Subtext
in the laundry room, susan prepared her laundry for washing. she began by separating her
delicate items from her heavier wash. she removed to a separate pile her colourfast items,
and to another her sheets and towels. when she had organized her laundry in this fashion,
she placed it into the washing machine. as the water began to pour into the washer, she
added thereto appropriate amounts of soup, bleach and fabric conditioner, as required by
the type of wash. when this was done, she placed her first load of wash into the machine
and closed the lid.
susan then sat down in the laundry room in the one available chair to await the conclusion
of the wash cycle.
the front door of the laundry room was slightly ajar, and a light breeze entered therefrom
into the confines of the room.
susan felt the coolness of this breeze against her skin; she shivered briefly, crossing one leg
over the other as she sat waiting for the conclusion of the wash cycle.
i'll be glad when this is over, she thought placidly.
i can get dressed again.
basic elements.
r.c. "rob" robbins sat. r.c. "rob" robbins sat on a chair.
the chair on which sat was a folding metal chair. the four feet of the chair were tipped with
a hard, yellowing plastic. the chair itself was painted a colour sometimes referred to as
gunmetal grey. the paint on the chair had peeled or chipped off in many areas, where,
through the process of use, the chair had been knocked or scratched. this wear was most
noticeable on the lower portion of the chair's front legs, where over the years the action of
many heels kicking and scraping against the chair had resulted in gouges and pits which
freckled this area. thus exposed to the elements, the metal underneath had begun to
oxidize, and the gouges and pits both on the lower portion of the chair's front legs, as well
as those other areas where the paint on the chair had either peeled or chipped off, were a
powdery rust brown.
both the back and seat of the chair were padded with an unidentified padding material
approximately one centimetre thick. this padding was covered by a pattered greyandwhite
naugahyde. on the seat of the chair, this covering of naugahyde was itself covered by a
strip of shiny grey duct tape, where the covering had apparently been torn. the strip of
duct tape had moved since being applied to the seat covering, so that outlines of blackened
adhesive marked several of the areas previously covered by the strip of tape.
r.c. "rob" robbins sat in the metal chair in a quiet room.
the quiet room in which r.c. "rob" robbins sat was painted with bone white enamel. into
the walls of the bone white room an assortment of screws and nails had been driven, then
subsequently removed, so that the lighter white of the plaster under the paint and the
brownishgrey of the drywall under the plaster were in tiny areas exposed. these small holes
contrasted with the otherwise smooth finish of the walls, adding pinpoints of shadow
which appeared, at certain angles, to extend quite far back into the walls. this variegated
constellation of shadow contributed a sense of texture to the otherwise smooth finish of
the quiet room's bone white walls.
r.c. "rob" robbins was not alone as he sat in the metal chair in the quiet white room.
it is possible to posit a variety of appropriate actions with which r.c. "rob" robbins might
involve himself while sitting on a metal chair in a quiet white room.
one appropriate action for r.c. "rob" robbins as he sat in the metal chair in the quiet white
room might be the action of entertaining of some motions.
as r.c. "rob" robbins sat, he entertained some motions.
as r.c. "rob" robbins sat, he entertained these motions:
discipline is license. affording the multidimensional thinker the freedom to not make
mistakes.
participation without interference. the essence of multidimensional diplomacy in action.
giving the inch to get the mile.
not predicting the future - appreciating the eventuality. terms and conditions subject to
change without notice. will build to suit.
r.c. "rob" sat in the quiet white room in this manner for a period of time.
after this period had elapsed, r.c. "rob" robbins spoke aloud.
"well," r.c. "rob" robbins said. "might as well get dressed now."
doing the laundry.
necessary action.
particles of metallic oxides on a band of micronthick mylar arranged electromagnetically
so that, upon passing over the heads of a tape playback device, an electricallyamplified
speaker is induced to replicate sounds of a voice uttering an organization of phonemes
that may be interpreted as words similar to "i like being happy; i like being satisfied - i like
being happy; i like being satisfied..."
paul dickerson was feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
he had spent many months travelling to and from many diverse destinations. several of
these localities whose dynamic character had impressed itself upon paul dickerson had
induced him to linger in their vicinity for longer periods than had been planned for in his
own itinerary. paul dickerson, however, was so pleased with his experiences in these
localities that he had extended his period of travel toaccommodate these experiences. thus,
when he eventually returned to his home town, he had been absent therefrom for a period
of time well in excess of his original projections.
in his home town, business which required paul dickerson's presence had therefore gone
long unattended, and these affairs, now pressing in their urgency, obliged paul dickerson
to remain situated in that locality until the conclusion of these business affairs. after this
period of great travel, however, paul dickerson soon discovered that his subsequent return
to his home town illustrated to him how much he preferred the experience of travel. it was
therefore most reluctantly that paul dickerson opted to suspend his sojourns.
paul dickerson impatiently waited for the conclusion of his business, so that he might
further pursue his journeying.
once, in conversation with blackhumour, he expressed his feelings of dissatisfaction.
"there are few inappropriate places to come from," he said to blackhumour. "and many
inappropriate places to stay."
blackhumour responded: "the multidimensional thinker visits, never stays."
"more coffee?"
"please."
kim galbraith sat on a wooden chair. kim galbraith sat on a wooden chair in a dark room.
kim galbraith sat on a wooden chair in a dark room behind a wooden partition. the
wooden partition in the dark room in front of the wooden chair upon which kim galbraith
sat was painted black. kim galbraith sat on a wooden chair in a dark room behind the
blackpainted wooden partition.
kim galbraith, at discrete intervals rose in the dark room from the wooden chair on which
she sat and stepped from behind the blackpainted wooden partition to stand for a period of
time. kim galbraith stood for a period of time in the dark room in front of the blackpainted
wooden partition. when a period of time had elapsed, kim galbraith would step behind the
blackpainted wooden partition and sit once again on the wooden chair.
kim galbraith would repeat this action as necessary.
repeating as necessary...
poetry starts here.
blackhumour was in conversation. blackhumour was in conversation with bryce
rasmussen. while blackhumour was in conversation with bryce rasmussen, bryce
rasmussen inquired of blackhumour: "what is the essence of multidimensional thinking?"
blackhumour replied: "there are few inappropriate places to come from; there are no
appropriate places to stay."
"ah," bryce rasmussen said. "and how was your trip?"
position is conditional. all parking must be validated.
dawson phillips received a letter. upon brief examination of the envelope, however,
dawson appraised the contents therein as unworthy of his perusal, for the envelope into
which the contents had been placed was similar in appearance to much of the unwanted
correspondence from product vendors and promotional firms which daily cluttered his
mailbox and clamoured for his attention.
dawson disposed of the missive.
the missive dawson disposed of read:
advertising contains no new information. advertising is the ongoing performance of
consensus verifying and reverifying itself. the performance was not wellreviewed by this
journalist. subsequent performances appeared to be wellreceived by those attending. this is
where we separate the plywood from the dinosaurs.
there is no beauty without surprise.
dealing with issues: circumstance is my area of expertise. no stopping in this area. the air
may now explode.
several weeks later, dawson phillips was in conversation with blackhumour.
blackhumour asked dawson phillips: "did you ever get my letter?"
"what letter?" dawson replied.
susan's husband bill inquired of blackhumour: "what is the essence of multidimensional
thinking?"
"do you like fruitflavoured ice creams?" blackhumour responded
"the idea itself does not appeal to me."
"don't knock it 'til you've tried it," blackhumour said.
joel haertling sat in a black plastic chair. joel haertling sat in a black plastic chair in a
darkened room. joel haertling sat in a black plastic chair in a darkened room facing a
wooden partition. the wooden partition which joel haertling faced was painted black. joel
haertling sat in a black plastic chair in a darkened room facing a black wooden partition.
joel haertling sat in a chair in a darkened room facing a wooden partition for a discrete
interval of time. during this discrete interval of time other events were occurring in the
room which joel haertling sat. joel haertling was unable to visually perceive these other
events because the darkness of the room in which he sat precluded the possibility of this
observation.
joel haertling sat in a black plastic chair in a darkened room facing a blackpainted wooden
partition for a discrete interval of time unable to visually perceive the events occurring in
the room which he sat.
spoons are as appropriate as hammers for doing needlepoint.
blackhumour stood beside a black plastic chair. blackhumour stood beside the black
plastic chair to the left of the black plastic chair. blackhumour stood to the left of the black
plastic chair facing a wooden partition. the wooden partition blackhumour faced standing
to the left of the black plastic chair was itself painted black.
blackhumour stood to the left of a black plastic chair facing a wooden partition which
itself had been painted black.
as blackhumour stood to the left of the black plastic chair facing the wooden partition that
itself had been painted black, he involved himself in a series of actions meant to fashion a
response to circumstance.
blackhumour stood to the left of the black plastic chair facing the wooden partition which
itself had been painted black involving himself in a series of actions meant by blackhumour
to fashion a response to circumstance.
the series of actions in which blackhumour involved himself was meant by blackhumour to
fashion a response to circumstance.
blackhumour repeated as appropriate the series of actions meant by him to fashion a
response to circumstance.
repeating as appropriate...
poetry continues here.
Copyright © 1994 blackhumour
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