
Image: Pixabay
Like shoes with no soles
From walking for miles and miles
Home at last, but worn.

Image: Pixabay
Like shoes with no soles
From walking for miles and miles
Home at last, but worn.

Image: Pixabay
Feeling purposeless,
Just finished reading a book,
Must find another.

I have an extra ligament,
An extra pair of eyes,
Even an extra ear.
Secretly created in a basement,
I woke up on a bed of ice.
I had no choice to be here.
It took me a moment,
But I came to realize
That I might be something to fear.

Image: Pixabay
The meeting adjourned and the people started getting up to leave the Boardroom. As Sarah rounded the table, heading toward the door, she saw the CEO, who had just gotten up from the table, walk toward her.
“What do you think of the new way to approach our target market?” The CEO asked as he neared her. Sarah walked back toward the table as he moved in closer, extending his right arm. At first anticipating a handshake, which never appeared, as Sarah drew closer to the CEO she then figured he intended to hug her. Not really knowing what to do and hoping to avoid any personal display of office emotion, she reached out first to deflect his extended arm, wrapping her left arm around the CEO’s waist in the process. Then she lightly patted his back. Suddenly she saw from her peripheral vision that he had been reaching over to push the chair that was near her back under the table. So much for the hug.
Subtly stepping back from the CEO, Sarah enthusiastically voiced her thoughts about the meeting. Then she asked some questions, hoping he would fail to notice, or forget, that she had nearly embraced him. Toward finishing their brief conversation, Sarah reiterated her excitement about the business strategic changes, as she subconsciously weighed the importance of making some changes of her own–like being more aware of her blind spots.
This is a heist movie directed by Steve Soderbergh, who also directed the well-known Ocean Trilogy heist films (Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen). Although there’s a formula to this genre, the characters, their situation, and the sprinklings of comedy are ingredients that make each one different. Set in West Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina, this story is about two down-on-their-luck brothers played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver. Channing decides to plan a robbery soon after he is let go from his construction job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway because his limp from an old football injury is considered a liability at work. They bring in their hairdresser sister to help. To round out their crew, they recruit an imprisoned explosive expert, Joe Bang, played by Daniel Craig, whose British accent is replaced by a good ‘ole boy twang. As a condition of Joe Bang joining the group, he asks to have his two hilarious hillbilly brothers join the heist team. The film is enjoyable to watch as we see how the colorful characters plot, ply, and plow through such a convoluted, but clever undertaking. Although there are underlying tones of injustice within our society—think haves vs. have-nots mixed in with a bit of Robin Hood–there is nothing preachy about the movie. Just grab a box of popcorn and watch the story unfold amidst the rural settings and classic American stock car action.

Image: Pixabay
Pay, pay, through the nose,
Quickly down the drain,
Crazily, crazily, crazily, crazily,
Life is ‘bout just payin’.
The story immediately sets up to what will lead to a murder and a case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Toward the end, I didn’t want to put the book down because I had to know if the wrongly accused will be vindicated against the odds. This is a debut book by a lawyer who not only writes expertly on courtroom scenes, but in a very compelling way, too. The main storyline, intriguing subplots, and R-rated sex scenes all come together into a cohesive and smooth read. Weaved in are some interesting facts about pearls, a quirky scientific cellular material, and a way to cheat using technology. Although this is the writer’s first novel, he has published a short story in a literary magazine. What’s even more inspirational to me is that several years back, the author and I were in a writing group together, along with four or five other aspiring scribes. Today, three in our group have had at least one work published, so I am fortunate to have been in the company of talented writers.
Recommend the book to your local library. To read it immediately, go to Amazon.com:

16 years ago today in September
An evil, senseless, heartless act
Changed many lives forever.
Alas, it was not the beginning
Nor close to the end, it just keeps spreading;
The endless taking of human life,
There is no reason.
Prance with arrogance, respect becomes a speck.

Planned to make bánh mi,
But too many substitutes
No bánh mi for me.
Just a stacked sandwich,
So ban me for no bánh mi,
Though not a bad sub.
I had no baguette,
I used pain de campagne,
A pseudo-bánh mi.
My bánh mi wannabe ingredients for this classic Vietnamese sandwich:

Here when there’s a party to host,
Though gone when needed the most.
Just another friendly ghost.
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