Saturday, September 07, 2013

606 : The Old FJ.


Sunday Whirl (Wordle #125) presents a list of words
that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

pay, stains, center, bell, dimension, intrigue,
magic, only, used, avenue, answer, change

For the non-Australians: the FJ was a model of car made by
General Motors Holden in Australia in the mid-1950’s.


The Old Holden.

Only a faded shell of a former glory,
She rusts in a weedy paddock.
The headlights, broken:
The aimless stare of the dazed;
The upholstery cracked
Like an old woman’s pouting lips,
The paintwork flat, dull
Faded and chalky.
She is showing the ravages of time
The ravages of being unloved
And unwanted.  
A wreck.

Once though, in her heyday, those magical days,
She would have been the centre of attention.
Driven with love through the streets,
Through the avenues of admirers,
A young boy’s answer to awkwardness:
A life changing, status making addition,
A new dimension to the male ego.

I wonder how many women 
Succumbed to her intrigue?
Who’s counting? One?  None?  Nine?
Best not ask, I guess.
Stains on the fabric of time.
The price you pay for being used.

Now, with us salivating like Pavlov’s dogs 
To the ringing of the bell of the new,
The Old Holden has a special place
In the paddock of our memories,
We are no longer beholden to her.
There are better models,
And better rides, to be had.
Rust in peace.

.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2013
---




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203 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I am thinking that the wording should be being 'rest in peace', isn't it?

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    2. It's a pun, Princess. You are quite correct that the original should be 'rest' but cars 'rust' so it is a little joke, a little word exchange. Do you understand?

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    3. I am not understanding this. Is this not being a defacing of the language that is being the property of the inhabitants of the precinct surrounding the post office of Oxford?

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    4. Yeah. I'm getting that feeling. Just accept it, OK? Poetic licence.

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    5. I am wanting to be seeing your poetic licence. I am being of the opinion that you are being lacking in poetic registration.

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    6. I believe he has a dog licence. But, curiously, no dog.

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    7. Is it being that you are telling me that he may have the poetic licence and still not be being a poet? This is being most confusing.

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  2. You could have been writing about me! ;)

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    1. Kylie Kim Sharonlee BoganSeptember 08, 2013

      Don't be silly Lee. You do not fit this profile at all..a lovely wholesome Queensland lass like yourself.I suppose you have been drowning your sorrows over the election result in Bacardi Rum and pumpkin scones:)

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    2. Oops ..sorry..I meant to say Bundaberg Rum!

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    3. No way! I celebrated with a good bottle of red and some very nice cheese from our local cheese factory up here on the mountain! Way to go!

      I left the scones for Sunday morning tea! ;)

      I do like Bundy or two, too!

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    4. I most certainly did!

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    5. Cocktails on the quarterdeck. "Waiter, bring me some ice!"

      "Oh, don't you have anything smaller?"

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    6. As one ship-wrecked sailor stranded on an iceberg said to another ship-wrecked sailor, beside him: "Look! We're saved! Here comes the Titanic!"

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    7. Is this not being a goodly thing?

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  3. Sounds like a tragic.I think one pays the price for narcissism shallowness the lack of sound values and a suitable reading list in the formative years

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    1. Probably needed a spanking good lesson or a lesson in good spanking. Or possibly neither.

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    2. My God..spanking is just so terribly passe and 50s porn!

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    3. Still very much the go at www.kink.com

      Or so I'm told. =:-O

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    4. How dreary and ordinary...sounds like a refuge for some uninspired
      pencil pusher with a plethora of degrees and tattoos desperate to appear interesting.!

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    5. Yes. Now that you mention it, so it does.

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    6. Is 'plethora' the right collective noun for degrees? Just asking.

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  4. I had a Holden Torana G-Pak as a boy. Red with blue stripes. Never had an FJ. I was told that they are very unreliable.

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    1. I am thinking that you are still being a boy.

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    2. The advantage of the FJ was that you could buy all your needed rubber accessories at the corner milkbar.

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    3. Fan-belts, wiperblades, that sort of thing. What were you thinking of?

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    4. Not a bad idea fellahs. You could pick up some really nasty things in the rear of the old FJs.

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    5. Something with good grip in the wet, perhaps?

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    6. Knowing JCN, he was probably wanting a puncture repair kit.

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    7. For tyres or condoms?

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    8. Good question. For the inner tube, of course.

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    9. Could you be more specific?

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    10. You know, the one you use for a nice pneumatic ride.

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    11. Sorry. It's still not clear to me.

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    12. Best go and ask your Daddy for a full explanation.

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    13. I am not having a Daddy. What am I to be doing?

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    14. Why is it being that you are not answering my question? is it not being reasonably put to you?

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  5. I am being a princess and I am being conveyed in the vehicle of my chauffeur's choice. They are being modern vehicles, fitting of a princess.

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    Replies
    1. So, a wheelbarrow then?

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    2. I am thinking that you are being lower that the anal aperture of the sacred cobra, isn't it?

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    3. LOL! You are such an easy target. It's like taking Besun Ladoo from a baby.

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  6. ok, I'm kind of nervous to write here after seeing the previous exchanges, but I did like the poem, the wording perfectly conveyed your meaning so... great!

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    Replies
    1. No, come on in Sreejit, the more the merrier! Thank you for visiting and especially for commenting. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    2. Some merrier than others, of course!

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    3. Quiet Sloth! You are scaring my visitors!

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    4. I'm sure Sreejit has more stamina that you give him credit for.

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    5. He hasn't come back. I rest my case.

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    6. Your case has holes. Could be only the weak of mind and feeble of character visit here.

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    7. I am not liking this comment as I am being a visitor here and I am being a designated Princess.

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  7. I am sure we all have much loved car tales and feel the nostalgia of seeing one's old mate (or his brother) rusting in a paddock. I enjoyed the post enormously but am nervous now in case a certain princess finds me. (I wonder if I say I was born less than 50 miles from Oxford she will ignore me?)

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    1. I am sure she will be on her best behaviour!

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    2. I am being a princess and I am being of the view that it is perfectly normal for you to be being nervous in the vicinity of my regal presence, isn't it? You may be having no fear, Venerable Eggman, I will be being ignoring your birthplace regardless of it's spacial orientation to the GPO of the city of Oxford. This is being the prerogative of the princess.

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    3. That, btw, is good behaviour for her.

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  8. These old cars have certainly been witness to lots of stories during their magical days.
    Great closing line J Cosmo Newbery!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Gabriella! Yes, they certainly have lots of stories to tell: love, hate, deception and betrayal. Transports of delight. And despair.

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    2. Oh, please don't encourage him!

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  9. I like this poem...I know I've commented earlier...but it reminds me of the old EH wagon I had back in the late Seventies/early Eighties. It was a great old tank. No rust but we did put it to rest.

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    Replies
    1. As you can see Lee, there is no restriction on multiple comments! I'm told reliably that EHs were much more reliable and trustworthy than FJs.

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    2. You heard right, Cosmo. The EH were a fabulous model. They were built like tanks...as as heavy as them. I loved ours...I drove it all the time, while my husband, my ex, drove the Passat and then later our new Ford Cortina. The wagon was a great old car. I'll write the story about it one day soon on my blog. I've got a couple of car stories to write...coincidentally....and I just mentioned it to a friend that sometime this week I'll write the story about the Goggomobil Dart we had back in the early Sixties....and now I'd better close this off...before it turns into a story of its own! ;)

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    3. Too late. It is now already a lightly frothy soap operetta with delusions of moving to the main auditorium.

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  10. I say, you can't just condemn all FJs out there!

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    Replies
    1. Sorry Frank. Nothing personal.

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    2. Does that apply to all people with the initials FJ?

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    3. Frere Jacques?

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    4. Non, je ne suis pas endormi.

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  11. Rust in Peace..hilarious! I may be reading things into this poem but I detect sexual innuendo and the FJ seems to be a metaphor for a sleazy character.

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    Replies
    1. No, no, no, no...It's just a poem about an old and unloved car. Really.

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    2. Anyone seen my chisels?

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    3. From Cosmocchio's comment, he 'no's where they are.

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    4. Very droll. Never said you were the sharpest chisel in the toolbox!

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    5. Just because you don't say it, doesn't make it not so!

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    6. Is this being because the chisels are being covered in the rust?

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  12. I liked this line ~ Stains on the fabric of time

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    Replies
    1. And I will tell you now, they don't wash out.

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    2. Is it not being the universal remedy to be washing with the bicarbonate of soda and the oil of the eucalyptus tree? Is it not being the stain remover?

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    3. My scrubberwallah swore by them.

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  13. So absolutely adorable and wonderfully, vividly portrayed - I believe there is more riding on this one :)

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    Replies
    1. Well, that is an interesting diagnosis, Dr Prilik! What would you prescibe?

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    2. A nice cup of tea and a wee lie down, perhaps?

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    3. Prozac.

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  14. Well, I seem to have come late to this party!! Seems I 'rusted in peace' a bit too long this morning!

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    Replies
    1. Never too late Mary. The drinks are in the fridge in the laundry, grab a glass and mingle.

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    2. Yes, but on the other side of the room from the princess....LOL.

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    3. And what is it that you are mean by this remark? I am being the mostly sociable of princesses, known in a widely circle for being a mostly agreeable companion. You will be agreeing with me or I will be having you staked out in the enclosure that is being kept for the elephants.

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    4. Play nicely Princess, play nicely.

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    5. Oh no, she spotted me!! Here I thought I would be able to walk under the radar. I'm not feeling very sociable at the moment. LOL.

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    6. She's hard to control. But she grows on you. Like lichen or moss.

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    7. I am being a princess and you will not be comparing my good personage to a low form of symbiotic lifeforms. I am being at the most top peak of the pyramid of evolved organisms.

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    8. Don't your lot believe in reincarnation? Any chance you will come back as an intestinal worm?

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    9. This is being a position that you have been filling in a most admirable manner.

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  15. So vivid... I especially like:


    The upholstery cracked
    Like an old woman’s pouting lips


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    Replies
    1. LOL! Yes, Laurie, good choice. You nailed my favourite lines in it too!

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    2. I am being back from the mirror that is in my parlour and I am being free of the lines that are being known for making a womanly person's mouth look like the northerly end of a cat that is determinedly heading in a southerly direction. For this I am being thankful.

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    3. Good to know but probably too much information.

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    4. I agree - too much information.

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    5. The only women like that are either smokers or sour old tarts with no sense of humour. In may experience, anyway.

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    6. may = my

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  16. All kidding aside, I really did like the poem. Thinking about the poor FJ & wishing someone had taken good care of it so that it would be in good condition today. A bit of care really makes all the difference in the world.....for cars & people too.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Mary. And yes, uncared for FJs are a sad thing to behold.

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  17. Nice piece! Perhaps to rust in piece is not a bad way to go?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Annell. Wear out or rust out? (does imitation of scales with hands, weighing up options). I guess it depends on what you are doing. 'Use it or lose it' comes to mind too.

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    2. I'm not convinced that you ever had it.

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    3. I am being of the opinion that he will never be getting it, isn't it?

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    4. Not from your regal self, that's for sure!

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  18. I like. Especially the comparison to an old woman's Lips, suggesting the trace of desirability in both sides of the comparison.

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    Replies
    1. The pout of disapproval vs the couch of disarrangement?

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    2. I still have images of the cat's bum...

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  19. stains on the fabric of time,
    the price of being used...ack.

    the allusion to the truck as a woman,
    there are def men that have a relationship
    with their vehicles. while i like old trucks
    and even rust, i would say mine is not that deep.

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    Replies
    1. I am being of the opinion that depth is not being everything, isn't it.

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    2. That's not what you told me!

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    3. I am thinking that your are betraying the secrets that are but rights being retained to the boudoir! This is being mostly unbecoming!

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  20. It sheds a light on the attitude of humans to everything in general. What's shiny new and fresh is in while what serves without glamour is neglected. Sad, though. The car would've been a great vintage piece.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, so very true. We are fascinated but the new and the novel while abandonning the trusted and true. Why, I wonder? And why is it a one or the other situation? People - funny critters. Some people maintain and others discard capriciously.

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    2. You must be being worthy of retaining. The peoples will be discarding the things that they are thinking have little values.

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  21. The upholstery cracked like an old woman's pouting lips.. hehe that image brought a chuckle. I loved this piece, like I love old cars. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. That phrase seems to be the people's choice snippet. Happy with that.

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    2. The mirror never lies.

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    3. I thought it was the camera that never lied?

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  22. Very nice indeed Cosmo - fully realised. I particularly liked:
    A young boy’s answer to awkwardness
    and 'Stains on the fabric of time'

    A real treat to read.. Thank you - With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you SHP, much appreciated. Yes, indeed, the immature young boys can be inordinately proud of their FJs. Until, of course, the thing stops going and pedestrians laugh and point the cruel finger of scorn at them! That can be awkward too.

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  23. This brought back a vivid memory of my father's old Ford pick-up. Oh, yes, these vehicles store memories and keep secrets. :)

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    Replies
    1. Oh my dear, what sort of memories? Any stains of note?

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    2. Didn't you read - it KEEPS the secrets. Calm down.

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  24. Posts and comments are interesting to read ~

    I will chime in and say the ending is perfect ~

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    Replies
    1. "Interesting". Second only to "nice". Hmmph. Nevermind.

      Thank you, the ending didn't come until the end (purely a coincidence). Sometimes when I write I know the ending first; not this time. I was ambushed.

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  25. Rust in peace.....tells us all

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    Replies
    1. Sure does. Entropy rules in the end.

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    2. I am being a Princess and I am not of the inclination to be ruled by the personage you mention. From which empire comes the ruler Entropy? Is he being a Maharajah? Is he being already of teh wedded status? I am being curious.

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    3. Sorry PTM, too difficult to explain. Try Googling it.

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    4. I am being a princess and I am not being reduced to a common acronym!

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  26. "Rust in peace" is perfect! Hey, I'm driving a car that looks like that - two doors cant be opened, there is more rust than paint and when someone backed into me the other month, I just said "no worries" - it already had so many dents, what was a caved in door? Hee hee. True story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A dented car, FJ or otherwise, is no problem - as long as you can get into it and out again when you need to.

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    2. Would a shoe horn help? Perhaps in and out the window?

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    3. K-Y Jelly?

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    4. What is being the K and the Y in the aforementioned gelatinous material?

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    5. Kinda Yucky.

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    6. Aren't these things supposed to be self-lubricating?

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    7. Fidel CastrolSeptember 11, 2013

      Oils ain't oils, Sol. Uh, Sancho.

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    8. I thought K-Y Jelly was carboxymethylcellulose?

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    9. And you do WHAT with it?

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  27. Replies
    1. Thank you - it seems a long time since I wrote it though! Was it only the day before yesterday?

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    2. I am being of the same mind also.

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    3. Me too. Well, not your mind Princess, of course, as I am a mere commoner.

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    4. I am being mostly pleased that you are accepting your lowly position on the trapezoid of beings that are considered to be living.

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  28. This reminds me of a car I owned and that my son lusted after, even telling his friends it was really his. That was almost thirty years ago and I don't think he will ever forgive me for selling it and buying a computer. Good one, with some hidden meaning as well. Also like the pouting lips and your final lines.

    Elizabeth
    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/bits-and-pieces/

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    Replies
    1. 1. Lusted after as opposed to lusted in. I'll think aboout that for a while.

      2. Sold a car for a computer? The FJ above wouldn't raise enough for a free calculator.

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    2. FJ's were the top of the market once.

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    3. Still are. It just depends what you think you are buying.

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  29. The poem was great, but the comments? Priceless. I am being a commoner in awe of the loquacious princess and bearing wishes to thank her for making my morning.

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    Replies
    1. Look out Patti, be careful what you wish for! And thank you for the comments.

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    2. I am liking the lady who is called Pattiken. I am being in need of a new maid to be working in my scullery regions; is it being teh case that she is being available?

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    3. I don't think anyone would be willing to clean the Princess's scullery region.

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    4. You are being most personally insulting to my regal personage and I will be delegating a minor floggerwallah to be giving you a thrashing that is being richly deserved.

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  30. Very cool personification. Wish we didn't so easily discard the old.

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  31. You certainly worked magic with the words, J Cosmo. I only managed 6 of them this week.

    Pamela

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    Replies
    1. Oh. I didn't realise that I could not use all the words. Thought it was an all or nothing proposition. There you go.

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  32. Love your images and the ending is perfect!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Daphne, always nice when someone appreciates your efforts. Can you believe, there are those out there who don't. Shocking, no?

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    2. I can be believing such things.

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  33. Beautiful and sad atmosphere created...lovely

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  34. Nostalgic and telling! Well told tale, J Cosmo!

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  35. There are better models,
    And better rides, to be had.
    Rust in peace

    A poignant tribute to once so revered but now discarded. A familiar story line for most items useful in their grander days and then allowed to 'rust in peace' Great write Cosmo!

    Hank

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    Replies
    1. Revered and then discarded - I guess we call all relate to that in some what Hank. Thanks for your comments.

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    2. I am believing the state of decardance bit I am not believing the curious idea of reverement. This is being a thought that is being foreign to my mind.

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    3. I second that emotion.

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  36. Hands down the best comment section for a poem I've yet seen. I guess I should go back and read the post.

    tick tock.

    Hey! That's good! Smooth incorporation of all the terms.

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    Replies
    1. It's has developed a life of its own!
      The poem was more duty to the word list, the comments...well... :-)

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    2. Nice change to see the comments longer than your poems, eh?

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  37. I love this! The ending was clever, and the poem had rich imagery.

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    Replies
    1. You can't beat an old decaying FJ for bringing out the latent poet in a someone.

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    2. So says the man who has written about plug-holes, paperclips and buttons.

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  38. Replies
    1. Good! My day has not been wasted then! :-)

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    2. Your nights, however, are a completely different story.

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  39. One would never believe you had to comply to a word list! Well done.

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    Replies
    1. Often there is one word that I just can't find a good home for at first. This week it was 'bell'.

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  40. Oh, Cos, you've done it again. My heart is with you... mine was a Volvo 62 sedan, already twice around the odometer when I got her... Rust in peace, now that just makes me smile. There's something about our cars... I name all mine.

    This elegy is perfect. Amy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amy. Elegy: "a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.". So very fitting for this work. Sums it it more than you can possibly imagine.

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    2. You never know. I'm willing to bet Amy has a better imagination than you.

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