only a pale shadow of what I once was.

Is this what togetherness does to people? Or only to people whose existence is defined only by independence and nothing else?

I do not fault her. Neither do I think I would have been happier with anybody else. It is just the fundamental weakness of the premise that a structured mind and an unstructured mind could ever look for the same things.

So I shake the cobwebs off, and ready myself to attend my long-delayed funeral.

True Wisdom

Some pearls of wisdom from that modern giant of intellectualism: Calvin

• I say no to drugs, they just don't listen.
• A friend in need is a pest indeed.
• The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train.
• Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
• Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
• If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on your pants.
• I love being a writer... what I can't stand is the paperwork.
• A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
• The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
• The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
• In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
• If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he'll believe you. But if you tell him a park bench has just been painted, he has to touch it to be sure.
• I had a friend once. Then the rope broke and he got away.
• Beat the 5 O'clock rush, leave work at noon!
• If you can't convince them, confuse them.
• It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end.
• I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
• Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.

What If?

What if I had been a cowboy? Would have loved to carry those guns, but I think I prefer travelling by an AC car any day over the dirt and smell of an old horse. What if I had been Superman? Super strength and flight would have been great. But I think I'd look stupid wearing my undies over my trousers.

What if I had been a rockstar? Would have loved the attention and the money. But I'd rather not fry my brains with all the drugs that would have been part and parcel of that life. What if I had been an ancient Greek? Would have loved to have an all-round personality (remember arete?), but I can't visualize myself in a sissy skirt.

What if I had been a god man? Beautiful people would have worshipped me. But I'd have to bear a lot of people around me all the time. I'm too much a loner to love being the object of adoration 24/7. I think I'd rather be myself. At least I have the comfort of familiarity. And as they say, familiarity does breed an attempt!