Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lists: Camp Edition

1. Sadness of the foreign, sadness of gossip, sadness of rusty nails, sadness of early mornings, sadness of cold nights, sadness of being left out, sadness of unanswered questions, sadness of lice, sadness of tradition, sadness of medication, sadness of rain, sadness of chicken pot pie.

2. Toilet, sink/mirror, trash/outside, box benches, porch (x2), sweep (x2), shades/shelves.

3. Ice cream, a normal sleep schedule, letters.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Herbert Dainer Knows The World is Ending Tomorrow

Herbert Dainer knows the world is ending tomorrow.

I mean the guy isn't crazy. He's gone through life up to this point feeling sad for all those who prophesied about the apocalypse - feeling sad in a kind of superior way, but feeling sad none-the-less, I think. Regardless, though, the point stands: Herb knows the world will end tomorrow. He doesn't know how and he doesn't know why, but he knows. He knows for sure.

And what do you do about that? Knowing he's surrounded by reasonable and scientific people, what do you do? How do you make your son stay home from his sleep-over so you can spend the last hours you have as a family? How do you get your wife to come home early from a business trip?

Herbert takes a drive and thinks it over.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Family (Sketch)

This isn't supposed to be my family, just for the record. This is mostly just to show off my awesome drawing skills, which aren't at all like a 12-year-old's.

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Barton Shows Up Drunk To Her House

Late August. On his 21st birthday, Barton shows up drunk to her house. They both are working for the same lawfirm this summer - he dropped out of school after a month three years ago and now does clerical work there full-time; she'll be completing her major in political science with a concentration in legal studies a semester early this coming December.

Barton? Sarah says.

Yep, he says in return - neck tilted down and back, lids heavy - and then he throws up on her doorstep. Doesn't even bother trying to turn his head a little bit, just all over the mat, just like that. And then he starts crying.

But her parents are out of town so what does any of it matter anyway? She'll never see him again after this summer, and it's not like after tonight they'll act anything different from the mildly friendly way they did earlier today. The story won't get mentioned so it might have never have happened, none of it - the way she takes him upstairs and cleans him up and puts him in her brother's bed, the way he keeps talking and she keeps quietly murmuring her assents, the way she brushes his hair back and kisses him kind of softly. We had to cheat to find these details out right, but it's a nice story, anyway.