whatareyouthinking

Tripp was talking to one of his classmates while his teacher was giving the lesson.  To avoid singling out Tripp, the teacher made a general statement, saying, “There is to be no talking to your neighbor.” 

Unchagrinned, Tripp continued the conversation with his classmate until his teacher became infuriated.  She said, “Tripp, you heard what I said. There is to be no talking to your neighbor!”

Pointing to his classmate, Tripp innocently said, “I wasn’t.  I was talking to him.  And I don’t even have a cell phone.”

Tripp was assigned to a larger and better office at his place of employment.  Here he could have greater control over his own environment.  Sadly, the first few days were already quite uncomfortable for him as he found his new domain too warm, causing him to perspire. 

One of Tripp’s colleages, who was familiar with the office, told him about the thermostat, saying, “Tripp, your new place comes with a thermostat.  You can make it more comfortable simply by adjusting the temperature setting.  Just move the dial a little to the left and you will make the office cooler.”

Tripp effusively hurried back to his new office to do what his friend had recommended.  He turned the dial to the left, lowering the current setting by five or six degrees.  A minute passed without him noticing any signifigant change in the temperature so he said, “That didn’t work.”  Then Tripp moved back to the place where he was before.   

Volume of oppression growing louder
Hearts pump blood as dry as powder
Evil eyes, bundles of nerves
Pierce the heart and hand that serves

Imaginations burn without hope
From flames that set alight the scope
Of fear and hate and prejudice
Exploding mines of mindlessness

And we’ve all brought forth our worst
Mouths on fire from tongues that cursed
But a splash of light might quench our thirst
Deflate our hate so we don’t burst

Then let it reign and flood the earth and then
Let us yearn for a taste of that state again
And mind with watchful eyes so we’ll know when
We’ve been sent a Shot of Heaven!

The sky is falling from a room
Profits of fear, pulpits of doom
Prey for the sheep without a prayer
Send forth a flock to spread despair

Hyped to cite some lofty screed
Just mount up hate watch love recede
Rally up the mass hysteria
Turn their world to disaster area

And we’ve all brought forth our worst
Mouths on fire from tongues that cursed
But a splash of light might quench our thirst
Deflate our hate so we don’t burst

Then let it reign and flood the earth and then
Let us yearn for a taste of that state again
And mind with watchful eyes so we’ll know when
We’ve been sent a Shot of Heaven!

Business deals the iron collar
Ditch a brother for the Dollar
Or some change of rank or state
And put on airs, watch heads inflate

Pumped to numb hearts by the ton
Through wars of wits waged and un-won
Where need and greed distinctions cease
And the need for internal peace

And we’ve all brought forth our worst
Mouths on fire from tongues that cursed
But a splash of love might quench our thirst
Deflate our hate so we don’t burst

Let it reign and flood the earth and then
Let us yearn for the state of that taste again
And watch with mindful eyes so we’ll know when
Heaven sent a Shot of Heaven!

© 2007 J. Marshall

Tripp heard a joke.  Tripp knew that it was a joke, but he could not figure out what made it funny.  There were others around him who also heard the joke and Tripp noticed they were all laughing.  Not wanting to look out of place, Tripp found himself laughing too.  Tripp didn’t get the joke, but he figured there must have been something to it in order for everyone around him to find it so funny. 

Since it seemed to make everyone else laugh, Tripp decided to repeat the joke.  Everywhere Tripp went, he would tell people the joke and many would laugh, even though Tripp himself never understood the joke. 

After some time Tripp wondered whether anyone really did get the joke, or if the others were merely laughing for the same reason that he had been laughing. 

Tripp’s wife was watching their four-year-old niece one weekend but had much difficulty controlling her.  To Tripp’s wife’s horror, the young girl picked up Tripp’s tobacco pipe and pretended to smoke.  Tripp’s wife yelled at the girl, saying, “If you don’t put that pipe down right this minute, I am going to blow up the house!” 

The girl did not respond to her threat, so several minutes later Tripp’s wife agressively seized the pipe from her neice’s hand but did not end up blowing up the house that day.  Then Tripp’s wife said, “I just can’t seem to get this girl to listen to me.”

A man lies faint beneath the desert sun
The ‘Samaritan’ offers him water to cool
He knocks the flask from his hands and spills some
And says, “the glass is half empty and I’m no fool”

A woman digs a pit and falls into it
Another comes along to help her out
But she says, “you can’t reach me from where you are–
your help is something I can do without…”

Chase their whims and try to please them
Fall for the myth that something will
Walk on eggs on pins and needles
When perception is nine tenths of their hell 

He thought he could make a difference
He thought he would be the exception
But who would care if he changed the world–
When he is just a Victim of Perception?

A boy once ‘cried wolf’ but turned out like a lamb
And no one thought to realize his repentance
False witnesses brought him to the hands of the court 
Judge said, “Give that liar the maximum sentence!”

She was the one to whom people would come
Just to get some—or she’d pose for some smut
But she’s had a change of heart and for years a new start
Yet still they say, “Stay away from that slut”

Chase their whims and try to please them
Fall for the myth that something will
Walk on eggs, on pins, on needles
But perception is nine tenths of their fill 

She thought she would make a difference
She thought she could be the exception
But who would care if she changed the world–
If she’s just a Victim of Perception?

From good to bad, and sane to mad, or
Harmful to advantageous
The perceptions were fixed long ago
But reality often changes

©2006 (October 7 @2:00 AM) by J. “Xakk” Marshall 

Rumor has us—we’re believing
We’ve got to do a job
Grasping at straws—

The bandwagon ‘hey’ ride’s leaving
Jump on and join the mob
We’ve got a cause—

Let’s make some laws…

Action Reaction—
Fiction to Fraction—
Friction to Faction—
Action Reaction!

History teaches we’re still learning
To keep our balance in a world turning
Toward all extremes while ever yearning
Immoderation undiscerning

Action Reaction—
The principle, a distraction
To the spirit of the end
The letter kills my friend

Fiction to Fraction—
Division, the sum of satisfaction
Of facts and truth and lies
We magnetize and polarize

Friction to Faction—
And unkind interaction
Divided we stand
When things don’t go as planned

Action Reaction!

Purpose compels as ego swells
Hype endures and casts its spells
Whether wrong or right emotion sells
Moves its pawns where dogma dwells

Awakening the giants without
To be another group to shout out
For everything they’re not about
Secretly in doubt yet still devout

Action Reaction—
Fiction to Fraction—
Friction to Faction—
Action Reaction!

The point of view that gets discarded
Stirs the wrath of the disregarded
To chant their mantras once imparted
Still no one knows how this all started

Cross each other’s bridges burning
Fighting fire with fire with fire returning
Court’s in session never adjourning
The cycle lives on forever churning

Action Reaction—
The principle, a distraction
To the spirit of the end
The letter kills my friend

Fiction to Fraction—
Division, the sum of satisfaction
Of facts and truth and lies
We magnetize and polarize

Friction to Faction—
And unkind interaction
Divided we stand
When things don’t go as planned

Action Reaction!

The present teaches we’re not winning
Keeping the earth forever spinning
The axis bursts with Atlas grinning
Finding freedom so imprisoning

Action Reaction—
Fiction to Fraction—
Friction to Faction—
Action Reaction!

We may have lied to spread the truth
The position we’d hold
Along with our signs—

Eye for I, fought nail and tooth
Our act was getting old
It undermined—
What we sought to find—

And it took all kinds…

©2006 (October 6 @1:15 AM) by J. “Xakk” Marshall

A kind, old man spoke to his grandson’s attentive eyes saying, “Son…do you want to know what lurks behind all the evil in this world?”

“Tell me!” The child requested.

“The answer is right under your nose…mustaches.” The grandfather stated with authority,  “Men with mustaches!”

“But I know lots of nice people with mustaches,” the boy replied.

“Oh, that’s what you think young man, but don’t let the hairy lip deceive you! Behind every mustache is a member of a very secret society.  They recognize each other on the street by their mustache,” his grandfather continued.

“But Uncle Frank has a mustache, and he’s not a member of any secret society,” the boy noted.   

“They do not reveal their secret to anyone—not even their own family,” retorted the grandfather.

“But what about some people I know, like my teacher, who grew a mustache for a while and then shaved it off?”  The boy inquired.

“Everyone dabbles in evil from time to time my friend.  The Mustache Conspirators will not let anyone talk about their experiences once they leave the society, lest their tongues face the same fate their former mustaches did,” his grandfather answered.

“But I saw two men fighting with each other at the gas pumps the other day and both had mustaches!  If this is a secret brotherhood, why would they fight amongst each other?” quizzed the grandson.

“They do that so you won’t even suspect they’re in cahoots—but they are!  It is not unlike them to use such tactics in order to convince people that men with mustaches are not plotting evil together.  They want to make those of us that are on to them look like fools,” the old man responded.

“What kind of evil are these mustached men responsible for?” probed the boy.

“Every evil that has taken place—or will take place—under the sun!  From the atrocities of Hitler to the assassination of JFK.  If you pay attention…If you look around…Every perpetrated evil—is linked, either directly or indirectly, to a man sporting a mustache,” his grandfather assured him.

Tripp is a recurring character of many stories on this site.  By now, one of my readers (who doesn’t already know) is bound to be somewhat curious about him.  Who is Tripp Walkup?  

The name is a result of two separate customer records that flashed upon my screen while working in a call center back in 1996.  A name hybrid, if you will.  And I have been getting a lot of mileage from it.  It just so happened that one customer had the first name of Tripp, a very unusual name I thought.  Another customer had the last name of Walkup.  Another strange name.  I put the two together and gave birth to Tripp Walkup.  

Repeat the full name aloud or silently to yourself enough times and it will make sense to you.  Tripp, Walkup, Tripp, Walkup, Tripp, Walkup…  

Now think of Tripp like “trip” — the frequent precursor to a fall.  Think of Walkup as in getting back on one’s feet after a fall.  The name itself connotes a perpetual stumbling block; a life of ups and downs. And Tripp is often a stumbling block — to himself.

Although Tripp is a fictitious character, the stories are true.  And some of them may have even taken place.