Ben's Page

Hello again

2011-06-13T10:48:00.002-05:00

Hello Lads and Lassies,

I know I have been away too long. I have been exploring the world of the well paid folks and have found that it is, indeed, a frightening place filled with horrors of commonality and debauchery. The debauchery wasn't so bad, but the commonality was dreadful. So, I return with tales of greed and stupidity from the land of the pretty people with shiny white teethe and leathery tanned skin. Thank you for all welcoming me home and raise a glass, but be sure to make mine a whiskey!

Ben

Grand Rapids Metal

2009-09-24T21:47:00.001-05:00

Grand Rapids Metal

Posted using ShareThis

The Best Reason Yet to Keep Up With Your Blog.

2009-09-10T22:03:00.002-05:00

To the editor that was trying to find me via this blog, I would like to say that I am sorry that it took me so long to realize that you were trying to get in touch with me and I hope that it doesn't keep us from working together.

Ever So Humbly Yours,

Ben Snider

2009-08-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

OK. Here is an exciting event that everyone should try to attend.

http://destination1111.blogspot.com/

Why I Won't Text and Drive

2009-03-23T18:42:00.002-05:00

I am not afraid of the crap they say might happen if I text my BFF while driving. Even though there are grisly images floating around the world wide web. I'm not worried that Officer's Neil and Bob might catch me and give me a hefty fine. My wallet would survive alright. I'm not worried that I might accidentally send a salacious come on to my boss. (He'd just chuckle anyway). The truth of the matter is this. I don't want to be the Douchie VanBagster that gets in the way!

The Great Egg Hunt

2007-04-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

We hurry to find the best of the eggs,
before our opportunity passes us by.
We wallow in the filth, face in the mud.
We scratch our way past each other,
for our chance at the reward.
When all is said, when all is done,
the final tallies are spoken.
As always, all of my eggs are broken.

Drivers Diaries

2007-03-20T10:03:00.000-05:00

Hope Road

Driving on a Saturday noon learning Spanish from a couple of Scots, I pass a white pony wearing a blue jacket. And sun dances on the Flat River in a late winter thaw while poplar trees cast their grand shadows across the road. There is a pontoon boat anchored on the shore of a watering hole in a field where cows graze.

Here the trees are nomads that stayed in one place too long. The roots grew up through their feet and anchored them, immobile for eternity. As the wind blows, they moan. Longing to be free. Birds nest in their outstretched arms and whisper stories of their travels in the nomad’s ear.

The sun sets on another winter and electric blue clouds look down on the pony in the blue coat, the cows grazing, and the beached pontoon.

The dusk pushes me on through these mid-Michigan towns. Past the husks of rotted old cars that litter the landscape, where there are more abandon homes than chances to live the American dream. All this along the road called Hope.

Drivers Diaries

2007-03-08T13:36:00.000-05:00

Social Interaction

I walk out of a place and do the awkward excuse-me-two-step with a woman walking in
I look her in the eyes, smile kindly, and say excuse me. She looks past me, making no effort to be polite.

It is like this too often. And I know why so many people hate. I am angry too. Not understanding why I shouldn’t be worthy of manners.

Seconds before my little enlightenment, I had thought she was beautiful. Elegant.
Now her mask was pulled away, her ugly nature shown to me. And I wonder; how many of her friends never see this reality that she is?

The Intellectual Devotional; Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class.

2007-01-23T11:26:00.002-05:00

If you are anything like me, and I hope you are, you have often said to yourself, ‘self, I wish there were a way to study all things brainy the way that most people study religion’. Well, your scholarly prayers have been answered. David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have put together a volume of daily lessons from seven fields of knowledge that follow a weekly regiment. Monday is History, Tuesday is Literature, Wednesday is Visual Arts, Thursday is Science, Friday is Music, Saturday is Philosophy, and Sunday is, of course, Religion. It is, in essence, a quick course in things your really ought to know like the education and reign of Alexander The Great.

David S. Kidder is an entrepreneur that has founded many cutting edge companies in the information age and served as Vice-President of THINK New Ideas. Oppenheim has a well-established career as a journalist in print and television and is currently the senior producer of NBC’s Today show.

The layout and construction of this book is such that it allows the reader to take in these facts as well as take time to let them sink in. For example, when you read about melody and the structure of music Friday morning, you have the whole day to think about it and at a single page per day it doesn’t bog you down with too much to remember, then the information will be well absorbed into the gray matter until it is needed at a cocktail party where you can wow the bosses wife or bore the obnoxious guy from sales. This makes for a wonderful experience in learning that will take even the most tired of minds and revive them with the power of ammonium carbonate. In addition to the body of the daily essay there are footnotes that are sometimes humorous and always supportive of the main idea. If my high-school English teacher judged it, an A+ would be emblazoned on the cover.

The Intellectual Devotional is perfect for everyone. You don’t have to be a Ph. D. to want to read this book; you just have to like learning.
David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim biographical information courtesy of www.intellectualdevotional.com

Public Service Announcement

2007-01-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

"That which does not kill us only makes us stronger."

To Whom It May Concern:

2007-01-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

While you were sitting at your desk questioning my work ethic I was:

Taking care of a puppy.
Taking care of a dog.
Taking care of a house.
Taking care of my spouse.
Taking care of business.
Taking in 180 reps of heavy weights.
Taking out my frustrations on a heavy bag.

Thanks for the motivation.

Drivers Diaries

2006-12-20T13:17:00.000-05:00

Martha Stansky stands in the living room of her studio apartment above the liquor store watching T.V. Her left arm is folded across her gentle breasts, bracing her right arm at a ninety-degree angle. A cigarette is perched between the thin fingers of her right hand just inches from her mouth. She stands to watch T.V. in her silk housecoat and curlers because if she sits down something might not get done. If she sits down she might think about things that won’t happen. She will think about the holidays that she won’t celebrate with friends and family that she doesn’t have. She will think about the presents she won’t get for the children she never had. She will think about the life that she never lived. She will wonder how she became a middle-aged short order waitress instead of a powerful lawyer or saintly doctor. Martha Stansky just stands in the one room of her one room apartment above the liquor store smoking and watching T.V.

Unveiling

2006-12-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

OK, so I admit that I was trying to be very anonymous with this blog and create a name that was pretty pat, but as the fates would have it I began writing for a site called "blogcritics" (see link on my right sidebar) and they used my real name and linked it to this site, so, there we are.

I have been pleased with the comfort of writing this blog has given me and I am hoping to continue in that vein now that I am outed.

There are some features that I have added to the site that help maintain it and I want to point them out so that you, if you were so inclined, might click the links and help further the cause. (The cause being this site). The first I have already mentioned, blogcritics. It is described as a "sinister cabal of writers and critics". I think that menacing is better than sinister, but who am I to correct. Once there you will find an assortment of entries by writers such as myself. I have posted the review of Tom Waits latest CD there, albeit a longer one than you will find here. Good group of writers. Check them out and support them.

The second feature is the Google search bar at the bottom of this page. If you are looking for something, why not search for it from this site (it helps). Also there are several links surrounding the search bar menu. These are ad links and, again, help maintain this site.

Thank you all again for your support and comments. I look forward to continuing this site for some time.

Ben

Drivers Diaries

2006-12-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Parson’s Grove.

The wheels roll along the seams of Michigan roads. Headlights rise and fall over the hills and everyone must watch for reflective green eyes along the side of the highway. I've just left a little town set amongst the back woods like some treasure that is seen only by those who know its there and is preserved in perfect antiquity, just like Disney's body. Parson's Grove boasts the oldest tavern in Michigan. This is a point of pride that the residents celebrate every night it seems. In fairness to them, it’s the only things to do in town after 6:00 p.m. other than buy groceries.

A gas station use to sit on the corner of Borden road, but that didn’t prosper so they made it a Celtic gift store. I’ve seen the children of Parson’s Grove jumping from the bridge into the town lake in the summer and playing baseball nearly every night possible, but now that the weather has turned cold they have all disappeared. Lights now decorate every house in town. They line every street and shimmer off the unfrozen lake. People here take the birth of Jesus very serious. The lights are a way for them to let you know they’re serious about the celebration too. I can imagine that there will still be handmade toys under some of the trees in Parson’s Grove.

I am glad to be leaving that little town. I am glad every time. I don’t belong there. I belong out among the mutants of the post-capitalist fallout.

Monday Morning

2006-12-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

Hello all. I see from my counter that you have been visiting. I thank you most sincerely. I wanted to point out one of the nifty features of the site. Below my blog entry you will see a section that says "comment". If you click on the link beside it you will be directed to an area where you can, in fact, leave a comment. I encourage you to do this as it makes the site just that much more interesting. I do not moderate comments so anything you say will be posted. (I believe in free debate). I also have opened the site up for anyone that wants to comment. In other words, you don't have to become a member to do so. This makes for a wonderful opportunity for you to say what you like, or dislike, about the site. Tell me about your day. Or just blab. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Poet

Drivers Diaries

2006-12-08T09:02:00.000-05:00

Hicksville

I’m roaring down M-57 in a head on snowstorm. My stocking cap is drying on the dashboard heater and it fills the cab with the acrid smell of warm wool soaked in sweat. There’s a Styrofoam cup in the console that sloshes a thick black liquid that the Sunoco passes off as coffee. It smells a little like diesel and that’s OK ‘cause it’s hot and it keeps me going.

I’m on my way to the middle of nowhere and I must be just about there ‘cause I passed Podunk road. The sign reads “Podunk Ave.”, but it’s nothing more than a gravel road. Somebody gave it the designation of avenue hoping that it might lend some credibility. As if three little letters, A-V-E, will make Podunk sound better. Anyone who knows Podunk can tell you it just runs north and south through cornfields and backwoods. It doesn’t lead really anywhere. The nearest town is Hicksville and that’s about ten miles north and east.

That stretch of land between Podunk and Hicksville is spotty with farmland and trailer houses that use old cars and home furniture as lawn decorations. There’s one trailer there that has a yard gnome sitting in an old Lay-Z-Boy in front of a console TV. Guess that passes as art for these folks.

Hicksville is a different story altogether. The residents are eager to tell you just how metropolitan their fair town is compared to the outskirts. Their buildings are made of brick, wood, and stone. No cheap aluminum here. They also have the privilege of a library. Though everyone knows that the ladies of the town use it mostly to keep up on Harlequin Romances. Yep, the folks of Hicksville don’t take too kindly to the notion that they are anything like those folks that live between here and Podunk road (Ave.).

Anniversary

2006-12-07T08:18:00.000-05:00

It was ten years ago today
That my life changed in an amazing way
I met the love of my life
And soon made her my wife
There have been ups and downs
But we have had more laughs than frowns
We stand by each other’s side
Just enjoying the ride
I know that this all sounds so very schmaltzy
But I will only have one 10th anniversary
After all, I am committed to this person
She is my only one.

Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards

2006-12-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

With Tom Waits you have to either love his music or...well, you get the point. His latest disc, Orphans, is a collection of never before released music that is both stunning and thought provoking. Waits intelligence is evident in his lyrics and his raspy method of delivery is as unique as the man himself. Included in this three disc set is a 94 page booklet that gives lyrics and some interesting photos that you have to make up stories for. It is one of the most original recordings that I have heard lately. Check out the Tom Waits website at http://www.officialtomwaits.com/main.htm.

First of many

2006-12-06T08:48:00.000-05:00

I have finally decided to take the plunge into blogging in the hopes that it will provide some sort of release for my creative frustration. I didn't want to take part in those other common blogs on the net as they seemed very sophomoric. With that in mind, I will try not to take myself too seriously.