Pericles McGee's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=Pericles McGee2018-11-04T21:04:28Zblind attack (thing)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/blind+attackPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-11-04T21:04:28Z2018-11-04T21:04:28Z<p><em>Night. Two cars race down a mountain road. The <a href="/title/Honda+Civic+Type+R">Civic</a> crowds out the <a href="/title/Toyota+Corolla+AE86">AE86</a> on its tail at every turn; how will the AE86 find the space to pass? Both cars dash into a tunnel. The AE86's <a href="/title/pop-up+headlights">headlights flip down</a> into its <a href="/title/hood">hood</a>. Exiting the tunnel and <a href="/title/drift">drift</a>ing into the next turn, the Civic's driver searches his mirrors for the AE86, but finds nothing. He is stunned to hear its engine roaring right beside him. The AE86 emerges from the darkness, its headlights flipping back up to reveal its place on the inside track, passing. After this turn, the AE86 is in the lead. It wins.</em></p>
<p>This was the first of several instances in <em><a href="/title/Initial+D">Initial D</a></em> when <a href="/title/Takumi+Fujiwara">Takumi</a> deliberately shut off his headlights in order to pass his opponent. This is his "blind attack", so called because—due to the night conditions under which he races—he cannot see for the duration of the technique.</p>
<p>And it <em>is</em> a technique, at least as the<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…I Am Cheap Rubber (poetry)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/I+Am+Cheap+RubberPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-09-04T10:39:28Z2018-09-04T10:39:28ZAwakening, I always suffer<br>an <a href="/title/excess+of+world">excess of world</a><br><br>It seeps in<br><a href="/title/corner">where two walls meet</a>, that seam<br>and <a href="/title/inflate">inflate</a>s my thin membrane<br>(by accident)<br><br>It creeps under<br>what remains of my toenails<br>Last night's crusted blood<br><br>Once, I moved <a href="/title/at+all">too quickly</a><br>My legs, limp, still <a href="/title/deflate">deflate</a>d<br>stayed tangled in the blankets<br>for hours<br><br><a href="/title/waiting">Swelling and thinning</a><br><a href="/title/between+the+world+and+itself">between the world and itself</a><br>sorry to be <a href="/title/in+the+way">in the way</a>Unleashed (fiction)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/UnleashedPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-09-04T01:04:25Z2018-09-04T01:04:25Z<p>The dogs—dogs that one might have called Mr. Yemmenskinstein's <a href="/title/ward">ward</a>s, had they been people, which, despite their litany of humanoid traits, they were not—were: </p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong><a href="/title/Fresco">Fresco</a></strong>, who spoke with the gravelly voice of a venerable Jewish comedian <a href="/title/senescence">long overdue for death</a>—never coherently, but you could tell the accent was there.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Lil' <a href="/title/Gilgamesh">Gilgamesh</a></strong>, the one with the <a href="/title/coccyx">human vestigial tail</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong><a href="/title/Neuromancer">Neuromancer</a></strong>, who could flip you <a href="/title/the+finger">the bird</a> with his itty-bitty, little-wittle, doggy-woggy, <a href="/title/phalanges">phalange</a>-balanges, and also <a href="/title/I+will+REMOVE+the+fucking+toilet+seat+if+you+don%2527t+shut+up">he never put the toilet seat down</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Stabby Ramone</strong>, who was a dog, but only in a strict, legal sense, which didn't stop him from owning and driving a car.<sup>1</sup></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong><a href="/title/Piddle">Piddle</a>s</strong>, whose gambling addiction had made Mr.<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></li><!-- close unclosed tag --></ul>…Prisoner's constraint (idea)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/Prisoner%2527s+constraintPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-07-28T04:26:42Z2018-07-28T04:26:42Z<p>The <strong>prisoner's constraint</strong> is a <a href="/title/lipogram">lipogrammatic</a> rule that prohibits the writer from using letters with <a href="/title/ascenders">ascenders</a> or <a href="/title/descenders">descenders</a>.<sup><small>1</small></sup> In other words, the writer isn't allowed to use <strong>b</strong>, <strong>d</strong>, <strong>f</strong>, <strong>g</strong>, <strong>h</strong>, <strong>j</strong>, <strong>k</strong>, <strong>l</strong>, <strong>p</strong>, <strong>q</strong>, <strong>t</strong>, or <strong>y</strong>.<sup><small>2</small></sup> The remaining, allowed letters—<strong>a</strong>, <strong>c</strong>, <strong>e</strong>, <strong>i</strong>, <strong>m</strong>, <strong>n</strong>, <strong>o</strong>, <strong>r</strong>, <strong>s</strong>, <strong>u</strong>, <strong>v</strong>, <strong>w</strong>, <strong>x</strong>, <strong>z</strong>—all have the same height (<a href="/title/tittle">except for "i"</a>). A line of them ("some mean <a href="/title/necromancer">necromancer</a>s menace an <a href="/title/orc">orc</a> sorceror") is<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…rue amazon (poetry)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/rue+amazonPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-07-28T02:40:46Z2018-07-28T02:40:46Z<p>come <a href="/title/monsoon">mon</a><a href="/title/soon">soon</a> season<br>seas race <a href="/title/across">over</a> avenues<br><a href="/title/as+waves+cow+our+oars">as we row our cars</a></p>
<hr>
<p><small><em>This <a href="/title/haiku">haiku</a> was written under the <a href="/title/prisoner%2527s+constraint">prisoner's constraint</a>, along with a prohibition of the letter "i".</em></small></p>
<p align="right"><small><a href="/title/Brevity+Quest+2018">28</a><small></small></small></p>Piano lessons (fiction)http://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee/writeups/Piano+lessonsPericles McGeehttp://everything2.com/user/Pericles+McGee2018-07-20T03:51:17Z2018-07-20T03:51:17Z<p align="center"><b><big><big>Piano Lessons</big></big><br></b></p>
<p align="center"><b>a (<a href="/title/sketch">sketch</a> of a) <a href="/title/musical">musical</a> in three acts</b></p>
<p align="center"><b><br></b></p>
<p align="center"><strong>ACT ONE</strong></p>
<p align="left"><em>In the dim, hazy light, a blue <a href="/title/sheet+music">sheet of music</a> rests on the rack of a black <a href="/title/grand+piano">concert grand piano</a>, which sits center stage with its <a href="/title/keyboard">keyboard</a> facing <a href="/title/downstage">downstage</a>.</em></p>
<p align="left"><em>A <a href="/title/pianist">pianist</a> descends slowly into view, <a href="/title/metronome">gently swinging left and right in a shallow arc</a>, upright and somewhat limp. They always face <a href="/title/upstage">upstage</a>.<br></em></p>
<p align="left"><em>They are dressed in a white <a href="/title/dress+shirt">shirt</a> and black <a href="/title/three+piece+suit">three piece suit</a>.</em></p>
<p align="left"><em>A breeze from their swinging whisks the blue sheet onto the floor.</em></p>
<p align="left"><em>Eventually, the pianist comes to rest in the <a href="/title/piano+bench">bench</a> before the piano.</em></p>
<p align="left"><em><a href="/title/play+it+by+ear">By little tests</a>, they tiptoe into a<!-- close unclosed tag --></em><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…