blinkingtwelve.org - like sex and pizza, even when we're not great, we're still good.

cleaning out some old email

raymond — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:17:35 -0700

Today, my professor was telling us about this one case where state police towed and impounded this car, whose owner hadn't put coins in the meter. The court found such seizure to be unreasonable b/c the car owner came running out, as the car was being towed, and offered to pay not only the meter, but the cost of towing and inconvenience, as long as they just didn't take his car away. The reason? Apparently, he had a bag full of rubber penises in his trunk, which apparently is illegal in Texas to have.

Anyway, this story made me think of you. Well, you and one of the quotes on your page.

Hope all is going well for you...

Jess
[04/2005]

white belt in verbal judo

raymond — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:26:37 -0700

this is a short piece I wrote for the ADHS website in 2005 regarding events of December 2003. the non-profit I was working for at the time was contracted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to give "Safe Environment" and sexual assault / abuse prevention workshops to all Catholic schools in the area. given that the POWER program was delivered to 7th through 12th graders, the junior high and elementary schools would often invite parents to an "information session" about a week before we would present to each school. through some fluke of scheduling, I was sent to this parent night pretty much by myself before I had ever delivered or even seen the entire program. (the other presenter mentioned is not Tom, but someone who presented another program and couldn't help answer any questions about mine.)

This "baptism by fire" will be funny in hindsight, I tell myself.

I barely stifle a smirk. I doubt that the men and women glaring at me would share my amusement. Surprisingly enough, even the nicest of people completely lose their sense of humor when perceiving a threat to their children. There is a moment of silence as I look down at the wilting piece of notebook paper my mentor had scrawled a very rough outline on. The answer isn't there, but even if it was, I wouldn't realize it because in this magical moment, I manage to forget what was asked of me.

Welcome to my first parent night ever.

email from the other side of the world

raymond — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:01:06 -0700

Raymundo
how you been? i'm in a very dark place...seriously, lots of clouds. there's a really cool coffee shop in walking distance. owned by a woodcarver, it's part art gallery part place to ingest caffeine while sitting on 60s? 70s? furniture of hues born of a color wheel that doesn't exist in college art courses (and perhaps with good reason). It's got a co-op vibe--when employee steps out for a smoke, customers take over barista responsibilities, which is ok bc there's no formal menu and Boss is an arthritic border collie, and she just don't give a shit. With dog hair on the couches and a fly in my steamed milk, i'm just waiting for the hint of a social cue to strip of my clothes and sip my java the way nature intended. i'll keep you posted on that front. anyway, this place naturally made me think of you. hope all is well.
Brien