Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The things I don't (know)

How not to take myself so seriously, the proper way to iron, where my money goes each month

Impenetrable obstacles, laziness, immobility of thought

The truth about anger, politics, and stretching

What’s good on T.V. right now, which film to rent, how to bargain for that book, the name of the magazine I wrote down this morning

Two of my grandparents, four coworkers, my newspaper guy’s first name

The gauge which informs me, which shade of navy to choose, what flavor the candles are

When enough is enough, how to be sated, why dark beer fills me up every time

Why I’m neat in spurts, why in winter I’m always cold and never thirsty

Needlepoint, where the button was lost, how to mend a hole in my heart

If facials work, if squinting begets wrinkles, how bad washing hair every day is

The taste of persimmons, the smell of the Pacific Rim, the leather seats of a private plane

Where the jelly jars go, how to make dilly beans, the best way to cultivate the tomatoes

To warm up the car even in summertime, the schedule for clipping the dog’s nails, to stop pressing “snooze”

Where I put my CPR card, what the third rule of CPR is

How to tell well-preserved vintage, when the melons are ripe, if the salad greens have been washed

Why I bought that black and white skirt and never wore it, why I need a new one

To ask for a raise, the justification for paying dues, glass ceilings

Where I’m going, how I got here, the way home

A tried and true way to stave off a cold, when to starve a fever

French-braiding, dough-kneading, straight-sitting

Which way is up, why the firefly glows, how deep the pool is in the dark

To make it impersonal, to keep the enthusiasm down, that I can’t

What’s so great about baseball unless you’re in the stands, why fall seems so sad, why spring is so short

How much sleep I really need, how much space is left on this disc, our square footage

The speed limit, the time limit, why the daily has to grind


Off to white-capped mountains in the west, back on Monday with stories...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE that you wrote "flavor" of candles.

My sister is always on my case about this...

"It's a scent, L. You don't eat it."

Of course, I suppose a vanilla candle could be a flavor, whereas I'm usually talking about the flavor of my deodorant.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

This should help to solve one of them:

http://www.ehow.com/how_17115_french-braid-hair.html

Miss Scarlet said...

You think fall is sad? We are opposites on that one:)

Gina said...

Brillant.

David Tellez said...

You know...sometimes its better not to know the answers to some things, because sometimes, it's much more funner being creative and coming up with your own answers to how the world works. Like why the fireflys glow...maybe they glow as a remembrance to show us that the shining stars we wish upon, really arent so far away.

GeminiWisdom said...

I like it. As usual.

Unknown said...

Love this list.

Heidi Grether said...

I can teach you to french braid and the reason daily hair washing is not good is b/c it dries out the hair and causes the sebaceous glands to be overstimulated!

I enjoyed this post. Ask myself many of the same questions!