Posts

Advanced Demon Training (Blogophilia 38.15)

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In the DQ training room.. . "Alright, everyone. Take your seats and let's get started." A screen comes down from the ceiling. On it is an old timey streetlight.  "Welcome to Adventures in Gaslighting - An Advanced Course in Mind Games. I'm Don Draper and this," nodding to the blond on his right, "is Rachel Jezebel. You may remember us from your Deadly Sins training." Draper shuffles his notes. What is Gaslighting? It is a mind game where the subject is convinced truth is a lie and lie is truth. It is the basis of most modern marketing and has significant uses in politics and crowd control. "When I was topside, the subject was one of my specialties. I spent much of my time manipulating the public to buy things they did not need with money they did not have. And if the folks needed to go into debt to buy this stuff, the more money I and my client made. A good example was premium liquor. Often it is the regular stuff in a fancy bottle and people

Wednesday. (Blogophilia 36.15)

Rrrrrinnngg! Good Day and thank you for calling Devil's Quill, your answer to all that is annoying you. My name is Atlas, how may I help? Your classmate is prettier and smells better than you? And all the good people say it is your fault?  Before we start, may I ask how old you are? 13? That's not fair. Normally, I would refer you to our Mean Girls Department, but I have a program called Casseopeia that works wonders for Mother and Daughter issues like this. It is a downloadable phone app using Artificial Intelligence to create ugly selfies spread on all the Socials. You just move me to any black square. By the time they realize what has happened, they will have lost the promise of the stars. Just remember what the goal is: revenge. Will it make you popular? I'm not sure Ms. Wednesday, you are one of us, anyway. Satisfied? I'm on my way.  Click

Waiting (Blogophilia 35.15)

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  Waiting Taming the fear  Of the call Sure to come. A whole life Dropped into the final hole. The stop sign we all come to.

Once echoed (Blogophilia 34.15)

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  Just this once I want to be a winner Just this once I wish for peace Just this once I wonder about the handbasket Just this once Over the echos Of just this once.

The Pier is Gone (Blogophilia 31.15)

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The light show was going over the horizon.  A weekend stand Only that.  Two people in a lost city  Caught on the rebound Passing the time. The sea was angry.  Earrings and things bobbed with the waves.  Secret places found Promises denied Lies kept The pier was gone when he woke Washed to sea.  And so was she There was nothing to remember.  Not her name, anyway.  Only the voices in his head  Calling his name. 

The Amazing Carnac (Blogophilia 30.15)

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This was turning out to be an interesting night. A girl from work asked if he'd like to go to a game night at a friend's house. They needed another couple. Oh, why not?  She was nice enough and it was better than looking at some rerun. He arrived at her apartment when told. She was nicely dressed and ready to go, which was a nice change from the last date he'd been. In due time they arrived at the host's place. About 10 people he didn't know introduced themselves. He'd never been one for small talk, so outside of a quick handshake he wandered toward where the food was and just watched.  After a while, the host brought out a copy of "The Amazing Carnac", based on the old Tonight Show gag. He had played it before. A lottery draw was done and he was selected as the first contestant. The envelope lay on the table in front of him. He was reluctant. Something told him the road of life was about to hit a curve.  "Do it. Do it." Everyone chanted. Fin

Is It Tme? (Blogophilia 29.15)

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  I am at the last verse in my life. What do you do when the dreams all go by and all you hear is the doom and gloom of the squawk box?  Do you cheer the doomers on? Do you wish to wander far away? Do you wonder if what you did was right? Or did you waste your time? The time was always right to do what was right, but was it at all? Only time will tell.