Writing Archives - Prosaic Shades of Gray

Suffering from a Lack of Life

Posted on January 12, 2015February 22, 2022 by KZ

Often times when I’m alone with my own thoughts, I find it hard to relax and just enjoy my free time without feeling guilty that I’m not doing something more constructive with my life. It must be residual guilt from my younger days as a student.

Don’t get me wrong, I find plenty of time to waste my time. I play an excess of video games, I watch hours of YouTube, I shop online for deals on paintball gear, and I browse Reddit like it’s a second job. There are plenty of things I enjoy doing when I find some quiet time, but they all inspire this pervasive sense of guilt within me for not doing more with my life.

Do You, Mr. Jones?

Posted on February 9, 2014October 15, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing (2014)

Day 9: “Dylan”
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It feels like Bob Dylan is singing directly to me whenever I listen to “Ballad of a Thin Man”. Granted, I’m not as thin as I used to be, and my last name isn’t Jones, but I have often felt like an outsider looking in on the world, documenting what I see but never fully understanding the things I observe around me. I guess that’s why I find it so hard to write fiction, even though I’ve always dreamed of completing a novel.

Musings of a Sentimental Drunk

Posted on February 5, 2014October 15, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing (2014)

Day 5: “The empty bottle”
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I was struggling with today’s writing prompt, so I decided to mine my old writing journal for something worthwhile. I came across something that I had drunkenly jotted down nearly ten years ago back when I was kid in my early twenties. I wrote it when I was at a party at a friend’s house where there were lots of people, plenty of beer, three guitars, and a joyful consensus of enthusiasm for group singing. I tend to get sentimental when I drink — and during those moments of shared joy, something moved me to commemorate the moment in the only way I knew how to.

A Song of Goudas and Grays

Posted on February 1, 2014October 15, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing (2014)

Day 1: “Gouda”
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This is Day 1 of the new “30 Minus 2 Days of Writing” challenge for FY14. The first writing prompt is Gouda. Frankly, this prompt annoyed me, because what the hell can you do with “Gouda”? Well, I figured something out in the end.

A Forgotten, but Familiar Tune

Posted on July 17, 2013October 14, 2022 by KZ

There is a line in that old Outkast song, “Rosa Parks“, that has long been echoing in my mind since 1998. Said baby boy you only funky as your last cut You focus on the past your ass’ll be a has what Damn straight, André. Every time I take a break from blogging, the moments…

I’m No Good at Long Goodbyes

Posted on February 28, 2013October 13, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing

Day 28: “Is That All?”
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Here we are on the final day of the month-long writing challenge for February 2013, “30 Minus 2 Days of Writing”. Frankly, this whole challenge was a massive pain in the ass. I have to admit, though, I loved nearly every minute of it.

Invocation

Posted on February 27, 2013October 13, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing

Day 27: “And That’s Why I Got Drunk”
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We raise our glasses to the inexhaustible variety of life, to all of those separate moments of sameness wrought with stagnancy, or trifling human catastrophe — to those tentative steps towards hopeful beginnings, or in deference to sadder times marked with the bitterness of inevitable ends. We toast to friends both new and old, to the promise or passing of lovers, to mothers both living and long since lost.

A Concession to Catnaps

Posted on February 26, 2013October 13, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing

Day 26: “Deal With It”
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I was planning to write something good tonight. It was going to be sincere, highly readable, and full of poignant humanity. Best of all, I was going to finish it well before the closing of the February 26th deadline. Yet here I am at 1:00 AM Pacific Standard Time on the morning of the 27th, and I’m nowhere close to being finished. I have ninety minutes left to wrap this up.

A Prayer for the Living

Posted on February 22, 2013February 23, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing

Day 22: “Compulsively”
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As time goes by, never forget the dreamers, the lovers who lack the understanding to endure the faithless rigors of lost certainty. Never forget our common capacity for triumph and songs, sorrows and sins, empathy and forgiveness.

The Station at the Edge of the Great Unknown

Posted on February 21, 2013February 22, 2022 by KZ

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing

Day 21: “Last Train”
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A man sits on a bench alone in an empty underground train platform. He sits in silence with none of the customary sounds around him of footsteps, conversations, and the chatter of station announcements crackling over the public announcement speakers. Occasionally, in regular intervals of minutes, a train rushes by the boarding dock in a rush of wind, rumbling echoes, and the metallic whine of dutiful machinery gliding across the rails.