reverie

Carol of the Dell Hey what just fell? No! not my Dell! Nothing will stay on the display Finals are here, Wringing with fear Hands what must hold Nothing I’m told Oh #@&$, oh #@&$ I’m really stuck What’s with this thing? Blanking the screen. Nothing was saved So act depraved From ev’ry where Laughter you hear How to rebound In work I drown Call service Dell Telling the tale, Oh help me how? Sweat from my brow Speak soft so clear All disappeared... Very, very, very, very, upset Very, very, very, very, upset Off off it stays So act depraved From ev’ry where Laughter you hear rev...

We Three Scribes We three scribes of tabloids are; Bearing bribes we expensed so far, Tracked or Trailer, Jailed or Jailor, Enquire, Globe, and Star… Refrain O star of hunger, star of slight Star with botox beauty bright, Billboard leading, so misleading Guide us to thy perfect blight. Scorn this Queen of fashion and fame Flash I bring to catch her again, Queen for moments, only moments Over now, all to feign. Refrain No context to offer have I Context to guide or clarify Slander turned blazing, voices razing Wishing God we’d just die… Refrain Rumor is mine, for all to assume Turns a life of glitter to gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying Now to the rehab soon Refrain Notorious now behold how she slides; Cold calling jobs to sacrifice Infomercial, Infomercial, Watching your career die… Refrain rev...

hmm... ya know this poem reminds very strongly of another...I read in school 10 or so years ago... I can't remember who wrote it or even the name, but it was took place in a similar setting using a long column troops in a valley during the nights as a metaphor... i will look for it and send it to you if I find it... rev...

Well... here's a ghost from christmas past to warm everyone hearts... 17NOV2001 … Christmastime, Another day, as it is known Takes time to sparkle all it’s own And lonely ones shed tears no more As loved one’s knock upon your door. When calls are made, old friends remember They’re not forgotten in cold December In a rush, no time for thought Hearts are warmed, kind words are bought Sent many miles, with gifts that say I remembered you, will you remember me? As smiles turn inward one can reflect It’s Christmastime, do not forget To wish all well that you hold dear And fill them all with your good cheer… Merry X-mas rev...

wow. really. Narrative Poetry has never been my forte, but I love it when someone pulls it off so well... welcome back, rev...

To Joat, Though, our path rarely cross, thanks for inviting me on to join the Pen way back when... But fairs only fair, I guess... You gave me an invitation, and I gave you an introduction. Well you know what I mean... You always were an inspiration. Take care, revery_tdc *** To Rydia, Trimz and all the rest, Thank you for being you. Your honest (sometimes brutally honest) and straight forward approach to dealing with all things pen, is if nothing else refreshing. Hey my blood froze a few time too, and i didn't always have the guts to says it. You did and that's just great. It's no exaggeration, when I say that of all the great and varied pen opinions out there both past and present, I respect yours above all others... keep on keeping on fearless one, reverie. *** To Signe, Well what can I say, thanks for always being there. You were and still are a wonderful muse. don't be a stranger, revery. *** To Rhapsody, Thanks for all the help in the writer's workshop. Your background and interests intrigue me. Always great to meet to a fellow lover of music, literature, and water... good luck in your studies, rev...

*being silly will write more later...* To the Letter 'C,' Thank you for your sturdy and steadfast nature. Though you may not have always been the right choice, you were always there for me. In moments of great worry and confusion, you never failed to to proclaim: "Pick me! 'A' is just too silly and you picked 'B' last time, so it's really only a toss up between 'D' and me... And geez, do you really want to hedge you bets on a no-account 'D.' ...and Gosh look at the time... Tick, Tock, Tick Tock... only 10 minutes left Rev...So why not Pick me? Honestly Rev... Make a decision already." The simpleness of your insite never failed to impress all that beheld you... And I being the lest worthy to share in your forture, did humble myself upon the great alter of your wisdom on ocassions far to numerous to recall or imagine... So many to choose When nothing is Obvious The Answer is C. in deep devotion and gratitude, revery... ***

hi all, ...was researching the great poet max ehrmann some for another post and ran across two poems of his that were written on or about WWI or maybe even WWII time frame. Not too sure since he died in 1945... Anyway, felt it was appropriate for the day: alien fires When will the nations live by reason's light, And not by deeds that terrify? New groups of nations win with every fight; An endless feud, and always men must die. When will the nations cure the itching palm? Change curse of national pride to love of peace? When shall we know again the gift of calm? Dear God, when will this killing cease? We crossed the seas to curb a nation's lust, We sought by force to quench an alien fire. From now we strive to understand, and trust Fair play to bring the world's desire. How can we look these veterans in the face? We snatched them from their dear familiar round. Is our dream mad to school a wayward race? and what of them beneath the ground? I go my way All round is haste, confusion, noise. For power and wealth men stretch the day. From dawn to dusk. But quietly I go my way. For glitter, show, to taunt the crowd, Desire-tossed in wild dismay, Men sell their souls. But quietly I go my way. The green of all the fields is mine, The stars, the night, the wind at play, A peaceful heart, while quietly I go my way. ... have fun, rev...

DC traffic is a nightmare... Combine it with holiday Traffic and well, i don't even want to think about it... Glad to hear you came out okay... am not much for words of inspiration today... so here's someone else's... Whatever else you do Max Ehrmann (also wrote the desiderata of happiness) Whatever you do or forbear, impose upon yourself the task of happiness; and now and then abandon yourself to the joy of laughter. And however much you condemn the evil in the world, remember that the world is not all evil; that somewhere children are at play, as you yourself in the old days; that women still find joy in the stalwart hearts of men; And that men, treading with restless feet their many paths, may yet find refuge from the storms of the world in the cheerful house of love. take care, rev...

gryphon... cool. didn't see your first postl, guess we must have posted near the same time... or i was editing when your were posting... rev...

well, it's different... just a suggestion, but there's room for tweaking the 'tenses and line lengths a little for the sake of rhythm... Women and children were hidden in holes lamenting and praying for their souls And Mamma cuddle children in their laps pale cold hands on small mouths, tightly claps example: Women and children were hidden in holes lamenting and praying for their own souls or mortal souls And Mammas or Mothers cuddle children in their (an adjective could work here too) laps as pale cold hands on small mouths tightly clap. just a suggestion. revery the dreamlost "i'm just misunderstood, while misunderstanding you..." the dream continues...

ah... i love the use of parathesees in the 1st and 3rd stanza... it's personalizes it and gives it depth... i think... like a sketch artistest discovering how to shade for the first time... cool. revery the dreamlost "inverness" the dream continues...

Grasp (Super edited Version) 30 NOV 2004 Grasp. Hold tight With force, and with might This night- They will fight- For your spite and your right~ To destroy, and kill All those you find shrill~ Despite your insight You incite as you blight While you can - runaway From things they will say. Though the threats steal within You just laugh and you grin… As we die, yes WE die! Still you laugh, as we cry. ‘till Mistrust - understands… -Nothing perfect in plan. Stands as firm under day Waving proud anyway… Still, what kind of man -Will sever one hand? And fell one for another for profit and plunder. Mistrust. Understand? Nothing’s perfect in plans. Nor this truth as in man. For reason complains lest in that it explains but deaf ears will not save As you waste those our brave Enshrined virtue enslaved Those who wonder depraved Grasping tight those you save... ... revery the dreamlost "i'm only slightly out of focus" the dream continues...

To Tasselhoff... Err, No... No. you do not have to pay that medical bill...provided you are U.S. Active Duty service connected. Take that bill back to your post clinic, find your Military HMO representative i.e. TRI-CARE etc, and have them pay the bill or reimburse you for it. Prescriptions can also be reimbursed but you may have to mail them off somewhere. The only reason you would not have to pay is, if and only if you commander determines that your injury/illnesses was not in the line of duty... However, if this had occured you would have been notified of this DIRECTLY by your commander or chain of command. The only thing that ER should have asked you is what Military Medical Region you are assocaited with i.e. ARMY: TRI-CARE North/South etc... This is because your Geneva Convention Identification Card functions as an medical insurance card in off post medical facilities... If all else fails and you are not reimbursed for the bill, then you can deduct this expence from your income tax. However, with your tax-advantaged salary, good luck beating the standard deduction. rev...

honestly it felt a bit rushed... i agree with Gyphon that the set up was good... but the rest kind of needs more flesh... I don't specialize in prose, but i think this is pretty good since you just improvised it... Go back and edit the heck out of it when you get some time... Not sure if you play video games, but the fight scenes seem to be influenced by them... Already told you on IRC, but the beginning of the inner frame story reminded me a lot of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" the author happened to be a comtempory of chaucer... Good story you should give it a try if you haven't already... rev...

well... you could always watch the movie, "young sherlock holms," but that probably had no input from the author... hmm, well I do recall that Mr Holms had an appreciation for atleast two things besides deduction: Music and Cocaine... Heh, he's not quite as stuffy as we thought, is he? Though back then his obsession with the violin was probably more upsetting to the locals than his other mind clearing hobby... revery the dreamlost "..." the dream continues...

I like the first one best... Sometimes you have to grow up too fast, but it's nice if you have the opportunity to take your time... Inner child pleading with the would-be-adult to slow down maybe? The "it" in the fourth line makes me curious as to what "it" is... um, i'm prolly the last one that should point this out, but you have a few minor spelling errors in the second one: like using "and" instead of "an" ...kind of breaks up the flow. so I think it's worthy of a second look... a little editing here and there never hurts... rev...

i like it... I always get the impression you never hold anything back... makes for strong charactors I think. I love the harsh detail of the future city. Actually reminds me of the a crazier version of Anne Macaffrey's earth in "pegasus in flight..." and future worlds in anime and comics do come to mind as well... am making a note check out the comic... one day... rev...

aww, the future... well since the u.s. economy is based on faith(t-bonds and what not)... and we tend to need other people from here and abroad investing them... its going to be interesting to see where the all money's going to go... Euro's gotten stronger over the last few years... gee, I wonder why? ...also excellent wall-paper appy... Go Sluggy rev...

it's not so much politics as attempting to be concerned with the direction society is going in general... the two are forever joined... as the ruler of the day sets the tone for enough things to influnence how things should get done... if that's not tooo general for you... my concerns with the current commander and chief only grow more concerned when I look at his changing cabinet and all ppl leaving the CIA... I took Powell's resignation particular hard. It was nice to have former four-star general so close the throne. I will miss him. I saw him as the one of the few voice's of reasons willing to take on all the other 'yes' men. If history has taught us anything; it is that those who surround themselves with only those that will agree with them, we only grow more out of touch with reality as time goes by... rev...

stacks work on offence as well no spell or item needed... rev...

So anyway I woke up and remembered I had to go to Fort Meade... Why? Well I had to go to buy stuff for an upcoming school... One requirement requires that you bring everything with you that's on their list... I didn't have everything, so I figure what the heck, I'll drive the hour and half to Meade to get it... Note: my home base is only 20 mins away but alas, they don't have jack there. Well unless you count west nile and anthrax... but that another story... So anyway, I'm on my way to Fort Meade... Oh let me back up... First thing, I do after I remember I'm got to go somewhere is eat breakfast... Looking in the fridge, I relize that I have all this buffla-loaf... Buffla loaf? Well it's kinda like meatloaf only it's made out of bison... the wyoming variat... Anyway, I throw it in the oven for an hour while I shower, brush teeth and do other such things... Okay so when I'm done with the other such things, I realize that someone left the living room in utter chaos, and I myself still had a lot of other clutter everywhere else to attend too... Thus my obsessive compulsive demon takes over and starts to put away everything that in the way... and trust me, at this point, everything is in the WAY! Shoes, McDonald's monopoly game, landry, very very old mail, coupons, pizza box, chinese food menus... all of which belong to my room-mate... So anyway after depositing everything that I can't in good concious throw-away in front of his door at the end of the hall(he's still asleep of course) I make a mad dash to throw out all the boxes and trash bags before my buffla-loaf is done. Let's see 3 mins left on the timer and the dumbsters is a down three flights of stairs and 8th of mile away... I can make that, not really... So I return to my apartment, wash hands and proceed to scrap off the burnt stuff encasing my now somewhat smaller buffla-loaf loaf. Despite the slight charring it's still pretty good. Oh note: you should never over-cook bison... due to it lower fat content, it cooks way way faster than beef... So usually if in you over-cook it, it wiil taste like, like...well pretty much you might as well just throw it away... But this time it came out decent enough... beside I was hungry... Dang upcoming military school...have to go all healthy to make weight... Sooo, like I said, i'm eating loaf while channel suffering, or surfing rather... No wait it is like suffering? ya know that brings up a good point, all that channel surfing can really turn stressful...Think about it. When you watch TV your brain is operating on Beta-waves or is it alpha waves. Well it's a wave; the same kind you do when dreaming... but instead sleeping your zoning while watching TV... So your body get's all stress out because it like "hey what the heck, we should be asleep rebuilding your muscles and doing important stuff like building hair, not just lying here tensing up with each click of the channel...) So as I was saying, I was channel surfering in front of my other roomies TV( he went off to jersey for the weekend, so it's kewl) and I pass by the Sundance channel: I love the Sundance channel... and briefly pause my surfing to take in a very well done adaptation of Chekov's 'The Bear' a.k.a 'Speed for Thespians' done on a Bus. Pretty much I'm floored, so all thoughts of Fort Meade have left me by this point... So I clean up, do the dishes, contemplate doing landray but stop when I realize my still sleeping room-mate still has two loads in. Ya know, I absolutely hate it when someone does that. Ya know it's one thing to leave clothes in say the Washer, or even the Dryer... But to leave them in BOTH is just plain rude... See if you leave the clothes in the Washer: it's a simple fix, cause all you have to do is move the offending stuff over to the Dryer... Put in a dryer sheet(fabric softener) and all is right in the world. Likewise, if someone has left stuff in the Dryer all you have to do is put it in a landry bag or basket and deposit in front of his door at the end of the hall... if you even have to do that, because with the Dryer only occupied you are free to use the washer: If the washer engages usually one your/my whatever room-mates will hear it and decide: hey sean's washing stuff, maybe I should move my stuff out of the Dryer now, so he can use it when his stuff gets done washing" See Simple. However, when both the Dryer and the Washer are taking up your like: well hell, what am I supposed to do. Sure I could bag up his stuff and his move his other stuff over, thus leaving room for my stuff... But heck, you're just going to have to do it again once your stuff get done washing... Not too difficult huh? Well not really... See now instead of having one bag/basket of done landry at your room-mate's door, now you have two... Two loads which more than likely won't fit in the one basket you have... So the issue becomes that you now have two overflowing loads of landry stacked outside your roomies door...When he wake he find this along with all the clutter from the living room and decides: "hmm, I guess sean's gone into annoyed-passive-agressive mode again, well now, the only course of action is to go into annoyed-passive-agressive mode myself." This then starts an unholy room-mate war, where words get said, feelings get hurt, and before you know it your have to bring up why he was late on the rent again and where is that sixty bucks he's own ya from last month... And ultimately you end up having to call room-mate number three into the mix to break up...I mean...mediate the whole thing. So you see it's not worth all the fuss of moving the two loads... At this point Fort Meade is really really forgotten, so I go online to check my game, check the out the Pen *waves, and transfer some funds inorder to make sure all the bills get paid... Funny, i'm the youngest and lest experience in this sorta thing yet I handle all the bills... Actually that's probably a good thing. if you ever lived through getting your house reprossessed as a kid, you tend to be very money concious... So anyway, I start channel suffering again. And I pass by Baron Munchausen... the latest version done up by Terry Gilliam... Great guy, takes on way too much, but a visionary none-the-less... um, anyway, I realise that i've never seen the beginning of this movie... Sure I seen the middle and ending... about 10 times...funny how that works(suffering remember), but never the beginning... Well, I didn't get to the see the beginning this time either, well the very beginning anyway. I got in it about 10 mins into it... Good enough for me though... So i'm watching this thing, and the old Baron's being entertained by the kings of the turks( king? ...shouldn't it be an emperor or sultan... hmm, not sure, will research later....) So the king offers the Baron some wine, remarking on it's great quality; where as the Baron replies, "not bad." Well the king's kinda of put off by this and insists that it is far superior to anyother like it... The baron replys, "humbug." 'Humbug.' ...well the word seems to stir something in me, but I let it go and continue watching... About this time, I realize that I still have over an hour and half to drive to fort mead to get my list done along with some uniform alterations...so I go into mad dash 'basic training' mode, grab whatever I think I'm going to need and bolt for the door. So i'm on my way and I realize... Hey, I don't have my packing list...or even remember how to get to fort meade... Realizing it would be too much of a kill-joy to turn around, I decide to held directly to fort detrick, my home base...go to my office, pick up my other copy of my list, and then use mapquest... plus I can check up on the shift workers(that's always fun...) So 20 or so mins later I'm nearing fort detrick... and i start listening to the oldies station... Oldies circa vietnam errror(have to specify with the advent of popular radio over the last century, you can never be too sure who's oldiers station you are listening too now-a-days) I mean some people consider 80's music ancient... and come to think of it, it is... However, it doesn't lessen the shock of hearing it classified that way. Anyway, I start singing along to 'i'll be there' by the four tops...(shut up, you have your weaknesses, I have mine.) ...and I then it hits me again. See, I have almost the exact same voice a my other brother... He's gone now. Anyway, my voice is my own, so I never really notice it, except when I'm singing...(or trying to sing, trust me we can't...) So I hear his voice in mine and I start to get all choked up... So after some much needed venting at the world with a few generall !@#$!% and some GD @#%!@#%$ for good measure, I pull myself out of it as I arrive at my office... Seeing the blue-station wagon in the NCO/Soldier of the year spot, perks me up a little... cause that mean's my protege is working today...we share the spot respectively... So I go in, get my list, print out my directions, and then check with my protege to see if anyone on the shift floor needs anything from Fort meade... Nope? okay... so I roll the one hour to fort mead... Note: I am very time concious at this point... but can't remember the details. So anyway, on the way down, I'm listening / auto-scanning through the radio... and something 19th century sounding starts playing on npr... This makes my mind wonder...and again my thoughts turn to Baron Munchausen. 'Humbug,' who says humbug? and without the dicken-esk prerequisite 'bah.' So I stop, well not literally, i'm still driving in the rain... did I mention it was raining... Well it was, absolutely miserable stuff... But anyway back to my point... The point really, for this is the only reason i'm really writing all this: Have you ever stopped to consider the word 'humbug.' I mean really. What a strange word it is... So I think about it and decide well it must be kind of a dismissive type reply. Under closer inspection, I conclude that you are in fact calling someone a 'bug.' But not just any bug...a humming bug. Humming, not unlike buzzing... um, like unto a fly... so pretty much you calling the offender a buzzing bug, not worthy of being listened too... Now I haven't quite decided if you are also saying "shu fly shu" or are you merely stating that "sir, what you have just said is on par with the utterance of an insect, and thus I shall dismiss it." hmm, those two are actions are actually quite similar, now that I think about it. Maybe you are just personifying the statement as a bug not the speaker... and are telling the bug to begone.. Get thy behind me bug! Hmm, this occupied my mind so much that I just had to call my friend tony... haven't called in months... he replied, that "no, he had never thought to thinks so so deep on that word, but was glad to hear from me..." oh comparing notes we realized we be in the same city over -thanksgiving, so decided to make an event of it... Cool...finally get to meet jess's (his wife's) family, that i've heard sooooooo much about... but that's another story... And this one's about through... Sure, I could tell you about the confusion over finding the Clothing and Sales in Fort Meade... And more of the Rain, and The Traffic... Oh! Oui vey... the traffic with all the mess and wrecks... or how I finally managed to wake up my room-mate long enough to decide to go to a movie, which was later cancelled on the account of the traffic... or how I went nutz, and bought 6 cases of fake soda...but no cheese... yep, royal cola's diet rite... All the carbonation of soda and not much else... No sugar, No Caffiene, No Sodium...Powered by Splenda... the no calorie sweetener that you can bake with! I guess that would be good a good thing, if I baked, but I don't... so i will end this my tale... of the mightly word "humbug..." later penites... revery the dreamlost "there, but for the grace of god go I..."(i have no clue who said this...) the dream continues...

if y'all are really serious about delving back into AM... then you should get someone to create an updated Stack Calculator for you. -Would need to be able to handle 15 stacks and do Net Power vs' real power calculations. Unless you can do the math in your head, stack calculators are critical for combacting mult-devil players... here an example of one found randomly on google: http://home.iprimus.com.au/badams/stackcalc.html The best anti-devil stack I ever created with-stood three successive devil attacks during the one of the B1 Dream Tournaments... (my team took second place over-all in our first and only effort, even with being F.o.G.'ed{fury of god} twice; unforunately we also got our entire guild officially dis-invited from ever competing again, hehe...) Basically: devils always attack your top stack. the trick is to get your top or strongest stack worth less than 10% of your real power, or is it net... you'll have to experiment; i forget. Arch-Angels and Angels work best for blue mages. Novice to decent muti-devil mages rarely have an army well rounded enough to take on the other 90% of your army. So if you're lucky you will kill more than 10% of his army and he loses. Same concept works for attacking/countering multi-devilers... newbies tend to freak out and think you have some magically item or something... Nothing magic about it, just math. rev_out

sure, sure Big P... If i couldn't get along with people I don't agree with I wouldn't last long in my field, home, or in family reunion type enviroments.... ...worlds a divided place but it still easy to get along... like I live with a die-hard conservative from new jersey...and I'm an independant authorative-liberal from the south...and my other roommates a democrate from puerto rico... Also 2/3 of the people i work with are either republican or conservative or both... The rest are moderates / libertarians / liberals / or bonifed democrates... Also my closest friends are a Green and liberatarian couple(reformed republican) from the south... Pretty much we all get along just fine... occasionally you have to evoke the dinner time sanity rule though: No talk of politics or religion when someone get offended... rev...

chey... every few months or even annually? the pen has a roll call for all active members. If you miss the role call you are dubbed a weenie... until you post a an orginal work with the phrase: "Buying off the Weenie" somewhere in the title post. Happened to me last time too... no big deal see this thread for more details: http://www.patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12317 rev...