Wednesday, January 26, 2005

You Live Near A Landfill Day

You Live Near A Landfill Day!

It's trash from a city about 300 miles away. Since you don't have to work after having defrauded the government out of disability payments, today you're gonna take a few bags of that trash and throw it into your hatchback. Drive that steaming trash on up to the city from whence it came. The first couple you see on the street, wave them down. They'll think you just want directions, so you're gonna have to move fast. Hop out of the car, pull the bags out of the hatchback and drop the trash bags at their feet screaming "Pigs! Look at this! What's wrong with you?!" Next, find a place to park your car for the day and take in a show.

Happy You Live Near A Landfill Day!

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Model Train Enthusiast Day

Model Train Enthusiast Day!

Today, you'll bury Meredith, your kitten. Meredith jumped in front of a model train.

She started chasing after it as it rolled along the track. And since you were trying out a new connector that you hadn't even fully soldered yet, various spots on the track had an open current. Meredith went for the engine head-on. The current held her paw to the track and baked her into a twitching mess. The Engine crashed into her forehead and tumbled to its side.

It was then that you learned just where your enthusiasm had taken you. When you saw Meredith catch the current and stop still, you knew she would die there. And all you could consider was the safety of your Engine. Even now, as you realign the wheels and trucks and paint over where the current turned the paint black, you curse that kitten under your breath. You've decided that you'll not try to extend your love to another living thing again. A kitten can now die in your presence and you'll feel nothing for it.

The Trains have taken you.

Happy Model Train Enthusiast Day!

Monday, January 24, 2005

You Made A Move On Your Writing Teacher Day

You Made A Move On Your Writing Teacher Day!

He stopped you on your way out of class. He said, "Walk with me."

You walked him to his car, determined to get inside it. While walking, he said, "Your last story really showed me something new."

At the car, you said, "There's something else I'd like to show you."

"Please don't."

"We both know it's inevitable."

"I'm your teacher."

"And I am your student. Teach me what you know. It's your duty."

"I have a family." He held up a picture of him and his wife and daughters on an amusement park ride. You ripped the picture from his fingertips and tore it in two before throwing it to the ground, grinding it into the concrete and spitting on it. Then you put his hand down your pants.

"Oh God," he said.

"Yeeeeaah," you growled into his ear. "That's what I wanna hear. I wanna hear you scream that shit."

"Hi Dr. Gaines," someone yelled at him. He threw you into the car.

"No one can see us," he said.

You took off your top and undid his pants. "Take us someplace fast. I'm not going to wait."

You fellated him while he sped through town. Your head was down, but at every stop light you could hear the sound of dozens of students crossing the street in front of the car's bumper. When the car stopped, he kept both hands on the wheel. When it moved again, you felt his right hand on your bare back and on your ass underneath your pants.

"Hurry up!" you barked at him. Then you went back to it.

He pulled up to a motel. "Lemme just check in," he said.

You waited. You waited a while. You got angry.

Finally, you saw the door to the office open again. But the man who approached the car wasn't your professor.

"Roll down the window ma'am," the motel manager knocked on the glass. You obeyed.

"That man who came into my office over there, it looks like you scared him something awful," the motel manager said.

"Where is he?"

"He asked me to give you a message. He said he can't go through with it. He asked that you just go home on your own."

You pulled yourself out of the car and marched to the office. The manager shouted at your back. "Now you won't find him in there ma'am. I put him up in one of my rooms and I won't be telling you which one it is I'm afraid."

You stopped and wheeled around to the manager. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm a man who values the meaning of family," he said. "And I won't let you take this fella's family down."

The rage was boiling inside you now. "Know what!" You shouted at the motel rooms. "Your car's out here! You're gonna have to come out and get it eventually teacher. And I'll be waiting! Cause you're gonna finish what you started teacher! I'll be waiting right here."

"Now ma'am, if you don't start walking I'm gonna have to call the police," the manager said.

"Oh I'm sure he'd love for that to happen. Go ahead and ask him if he's okay with that before you make the call."

No police ever showed. You've been up all night, shivering cold on the hood of his car. You wonder if he snuck out the back and walked home, but it doesn't really matter. There are papers in his backseat that he needs to grade. He'll come for them eventually. And you'll be waiting.

Happy You Made A Move On Your Writing Teacher Day!

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Fire In The Reality Show House Day

Fire In The Reality Show House Day!

Marcus the sexist bodybuilder started it with all those candles he lights in his room every time he brings a waitress home with him. He and the waitress fell asleep. The waitress got out, but Marcus is still in there as the firemen continue to drench the flames from the street. All of America watches.

Still in the house: Nina, the touring acrobat; Bex, the raging alcoholic who gets naked every chance she gets; Kevin, the cartoonist; Freakwide, the rapper; and Lucien, the guy with the prosthetic leg who wants to open his own bar.

On the sidewalk, huddling under flame-retardant blankets: Maxine, the illustrator; Beebo, the pastry chef; that fashion designer chick who broke up with her boyfriend on camera; and Boris, the investment banker.

America thinks Maxine is full of shit, screaming and sobbing about how her roommate Bex is still stuck in there when just last week Maxine confessed in the Gripe Closet that Bex was driving her out of her mind and that she was arranging an alliance with Boris to get her booted. And of course Beebo is the one to wrap his arms around her to calm her down. Beebo's been shot down by every chick in the house, and now that most all of them are in the house being burnt to a crisp, he has no choice but to take a crack at Maxine. Meanwhile, Boris made a cell phone call explaining to someone that his laptop got stuck in the fire and he'd need a new one in the morning. Unfortunate that the camera caught that call. The fashion designer chick is being really helpful, running to get water and blankets for the people evacuated from the neighboring house. She's really showing some leadership skills that, under normal circumstances, would have totally earned her immunity from next week's elimination.

What America wants to know but is too ashamed to ask is this: If most of the residents of the house burn to death, does the show continue on with those remaining alive? It would be pretty anti-climactic to go from twelve contestants to just four or five in a week's time, and it would be hard to pit them against each other in a Creativity Challenge without allowing them enough time to mourn for those who perished. But someone has to win that fleet of Mini-Coopers.

Happy Fire In The Reality Show House Day!

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Mary Gorgonzola Day

Mary Gorgonzola Day!

She died thirty-six years ago today. And thirty-six years ago today, her dream came true.

Mary Gorgonzola believed that everyone in the town of Midvale should have a statue of some kittens playing on their front lawns. When people asked her if the statues could perhaps be in their backyards, Mary Gorgonzola would pitch a shitfit and accuse those people of owning pornography. Other citizens would ask how big the statues should be, and how many kittens should the statues depict at play? May Gorgonzola would respond, first, by suggesting that those people are from Mexico, then she'd say the statues had to have six kittens, and they had to be six feet tall and four feet wide, and they had to include a rabbit watching from off to the side. Also, the statues had to be day-glo. Mary Gorgonzola warned that if the town's children knew that the town had considered this proposal and rejected it, the children would never forgive them.

The town of Midvale told Mary Gorgonzola to go to hell so she killed herself, but not before she sent letters to all of the town's children explaining what their parents had done. The children confronted their parents with the letters, asking for an explanation. The parents did not want to lose the love of their children, so they all commissioned the local house full of unmarried artistic women to design and produce the sculptures. For thirty years now, Mary Gorgonzola's legacy has adorned the front lawns of Midvale. And the fate of all of Midvale has been determined by the whims of that house full of unmarried artistic women, since they became very rich after their kitten lawn sculpture design business took off like a jet plane.

Raise your glasses for Mary Gorgonzola today. She was weird.

Happy Mary Gorgonzola Day!

Friday, January 21, 2005

Church Girl Day

Church Girl Day!

You're a church girl, which is to say, you don't screw and everyone resents you for it because you're fine. The other kids paint graffiti all over your locker that says "She thinks her insides are so great that she won't let anyone see or thrust into them," but not in so many words. This bugs you. You want to be liked and you wish there was a way for people to get to know you so that they could see what a great person you are.

There is a way. Have intercourse with a boy tonight and make sure everyone finds out about it. Who you have intercourse with doesn't matter much. You don't have to worry about having sex with the wrong guy since everyone will be too blown away that you did the bangbang at all (in the future, "right guy" and "wrong guy" will become very important when considering public perception). Tonight it just matters that everyone finds out all about it by the end of the weekend. No one will hate you anymore on Monday. In fact, they'll like you so much that they'll all try to have sex with you, which after all is the most anyone can ever like anyone.

Don't cry till it's almost over.

Happy Church Girl Day!

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Take The Gun Out Of My Mouth And I'll Tell You Day

Take The Gun Out Of My Mouth And I'll Tell You Day!

It's not safe to have a gun in your mouth. It could go off, and kill you. Also, guns are notoriously dirty. They're often kept inside people's pants, pressed up against the bare pelvis held tight underneath the belted waistline. Sure, she's your girlfriend of two years and you're more than happy to ingest whatever might be smeared all over her pelvis. But you don't know where she got that gun. It's doubtful that she bought it brand new. More likely, she bought it from a gun show or Craig's List. Who knows the state of the pants that gun has lived inside. And now it's in your mouth.

"I don't know how to work this thing," she says. Bringing you back to the "gun could go off and blow your head open" thesis. Considering all the filth that's probably living inside your mouth right now, getting your head blown off doesn't sound like such a bad idea. But there's something you can do to avoid getting your head blown off and to get that filthy gun out of your mouth. You can tell her what she wants to know.

"Grrllllargh," you say.

"You ready to talk?" she asks.

"Khhhlaaaersshhhccch," you say.

"If I pull this gun out of your mouth and you don't tell me what I wanna hear, I'm gonna shove it back in for the last time. Understand? Bye bye brains," she says.

"Haaahgglllh," you say.

She considers your eyes. And with a swift jerk of her shoulder she yanks the gun past your teeth and holds it an inch from your chin. You pant fresh air into your lungs and spit saliva to your chin.

"Make me happy," she says.

"Kim," you say. "I think you're so great that you should look for work as an angel because that's what you look like."

The furrow in her brow goes flat. She looks down at the gun, then looks into your eyes.

"Okay," she says. "Now do you know how to get the hammer to go back into the gun without shooting any bullets?"

"Lemme see," you hold out your hand for her to give you the gun.

"No funny business," she says.

She hands you the gun, and you shove it in her mouth and demand to know who's the squeeziest pleasiest boyfriend she ever had.

Happy Take The Gun Out Of My Mouth And I'll Tell You Day!

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

A Famous Tapdancer Day

A Famous Tapdancer Day!

"Not Gregory Hines!" they shout.

You hate this game. You don't know any fucking famous tapdancers, yet if you don't think of one fast you're going to let your whole team down.

"Running out of time," the dick with the hourglass shouts.

"Fuck you."

No one says anything. You try to laugh it off, then you remember that your wife is the only one in the room who met you before tonight.

"Honey," your wife says.

"Fuck you too," you say. "This party sucks. This party game sucks harder."

Leave.

Happy A Famous Tapdancer Day!

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Teach Your Son A Trick Day

Teach Your Son A Trick Day!

Hold the lighter up in front of the hairspray nozzle. Ignite the lighter, then press down on the nozzle to send the spray to the flame. Let the firestream blow for just a few seconds.

Say, "And that's how you make a Hairspray Fireball. Now you try it."

Your son's hands are too small to hold the hairspray can and press the nozzle in one hand, so let him just hold the can and ignite the lighter and you can press down on the nozzle for him.

"Remember," say, "If you let the firestream blow for too long, the flame could crawl up the stream into your hairspray can and blow it up in your hand like a big tin bomb."

Your son will say, "Sometimes I really wish Mommy were still around."

Say, "I don't."

Happy Teach Your Son A Trick Day!

Monday, January 17, 2005

Wafer Thin Excuses Day

Wafer Thin Excuses Day!

Your wife says she got caught in the middle of a liquor store holdup and that's why she couldn't make it home in time for your birthday party.

"Should I explain this to all of my coworkers? My boss? My parents? That you got caught in the middle of a liquor store holdup?"

Tap your foot accusingly.

"I thought about making a move for his gun," she'll say. "But this guy had a lotta crazy in his eyes."

Don't say anything until she does. She'll say, "Feel like this is the first day of the rest of my life really." She'll pop a stuffed mushroom in her mouth. "Food tastes really awesome."

Say, "It tasted even better when it was hot."

She'll say, "Wow, that would have been something. If my food tasted better because I cheated death and I got to bite into a fresh hot stuffed mushroom like this one."

You should sigh.

"But then in order for me to cheat death the food would have to get a little cold really."

Wait for it.

"Heh, heh," she says. "Cold canapés, but really good cold canapés."

Raise one eyebrow as if to say, Don't gimme no guff.

"It's your brother. We're in love."

Happy Wafer Thin Excuses Day!

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Atlantic City Day

Atlantic City Day!

Today, in Atlantic City, none of your dreams will come true. Unless you dreamed about losing the four thousand dollars you needed to pay for your mother's residence home before throwing yourself off of a 16-story balcony. She lost her memory a year ago, so she won't mourn you. She'll just be removed from the home with no idea that there was once someone in her life who was supposed to prevent that from happening.

Happy Atlantic City Day!

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Clear. Blue. Not So Easy. Day!

Clear. Blue. Not So Easy. Day!

Pregnant? Fuck!

You're gonna have to get outta town. If your Dad finds out, he'll have it taken away from you because he thinks you're dangerous. And if your ex-boyfriend finds out, he'll try to get custody. And with your record, he'd stand a hell of a good shot (You threw your mom down some steps).

When you get across the state lines, open a bar. Name the bar and the baby the same name. Gluggs. The bar will become your favorite place in the world.

Your dad, your ex-boyfriend, and the law are gonna come after you to get their hands on the kid. When they all die, it will be thanks to your son. He'll have killed them to save your life. That night, he'll burn down the bar and take off.

Though you won't have the bar anymore, you won't be sad. Because you'll know that somewhere in this country Gluggs lives on in the shape of your beautiful boy. All you ever wanted was a bar that would outlive you.

Happy Clear. Blue. Not So Easy. Day!

Friday, January 14, 2005

Your Boyfriend Is Blind And High-Maintenance Day!

Your Boyfriend Is Blind And High-Maintenance Day!

All day long it's "Get that for me, I can't see it!" and "What are they doing on the television now?" and "No, you drive!" Doesn't this guy realize that a girl likes herself a doer?

You feel like you're being taken for granted, and you are. It's best not to confront him directly on this. What you should do is start stealing his money. Just a little at a time, but enough for him to notice when he counts out the bills in his wallet at the beginning of every day. Eventually, he'll ask you about it.

"But you knew I'd catch you. You know that I have to keep my bill count exact."

Say, "I know."

He'll say, "I think you felt that I was taking you for granted and so you started stealing from me to draw my attention to a lack that you felt."

Say, "Yes."

He'll swing his stick out at you and cut your eye. It'll bleed, but he won't let you call a doctor. He'll just shriek at you until you go.

Happy Your Boyfriend Is Blind And High-Maintenance Day!

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Stumble Onto A Communiqué From Your Wife To The Leader Of A Foreign Government's Intelligence Agency Day

Stumble Onto A Communiqué From Your Wife To The Leader Of A Foreign Government's Intelligence Agency Day!

It'll have today's date on it and it'll say that everything is going according to plan. "American blood with muddy the soil," it will read. And it will also mention her return to the arms of "my real husband, my only love." You'll finish reading it just as she returns from her morning jog. She'll be standing in the doorway when you turn away from the computer.

"Whatcha readin'?" she'll ask.

Happy Stumble Onto A Communiqué From Your Wife To The Leader Of A Foreign Government's Intelligence Agency Day!

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Make A Move On The Lady In Front Of You Waiting In Line For Milk Day

Make A Move On The Lady In Front Of You Waiting In Line For Milk Day!

So it's day three in the milk line for you. Your wife and kids have come to visit you a couple of times a day to bring you a bucket to defecate in. Your mother stopped by yesterday to tell you that your father had passed that morning (he needed milk). And people near the front of the line have been getting shot at intermittently.

But hold the phone. Who's the refugee with the pretty blue eyes? She showed up a few hours ago to take her brother's place in line after he slipped into a coma. You didn't notice her at first because she's covered in so many cloaks and a big part of her head is wrapped in bloody bandages. But just now she turned and wept in your direction. Looks like she digs the goods.

You only have a couple more days to take a shot. Less, if rumors of an airlift are true. What are you waiting for? She's right there sobbing into her hands, waiting for you to take the hint. Are you gonna let this one slip away?

"You know," you should say. "The warlords are coming back. There's no time to waste."

If you want, you can do it without leaving your places in line. Everyone's watching that woman deliver her baby about ten feet behind you. Turn that gravel under your feet into the Sands Of Pleasure.

Happy Make A Move On The Lady In Front Of You Waiting In Line For Milk Day!

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

No Left Thumb Day

No Left Thumb Day!

Your left thumb went first. It's useless now and all you can do is wait for it to turn black and disattach itself.

You are so very bored with yourself, but refuse to commit suicide. So your appendages and organs have no choice but to do what they can to cease functioning at a cellular level in the hopes up withering up and falling away from you. So your left thumb took the mutinous steps necessary to invite gangrene to settle in. Now, no one looks to it for results, and soon, it will go away forever. You envy your purple little thumb.

Happy No Left Thumb Day!

Monday, January 10, 2005

Witchcraft Day

Witchcraft Day!

Your wife's taking Witchcraft Class at the Rochester Women's Center. You keep asking her if it's like a History of Witchcraft or if it's about integrating folklore into practical modern practice, and she never gets any more committal in her response than to say, "Sort of like that, you could say."

What's bugging you is you've woken up in the middle of the night once or twice to find her side of the bed empty. You haven't gotten out of bed to track her down. You just don't want to find out she's nowhere around.

Today things are going to become a bit more urgent. For today, Mark Caslow, your colleague and fellow candidate for VP at your Securities firm, will be found dead in his car, his eyes having turned to black coals. The car will have gone head first into a ravine.

If she was responsible, yes, she'll have killed and that's very bad. More importantly, the killing will reveal that she clearly didn't think you had what it takes to secure that promotion. You never thought of yourself as the kind of man who needs his wife to go out and sear people's eyeballs black in order to help him get ahead. But she clearly did.

Happy Witchcraft Day!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Calibrate The Love Ray Day

Calibrate The Love Ray Day!

It's time to exact your luscious justice upon a fast devolving society. You've spent many years and sacrificed many lives trying to obtain the nuclear components necessary to adequately power your Love Ray. If calculations are correct, the activated Love Ray should fire a current of your droopy-eyed affections that will permeate the loins of every living thing on the face of the earth within a matter of seconds.

Go and stand on a mountaintop and say, "Soon, my Love Ray will circle the globe. Everyone on the planet will become consumed with that special something of mine that makes the ladies go 'Heck yeah.' As of tomorrow, human beings will stop waging war on each other so that they can get to the rubbing up against each other faster."

Start to climb down the mountain, then climb back up to add one more thing. "Terrorism will stop too. Everyone hates terrorism."

Now, climb all the way down the mountain and steer your pod under the riverbed to your laboratory deep under the surface of the earth. Calibrate your Love Ray so that tomorrow at 9 AM it'll be ready to start spraying the boogie.

Happy Calibrate The Love Ray Day!

Saturday, January 08, 2005

The Russian Mafia Day

The Russian Mafia Day!

Today, you should go to the Russian Mafia for help. Your assigned parking space at your apartment complex is right next to a tree, and you have to take extra care when you open the door to keep from dimpling the body of your Saturn. There's a primo space that's right in front of your unit, but the guy who has it won't give it up. That guy drives a motorcycle and could park it wherever he wants. He's just hanging on to the parking space to stir some shit.

Ask the Russian Mafia to talk some sense into him. What they'll do is they'll kill him with a hammer. You'll get your parking space in no time, and then you'll owe the Russian Mafia 25% of the annual revenue from your candy store, pre-tax.

Happy The Russian Mafia Day!

Friday, January 07, 2005

Each Of These, My Three Babies Day

Each Of These, My Three Babies Day!

"I've decided my life needs to be more simple," tell them.

"How, Max?" asks Tricia.

"Yes, Max. How?" asks Maria.

"Have I made your life complicated Max?" worries Carolyn.

"You've all been wonderful to me. Very giving." Go to each of them and give them a long kiss on the lips.

"We're living in a conventional world, now," tell them. "And I'm at an age where I think it's time for me to adhere closer to convention."

Look at them wait for your conclusion. Were it not for their rivalries, they could huddle together in comfort. Each using her grip to steady the other's shaking.

"It is time that I made do with only one girlfriend," you say. They gasp in unison. Your eyes are to the carpet.

Carolyn's voice cracks. "Who do you choose?"

Pull the papers from your drawer. "That is yet to be decided. You'll find on this sheet of paper a list of items that can be found in various locations throughout the city. The one of you who acquires the most of the items on this list will remain my girlfriend. We will tally the fruits of your hunt in 24 hours from now, here in the living room. Do your best."

Your girlfriends scatter. Tricia is crying as she walks out the door.

Happy Each Of These, My Three Babies Day!

Thursday, January 06, 2005

End It Via A Fingerpainting Of A Dragon Day

End It Via A Fingerpainting Of A Dragon Day!

You met on parents' night. He came alone, one of the only dads who was there alone. He lingered behind after you'd finished your presentation because you're one of the only teachers in the school who isn't shaped like a medicine ball.

"Does Mike have talent?" he asked, examining his son's construction paper rendering of a tree in a field on a sunny day.

"He doesn't eat the paste," you said. You had fulfilled your parents' night responsibilities. He walked you to your car.

You've spent a total of eleven hours together, split up over four individual nights, but that was the best night of all. When he sat in the passenger seat of your parked car and the two of you watched the parents walk to their parking spaces.

"That's the Lamberts," you said when Kevin Lambert's parents came walking out of the main entrance. "Their son Kevin got beat up in the rain after school last Thursday."

The Lamberts were laughing as they approached their Hyundai. "Poor Kevin," he said.

"The Morrisseys," you said when the very tall and shaven-headed Mr. Morrissey walked past your car with his tiny wife. "I bet when their girl Jessica hits middle school she'll be the most popular kid in the place."

"I'll tell Mike to start laying the groundwork, get in early," he said.

You said, "Jessica would never go steady with Mike."

He looked shocked, and you laughed very hard, then leaned in and kissed him for four minutes.

Today you've sent Mike home without any stars on his fingerpainting.

"Keep a close eye on Mike's artwork," you had said. "If I give him three gold stars, you're to meet me at the Super 8 the following evening at 7 PM."

"And what if I want to see you?" he asked.

"Too bad," you said. "You're married. You're not supposed to want to see me."

He had his index finger on your bare breast when you said that. He'd lifted up your sweater and tugged down your bra cup.

"We'll see each other only when I wanna see you," you said. "And when I never wanna see you again, poor little Mike won't get any stars that day."

He took his fingertip from your breast. "Why does Mike have to be involved?"

"I'm Mike's art teacher," you said. "Don't try to forget that."

Mike cried on his way home, his fingerpainting of a dragon crumpling at the edges where his fists held it close to his chest. He didn't ask you why you skipped him when you were giving out the stars. But he waited at his desk long after the rest of the class had left. You walked out with your eyes to the floor, unable to look at him.

It was bad enough that you were expected to assign grades to the first creative endeavors of children. You'd always tried to give out the stars so arbitrarily you thought it might even be fun to use that grading system for your lascivious communiqués.

But there'd been so many days when you wanted so badly to see Mike's Dad. But those were days when Mike had turned in work that was decidedly less than three-star quality. You found you just couldn't do it, and so you gave him the stars he deserved and spent the following night at home alone. And if Mike ever turned in a three-star project, it was always in a week when a rendezvous would have been impossible.

You'd managed four nights together, and each night had required you to give Mike an inappropriate star grade. But today was the last straw.

Today, Mike made a fingerpainting of a dragon. It was the best work Mike had ever done. The best fingerpainting of the entire class since school began last Autumn. A decidedly five star piece. But you wanted to see his Daddy tomorrow night.

You couldn't do it. When you looked at that painting, you knew the affair had to end today. Not another work would be awarded with anything but the most honest of praise. And to punish yourself for falling into such a state of compromise, you would break a student's heart on the day he'd done his best. You'd condemn yourself to the lowest point in your teaching career.

Mike cried on his way home. And so did you.

Happy End It Via A Fingerpainting Of A Dragon Day!

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

The Daily Number Day!

The Daily Number Day!

After you've bought $79 worth of three digit daily number lottery tickets, ask the 19-year old girl behind the machine for a suggestion.

"314!" she offers with a smile.

Say, "Straight and box for a dollar. If that wins, it'll be our wedding date."

The number of course will win, and you'll be $540 richer. That $540 will help pay for your divorce from your wife of 46 years (you're 71). The 19-year old lotto machine operator will be a little hesitant about marrying you before she finishes college, but she'll be glad to not have to live at her parents' house anymore during summer break. Her boyfriend will not be too happy with the way she breaks up with him ("A deal's a deal baby. Can't you be a little more mature about this?") He'll punch you once and give you a minor heart attack (your fourth), but you'll recover after not too long and you and the lottery machine operator will enjoy a happy life together for the 17 months remaining before you die in the bath.

Happy The Daily Number Day!

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Car Off The Cliff Day

Car Off The Cliff Day!

Yes, sometimes when a car goes off a cliff, the passengers can manage to jump out and land safely on the rock face before the car explodes. But that requires a lot of dexterity and quick-thinking. And you have to hope that the passengers did not have seatbelts on or else who could imagine them having the cool heads necessary to unfasten their seatbelts, then open the doors and jump all in a matter of seconds? Then there's the tumble into the rock-face, which is more than enough to kill them. All things considered, the chances that someone could go off a cliff in a speeding car and survive are very slim. It's best to assume your fiancé is dead and start dating again.

No one's calling off the search and rescue teams. Hell, we couldn't if we wanted to. Those fires have to be put out whether your sweetstuff is alive or not. All we're saying is, it's been hours already. When are you going to accept that she's dead and start calling chicks you had your eye on while she was still alive? Such as her friends and sisters. They are waiting to extend to you their companionship.

All you've been doing since she went over the cliff this morning is howling at the heavens or peering over the cliff's edge to see if anyone found anything. You could have composed like nine Nerve Personal profiles in that time, one for every type of love affair you're looking for. Stop living in the past and go home and work out. I don't know how much you ate at that rehearsal dinner, but you're looking a little doughy. If you're gonna get back in the game you gotta be ready to play.

Oh, it sounds like they found her and she's alive. All the same, until she's brought up to the surface road and you can see that she is out of danger, you should assume she's dead and try to move on with your life. Goddammit, it's what she would have wanted.

Happy Car Off The Cliff Day!

Monday, January 03, 2005

Confess Day

Confess Day!

Unless the thing you're confessing about could put you in jail. But if it's something along the lines of, "I know you really like your Ho-Ho's dude," go ahead and own up. You'll feel better about it.

But you shouldn't think that confessing is an across-the-board good idea. For example, let's say that about six months ago you killed a rapist. You were just walking through the park looking for someone to sell you some acid when you heard a woman's muffled shouting. You stepped over a fence and pushed through some bushes to find a man pinning a woman down in the grass, the dull edge of his knife pressed into the corners of her mouth.

You shouted, "Hey!"

The guy wheeled around at you. His eyes were yellow with bright red bulbs in the center.

The woman kneed him in the abdomen and wriggled free. He grabbed at her pants leg but she took off. You never saw her again.

The guy got up and came at you. The sharp edge of his knife was coming right at your nose. He was smaller than you but a lot stronger. He had you on the ground. You were holding his knife hand away from you, but the knife was coming closer. You were growing weaker. You were about to die.

Your left hand scrabbled in the grass and found a rock. You swung your left arm up from the grass and cracked the rock into the back of the rapist's head. When the rock hit his skull, the yelp that came out of his mouth sounded like he was gargling mouthwash.

You rolled him off of you, stood, then saw the blood in the grass. It was coming near your shoes. You ran.

The next day, you read about the dead man in the paper. The story told nothing of an attempted rape. It only told of a dead man who'd been arrested for burglary in the past.

You read the paper every day for a month, but the story disappeared after less than a week. Never was there any mention of an attempted rape.

If that's the kind of thing you were thinking of confessing, that kind of "murder in self-defense resulting from a prevented rape that you can't prove," keep your mouth shut.

But if you ate your roommate's Ho-Ho's, by all means wipe the slate clean. Unless you can't afford to replace them. Then blame his buddy Ken.

Happy Confess Day!

Sunday, January 02, 2005

That Shade Of Pearl Doesn't Communicate To Visitors The Awesomeness Of Your Balls Day!

That Shade Of Pearl Doesn't Communicate To Visitors The Awesomeness Of Your Balls Day!

Just stir in a little more yellow, just a drip. Right now, the paint looks pretty much "there" when it's in the can. But dry on the wall, your balls just seem sort of, how you say, "GUMDROPPY." A little more yellow and you'll cross the line over to "Those computer generated orbs that are always flying around in the animation they use to demonstrate the digital sound system at the movie theater before the movie starts." And you'll be well on your way to communicating the true awesomeness contained therein (your pants). You want someone to just blink twice at your walls and think, "I could not compete with, nor could I refuse, this man's balls, should I be challenged by or offered said same."

Little more yellow. Try it, I'm telling you.

Happy That Shade Of Pearl Doesn't Communicate To Visitors The Awesomeness Of Your Balls Day!

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Settle Your Roommate Problems With A Calm Discussion Day

Settle Your Roommate Problems With A Calm Discussion Day!

Sit cross-legged on the couch. Encourage your roommate to sit cross-legged on the comfy chair. Invite your roommate to present the first grievance.

He'll say, "I would appreciate it if you could clean up after yourself in the kitchen with a bit more diligence. I just don't want to attract bugs."

Say, "Fair enough. I would appreciate if you were less assholish. You're such an asshole. Asshole."

Your roommate will tell you that he'll try. Accuse him of lying and then borrow his money.

Happy Settle Your Roommate Problems With A Calm Discussion Day!

Friday, December 31, 2004

Matchmaker Day

Matchmaker Day!

You got set up with a guy with no arms. He has two legs and can walk around fine, but he holds stuff with this mechanical claw that's strapped around his torso and sticks out from the center of his chest. He operates the arm with deep inhalations and exhalations, causing his chest to drastically expand and retract. Therefore, during dinner or a game of checkers he is constantly panting and gasping. Luckily, you can't hear his breathing over the constant whirring of the motors contained within the mechanical claw.

On his way into the Japanese restaurant he stubbed his sandaled foot on a large ceramic vase near the entranceway. He swore up and down and started berating a hostess. His rage was unjustified and aimless, like your father's, and so you fell in love. Additionally, before he lost his arms he was a hitter. Now that he only has the mechanical arm, he's still a hitter. Trouble is, the torque on that arm's hydraulics can take off a head at the neck. Don't move in right away.

Happy Matchmaker Day!

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Most Of September, 2004 Day!

Most Of September, 2004 Day!

You spent it remembering an hour on March 18th, 2004, when she fell asleep in the passenger seat. When she'd fall asleep you'd watch her mouth drop open from her face shut tight, it made you happy to know she could fall asleep in your presence.

"You're not afraid I'm going to steal your stuff or anything," you explained.

"That's no reason to videotape me at night."

You destroyed the tapes, and it turned out to be a great idea because it made you cherish all the more those moments when you caught her napping. Moments like the 60 or so she spent blissfully asleep in the passenger seat of your Honda on March 18th, 2004. You nearly veered off the road a couple of times you were watching her so intently. You thought you could actually see her dreams by the expression on her face. She looked concerned, a little overburdened, like she'd been told to fill a thousand pickle jars with her pee or her sisters would be sent to war. But then again, you might be the only one who has that dream.

By September, 2004, all you had left of her were the memories. You focused tight on that hour on March 18th and you exhausted it. Until you could no longer remember which parts of it were fact and which were fabrications added in the process of recalling a memory.

Today, you remember September, and you're able to shudder and feel a little better off. What have you learned from all of this.

"Don't destroy videotapes?"

Correct.

Happy Most Of September, 2004 Day!

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

She Shouts "Glory Be To God" When She Comes Day

She Shouts "Glory Be To God" When She Comes Day!

"Do you always do that?" you ask. Her breasts are smaller than yours, you notice.

"Zip it," she says. She starts to get dressed. "My mom's gonna be picking me up soon."

"You could stay for dinner," you say.

"One word of this to my Mom, the kids at school, anybody, and I swear to God I'll kill you dead."

You reach out to put your hand on her hair, but think better of it. "Is that why you transferred to our school? Did you—"

"Dykes get real possessive real fast," she says. Is that what you are? A Dyke? "If you don't slice some blood from their palms right off the bat, they grab at every piece of you they can reach."

She picks up the baby blanket that you still sleep with and gently wraps it around your neck. She's looking in your eyes as she pulls it tighter and tighter. You don't gasp for air. You don't blink. You feel like you have to keep your face as hard as stone if you ever want her to come back to your room. Just hold her stare. Don't feel anything.

"I wanna tear this town to pieces," she says. "Wanna come with?"

You shrug. She loosens the blanket. Her mom honks her horn from the driveway. You just signed on to a lesbolescent life o' crime little girl.

Happy She Shouts "Glory Be To God" When She Comes Day!

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

The Kickline Girl Is Dead Day

The Kickline Girl Is Dead Day!

Most people who saw her thought she was just another Vegas showgirl who'd keep paying the bills until her knee gave out on her. But Justine knew something they didn't know.

"I know how to pick combination safes," she told the only man she ever loved.

"It's a rare talent. Never use it," Keith told her. "Promise me you'll never use it. As long as we both shall live?"

"As long as we both shall live," Justine promised.

Keith ended up not living all that long. Another four months to be exact. Keith's death sentence had been signed long before he walked into Justine's life. About a hundred grand in the hole, hooking up with a safecracker should have been the answer to his prayers.

"I might be a gamblin' junky," said Keith. "But I'm a gentleman. And a gentleman doesn't bring his girl in on a score just so's he can even his debts."

Eventually, Keith's debts came due. The night Justine walked out of the dressing room and found no one waiting for her outside, she knew he'd been killed. The only happiness she'd ever known had been ripped out of her arms, and she wanted revenge.

A hit on your average nobody will cost around $25,000 if you expect it to come off without a hitch. A hit on the kind of guys Justine wanted dead, the guys Keith owed his money to, you're talking a hundred grand a head, minimum. A showgirl doesn't make that kind of money. To get that kind of money, you'd have to crack a safe.

A lot of safes as it turned out. Justine put the word out that she was ready to come on board with any crew who had a line on the right score. She was glad to say goodbye to the showgirl life. Her knees were even more glad. And she took to a life of crime like a bee to honey.

This morning, at around 4 AM, she'd just cracked open the safe that would give her the last 50 grand necessary to put out her contracts. But she never even got to hold the money. It was dumb luck, but the crew who brought her the score just happened to have been put together by Horst Murinven, the loan shark Justine believed to have pulled the trigger on her Keith. When Murinven's crew told him about the kickline girl safecracker who could make the score happen, he checked her out and discovered her link to Keith. A few more questions around town and he knew she was looking for a killer for pay.

Murinven knew she was coming his way. And he also knew how much money was in that safe. He told his crew to bring guns for a change. He told them to wait for her to pull the door of the safe open wide. And he told them they'd each get an extra ten grand if they put a bullet in her head before she could turn around. That's why the kickline girl is dead.

Happy The Kickline Girl Is Dead Day!

Monday, December 27, 2004

Trapped Underneath Your Girlfriend Day

Trapped Underneath Your Girlfriend Day!

You phone for help. You phone Steve.

"She's dead and she's on top of me."

Steve tells you to try and shove her off of you, asks you how she died.

"Cancer," you say. " This is really difficult. She won't budge."

Steve asks you where you are.

"I'm not sure. It looks like a warehouse."

Steve asks if anyone else is there.

"Look, I don't have time for 20 questions. I'm really broken up over the death of my girlfriend. And I just need someone to get her off of me."

Steve says he understands, but he can't send help unless he knows where you are.

"Makes sense to me. Sorry I lost it there for a second. Bad day."

Steve doesn't say anything.

"Dead girlfriend and all," you continue. "On top of me and everything," you add. "Shortening my breath, cutting off the blood to my brain," you clinch the deal.

"Okay," Steve says. "I'll devote my every waking breath to freeing you from the weight of your dead girlfriend."

"You're the best," you say.

"Smoking hurts us all," Steve says and hangs up.

You wait, occasionally putting a kiss to your dead girlfriend's earlobe. With every kiss, she's just a little bit colder.

Happy Trapped Underneath Your Girlfriend Day!

Friday, December 24, 2004

It's The Girls Are Pretty "Go Into The Woods And Find A Little Bit Of Truth" Weekend

It's The Girls Are Pretty "Go Into The Woods And Find A Little Bit Of Truth" Weekend!

It's all coming apart at the seams for Prettygirl. One morning, about four years ago, she woke up feeling like things were going to be getting worse from then on. She tried to ignore it throughout constant narcotics abuse, which was really really fun and gave her some good ideas for children's books she plans to write and illustrate one day, but they didn't help her to pretend that life works on some level. At one point, she took the advice of a grandmother and tried to give and receive love. Pure chicanery.

So now, Prettygirl's going into the woods in the hopes that watching frogs hump will put some blood back in her veins. If she doesn't start to perk up in a couple of days, she'll take off all of her clothes (Prettygirl's got a nice bod still, and whenever's she's naked it's a good thing), lay down on the frozen dirt and let the cold have her last breaths (which she'll be able to see, cause it'll be cold). If she finds, as the long-haired poets might say, "Something to believe in," she'll be back with more horseshit for you all to obey thoughtlessly. Either way, she's putting some days up in advance since she doesn't expect to make it to a Kinko's anytime soon. Scroll down to read today's today. Don't read tomorrow's until tomorrow or you'll grow one of those 115 pound tumors in your stomach that you'll assume is just the result of you being a big fat pig.

These might be the last ever. Make them count.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Scold Your Pets For Not Being Romantic Enough Day!

Tell Wiffles that she never tries to surprise you. That she takes you for granted. Tell her that it would be nice if you could just come home one day to find that Wiffles had done something, perhaps arranged her poo to look like your face or whatever, just to let you know that you're still special. Wiffles will just kind of walk away because she doesn't speak English. When she does, weep.

Happy Scold Your Pets For Not Being Romantic Enough Day!

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Get Up From The Table And Go Day!

Tonight, your lover will tell the truth. He'll tell you what he's been so afraid to say for such a long time. He'll tell you that far more frightening than the potential retribution from various foreign governments, is the possibility that you might think less of him.

React thusly: Get up from the table and go out to the street. Run down the street in your bare feet with no idea where to go, who to go to. He'll catch up to you in the car after a few blocks. You'll get in and you two will come up with a plan. You'll say to him, "I'm involved now. I'm in just as much danger as you. Thanks a lot jerkface."

Happy Get Up From The Table And Go Day!

Friday, December 24, 2004

Covet Children At A Playground Day!

You're childless and empty. Worthless, in the eyes of the world and your Lord. Your lack of children is proof that you remain unloved and unlovable. Go to the playground and look at all the beautiful children at play. As you watch them, whisper aloud a both ends of a conversation you imagine you're having with your own little boy or girl. It's fun to pretend at 38.

Happy Covet Children At A Playground Day!

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Dogcatcher Day

Dogcatcher Day!

It's been two days since Rex has disappeared. It's time to go to the town dogcatcher and make a threat.

"You find my dog you do one of two things. Bring him back to me, or leave him be."

The Dogcatcher won't turn to you when he speaks from his leather seat.

"I'll do as my occupation dictates I do," the Dogcatcher will say.

Go to the arm of his chair and squat down so your mouth is at his ear. "Place my dog in danger," say, "And I will bring you pain in kind."

The Dogcatcher will scoff. "Can't feel pain," he'll say.

You'll stay by his side, not sure of what he said.

"Just get out of here."

Stand, but don't go.

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW! GO NOW!"

The Dogcatcher will fly into a rage without even getting to his feet. He'll just bark at you from the sink of his chair until you go.

On your drive home you'll remember that the Dogcatcher is addicted to heroin and it must have been time for his fix. He flew into a panic because you were in the house when he was ready to shoot up. No one's been in his house in 8 months. He didn't know how else to handle it. He just knew he had to be rid of you in order to administer to his self.

Happy Dogcatcher Day!

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

The Ku Klux Klan Day

The Ku Klux Klan Day!

Today, you are going to sit down with the Ku Klux Klan and go over some concepts.

"Presently," say, "The public sees the Klan as a terrorist organization. An instrument of hate."

Their hoods will rustle, indicating that they're nodding in agreement.

"To up your membership, you need to promote the deep social element of your club."

They turn to each other, then back to you. Get your artwork ready.

"Friendship. Teamwork. Playdates for your children. Gentlemen, it's time for a name-change."

They're on the edge of their seats.

"Say goodbye to the Ku Klux Klan." Show them the mock-up of families of hooded Klan members cheering on a sack race in a public park; smoke billowing from a barbecue in the background. "Say hello to the Ku Klux Community?."

They don't need to take off their hoods to let you know that you just hit one out of the park.

Happy The Ku Klux Klan Day!

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Roundhouse Day

Roundhouse Day!

Say, "I love you roundhouse."

Roundhouse will say, "I love you too."

A gang of drug addicts will come down the alley towards you, hooting and hollering.

"Not now," says Roundhouse.

Smile at her. "Do what you were brought here to do."

Roundhouse meets the gang halfway down the alley and kills them all with kicks.

"Go Roundhouse!" you shout. Your girlfriend was trained in a government lab to murder troublemakers. You have to share her with an entire crimewave. Some guys wouldn't be able to handle having a girlfriend with such a consuming career. But you were raised correctly.

Happy Roundhouse Day!

Monday, December 20, 2004

Who Cut The Cheese Day

Who Cut The Cheese Day!

Say, "Who cut the cheese?"

No confessions.

Repeat, "Who cut the cheese?"

No confessions.

Pick up the child with the messiest hands. Say into his face, "Did you cut the cheese?"

The child will not confess.

Bring the children into the milk room in pairs, making sure not to pair up any children who are often seen playing together. A method known as Chatham's Uncomfortable Contract. Two people with no history, no shorthand for communication, no basis of knowing how the other will react to a situation, they get thrown together and they rush each other to a compromised position with the interrogator, neither wanting to give the other the chance to shift suspicion with an accusation.

Wear them down.

Shout into the first child's face: "Did you cut the cheese? No? Are you accusing him then? No? Then it must have been you!"

This is the Morrissey Axiom of interrogation. Pose no question that offers safe exit from the interrogation room. The suspect should be as damned in denying the crime as he is in confessing the crime.

"You two want me to believe neither one of ya's never puffed but the rosiest perfumes out between those cheeks, that it?" say. "Then you better tell me who done it, if you're so sure."

This is Handel's "Bottom Line." The suspects have been ground so far down they don't see any options open. There is no such thing as truth at this level. They gave up hope on the truth setting them free a dozen hours ago. The only hope they have for ever being let go is to tell the interrogator exactly what he wants to hear. At this point, you should be waiting out in the playroom, watching the other children fake their way through naptime, giving the two in the milk room a chance to formulate a cohesive story.

When you go back into the milk room, those two kids are going to tell you who stunk a fart into the day care center.

Happy Who Cut The Cheese Day!

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Get Hit By A Car Day

Get Hit By A Car Day!

Today you're gonna get hit by a car and everyone is gonna come to your hospital room and be nice to you for a change. Additionally, Brad, who broke up with you because you weren't pretty enough, is going to come to your hospital bed and beg you to take him back. You'll refuse him and he'll kill himself.

Your brush with death will also open your brother Michael's eyes to the damage he's inflicting on himself with his drug abuse. He'll stop abusing drugs and he'll get rich. Also, your mom's cancer will go away because God will think it's too cruel for so much sadness to get crammed into one family. And God will also give your family a new car.

Finally, you'll be visited by President George W Bush. He'll ask you to hang in there and he'll promise to make laws that make the roads safer for beautiful girls like you.

Happy Get Hit By A Car Day!

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Launch The Rocket Day!

Launch The Rocket Day!

Hello, Country With A Space Program. Today is the day to launch your rocket.

You're welcome for the reminder. Now go explore outer space.

Happy Launch The Rocket Day!

Friday, December 17, 2004

Treehouse Graffiti Day

Treehouse Graffiti Day!

It reads, YOU ARE AN ARMY OF ONE.

This is in reference to your efforts to make friends by building a tree house and inviting children at school to join what you called "The Lanfair Avenue Army," Lanfair avenue being the street where you live.

All of the kids politely declined, some of them were downright cordial about it. But now, perhaps under cover of night, they have struck and made plain what was screaming through your head every time you looked up at that airborne shack built from wood leftover from your father's half-completed sundeck.

you have no friends

Not such a big deal. Once construction halted on the sundeck you knew your father would be moving you and your mother again. It's San Diego in 4 more months. Perhaps San Diego will be the burgh that will finally offer you a little bit of company.

Happy Treehouse Graffiti Day!

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Gardener Wars Day

Landscaper Wars Day!

Landscaper Wars is a very violent video game that has been putting horrible ideas into your son's eleven year old head. Today, he will let a girl know that he likes her by opening up the back of her neck with a trovel. You should have paid more attention to what sort of games your son was playing. You were too busy online dating, too busy trying to find him a new Dad you never found the time to be a Mom.

Happy Landscaper Wars Day

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Monster Day

Monster Day!

Your girlfriend is convinced that there are monsters under her bed and she wants you to sleep over her house to make her feel safe. You want her to sleep soundly, but you're both only sixteen and you don't want to have sex until you at least are out of high school. Spending the night in her room might compromise that plan.

You ask your girlfriend, "We're still on the same page right?"

"About what?" she says.

"Not fucking."

She says, "I don't want to fuck. I just want you to sleep in my room. The monsters, you know."

You say, "I know and I want to be there to protect you. I'm just afraid of fucking you."

"You don't think you can sleep over without fucking me?" she says.

"No," you say. "Not just me. Us. I'm afraid if we're in your bedroom all night long in our pajamas like that, we're just going to lose control and fuck like crazy. And I wanna go to college."

She says, "Please. The monsters."

You hold her eyes with yours, seeking out some truth. "Okay," you say. "But if we all of a sudden fuck…"

"Yeah?" she says.

You break out in a smile, "Don't say I didn't warn ya' is all."

She smiles and the two of you hug. Later tonight, you're torn apart at the sternum by monsters.

Happy Monster Day!

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Water My Plants While I'm Away Day

Water My Plants While I'm Away Day!

You love George, but George isn't gay. Yet, you see so few prospects for a gay man in your town that the most aggressive effort you're going to make towards securing romance is having George come up and water your plants while you're away at an adhesives seminar (you purchase glue for a bottling plant) and letting George find evidence of your love through his own curious volition.

First, you'll leave out a pile of photos on the kitchen table. George will recognize the people in the photo on the top of the pile, and he'll sift through to see if he can recognize the event where the photos were taken. Somewhere in the middle of the pile will be a lovingly framed photo of George he won't remember having been taken. The photo will give the impression that the photographer spent the evening in silence, content to drink in George's profile from across the table.

Next, a piece of scrap paper full of phone numbers. Somewhere in the middle of the mass of scrawl will be the lines, "Hey George, wanna go check out that new Nicole Kidman movie about her dead boyfriend coming back as a little kid? No big deal, I was just looking for someone to go with and…" George won't be able to see this as anything but a script, though he'll try to ignore it. He'll know you had scripted out how you should casually ask him on a date. He'll also remember the phone call when you asked him to come see that movie with you. It came out differently than what was scripted.

Finally, leave scattered around some surveillance photos of George and his girlfriend walking hand in hand, his girlfriend's eyes having been blacked out with a Sharpie.

George might be creeped out, but if you come home and your plants aren't dead, that means he cares for you too.

Happy Water My Plants While I'm Away Day!

Monday, December 13, 2004

Love And War Day

Love And War Day!

Your boyfriend's in Iraq, and you've been faithful ever since he left. Before he left is another story.

"I won't betray this man when he's living a life surrounded by the promise of death at every turn," you tell Stephen.

"You'll betray your heart then," says Stephen.

"So be it," you say. "Don't come to the diner anymore."

Stephen has been good about staying away. Before Charles got shipped out, Stephen kept a nightly appointment parked in the parking lot across the street, waiting for your shift to end. You'd get into your car and follow him either to someplace scenic where you'd get out of your car and climb into his big backseat, or to a hotel with a parking lot away from the street.

Things got more intense with Stephen, and you had plans to tell Charles about him. You had plans to leave Charles, but the Army Reserves had other plans.

"I won't touch you while he's away," you told Stephen the night after Charles went away. "I can't risk coming home from a night with you to get a phone call saying my Charles got hurt."

"Now he's your Charles?" Stephen asks. "You'll give up your own happiness just to keep him from being made the fool."

"I've given up worse," you said. You were referring to the baby you'd aborted that morning. It could have been Charles'. But it was far more likely Stephen's. You couldn't risk it.

But you were seen coming out of the clinic. Not by anyone who knows Charles. But by Stephen's Daddy. They barely talk. But it wouldn't take too many words to say what he saw.

Happy Love And War Day!

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Wake N' Wrestle Day!

Wake N' Wrestle Day!

Every morning, the goal is to open your eyes before your brother. You can't use any alarms or wake up calls. Just the strategy you take down into your unconsciousness with you.

It doesn't count if you wake up before 7. You're allowed to wake up before 7 if you want and wait for the clock to click past 6:59. But you can't make a move before 7. This has often led to the two of you waking at around 6:45 and then just coiling in your spots on the bed for fifteen minutes, waiting to pounce on each other.

Nowadays though, it's gotten so routine that you both sometimes sleep as late as 8 AM before one you wakes up and pins the other to the mattress. You're both really busy too, so it's rare that a real match comes about. Usually, the one who wakes up late just lets himself get pinned so he can get into the shower first (the one who gets pinned always gets to shower first). Maybe once a month, you'll both put up a good fight, but both of you would say it's just for old time's sake.

Anyway, today when you woke up, you saw that the clock said 7:12. You flipped over to the other side of the bed and pinned a long swath of empty air to the mattress. Your brother never came home last night. And he's still not home.

He fell in love. (he's thirty-six, you're thirty-eight.)

Happy Wake N' Wrestle Day!

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Light The Whole Matchbook Day

Light The Whole Matchbook Day!

Then light your cigarette. Then toss the lit matchbook to the trail of gasoline. That shed full of dogs will burst into a fireball in seconds. That'll teach your ex-husband to steal your idea to open up an obedience school for extra Christmas money. Now get outta town. A NEW LIFE IS JUST OFF STARBOARD!

Happy Light The Whole Matchbook Day!

Friday, December 10, 2004

The Freezerburn Gang Day

The Freezerburn Gang Day!

Today, the Freezerburn Gang is going to have a meeting at which the topic of a name-change for the gang will again be discussed, ultimately leading to a split vote.

Next, the Freezerburn Gang will happen to listen in on a neighborhood Mad Scientist's vocal detailing of his plan to taint the local bars' beer taps with a serum that makes people who drink it speak the worst thought in their heads, no matter how much they want to keep that thought to themselves. The Freezerburn Gang will stop the Mad Scientist's plan, but not before he manages to infiltrate one bar and gradually poison its patrons with his Dark-Truth Serum. It is an uncomfortably hysterical scene that ensues when the patrons start speaking the recesses of their minds. Thankfully, the Freezerburn Gang stops the spread of the Serum before it can threaten to tear a neighborhood to shreds with honesty.

Happy The Freezerburn Gang Day!

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Spit On A Statue Day

Spit On A Statue Day!

Mid-day on a beautiful, unseasonably warm afternoon when everyone has rushed out to the park to get a taste of sunshine. Stomp from the entrance to the park straight to the center where the statue of an "important" historical figure casts its silhouette. March right up to that statue and spit at its base. Scream once, "FRAUD!"

Once all the babies and their nannies have turned to enjoy you, shout, "Your legacy is a lie! It's all falling apart!"

Then stomp away to find a nice cheeseburger someplace.

Happy Spit On A Statue Day!

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Shootout On The Log Flume Day

Shootout On The Log Flume Day!

The son of a bitch pushes his way through the line and hops into the empty tail seat of a log flume, startling the family in the seats ahead of him when he flashes his gun. The son of a bitch is confused when he points the gun at the father, sitting in the front seat of the log, and says, "Drive."

You shove your way through the gate, flash your badge, and race to an empty log. As your log pulls ahead to begin its descent, you already see the son of a bitch drop out of site into the flume.

Luckily, your log takes a different track than his and you catch up to him quickly. He starts shooting wildly at you, but you have to be more careful. There are citizens in his log. Just you in yours. You do your best to keep low.

There's actually quite a lot of ducking and hiding. Since the log flume is a pretty slow, calm ride up until the final descent, the shootout is about as simple as if the two of you were walking on opposite sides of a narrow street at an even pace. Before you reach that final descent, you both manage to inflict fatal wounds upon each other.

The big splash at the end of the ride washes the blood from the wounds so that when your logs come to a stop, you both look quite peacefully asleep. The family that shared the son of a bitch's log races away in a panic. Everyone stares at your bodies. And then the blood starts to seep out from your wounds again, and the screaming erupts from the crowd.

Happy Shootout On The Log Flume Day!

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Broken Boy On Your Bedroom Floor Day

Broken Boy On Your Bedroom Floor Day!

He's screaming, "But without you I have nothing left."

Say, "I want a boy who'll bring something to the table."

He'll wiggle around and writhe like a worm cut in two. "I thought you saw my potential."

Say, "I don't gamble."

He'll pound his forehead into the fake wood tile. He'll spit up. "You're probably the last person who would have me."

Say, "If I thought I was that pathetic I'd kill myself before Frazier." Turn on the TV and begin watching Frazier.

He'll get up on his knees and slam his fists into his eyes. "I never want to see anything again."

Say, "'Kay." Chuckle at the dialogue on Frazier.

He'll walk to the end of the living room, sprint across the floor and fling himself against the opposite wall. He'll say, "I don't want my bones to work."

Say, "'Don't fuck up my shit."

He'll go into the kitchen and start searching under the sink for something poisonous to drink. He'll say, "I'm going to die here, at your feet. I'll be the fatal vicitim of your cruelty."

Get up and leave. Sleep over at your new boyfriend's house.

Happy Broken Boy On Your Bedroom Floor Day!

Monday, December 06, 2004

Online Date Right Day!

Online Date Right Day!

Me: Poor, but wizened from the struggle.

You: Rich, marrying the one your parents chose for you.

We: Find an ease together that doesn't come easy. You: lament that your father demands you marry the daughter of the chairman of the board of the company your father plans to merge with. Me: wish you weren't rich so my father might trust you, so I could trust you in turn.

You: Stand up to your father, for a night at least. Me: stand on my waitress' ankles for twelve hours a day, paying bills is what I understand. We: marvel at the irony of the rich man held captive, the poor woman free.

Me: Shake my head and kick myself when you don't show up when you said you would. You: Limit your rebellion against your father to not smiling at the engagement party, but you make the toast you wrote before you met me. We: Go back to our separate lives, our respective worlds without hope that anyone's going to come along and throw us a life preserver.

We: go out separately for walks where we used to walk, but never bump into each other now matter how much we hope we might. Me: find out it's your wedding day on the society pages of the paper. You: throw society on its ear when you walk out of your wedding and knock on my door.

We.

Happy Online Date Right Day!

Sunday, December 05, 2004

You're The Prettiest Hostage Day

You're The Prettiest Hostage Day!

One of the hostage-takers is sweet on you. Was, I mean. The dead one. Clay. You could tell by the way he kept asking you if you needed another can of Country Time from the soda machine they shot open. Clay had grand plans in his head. He imagined taking you as his very last hostage when he'd board the plane to Bermuda. In his fantasy, you'd come to see he's an all right guy. Sweet even, just trying to get what's his.

His partner, Luther, is about to blow. He's going to start tossing bodies out the window to avenge that sniper bullet that went through Clay's voicebox. I suggest that you go and cry beside Clay's body to appear to ally yourself to Luther's side of the situation. Say "it's not fair" and the like.

Happy You're The Prettiest Hostage Day!

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Broke Your Foot Day

Broke Your Foot Day!

You're on crutches and you live on the top floor a five-floor walkup in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It takes you sixteen minutes to climb those stairs. When you open your apartment door, your roommate turns around with the knob that turns on the microwave in her hand.

"This is broken," she says.

She tosses the knob in the trash can and goes into her bedroom to speak to her boyfriend in Polish. You stare at the trash can, then at the freezer. You want to lie down and never get up again, but you need Vodka first. You postpone stretching out on your futon long enough to cut a lime and halfway fill a glass with ice cubes and some tonic. You fill the rest of the glass with vodka. You take both crutches in your right hand, the glass in your left, and you hop into your room, where you fall on your futon without spilling a drop.

After two more journeys into the kitchen for refills, you're nearly blind, and your mother calls you. She asks about your foot and you try to keep your words from crowding each other, but you realize you're going to have to throw up within a minute's time. You do your best to pull yourself to your crutches while scuttling the conversation to a conclusion. But you fall and drop the phone on the floor.

"Hello," she says when you get the phone to your ear.

"My roommate wants the phone," you say.

"Oh," your mother says. "Okay honey well then…"

"Love you Mom," you say and hang up. You're back up on the crutches flinging yourself to the bathroom. The laws of physics get you to the toilet. It all works out.

Several hours later, you realize your roommate must have left before you threw up, because you find yourself sprawled across the kitchen floor with your feet across the threshold to the bathroom and your head in the kitty litter. You pull yourself up, reach into the bathroom, and tug the knob on the toilet to flush your vomit down the drain. The knob, of course, comes off in your hand. You toss it into the garbage and crawl back to your bedroom for some more sleep.

Happy Broke Your Foot Day!

Friday, December 03, 2004

Middle School Dance Day

Middle School Dance Day!

Tonight, when you walk past your neighborhood middle school, you will hear loud Top 40 music pumping from its open doors. Just inside the doors you will see bunches of children dressed nicely. You will realize they are attending a school dance.

You'll pause in your walk, watching the kids awkwardly flirt and tease each other. Your mind will drift back to your own middle school dance. You'll remember a kiss you stole on the dance floor. A sip of alcohol in the boys' room. But most of all, you'll remember coming home and finding your minister father waiting up for you so that he can admonish you for whatever sins of the flesh he assumed you had committed that night.

You slept on your belly that night, the lashings of his horsehair whip too fresh on your back. You were pulled out of school not long after that and forced to help your father build a new church (he died before that church heard him give a single sermon). Listening to the sound of that dance tonight will make you think it's about time you got your GED.

Happy Middle School Dance Day!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Cuddle Day!

Cuddle Day!

Jim and Gracie were cuddling together on Gracie's couch at 3:30 PM today. They were cuddling underneath an afghan Gracie's Grandmom made.

"Cuddling's awesome," said Jim.

Gracie agreed. "I feel like if we were to cuddle hard enough, I'd develop x-ray vision."

"Like a secret power sitting dormant inside of you," Jim said. "Pulled to the surface through the strength of our cuddling."

"Right," Gracie said. "Cuddle me a little harder and I'll be able to fly to work tomorrow."

Jim said, "I bet if you cuddle me strong enough…"

"Yeah?" Gracie said.

"And with enough focus and intensity…"

"Yeah?" she was smiling.

"I'd develop the power to get my ex-girlfriend back."

Gracie stopped cuddling Jim.

"Did I say that?" Jim asked. "I don't know why I said that."

Gracie stood and faced Jim on the couch. "You said it because while you were cuddling up against me you were wishing I was your ex-girlfriend."

"No way," said Jim.

Gracie used her X-ray vision to find a picture of Jim's ex-girlfriend in the wallet he had in his pants pocket.

"She's pretty," Gracie said.

"How do you…?" Jim looked down at his pocket and knew what she had found.

"I'm sorry Gracie," Jim said. "I thought I was ready to date by now."

Gracie sighed. "Maybe I cuddled you hard enough that you developed the ability to teleport your ass out of my sight forever."

Jim gave it a shot, and the next thing he knew he was sitting at an outdoor café in Brussels.

Happy Cuddle Day!

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Crown Of Thorns Day

Crown Of Thorns Day!

Your crown of thorns makes you look like a fat pig. The blood from your scalp forms streams in the creases of fat on your neck. Some people look good in a crown of thorns. Those people are not 60 pounds overweight. Take off the crown of thorns and hide yourself someplace damp until you’re not so unsightly.

Happy Crown Of Thorns Day!

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

The Color Of Sympathy Day

The Color Of Sympathy Day!

It's gray. That's what color everyone is when you come home from the courthouse after your girlfriend took the stand. They buried her up there.

"I just know she didn't do it," you tell your gray Dad.

Your gray Dad shakes his head and says, "Poor little guy. It'll be all right."

You look over at your mom shaking her head in the corner, her eyebrows up high. Man, is she gray.

"How's about I make you some dinner. Whatever you want," she says.

"I can't eat," you say. "But I guess I better, if I don't want to become as gray as all of you."

Just then your little brother comes running through the room. "Mike's in love with an enemy combatant! Mike's in love with an enemy combatant!" he sings. He casts a very healthy pink and beige light.

"Shut uuuup!" you say.

"Don't listen to him," your father says to you. "Wanna rent a movie?"

At Blockbuster, you watch the kid behind the counter to see if he notices how gray your Dad looks. He doesn't, which means the color of sympathy is in the eye of the person on the receiving end of said sympathy.

Happy The Color Of Sympathy Day!

Monday, November 29, 2004

Your Boyfriend Is A Car Racer Day

Your Boyfriend Is A Car Racer Day!

He used to go out there because he loved the speed. Today, he's going out there because he's got something to prove.

"Prove that you love me and stay home today," you plead.

"You keep me in this house you won't have a man by your side. Race or not, the man I could be is gonna walk out that door today. He races, he'll come back. He chickens out, he's gone forever."

You place your hands on his shoulders. You know you can't change his mind. "I'm afraid you're going to die. Just like…"

He takes your hand off of his shoulders. "I'm not here so's you can have your Daddy back."

He pushes through the screen door and goes out to his Camaro. The engine rumbles to life. You hear his voice shout over the growling of the car. You go to the screen door.

"Baby!" he's shouting.

You step out on the front porch.

"Your old man could never handle the turns like I can," he shouts.

You nod. It's true, even your Daddy would admit to that. But your Daddy never raced for anything more than the sum total of the prize money. He was too far in debt to worry over pride.

Happy Your Boyfriend Is A Car Racer Day!

Sunday, November 28, 2004

You And Your Big Sister, Out On The High Seas Day

You And Your Big Sister, Out On The High Seas Day!

Today, you and your big sister Joan are going out in the most seaworthy of vessels to hunt down the legendary treasure of Queen Violeta. Your big sister Joan can be really bossy, which is why she's going to be captain and you're going to be first mate.

"I'm older than you," Joan said, when she suggested that she be the captain.

"You're not Mom and Dad," you replied.

"I know. But when Mom and Dad aren't around, I'm in charge, so I should give the orders when we're out at sea."

You couldn't argue with this.

Off you go with the breath of God sending you speeding after the end of the world like there was a bounty on its head. By January, Joan will die of scurvy and you'll be alone and sad.

Happy You And Your Big Sister, Out On The High Seas Day!

Saturday, November 27, 2004

The Diamond Is A Fake Day!

The Diamond Is A Fake Day!

You didn't suspect a thing. You simply brought it in to the jeweler to have it cleaned.

"Are you in trouble? I mean financially?"

He says, "Not financially, no."

You're icing his birthday cake. Your back is to him. You don't want him to see the tears welling in your eyes. It would ruin his birthday.

"I want to know only two things," you say. "Why did you sell it? And can we get it back? If you answer those two questions, I'll never ask another."

He doesn't speak right away. The only sound to break the silence is his footsteps to the spot just behind you. In twelve years together this is the first time you've ever felt unsafe in his presence.

He says, "Did it ever occur to you that there was nothing to sell? That the ring that I bought you was a fake?"

You don't gasp. Your tears pull back behind your eyes and the stinging back there comes to a stop. You place the icing spatula in the sink and calmly walk out the front door.

When he follows you outside you're already in the street.

"Stay there on the steps," you shout to him. "If you come any closer this entire neighborhood will hear me scream."

"Honey, come on…" he says.

"Who are you?"

He lifts his arms from his sides and starts to approach you.

"Stop!"

"Who am I?" he says. "I'm your husband. Now come inside."

"My husband didn't buy me that ring," you say. "It was my grandmother's."

His arms drop to his sides again. He takes a few more steps.

"Don't come any closer," you say.

He pulls the very realistic mask from his head and says, "Your husband is still alive. But he won't be for long. If you ever want to see him again you're going to have to trust me."

Happy The Diamond Is A Fake Day!

Thursday, November 25, 2004

It's The Girls Are Pretty "This One's For You Minxy!" Thursday And Friday!

It's The Girls Are Pretty "This One's For You Minxy!" Thursday And Friday!

Fans of this site do not need to be reminded that Prettygirl actually sprung from the abdomen of her far more brilliant sister, Minxy. Minxy had great plans for herself. She planned to be the one who would engulf the planet in a storm of fire, once she got a handle on the whole wrangling the servants of hell in service to her whims thing. But Prettygirl's father felt that Minxy was not quite pretty enough, and so he pulled from her side yours truly. This of course killed Minxy, but she lived just long enough to look down into her new sister's eyes and whisper, "He's the cunt. Devote your life to his destruction."

So, yes, Prettygirl's back on her Daddy's trail. Satellite photos place him in a post office in Sao Paulo. She needs today and tomorrow to take him apart at the eyes. So today and tomorrow are going up today. Scroll down and read today's today, then read tomorrow's tomorrow. As you know, reading tomorrow's today shall curse you to forever stink like yesterday.

Friday, November 26, 2004

Marshmallows Roasting In The Fireplace Day!

You've been waiting by the fireplace for an hour to roast some marshmallows, like Mom said you could after dinner. But then Mom starting fighting with Brad, her new boyfriend. They're screaming in her bedroom and sometimes it sounds like something as heavy as a human just fell on the floor. In a minute, Brad's going to come out to the fireplace and throw a bag of marshmallows at your head. He'll say, "Have fun you little shit." Then, from behind your mother's bedroom door you'll hear him shout at your mother, "There, he's toasting his fucking marshmallows. Now if you want someone to sit with him maybe you should call his fucking Dad over here so I can go the fuck back to Metropark."

Maybe she should.

Happy Marshmallows Roasting In The Fireplace Day!

Thursday, November 25, 2004

The Inside Of Your Gloves Smells Like Andrea Day!

Andrea broke up with you at the end of last winter and she must have been the one to wear those gloves last, because your hands smell like her hands.

"I guess everyone I touch will feel the shiver of ice-cold derision course through their veins until I find some anti-bacterial soap," you think.

You're still a little bitter and you shouldn't date yet.

Happy The Inside Of Your Gloves Smells Like Andrea Day!

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Hot Pain Day!

Hot Pain Day!

Jeff and Cara like to burn each other. Jeff doesn't enjoy sex with Cara unless Cara first drips scalding hot water from a kettle that's recently sounded its whistle. Cara doesn't enjoy sex with Jeff unless Jeff binds her wrist to a steaming radiator, the bounds kept loose so that she can try to pull away from the hot steel, but will be scuttled against it again and again as Jeff's methods broaden during the lovemaking.

Today at 7 PM, Jeff and Cara will win a 90 Million dollar lottery. You have until 7 PM to establish a friendship with them. You loathe people like Jeff and Cara, people who think they're interesting just because they need to be set on fire before they come, and understandably so. But if you get into Jeff and Cara's inner circle, they might pay for your father's medicine. He'll die without them.

Happy Hot Pain Day!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

You're Going To Hide The Puppy Where She Hides Her Candy Bars Day!

You're Going To Hide The Puppy Where She Hides Her Candy Bars Day!

To celebrate her 90th day of no chocolate tomorrow, you got your wife an adorable little puppy. You hid him in the garage with a bowl of food and some water. She'd never step foot in that garage unless it was to tell you to stop messing with the birdhouse and come into dinner.

That used to be the case. But lately she's been visiting that garage a lot more often. That's where she goes to get her secret fix of a delicious Hershey's Kiss or two, or perhaps a full-on Toblerone if things get really rough. She knows how much her new diet means to you and she doesn't want to disappoint you. So she's keeping it a secret, weaning herself off until the candy is gone for good, which she thinks will totally happen in just a week or two. What's it matter if she's a little deceptive to keep you happy? She'll be off candy soon enough anyway. No big deal.

But today it's going to be a big deal of hilarious proportions. She'll go into the garage for a Butterfinger. Little Cupcake will start barking up a storm. You'll come out to quiet the dog, but you'll find your dear sweet wife out there. And the whole ridiculous house of cards will come crashing down around you!

OR! Cupcake will eat all your wife's candy and she'll fly into a rage and slam the dog's body against the workbench until he's ripped open at his little puppy sternum. That's not as hilarious, but your wife's got a mean streak that you've always tried to ignore.

Happy You're Going To Hide The Puppy Where She Hides Her Candy Bars Day!

Monday, November 22, 2004

You Have Seventeen Dollars And Seventeen Kids Day!

You Have Seventeen Dollars And Seventeen Kids Day!

Tell your kids, "I'm gonna go buy seventeen lotto tickets. Each one's gonna have one of your birthdates in the numbers. Whichever of your birthdates shows up on the winning ticket, that's the kid I'll take with me when I leave tonight forever."

The seventeen children say, "But what if none of the tickets win." All seventeen of them say that at once. That's what conversations are like in your house. You against seventeen, every damn word.

In answer, just smile and shrug. Then take off and spend the seventeen dollars on a bus ticket. Your seventeen kids'll spend all day praying that it's their birthday that pops up when the numbers are drawn, and you'll be long gone.

The fun part is, if one of their birthdates do show up in the winning numbers, that kid will spend his life thinking that you won the lotto on his birthdate, but welched on your promise to take him with you. He'll probably spend his late teens and twenties tracking you down. And when he finds you he'll find that you never even bought a ticket. He probably won't kill you, but by then he will have amassed his own wealth. You'll of course con your way into his graces and he'll take you in. What he has planned for you, however, is a truly diabolical act of vengeance. Whether he follows through on his plan depends on whether or not he's his Daddy's little boy.

Happy You Have Seventeen Dollars And Seventeen Kids Day!

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Heard You Through The Ceiling Day!

Heard You Through The Ceiling Day!

They heard you slow dancing.

"He's been alone for so long," Jack said to Wendy. "Can he really be slow dancing up there?"

They let their dinner get cold on the table as they sat in silence, scrunching their eyebrows to discern the unmistakable sound of two pairs of feet gently shuffling around the floor at the urging of Nina Simone.

"All things must come to a head," said Wendy.

They raised their wine in a toast to your night on the dance floor. It will be a week before they ride the elevator with you and the thirteen year-old cousin who was assigned to you as your ward according to the last will and testament of your long-lost uncle. You hadn't been getting along until she confided that she had a mixer coming up at school and she'd never learned how to dance, you'll explain to Jack. What you won't go into is the fact that the will also bestows upon you thirty million dollars if you can prove at the end of six months that you would be a good caregiver for your cousin, which means you should stop freebasing. But it's hard to stop freebasing.

Happy Heard You Through The Ceiling Day!

Saturday, November 20, 2004

She Had Dirty Hands Day!

She Had Dirty Hands Day!

She was near you at the dinner party when you took out your Altoids, so you offered her one. She flitted her fingers around in the case to get a grip on a couple and then she walked away. You wouldn't speak to her again for the rest of the evening. But you would notice later that many of your mints were smudged black with some sort of soot.

"I gave you an Altoid," you said to her when you met her again four months later. You were at a gallery opening for a friend you didn't like. "At Kathy's Autumn dinner."

"I think I remember that, yes," she said.

"You had dirty hands," you said. "You smudged all of my Altoids with something black."

She laughed. "Oh I'm sorry. I had helped Kathy open the flue to her fireplace as people were arriving. I guess I never got a chance to wash them. I wonder how many hands I shook."

"I had to throw out the Altoids," you said.

She said, "My, you do hold a grudge don't you?"

"I just didn't know what it was," you said.

"Well, I do apologize for my filthy hands," she said. "Now I'd better go and save my boyfriend from that filthy girl he's talking to."

At that she walked across the gallery to a man you didn't know, but who looked like he had some money.

Today you're at work. It's Saturday, but it's overtime. She's outside at the Starbucks in front of the public library where you get your coffee. She's alone, and she's unhappy.

Say, "Dirty hands!"

Join her, ditch work, take her to a movie. Her hands are washed clean of that rich guy you saw her with at the gallery (he left her for someone dim). Invite her to a movie and I promise you'll be leaving your girlfriend for her by Christmas.

Happy She Had Dirty Hands Day!

Friday, November 19, 2004

Washed Up Movie Stars Day!

Washed Up Movie Stars Day!

Washed up movie stars just love a strong young man like you who'll help out around the house and maybe help them woo back a former spouse.

"But what do I get out of it?" you ask. Fuck you.

Now go on up to Blanche Desdemona's estate and tell her you're here in reference to the Live-In Fireplace Attendant Wanted ad that you saw on Craigs List. The mantle above the fireplace is crawling with photos of her ex-husband, the Macedonian tycoon Nikolai Vortenskiy. Recognize him to her and the job is yours. By the way, she's an ether addict.

Happy Washed Up Movie Stars Day!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

You're Not His Girlfriend Day!

You're Not His Girlfriend Day!

But you're in his bed.

"I'd better break up with my girlfriend now," he says.

You drink the coffee he gave you while he calls his girlfriend and tells her it's over.

"That's all over with," he says. "Your place or mine?"

He moves into your place. Things go very well and he invents something essential to the American kitchen.

"We have so much money," he says.

"Let's kill our enemies," you suggest.

With your enemies gone, the next few years feel like heaven. Then you both grow bored.

"He's not your boyfriend," you say. The naked girl in your bed is quite attractive.

"We had a good run though," he says from the bed.

"Gimme 20 million," you say.

He says, "Done." You're rich and you're single again. Rowrrr!

Happy You're Not His Girlfriend Day!

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Don't Make Him Take The Commuter Train Alone Day!

Don't Make Him Take The Commuter Train Alone Day!

He's been on that train a thousand times before. And he promised his mother you'd be coming home with him for Thanksgiving, that you'd help him endure the stench of rotting flesh billowing up from the seats, the mothers beating their children half to death, the businessmen screaming jovial obscenities back and forth across the car in between sips from their Miller Lite King Kans.

"I'm sorry," you tell him. "I don't like you enough to meet your mother."

Look at his face for God's sake. That's the face of a man about to have a family of nine crushing in around him. He can already feel the gum on his shoes, the soda spilled seeping through the seat of his pants, the punch to his eyes he'll receive from an unattended toddler.

"I just don't feel like we talk enough," you say.

But what about the ticket-takers? He's scared of the ticket-takers. They slap at his feet when he puts them on the seats. One of them even called him Mary once.

"There's no real spark is all," you say. "I don't know if there ever was."

But sometimes people on the train bring their Roy Rogers chicken meals with the processed stench fills up the car like a fog rolling in.

"Have a nice Thanksgiving," you say. You notice how the blood drains away from his face. It's not your fault. He's just remembering what it's like to share a three-seater with a dry-humping teenaged couple. He's feeling a little tender in the stomach.

Happy Don't Make Him Take The Commuter Train Alone Day!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Airplanes Day!

Airplanes Day!

You’re an only child flying home to spend Thanksgiving with your Dad, the first since your mom died.

"About five years ago, I became aware of the fact that I would one day see my parents go," you tell the guy sitting next to you. "And honestly, I used to pray my dad would go first."

"You're a horrible person" the stranger says.

You change your seat to tell a girl in her twenties about how you had so many questions you were hoping to ask your mom once your Dad was gone, and now you'll die with those questions unanswered.

"You should have thought to ask before she went," the girl says.

When the flight attendants bring you up to the cockpit, you tell the pilots that you don't think fathers can really have much bearing on a daughter's life.

The pilot says, "I'd like to crash this entire plane just to take you out."

By the time you touch down at O'Hare, every passenger on the plane is in agreement that you suck. Your father is waiting for you at the gate. Be a good daughter.

Happy Airplanes Day!

Monday, November 15, 2004

He Lives Off Of An Allowance Day!

He Lives Off Of An Allowance Day!

Rich kid, 3 o'clock.

That's what your friend Marci said to you at the New Year's party last year when George walked through the door. You had told Marci that you were sick of working hard to make end's meet and you were ready to date a guy who would spend a lot of money on you. Enter Fat George.

That's only his nickname. Granted, he's a pretty big guy and doesn't do too much to keep himself fit. He's certainly not your usual body type. But he has a lot of money and he's generous with it.

You're probably wondering why today is about you and George. After all, you've been together for almost 11 months already. It was four months ago when you were shocked to discover that you loved him more than anyone you've ever been with. What's new about today?

Today's the day you're going to go back to the restaurant. George met someone else. Someone as rich as he is. It's not that he was looking for someone as rich as he is. But their similar Rich Kid backgrounds made George think they had an immediate connection that he never had with you. He's been telling himself this past month that he always feels like he has to translate stuff to you. Whereas this girl gets everything right away.

He's wrong about this girl. He's going to be bored witless by Easter. But he is going to end it with you today I'm afraid. The good news is he's going to ask you back next Summer. The somewhat bad news is you'll say no. You'll be with someone else by then. Someone poor, and you won't feel like a good person ending it with Mr. Broke-Ass to go back to Mr. Want-An-Ipod?. But you will consider it. Man will you wrestle with that one.

Happy He Lives Off Of An Allowance Day!

Sunday, November 14, 2004

She's The Pretty One At The TCBY Day!

She's The Pretty One At The TCBY Day!

Her name's Bobbi. You heard her co-workers call her that on your twentieth over-long visit. In all the mall, there's no one sweeter than TCBY Bobbi.

She looks good with you. Part of the wall at TCBY is mirrored, allowing you to get an image of your head next to Bobbi's behind the counter. Yours is always a lot bigger of course, but you can tell you complement each other. Your hair looks good with her eyes.

You're not sure if she likes girls though. You've waited till closing and the only boy who ever visits her looks like he's gotta be gay because he wears a bandana tied around his neck. Even if she isn't queer herself, she might inexperienced enough to give a girl a shot.

You've spoken to her, and you definitely felt something on her end. It'll all be made clear tonight. You parked your car with its nose facing hers, and you tucked a red rose underneath her windshield wiper. When she finds the rose, she'll look around to see if the admirer is still around, and she'll spot you behind the wheel of your Nissan. You'll wave to her and smile. It's going to be a big mistake.

Happy She's The Pretty One At The TCBY Day!