Vicarious update

Jeff dropped the phone back in the charging cradle and glanced back at the computer screen. One more update, and then he’d shower and head to campus. Back home, he typed. “Good son” duties completed. Time to catch up on movies. Watched The Trouble with Harry last night. He clicked submit and started a new post. Hitchcock always good, writing fantastic. Shirley MC before she started hearing voices. Love story less than believable, though. 3 ½ stars. Satisfied, he clicked submit again, and shambled toward the bedroom.

The sun was peeking from behind the dark clouds of an Iowa fall day by the time he arrived at the library. The media lab, however, afforded no view of the fall sky, cloudy or otherwise. It was tucked in the middle of the 2nd floor – a misleading designation, if you didn’t know the library. The library building had five floors, but two were underground, so that the ground-level entrance was actually the 3rd floor of the building. Outside and in, the library was somewhat drab, featuring an uninspiring late 60’s architectural style that relied heavily on concrete slabs and burnt orange stucco. This had little effect on Jeff anymore, who tuned out the library décor like so much white (or orange) noise. He took the stairs down to the 2nd floor and walked down the hall to the media lab, sealed off from the main library by a heavy door. Even though much of the equipment in the lab was growing rapidly obsolete, it was still valuable, and since the lab closed earlier than the rest of the library each night, this provided some security for portable electronics that might disappear when left unattended.
He entered to see two students seated in the media carrels, hunched quietly over some research or creative media project. The only sound in the room came from behind the registration desk, where he saw Shepard Gill describing some aspect of the cataloging system to a tall auburn-haired girl. When the door closed behind him, Shep looked up and grinned, waving him over to the counter.
“Jeff! Glad you’re back. Come on over, and I’ll let you get started. This is Heather McCandless.” Shep Gill, in his somewhat dramatic fashion, spread his arms to include Jeff and Heather in this introductory conversation.
“Hi Jeff,” said Heather, extending a slender hand to shake his. She seemed rather plain, apart from her height; she nearly matched Jeff’s 5 feet 10 inches. “Shep’s been telling me a lot about you.”
Jeff took her hand and smiled one-sidedly. He was feeling a bit mischievous. “Heather, eh? What’s your damage, Heather?”
Her smile froze slightly and he could feel her fingers go slack in his grip. “Ha,” she chuckled half-heartedly. “A movie fan, I see. I’ve heard that one a time or two before.”
Ah well, that one was pretty obvious, thought Jeff. “I’ll have to come up with something better, then. I like a good challenge.” He said aloud.

Continuation of Vicarious, part 2

Staring at the blinking light, he grimaced and rose with a groan that conveyed both weariness and a great sense of injustice at having to rise in the first place. He punched the play button on the answering machine and forced himself to listen.
BEEP. “Hey Jeff, it’s Shep. I heard you were taking a few days to drive out to Omaha to visit your mom. I hope everything’s okay. Call me when you get back to town.”
BEEP. “Hey Jeff, Shep again. I know you’re still away, but I wanted to let you know we’re hiring a new part-timer at the library. I’m counting on you to help train her when you get back. Heather something-or-other. Okay, hope your trip’s going well. Call me when you get back.”
BEEP. “Hi sweetie, it’s your mom. I know you won’t be home yet, but I wanted to thank you for coming out to see me. It means a lot, and I already feel better. Maybe next time we’ll have more time to talk. If I feel up to it, maybe I could come visit at Christmas. I feel like I hardly know anything about your life out there. Okay, have a safe trip. Love you, honey.”
BEEP. “Good evening Mr. Galway. This is Blanche with Capital One Mastercard. It is important that we speak with you regarding your account. Please contact us at your earliest convenience. Again, it is important that we speak with you immediately. Thank you and have a good night.”
BEEP. “Hey Jeff, it’s Shep. You back in town yet? No rush, just wanted to make sure all is well. Give me a call when you get in. Looking forward to having you back. Oh, and remember I told you about Heather? You can start training her on Monday, if you’re back.”
He had been back by Monday, but he hadn’t gone to work. It was now 11 o’clock Tuesday morning, so he supposed that Heather’s training must have begun without him. Ah, well. No doubt she would manage. He pressed the delete button on the answering machine and heard the satisfying beep indicating the consignment of the messages to digital oblivion. Blanche?! He thought to himself, who the fuck is named Blanche and works for a fucking collection agency? Good riddance to that pain in the ass.
Sour disposition aside, he did feel a bit guilty about not having called Shepard. He could still go in this afternoon, at least long enough to check in with Shep and make sure nothing had gone disastrously wrong in his absence. He plucked the phone from the charger and dialed the library. It rang three times before someone with a rather breathless voice answered.
“University libraries, this is the, uh, media lab. Heather speaking. Can I help you?”
So I guess the “training” consists of answering the phones. Aloud, he said, “Hi. This is Jeff Galway. I work at the library. Is Shepard Gill in today?”
“Um, yeah, he’s here somewhere. Can you hold for a minute? I’ll find him.”
“Sure,” he said. Expecting the bland University hold music to come on, he was surprised to hear a click and then silence. She had hung up on him. He dialed again. This time the phone rang once.
“University libraries, media lab. I’m sorry – did I just hang up on you?”
“Yes, you did,” said Jeff, stifling a yawn. “Just set the phone down while you get Shepard. I prefer the silence to the hold music, anyway.”
“Sure, sure,” she said, and then was gone. When someone picked up the phone again, it was Shepard Gill’s voice that came on the line.
“Jeff! Is everything okay? I thought you might be back in town this weekend, so when I didn’t hear from you yesterday I started to get worried.”
“Hey Shep. Yeah, everything’s fine, I just stayed a little longer so I could be sure my mom was feeling better,” this small lie rolled glibly off of his tongue. He had returned to town on Sunday afternoon, but there had been too much online activity to catch up on to make him feel sufficiently motivated to go to work the day before. Besides, Shep had known that his plans were flexible. “She’s doing better, though, and I wanted to get back to you as soon as I could.”
“Good, good, I’m glad to hear it. That’s a relief. So you talked to Heather already – you got my messages about her, yes?”
“Yeah, I heard. Extra help for weekends and evenings and whatnot?”
“That’s pretty much it,” Shepard paused for a moment, as if weighing whether or not to say more. He said more. “And, you know, if you need to leave to take care of your mom again, it’ll be a little easier to cover your shifts. You know, you can feel like you have the flexibility to leave if you need to.”
Jeff was silent for a moment. He preferred not to involve others, even Shep, who was a friend, in his family life. “Well, that’s kind of you,” he said at length, “I suppose you’ll want me to start training her?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind. I know you’ll be thorough about going through everything she needs to know. I had her working with Brad yesterday and this morning, but I’d prefer you take over since you’ve got more experience with some of the obscure stuff. Can you come in this afternoon?”
“Yeah, that’s no problem. I can start undoing whatever damage Brad did when I get there.”
Shep laughed tentatively. Jeff’s often deadpan delivery made it difficult to tell when he was joking and when he wasn’t. Shep suspected that in this case he wasn’t joking, but let the remark pass. “Right, that’s what I like to hear – good old Jeff. Okay, get here when you can and I’ll have the two of you start working together.”

Buzz Shake prototype v. 1.0

So to commemorate Food for Thought retiring the buzz shake, and also to drown my sorrows following the hideous end to the Nebraska - Virginia Tech football game, I attempted my first recreation of this delicacy. My initial ingredient list included:

1. Approximately 3 scoops of Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream (a seemingly strange choice, I know, but it was on hand and worked pretty well)

2. Approximately 2 tablespoons of Larry's Beans "Yes, it's Decaf" Sumatra blend, ground (decaf owing to the lateness of the hour)

3. Hershey's Special Dark chocolate syrup

4. Half and Half

Successes of v. 1.0: Good taste - the mixture was a bit on the sweet side, but had a nice blend of coffee flavor and creme brulee-ishness.

Flaws: Too many coffee grounds. This resulted in a slightly gritty texture that made the shake more difficult to drink than I would have liked. Also, the grounds were decaf, which eliminates one of the main appeals of the buzz shake. The overall texture was also a bit soupy, which was probably a result of me blending it too long. While there was enough overall coffee flavor, the flavor wasn't as rich as I would have liked. Next time I'll substitute coffee ice cream and caffeinated coffee, which should remedy these minor flaws.

I'm willing to experiment until I get it right. All in the name of milkshake science.

Rough Draft

Here's a start.  I already see things that need revision, beginning with the setting of the opening scene.

Rain pattered gently against the window, and a mockingbird twittered enthusiastically from the yard below, but the twittering was not enough to distract James from the tweeting he followed on the screen in front of him. He blinked and sighed, running his hand through three days worth of stubble that blotched his face. There just wasn’t enough time to keep up with everyone he followed, and (he mused) there must be a way to organize this stream of updates better. He was dangerously behind on both reading and writing movie critiques, but didn’t have the heart to “un-follow” any of the people who had graciously followed him in return. Glumly he shot a glance at the blinking answering machine on the kitchen counter, knowing that his real-life boss Shepard Gill had doubtless left multiple anxious messages for him while he had been away visiting his mother. At the least, the college library provided steady, largely undemanding work and a source of free WiFi access. At most, it limited his free time and provided a de-motivating view of students at “work.”

Morning Light

My love lies sleeping in the morning light,
her hair shining like fire,
her face at peace, no battles left to fight,
to that simple happiness I aspire.

Her dreams and sorrows she shares with few,
and carries quietly her sadness and joys through the years,
but her smile and eyes are bright and new,
her laughter like sunlight scatters the mist of my fears.

At night, alone, I gaze at the dappled sky
and think of her sleeping in the morning light.
The rhythm of her breathing, the curve of her thigh,
my love, my dear, my great delight.