God bless the Gargoyles

An interesting poem by Dav Pilkey

In a long-ago time, when long ago peoples
were building cathedrals and raising up steeples,
they crafted stone creatures and set them on perches
to guard and protect and watch over the churches.
So gargoyles were born, and they stood night and day,
keeping evil and terrible spirits away.
And ne’er was a creature so true and so loyal
as the watchful, courageous, and fearless gargoyle.
But the years came and went, and the people did, too.
And in time, they forgot what their ancestors knew.
And whenever they passed by the gargoyles’ lairs,
they trembled in fear at the gargoyles’ stares.

And as time went along, people’s fear turned to spite,
and they sneered and they cursed at the guardians of night:
“demons!” they grumbled — “grotesque!” and “horrid!”
“Those beasts don’t belong on the house of the lord!”
When the gargoyles heard these words that were spoken,
their stony old hearts became crumbled and broken.
Then storms rumbled in, and their eyes filled with rain,
and in stillness they stayed, alone and in pain.
But as it so happened, some angels were near,
and heeding the grief of a gargoyle’s tear,
they each fluttered down from the heavens on high
to sit with the gargoyles beneath thundering skies.
now, angels have ways of making things right,
so they stayed with the gargoyles all through the night,
patting their heads and wiping their tears
and whispering life into gargoyle ears.
and soon all the gargoyles did magical things:

They gurgled and coughed and shook out their wings.
Then together the angels and gargoyles took flight,
and they soared through the clouds on a blustery night.
And while over pastures and hills they were winging,
the voices of angels were radiantly singing
music of healing and songs of rebirth
to all of the creatures in all of the earth:
“God bless the rain, and the storm clouds that bring it.
God bless the music, and the voices that sing it.
God bless the ones who sing everything wrong.
God bless the creatures who do not belong.
God bless the hearts and the souls who are grieving
for those who have left, and for those who are leaving.
God bless each perishing body and mind,
god bless all creatures remaining behind.
God bless the dreamers whose dreams have awoken.
God bless the lovers whose hearts have been broken.
God bless each soul that is tortured and taunted,
god bless all creatures alone and unwanted.”

And the gargoyles beheld wherever they roamed
that the souls of the lost weren’t really alone.
Each one had an angel, each one was protected,
and each one was cherished and loved and respected.
And so it is true with the gargoyles this day,
for all of the angels who love them have stayed.
And together they wait until days become nights,
to embark on their dark and most glorious flights.
So if you see shapes in the night sky, don’t fear –
for it simply means angels and gargoyles are near,
easing the earth with their gentle night call:
god bless the gargoyles. God bless us all.”

Curious things and Prufrock!

 

Curious things are happening, and I do not quite know what to think! It’s that wonderful stage when things are just waking up from dormancy but even then there is an awkward hope of despair. Does asking questions mean being more afraid than I ought to? I believe it is always like this, it is a gamble and don’t people just don’t take it… I am like Prufrock, my goodness! I am the living image of Prufrock! Is it a mistake to hold back for the sake of friendship?

Sometimes I think that they might get together, and although it must be wonderful to have friends going that way, it does make me feel unhappy. 

And it is all because of Elf.

In the meantime, things are sweet with Miko. However, I can’t think of it that way, not because it cannot be for long, right? We must part ways and I am happy with the joy that we share this way. He is my bud, sweet darling. I could take care of him always

HOW WEIRD!!!

Prufrock must be playing on my mind quite a bit! This one feels like stepping into Prufrock’s boots! I penned it, literally, sitting at the office stairs two days back.

The Prufrock in Me

This city of joy, of mirth, of life. Oh *City*!

I return to your womb with memories of a coffee bar bell.

Spun over hours of idle talk and banter,

Of laughter and restraint emotions, heart pell-mell.

I just wait for you all my life -

Because you will never ask, and I could never tell

Curious things are happening, and I do not quite know what to think! It’s that wonderful stage when things are just waking up from dormancy but even then there is an awkward hope of despair. Does asking questions mean being more afraid than I ought to? I believe it is always like this, it is a gamble and don’t people just don’t take it… I am like Prufrock, my goodness! I am the living image of Prufrock! Is it a mistake to hold back for the sake of friendship?

Sometimes I think that they might get together, and although it must be wonderful to have friends going that way, it does make me feel unhappy. 

And it is all because of Elf.

In the meantime, things are sweet with Miko. However, I can’t think of it that way, not because it cannot be for long, right? We must part ways and I am happy with the joy that we share this way. He is my bud, sweet darling. I could take care of him always

HOW WEIRD!!!

Prufrock must be playing on my mind quite a bit! This one feels like stepping into Prufrock’s boots! I penned it, literally, sitting at the office stairs two days back.

The Prufrock in Me

This city of joy, of mirth, of life. Oh *City*!

I return to your womb with memories of a coffee bar bell.

Spun over hours of idle talk and banter,

Of laughter and restraint emotions, heart pell-mell.

I just wait for you all my life -

Because you will never ask, and I could never tell

Men and Dogs…! :D

HOW DOGS AND MEN ARE THE SAME:
1. Both take up too much space on the bed.
2. Both have irrational fears about vacuum cleaning.
3. Both mark their territory.
4. Neither tells you what’s bothering them.
5. The smaller ones tend to be more nervous.
6. Both have an inordinate fascination with women’s crotches.
7. Neither does any dishes.
8. Both fart shamelessly.
9. Neither of them notice when you get your hair cut.
10. Both like dominance games.
11. Both are suspicious of the postman.
12. Neither understands what you see in cats.

HOW DOGS ARE BETTER THAN MEN:
1. Dogs do not have problems expressing affection in public.
2. Dogs miss you when you’re gone.
3. Dogs feel guilty when they’ve done something wrong.
4. Dogs admit when they’re jealous.
5. Dogs are very direct about wanting to go out.
6. Dogs do not play games with you-except fetch (and they never laugh at how you throw.)
7. You can train a dog.
8. Dogs are easy to buy for.
9. The worst social disease you can get from dogs is fleas.
10. Dogs understand what “no” means.
11. Dogs mean it when they kiss you.

Courtesy: www.lifeisajoke.com

Omg!

Mostly I feel safe in this city, some days, not so much. Today the president of my company, trying to be helpful, advised me to pick up some bear-spray. I completely misunderstood and in my mind the conversation went like this:

The Pres: “Alice, do you have hairspray in your purse?”

Me: *thinking: what is wrong with my hair?*
“Um..no, but there’s some in the bathroom”

The Pres: *looking confused*
“Oh. Well you should think about getting some. For your purse.”

Me: “Oh…ok, I’ll look into it…”

Meanwhile, I dart to the bathroom and realize that he must have meant BEAR spray. We had been talking about a women getting attacked downtown.

Wow.

He’s probably really confused as to why there’s bear spray in the women’s washroom.

Omg!

Elf, are you reading this?

Dear Elf,

I did watch the movie today, it is called 21 grams of course, I smiled… I also read and reread the poem that is recited in it, the one by Eugenio Montejo… It goes like this-

The earth turned to bring us closer,
it spun on itself and within us,
and finally joined us together in this dream
as written in the Symposium.
Nights passed by, snowfalls and solstices;
time passed in minutes and millennia.
An ox cart that was on its way to Nineveh arrived in Nebraska
A rooster was singing some distance from the world,
in one of the thousand pre-lives of our fathers.
The earth was spinning with its music
carrying us on board;
it didn’t stop turning a single moment
as if so much love, so much that’s miraculous
was only an adagio written long ago
in the Symposium’s score.

Translated by Peter Boyle

how strange it is? Isn’t it? It took so many co-incidences for us to meet, and so many more for us not to, before. Before, when there was still time. What is co-incidence after all? It is a chance meeting of two events, people; they happen at the same moment and everything changes. So many might have occurred for us to meet, don’t your think so? They say, everyone deserves a second chance… Why can’t I have one more? Sometimes, I think I had mine, and I let it go, I gave it up, long back, when nothing was as it is now.

I want to see you happy; maybe you won’t be happy with me… But, are you happy now? Are you?

Love,
A

The Nose…

I thought of writing this poem for a man I met sometime back who has a terrific nose. I sat and stared at his nose so hard that the rest of him sort of faded away and all that I could recall was that wondrous Greek God like nose.

Met him at a party last week,
A man of manners and sapience deep.
But what struck me most,
About our very cordial host.
Was not his person, rather his nose,
Thus, to ogle at, it was his snout I chose!

What beauty, what an artifact,
Losing all sense of propriety and tact.
I rushed to my Adonis ‘Ian bebe,
Besotted by his wondrous neb.
For this nose boy that I dote,
Are the following lines I wrote-
Thy nose is flawless, like it’s chiseled in teak.
It magnanimity nothing less, than the lofty Himalayan peak!
So sharp and so straight, so very confident of its fate.
Thy nose will make Narcissus weep, for Echo, thine can no longer keep.
Together we shall honour thy nose & make jealous all unfortunate those
Who like me in bitter woes, have been born with a flat platypus nose
But you, my love, my darling rose, shall always be known for thy nose.

The Embrace

Another day, another week, another month is here. Bob Dylan is still crooning somewhere. He is telling me that I believe in you. I have now gone back to the old days of thinking about people who are not really there. Sometimes I feel so disenchanted with life, what is the meaning of all this? I live, and then I die, and everything in between, does it really matter. So much pain, so much suffering, so much sadness, reaching out for a truth that must not exist. Everything is reeking of rot, it seems sometimes like everything is dead and we are only believing it all to be real. I close my eyes and rise above my little space, above, and suddenly I can see the land getting farther away from me, my little space getting enmeshed with more and more of sameness. There is no novelty left in anything, nothing seems to be fresh- we are all the same, mirror reflections of each other, only believing to be different. And yet knowing we aren’t. After all this I allow myself to be carried away by everything that is putrid and decaying. Why can I not spread more love? More laughter? More happiness? I too have become a cog in the wheel churning out more and more nonsense feeling satisfied with the selfishness of the self, of all that I think is mine. But nothing here is really mine. I own nothing, I only have something for rent, for sometime and one day everything is washed away back to shores from where they come. I feel torn apart, torn apart from the two visions I see ahead of me, the one that I see all around, of money of the riches that even I aspire to achieve someday maybe, and then there is the one that sacrifices all that for something much greater, more divine. I don’t believe in God, I don’t know if there is God. if it matters or not whether i do or not, but what about the now, the now that is screaming out for help, that is standing ahead of me with its arms outstretched begging for help, I want to reach out, spread some love, some happiness. All changes begin from the self I think, maybe if I change myself bit by bit, the world around me will also begin to change, and I shall see it again in all its beauty and splendor. Embrace life, embrace love.

Life and Time…

Here I am, another week, another day
Wondering, how some more of that time has slipped away
Here I am, just a body, one among so many
That is tossed upon the sands, like a nickel, like a penny.
Why do I try so hard, to break the unbreakable
to hold back what is unattainable
to twist into shape a body that will soon wither away
Polishing colours that too shall fade away.
Why do I despair so? If all that there is to life -
Is just time…time that will soon trickle away.

You…

You stand alone, in the humid place and enchant yourself. A droplet of sweat runs down your neck… And suddenly the cool breeze combs through your hair… a sweet musky scent it carries… it caresses your face…You are thankful, you are obliged, you are overwhelmed, you are blessed. Although you don’t remember when it came and how it died…

But for the breeze, I know, she traveled many miles… just to touch you and feel you… now she takes along your fragrance; like the bittersweet memory of a long lost lover, wherever she goes… she will be bubbling with glee and happiness of having met you… She tells every new face she meets, that she touched you… and your scent to her bosom she keeps…

She does know, that she’ll soon have to die… but she doesn’t regret; for she holds you close, as she loved you the most… And every time she takes a new form, she’ll come to meet you, as the wind, the rain, the sand, the fire, the ash, the smoke or the froth… She’ll touch you, love you and will bury herself dead and be born again, knowing that her only purpose of life was and is… YOU…

Po…po…Potato…!

Fritter, fry or boil, you may,
There’s nothing like a potato today.
Cheapest veggie you can buy,
Purchase big bags without a sigh!
With inflation and soaring tax,
Meat prices reaching their max.

Potatoes peeled washed and dried,
Fry them deep in porky hide.
Or bake it well, make a potato pie,
And take it down with bread of rye.
When short of time, rush hour it is,
Mash and mix with creamy cheese.

Summer, winter and monsoon too,
A potato can be found all year through.
Potatoes today, potatoes tomorrow,
Best thing to eat to purge your sorrow.
Hear me out, for I speak well,
All hail potatoes, they shall always sell!

Lenny and Mike…

Lenny rode a motor bike
thinking he was zany smart
but when he was hit by Mike
he knew he was just a tart.

When you have your silk
In green and pink
Any colour will do
Except green and pink

daydream through a day
and sleep too is a reverie
because there is no other way
to see dreams through reality.

When people think you are a fool
and know not what gems you hide
should you then as a rule
protest that you are not a fool?

When there is someone to love
one who cares to hold your hand
and guide you through this life
is it only then that life finds its meaning?

Chilly Beans or Syrup…

Now you jumpstart another day
Soaked in chilly beans or syrup
who knows what will come your way
the chilly bean or the syrup!

If every time I shed a tear
A white pearl were to form
Then would you also cry my dear
To see if a white pearl would form
And rich we’d get from pearls galore
That from crying we would form

Little joys of kisses sought
and love’s labour lost
what is this life if not
this sweet molten frost!

Goblins at my door…

Knocking at the door,
in the middle of the night,
at half past four
when i switched off the light
came five little goblins
with red satin caps
a basket full of clanging tins
and strange coloured maps.

I blinked hard twice
and pinched
yet could not believe my eyes
I flinched!
Goblins at my door?!?
It shook me to my core!

And then, the eldest spoke!
With his wiry finger did he poke-
“howdy miss, how do you do?
We’re the goblins of the far north
we’ve come to visit you!”

And so they marched in
right upto the den
all five little goblins
with such confidence!
When I rushed back
they told me to calm
handed me some chocolate
and an ache curing balm!

“We read in the papers
you’ve been a little low
this is not caper
to you, this we shall show
we’re your angels in disguise
here to love, not despise
lovelorn maidens we cure
of this you can be sure”

so they wished me night
off they were out of sight
again I blinked hard twice,
and pinched
I could not believe my eyes,
I flinched!

I sat upon the bed
and did all that they said
I chomped on the chocolate
and rubbed on some balm
have I lost my mind
or is this a joke of some kind??

Suddenly heavy lids overcame me
I flopped on the bed
could not think or see
off to sleep I fell dead!

Letters to Elf…

Dear Elf,

There is something that I have to tell you since last week. I wish we would have sat by that rivulet and seen the purple dusk but I guess our muddy humdrum lives aren’t allowing us to do so. The sky is thick with smoke and the brook has dried, leaving us all high and low at the same time. But it’s ok; for I know that the sun will again rise tomorrow and have a glorious dusk waiting for us. How optimistic, am I not?

You remember, those tiny bottles hanging in your house? Well, I was thinking about them on Sunday evening while having my staple dinner of wine and prawns. I think they are sort of cute. Remind me to take one of them with me next time when I come to visit you but promise me you will not get mad if I break them and hurt myself deliberately.

Those pebbles that hurt me while I was somersaulting in your poppy fields have left tiny scars over my face. Whenever I smile at myself in the mirror, I see tiny dimples dancing on my rosy cheeks. Thanks for pushing me off the cliff; I wouldn’t look this pretty and attractive otherwise.

That sunlight kissed windows weren’t that bad. All you need to do is just shut your eyes and the rays will cease to enter your soul. I guess, sometimes sunshine does burn your life away.

Ah, I forgot to mention that stairway to heaven. Yes, I agree that it did take me to heaven but I guess not for long because the sunbeams killed the glory in my head and had me burning all over in pain. But don’t you worry anymore, for the pain has ceased to exist in my heart and soul. I am as cold and as white as ever. We can climb those stairs again and probably stare at stars together and not face sunbeams all over.

Those chocolate muffins weren’t that bad either. They were a little burnt though. Tell Sandy who runs your bakery to go easy on the oven temperatures next time. Those cute buttercups can be made a little soft and pleasant. I can go and help him next time you decide to bake some blueberry muffins for your grandma.

Oh, do you remember that blue-eyed boy who crossed me in the elevators? Well, he winked at me before leaving. But I don’t want you to get mad at him and give him a black eye because men like him can not go beyond winking. Next time, be calm and tranquil and do exactly as I say for I might tell you to kill him and not just give him a black eye.

Love,
A

Letters to Miko…

Dear Miko,

I suppose you’ll never get the chance to read this, and maybe I will never get to even tell you that inspite of the slight nature of our acquaintance, you have in some strange way touched my heart. I really do not know what first drew me to you, I suppose I have always been attracted to eccentric people and you have been just that, the little that we know of you. I liked that you love to walk, that you are tall and lanky, and a little weird, quiet and withdrawn, maybe shy, and so very proper and polite. You inspired me to read a little more, work a little harder on my English; listen to that extra bit of music, love my Ipod even more, read up a little more on the sixties and the seventies and so on. I loved that you made me listen to Harry Belafonte, Miles and told me about the bands, Bread and Cream. I love The Bread, by the way.

Life on a trip revolves around some very simple things for me. I wish I could tear you away from the humdrum of class, professors and friends and take you to Marine Drive once again to watch the sun set a few more times. I have always thought it a miracle that the sun would set the same time for ever and ever. I want to steal a little bit of that beauty and keep it in my heart. It is like tearing a small piece of bread from a loaf when you are hungry, there maybe many more loaves but this one particular one would always have that one bite off it. I suppose I make little sense.

I had this dream the other night, where we sat side by side facing an “electric blue” river and what seemed like the ruins of Guatemala, and certain specimens of big horned deer who miraculously changed to people right before my eyes. When this happened you just put your arm around my waist and pulled me close and kissed me gently on my cheek and softly said: what a dangerous t-shirt… ! (referring to the people I thought were deer but were actually dressed in some sort of costume possibly) All this was very nice and I felt extraordinarily close to you. For a long time after I woke I shut my mind to the clutter of the outside world and hugged onto my dream like a precious secret till slowly its sensuality began to wane.

I don’t know what this year holds for me, but of all the things that I dearly wish for, I would certainly like to wish to get to know you a little better, spend some more time with you and maybe, even get a chance to call you this – “Miko”.

Love,
A

In search of memories…

It’s exasperating to think how well I remember you, every miniscule detail – it seems to me that the essence of your being is etched into my mind with golden liquid paint. Your memory continues to sink in deeper and deeper so that one day all that my life shall be, would be an extension of this memory.

Nothing is so permanent as this, no change in this, only I continue to get molded more and more into different shapes, but my void remains but a void.

Everything that remains incomplete has a much stronger memory than those that we aspire and achieve. The broken edges jab at my heart every now and then and I long to reach out and touch something that will sooth the pain. Our lives are but reflections of the cosmos that envelopes us, it is rich with the things we touch, the hearts we love, the tastes we swallow and the rivers that we go floating down. Every life is but a fleeting moment in the endless continuum of time and space, each likened to the other, linked by a thread that is only too bare but unbreakable.

But it is not to despair, for although a meaningless life as this is, there are joys too. We look for happiness in every little crevice of this universe, standing tall as we do, each one is a manifestation of the untold truth, as the centre of the universe…at the centre of the universe; we are all the essentials of our own little world. For man, and indeed all animals, life begins from the core, our egos – the self. For it is in all our similarities and differences that constitute each self, every one of us is a strategist in the world’s warfare. In being who we are we are constantly changing, moulding re-moulding ourselves in accordance with the ideals that constitute ourselves. And it is in this Herculean change that we find the constancy that we crave for. What an odd little world.

I digressed.

The moment is lost; you are lost in the depth of my memory. I cannot close my eyes and feel any longer the wet kiss on my nose. Will my memories fade? Will another one overshadow this memory? If all our memories happen only to be written over then what is the meaning of our experiences. The present is so fleeting and yet man gives up his all just for a moment of ecstasy… a single moment of the emotion that he craves for. The tears that I shed have no meaning any longer, for that was in the past, and my present will not form a memory, as vivid as it is in passing, in the future. But a lingering fragrance must remain and I guess it shall remain… Our lives are like traces of a perfume that we had put on once, our memories are its fragrance, at its best when it has begun to fade, but a whiff returns to us its former glory filling our senses with fulfillment of remembrance…

25 on 25

Vimal tagged on this one ages ago and I had conveniently forgotten about it… and today I am so bored that I have to do this to entertain myself…I have to jot down 25 random things about myself…sigh! I guess none of them would come as a surprise to you though…read on!

1. I am obsessed with my tattoo and I am thinking of getting another one soon
2. I loooveeeee to eat pani puri anywhere and anytime
3. I am an ‘adrak chai’ freak
4. I hate coffee and anything to do with coffee…ugh!
5. I love chicken biryani, king prawns and white wine
6. Sometimes I tend to forget what I was saying and have a tendency to stop right in the middle of the sentence…and then embarrass myself
7. There are times when I am laughing all alone at  work and people think that I am a freak
8 …which I accept I am
9. I prefer cars and bikes to men and I have a tendency to hoot whenever a sexy car/bike passes by
10. I am addicted  to music and I think DJ Tiesto is God
11. I revel in chaos and disorder… and cleanliness scares me
12. I am a die-hard fan of Che Guevara and Barack Obama
13. I prefer Italian cuisine to Indian cuisine and I can cook very good pasta in white sauce
14. Sometimes I have a nasty habit of screaming at my brother whenever he irritates me at work
15. I am a rebel at heart
16. Randomness amuses me
17. I love whiskey and I hate vodka and gin (they are too girlie for me…!)
18. I wish I could swim the English Channel one day
19. One day I am going to meet Paris Hilton, slap her and teach her how to spend money
20. I love to write…and I mean totally totally love to write… as long as I have a pen and paper in my hand, I think I will survive
21. I think I took up melodrama as a subject in my college as I love to do nautanki all the time and put myself in unimaginable situations
22.Sometimes I wish I was not as wise as I am
23. I love the colour black…and anything black intrigues me including shadows, b/w photography, night, etc.
24. I want to go to Cannes one day and visit the shrine of David Ogilvy
25. I have an excellent road sense and I can take you for A———–to————–B in exactly 30 minutes
26. I hate math and anything to do algebra, geometry, blah, blah…

I pass this tag to Manushi, Nikhil (I am sure he will not do it!), Withering Willow, Sakhi, Nautankey, Reema, Chiranjib, Antara, Akeshwor, Viplove, Varghese

there…! Now go entertain yourself…!

Trumpeting the Trump life…

I’m not trying to make anyone jealous here but I have some very exciting news to share…I’m sure it’s only because of all the charitable work I’ve been doing. Well, that and let’s face it, I am kind of a big deal.

See, I’ve been sent a very special personal invitation to join Donald Trump himself at a very exciting seminar held right here in my town. Not only was I personally invited but I received 2 complimentary VIP tickets. That’s right bitches; Don and I are tight like that.

Apparently I’m going to learn about property investment and how to be a Real Estate mogul. It’ll even teach me how to be my own boss..er.. Forever.

Now, the card only had a small sample of all the great things I’ll be learning but it does put emphasis on the fact that (and I quote): “This is what I have learned the hard way, in the streets, fighting to grow my empire and fighting to stay on top”

I’m not really sure what kinds of things you learn on the streets of Park Avenue but I’m sure it’ll be very eye-opening.

I’m pretty sure the signature is authentic and the card is hand-signed, after all what better things could he possibly be keeping busy with?

Don’t worry, I won’t forget about you while I’m off living my lavish lifestyle and making millions simply by looking at buildings.

*ROTFLMAO

Well…Well…

Something that I had read sometime back…

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job… and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you’re doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself… and while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Send this to your twenty-something friends… maybe it will help someone feel like they aren’t alone in their state of confusion…

We call it the “Quarter-life Crisis.”

Letters…

Dear Homeless Man,

I hope your tap-dancing lessons are going well! I found out today that you have a twin brother, who looks exactly like you. Does he have the same Nike Shoes as you? If so, I think I may always think you are the same person. Sorry for the confusion, no wonder you looked at me like I was the crazy one when I asked you if you ever got a new oar.

I saw you and your brother fighting today. It saddened me deeply – families are the most important people in your life. Perhaps you were fighting over a female? Trust me, that bong woman who yells at people on patios and tries to grab their food is not worth a family feud.

Sure, if she stopped doing the crack and brushed her hair a little she could be pretty. If she ate something she could even be quite lovely but I’m sure there are more ladies for you two to deal with? I thought I’d let you know that that new wave you are doing with your hair? Very Donald-Trumpesque! Dress for success they say!

Kudo!

Alice