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The Tranquility of Solitude

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[Based on the prompt: “Do you like being alone?”] The sky shines blue, the trees beam green The crickets chirp and songbirds sing But you decide to stay at home So involved yet so alone How you wish to make yourself known. As an only child, I have gotten accustomed to being alone in a home full of complete silence, cut off from the rest of the world, sometimes for days at a time. I experience this every summer when I travel back to St. Louis to visit family in my childhood home. During those visits, I end up spending a lot of time by myself, sitting in front of the living room window. That view has become permanently engrained in my mind. The window overlooks a downward slope, with trees and houses cascading into the distance under the vast sky. (Unlike Illinois, Missouri actually has trees and meaningful changes in elevation.) On clear days, I can marvel at the vibrant colors of the sky and sunlit forest-scape. But despite being miles and miles away from my usual life, in those ...
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Lemons into Lemonade: The Importance of Having the Right Tools

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[Inspired by the prompt: “To what piece of technology would you write a ‘love letter’?”] Life is full of problems, both big and small. Sometimes it feels like you just can’t catch a break. Nobody wants to fold under the pressure, so you must be prepared for anything that gets thrown your way. Through my experiences in the realm of mechanics, I’ve compiled a few crucial tips for turning those lemons into lemonade. And who knows—maybe these lessons will help you fix more than just machines. My garage and basement are full of miscellaneous parts and items: plastic covers, engine components, gears, springs, wheels, forks, bolts, cables, washers, you name it. Most are remnants of old projects, scattered about like scraps in a garbage heap. But these aren’t mere scraps, my friend. How foolish for you to even think that! These are my assets, and they will be crafted into extraordinary things! How, you ask? It’s quite easy, really. Planning is key: when life gives you lemons, disassemble...
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Somnolent Criticality: Why I Can't Just "Fall" Asleep

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[Written in response to the prompt: “Is ‘doing nothing’ a good use of your time?”]      It’s ten in the evening. I draw the curtains in my room as I prepare for bed. The rings slide across the curtain rod with a rattling swish just loud enough to be uncomfortable. My bed is only semi-well made, with the blanket and sheet drooping down over one corner, almost hitting the floor. I try my best to shift the entire arrangement back into an even position before shutting off the lights and climbing in.     It’s been a long day. My only hope is to actually get eight hours in this time and wake up refreshed tomorrow. But let’s be honest, that probably won’t happen.      I consider myself to be a pretty sound sleeper. Once I’m knocked out, it takes a decent amount of effort to wake me up. The bigger problem for me is falling asleep in the first place. I’m not an insomniac, but it still usually takes me at least half an hour to go to sleep every night u...
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Metalgrass

The wind rushes across my backyard on a cloudy afternoon. I reach down to grab the starter cable on the lawnmower. It’s always a gamble with this thing. It has broken down twice already, and it only becomes jankier each time I fix it. One of these days I’m going to have to put it out of its misery. Until then, though, this grass isn’t going to cut itself… Landscaping is one of the quintessential activities performed by any suburban homeowner. A shocking amount of time and effort must go into making sure the plants around your house are presentable. All for what? More rapport with your neighbors? A nicer-looking place for your pets to roam around in? It only kind-of makes sense, and apparently that’s enough for people to start caring. The lawn takes just over an hour to mow under good conditions. I used to run the lawnmower out of gas before finishing the whole thing, but since then I’ve gotten faster. I always follow the same pattern: backyard before front yard, beginning at the outer ...
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Your Life is Garbage

Today we're writing a biography for your late grandfather. I bet he was a great man, but how exactly are we going to piece his life together? He may have had some old pieces of writing lying around: letters, journals, or other miscellaneous documents. That seems like enough right? Wrong. These formal writings do not give us the full picture. Think of all the things he might have written that have been thrown away. How many new perspectives could be gained from reading those recycled pages? We may never find out, but the point I’m trying to make is this: your life is garbage, and you’re underestimating that fact. I’m not saying that your life is meaningless (unless it is, in which case it’s still not my problem). I’m saying that we, as human beings, tend to ignore how much our lives are represented within our trash, or other things we deem worthless. We can be very different writers when we know that what we write will be preserved. But equally important is what we choose to write w...
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