Still Life... Or Calm Before The Storm. [poeTry]

by: amica paige


Ominous sky outside.
Dark clouds surrounding us.
Yet the preachers preach their thing,
and the audience, and the leaves, hang still.
A storm must be brewing near.

Unlike the APPles...red and green,
the brushes—all frayed, unseen...
Yet the hands like to draw neat things,
though the air 'round here stays still.
A storm must be brewing near.

Sweet Security

Ah, the sweet assurances of Social Security. Hope you’ve been receiving your periodical Social Security statements too. SS is simply splendid.

Here’s a glimpse of the heart of its splendor.
(An excerpt from the Social Security statement, with emphasis added in italics)

You and your family may be eligible for valuable benefits:

When you die, your family may be eligible
To receive survivors benefits.

Social Security may help you if you become
disabled—even at a young age.

A young person who has worked and paid
Social Security taxes in as few as two years
can be eligible for disability benefits.

Social Security credits you earn move with you
from job to job throughout your career.

Isn’t it just great—that it (the credit) stays with you throughout your working life, or basically until you’re just about ready to hit the sack, literally and permanently. Oh, but you’ve been working out at the gym, so being strong and healthy will allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labor. And your family may benefit too. But only when you’re dead. However, if you become disabled now, you may get assistance, even if you’re young. Now, why do I feel like this is starting to sound more and more sinister than beneficial… Maybe, it’s just my neurosis.

I'm Asian and Michelle Obama's Vogue-ing, but where are the Whites?

As the economy continues to crumble and people receive pink slips at their jobs, fashionistas only continue to strut their style ever so fiercely. And speaking of vouge-ing, the big talk of town is Michelle Obama's Voque cover. Which is pretty harmless per se. Don't get me wrong, please : I love clothes. But I just think it a pretty awkward time (to put it in mildly) to be overtly fashion focus (unless you're in the business of selling clothes to keep yourself and others employed, why not?) when most people are worried about how to cover their next month's rent. (By the way, did you hear that stamps are going up two more cents by May? While this piece of info may be inconsequential for you, not to affect you in any way at all, it may be bothersome to others who still prefer snail mail, and just when gas prices are creeping up again too. I just wonder how long it will take for New York to follow suit and hike its toll from the $8 current rate while the other costs of commuting, such as the subway, light rail, and tolls only continue to rise, in case you haven't noticed.)

While a first lady ought to present herself well in all aspects, and indeed in her appearance, it is perhaps more sensible for a person of high regard to apply tact...Esp. during this economic crisis. Show America that she commiserates with her people and is with them in spirit at all times. One could hardly show that kind of empathy when one of the first things on her agenda is to grace the cover of a style magazine. Again, I don't mean to offend, as I also occasionally flip through the pages of fashion mags. It's just that given our nation's economic condition, it seems so ungraceful, so insensitive, so wrong for the first lady to be so vocally candid about her fashion style during these difficult times in our nation, if I may be so vocally candid about her candidness. Besides, doesn't one's style exude anyway, without the need for an announcement? Leave all the unnecessary tooting to Hollywood. For when you zoom out and see the little things under you in light of the bigger picture, the frills just seem so pointless against our most basic needs... Like food, shelter, employment. (By the way, I had just picked up a nice pair of black, strappy, spring/summer platform sandals for $14.99. Yes, I did and am quite happy about it, as it is very rare for me to find nice and comfy sandals that fit well. And I'm not the first lady.) All that aside, something else struck me in the Michelle Obama interview. Here's an excerpt from AOL's news headline:

On entertaining in the White House: "We want entertaining in the White House to feel like America, that we are reminded of all the many facets of our culture. The Latino community, the Asian-American community, the African-American community.…Hip-hop, spoken word—we want to bring the youth in, for them to hear their voices in this."

Where is the mention of the White community? (By the way, I'm Asian.) I guess I have to buy the magazine to see if it follows the ellipsis...maybe between the African-American community and Hip-hop.? Hey, be nice. Again, I just noticed, and it's quite obvious unless some serious typo was committed.

Presidents 2009... A definite class A...wkward !

Have you seen this? The presidents' meeting. There are other sources, but this one's from The Washington Times Could this scene be any more uncomfortable? I’ve seen and been in difficult situations before, but this surely tops them. You could almost sense this great unease. And they seem to be murmuring “Awkward!” behind their good, old, jolly, strained smiles. Actually, across the line from left to right, one mutters “difficult” and the second one “problematic”, then the middle one mumbles “knotty” and the next “complex”, and the last one is just plain "ill-at-ease". And here’s a "longer" "short" version of what they seem to be saying: Father Bush: One-tenth of my son could outdo you anytime, you big-headed… Big O: Hogwash. You taught him everything he knows and he doesn’t know a whole lot. It will be great when this whole act is over, then I can take some serious respite in Kai… Junior: This is incredible! I new we can all get along and be friends in the end. It will be a blast at the ranch when I get my guys together to ride the bulls… Old C: And I thought I committed the worst… I’m a celebrity compared to these dunces. Heck, I'm a wild thing... Plain Old C: Why am I even here again? I can't believe I allowed them to pluck me from my slumber. This is so distressing, I'm starting to feel nauseous. Or maybe it’s all just my imagination. I need to relax my reservations and reassure myself that things aren’t as bad as they seem…

Vote for Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin?...I'd rather wake up George Carlin from the dead and have a Happy Halloween.

Can you believe this? No wonder why George Carlin gave up voting. Our savings have literally disappeared right before our eyes. It's absolutely maddening and utterly revolting. Forget about who, what part, rather, of the ugly monster would you choose? Its heads or tails? Either choice(party) is insanity, with each of them spouting mouthfuls of principles that are nothing more than ignorant generalizations and unrealistic ideals about national security, retirement, health care, environment, and education. Every one of these politicians plays the blame game and spews out bloated promises, but none of them has ever taken the responsibility to say, "I'm part of the problem--me and my fat salary and undeserved benefits and bonuses while I busy myself exchanging fancy, empty words with other crooks like me", or as in the Clinton case, "...while I get busy receiving or being served..." Haven't the foulest beasts of earth always operated on the same premise of outrageous ideals and constant misinformation. These scums play with peoples' emotions by consistently using the plight of whites or blacks or low-income or homeowners or immigrants. Where is the sincere concern just for people, period. Where is the concern for their hard-earned livelihood? What about the ones who are faceless and voiceless? What about the young family of three who conscientiously work together to save, but still can't afford to purchase a home, since rent, gas, and every other expense that constitutes the monthly bills has gone up? Is there assistance available out there for the poor of the middle class? Thank Godness for a family who doesn't have cable. If not politics, it's mostly reality shows or ludicrous extravagance being touted on TV anyway. Plus doing away with cable saves a bit of money, but all for naked uncle sam to also squander. Just as the emperor really had no clothes on...uncle sam is naked too you know. And yet, he does wear nice clothes, and is driven around in fancy cars, and have his fine dining in swank hotels, and is coddled by both celebrities and other devious big shots, as they all bask in the same posh lifestyles.

Yet uncle sam isn't actually naked, neither are his celebrity sponsors. We might be the ones. Oh, this is all so confusing. But thank God McDonald's still offers its dollar menu... A family could dine out and have a their meal for $3 each--sweet tea, burger or 4 pc. nuggets, and 99-cent fries while uncle sam and his cronies have to pay more for their dinners. So McCain promises us $5000 for our health care... Regardless, some family should do okay. They always buy the $1.29 wheat bread, whatever Calcium-fortified juice is on sale for no more than $1.99, and half-priced day-old salad and rolls. They try to keep on top of these things via a regular review of store circulars for sales... It's the least a simple, sensible family can do while uncle sam and his parties are hard at work for our nation's welfare...

My point is what about stopping the rubbish talk and squarely acknowledging the government ills, fairly managing it with realistic solutions to problems, and neither spoiling people nor taking away their livelihood. Absurd hopes, huh? Maybe never in this lifetime.

Here's the problem: the blatant abuse of funds period. The funds get misspent and/or pilfered by greedy scums. In accounting, you were trained to trace the last missing penny to account for every item related to a company's operations: assets against liabilities, revenue versus costs, income against net loss, even petty cash. And that same process can also be applied to every expense a family incurs by matching receipts against the bank statements to monitor errors. The funds are there. But they remain to be uncovered for as long as corruption in the government and its people remain.

I'm tired of all the(ir) politicking. I'm left jaded and cynical I may just do a Carlin and not vote. But what would I tell my son who is learning to tune in even to the student council speeches? I am terribly conflicted. I'll have to think more about it, think it over on Halloween... Perhaps it is enough to make for a huge Halloween scare.

the Funny, the Farcical, and the Furious: Tina Fey, Sarah Palin, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck

...quite literally, so view them in order...
I needn't say more but Enjoy and be...mused, or amazed perhaps...and forget the alarming economy just this instant...or not.




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