I pick up the phone to dial the Veteran's Administration (VA). It's regarding my service-connected compensation that I receive every month and have since honorably discharging. Recently, it was reduced because my son graduated high school and is thus no longer considered my dependent. I'd had a little tack-on on to my monthly check thanks … Continue reading There’s more
Author: neal
Are you effin’ kidding me?
Hey, Dawg. Bye, Dawg. I mean, that's kinda how it feels right now. The time that we got here in (too fast). The speed we made (too effin' fast). The distance covered (are you effin' kidding me?). What the heck just happened? (Hold please) Clearly this is gonna take a minute. But I need to … Continue reading Are you effin’ kidding me?
The Pass List
Katie took it upon herself to plan their seventh anniversary, hoping it might help elevate her out of the funk she’d been experiencing. She suspected that her husband Robert, a prime catch from every traditional matrimonial metric, couldn’t comprehend the desires that had recently overcome her. While she embraced their upscale suburban life, she craved … Continue reading The Pass List
Birthday girl
I'd hear her tell about it. I can’t imagine it, though. Her stringing a bunny upside down and bapping it upside the head 'til it froze dead. Bunnies. Chickens too. A part of me always wanted to see what it was actually like, but that was when my grandmother was younger and in Portugal. Maybe … Continue reading Birthday girl
A wish
I remember that one night when my dad was stabbing his new girlfriend with his romance. He was around the same age I am now. I was downstairs watching tv or something. The bed creaked and squeaked. I was an odd mix of cheerleader and grossed-out kid and anxious seeker of an ages-old answer I … Continue reading A wish
What’s the alternative?
She and I are sitting in my living space that's undergoing a lot of construction. It's right before we peel each other's clothes off or maybe right after, I can't remember now. I'm fairly practiced in this scenario by now, the one in which a girl's actions and a girl's words don't quite line up. … Continue reading What’s the alternative?
Commencement
I don't really look back at my high school days with any great fondness or nostalgia. They were okay. I did well in the classroom, I started every game my senior year at point guard, got my first stinky pinky in the backseat of my Volare, which if you didn't know any better could've easily … Continue reading Commencement
Money bytes
tmc: Deficit. Big word coming from our bestie in the White House. “Gotta cut down the deficit.” “Can’t hand it off to our kids.” “Gotta trim all this waste and pay off the deficit.” It’s a steady and automatic chorus. Every Republican president since I can remember talks about the deficit in these terms. So what is it exactly? Money Guy: … Continue reading Money bytes
Do-over
Seems after hearing some feedback on my last entry (I hate "post") that I’ve some explaining to do. "So you think Trump’s like Aurelius?" one sexy-smart Hollywood writer, slash private jet pilot, slash black belt asks. We only met online so far. I'm trying to get her to tell us how to land an airplane … Continue reading Do-over
Bad dictator, bad
So we don’t like dictators. Pushing everybody around. Bragging. Puffing his chest out, say, with a scowl. Say the scowl is copper for shits 'n' giggles. Calling to, I don't know, annex this here land. Green land. Call that up there to the north our 51st state. Bad. Monarchial. Despotic. Not who we are. … Continue reading Bad dictator, bad
Things Men Carry 