Simpleton. Growing out of habits. What my children should do.

Reading Dan Bailey's chapbook reminded me that I need to hurry up on mine. It was about 85%finished six weeks ago, then I just started getting interested in other things. When I got finished with the cover for the chapbook, I posted it on here. Man, 20 seconds later, I hated it. 

So, I'm starting on a new cover and working with a new title. It's called Simpleton, which will include 15 poems and 3 pieces of short/flash fiction. If you want it, that'd be great. I'll be publishing it myself, since I have the resources. Awesome.

Saying 'resources' sounds extremely profound. Suggesting I have some shifty friend from an Eastern European country that talks with a thick, muddy accent, drives a black sports sedan, and dumps bloated corpses into rivers with their feet adorned in cement shoes.

Man, that'd be the life. Could you imagine that? Talking to your mom at dinner, and she's concerned that you won't look up from your plate of overcooked pork roast and green beans, and as she puts her glass up to her lips she says, "I'm concerned about all your spending. Where do you get this money from?"

And you finally look up, all excited, as if somebody had kicked cattle slab into a lions cage. Stab at your pork and shove the piece of gristle into your mouth.

"Mom, you're worrying about nothing, I have resources." Bits of meat fall onto your plate and into your glass. 

She's not satisfied with this answer. She slaps the top of your hand and mumbles something to herself. She's tired of boxes without return addresses sitting on the stoop when she gets home from Jazzercise. 

**

I used to play video games all the time. Now I don't. Since I've been done with school I bought a lot of my older games back (Super Nintendo, Nintendo and the like). For the most part, though, they've sat alphabetically organized inside a Rubbermaid container that I use as a nightstand. I beat a few games, but I think the reason why I bought some of my stuff back is because it's comforting knowing that it's there. Maybe like why your dad bought a rusted-to-hell beige Ford Torino a few years back and has let it sit in the yard with the windows open and collect rainwater in the floor pans while birds picked at the stitches in the steering wheel.

He's standing in the driveway wearing a bathrobe, and drinking tea from his 15 year high school reunion mug. "I just like knowing that it's there. My first car was a beige Torino."

Secret of Mana, Super Dodgeball and Stunt Race FX all want to be played. Some of these games are worth more than $100 dollars, others are practically free. 

Maybe it's just my mind's way of telling me, "Prepare yourself for Diablo III. You've been waiting for it for almost 10 years. It's almost here." Yes, you can read that sentence, click on that link, and remember that this is all I wanted to do during high school. 

**

Sean Lovelace was a professor of mine at Ball State. Read his blog, it's amusing. I've plugged his words before, but you probably ignored them. Don't do it again, you're just making things harder for yourself. In his latest update, he talked about a writer visiting Ball State, and she said that she would never want her children to become writers.

News flash: everyone is a writer. Most people just don't care. You write grocery lists and memos to your boss about needing a new desk, and thank-you cards to your aunt for when she sends you Disney movies. 

I would never want my children to do this:

Or this. Or this. Or this.

They'll probably do all of it.