Wednesday, February 14, 2007

offbeat poetry

6:45 a.m., bathroom, on a workday.

it was almost beautiful in a way, an exhibition of motion and the dimensions and interactions of separate objects in a fixed space.

a used-up toothpaste tube, all its resources extracted, its purpose as container fully met; its final destination a trashcan, as it should be.

so simple, a casual toss of the tube into the small refuse bin and the cycle would be complete.

but cottony two-ply fate, soft and plush, suspended above the bin, intervened. the tube's flightpath to the bottom of the bin interrupted, the absorbent roll momentarily taking in the energy of the tube's downward force then giving it back in equal and opposite measure.

a new course for the tube now, its rendezvous with other discarded toiletries temporarily stayed. gliding through the air on a new arc, with the poise and precision of a circus acrobat, to the waters of the adjacent toilet.

a perfect dive, expertly moving through the seat's negative space, not once touching the white porcelain, its motion undisturbed, flawless in execution.

gentle splash, then all that remained was the toothpaste tube in water, staring up at me as i stared back down at it and contemplated the strange new task i had not previously imagined would be asked of me in this life.

Monday, February 12, 2007

the same thing happens every year....

....i get one year older.

today i am 30; the number two is, from this point forward, limited to a periodic supporting role in stating my age ( at 32, 42, 52, and so on).

please join me in thanking my twenties for all of their hard work; they were pretty good to me, all things considered.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Birthday up in hizz-ere, fo shizzle

hey all, those of you that know my lovely wife Grace would not be incorrect in wishing her a happy birthday if you did so today!

(i suppose the same would still be true for any of you that don't know her but i wouldn't think you're emotionally invested enough to seek her out to deliver birthday well-wishing)

her day started the way any deserving birthday girl's should:

A) birthday kisses from our dog Pugston (followed by him standing on Grace's stomach in bed and stretching, i'm not really sure what birthday-related sentiment he was trying to convey with that action)

B) 'Happy Birthday' sung perfectly in tune just for Grace by someone with pipes that once rocked a perfect Playstation Karaoke score on Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline"

C) a birthday card with a sunglasses-wearing puppy on the outside cover and personal writings on the inside simultaneously smooth, funny, and heart-meltingly tender


due to some online order processing problems (thanks Google Checkout!) the gift originally scheduled to have come in yesterday will not be arriving until February 5th.

so there you have it, that's the way we do birthdays up in the Sobczak household!

happy birthday babe, love you.