by Marty Coleman | Mar 17, 2013 | Bodyless Ghirl Ghosts - 2012-2013 |
Last we saw the Bodyless Ghirl Ghosts they were avoiding watching the Saleslady and the Bartender do things with body parts they know longer had. This is what happened the next day.
The next day the bodyless ghirl ghosts decided to get clean. Since they don’t have clothes they only have to clean themselves and their hair. Their preferred way to do this is to bob in a bubble bath as it fills, before the person who is filling it comes back to take his or her own bath. They try to get out of the tub and be gone before that happens but occasionally they forget and are still in among the bubbles when the person gets in. Some of the ghirl ghosts actually like that, and they float around the person’s body, rubbing up against parts, being naughty. Greta, the sexy Ghirl Ghost likes it best and the other ghirl ghosts often have to come back to get her. Especially if its a man in the tub. She likes making his body parts change shape and him having no idea why. She also likes to do that on busses at the most inconvenient time, right before the man is about to stand up to get off. She’s naughty, like I said.
They do this by going into strangers’ houses or apartments. But this day the hotel they were staying at had a busted water heater and so there was no hot water anywhere in the whole hotel. They decided to go to the laundromat they saw down the street and see if they could get in one of the washers. They had seen the washers with the big front windows with a lot of soapy bubbles and thought that would work just fine.
They noticed a father with his young daughter about to put their clothes in one of the big tumbling machines. The door was open so while the father separated the clothes and the daughter checked all the pockets for change and gum, they floated in. They hid in the back of the washer until the door closed. Then they started talking, wondering if they would get as clean as in a bathtub. The father put the quarters in the machine and started it up.
The ghirl ghosts were excited, they had never washed themselves in a washing machine before. They were looking forward to all the nice hot soapy water sloshing all around. But that was not what they got. What they got was cold water. Very cold water. The father was about to set it to hot when the daughter reminded him that the load was all delicates and had to be washed on cold. The ghirl ghosts were not happy. They also had not really looked close at what a front loading washing machine does. They thought they would be jiggled back and forth a little bit. But instead they were tumbled. A lot. They got very very dizzy and cold and were not having fun.
Sharita looked out the window of the washing machine and saw the daughter pointing into the window and looking at her father. Sharita could barely hear her above the bubbly din of the machine. She thought she heard her say, “Look Daddy, there are a whole bunch of ghosts in the machine!”
The father peered in and said, “That’s funny I can’t see them. What do they look like?”
The daughter said, “You can’t see them? They are right there!” By this time all the ghirl ghosts were looking out the window staring at her.
They all started to yell and scream that they were cold and dizzy and wanted the machine to stop. The daughter looked at the dad and said, “Daddy, I can here them, they are cold and dizzy and want us to stop the machine so they can get out!”
The father responded, “Well, I guess we better do that then.” and stopped the machine, opened the door and said, “Ok, ghosts come on out, you are free!”
The ghosts all said “THANK YOU!” very load and flew out of the machine. The daughter told her father, “Did you hear that? They said thank you!”
The father said, “Well, I am sure they are thankful, I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a cold washing machine, would you?”
“NO!” said the daughter as they started the machine back up.
The 13 Bodyless Ghirl Ghosts immediately flew out into the street and back to their hotel, which by that time had fixed the hot water heater. They went from bathroom to bathroom taking warm bubble baths the rest of the day. Greta especially had a very fun time!
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Drawing and story by Marty Coleman, who once had a birthday present hidden in a washing machine when he was nine. It was a sleeping bag.
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 16, 2013 | Born Day - 2013 |
Yes, it’s two for one this week. Caitlin AND Linda both have birthdays. Now you know why it’s Happy Born Day week!
To Linda on Her Birthday
Linda took a trip,
Around the sun this year.
She didn’t try to hide,
She faced it without fear.
She’s taken the trip before,
More than a few.
And since it can’t be helped,
She tries to enjoy the view.
It isn’t always easy,
She wouldn’t mind if it didn’t change.
But she knows that’s not happening,
So she tries to stretch her range.
And that is what I love,
Because I know it’s hard,
That she does her very best,
And has come so very far.
She embraces that the new,
Will always be right here.
She knows that she can take it,
And embrace it far or near.
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Happy Birthday to Linda!
Love, Marty
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 15, 2013 | Born Day - 2013 |
I must admit, it’s day #5 of Happy Born Day week!
First, a Question
I want your opinion on this. What do you think of these two elements, a woman sometimes not wanting to admit her age and a man often not acting his? Is it as gender based as the quote states? Are you the opposite, a woman who doesn’t act her age or a man who lies about his? How did that come about? Think about it, read my take on it, and let me know what your take on it is, ok?
My Age Confession
I find myself sometimes not wanting to admit my age, which is 58 as of 2013. Then other times I take great pride in it. Sometimes it’s due to the audience. If I am talking to the runners I coach I readily admit my age because I want them to see that age is not an excuse to not be fit. But if I am talking to professionals in my arena of business I sometimes think twice because I worry that they might see me as too old to participate in a discussion about parenting for example, or a panel about social media, since, given my age, I might be out of the loop on those things.
But the truth is I have set it up so I couldn’t hide my age if I wanted. My birthday is out in the world, when the moment arrives for me to divulge my age I do so with minimal hesitation, even if I do have a bit of worry. It takes one more thing out of my ‘worry equations’ early on and I can get on with the business at hand. What happens happens.
The First Lie
I wrote that confession above so you would know I am not thinking it is only women who don’t like to admit their age at times. But it is true that overall I find women are much more likely to hesitate about saying their age. Why is that and does it really matter? I think it matters a bit. I would like to think I have an honest enough relationship with whatever woman I am talking to that if the matter of her, or my, age comes up we would just say it and move on. But, while I would prefer to know the truth, it isn’t, in most cases, a crucial element in the relationship.
The Second Lie
But what about men? A woman might say she is 45 and actually be 50. But a man who IS 45 but acts 20 is inflicting a far more grievous offense on whoever he is relating to. Why is that? Because he looks 45 and can pretend to be emotionally or developmentally 45, but in truth he is acting. His true age, his true development, was stunted at age 20 and over time he is going to act 20 quite often.
Buyer Beware
What does that mean? It means ‘buyer beware’. This sounds terrible crude and cruel to put the onus on the woman to find out a man’s true emotional and developmental age, but it is the truth. A woman has to be in a relationship long enough and with a clear enough mind to be able to discern who is this guy, really? Not what does he look like, or what job he holds, but what age does he act? If a woman wants a baby who she needs to clean up after, who is constantly making a mess of his own life and the lives of those he should be watching over, then she should choose one of those developmentally stunted men. But how many women REALLY want that man? Not many.
The Triple Play Trap
So why do so many women end up with those men? I think it’s because they are either thinking all men are like that, they think it’s part of the devil’s bargain they have to make to be ‘taken care of’ or they think the man will change once they are married. None of those reasons are very good ones if you ask me.
The Questions Revisited
Once again, here are my questions to you: What do you think of these two elements, a woman sometimes not wanting to admit her age and a man often not acting his? Is it as gender based as the quote states? Are you the opposite, a woman who doesn’t act her age or a man who lies about his? How did that come about?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who once lied about his height by one inch and got busted on a first date.
Quote by Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 14, 2013 | Blair Sobel, Born Day - 2013 |
Don’t act like you didn’t know day #4 of Happy Born Day week wasn’t upon you!
Born
We are born and our parents instinctively know we are like them in many ways, even as a crinkly naked newborn. But we don’t know that. We spend our youth discovering we are individuals. We grow into young adults striving to create our own identity. We spend our 20s promising ourselves we will not be like our parents in many ways.
Born Again
Then we turn 30, or maybe it’s some other age, but there is that moment when you realize you are your parents. Slightly modified, slightly mutated, slightly taller, slightly smarter, slightly healthier. But even with all those slightlies you realize you so essentially consist of who they are that to try to deny it is futile.
Born Again Again
And then something more dramatic happens. You realize once again that you aren’t your parents. You have them in you, but you aren’t them. You can decide to not drink so much. You can decide to be a better parent, or make more money, or be out in nature more. You can decide to be like them or not, depending on if you like who they are or not. You are not gripped by the genome as tight as you might think. You can retain, discard, expand, modify. It’s within your control. Keep the best, get rid of the rest.
Born
And all the while you are going through that process, your kids are repeating it in front of your eyes. Life happens that way.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is the son of Skeets and Lee Coleman.
Quote by Blair Sabol, a very interesting character – Read up on her.
Blair Sabol by Wayne Thiebaud – Oil on canvas – 1965
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Here’s a picture of the Comet I took last night.
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 13, 2013 | Born Day - 2013 |
To Caitlin at Twenty Three
Ten years after the gift,
Caitlin is Twenty Three.
The gift of a daughter late,
Added to the family tree.
Entwined with the woman I love,
She stole my heart with sincerity.
An unexpected inheritance,
She gave my life new clarity.
Giving me happy days,
Keeping me on my toes.
Listening to her dreams,
Watching as she grows.
Her heart is good and thoughtful,
Considerate and kind.
She’s strong and determined,
With a complex mind.
I love her for herself,
Spirit, emotion, smart.
I love her for her gift,
of a wonderful, loving heart.
Happy Birthday Caitlin – 3/13/13
M
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