Glass Bathtub

and some scam info

Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

I don’t know if it’s bots doing the heavy lifting of attempting to relieve folks of the money they’ve carefully stowed or the money they don’t have, or if it’s gangs of hungry people with brilliant minds. Either way, the methods that have developed have become so elaborate and well-crafted, its almost impossible to detect the deception. Just now, Canada Post sent me a message about a package. Except I looked at the email address: sbcnaqtwlbkeu dot something or other. Maybe not from Canada Post

And then this popped up on my Facebook feed:

On a show on CBC radio, they spoke about the grandparent scam among others, including the “gift card” ruse. The latter, unfortunately, relieved someone I know of $50,000.

What a world we live in.

As an odd non sequitur that will eventually circle around, here is a picture of a stained glass bathtub that, while stunningly beautiful, is fantastically impractical. And it inspired the following contemplation of various impractical and illogical things.

You could bathe in a stained glass tub, but likely only once. Shards, jewel-like and glittering, would cut your feet and break your heart. Something about the fragility and fleetingness of beauty.

I have a vague recollection of wearing a paper dress. It couldn’t have been for long.

The man who streaked across the Oscar stage while David Niven announced some winner was murdered a few years later. I’m not certain his exposed genitalia was the reason.

Humans have exhibited a shortage of logic through time. Idiotic, impractical decisions abound.

My therapist believed that alien reptiles visited our planet and bred with humans. (She’s no longer my therapist, btw.) One of her methods of ascertaining the veracity of various beliefs was by muscle testing. Apparently, my muscles believe that my blood is ninety percent reptilian. Well, it’s true that I often have to discharge nasty thoughts and I have been selfish, self-serving, and inconsiderate. So perhaps it is true that as per her counsel, those reptilian urges must be sublimated, and maybe it’s actually reptiles running the world and it’s reptiles, not humans per se, that are self-destructive and quite frankly, nuts. That could explain a lot. (I’m aware that this line of thought has an impressive following, but I still find it hard to wrap my head around it. [If it weren’t for that extra membrane in my eyes maybe I could see this notion clearly].)

All right, back to the initial idea here. As I see it, one’s lack of logic or reason can head off in either direction. One could create something exquisitely beautiful and utterly impractical or one could make preparations to blow other people up.

What’s it going to be? A paper dress or invade someone’s home when you already have your own?

---

This May, Amherst Writers & Artists hosts Write Around the World, their annual fundraiser. This is a wonderful way to get to know how AWA workshops work, get some writing done, meet new writers, and generally have some fun—all for a minimal donation. Check it out.

I’m leading one on Tuesday, May 16. Join me!

And it would be great if you’d tune in to the Emerging Writers Reading series on May 8 at 7 pm. Eastern Time Zone. I’ll be reading from my novel, One Way Home. (It will be kinda late for me since I’ll be in France, but you know, I’m not complaining.)

Messy, Risky Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.