Common Sense: We Mourn His/Her Passing

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: - Knowing when to come in out of the rain; - Why the early bird gets the worm; … - Life isn’t always fair; - And maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies, don’t spend more than you can earn and adults, not children, are in charge. His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, I’m A Victim.   Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, do nothing.

–Someone Brilliant (whoever he/she is)

Short story I'm about to submit to a contest....

(Click on image to view in HTML format! Plain text will be on the bottom!)

The Pie Thief

Each contestant was set to dig in.

They were all hungry and eager to win.

Pie eating for sport–a ridiculous waste.

Well-to-do folks, each one stuffing their face!

But one contestant was missing this winter.

This deprived man had no spare loot to enter.

Juggling daggers for tourists did not provide much.

Life for the rich! The poor shit out of luck!

Great prizes for winning–oodles of money.

A life supply worth, good to buy bread and honey.

But no sense in wishing...he was out of the game.

He’d end their damn contest, he swore on his name!

He snuck himself inside, along with the judges...

...then bled them backstage, even killed one on crutches!

He slit the throats of contestants, making onlookers suffer.

And, last, took the meat-pies, so he’d have food for supper!

–Marque Terrynamahr Strickland/2011

THE SUPERNATURAL: How I wish they'd reveal themselves!

I keep telling people...there's something going down!

http://youtu.be/RjGYSGbAEUM

And I NEVER thought I would agree with Farrakahn on ANYTHING, but...

http://youtu.be/DvIgbZmALFI

And another...

"Ghost Writer" :)

I was just sitting here reminiscing on my 'ghost writing' days. In my early years, I may have been the closet-nerd, but I was the one who had the words girls wanted to hear. So I always had these dudes come to me to write poems to their girlfriends or girls that they were crushing on. I remember this one girl, jumping up and down in the back of the classroom, reading something I'd written. LOL. I guess she liked that guy.

...but I've always wondered what happened after the girls realized that there was no way in hell those guys could have written those letters to them. The thought amuses me. I bet those dudes were in serious trouble!

I put my skills to use quite a few times in college as well. My boy Fernando used to be in love with this girl, Jessica...but let me shut up, because that's a LONG story!