The Read and Unread Library

by

I’ve read before that book collecting and book reading are two separate hobbies. The more I’ve pondered the statement, the more I’ve realized its truth. I am a collector of books for sure; I’m a reader of books also. I’ve spent the last two decades collecting them more quickly than I can read all of them. For this reason my collection of unread books has grown large. And I am okay with this fact.

Sometimes we place rules upon ourselves regarding our hobbies that are unnecessary. An idea behind buying books is that one must read them as soon as possible. I don’t agree with this notion. An example of my disagreement would be the novel The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I bought this book in 2016 and believed I’d read it immediately. I planned to read it soon after attaining it. This didn’t happen and I still haven’t read this book. I still own it and I still plan to enjoy it. I didn’t stick to my reading plan with that book and 10 years later I’m okay with it. It was a standard of book reading I placed on myself that no one else would ever even care about. What does it matter that I didn’t read the book when I’d originally planned?

Now sometimes I do read a book as soon as I get it. An example of this would be the non-fiction book Football by Chuck Klosterman. This intriguing and fun book was gifted to me recently by my beautiful girlfriend as a Valentine’s Day gift. I read it right away and loved it! The book never went to my bookshelf until the last page was read.

But does it matter if we read our books immediately or 10 years later? Does it matter if we have hundreds of books waiting on us in our home basements? We all ought to enjoy our hobbies how we wish! I love collecting books, I love going to bookstores, I love reading books and I love not being tough on myself when I don’t read my books for years later after I’ve collected them.

Life itself has enough rules and regulations. Let’s not make life more regulatory than it has to be. Whenever it comes to our favorite pastimes let’s enjoy them at our own leisure. Let’s collect all the books our hearts desire. We shall read them someday or we won’t. Maybe a loved one will get to that novel you never read 30 years from now and find it amazing! They’ll be glad it was passed down to them and that you collected so many great reads.

Happy reading and read freely at your leisure!

Let’s Ride

by

The following is a flash fiction story.

So I hung a homemade sign on the front of my bike that says, “I brake for squirrels and pretty girls!” I made the sign really recently and of course I placed it on my bicycle the same day. The sign is in neon green and it’s pretty sweet looking honestly. The girls in my 7th grade class have often bragged on my penmanship. They all say I’ve got excellent handwriting skills for a boy. Everyone knows neon green is the best color under the rainbows so obviously the sign was created with neon green marker. I thought everyone would think the sign was funny. But it turns out everybody doesn’t have a sense of humor.

One dude in my class called the sign lame. Another boy called it weird. This other guy, that hadn’t ever even spoken to me before, claimed he just didn’t get the purpose of the sign. And I was left thinking these three really ought to audition as The Three Stooges.

Here’s why I made the sign. There are two reasons. The first reason: I love squirrels. If I could own a squirrel as a pet I would. See, not all people love squirrels, though. Once I saw a bully in my fifth grade class, a couple years back, swerve on his bike to attempt a squirrel murder. This, yeah, this I did not like! My angry person, in my thoughts only, shouted at him. Be nice to squirrels! What did a squirrel ever do to you!? Yeah, so I always am extra cautious around the innocent and adorable squirrels because they do no harm and seem to be pure at heart.

The second reason I made the sign: I’m twelve and I’m starting to like the ladies a lot! Okay, I must backpedal a little. The ladies are not ladies just yet. Because they are actually the females in my 7th grade class. There is a junior high dance coming up soon, damnit! My wheels need a girl to wheel with. I don’t aim to fly solo or do the robot dance moves alone. Part of me believed the sign might help me score a date to the dance. And bless my creative soul; the sign actually did just that.

My friend Haley walked up to me after school the other day and struck up a conversation. “Do you really brake for squirrels, Harley?” she said.

I was sweating on the inside and probably on my forehead as well. “Of course I do. I love squirrels!” I replied.

Haley smiled and laughed loudly. “It is a clever sign. I’m sure the boys are making fun of you for it but we girls think it’s cute. Are you going to the dance next Friday? I mean, I’m going. But I don’t have a date yet and I didn’t know if you had one yet. Of course you don’t have to go with me and I really don’t even know if you are going to begin with. But, oh my god, I’m making a fool of myself. Anyway, Harley, do you want to go to the dance with me or what?”

I smiled like the sunshine. “I’d be honored to attend the dance with you, Haley! Now how about you grab your bicycle and we go for a ride around town?”

“Watch out for squirrels,” Haley said with a mischievous grin. “Yes, let’s ride!”

With Joy and Enthusiasm

by

People should make time for the things they love doing. Hobbies are so important. Obligations and work in general come around like the hands on a clock. Let’s work diligently but also let’s play with joy and enthusiasm!

Yesterday was my mother’s birthday celebration. Mom, Dad, my brother, my girlfriend and I celebrated together. There was cake. There were photos. There was a card game called Uno Attack! There was pizza. And there were adult beverages. And there was joy. At one point I realized I’d poured too much whiskey and I had to leave my glass of booze behind. At other points each of us was winning at Uno Attack and laughing all through the deck of cards. Another time in the evening I ate a slice of cake fit for a giant’s appetite. Mom had fun as did the rest of us party animals.

A couple of days before yesterday I was switching it up with my Nintendo Switch. I attained a new game yesterday that is actually a rerelease of a game my brother and I were gifted back in 1993 on our Sega Genesis video game console. The game is Aladdin and it’s based off the Disney movie by the same title. What fun I had on Sunday with the Switch as I journeyed down memory lane. It turns out I was better skilled in the art of video games as a boy than I am as an adult. Or perhaps I simply tried harder when I was nine years of age.

Here I am age forty-one and still having all of the fun. I make time for loved ones. I make time for Uno Attack and video games. I make a grand deal of birthdays! I make time to read and write. Of course there’s also time for the obligations and for a career. I aim to enjoy all of my life and make the best of all I do. I look for fun at work and I work at having fun!

Enjoy today! If you have a hundred things you have to get done I hope you make time for five or ten more things you didn’t have to do. Maybe life isn’t as serious as we often act like it is. Let’s enjoy cake and video games and the company of those we love and card games and pizza and adult beverages. Snap some pictures while you’re at it.

We are never too busy to enjoy our lives.

February 14th is For Everyone

by

A couple of days ago was Valentine’s Day. Some call it Singles Awareness Day. I believe the day should be for everyone whether they’re in a romantic relationship or not. Love is for all of us! And love can be practiced all year long.

This year I had a double date with Jennifer, my beautiful girlfriend, and my charming parents. I took the day off of work to make time for celebrations. A reservation was made for a restaurant in Mt. Vernon, Illinois named Rare. Rare is a chop house located about one hour from my home in Carbondale. I’d been to this restaurant one other time before. Although it had been over a decade since my other visit. Now I wish I had not waited so long to return.

The meal was amazing, the drinks were remarkable, the company was delightful, the server was excellent and a gorgeous time was had by the four of us. I’ve already decided that in April I want my birthday celebration to be at Rare. I love steak and steak is what the four of us enjoyed. Of course there were also adult beverages and appetizers and desserts. We had it all and loved it all.

After returning from Mt. Vernon to Carbondale some gifts were exchanged. Dad got some tasty coffee from Jennifer and Mom received chocolate. Jennifer graciously gifted me a Neil Diamond Christmas album and a new Chuck Klosterman book titled “Football” and some Peter Pan peanut butter because she knows how I love it and yet don’t get to enjoy it often. I gifted Jennifer a Vermont Teddy Bear and a Stranger Things 5 CD and a blind date with a book that ended up being a novel titled “Boy’s Life” by Robert McCammon. We all were thankful for our presents and for those present.

Whatever you did recently on February 14th I hope it was all sorts of wonderful! Whether you were alone or with friends or with a romantic partner I hope you felt loved. Life can be sweet whether single or in a relationship. Life is beautiful! It’s healthy to keep the spirit of Valentine’s Day alive all throughout our lives like Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” aimed to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in his heart after his transformation at the close of the novel.

Does our world need more love? Yes! Can this love start with us? Absolutely!

Otis and Sweet Sally

by

The following is a flash fiction story.

Otis felt the love in the air all around him. Or perhaps it was his very own cologne he’d borrowed from his dad’s collection of cologne. The scent of the cologne which he’d applied with enthusiasm caused him to think one or perhaps five or six girls in his third grade classroom would be bestowing valentines upon his desk at any moment. And some moments passed. And then some more moments evaporated. Then yet more time elapsed. Everyone else was being gifted valentines throughout the classroom. Otis stopped feeling the love in the air all around him.

Had he splashed too much cologne on himself earlier that morning right after he’d put on a fine button up shirt and a beautifully handsome green bowtie? Did his hair look funny? Had he not combed it just right? Was it his mahogany colored glasses? Were they too big for his face? Was he simply Ugly with the big U? Otis analyzed why not even one girl in his third grade class had blessed him with a valentine.

He was getting up from his desk to go toward the boy’s bathroom to cry. As he stood someone was magically right in front of him. It was Sweet Sally wearing her black colored glasses that had always been just the right size for her angelic face!

“Hi, Otis. I wanted to give you this valentine,” Sweet Sally said.

Otis accepted the gift with joy and laughed at the two frogs on the front. The frogs were sharing a lily pad and a single plate of dead flies. And there were little green hearts all around the sky above their frog heads.

“Thank you!” Otis said. “I love it. The frogs are super cool! I feel a little sorry for all those flies. Yeah, but the frogs seem really happy. Would you like a valentine from me now, Sally? I’ve got bunches of them!”

Sweet Sally smiled at Otis as she adjusted her glasses. Otis adjusted his immediately after he saw her adjust hers. “Sure, I’ll take one,” she said.

So Otis pulled one of the puppy dog valentines from his back left blue jeans pocket. “My mom told me they’re some dogs named Lady and Tramp,” he said. “Yeah, it’s from this old cartoon movie my parents really love. I’ve never seen it but it’s supposed to be a classic!”

“It’s awesome!” Sweet Sally said. “Maybe your mom and dad would let me come over to your house sometime and watch it with you all.”

And in that moment Otis knew he was not ugly and he had worn just the right amount of cologne.

Groundhog Day According to Phil the Groundhog

by

The following is a flash fiction story.

I never asked to be a celebrity! All I ever wanted was to be like all the other groundhogs. February second is my most hated day of the year. Those people put me on display for the state of Pennsylvania and whatever other states there are too. What do they want from me? Oh, they want to know about the weather. Yeah, they want to know all about the possibility of an early spring. Well, how does six more weeks of winter sound to you humans! Take that! And leave me in peace and get those cameras out of my groundhog face lest you feel the fury of Phil!

Okay, so I was little overly dramatic just then. I apologize. I’m really not a curmudgeon. I just don’t like the second day in the month of every damned February. I’m shy! The people they all think I’m so cute. Cute has never been what I’ve aspired to be. And a weatherhog? Why would any groundhog want to be a weatherman? We don’t even begin to have the brains or the college schooling for that shit. February third is a happier day for the groundhog than the second of February.

My dear mother asked me when I was but a little groundhog what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I scurried away from her and the question out of fear because I knew I did not know. So these days I’m all grown up and I still don’t know what I want to be because I truly only work the one day out of the year. This is what I do know: I want to be happy with every new day. Honestly, though, 364 days out of 365 days of happiness is a pretty sweet deal.

So what am I even complaining about? Groundhog Day was yesterday! True story: It’s the morning of the third of February. The trauma of my big day in the news will soon cease to be discussed until next year. And I don’t have to work again for another year. Yeah, so I think I’ll put on that old 90’s movie with that funny dude, Bill Murray. I always forget its title. But it’s definitely about a groundhog I know for sure. Okay, so I’m off to pop some popcorn and put in that old DVD and put my little groundhog feet up in my cozy recliner within my sweet basement living room. Now that I’m over my bitterness, I do hope you had a happy Groundhog Day. Maybe it will actually be an early spring this year. You know I’m not a real weatherman!

Grassroots Magazine Release Party on a Cold January Evening

by

Last Friday evening I attended a wonderful event on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It was the release of the fall 2025 Grassroots Literary Magazine! Since 2022 I’ve been submitting and being accepted into this college literature magazine. I’m always honored to be a part of it along with the other writers and photographers.

This issue of Grassroots was tremendously special to me because my girlfriend, Jennifer, also had her works featured in it. Her photos in the magazine are beautiful and her writings are eloquent! One page contained five of her haikus. I only know how to attempt a true haiku so obviously I’m impressed by someone who can do it correctly and splendidly. One of my fiction stories was accepted and published in this issue. And of course Jennifer and I braved the open microphone to share our works with the crowd of fellow artists.

My parents and brother and friends came out to the event. I was joyful they were in attendance! It was a really cold night outside. It would’ve been cozier to just stay home! But the family and friends showed up for Jennifer and I and the other contributors. The applause of those that love us when we create something means everything.

I had some stage fright as I always do when stepping up to the microphone in front of an audience. But I read my story with enthusiasm and hoped people enjoyed it. It was a joy hearing all of the different artists represent their works. People’s creativity must not be caged; it must be displayed! I was proud of everyone that stepped to the front of the room with boldness before the mic.

The other day I watched a movie titled At Eternity’s Gate. It’s about the artist Vincent van Gogh. Within the plot of the film people were cold and cruel to Vincent and they dismissed his art as less than or not any good at all. Now obviously we know that Vincent is one of the most famous artists of all time. However, the people of his time did not appreciate him or his paintings. Let’s not make this same mistake when it comes to art. No, let’s instead build one another up and praise each other’s artistic endeavors! And if we don’t like a story or a painting or a play or a film or a whatever then we might simply not voice our opinion so loudly. If it isn’t the tea you like best that doesn’t mean it isn’t someone else’s favorite cup of tea.

One thing I know is that I witnessed remarkable talent at the Grassroots Magazine release party! I’m proud of Jennifer! I’m proud of myself! I’m proud of the entire group that was there as spectators or contributors! If we love art then let’s love it wholeheartedly. Our world has enough haters and critics. Be a creator instead of a critic. Share your wonderful works with the world!

Cold Snow and Hot Chocolate

by

The following is a flash fiction story.

Cold Snow and Hot Chocolate

The snow fell as the man poured hot chocolate down his grateful throat. And there he was in his cozy living room in front of his large window. Cold was everywhere outside. The temperature felt like negative five. Inside of course the temperature was warm and delightful. The man drinking hot chocolate plotted possible lyrics to a joyful Christmas song.

If only he had a pen and paper instead of being occupied with wonderful hot chocolate then he’d write down the lyrics. Snow had been making its adventure to earth for the last twelve hours. The onlooking man didn’t know how many inches had fallen; he did know there was enough to create a large family of snow people in his front yard. But if he did that his hot chocolate would quickly grow cold. Well, the man did have his standards. Obviously cold hot chocolate went against them. So he continued to enjoy the white wonder from a distance.

Then a sadness occurred. The final drop of hot chocolate exited his favorite mug and went down his perplexed throat. Now he had no more hot beverage to enjoy. Of course he could make another cup in the kitchen. But then he’d have to stop marveling at the miracle from the skies outside. The man had a real dilemma. In a burst of inspiration he thought up a crazy notion. Yeah, it was wild! He didn’t even bother to put on his winter coat. In red pajamas and full of January cheer he left the cozy living room and exited his front door.

And off from the front porch he did an epic somersault into the snow! First he made a snow angel. Then he crafted three more. He was laughing like a school boy as he moved his legs and arms with joy. The hot chocolate was a thing of the past; he’d forgotten all about the warmth of the home ten feet away. He was making his very own winter wonder in the white. Of course after the four angels of snow he started rolling the first large ball that was to be the snowman’s bottom. Hot chocolate called his name again, however, and the snow person was left without a middle or a top or a fine hat or a carrot nose or two eyes created from coal or a smile. Yeah, snowman didn’t really exist in the front yard like the angels did.

The man rushed back inside his home and went for his heaviest coat immediately. His wife, who had been asleep, joined him in the living room and looked out the window at what he’d done. “I’m proud of you,” she said as she laughed at him. “It’s good to know you’re still a kid at heart. How about some hot chocolate to warm you up?”

He smiled as his teeth chattered. “I’d love some.”

January Celebrations

by

The month of January doesn’t have the same amount of flash as November or December. For some of us that cannot tolerate the cold January and February are months to be endured instead of celebrated. I vote that we celebrate January!

Let’s celebrate this month as one looking forward to the rest of 2026. And let’s rejoice in these 31 days simply for what each one has to offer. I experienced a grand vacation this month to a city unlike any other I’ve ever visited. New Orleans was worth writing about! Whether you took a vacation this month or not I hope you are enjoying the start of this year. Most all of us have our favorite months and seasons. This is totally fine of course. But let’s not throw too much malice or negative thoughts on any part of the year. After all we are still alive and experiencing oxygen.

Today I got a great haircut from a good friend of mine. I feel like a new edition of myself! Haircuts are always a small joy for me. I feel I look better afterwards and I enjoy chatting with my friend. It’s a no lose situation.

Tonight my lovely girlfriend is coming over to watch an old Alfred Hitchcock film with me. Strangers on a Train is the title and we’ve not seen it before. We are stoked! This will be our sixteenth Hitchcock movie we’ve watched together. The black and white picture will light up our night.

Look for the good stuff in the story of your life. Good stuff happens every day. All twelve months of the year offer great times and golden memories. Do we have vision to see them?

Here’s to the future and cheers to today and hooray for each and every moment of beauty our eyes get to see.

The Unique Universe of New Orleans

by

The city of New Orleans is like another universe in comparison to the small city where I reside. My parents and brother and I recently took a train ride to New Orleans, Louisiana. It was only about my fifth across states train journey I’ve ever embarked upon. The trip lasted around 14 hours and was worth every second of time it took to arrive at the remarkable city.

It was such a fun five day adventure! We stayed at the hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter on Royal Street. I feel this must be one of the most fascinating parts of the city. There are so many people out and about taking in the sights and sounds. There are restaurants and antique shops and all sorts of shops really. The famous Bourbon Street was nearby and one of our meals we had there. We had several exquisite meals right there at our hotel’s restaurant. Of course we had adult beverages at The Carousel Bar that really does spin slowly as you’re seated. I’ve sat at many bars since age 19 but I’d never before sat at one that rotated round and around!

I love that New Orleans has such a variety of people and culture! Music is everywhere and so is art. Like the city of New York it seems that New Orleans never sleeps. At one point we were walking down the street near our hotel and a band was set up in the street as cars passed by directly next to them. In Carbondale, where I live, if there’s a band playing in the street then that street is closed down for the evening. In New Orleans this is simply not the story. I live in a really small city and a big city is quite different. I love the differences.

One evening we went to see a famous play titled Blithe Spirit at The Petit Theatre. What fun we had! We attained balcony seats in the front row! There’s two movies based on this play and now I must see them because I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It’s a comedy and it did deliver much laughter. I enjoy live theater and I plan going forward to take in more of it at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

We visited the World War II Museum. There’s so much to see at this museum! It’s enormous and full of information about such a tragic time in history. The last time my family and I visited New Orleans back in 2013 we also visited this museum. I found it even more fascinating this time around.

During our stay we ate all of the delicious food and drank the fancy drinks and Abita beer and enjoyed our gorgeous hotel and savored the music and enjoyed the people we met and Dad bought a fine new pork pie blue hat with a feather and I bought two limoges art works for Dad and also one for my beautiful girlfriend, Jennifer. The Carbondale Amtrak got us there and returned us back with roomettes and onboard dining. I enjoyed the journey both ways and obviously I enjoyed the unique universe that is New Orleans.

I hope to return again soon!