Phones

Someone remarked how payphones have almost completely disappeared. But all phones are payphones.

Tall Girl

     Marlene is a tall girl. Quite tall. Her friends all started calling her a tree. She told them she didn’t appreciate the nickname, and they just stared at her in disbelief. Finally one of them, Nathan, spoke up. He said, “But you are a tree, Marlene.” The others nodded their heads in agreement. Marlene didn’t believe them, not even when the birds began building a nest on her shoulder. For how could she possibly be a tree? All her life she’d been doing human activities. Sure, she’d get depressed in the winter months, and remain largely inactive. But wasn’t that the case for a lot of people? Certainly it was.

     And she would have told the birds they were mistaken, but she found their presence soothing, and she felt a need to take care of them, to shelter them as best she could. Of course, this meant she had to postpone her trip to Baltimore, which certainly would have proved her non-tree status. Trees don’t travel to Baltimore. But as long as the birds would remain, so would she. They meant more to her than proving her identity. Marlene could remain very still when she wanted to. She did so now, even when a dog cruelly relieved himself on her shoes. That’s how determined she was to care for those birds. She wasn’t sure how long the birds would be there – she was no ornithologist – and so she didn’t know when she’d get to Baltimore. But, she surmised, Baltimore would still be there after the birds had gone. And then, once and for all, she’d show everyone just what kind of tree she was.


(Copyright 2015 by Michael Doherty)

Photo From Work

Here is a shot of the sunset at Disney Studios in Burbank.

Religious People Are Peculiar

Well, to answer your first question, yes, I will do my best. As for the second, of course not, you very silly sign. No one lives forever, comfortably or not. What a stupid, stupid thing to ask.

The Laziest Person On The Planet

I'm not sure what the deal is with these things, and I try not to poke fun at people too much. But whenever I see someone using one, I can't help but think, "You are beyond fucking lazy." And my impulse is to push the person off of it. So far, I've restrained myself, but I make no promises for the future.

Quantum Mechanics

My cousin Joe is a quantum mechanic. If you've got a problem with your quantum, he's the guy you want to see. And this week he's running a special on probability amplitudes.

Something To Think About

If we can stop production of cigarettes, chewing gum and dogs, the sidewalks will be beautiful.