The Long Way Up

It's the eve of the year 2018 and I have quite a lot of time on my hands -- a lot of time in a quiet, secluded, noise-free and firework-fume-free environment. And I've got a lot of things on my mind. This'll be the first time in a long time that I'll be spending the coming of a new year on my own (the last one being the transition between 2012 and 2013). I don't mind being alone as much as I mind being lonely. The former has been my condition since 2012 when the last members of my immediate family (my mother and nephew, Amir) finally moved to New Zealand for good. The latter is a condition that visits me every now and then with varying degrees of manageability. But this is not a blog entry about loneliness. A year ago we had this discussion in our young adults' fellowship called Alone But Not Lonely . And for the most part of the last five years I have been alone... but not lonely. And 'lucky'* for me that's what I like ! (*used for effe...

Aside from having an eye for beauty, I happen to be gifted with an ear for beauty as well. More specifically, I have a sensitive ear for tunes, rhythms, harmonies, melodies and all sorts of sounds. This gift totally lends itself quite easily to my interest and passion for singing and playing music, among other things. However, the downside to this sensitivity to sound is the accompanying sensitivity to the volume of said sounds. It could be the random blaring of vehicle horns; the boisterous prattling of inconsiderate people; or the completely avoidable banging of tables and chairs by some random fast-food service crew who seems to lack much needed training in proper in-store decorum. Unwanted noise annoys me. I somehow let this truth slip out on my Facebook account when I finished the prompt  "My favorite sound is..." with "...silence!" I don't mind people having their conversations clamorous and incessant. They're entitled to do that. What an-noise ...

I once had this series of blog posts on my now-defunct Multiply site entitled "Confessions of a Good Monster." At the time, I thought the idea of semi-exposing my faults, flaws and weakness was a novel literary undertaking. I felt really 'cool' being able to do that especially since my 'confessions' were inspired by the release of Jars of Clay's then-latest album, Good Monsters. In those blog entries, I expressed my naive understanding of the existence of both good and evil inside my body, my whole being, making a show of my own internal struggle. Among the struggles I wrote about were my inclination towards being judgmental and my proclivity towards fleshly things (if you catch my drift). I guess you could say I was snitching on my 'evil side'. If memory serves me right, I think I wrote about ten of these good monster confessions. Flash forward to today. No longer as naive as I was regarding my view of the sinful flesh and the regenerate m...

Another mile, another while Usurped the joys of child-like style Another tick, another nick Unplugged the verve of lifelong guile Another sigh, another die Unleashed into the silent sky Another ounce, another pounce Until demeanor worn denied Another miss, another dis Unintentionally dimissed Another fort, another tort Unnecessarily amiss Another vibe, another gibe Unstable words to be transcribed Another hunt, another punt Under the influence imbibe Another plot, another knot Unraveling what time has wrought Another test, another quest Until tomorrow's woes are naught