Books I've Read

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extraordinary. We are in the presence of greatness with this author who has only just begun her journey. I could say more, so much more, but instead will end with what reviews of all truly great novels must state. READ THIS BOOK.

View all my reviews


Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I suspect that the film adaptation, which I look forward to seeing after keeping a promise to myself to read the book first, will be more melodramatic and pull on heartstrings to greater effect and purpose than Solomon Northup's telling of his life story. Northup writes in somewhat stilted prose, his style academic rather than evocative like great novels or movies. He is not trying to draw out our tears. He is not attempting with every stroke of the pen to stir up emotions. Northup is simply telling us like it was - straight no chaser. No need to exaggerate the brutality or the tragedy, no reason to willfully demonize people whose monstrous acts and barbaric attitudes speak for themselves. Is the reader outraged, astounded that people could casually treat others in such a manner? Only if the reader has a soul. Northup doesn't use his words to move us the way his violin playing moved people. He is both impartial reporter and the subject of his piece of journalism. He doesn't ask us to feel sorry for him, or to hate his oppressors. What he does is recount what it was like for a man to suddenly find himself in bondage and servitude, endure it for over a decade, and then miraculously find himself free again with a most amazing and devastating tale to tell. He tells the truth in as unbiased a manner as possible and allows us judge it for ourselves. How did any man ever convince himself that it was okay to treat another this way? How did they ignore the humanity they surely saw in the brethren they stole from another continent? How was a single one of them able to look in a mirror? Twelve Years a Slave asks these questions but is unable to answer them, nor does it bother to try. Nothing can adequately answer them. The mystery of such heartlessness has not revealed itself over a couple hundred years. This is what our country was founded on, inalienable rights unevenly dispersed with extreme prejudice. This is what we need to atone for and move forward from. This is the stain that will never fade. Yet quite tellingly, those 12 years are not what made Solomon the extraordinary man that he was. Those 12 years happened to him but did not become him. Otherwise he probably would not have been able to write his book. The past brought us to this present, but it need not define any of us. In even the most suffocating circumstances, we have the freedom to do that for ourselves.


View all my reviews Inferno by Dan Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always have at least one brain candy author in my stable. Once upon a time it was Sidney Sheldon. Currently it's Dan Brown. He probably peaked with The Da Vinci Code. All I ask of his other books is that they come reasonably close to that level of addictive page turn-ability. More or less they have, and Inferno was no exception. It ended on more of a fizzle than a bang in my opinion, but the pace towards which Brown's prose raced to the conclusion was as swift as usual. I'm a fan of all things Dante and Paradise Lost (particularly Inferno) related in general, so I picked this book up as soon as I saw it on the library shelf. Now that it has been put back down I'll probably pick up something more substantive to chew on for my next read.


View all my reviews Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth grade nothing's brother Fudge is the clear star of the book, with his older brother being the title character who primarily serves as frustrated narrator. The antics of little Fudge were quite amusing to my daughter. I might have given this book a 5-star review had the (spoiler alert) death of a pet at the end of the story not upset her so much.


 

View all my reviews Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked but didn't love this book. My wife and daughter had an even less favorable opinion. That has a lot to do with the fact that we were holding it up against other books by none other than Kate DiCamillo who holds a place of honor in our household. Since this was her latest to win the big prize we figured it would be loved just as much as Winn Dixie and Despereaux. Alas, this was not to be. I don't want to discourage others from reading it though. Kate DiCamillo on her worst day is superior to most other children's book writers on their best. So pick this one up and you may like or even love it, particularly if you're a big fan of quirky, and/or of squirrels. But in my house Flora and Ulysses needs to move towards the end of the end behind other DiCamillo classics.


View all my reviews The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this even more than the first installment, as did my daughter. The Princesses are much more involved in the story this time around. Emphasis continues to be on action, but there are budding romantic story lines as well. Will each Prince and Princess end up with who the fairy tales tell us is their destined soul mate, or will they claim for themselves who they are best suited to be with? The open end of this edition left the door wide open for installment #3 which has been purchased and is waiting patiently to be read.

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Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It isn't often that you come across a children's book where the author really doesn't pander at all. Harriet is not written as a character. That is, she is not a collection of traits and quirks that readers are sure to find endearing and will transfer nicely to subsequent volumes of a series. Harriet the Spy is a novel that happens to feature a child as lead character, such as To Kill a Mockingbird can be described. Fitzhugh doesn't go to places as dark as Harper Lee did, or Salinger, so Harriet the Spy is categorized as children's literature rather than a book one might recommend to adults. But an adult, particularly parents, will enjoy it because they know that kids along with being adorable can be real pains in the ass. They can be selfish. They can be bratty. They can be unreasonable. They can be cruel. In short, they can be a lot like immature adults. Being young, they will have more difficulty coping with a traumatic event like the sudden departure of a loved one than an adult. Not enough life wisdom and experience with disappointment has been amassed yet. A child is more likely to respond by acting out, magnifying their less endearing qualities. Kids start out being quite imaginative but this trait dulls over time until a great many end up as adults who have virtually no imagination. Often imagination is rekindled upon becoming a parent and revisiting that part of one's personality. But a few fortunate people (those who end up becoming writers and other types of artists, for example) retain the ability to sculpt universes with their minds. Harriet is an 11 year old with her powers of imagination still strongly intact even though she's reaching an age where more serious things are supposed to be of concern. That imagination is enhanced by power of observation. She is curious about everything and everyone, and she documents all that she sees and feels in an attempt to figure the world out. She is a spy of the human condition, which is just another way of saying that she's a writer. Since she writes unflinchingly about what and who she knows, this gets her in trouble when her beloved notebook falls into the hands of her peers. She is ostracized. Even her two closest friends abandon her. Rather than dealing with this in a cutesy manner that you would expect to find in a children's book, she responds with rage and indignation. If everyone is going to hate her, she may as well truly earn their disdain. But she's neither villain nor hero, just a girl who wants to understand and maybe also be understood, and who doesn't plan to change for anyone because she likes herself just fine. Kids will relate to Harriet. To them reading this book will be like looking into a mirror and discovering that their fears and insecurities and concerns are not so unique after all. They are what growing up is all about, unequal parts of wonder, delight, heartache and triumph. Harriet is a book character you'll remember because she feels like a flesh and blood person who has figured out at an early age not to try to be like everyone else or to be liked by everyone, and has learned that honesty can sometimes be a complex policy. She discovers as the best of us do that it makes the most sense to be yourself (even if that isn't always a particularly simple thing to do) and with any luck things will work out just fine.

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Not too late to start caring - #bringbackourgirls

The name of Lupita Nyong'o has been all over the place for the past several months, beginning with the warranted Oscar buzz for her performance in 12 Years a Slave.  She went on to win the gold man trophy, but the continuous talk about Lupita has not been about her acting so much as her existence.  Why?  She has dark skin and short "natural hair".  Therefore she isn't supposed to be seen as beautiful and glamorous.  Not according to the standards set in place by Hollywoodland anyway.  At most, we're supposed to view Lupita as exotic.  Yet we have been inundated with photographs of her, each blatantly indicating that she is in fact quite beautiful and glamorous.  And if anyone dares to say different, Lupita's quickly loyal fan base will defend her with ferocity. I agree with everyone that she was excellent in Twelve Years a Slave (my review of the book).  As for her not only being talented but also beautiful and glamorous, I don't need anybody to inform me of that, not even official recognition by People Magazine.  I have eyes that clearly see it to be so.  And I'm not the least bit surprised that a dark skin African or African American woman is gorgeous, though I do recognize that Hollywood and entertainment media has been VERY SLOW to properly acknowledge, so I get why many are protective of Lupita's image.  

Still, I tend not to dwell for long on what I consider to be obvious.  Therefore I'm done reflecting on the beauty of Lupita and these few words are the closest I'll come to writing a think piece about what her presence means and why her success is valuable and necessary.  Rather than one of many praising Lupita, I choose to be one of the not nearly enough talking about those African girls.  Over 200 of them.  High School age (16-18).  Kidnapped.  Gone without a trace.  Non entertainment media is currently obsessed with a missing plane and a sunken ferry, so no doubt you already know about those matters.  But perhaps you didn't know until now about the Nigerian girls.  If so, see all that is below.  Watch the video, read the articles I've linked to, and then pray for their souls and safe return.  While you're at it, though I don't hold much stock in hastivism, use the #bringbackourgirls hashtag and sign the Change.Org petition.  Stir up awareness.  Maybe it will make a difference.  It certainly can't hurt.  Those girls may not be movie stars or gracing magazine covers but I have no doubt that each and every one of them is beautiful.


230 Girls Abducted In Nigeria Still Missing

Why doesn't anybody care?

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.  Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists?

We need to keep the pressure on

Change.Org Petition

The time to start giving a damn about the atrocities Boko Haram is responsible for has arrived

I Love Memes

So when I discovered a meme generator it was a match made in Heaven. Time is better served reading, or better yet, writing.  And I'm getting right back to that.  I just needed to create and post a few of these first.

                             

                               

                                     

I end this barrage of memes with one I did not create.  It was found on Pinterest and is being included because it sums this post up perfectly.

When all the involved calculations prove false, and the philosophers themselves have nothing more to tell us, it is excusable to turn to the random twitter of birds, or toward the distant mechanism of the stars.  - Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

Vick Still Slick?

Welcome to the Jets, Michael Vick.  I thought I was done writing in depth about you, but once again your polarizing self has entered my radar and set my words in motion.  Perhaps you will be a sideline mentor to young Geno Smith, or maybe you will end up as Gang Green's new leader and potential savior.  Many Jets fans are having a difficult time embracing you, and I can't say I blame them.  Dogs are man's best friends after all, so your actions are unforgivable to a wide range of people.  They don't care that you did your time, that you seem to be a rehabilitated man who handled your situation honorably in the city of brotherly love, or that they have looked the other way in rooting for other athletes who did harm to fellow human beings.  There are Jets fans willing to turn their backs on a team they've spent decades rooting for on account of your presence.  If you're in, they're out.  Or so they say for now. I won't try to convince them otherwise, especially those who have still not gotten over the sting of letting Darrelle Revis slip through our hands again.  If you end up playing a prominent role in New York that results in glorious victories for a team that has not had enough of them over the years, plenty are sure to come around and forgive you.  Those who won't, won't.  

I had some harsh words to say about you over the years.  Yet when you were released from jail after missing two NFL seasons, I felt that the Philadelphia Eagles' decision to bring you in as a back-up to Donovan McNabb was a "no brainer".  Deja vu.

You ended up starting and playing well in Philadelphia.  All good things come to an end though, and just as you came to take over for McNabb, eventually you were supplanted by a younger quarterback.  Now you are in search of one more comeback, most likely the final one in your storied career, and that goal has brought you to the Big Apple.  Well, technically New Jersey, but who wants to bother with being technical?  

I have no idea what the future holds in store (hopefully no butt fumbles, speaking of which, Bon Voyage Mark Sanchez), but I do vividly recall the promise of the past.  Below is what I had to say the very first time I wrote about you in an article penned for Suite101.com.  Standing between you and the chance to take a shot at your first Super Bowl appearance was the team that years later would give you an opportunity for redemption after your spectacular fall from grace.  How could I not write of your exploits on the field that season?  It was truly a thing of beauty to witness.  I was confident that with your never before seen level of athleticism, through the brilliant flair with which you played, you were changing the very nature of the game.  Considering your extraordinary potential, it's fair to say that you ultimately underachieved.  Getting in your own way is the surest way to guarantee coming up short.  Yet look around the National Football League today.  Look at the most recent Super Bowl featuring a dying breed quarterback from the old school versus one who was educated in the school of Vick, that is, a QB as dangerous with his legs as with his arm.   Scary in the pocket, terrifying on the move.  You may have failed to take over the league by earning multiple championships, but you sure as hell altered the game's landscape.  So basically my vision of the future was spot on.

People look forward to the Super Bowl for a variety of reasons. To football fans, at least in theory this game is an exhibition of the sport they love at its highest level. In reality, a high percentage of Super Bowls have been blow out snooze fests. If the team you root for happens to be one of the participants, the opportunity to see your team play for the league championship is certainly a thrill. The team I pull for hasn’t been to the big game since 1969, so I can only imagine feeling such excitement. 

Professional gamblers look forward to the Super Bowl for the obvious reason, and amateurs, many of whom don’t watch a single game of the NFL season except for the Super Bowl, put their dollars and hopes into office pools across the nation. Those who do not have a financial or sporting interest in the game still watch it for the theatrical elements of the televised broadcast. I think it’s safe to say that last year’s halftime show will never be topped. Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson are now as big a part of Super Bowl lore as Vince Lombardi, and no offense to Vince, but Janet looks far better topless. Last but not least, there are the highly anticipated, often amusing, increasingly clever commercial spots that negate ideal opportunities for bathroom breaks.

This year, there may be a different reason for people to watch the Super Bowl. It’s quite possible that we’ll be witnessing a changing of the guard in the NFL. In order for this to take place, the Atlanta Falcons must first get past the Philadelphia Eagles. This task has been made considerably easier due to the untimely injury of Philly’s top receiver, Terrell Owens. With TO in uniform this season, the Eagles have been considered favorites from day one to finally get over the NFC Championship hump and make it to the gala event. Without him, the Eagles-Falcons game is a toss up. Plus, it’s also doubtful that another receiver will step into Owens' shoes and attempt to top the horrifically controversial (in the opinion of various talking heads) or rather amusing (in my own personal opinion) act of pantomiming a moon of the crowd, as recently performed by Randy Moss.

Outplaying Rush Limbaugh's favorite player will certainly be no easy task. Donovan McNabb is about due to stake his own claim of greatness. But if Vick and the Falcons prevail, all that would remain for them to do is vanquish either the defending champion New England Patriots, or else the Steelers of Pittsburgh with their rookie phenomenon quarterback. With all due respect to Tom Brady and his two impressive Super Bowl rings, or to Ben Roethlisberger and his impressive winning streak, the man to whom most eyes would be glued is Michael Vick. Why is that? Well, he just happens to be the most athletically gifted highlight reel making player the NFL has ever seen. He plays the most analyzed and admired position on the field, and does so in an unconventional manner never before witnessed. 

Yesterday in the NFL belonged to the likes of Dan Marino and John Elway, and today belongs to Peyton Manning and his two consecutive league MVP awards. However, if you take Peyton out of his domed home stadium and place him outdoors to face wintry elements, his prowess can be tamed by an elite defense. On any given Sunday, a scheme can be concocted to thwart veteran pigskin slingers such as Brett Favre or emerging hot shots like Drew Brees. But just how does one prepare to face a player as talented and unpredictable as Michael Vick? He is two superstars merged into one, both a quarterback with a canon for an arm and a running back with lightning fast legs. Michael Vick may be providing a glimpse at tomorrow in the NFL. Football purists who believe the prototype of a quarterback is a white guy who stays in the pocket and throws perfect spirals right before getting hit in the chest by a charging linebacker probably do not fully appreciate Michael's gifts. Those who can take or leave aging aesthetic values and prefer to focus on the bottom line understand that Vick may beat you with his arm, or he may beat you with his feet, but the important thing is that he will beat you.

Every now and again, an athlete comes along and changes the way his or her sport is traditionally played. You think you’ve seen basketball played as well as it can be played, then along comes someone like Michael Jordan to surpass all expectations. Wayne Gretzky practically reinvented hockey with his ease and grace of movement on ice. Barry Bonds broke the mold and fashioned a brand new standard of the ultimate baseball player. (Okay, so perhaps he had some pharmaceutical assistance along the way.) The Williams sisters have illustrated that the power game need not be the exclusive domain of men on the tennis circuit. Muhammad Ali replaced the image of the powerful, plodding inarticulate heavyweight champion with that of a man who could float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, rhyme like a poet, fascinate with his rhetoric, stand up for his religious and political convictions at any cost, and manage to look pretty throughout the entire process. These athletes proved not only to be more talented than their opponents, but dominated their respective sports in unique ways. In pro football, such is now the case with Michael Vick.

The NFL is known as being a copycat league. If a particular game plan proves to be very successful for one team, it’s a brief matter of time before half the league has adopted it. Offensive and defensive fads come and go, and for each one, numerous variations are devised. If Michael Vick proceeds to lead the Atlanta Falcons to Super Bowl victory, talent scouts throughout the NFL will go in search of running backs with strong arms, or quarterbacks with fast feet. The hybrid QB will be much sought after while the conventional quarterback will become an endangered species. Professional football as we currently know it may be transformed into an entirely different game, sort of like how the NBA went from a league of spot on jump shooters to one of acrobatic dunkers, or how sluggers in baseball could once lead the league in homeruns with 30 in a season, but now hit that many by the All Star break.

On second thought, the more likely scenario is that after scouring the college and high school ranks, the search for Michael Vick clones will come up mostly empty. That’s the funny thing about athletes who play the game unlike it has ever been played before. They tend to be one of a kind.

Bookish Stuff

I don't have much to say here today.  I was simply inspired to present a bunch of bookish stuff for your enjoyment.  I'll probably return to this post periodically and add new material as I stumble upon it.  It will take you a little while to listen to these many words of wisdom and beauty, so I suggest getting started right away.  RIP to the literary giants we have recently lost.  But their words will of course live on forever.  After all, that's one of the main reasons writers put pen to paper.




















Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books?

Literary Geniuses Who Happen To Be Super Hot

Wait, they forgot a hottie...

100 Greatest Novels of AllTime (according to Robert Crum in 2003)


Story that highlights absurd cowardice and lack of innovative thinking by today’s publishing industry

Cool informational illustrations by By James Gulliver Hancock:


Hemingway

Tolstoy

Wilde

Be sure to check out my reconstruction of RoyPickering.net

Contemplation of Adultery - #ShortStorySunday

CONTEMPLATION OF ADULTERY

                    BY R0Y L. PICKERING JR.

     I am a happily married man.

     Oh sure, it's tempting.  I can't sit here and honestly say that if the situation were to arise, I wouldn't even consider it.  Take now for instance.  The woman seated across the bar from me is flat out gorgeous.  It's hard not to notice a thing like that.  And she's been checking me out.  It's hard not to notice a thing like that either.  Every twenty seconds or so she glances my way.  I could have this woman, I know I could.  I can feel it with every fiber of my being.  But like I said ...

     Where the hell is James?  He was supposed to meet me here at seven, and it's already a quarter after.  Big shocker.  In the eight years James and I have been best friends, not once has he been on time.  I usually show up about fifteen minutes early for appointments, even when they’re with James.  You'd think in eight years I would have learned my lesson, but I arrived here at exactly 6:45.  So now there is nothing for me to do but wait.

     Not that I've particularly minded today.  The bartender here makes a great margarita, the jukebox is the best in the city, and perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever seen is shamelessly flirting with me.  A night with her would be incredible to say the least.

     But I have a devoted wife at home who I promised in church before several dozen friends and relatives to love, honor, and not screw around on.  Plus, we have a kid.  He'll be three years old in a couple of months.  It won't be too long before I can get Barry Jr. into little league.

     My life is what you would call comfortable.  Comfortable and normal.  Conventional, that's the word I'm looking for.  I have a nine to five white collar job which I hate, but it's too late to get out, so I'll just have to move up.  I live in a quiet suburban neighborhood in a pleasant looking little house, paying an astronomical mortgage for the privilege.  Unless I'm drafted by an NBA team in desperate need of a five foot nine point guard who can't dribble, or else I happen to pick the right six numbers on a lottery ticket, I'll be paying it off until I'm too old to chew my food.  Sharon and I haven't made definite plans for more children, but before her clock stops ticking we'll probably have 1.8 more.  We do after all have the proverbial Jones family to keep up with.

     My hair continues to be gray-less, ever so slightly receded, but bald patches have yet to appear.  No stationwagon or mini-van inhabits my garage, not that the vehicle I drive would ever be mistaken for a Ferrari.  I’m still most comfortable in jeans and a tee shirt, just like when I was a teenager.  I continue to play pick up basketball games in the park when time allows, no matter that these days I'm almost always the slowest player on the court.  Thanks to those games I'm relatively up to date in the slang terminology of the day, a source of pointless pride.  In short, I'm not a kid anymore, but nor have I quite turned into my parents.

     If only there was some way I could think of to quell this steadily increasing restlessness.  Maybe everybody my age feels like this.  No, James doesn't.  Maybe everyone my age with a wife, a kid, a mortgage, and a mind numbing job.  That must be it.  I'm carrying around all this adult baggage, but I don't' remember wanting, or planning, or asking to become a grown-up.  It seems like only months ago when I would have been proofed to get into this place.  But it was years ago.  My God, it was a decade ago.

     One thing I do know for certain is this. All the adventure can not already be gone from life. Maybe I'm a little too old for fraternity parties and spring break.  I could live without praying to the porcelain god every Friday night after chugging one too many plastic cups of beer.  I’ve been around the block enough times to recognize with minimal angst that my favorite dreams will not be coming to fruition.  I'm never going to win a Cy Young award, save the word in an action movie, or perform in front of my adoring fans at Madison Square Garden.  And I'm okay with that.  Still, there has to be more in my future than a few promotions, a few kids, retirement, grandkids, and death.  There just has to be.

     I should have been with more women.  Perhaps that's what it comes down to.  Too many wild oats burning a hole in my shorts because I didn't sow them when I had the chance.  I'm not a bad looking guy.  I had a few casual flings back in my college days.  But no more than can be counted on two hands with a few fingers left over.  If I had only been more aggressive, more confident, I'm sure I could have at least doubled the number.  But I wasn't, so I didn't, and that's that.  I met Sharon a couple years after graduation.  We immediately committed to a monogamous relationship, and within two years we were exchanging a matching set of "I do's". I don't remember the name of the last woman I was with pre-Sharon. I vaguely recall what she looked like, the fact that she was drunk as was I, and that a good time was had by all in the extra large closet sized space I called my bachelor pad.  The last fling I had, that I'll ever have. I was just shy of 25 years old.

     Maybe I'll flash a smile at this woman across the bar from me. I have been told that it's my best feature.  If she doesn't smile back, I won't give the matter another thought. There's no commandment against smiling.  A little flirting never harmed anyone.  Married or not, it's good to know that at least a few members of the opposite sex, spouse not included, find you attractive.  Mankind needs to feel validated every now and then.  Vanity is what separates us from the beasts.  Vanity and credit cards.

     Yep, I was right.  She's definitely into to me.  She returned my serve of a coy grin with a hard volley of pearly whites.  I'm at a precipice.  I can do nothing but sip my drink, shoot the breeze for a couple of hours once James shows up, and then go home to my wife and child.  Or I can take a step forward, a step towards this woman, knowing that once I do, there's no turning back.

     My body is serving as a battleground for the war being fought between my hormones and Catholic guilt.  This woman is devastating, and growing more so with every sip I take.  Her form fitting dress is accentuating in remarkable detail every curve God blessed her with.  She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her.  I could have almost said that about Sharon at one time, but her body never did bounce fully back after having Derrick.  Not that she's overweight or out of shape.  She just doesn't look quite like this Barbie proportioned she-devil.

     I love Sharon dearly.  That love has taken sides with the guilt complex.  The last thing I want to do is betray her trust.  I couldn't bear knowing how hurt she would be if I were to have an affair.  She would be destroyed, and she would never forgive me, and the comfort, and warmth, and safety of my present existence would be annihilated.

     Nevertheless, I find myself feeling sometimes that when I committed myself to Sharon, I gave up other things that life may have been planning to offer.  And I wonder if those things would have turned out to be better than what I settled for.

     No, that's the wrong choice of word.  Sharon is a wonderful woman.  I consider myself lucky, blessed to have a woman like her by my side.  A woman who swept an insecure young man off his feet and subsequently produced a son I adore.  I certainly did not settle.  But still, I can't help wondering, and longing.  I know they say the grass is always greener.  James for example, with his various girlfriends and casual liaisons, still envies me, or claims to anyway.  All in all I have a damn good life, one which it would be very foolish of me to jeopardize.  At this moment though, these potent facts are being overwhelmed by a single primeval urge.  I want to climb that mythical fence and mow that sumptuous grass.

     My mind is made up.  I'm going to talk to her.  My ability to speak comfortably to attractive women has improved vastly from my stumbling, bumbling college days. But I've had woefully few opportunities to display this hard earned talent, and only in practice drills, no real emergencies.  When I'm done with the smooth talk we'll go to her place, or any place with a mattress, and proceed to turn a fantasy into reality.  I will live one last adventure, make the final addition to my erotic memoir.  It will be just this one time, but oh what a time it shall be.

     As for Sharon, I'll have to rely on the old adage.  What she doesn't know can't and won't hurt her.  If the woman before me were any less than an absolute goddess, I would certainly refrain.  But her exquisite perfection has flipped the switch on my self-control.  I have become a temporary slave to my desire.  Starting from tomorrow I will be the model husband for the rest of my days.  As for tonight ...

     Man, I really thought I was bluffing myself.  As much as I had worked myself up, I was in fact convinced that this woman would become nothing more than who I visualize when I make love to my wife on the nights we manage to put aside for extracurricular activity. But I am off the barstool and on my feet.  I am walking towards her. I am taking action, commanding my destiny, seizing the day, and all that other good stuff.  Hey!  Some guy has cut in front of me.  He has gone right up to my woman as if I don’t even exist.

     "Hey, stranger," he says.

     "Hi, lover," she responds.  I shake my head to unscramble the words I’m hearing so they might make sense.

     "Sorry it took me so long," the man says smugly.  When your girlfriend looks like his does, everything out of your mouth is smug.

     "Better late than never."

     "You ready to go?" he asks.  Despite the completeness of my heterosexual nature, I cannot help but notice how annoyingly handsome the guy is.  I truly hate him.

     "Almost.  Just let me finish my drink."

     "I will if you give me some sugar first."

     I can't believe my eyes.  After all this mental masturbation, I find myself standing idly by as some GQ cover photo come to life rams his tongue down my dream girl's throat.  Ain't life something?

     "Hey Barry, what's up?  Sorry I'm late."

     "Like hell you are, James."  I return to my seat and down my drink in one swig.  "This round is on you.  I'll have a margarita with a shot of tequila on the side.  Make that two shots."

     "Sounds like you've had a rough day."

     "The roughest."

     In the end I'm sure I would have walked right past her, gone to the bathroom or thrown some money into the jukebox.  It's nice to daydream from time to time, but priority number one is the reality of my life, not saloon inspired wet dreams.  A beautiful wife, a great kid, a job with some potential if I work my ass off, which I'll have to if I intend to ever pay off my mortgage.  What I have is the envy of many.  Don't I know it.

     Had things worked out the way I was fantasizing, it would have been the biggest mistake I ever made.  All that guilt consuming me. I never would have been able to hide it from Sharon.  I don't have the constitution to keep so big a secret from showing in my eyes.  That's why I'm positive I would have just walked on by.  Well maybe not 100% positive, but pretty sure.

     After all, I am a happily married man.