“I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now” – Edna Mode
I’ve got for you a new speculative fiction along with some random thoughts below. But first, the story: Corporate Bliss – a Story Told in Emails. It’s about capitalism, life, and depression all through email conversations in an office setting. Comments welcome here or on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram…
And I’m not depressed, but Winter always makes me reflective. I wanted to post some memories my mother has shared with me. I then thought, “What about me? Who will I share my memories with?” I then thought of other LGBTQ2SA folk with no kids. Or of couples who were childless. Or even single people. Who sings their stories after they are gone?
“Who cares” but as time goes on, and the world changes, often it’s the slice of life that give colour to the past. Telling you I remember being a teenager and on a bus with school mates singing along to The Pointer Sisters “Jump” and you can say “So what?”
Yet. Point out that at the time, I was still dealing with my sexuality. I had been bullied in elementary. I was mostly ignored in Junior High, but wasn’t part of the “In” crowd. In high school, playing football suddenly made me part of the “In” crowd because I was a jock. And it was….an education in tribalism, and why it was and still is, an utter load of bullshit. Hating someone because he/she/they are not part of your religion, your family, your nationality, they don’t like sports, they look different, etc. etc.
So, with that as context, when I say it was a bus of football players in gear, singing and jumping to that song “Jump” after coming home from a football game, the colour in this slice of the past is bright, as it was a happy moment for me – I felt I was part of something, part of a crowd, a team. Yet it’s a memory tinged with sadness as I remember feeling lonely because it was also a lie: I made sure never to let my eyes linger on another guy while in the change room, knowing I was different even while on the outside I appeared to be one of the crowd.
Category: Stories
Random thoughts #23
Years ago, I had a T-shirt which, in big bold letters, stated “Have A Day” and included a neutral smiley face. I found it curious and funny how many people read “nice” into the words. Pattern recognition and pre-judging based on past experiences. But I loved it when I’d pass the random person on the street and they’d quietly giggle at my shirt. It’s the small things sometimes – noticing both sides of the reaction, and taking joy or amusement in it. But I’m also older and (hopefully) wiser to realize people sometimes are on auto-pilot due to things in their life, and what they’re doing at the moment. I’ve been on the clueless side too – once realizing 5 HOURS LATER that a guy may have been making a pass at me.
So I guess I’m saying, “Have a day – with the good, and the bad, learn, grow, don’t cling to pain, don’t expect happiness, accept reality as it is, breath in, breath out, be nice to one another if you can because we’re all going to end up as piles of dust eventually, so why not strive to get those pleasant fuzzy feelings in the meantime?”
15 Minute Hate – new flash fiction
Warhol mentioned 15 minute of fame but in the flash fiction (or future speculative fiction) I’ve written, it might be more like a 15 Minute Hate. What happens when the government regulates the outrage machine on social media. Is it a better or worse world? As it is a draft, any feedback let me know on my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.
Original Flash Fiction in Pictures
Virtual Afterlife in Multimedia is an original flash fiction (in pictures) of the future. A future where Humanity has created mind uploading to a virtual afterlife. Where it can be Heaven, Hell, or something in between. A new story by Evan Kayne. Enjoy!
Flash Fiction – The Sphinx Answers
A new original flash fiction story written by me now available in my Library of Stories. This time the Sphinx returns to answer a question; this time he faces the consequences of answering incorrectly.
A story about teachers
Today’s story is about a time when one of my teachers was removed from the classroom. Students versus Teachers – My experience tells the tale of driving teachers insane. Spoiler: In real life, it’s nowhere near as funny as when Bart Simpson does it.
Poetry on Sports
This new poem, Panem et Circenses (Iterum), all came out pretty much last Friday night as the Raptors basketball team out of Toronto won some championship or other. People cheering “We the North” and generally losing their minds. Sports go sports! [rolls eyes]. Anyhow, it’s new poetry, and in the next day or so I’ll post it to Instagram, do an audio clip with the words on YouTube, and update this post with links.
Some Poetry Today, and…
New poem by Evan Kayne, and a book review
This morning I was reading a collection of Pablo Neruda poetry. Something clicked in me. So I wrote a quick poem titled “I Do All This” under Library of Stories. It will also be available on Instagram, Facebook, and maybe later on YouTube.
As well, following after it is a review I did on The Inheritance of Shame by Peter Gajdics...you can also see this review at Good Reads…which I would link to, but as they won’t let me link directly to my review, here’s the link to it on my site.
New Flash Fiction!
Under Library of Stories, read How to Feed Your Monsters. It’s a short and hopefully funny story about the dining habits of closet monsters.
Added another Original Story
Considering we’re coming out of Winter, under Library of Stories there’s a nice little flash fiction about a conversation between a father and his daughter: When Winter Arrives.