2000-11-28 | 04:27:12

sometimes i watch movies and think, "i could've written something way better than that!"

sometimes i read fellow journalers and think, "i wish i would've written that!"

today i'd like to take my virtual hat off to some truly gifted writers...

enter a filmy noir world in chapter one of "the minging detective" by razor-sharp wit man, pablo:

"I was working on a case. I couldn�t afford a desk. Outside, the rain was coming down like so many condensed drops of water that had reached critical mass in the earth�s atmosphere. In walks trouble. A blond. They always were. After all, the offices were in Stockholm. She asks if I could help her out. I wasn�t sure � I was pretty busy. I�d been working round the clock. Stupid place to put that big old thing, right there in the middle of the office, but there was no time for regrets now. �I need you to follow my husband�, she says. I said I�d be happy to, on the proviso he wasn�t one of those solo arctic explorers."

for the rest of chapter one, click here and here for chapter two. (his entries about his own life are purty durn funny, too.)

***

my old buddy, old pal, from a few jobs back, the rock 'n' roll rebel, baggage, blew me away writing about his incredibly cool tradition of replacing the brightly colored fallen leaves on his yard after he mows the lawn, despite the fact that he leaves his neighbors oh-so-confused:

"You can't just throw the leaves back on the lawn-it doesn't look quite natural. It takes an hour or so, but I usually rake the leaves back out evenly across my lawn in an effort to emulate the natural look it had before I disturbed their seasonal rest.

"Like an artist, I rake, walk across the street, survey the image, rake again, walk across the street, survey the image and so on and so on...until the lawn looks like it did...well, before I mowed it."

***

long-distance love is even more romantic when outbox and grim spin their loverly words for each other...

he says:

"We saw each other across the airport and just smiled. I remember just thinking that she looked like her photos, but more gorgeous, but I�ve since been told that I was standing �nonchalantly leaning� against a pillar, apparently looking more cool calm and collected that I felt. We hugged and she forgot how to speak (no, I�m not joking. She�ll admit it herself) while I babbled nervous excited shit endlessly, unable to shut up. She listened anyway."

and her take on her boy is worth a visit, too.

***

speaking of love, esol describes it simply and beautifully...

"It's easier to define love by starting with the things it's not. It's not ownership. It's not infatuation. And it's not something that just happens to you.

"It's a choice-an action.

"It's something you choose to do, in the face of all logic. It's when you choose to care about another person's happiness and well-being, even if they don't care back. It's when seeing someone smile makes your heart lighter. When hearing their voice is enough to make up for even a really bad day.

"It's something you choose to do every day. And something you get better at with practice."

***

and finally, at girlboy, mike muses on his muse...

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