praise the Devil, the Devil and Henry Thoreau/ part 2 draft 1

Praise the Devil, the Devil and Henry Thoreau/ part 2

fiction
edward w Pritchard

Here is part 1 first, for continuity:

All the lonely people, where do they belong?

praise the devil; the devil and Henry Thoreau/part 1

fiction
edward w Pritchard

To the Devil:

The story will be about Thoreau's mortal fear of the Devil experienced in his small cabin at Walden pond. After anguish and suffering  occurring alone every night at 3AM, Henry David Thoreau [ French pronunciation] will purchase a "hex" sign for the wall of his small cabin there at Walden Pond. A few thoughts on Thoreau's early death and a theory of labor will also be presented along with a history of "hex" signs and supernatural visitations.

To author
from the Devil

I'll pay once I see the draft of the story. Hold the death talk it's becoming trite.
end
part one

Watch for part two soon / see below

 

Part two/ start

 

Lamentations on a vanishing dead day.

 

 As I write this, I Henry Thoreau live alone, more than alone, miles from my nearest neighbor in a cabin built alone with my hands alone on the shores of Walden pond. Now it's time for my evening ritual before I journey to the land of Morpheus, that is sleep for the night at 9PM.

 

Carefully I arrange the three chairs I keep in this small coffin like abode, then carefully I stack two of the chairs one atop the other so if the Devil comes, at 3AM, he will have no place to sit; one chair for solitude, two stacked for peace of mind . The Devil, my Brute neighbor, is not welcome here.  Methodically I pound, pound, pound on each of the four walls, we must keep bloodsucking rats from visiting during sleep.

 

Seven logs, two across each other, X-ed each across each, in front of the fire place; for later to keep my Brute neighbor from sneaking down the chimney later. Be gone ye Idols of my cave, Devil go to an almshouse, prison or splendid mausoleum instead of here, at Walden.

 

Laying a bed, sounds, sounds sound intrude. Scratching wolves at my barred door, ravens and owls screeching in the darkness, and the train, far away train carrying ambitious youth of the village of Concorde Westward, Westward to Oregon, to New Mexico to the vanishing future.

 

Waken with a start at 3AM a crashing bough in the deep Woods? No it is the Devil stalking my domain, searching for a way into my cabin. Clutch a book to my heart for protection, no firearms here, I am a man of peace.

 

Alone in the dark; I have never found a companion so companionable as solitude. Alone,  having never found company, wearisome and dissipating I stare at the walls. Darkness, pitch black darkness.

 

Then, whippoorwill calls, splashing fish jump, Concorde Bells ring hearty Yankees to appointed tasks. It's 4:30 AM. Life begins anew.

 

The Devil was avoided this night. To labor, hoe beans, catch fish, cut wood, haul water. Another glorious day begins.

end part 2

praise the devil; the devil and Henry Thoreau/part 1

praise the devil; the devil and Henry Thoreau/part 1

fiction
edward w Pritchard

To the Devil: from author

The story will be about Thoreau's mortal fear of the Devil experienced in his small cabin at Walden pond. After anguish and suffering  occurring alone every night at 3AM, Henry David Thoreau [ French pronunciation] will purchase a "hex" sign for the wall of his small cabin there at Walden Pond. A few thoughts on Thoreau's early death and a theory of labor will also be presented along with a history of "hex" signs and supernatural visitations.

To author
from the Devil

I'll pay once I see the draft of the story. Hold the death talk it's becoming trite.
end
part one

Watch for part two soon

thoughts on gambling from billy the E-Kid

Thoughts on gambling from Billy the E-Kid

fiction
edward w Pritchard

Author is trying to resurrect Billy the Kid, long dead. Whether the Kid was shot and killed in 1881 or died as Brushy Bill in 1950 is inconsequential; now Billy the E-Kid needs publicity and author here is working to revive the Kid's fame.


Billy the E-Kid

Vamos a ver, we shall see, that's my philosophy on life and gambling is a convenient metaphor for the whole shooting match of life itself.

When I start, before the cards are dealt or the wheel is spun it's all potential. A one in ten thousand occurrence can happen as likely now as latter, can happen to me at any time, no matter how down and out things are now for me. A deck of cards, a glass of whiskey and a willing woman for latter, that's all it is about.

Worked in a restaurant once. Hardest job I ever had. Even harder than farming or ranching in a way. In a restaurant you can't make the customers happy. If the food is good, it's not as good as their Mother's cooking, if it's better than their Mother's cooking the customers complain about the filth in the kitchen. You just can't make people happy.

My lucky number? #55093. That was my friend's Billy Wilson's Colt Frontier six shooter's serial number that my other good friend Sheriff Pat Garrett shot me with on July 14, 1881 at Fort Sumner. Quien Es  [ who is it] I said, it was fine to see it was Pat Garrett who shot me; it's always better if it comes from a friend.

Just before I died as I went down to the floor with a butcher knife in one hand and my revolver in the other, when I saw it was Billy Wilson's colt that Pat Garrett had kept for himself that was what killed me; I wished for one more chance to play that number, # 55093 on the roulette wheel over at the saloon across the street from the Lincoln County courthouse.

Would my number come up a winner? Vamos a ver, amigos, Vamos a ver my friend.
end

Advice from Billy the E-Kid, long dead

Advice from Billy the E-Kid, long dead

nature's proper high

fiction
edward w Pritchard

Author is trying to resurrect Billy the Kid, long dead. Whether the Kid was shot and killed in 1881 or died as Brushy Bill in 1950 is inconsequential; now Billy the E-Kid needs publicity and author here is working to revive the Kid's fame.

Billy the E-Kid:

I hear that people now are experimenting again with the green lady and although I am long dead I have to say a few things pertinent to the matter and issue a warning to the present generation of thrill seekers concerning nature's proper high.

Stay away from improper addictions but especially avoid Absinthe, the green lady.

The cloudy liquid is treacherous. You start out tasting the candy flavor and may pleasantly proceed to listening to the mathematical precision of JS Bach as you mellow in the lull of the green lady's spell. Maybe you look at Italian Renaissance art in a new way for the green lady is an intellectual high. Spend a few hours pleasantly with a lady friend tacitly exploring.

Eventually however, the walls melt toward you and the ceiling becomes the floor as you are now under the insidious influence of the absinthe. Like others before you begin to doubt what is sanity. The art you now see is inspired by William Blake and is everyday things grown menacing and the music is the voice of the devil. Your fears are magnified and there is no one to talk you down. Hours and time crawl at you and small noises refuse to recede from your senses. Your senses lose their ability to filter and you are bombarded by unpleasantness.

I am long dead but heed my warning don't dance with the green lady and don't accept the introduction to her or have the conversation with her and avoid her clutches.

two party political system

two party political system

fiction
edward w pritchard


repost/edit

tomorrow's news today again, America 11/05/2013

fiction
edward w pritchard

Americans have had enough of the political infighting  caused by the two party system. Following the recent government "shutdown", mainly the result of partisan finger pointing, the voters in America have devised a way to stop elected politicians from using party loyalty as a way to stymie creative thinking and strangle honest dealings.

Simply shocking. Proposition 129 is credited with implementing a new  age of progress in American government. Proposition 129 passed 11/05/2013 made it illegal for a Congressman or Senator to refer to the name of either party, Republican or Democrat in open debate or lawmaking sessions. Finger pointing and blame shifting are radically reduced and some real progress in attacking the root problems hindering American society have occurred.

To put some teeth in the decree against a politician using the name of his party positively or the opponents party negatively a citizens arrest was allowed with a one thousand dollar award for each violation reported. Results are simply amazing.

Foul cried the politicians. It's their fault said one Congressman pointing a finger. This is a terrorist assault on America values said a unanimous Senate.

what's wrong with everything

What's wrong with everything?

repost/ edits

No one wears a suit to work anymore

fiction
edward w pritchard

No one wears a suit to work anymore and the country's gone to hell because of it.

Must be because of all the women who entered the work force. Still they did look good in their little pink powersuits. Now that Women have all the good secure jobs wages keep plunging.

Maybe the Country's gone to hell because the students don't dress properly for school. Children today don't respect their elders and don't understand they have to suffer and prepare if they are going to make it in life latter.

Old men don't lead anymore. Heck they don't even play golf much, at least not in appropriate numbers to keep the golf courses in business. Old men just go to the gym and sit on the machines to rest.

No one wears a suit to church anymore, in fact no goes to church anymore it's too crowded at all the Churches,[attributed in modern times to Mr. Berra] maybe that's why the country's gone to hell.

I wonder do people still get a new suit to get buried in That would help, then people could work at the mall again.

No one wears a suit to work anymore because all business is done on the internet. You buy your insurance on the internet and don't need an agent so he won't be at the mall or church , and we buy our books on the internet , skip that the internet tells us what to read

No one wears a suit to work anymore, where does everyone work anyway?

Media isn't honest with us, cable's too expensive and there's nothing to watch on TV anyway, and magazines are full of stories about young people inventing sex for the first time, it's quite a scandal- don't tell our great grand father-.

No one wears a suit to work anymore, maybe I'll wear a suit to work today, skip that I am too fat to fit into a suit, I am too old to work; maybe I'll go to the gym and sit on the exercise machines.
end

phantom unemployment / rewrite

phantom unemployment
rewrite/ edit


lousy jobs are abundant

fiction
edward w pritchard

Why don't waitresses flip out at work. They have no prospects, no benefits and no security. Somehow they never go on a shooting spree. Do all of them have rich husbands these days?

Fast food workers are always busy. Making someone else money. If they look sideways they get a warning and if they ever say anything they are not scheduled anymore. Maybe they need a union. Maybe they are all in college, piling up and leveraging student loans to pursue a better life. Wait, I forgot the conventional wisdom; fast food workers are gathering valuable skills to be used later in the workplace as captains of industry and Lawyers. It happens sometimes.

How many fast food workers and waitresses are there? Everyone else in our Country goes either to fast food or is served food by a waitress. If everyone who sympathizes with their plight would help them just once or twice they would be treated more fairly. Maybe everyone else is too busy to notice.

Rubber workers got shot and killed when striking in our town in the 1930's when demanding better pay and benefits. When they were initially assessing their situation I bet they were a lot better off than waitresses and fast food workers are now a days.  Waitresses, fast food workers, and service workers in general are employed but it is phantom employment. They have no security, no benefits, and do not earn a living wage. It's wrong, it's little different than many other exploitations, to numerous to list.

Most of us are just getting by. Here's how we could help waitresses and fast food workers:

a story about phantom unemployment; working but not really thriving

start/

Gwen worked part time at the national chain bookstore. She worried because she had no benefits, no health insurance or retirement. She hoped someday to get into the local county library system but they only hired part time any more. No benefits and it was hard to get scheduled, because of declining tax revenues locally. Gwen liked to go out on Saturday night and go to a nice rival bookstore and then have a nice dinner. It was her splurge for the week. She always tipped the waitress because they didn't even get paid minimum wage. Gwen didn't tip the cashier at the rival chain bookstore because they did brain work, and that was compensation in itself.

Gwen should talk to others and they should get together and skip the trip to the bookstore and the restaurant and tell everyone exactly why they organized to bring attention to low wage part time jobs and things might get better for waitresses, fast food workers and customer service people, and people who work at bookstores and people who work at drug stores and people who are cashiers and people who do telemarketing, cut hair and all people in those kind of jobs.

How can everyone be doing well if so many people aren't? Surely that many people can't be happy in those kind of jobs working temporary and part time. Maybe phantom employment  has something to do with all the declining tax revenues. I wonder if eventually everyone else who has planned wisely and made the grade in American life will be effected?

If so many people aren't making a full time wage how can everybody be good, living the good life, planning that big vacation, looking at the next new car. Prosperity is just round the old corner.

Everyone is busy with there own situation and doesn't have time to be concerned about the plight of others, who might be being exploited right under their noses. Meanwhile the invisible hand of capitalism is supposed to shelter everyone in absolute security, as a group, but here's the rub, not as an individual.

Is there a reckoning coming for the American economy? If so things will adjust, but will the fall out be bearable by the majority who have never doubted that invisible hand of capitalism and their own good habits will shelter them from economic harm?