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The first stanza of the song Verona, by Muse, is this:

Can we kiss
With poison on our lips
Well I’m not scared

The song has mesmerized me from the moment I first heard it 3 years ago and it is hauntingly beautiful. I have listened to it repeatedly many times, probably every time I’ve played it.

Good music coupled with good lyrics have heart and soul poured into them. There is a message in the piece, there is a reason, a real reason why the piece is produced and created. True artistry is a direct line into what the artist feels. An evocation of emotion and message. An invitation.

Allowing such a piece to break into your own being translates to personal release, an emotional connection, and possibly an etherial journey.

Verona

I remember what seems like not-so-long ago when people wrote, by hand. What happened? People don’t seem to write anymore. I’m not even ‘writing’ now, I’m typing. School-aged children are still actually taught manuscript writing, that’s printing for those unfamiliar with the term. However there is so much technology in the classrooms these days that kids are learning more how to touch their selection on the screen, or ‘speak’ it into the device. Digital deliverables (classwork or homework) are accepted and still less of us are actually writing.

I taught cursive in my classroom for many years. In my classroom, it was ‘cursive only’, period. I wrote in neat cursive on the board, and I accepted only cursive work from all my students. If would often, and then less often receiver work that was printed/manuscript. I would thank the student for their effort, especially if they really did put effort into their work, and then I would remind them that I accept cursive-only, and they would need to re-write their work. This was not a surprise to them, that I accepted cursive-only, but they conveniently chose to write in manuscript just because it was easier. Sorry, this work requirement hasn’t changed people.

As time passed, I began to receive more and more pushback from students and their parents regarding writing cursive! ‘My child is in tears trying to do their homework in cursive.’ Instead of receiving some kind of reminder or encouragement ‘Come on, you know the class rules, you can do it!’, it became more of ‘That’s alright buddy, I’ll send him an email or speak with him tomorrow.’

That type of exchange increasingly grew over the years so one day I reluctantly surrendered to the fact that my classroom requirement for writing in cursive-only was no longer going to be a battle I would fight.

Technology and its increasing use became exponential. We used our thumbs to ‘type’. Eventually, we didn’t even have to type, we ‘swiped’ the word into being. Then we succumbed to selecting the ‘space bar’, which is NOT at all a space bar when a word was ‘suggested’. As a result, we unlearned how to spell.

We have grown into a society no longer accustomed to writing in the physical sense, pen to paper, and no one seems bothered by what will one day become quite a problem with individual or societal expansion! I didn’t begin this post with the intent to get on a soapbox and spew, however in composing this piece I have definitely gained a new appreciation for my age.

But is it really a quick question? Not usually. Is the reference ‘quick question’ relative to the question itself or is the intent looking for a ‘quick answer’? What if I didn’t want a quick question coming my way, then what? Am I obligated to answer your quick question just because you asked? Am I to think that you are being considerate of my time and busy schedule, and therefore to avoid a lengthy question and often lengthier answer you poise your words as something ‘quick’? If you are looking for a quick answer to your quick question, I am probably already burdened with being put in a situation of having to provide a ‘quick answer’. Generally one question generates a follow-up question. Then what?

Those two words have such a powerful passive-aggressive pathway of forced communication. Yet those two words are so often, and I do mean often, used as an exchanged lead-in for “I would like to talk to you about this topic…now.”

I wonder how many times I have been approached with ‘quick question…’, and then the resulting answer becomes a warranted involved dialog. I think the lead-in ‘quick question…’, has now graduated into my lifetime tray of annoyances. For me, it goes right along with the very irritating clackety-clack sound-effect that was so overused on radio and television airwaves of the late 80’s through early 2000’s to simulate computer keyboard use. Computer keyboard technology became a lot quieter before the CLACKETY-CLACK annoyance was for the most part put to rest.

So I’m thinking that the ‘quick question’ approach is a selfish introduction to a discussion that someone else wants to have. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.

‘Get off my lawn!’

A CMS, or Content Management System is used to create, house, and publish ‘content’ for any website. In my case, I write and then I publish my pieces which vary in length. Some of what I write are short essay’s and others are simply what I call written ‘pieces’, or Musings.

I write for my own cathartic exercise and not for anyone else. Not many people read what I have written which does not bother me in the least as I do not even advertise the site. It is what it is, take it or leave it. Most days The site gets a small handful of visitors and readers with the periodic burst in online traffic for a day. The CMS shows a statistical breakdown, no doubt for those who seek to learn reading patterns and high-traffic written pieces.

I believe for the most part, the data is accurate. There is however an outlier in the data I receive on a daily basis. One of the Published pages, Your House is Like a Museum, was receiving a very consistent and unusual traffic pattern on a daily basis. Either that piece is the best written example of American short literature or the page was long ago tagged by a ‘bot’ to ensure a daily visit and periodically multiple visits in one day. It was painfully obvious when I noticed an almost daily site visit from China, and Your House is Like a Museum was the number one ticket and most viewed page on the website.

Well, I don’t think so. I quickly became numb seeing Your House is Like a Museum as my most visited page. Then I got irritated in seeing the title listed on the stat page every day, but there it was so I just ignored it. Until today.

I am very curious to see how the bot will handle the fact that I unpublished that particular page. The page is still within my CMS, it’s just unpublished. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this solution before today.

Shoo-fly! Have fun with that you digital nothing.

Curious? Navigate to the Musings tab, it’s the top entry.

Capitalizing The in the title was intentional, as all things are. Maybe sometimes just not my intention. It didn’t make much of an impact on me with the ‘T’ being lowercase. I tried it, it didn’t work.

Significance in all aspects of one’s life is there, in The life. Significance is always there, noticed or unnoticed. It’s there. There were so many thoughts circling inside my head this morning about what I was going to write. I wasn’t thinking ‘hmmm I should write something, but what?’ No, it wasn’t that. My thoughts were ideas or topics that I wanted to write about NOW, but The time was not right not being at the computer.

Today is Monday and there is so much I want to do. I’m already looking at the clock thinking about the time I have left in The day. I won’t sit around. Today is The Day.

I will look at the trees and listen to their rustling leaves. I will walk in the sunlight and feel warmth I am offered. I will touch. I will listen to what is said, and what is unsaid. I will enjoy the company of those around me and will offer my words. I will lend my ear, and I will see as if it were the last time for me. I will do all of these with boundless gratitude.

I will do all these things, because Today is The Day.