The Word Processor Is Mightier

Since the first time I ever picked up a pen, I was able to poke someone's eye out. It's not hard. You just sort of hold it up thoughtfully and have a clumsy moment as you come up with something brilliant. Not everyone can do it. But believe me. I'm up there with the best of them.

And guess what? I'm even better with a computer word processor. Can you imagine the sort of catastrophes I can pull off with one of these things? It boggles the mind. That's why I always have food and drink near my keyboard. You just never know when the muse may strike.

Here, you will find a few of the many disasters I managed to create in my moments of lucidity. Or insanity. I can never remember which word is which.

• "Another Fine Monday Morning" (short fiction, 24KB) - Joe gets dumped the night before and suffers through a lousy day that only takes a turn for the worst. The story is made up of only his thoughts, spoken and unspoken. I was 19 when I wrote the first draft of this. Three years later, I added Alvin's point of view at the beginning and the end.
  
• "Kyongju" (poetry, 3KB) - non-rhyming, inspired by my brief visit in South Korea. I was 22 when I wrote this.
  
• "Nine Dongles" (chatroom log, 74KB) - me in real time and on the keyboard. I would probably rate this PG-13 or R, so reader beware. I don't know exactly when I logged this, but I was 25, high on life, and in a chat room full of strangers.
• "Pagoda Among Rice Fields" (writing exercise, 6KB) - originally written as an experimental piece in my nature writing class. The intention was to give the first part double meaning and to weave two separate pieces into the second part. I was 23 at the time I wrote this.
  
• "You Loved Me" (prose, 4KB) - an ode to a careless man. Can you guess the ending? I was 18 when I wrote this and three other pieces in the same series.