Nightcap 02/17/13

There's a local man by the name of Donald. Always has been Donald and always will be Donald.
Donald sits in his living room, each evening, in clear view of the large picture window. No curtains, no shade.
Next to him on the floor, clearly laid out and visible, are four cash registers and seventeen coiled garden hoses. He's not ashamed of any of it. Why would he be?
And Donald sits there, in the dusk, smoking store brand 100s, waiting for someone to be brave. He's waiting for a curious visitor wanting an explanation of his display. And when asked, Donald will reply that it's “certainly none of your business, thank you all the same.”
And for this, locally, Donald is considered a hero.
He'll be dead within 8 years.

Nightcap 02/14/13

This is the perfect climate in which to open a Ginger Bear factory. Don't believe the liars. With this scheme you cannot fail. Your family stands to gain much reward and will honor your memory long after you disappear into the sewers, chasing after rupees. These Ginger Bears, working with them is not like working with normal bears. If they bite you, you will become ginger yourself. Total DNA replacement with a very strong spice. It is very difficult to walk as a ginger man. You legs will sand off inside your pants and your neck will never cease being sore. Oh then, yes, you will wish yourself into a room with demons rather than live out a life of painful ginger shocks. You will take anything – including work at the gun range – to get back your true form. Meanwhile these...

Nightcap 02/13/13

Exhausted. Worn out. Collapsed on the desk. Fire limping along. Piles of papers. Books. Books, books. Open, torn, thrown. Piled on everything. Compasses, T-squares, crude measuring devices. Broken animal cages line walls. The doors all left open. Pencils bit in half. Ugly photos of women from the east. In each one they hold a toaster or other desperate appliance. “I can hold. See how I hold? Strong grip. Tell me about prize. When is it mine?” Piles of shoes that do not fit, but, “better hang on to these, could be the answer.” Broken and defeated. A giant, floor-standing globe. Big countries colored in black. Bird skeletons. The whole scene pervaded by a sense of “not being up to the task, of not coming to terms with it. To have wrestled with the very idea of...