Tag: contortion
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You Are Not Prepared
Everyone knows the line. It became a meme. I have it on a mug. Not just any mug. I chose the image myself, modified it so the words would sit exactly where I wanted them, and sent it off to be printed. Now, every morning, as I sip my coffee, I am reminded: You are…
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No Outside on the Expressway
Near the end of No Other Choice, Man-su sits in his car on the expressway. The traffic has stopped. Around him are enormous trucks carrying lumber destined for the paper mill. The trucks tower over his small car. He cannot move. The vehicles box him in on every side. At first, the image reads as…
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Collegiality Is Not Compliance
There is a move in institutional life that hides in plain sight. It calls itself collegiality. A reasonable issue is raised. A link is broken. A guide is outdated. The work is not the problem. It is ordinary. What shifts is the structure. A directive is issued without consultation. Authority is assumed rather than named.…
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But…
I thought I knew what love was.What did I know?Those days are gone forever,I should just let them go, but… I wrote those lines down years ago. I thought they marked an ending. I understand now that they marked a condition. I have been living inside that “but” for longer than I realized. There are…
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Bureaucratic Aggro
Magistrix Clarienne <Guardian of Process> Administrative Wing Delve Encounter Log filed by Linnarra, Sentinel Scout of Darkshore I’ve just cleared the last of the Email Wraiths and Calendar Elementals. The corridor finally falls quiet. I take the opportunity to rest for a moment. Thunder settles beside me while I build a small fire and pull…
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The Kind of Tired a Vacation Can’t Fix
One of the films I return to from time to time is The Adjustment Bureau. On the surface, it’s a scifi story about fate and free will. Unseen agents quietly adjusting the course of people’s lives so that the “plan” unfolds as intended. Doors open and close at the right moments. Meetings happen or fail…