"And when you talk, I just watch your mouth." Whitney and me ... the two of spent the 80s dancing around together. Really, the best nights of that decade were accompanied by this peerless voice. This is how I remember her, and whenever I think of those days, this is what flashes into my head.
If only we both knew where life would take us from here.
This is my favorite cut from her last CD (2009). I wish it was true that she "was not built to break."
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Valentine's Day Trifecta
Today's challenge: write a love scene in no fewer than 33 and no more than 333 words.The only other restriction is that your response cannot use any of the 33 words listed below or any derivation of those words.
This helps me make sure I don't sink into the trite.
I remember the moment I knew. And he wasn’t even there.
I had just gone through the revolving doors, leaving the
office and crossing the plaza. I slipped my sunglasses on to protect against
the late afternoon sun. Walking
to the train, my mind was going faster than my feet as I mentally composed the email
I’d send to my coworker as soon as I got home.
He’d been travelling all afternoon, and tonight he’d have a
client dinner, so he couldn’t get the news of my day until he got back to his
hotel and logged on late tonight. And I had so much to tell him!
Shopping at lunchtime I spotted that
super-durable brand of umbrella he’d been looking for – guaranteed not
to turn inside out, even in the worst wind – at Macy’s but the price was steep,
about $40. There’s the rampant rumor that our company will soon switch to his
beloved Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in the cafeteria. Best of all, his faith in me
bolstered my confidence. He’ll be so pleased and proud when I tell him I took
his advice, voiced my suggestions and now I own that Power Point
presentation.
Went through the turnstyle and boarded the train. One of my
fellow commuters was reading Night by
Elie Wiesel. I remembered him telling me how moving that book was.
It’ll be 6:30 when I get home. That’s only 4:30 in Los
Angeles. He’ll still be in meetings so I can’t call. It makes more sense for me
to try to remember to get all this down in an email for him to read before he
goes to sleep. But damn, I really want to call him with this stuff.
Then it hit me – who feels such urgency to share such "stuff"
with a coworker? Um … that would be no one.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” I asked myself.
Yes, I knew. And it
was both exhilarating and terrifying.
Saturday 9
1. Do you enjoy going to a casino now and again? Yes. Though my most successful visit was my first. I won enough to pay for dinner.
2. What makes you happy most of the time? Lots of little things: Cubs baseball, oldies on the radio, a pretty blue sky ...
3. Are you jealous of someone right now? Yes
4. You're stranded on a desert island with one fictional character. Who is it? Why? Chuck (Tom Hanks in Cast Away). Because he seems like a nice guy and he has experience with these things.
5. Have you ever been in the emergency room? If yes, for what (most recently)? It was ages ago -- more than 10 years because I was still living in my old apartment. I somehow poked myself in the eye with a can opener. I was lucky. I'd done no serious damage and left after a few hours with a big gauze patch over my eye.
6. Where is the last place you drove to just for fun? I don't drive.
7. If you were to make your living as a photographer, what would love to shoot? I'd like to just capture moments and colors that appeal to me. Like this shot. It was my view as I did the backstroke in the pool when I was in Key West over New Year's. I love the fronds against that blue.
8. Tell us about a band you like that we might not have heard. Meet Danny Wilson. They were an 80s one-hit wonder band but oh, what a hit. I relate to the longing. "Save me, save me, be the light in my eyes ..."
9. Where was the last place you went shopping? Why? FYE. Sir Paul released a new CD.