Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Plastic

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.

Legalingo is a treacherous language, very difficult to navigate.

Lawyers are born - it's a calling, and when they grow up they learn how to convolute language into tortured strings of words, like sausages folding into themselves - letters and phrases, commas and hyphens, postulations and hypotheses, all blending together, grinded and seasoned and stuffed into an enticing manila casing.

These are actors who deliver line upon legal line, documenting them for posterity on reams of legal paper, perused and processed by paralegals and senior partners until ready for presentation to the client. The client, poor schmuck, looks perplexedly at the docs as his eyes tear up in an effort to focus and understand the mass of printed black ink in front of him.

The lawyer smiles benevolently, leans over and hands him a Mont Blanc pen. The deal is sealed. Now for the explanation of the fine print….

Thank God for Obama who is going to clear the legal morass and remove all the deadwood of double talk and simplify the process. Hopefully, now we'll know beforehand that we're giving up our first born to have the privilege of buying that new car on credit just so we can keep up with the Jones's next door.

After all, it's not really money, it's only plastic.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Senses of Life

eyes to appreciate beauty and ugliness.

ears to hear the mournful cooing of a dove,

the happy laughter of a child, and the cries of the bereft mother.

a nose to inhale the earthiness of freshly mown grass,

the tanginess of ocean spray, and the mustiness of death.

a body that is often strong, but more often weak,

muscles that ache then revive themselves - a daily miracle.

a mind to fill with thoughts and desires, yearnings and challenges.

ignorance and cruelty leave me gasping.

living life leaves me breathless.

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Deadliest Sin of All

The Deadliest Sin of all ......

Everything in life depends on whether we do or we don't.

Doing requires effort and conscious thought, while not doing requires conscious thought only.

No energy is expended when doing nothing.

If there is no energy nothing will change.

Without change, there is nothing.