It's my birthday weekend (I'm a spring baby), so I've decided on a whim (since I have two days of unpaid furlough hanging on me) to road trip.That also means updating The Tension might be problematic.Who knows where I'll end up.I'm flipping coins for direction here.So anyway, here's a little tr

Alex Chilton, rock guitarist and killer songwriter, died Wednesday in New Orleans of heart failure.He sang with The Box Tops and later with Big Star.A band that has figured largely into my musical, The Replacements, were heavily influenced by Chilton. They even wrote a song about him, which included the lyric, "

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are pulse, shard and weary.AfterI awake to the sounds of women, wailing.There’s a gauzy sheet pulled over me, soft and ticklish on my cheeks as I rise.The wailing is coming from the hallway. My father stands in front of the closed door, a handkerchief in

The OneWord prompt of the day is “keychain.”He’s a casualty and he knows it.The car rockets down lonely two-lane blacktop, faded yellow center lines blur in the straight-aways, as he puts pressure on the accelerator.The car hums a satisfying tune. Most of the r

Just FriendsThey’re waiting on dinner and she’s opened a bottle of red she knows he’s quite fond of and sits close to him on the couch.She describes the menu, sitting on her feet and touching him as she talks. She’s excited and between touches, brushes her hair behind her ears and takes soft sips of her

The OneWord prompt is nuclear.You know, the clock starts and, well…She clutches tufts of chest hair in her delicate hands, but he’s more worried about the frenetic rise and fall of her hips against his. He’s thinking about every else than her warm

So Hollywood is making a biopic of the Runaways, the first all-girl band that really mattered.The Runaways, of course, were Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, Sandy West and a boatload of bass players that included Mickie Steel,e Peggy Foster, Jackie Fox, Vickie Blue and Laurie McAllister. They came and went like pu

OneWord is a great prompt to keep your head in the game.He moves with ease through nighttime alleyways, gliding through a slipstream of silky blackness without labor. He’s an instrument, a straight razor, slicing the gloom, parting it.It gives him no special comfort. He

The words over at Three Word Wednesday at modify, obedient and veil. There are no bad dogs or bad children, just bad owners – and parents.Behavior ModificationI’m a horrible child, if you want to know the whole truth of it.My parents had no c

OneWord is an interesting prompt. Here’s a word, here’s 60 seconds to write. Bing, times up. Edit and post.“I was lost, but now I am found.”It was a sermon he used quite often – the go-to lecture when she questioned life. And she was convinced God was intentionally ignoring her.“God helps

She's Late“Life is what you make of it,” she says, blowing steam from a Styrofoam cup filled with herbal tea.“Then I’ve made a mess,” he says, sending a dented can skittering down the sidewalk with a kick.They walk in silence until she reaches for his hand.“I think we’ve created somethi

The prompt over at Sunday Scribblings is “fluent.”“What are you fluent in? What interests you? Can you be fluent in anything other than a language? What is your take on fluency?”TouchedShe’s speaking in tongues, a mish-mash of gi

Haven’t done a Fiction in 58 in a few days…SundayThey wrestled over coffee, a tease of words, gestures.He said man’s greatest achievement was the ability to make fire.She laughed and said it was our ability to love, unconditional.They played like that for hours, until he took her ha

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the harm in a couple of kids - a twin brother and sister - direct a couple of planes on the ground at JFK Airport in New York.I mean, it's not like they took dad's whole shift or anything. He told them what to say - right down to the correct language - and let them go.Ahhh, ye

OneWord isa writer's prompt I like to visit at least once a week, if just to nudge my creativity a bit. The prompt gives a word, and 60 seconds to write something.That word is "letters."The letters began to arrive three days past his funeral.Hand-written on thick, cr

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are amaze, frail and sacred. Somewhere, there's a better story in this than what came out.Street ProphetFor all his craziness, he didn’t direct his gestured outbursts at those who passed on the street, but into

It’s Tuesday, time for a NaiSaiKu Challenge. It’s poetry, wit ha fun twist.horizon glows orange,another sunrise beckons us,fresh ideas, new thoughts bustle,IT’S DAWN ON A NEW DAYfresh ideas, new thoughts bustle,another sunrise beckon

The prompt over at Sunday Scribblings is ‘big dreams.”Unscripted“Quiet on set, we’re live in five, four, three, two, one…”The sensors? No I don’t feel ‘em. They’re wrapped in a little foam stickie and that stickie attaches to the

A Fiction in 58TrickShe appeases his senses with elaborate makeup and revealing clothing. She never says much during these sessions, maybe some slight cooing or a breathless “how’s that” when she sees his mind begin to wander.It’s a hard life on the streets, but she considers the alternatives

While I've not met him in person, blogger and confessed music snob Scott Hudson and I share an affinity for The Replacements. He blogs, he's on Twitter and he also does a nifty little music podcast called "The Ledge" (a nod to one of the most well-crafted songs by The Mats lead singer, Paul Westerberg).Scott's b

The word prompt over at OneWord is "drops."Simply ran out of time for an ending, but this could be played with, I think.She is an approaching cold front; he feels her heft and the pressure drops around him, enough to plug his ears painfully.He grips his nose and blow

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are generate, meager and tease.Strange ContextHe gazes at his curved reflection on the spoon, studying his face in the convex bulge and idly thinking of the “Where’s Waldo” character, the funny watch cap, th

Over the road noise, on top of the wind slashing over parts of the car that jutted from it’s otherwise smooth shell, came the pops. Angry klaxons sent as a warning. Pop. Pop. Pop.He regretted now giving her the gum. He was ambivalent on the line that drove her to fill the rubberized chunk of gum paste and flavoring

Stud“Save the date,” she says, folding twice the business card he’s given her.He caps the pen, positions it into his shirt pocket and fumbles for what to say. She smiles, demure, and puts a warm hand on his elbow to propel him along.He liked it when the sperm donations were more clinical, less like s

The prompt over at Sunday Scribbings is "When Pigs Fly."Meh.ListlessThe roof had very little pitch to it and a recent coating of tar gave it a quality of being open to nothingness, especially tonight, where clouds obscured the moon.They’d been drinking cheap beer kept cool in a cheap Styrofoa

The opening line came to me in the shower. It grew from there.Moments In GraceThere was never enough time anymore.He tries to pinpoint the exact instant in his memory when their paths diverged into separate directions, yet still managed to sweep forward, but he couldn’t select it out of the hubris.

This was an easy choice.Bittersweet, really.The Knack, arguably the best power-pop band ever, lost its lead singer,Doug Fieger, to cancer on Feb. 14.If you're of a certain age, you've probably a copy of "Get The Knack" from 1979. I had it

OneWord is a great little prompt. Sixty seconds to write something with a word that's provided.That word is "spoon."There’s warmth here, even under a thin blanket. What began as twisted flesh in sweaty passion has morphed into this place – dark, quiet. She breathes lig

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are occur, ragged and tidy.The Recently DepartedThere’s a fly in the cramped waiting area, incessantly buzzing and flitting to and fro.It turns his stomach just a little.“Filthy little bastard,”

It’s Tuesday, time for the NaiSaiKu Challenge. What’s that? It’s my occasional stab at poetry, administered by Andy Sewina. It’s kind of like haiku, but not.embers pop, warming fire,flicker flames paint shadow

Monday. Time for a Fiction in 58.DroneLife strips him down to nothingness, just a number on a paper in a file lost in a drawer.Repetition defines him. Rise, shower, eat, work, home, eat, sleep.His world is colorless, until he meets her selling fruit on the corner. She wears a flower in her ches

Sorry, Sunday Scribblings, just wasn't feeling the prompt.So I went over to OneWord instead. What can you do with a word - delicate - in 60 seconds?His features were delicate, like his mother’s, and left him open to all manner of bullying.He wore his raven hair sho

TimesThere was much wavering.Teetering between a more simple life of hard work and few creature comforts and that of a fast-paced world of blinking, beeping desires. A foot in the past, a foot in the future.

The Undertones were one of those rare anomalies in music - a group whose sound was ahead of their time.A punk/power-pop outfit that formed in Derry, England in 1975, they found success with four albums before disbanding in 1983. The Undertones' sound melded great guitar hooks with lead singer Feargal Sharkey's waverin

OneWord is a writer's prompt that asks, "What can you do with a word, in 60 seconds?" It's not about keeping it short; it's about focus. the word is blizzard.He skipped on his ass, rag-wrapped feet first, to escape the crack of crumpled concrete that had become his home for the

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are lucid, righteous and salvage.Mind Your EldersThere were moments when she was at her most lucid; details spilled from her painted lips like a powerful, frothy waterfall. She’d sit in a decrepit wingback chair

No one ever says they want to be the homeless guy begging for change and digging through garbage for a half-eaten meal.Nobody gets reincarnated as a servant or cook.There isn’t anyone reinventing themselves as a fry cook or grocery stocker.What dreams get formed in the gray matter are desires of the hear

Wrapped in the silent dark,layers of gray, slivers of streetlights,the restless dream of greatness.StillnessIn shadows lay desires,mindful of the consequence,change is a difficult beast.Hands hug the torso rough,a squeeze confirms consciousness,a sigh affirms

The prompt over at Sunday Scribblings is "Message."The Message“You’ll be fine.”She’d left the statement on his answering machine, time-stamped at 11:42 p.m.It was an old machine, tape instead of digital and it was serviceable so

Time, I think, for a Fiction in 58.She dangles her toes into the water, watching the ripples grow larger, like seismic rings of an earthquake. The sun beats down on her shoulders, hot and lovely.She hears the cries of hawks in the thermals; she dreams of flight.He father calls, wonders if she’s tir

The song was written by Sonny Curtis and the Crickets (after Buddy Holly died) and it is one of the most covered songs, all-time."I Fought the Law."Bobby Fuller had a hit with it in 1965, then promptly died a mysterious death. His version is No. 175 on Rolling Stones' "500 Greatest Songs All-Time."The Clas

If he’s stationary, he feels it, like a vibration. Especially out in the streets, where his shoulders are jostled by the crowds of drones flittering back and forth from domiciles to occupations. When not in motion, he’s sinking. The concrete loses its molecular structure and becomes quicksand. Ready and willing to help

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are frantic, lurch and odor.SisterhoodThe taxi lurches to a halt in front of the Excelsior and from it unfolds three Sisters from the eastside, biggest motherfucking trannies you ever saw. One’s carrying a lengt

Haven't participated in ages. A NaiSaiKu is a fun poetry structure based on haiku.paint chips like razors,shards of glass crunch under boots,wild beasts find refugeDERELICT PRAIRIE HOMESTEADwild beasts find refuge,shards of glass crunch un

Today, a shout-out to Declan Patrick MacManus, better known as Elvis Costello.If there's a male Madona, Costello is it. He got his start in punk, busted out in new wave and has been able to reinvent himself seemingly each decade.He's got a show on the Sundance Channel,

At OneWord, you're given a word and 60 seconds to write. Don't think, just write.The word for today is "storage."He’d made a place for his heart in deep storage, lost among the feelings he’d boxed up, suppressed. The move was necessary. He’d been hurt one too many t

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are beacon, grieve and kindred.GravesideShe grieves at my graveside.I know I shouldn’t watch – I should got to the light and all that – but it fascinates me so to be the observer in death that I couldn

It’s early, but the headache is a low, dull throb.Just the body crying out for what it has been denied – caffeine, sugar, alcohol and whatever chemicals are in every foodstuff that’s processed.Embarking on a 21-day, the early days are the worst.Oh, there is food to be consumed. Fruits, vegetables, w

OneWord is a writing prompt that deals in brevity. One word, 60 seconds. Don't think, just write. The word? Yoga.She did everything for her husband, the faithful wife.It wasn’t enough. As her responsibilities grew, she let her appearance go. A few extra pounds here and t