Category Archives: Life or Something Like It

What Things Have Come

On May 14th 1994, my life was forever altered.

Life altering events happen every day, but we are typically unaware of them.  It seems they always happen to others as we read about them in the paper or watch them on the news.

PonderingIndividually, we spend most of life engaging in the grind of it.  We get out of bed.  We go to work.  We go to school.  We raise children.  We cook.  We clean.  We sit down to dinner.  We entertain ourselves with mindless television to escape the ever-present drudgery that life all too often connotes for us.  And then, once in a great while, it confronts us with the reality of something that leaves an indelible mark on our souls.

Some life-altering events are universal. Continue reading

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Of Vice and Virtue

“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”

This maxim from Abraham Lincoln has a ringing truth but the ring is hollow.  A comment about human nature that lacks commentary.  A sound-bite that is easily remembered, but does not speak to the whole truth.

VicesI, myself have a number of vices.  Some suggest they are harmless, near typical activities for an adult male my age.  Others find them repugnant and offer a scolding rebuke behind my back.  I drink too much.  I carry a pistol.  I frequently discuss so-called unpatriotic ideals such as Texas secession from the union.  Admittedly, such things can hardly be compared to other less socially acceptable activities such as using heroin—but they certainly can promote antisocial and unlawful behavior when they are not properly controlled by the practitioner. Continue reading

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Freya’s Concerto

There have been times in my life when things have worked in my favor with no effort on my part.

Muse www.GuyOliverSpeaks.comSuch has been the case over the last few weeks, and I lay this good fortune squarely at the feet of my muse, Freya.  My writing has been on hold lately because she’s been on vacation—at least that’s the story she told me.  I’m pretty sure she was actually cheating on me, a suspicion I find very upsetting.  Relationships, in my experience, are based on three things: trust, common interest, and mutual attraction.

Until now my relationship with her has engendered all three, although I’m starting to rethink that first and most important item because of her absence lately.  However, I still find her stunningly attractive, so I’m not ready to break up with her just yet. Continue reading

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