lovejoyman's New Writeups

hose shower (thing)

2008-10-01T16:43:45Z

A hose shower is one of the joys of summer. It is almost an excuse for summer.

It is just what it seems. Grab a bar of soap (or a bottle of body wash, if you are so inclined). Head out to the backyard. Turn on the hose. Get wet. Lather up. Rinse off.

Unless you have a relatively secluded backyard, or just don't care, a swimsuit of some sort is required for a hose shower. A nozzle with a gentle shower setting is preferred. A jet spray is not recommended, unless you're in to that sort of thing. Worried about not getting everything clean? Stick your soapy hands in your suit, and get the job done!

A hose shower will get even the most energetic and stubborn children to slow down and bathe in the waning light of…

October 1, 2008 (personal)

2008-10-01T15:26:36Z

Not a bad morning. Overcast. Guess it's deciding whether to go backwards to the terrarium motif of summer or forward to the crispy ambience of impending autumn. I'll be buying firewood soon -- far enough in advance of actual fireplace weather to make sure that any green wood will have a chance to dry out. By December we'll have campouts in the backyard.

Stumbled to the garage and set up the weights for the workout. It's a new routine that I'm still getting used to. I'd like to get through it more quickly, but thanks to my minimalist setup (example: saw horses for a squat rack), it takes longer than I'd like to move from exercise to exercise. It's OK for now, I guess. Gives my heartrate a chance to come down a bit and the stars and spots to dissapate. Order matters. Running less. Lifting more. Eating often: beef, tuna,…

Gone in Sixty Seconds 2008 - Theatre Quest Entries (person)

2008-04-09T16:40:48Z

Valentine's Night

Scene: Man, dressed very casually, on hands and knees drawing with chalk on a walkway. Tub of sidewalk chalks at his side. Big, sweeping strokes and vigorous coloring.

Woman walks in. She is dressed in a suit, carrying a briefcase in one hand and folders and binders cradled in the other. She is reading something in her arms, walking briskly, then slows down a lot when she sees the man. He does not notice her until she is directly in front of him.

He: Oh! (flustered, puts down the chalk, wipes his hands, smooths his hair) Hi, sweetie. You're back early. How was your day?

She: (absently, doesn't look up) Fine.

He: (starts coloring again) I was hoping to get this done before you got home -- sort of as a surprise.

She: (still reading) Did the kids get to bed on time?

He: Yes. Even the big boys. They were great.…

August 9, 2007 (person)

2007-08-09T20:44:57Z

I was in my work van, parked in the garage underneath a state government office building, ready to lug my tools upstairs to repair some government employee's PC, when I heard the news on the local classic rock station. "Jerry Garcia was found dead this morning..." -- I listened to the details, but it didn't matter much.

My pager went off as took some parts off the van shelves and loaded them on my rickety dolly. It was Lovey. The IBM brick I carried started beeping. More friends touching base. I fixed the computer and took another couple of calls that day.

I went home and got a hug before she dashed off to work. "I'm so sorry," she said. She kissed me and hugged me again, tighter. Then she left, and it was just me and SweetFacedBoy, all of eight months old.

"Well," I said as I picked him up, walked over to the stereo…

Sure of an angel (idea)

2007-03-09T15:22:33Z

When Victor came to, he was on his hands and knees next to his office desk. He heard screaming and crying in the distance, but as he pulled himself to his feet, the sound grew in both volume and proximity. The floor felt unsteady, as if he stood on the deck of a large lumbering ship instead of the 97th floor of an office building. Just a moment ago he had answered an IM from Hayley in Accounts Payable -- Yes, I'd love to join you for a coffee. Be down in a minute. Then came the impact. An explosion. Something. The minute he inhabited now had no resemblance to the one just before. Hayley might as well have IMed from China.

Victor's office was actually just a large room separated in to various pods of spacious desks and ergonomically pleasing workstations. Windows stretched almost to the floor on the south and east walls. That, combined with the height itself gave the initial visitor a sense of vertigo. An office in the sky.

Now…

Prosenoder's Cup 2007 (place)

2007-03-07T03:38:24Z

English Channel

He could see her standing in the water, shimmering legs and hips. She slipped in after the last turn, at 950 yards, and now he hammered to her, turning liquid in to solid. He tagged the wall and kissed the graceful hull of her left breast. She told him the time. Too fast with five more left.

"That's one," she said.

He could taste her in the sunset. They swam to every bar on the beach and back, emerald water embracing her like a chapel. The ocean polished and formed her. Her smile could drown and raise a thousand cities. They kissed deeply in the soft waves as they left the first bar.

"That's one," she said.

He could feel her between the waves. A month after their son was born, he towed them in a small boat across the bay and back. That night, as the child slept in a crib…