tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post467832274433352443..comments2024-03-15T22:33:20.130-07:00Comments on Unemployed Imagination.: 2 Minutes. Go!JD Maderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-89466883650356438182016-12-05T09:59:15.821-08:002016-12-05T09:59:15.821-08:00A skillful telling!A skillful telling!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-79051321511974865502016-12-05T09:56:13.666-08:002016-12-05T09:56:13.666-08:00Tactile, and filled with longing... on both sides!...Tactile, and filled with longing... on both sides! nicely done!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-80349058816058483722016-12-05T09:55:07.071-08:002016-12-05T09:55:07.071-08:00You took me back to a similar place in my life... ...You took me back to a similar place in my life... and I can smell it all again... you, sir, are the kind of writer of history the way it was supposed to be that I would read every day.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-45237478808836743192016-12-05T09:53:40.394-08:002016-12-05T09:53:40.394-08:00so sweet... and perfect for the holidays. I can al...so sweet... and perfect for the holidays. I can almost taste the cookies!<br />Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-27487184608718450952016-12-04T08:10:11.593-08:002016-12-04T08:10:11.593-08:00I love just reading this, knowing I am in the hand...I love just reading this, knowing I am in the hands of a master poet...Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-44507901198635257332016-12-04T08:09:20.945-08:002016-12-04T08:09:20.945-08:00I love the promise of hope in this, especially as ...I love the promise of hope in this, especially as you wrote it in the middle of (for me) a gray, dreary day! Thank you!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-4014721147760524652016-12-04T08:07:32.586-08:002016-12-04T08:07:32.586-08:00I'm honored. Thank you. And Teresa, that's...I'm honored. Thank you. And Teresa, that's exactly the right thing... I'll keep my eyes open. Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-16073979008289192032016-12-04T08:06:41.108-08:002016-12-04T08:06:41.108-08:00Thank you for the kind words... I wish I could cla...Thank you for the kind words... I wish I could claim it was all fiction, but it's the story of far too many... World AIDS Day inspired me to write this and the next.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-67887048835159505462016-12-04T08:05:37.950-08:002016-12-04T08:05:37.950-08:00I read this aloud to Angelo and Maggie, and they w...I read this aloud to Angelo and Maggie, and they were impressed, as was I! You caught the canine temperament well!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-12407716913689283902016-12-04T08:00:14.113-08:002016-12-04T08:00:14.113-08:00Yep, the candles grabbed me in and you didn't ...Yep, the candles grabbed me in and you didn't let go till the end, even then... the tension building is beautifully done!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-19147012271173569782016-12-04T07:58:21.990-08:002016-12-04T07:58:21.990-08:00a well-executed execution! and it's true. You ...a well-executed execution! and it's true. You CAN write anything, and you write it well!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-17192795639493801652016-12-04T07:57:15.468-08:002016-12-04T07:57:15.468-08:00ah, sweet.... Dads who appreciate their kids are a...ah, sweet.... Dads who appreciate their kids are awesome... and your stories like this make me smile... Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-82921177770258166952016-12-04T07:55:19.537-08:002016-12-04T07:55:19.537-08:00Good lord, from start to finish this was good... a...Good lord, from start to finish this was good... and painful... a well-told story, my friend.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-90567357290280180452016-12-04T07:53:30.349-08:002016-12-04T07:53:30.349-08:00So well done... and may it be prophetic...So well done... and may it be prophetic...Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-84408089036325574832016-12-04T07:52:32.550-08:002016-12-04T07:52:32.550-08:00Truly beautiful in both craft and story... as your...Truly beautiful in both craft and story... as your work always is.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-49285679217575678862016-12-04T07:51:29.584-08:002016-12-04T07:51:29.584-08:00Yep, the craftsmanship is awesome. And you left me...Yep, the craftsmanship is awesome. And you left me wanting more!<br />Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-56432739554820474282016-12-04T07:50:29.027-08:002016-12-04T07:50:29.027-08:00I think Ginsberg would have loved hanging with you...I think Ginsberg would have loved hanging with you! and I learned a new word today in the world of hip hop: Freestyling. I think you excel at it.<br />Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-12321867600056387452016-12-03T04:13:47.496-08:002016-12-03T04:13:47.496-08:00Skeletons, all families have a few, but whether th...Skeletons, all families have a few, but whether the door remains closed or abruptly kicked open there's acceptance and love. You captured that beautifully. <br />A side note, my mother's brother's wife, Aunt Cardena, was Blackfoot and one of the best cooks I've ever known. Definitely the best buttermilk biscuits and chicken n' dumplings. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072039240272422354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-8735499735610188062016-12-03T00:59:46.556-08:002016-12-03T00:59:46.556-08:00I do, you got me. Wrestling snakes. lol. PerfectI do, you got me. Wrestling snakes. lol. PerfectJD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-17314972556129363012016-12-03T00:59:09.340-08:002016-12-03T00:59:09.340-08:00Thanks y'all. And I was majorly obsessed with ...Thanks y'all. And I was majorly obsessed with the beats. I have a tattoo to prove it. ;)JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-71801799576528711902016-12-02T22:46:00.322-08:002016-12-02T22:46:00.322-08:00I love the cadence of this piece, how the words da...I love the cadence of this piece, how the words dance on the tongue. Somber though it is, mostly, still hope persists, and sometimes, that's just enough. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072039240272422354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-72563236656086979952016-12-02T22:24:59.388-08:002016-12-02T22:24:59.388-08:00It IS magic, and for a few, it continues past yout...It IS magic, and for a few, it continues past youth. Luckily, that is what most will feel and remember. But you did capture the emotional upheaval we feel while watching and worrying. So the cycle continues with parents being the ones most likely in cages of their own construction, watching their little ones soar.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072039240272422354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-81932309826191675882016-12-02T21:03:46.542-08:002016-12-02T21:03:46.542-08:00What a beautiful story for the Holidays. Thank you...What a beautiful story for the Holidays. Thank you. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072039240272422354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-2742135677428813302016-12-02T21:00:46.348-08:002016-12-02T21:00:46.348-08:00Leland or you, Dan, may take over half of my brain...Leland or you, Dan, may take over half of my brain any time you'd like. If you both took half, at the same time? Pulitzer shoe-in. So please, possess away! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072039240272422354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-16492536446716895852016-12-02T20:52:40.668-08:002016-12-02T20:52:40.668-08:00As the struggle grew more pitched, Luanne couldn’t...As the struggle grew more pitched, Luanne couldn’t help, at times, but retreat into fantasy. Fleeing the violence, the terror, the pain, the physical and psychological exhaustion, and just getting to be a regular person. She used to find excuses not to, when Timothy suggested it, but in hindsight, those excuses seemed flimsy. She could easily imagine it: wearing snug jeans and a T shirt promoting an arms manufacturer like Glock or Smith and Wesson to her job at a gun shop in a smallish Midwestern college town; someplace like Urbana, Illinois, Bloomington, Indiana, or Iowa City; maybe Madison, Wisconsin or Columbus, Ohio, at the largest. She wasn’t stoked about enduring Midwestern weather, but reckoned those folks were at least less likely to be overtly racist than those in the South. She would work alongside the proprietor, a grizzled, kindly but old-fashioned older white man, who hired her because she knows her guns, and because he knew having a cute, non-threatening young black woman behind the counter would put potential female and/or non-white customers at ease. She would easily justify her employment, with all the handguns she would sell to other women: “oh, naw, girl, think about it. Yeah, a big scary-ass piece like that might scare somebody off, but if you have to fire it? It’d knock you on your ass. As a rule, you want the biggest gun you can comfortably handle. I’m not a big gal, I carry a Glock 19, that’s all I need. Some folks think the 9 millimeter isn’t big enough, but if you shell out for some hollow points, it’ll still put a decent sized hole in somebody.”<br />She would live in a cute little brick house in a quiet lower-middle class neighborhood, with her blue-collar white boyfriend, the construction worker. They would pay their rent, taxes, and bills, she would drive a cute little four-door Chevy, he a Ford pickup mostly for his tools and building materials, and not concern themselves with politics beyond voting Green and Democrat, and maybe throwing a few bucks to politicians and organizations they liked. They would work hard, shop at Jewel-Osco, maybe she would have a baby or two, and maybe one day they could retire.<br />But that was all just a fantasy. The reality, from which it yielded an occasional escape, was that they were impoverished squatters, eking out a living, in perpetual fear of an increasingly totalitarian government. <br />Danimalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15226216295217819865noreply@blogger.com