Editor Notes on Project Oakland: Colorado County

Artist Statement: The idea of 55 Word Stories came from a book titled "The World's Shortest Stories" edited by Steve Moss.

Why limit the amount of words used for a certain piece?  The limiting of words forces me to be more creative in telling the story.   I can not waste any words in the piece.   So I am forced to juxtapose a lot of words that may not go necessarily normally together.   The 55 Word Project is my hope to tell some original stories, in a way that forces the story to come alive.  I am sure some will fail, but there will be some that flutter.  The ones that flutter could someday become a bigger story or part of a bigger story.

 I plan to write/publish 365 of them, maybe more-maybe a lot less.
My hope is that you enjoy them.

Oakland: Colorado County

I Know Where the Teens Are!

(Stories Told in 55 #3)

The teens piled up outside like a hill of  Ants.  

Lights flashed.  Engines revved. Tires screeched.

Honks blared. 

The husband answered official questions:   

What’s the cross street?

How many?”

Shadows (20-30-50).

 Make of cars?

Liscense Plates?

Teens fled, as the police car turned down the street (littered by "Nati-Lite").

Reviews: Life of Lujan

Reality bends to myth
life the strange thing, story makes
life's pain dead-defunct.
-RIP Gilberto ‘Magu’ Sanchez ledesma Flores Lujan

Oakland: Colorado County

55 Word story #2

Elementary School Days on Fire

Pete stands in the middle of Saturday.  He carries a can of gasoline; pink thong underwear appears above his daisy dukes.   Gasoline is poured in a straight line. He pulls out a cigarette, stuck between his lower back.   He lights his cigarette, then throws down the match onto the line.  A curtain of fire sparks.  

1855

No Boltail! Don't Chatter

Bed Bug Pesticide,
communist's used when paints ran
dry: unique colors.

Oakland USA

55 Word Stories #1

An Art Muse’s Confession-(Fictional Retelling)

I had a headache, too much alcohol the night before.  I trusted Jackson; but he was violent, especially after an evening binge.  That morning I went to get breakfast, I returned to an empty apartment, I checked the rooftop. The light blazed, and silhouetted two artists; Guston held over Jackon's head.  Art propelled my leave.

This story came from reading the New York Time's Art Section and a column titled Antiques by Eve M. Kahn "Pollock's Art Therapy".  She mentioned that both Jackson and Guston were smitten with the same girl Alice Crosby.  What really got me going was the last line in the article: At one point, Mr. Friedman writes in the biography, "he tried to throw Guston off a roof."  So I thought what would be Alice's take on the whole affair.   

1855

God is in the Gap
Greatest Obstacles, Disguised Gifts;
God celebrates: OOPS!


God celebrates: us
we burn the oatmeal again, 
God loves the melange. 

melange, mélange [meɪˈlɑːnʒ]

n

1. a mixture; confusion

2. (Earth Sciences / Geological Science) Geology a totally disordered mixture of rocks of different shapes, sizes, ages, and origins

[from French mêler to mix. See medley]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003 

101 Things My Love Bird Says

62. Be careful what you say to a Parrot, for they are worse than a stool pigeons; they can talk whenever the heck they feel like it, and you will be having a meeting with your mother in law and then that darn parrot will speak up; Because a bird in the air will carry your words.  Because a bird that seems to be innocently watching the day from a cage has the power to report what ye say.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

Oakland USA

Death in the Kitchen

Breaking bone on thigh,

chicken is breaded twice 

then deep fried brown.

Note: It was cool to see that Jeb Bows from Ward Colorado played Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morison Colorado.  Red Rocks to me is  the ultra mega place to play music,  in fact he is the first person I have personally known to play there.  Way to Go Jeb, You Rock!  

101 Things My Love Bird Says

61

I assure you sir, I am not, nor have I ever had relationships with a dinosaur. Miniature or otherwise.

101 Things My Love Bird Says

49

"Secret to liking people is don't let them touch you; sit on their shoulder, do your duty, then fly away; but never let a human touch you!"

101 Things My Love Bird Says

#50

"Budgie is my favorite name for a band. 

Charlie Bird is my favorite Jazz Musician.  

And the best Drummer ever was Thelonious Monk!"  

101: Wow Baby! 54-55-56-57

#55

Sesame Street Breaks It Down (Beastie Boy Style).

#54

GrooveShark allows one to listen to a variety of great songs for free.  I am currently listening to the band "Budgie".

#56

Think Geek is one of the best places for Geeks to shop online at; one can buy everything from a Doctor Who Tartis Shaped Coffee Cup to a Fried Edible Tarantula (Spider).

#57

Sons of Hippies what a band! What a sound!  I can't wait to see these guys live. And they are from Florida.  We need more musical exploration down here in the swamps.

Reviews

Signed, Mata Hari by Yannick Murphy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What were the events that lead up to Mati Hari's appointment with death, by firing squad?  Was she a spy? Maybe. A victim of certain acclimate circumstances? Most definitely.   
This book shows what happens to a woman with few resources in a maddening cloud of war.  Mati Hari did her best to reclaim her identity and her children.  She may have been a high priced call girl, but the book illustrates that she did this out of dire need.  She was left behind by an abusive husband; the husband took her child and deserted her.   Mati Hari had to find a way to scratch at the surface of a dried out Europe in hopes to find some nourishment.  But, the events in this book take place before and during World War I; the war that would forever change the Geo-Politics of Europe.  It was a time that asked a woman where is your place between the bullets and contracts?   Yannick Murphy does a great job of illustrating the events that would place Mati Hari in a position to be declared a double-spy; she found herself a midst a "no man's land" with no direction home.

The book is haunting and worth reading.  Signed Mata Hari is poetic and moves you in between the sheets of a body politic.  This book is also timely considering the politics of the body prevalent in media coverage today.

Caveat Lector (Let the Reader Beware)  the book has a number of sexually explicit scenes that may not be for everyone.   I believe these scenes are needed to show what Mata Hari had currency she had and what she was willing to do to carve our a niche in a dangerous world.



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Reviews and Reading Ventures: Our Take On Fox in Socks

Public Libraries Should Ban Fox in Socks (It's Way Too Subversive)

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss


Read with Sarcasm Please!:

This book is a brilliant exploration of postmodern language.  There is double meaning to every word. I imagined a fox in socks and my mind went wild.  What does the Fox stand for?  Why is he wearing socks? What do the socks represent?  Notice the fox is nude and only wearing socks! Why is there a box?   and what is up with Knox?  Does Knox mean Fort Knox - Is this a critique of General Patton's strategies employed in World War II? And then there is chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks, and where are they coming from- a critique of Chinese Political policy with Nepal? Was Dr. Seuss commenting on how language often falls short of explaining anything?  And the crow, is this a critique of Native American Crow Tribe, is he saying that the Crow Tribe was too slow in reacting to a modern world?  Is he also saying that all of life is merely a game played by capitalists?   He also critiques the use of music to move the populace.   They march when the band comes in... and what are they licking?  His tongue is not made of rubber, a critique of deforestation and use of rubber trees and our over use of a natural resource.  The book also examines global conflict between two nations separated by water.  In this he shows the problem of  atomic proliferation!   All in all Dr. Seuss hid so much meaning in what looks like a benign book Fox In Socks.    This is either one of the best subversive writing of the twentieth century or... it could be just an annoying rhyming tongue puzzler for kids.


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101 Things My Love Bird Says

# 60 "Thanks for flying with "Interzone Airlinesz"; We fly high so you don't have to."

Based on Naked Lunch by Wm. S. Burroughs. My Bird is a great parrot for the classics.

1855: Moby Dick Chapter XXXV

Our Stand at the Mast Head

We fish away from the mangroves,
staring out, praying for bites.
We know to keep weather eyes open.
But I think of forms I loved.
There on the dock we stand,
casting for dreams on our lines.
But I dream of pantheism,
not of fish far removed.

Reading Ventures: Letter to Writers

Dear Frank Portman,

Thank you for your awesome book KING DORK.  I saw the book in the young adult section of the E Library in Lakeland Florida.  The cover seemed interesting, and the fact that you are in the Mr. T Experience was another intriguing factor.   But what I loved most besides the writing was the rock and roll mentions.
  I have found bands that I never ever heard before.   Mr. Portman thank you!

Gregorio Roth

P.S.
SO I wrote this a year ago and still Frank Portman turns me onto bands, I would never had heard of.   Today I searched Grooveshark, and found Lindisfarne and Alan Hull.   Good stuff to get your morning going. Thanks again, for being the guy who informs the ignorant of great bands.
  

Reading Ventures - 50 States of Reading

Vermont: Signed Mata Hari by Yannick Murphey

I enjoyed the book a lot read the review.

101 Lessons Men Can Learn From Romance Books.

25. Librarian shelves
me, under Dewey's numbers:
Tall Tales and Legends.

Every man's a legend in their own mind, until a Librarian shelves them.

101 Things My Love Bird Says

# 59 Did you hear about the one about the Porpoise and the Shark?  It seems the Porpoise ran into a Shark, and then said, "Hey Man that Was not On Purpose, I'm Only a Porpoise!"

101 Things My Love Bird Says

#51 Turn Wow 180 degrees you get mom, turn wow 90 degrees you get EOE- And 90 degrees the the other way (you get a cartographic in  Latin or is it Greek?); 360 degrees you get wow again.

Reading Ventures

 (Responses to Gravity's Rainbow) 

Page Numbers Enclosed and Remark based on my impression follows:

(125) Watch out the refrigerator is cursing me again... that buzz... please make it stop... white noise reduction.  (126) She the moon that affected his inner tide.
(127) This is not a pipe - his cock her axis, she spins from which keeps the moon in orbit.
(128) What is the sound of the melting snow?
(129)Black Falsettos/White Protestants, Static/Dynamic, Melting/Freezing (Every book has an opposite).
(131)Images of Xmas.
(134) Beach closed because of the war.  Sand Castles ran over by Marshall Tanks.
(136) Old men on cell phones looking hip, nursing broken hips from ski accidents.

Typed while Listening to "Teddybear"  - a band from Sweden.

101 Woes

23. Cool Stores Don't Always Make It:

In 2009 I wrote - Check out Uberbot a cool toy store in Orlando! I highly recommend it.  

Update: Uberbot was closed.  That's really sad,  a great store full of cool toys did not make it.

Owners of Uberbot Orlando your store is missed!

----Woe Baby!----

101 Woes, (Musical Reviews)

Woe #24: The Musical Led Wall Between the United States and Canada.

 

There seems to be a wall between Canada and the United States- musically speaking.   There are so many great bands that no one here in the United States has heard of.   Of course, there are some notable bands (e.g. Crash Test Dummies, Neil Young, Alanis Morissette ).

Last night at the Deli I was discussing music with a customer. He happened to be one of the Tour Bus Drivers for a variety of bands.

He asked me if I had heard of  the band Silverstein.

I replied, doesn't ring a bell.

He said they were Canadian.

 Canada is our most accessible neighbor, but their music seems to be trapped behind a led wall.  The led wall keeps music from coming over State Side and is not heard.  We can hear the static, but the notes are not coherent.
Is this a conspiracy?
Why is this?

 Flash Back - 1999 to a show in Portland Oregon at the Aladen Theatre, and the band the Tragically Hip;  the Canadian Flock was the majority of the Concert Goers, all wore their favorite Hockey Jersey, from their home town province.  I was not wearing a hockey jersey so they asked,  "What province are you from?"
It was a great show, but sadly not many Staters were there.  

101 Things My Love Bird Says

#58

I'm having a rare time in my cage, sitting on eggs that won't hatch.

*Translated into English from Love Bird by Gregory Rothbard

101 Things My Love Bird Says

#52.
"You see a green bean, I see nesting material."  (as she tucks a green bean into her wing).

*Translated into English from Love Bird by Gregory Rothbard