MARIEL R.
  • Blog
    • Second Blog
  • Happy Horse
  • Published
    • Free Stories >
      • Some Things Never Change
      • The Real Thing
      • For You, Mother
      • Meat Head the Worst Dog in the World
      • Boys As Nice as John
      • Meat Head
  • About
  • Green Gecko Publishing

Snowdened-in: life is stranger than fiction.

12/7/2013

 
Picture

Kickin' it with coffee beside the sale aisle!

Location: The Davinci Coffee inside of the Yeonju HomePlus.

Sometime around noon-- after weighing myself and discovering my relocation fugue has resulted a six pound weight gain-- I left my apartment and headed in the general direction HomePlus seemed likely to be. (HomePlus and E-Mart are the K-Marts and Wal-Marts of S. Korea, in Yeongju in December, about the only thing to do.)

I went the wrong way.

And then I went the right way. But in the interim, I walked and thought.

I came to the not so brilliant conclusion that I miss the boys and my roommates. Well not so much Stacy, the belligerent alcoholic divorce` (she just disappeared and saved me from having to quit) or  the lesbian couple the father moved in to replace me (in typical K. Wilson fashion, I came home from work to discover characters right out of the movie Monster living in the basement) but Ramon who was friendly and would sit with me by the fire and talk despite hardly speaking any English at all.  But mostly it was the boys who occupied every Saturday night for the last 11 months.

It was crazy working for K.Wilson this last year, and a testament to how life can be stranger than fiction.  And while it was mostly good, mostly drama free, there are moments that I look back upon and....I wonder why. I feel embarrassed, ashamed, as though I have done something wrong.

And as I walked, I realized m
y send off, or lack there of, still hurts.  I hate that I invested so much time. I hate that I am still thinking about them, missing them when I am already forgotten. I hate above all things, how it was just a job: employer/ employee.

And while no one could predict th
e arrival of  Selby (the nanny) and
Aileen Wuornos,  I am still deeply bothered.  I love the boys, perhaps always will. I hate that I was weak, saying nothing when I wanted to grab the boy's father, shake him and say:

"Think dam it! Think! Never mind that she doesn't have any source of income, or a driver's license, and probably has warrants out for her arrest in Kentucky... And I understand that you like to help people who are down on their luck. If you lived alone so be it. But you have the boys and s
he got kicked out of her last place for getting into physical altercation with Aileen in-front of the children! She was living with family, for crying out loud and they didn't want that shit around their kids, why would you invite that around yours!"

But sometimes life is so much stranger than fiction that there is nothing to be said. Sometimes you have to trust that life has a way of working itself out even when it shouldn't. Above all else, sometimes you need a good distraction like a short story that needs writing or a handsome co-worker (how happens to be in a long term relationship, darn). And sometimes you need to walk in the wrong direction before you can walk the right one.

But this brings me to one more thing:
Edward Snowden and Prism. This and the above my seem completely unrelated, but they are not. (Everything is everything, after all.) For one thing, Prism is something that has bothered me greatly, something I have thought endlessly about, felt exceedingly helpless about. Because, even though the powers that be say, "Well, we only intend to use it for good," I can't help but think how messy life can be. How a life time of bad judgments or even the lack of foresight, could be complied and used.

Can you imagine a future where businesses pay money to get access to the emails of job candidates? I can.
I simply have to look at the budget crisis and say, at some point government will look for alternative streams of revenue. And what is the biggest business to day? Data. What you buy how you buy and what you do with it.

It scares me to think that a future me could lose a job because I worked for a man who hired Selby to replace me. Or because I lived with Selby for two years. (To be clear her real name was not Selby. I'm using pseudonyms to illustrate character.)


A while back I started a short story about a future decent of Edward Snowden. In this reality, Prism is strong and well and (more technologically advanced than present day). The government uses the
program to target the Snowden descendants (among the program's many nefarious uses). The Snowdens are targeted as a form of entertainment, distraction, and most of all a deterrent. For who would speak out against the government when, not only themselves, but generation after generation would be punished?  

In the story, I address one of my
predictions long held beliefs, which is the right to bear arms maybe constitutional, but what does it matter when technology has made constitutional rights obsolete. (There is a gap between the weaponry technology of governments and private citizens. The wider the gap, the higher the cost civil war. When the gap hits an apex, the right to bear arms offers zero protection for citizens: Think about how Avatar would have ended if all the animals of Pandora had not joined the war.)

Okay, so my mind is hopscotching today, but there is a point to my madness. I have been thinking about doing, not a contest, as in past, but opening submissions to an anthology about said subjects above. And by above, I mean Prism, not boss cum roommates who hire a highly inappropriate
nanny replacement. Just so we're clear.

Any thoughts?



Comments are closed.
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Mariel R. is an ESL teacher, horse trainer, writer, editor, sporadic blogger,  and lover of beer. She lives in South Korea with two house cats, three horses, a German Shepherd and three barn cats .

    Picture
    Bear (Gom in Korean) )
    Picture
    Yeongji
    Picture
    Oreo
    Picture
    Panther
    Picture
    Thor
    Picture
    Thunder
    Picture
    Super
    Picture
    Rex
    Picture
    Geumbi (Goldy in English) R.I.P February, 23, 2018
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Advice
    Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
    Authonomy
    Author Interviews
    Awards
    Bear
    Cats
    Contests
    Contest Winners
    Getting Published
    Guest Posts
    ICANN
    Icon Not Find It
    I Learned Something New
    Kindle Scout
    Misc
    National Identity Crisis
    Observations
    People I Respect Very Much
    Pets
    Rejections
    Reviews
    Site Outage
    South Korea
    Web.com
    Weebly
    Weebly Woes
    WHOIS
    Words That Amuse Me
    Writing
    Writing Woes

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011


Photos used under Creative Commons from cotaroba, Juliana Coutinho, Dare*2*Dream, Brett Jordan, plasticrevolver, Elvert Barnes, Dan-Scape.co.uk, Camp of Champions, Rowdy Rider, timsamoff, TiffanyMichelle Photography, expertinfantry, stormwarning., VarsityLife, Instagram: Brunobrunan, woodleywonderworks, HotlantaVoyeur, Ally Mauro, eBomb716, kalleboo, 1la, DonkeyHotey, trekkyandy, Dita Margarita, ZeroOne, Marina Aguiar Araujo, You Have Reached The End of The Internet, InSapphoWeTrust, Nina J. G., One Way Stock, Ronnie Garcia, +Angst, Anika Malone, evolvingblue, porschelinn, Horia Varlan, Fred Jala, Dyl86, Cia de Foto, mootown, boolve, final gather, Hexidecimal, Arya Ziai, h.koppdelaney, Fan of Retail, (Domino), Celeste Vasconcelos, I .. C .. U, Nomadic Lass, Risager, taylorpad212, Benny(I am empty), Nomadic Lass, aloshbennett, Ben Mortimer Photography, Suedehead, Kyknoord, Lunar Logic, simononly, mike138, Tim Sheerman-Chase, Rusty Clark, papalars, rocketjim54, dno1967b, Tomasz Stasiuk, Robert S. Donovan, Merelymel13, Crystl, Tirso Lecointere, Leo Hidalgo (@yompyz), david_shankbone, gpatague online porfolio, petersejersen, wadem, mikecogh, ravijain_92, mynameisharsha, World Series Boxing, Jackie L Chan, greggman, saebaryo, All Kinds of New, Dwilliams851, cuatrok77, woodleywonderworks, Alex E. Proimos, Average Jane, gagilas, LifeSupercharger, Incase., Robin Hutton, THX0477, greenchartreuse, BrtinBoston, Trev Grant, CocteauBoy, dno1967b, Matt Erasmus, Tax Credits, Josh (broma), Phillip Pessar, MoToMo, barmala, Steve Snodgrass, Ross Elliott, cell105, Hunter-Desportes, *clairity*, fauxto_digit, Hugo90, tauben, rococohobo, Spencer Cross, alexliivet, HelloImNik, br1dotcom, Jorge Franganillo, علي - ali, olgaberrios, glennharper, kyeniz, cogito ergo imago, chris.corwin, BagoGames, brewbooks, ϟnapshot 19, Pop Culture Geek, rockmixer, jphilipg, qwrrty, noniq, e53, 'Playingwithbrushes', Marcus Q, lowjumpingfrog, ingermaaike2, Bob Jagendorf, allaboutgeorge, mgrybos, Images_of_Money, Tambako the Jaguar, Foxtongue, DBduo Photography, Beige Alert, DieselDemon, Five Furlongs, danicuki, CamEvans, arne h, electricnerve, -Tripp-, bigcityal, Tim Pierce, Vidbynäs Golf Club, Anomalous Productions, Dovecoté Avenue, Shannon Badiee, Modern Event Preparedness, Amydeanne, Arenamontanus, snowpea&bokchoi, H.Adam, Victor Bezrukov, wwootton1, Bulldog Pottery, M.Ryan Photography, thskyt, Muscle Dominator, Pinti 1, crimfants, Maarten_G / GreenPictures.nl, gematrium, Helga Weber, jon_a_ross, stevendepolo, Starar Band, UT Connewitz, brad_holt, Looking Glass, NatalieMaynor, flowerguy, Peter Huys, The Good Reverend Flash, PhoTones_TAKUMA, greyloch, faceleg, odonata98, Blyzz, sgd, Jeffrey Beall, anneh632, Roy Montgomery, Ivan Marianelli, Lel4nd, autumn_bliss, briggz5d, orsorama, zzkt, Chasqui (Luis Tamayo), gruntzooki, Walt Stoneburner, marc falardeau, karlnorling, john antoni, Kris Krug, aussiegall, CarbonNYC, pheαnix - off 6/29 - 7/8, wwward0, Philo Nordlund, myhsu, US Army Africa, mrsdkrebs, bratha, Veronique Debord, susivinh, Wesley Fryer, Rubyran, Cali4beach, plindberg, Flikkesteph, Paul and Jill, Pilot Theatre, JoeInSouthernCA
  • Blog
    • Second Blog
  • Happy Horse
  • Published
    • Free Stories >
      • Some Things Never Change
      • The Real Thing
      • For You, Mother
      • Meat Head the Worst Dog in the World
      • Boys As Nice as John
      • Meat Head
  • About
  • Green Gecko Publishing