Mariah!

The boss's house sits mountain-top, high among the clouds, kind of Greek-myth-like, and it takes forever to drive cross-city and up-hill to get there, 40 minutes of vapid pop radio and traffic reports in the encroaching dusk. Arrival at sunset, and from the enormous picture window in the living room the entire city unfolds far below, sparkling in the cold and growing ever more glittery as the darkness deepens. The fireplace is big enough to roast a man whole and the guest bath looks as though wa… Continue

It was trash day on that rural stretch of highway, for at every intersection of a county road bags were piled high. The sun hung low in the mid-morning sky, casting long shadows over those ziggurats of trash and every couple of miles or so a stray dog or gaggle of ravens was shoulder deep in Hefty and Glad. The tall-snow capped mountains fell away in the rear view and ahead lay nothing but stone plateaus and endless blue sky.

She drove past a long-forgotten billboard that read simply "BIG" in p… Continue

Watch the moon rise over the tarmac, feeling very alone. Yawn and blink into the sunrise through smoked glass, coffee and diesel a heavy morning perfume.

Queue, shuffle; hurry, now. . . wait.

Faces and conversations are a swirling blur but location is a three letter code. Consider the daydreams carried through this place.

In the rush of being place-less yet always moving towards, origins are forgotten and only destinations matter.

The Scientist had just rather urgently ordered a bottle of wine and was willing his wife to reign in her disdain, shooting her death-looks, and silently pleading with her to please, please, please NOT offend the Dinner Guest, this esteemed colleague who was considering moving to town to work for the corporation and who just might be the kind of geeky, low key, well educated friend he'd not been able to find since college.

As the waiter scurried over with the bottle and the wine key, the Dinner… Continue

It was Friday night in a trendy restaurant in a mid-size city and the place was packed elbow to elbow with trendy, mid-size people, and while initially a low hum kept the place pleasantly cozy, by eight the noise level had risen to a din.

The scientist was there with his wife and the dinner guest who was his colleague, but they had hit it off well and the scientist had hoped he and the dinner guest would become great friends seeing as they had so much in common and it was tough to find good, ne… Continue