NBA 2016-17 regular season picks, discussion etc.
03-01-2017
, 12:39 PM
03-02-2017
, 08:10 AM
03-02-2017
, 01:15 PM
03-03-2017
, 10:13 AM
03-03-2017
, 10:16 AM
03-03-2017
, 04:34 PM
03-03-2017
, 04:41 PM
I lay beside her, my head resting on her breast, her arm around me. Light streamed in between the blinds which we had neglected to close the night before. I could feel her long, slow breathing under my head.
"Some day you're going to be rich. I can see it now. You will not be married. You will meet many women, but you will not meet the woman. I don't think there is one woman for you. And you will definitely not have kids. But you're going to have a very nice house, and I can see you standing there on the terrace, looking out. And you're going to be very happy."
An oddly specific image from a stranger I'd only known for two days.
"How can you say that? I mean, maybe I'll--"
"Because, I know people. It's why I'm so good at my job. You know Dennis, the guy I pointed out to you at the event? Dennis loves me, because--"
"Yeah okay right, right, but how did you know I don't want to have kids? You're right, I don't like kids, but how could you have known that?" Could she have been offended I didn't show more interest in her son? But surely that sort of thing wouldn't be appropriate given the nature of our relationship up until this point.
"I just know. You're not like that. That life is not for you. But don't worry, honey, you're going to be happy and you're going to do great things. And you're going to have a lot of money."
"But I don't care about money! Yeah, I do well, but it's not really me, you know? I want to do something creative; I want to be a writer."
She laughed with condescension. "A writer! Honey, no. That's not you. You're not a writer. You're a doer. You're a go-getter."
I didn't know what to say, and anyway her flight was soon. I lied there, contemplating the disconnect between how I thought I'd feel, and how I felt now.
To a man, over drinks, I'd always conceded that of course, I had sinned just like anyone else, and certainly I was not perfect, but this was something I would never do. And all those times I had sincerely believed what I was saying, really. But now here I was, lying in the arms of a married woman, her ringed hand interlocking with mine. And not only did I not feel guilty, I felt that it was a beautiful thing. I liked her and she liked me and we'd enjoyed two great nights together and later today she would be back with her husband and her son and this is all it would ever be. Life would go on. It all seemed so perfectly right and nothing seemed dishonest nor deceitful nor dirty nor disgraceful. Just two people enjoying each others' company and a third who wouldn't be hurt by what he didn't know.
I got up and put on my civilian clothes and blew her a kiss and left her small but trendy hotel room and headed back to the front. When I returned, the war was still there, just as I'd left it. That morning I lost $50,000.
Later, she sent a message that she'd left a package for me at reception. I searched my brain, wondering what it could have been. Finally, of course! My watch. I wrote her, hinting that I knew what it would be, and thanked her for taking the time to leave it for me.
She responded, "Time stops for no one
," and that was the last I ever spoke to her.
"Some day you're going to be rich. I can see it now. You will not be married. You will meet many women, but you will not meet the woman. I don't think there is one woman for you. And you will definitely not have kids. But you're going to have a very nice house, and I can see you standing there on the terrace, looking out. And you're going to be very happy."
An oddly specific image from a stranger I'd only known for two days.
"How can you say that? I mean, maybe I'll--"
"Because, I know people. It's why I'm so good at my job. You know Dennis, the guy I pointed out to you at the event? Dennis loves me, because--"
"Yeah okay right, right, but how did you know I don't want to have kids? You're right, I don't like kids, but how could you have known that?" Could she have been offended I didn't show more interest in her son? But surely that sort of thing wouldn't be appropriate given the nature of our relationship up until this point.
"I just know. You're not like that. That life is not for you. But don't worry, honey, you're going to be happy and you're going to do great things. And you're going to have a lot of money."
"But I don't care about money! Yeah, I do well, but it's not really me, you know? I want to do something creative; I want to be a writer."
She laughed with condescension. "A writer! Honey, no. That's not you. You're not a writer. You're a doer. You're a go-getter."
I didn't know what to say, and anyway her flight was soon. I lied there, contemplating the disconnect between how I thought I'd feel, and how I felt now.
To a man, over drinks, I'd always conceded that of course, I had sinned just like anyone else, and certainly I was not perfect, but this was something I would never do. And all those times I had sincerely believed what I was saying, really. But now here I was, lying in the arms of a married woman, her ringed hand interlocking with mine. And not only did I not feel guilty, I felt that it was a beautiful thing. I liked her and she liked me and we'd enjoyed two great nights together and later today she would be back with her husband and her son and this is all it would ever be. Life would go on. It all seemed so perfectly right and nothing seemed dishonest nor deceitful nor dirty nor disgraceful. Just two people enjoying each others' company and a third who wouldn't be hurt by what he didn't know.
I got up and put on my civilian clothes and blew her a kiss and left her small but trendy hotel room and headed back to the front. When I returned, the war was still there, just as I'd left it. That morning I lost $50,000.
Later, she sent a message that she'd left a package for me at reception. I searched my brain, wondering what it could have been. Finally, of course! My watch. I wrote her, hinting that I knew what it would be, and thanked her for taking the time to leave it for me.
She responded, "Time stops for no one
," and that was the last I ever spoke to her.
03-04-2017
, 10:24 AM
03-04-2017
, 09:43 PM
03-05-2017
, 09:47 AM
Quote:
There comes a point, in every war, where, if you're the losing side, you haven't lost yet, but you realise you can no longer win. 5th of March, 2017, that's where we're at. Losses sustained in the north have been so severe, the treason by the American city-dwelling black so treacherous, that it's just not going to be possible to overcome by mid-April, no matter how strong the push. What do you do? What would you do if you were in that situation? Been fighting since September, day in, day out, given up everything, and now you've got to negotiate an armistice. No surrender, no glory, no triumph. How do you go back and tell the people at home that after all they've sacrificed, the end result is you're back where you're started?
