Shamblin'

  There are gunshots ringing out from the churchyard and certainly not for the first time this week, nor the last. Benjamin the grave-keeper has been vigilant since the 22nd, since the day the shamblin' started. When the dead come back their muscles have atrophied a good deal so they walk like a man with his legs asleep getting out of a car on a long road trip. They shamble, that's what we've decided to call it and so then they are Shamblers.

  Half the town has left in search of some unblighted paradise, but really they're only kidding themselves. It is happening here and it is sure as hell happening everywhere else. All the major media conglomerates are off the air. Some have left up scrawled placards that say "Hope to resume broadcasting soon!", or "Stay Safe, Crush the Shamblers!" as if we were all just rooting against a hated sporting team. But in a strange way perhaps that's exactly what it is like. Perhaps our culture of rivalry in the sports arena has prepared us for this more than anything else..

  The White House has started a bizarre campaign of rounding up all the cellphone numbers and workable land line numbers they have on record and calling people up. They aren't using prerecorded messages either, its genuine, honest to god people talking to each and every one of us. Its certainly refreshing. They are telling each person that they are doing everything in their now slightly more limited power to help the nation right now. The White House is saying that training centers are being set-up in city centers. And these training centers are actually quite effective. They teach you how to make a home generator from salvageable parts. They're teaching cooking and knitting and various household tasks. They're showing every way known to man of how to purify water. And everyone who comes in is given a brief tutorial on hand-to-hand combat as well as marksmanship with everything from throwing knives to bows. The government has also restarted the ancient use of a Pony Express, they are men and women riding on horseback from town to city to village checking on the statuses of everyone. The idea here was that horses would be cheap to fuel and so long as they don't get spooked they can outrun most threats.

   But I have to reiterate, here Benjamin is doing a phenomenal job containing the outbreaks and we've been able to take care of any remainders that shamble into town. We still have some power, we have hope, right now its a preparation and waiting game.

Of Monsters and Men
Mountain Sound

Absurdity and Laughter

I broke down
onto the floor of your room
I let the tears
fall freely from my eyes until
I heard you say:

Who the Hell are you?
Why are you in my home?
Get the fuck outta here!

I looked up
to see you weren't Mary
I must have
let myself into
the wrong apartment

And so I ran
I beat the pavement,
I made no try at an explanation
As I got outside
I realized this
wasn't even the right block

I ran from the absurdity,
peels of laughter
following my footfalls

The Aftermath of Sandy

  On Monday night the winds and rains of Hurricane Sandy's wrath took their toll on the Cleveland area, leaving us without power for about 28 hours and without cable and internet for three days. Living without these everyday amenities was an adventure: my mother and I broke out every flashlight and scented candle we could find. We played scrabble in the near dark while sipping wine and whiskey and coke. The winds howled all through the night, like a pack of baying dogs or a masked man in a horror flick banging to gain entry. I was awoken at 4:40 in the morning, maybe the storm was lonely playing outside alone.

   Tuesday morning looked like another world. Sandy had gotten her claws into the neighbors'pine tree and ripped it out of the ground. The tip of the tree now lay on the ground pointing to the street-sign that had fallen from its home atop the stop sign. We took the dog for a walk and he was ecstatic about the weather outside, we couldn't understand it as he's usually scared of thunder storms and loud things. Well, there was no thunder and he is a Bearded Collie, and they were bred to watch the sheep in inclimate weather of the highlands, so I guess it makes sense. We went to Chipotle for lunch and ate in the car since we brought the dog so he  could enjoy the heat of the car with us. It was a nice field trip, but when we got back the house seemed twice as cold as when we had left. I bundled up in a nest of blankets and took a nap only to wake up with the power still out. My mom informed me that it had jolted on for five minutes, but went off again after a loud pop from down the street.

 We were about to lose hope for sustained warmth when the power came back on. I have rarely cherished heat so much. We "suffered" through another day and a half without cable or internet. I was overjoyed when the internet and cable came back, but I realized maybe I was happier in their absence. And really we were lucky, some people in the area still don't have power back on yet.

Gotye
Dig Your Own Hole



and yes I still like Gotye