gullible | The Direction of Intention

Spread Da Butter [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on July 5, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It’s a corn butter spreader,” she said. 20 and I looked incredulous.

“A what?” We squinted, as if squeezing our eyes might produce a sharper image. As if recognition was produced by wrinkling our faces.

“She’s pulling our leg,” 20 suggested. I nodded. She is well-known for too-easily pulling-the-wool-over-our eyes. 20 and I are gullible and easy marks for her shenanigans. I appreciated 20’s suggestion that between us he and I had only one leg to pull. Unintentional admission of our shared wit-less-ness.

“Noooo!” she protested. “Haven’t you ever seen one of these?” We shook our heads. Wary. Smelling a trap. “It’s a corn butter spreader!” She insisted. 20 and I stood our ground of solid disbelief.

“Look,” she huffed, scooping butter into the contraption, lowering the press arm, she ran the device over a hot cob of corn. Like an indignant Vanna White, she finished her demonstration and thrust the gadget toward us proclaiming, “Corn-Butter-Spreader!”

20 whispered, “She might be telling the truth.”

“This time,” I mumbled. Now, she was squinting at me though I doubt her squint was intended to sharpen my image.

“Use it!” she glared at 20 who promptly obeyed, deftly spreading butter on his corn.

“Hey!” he smiled. “Who knew! This thing works. There’s a tool for everything!” he double buttered his corn. “Do you want to try it?” he asked.

“I’m a purest,” I said. “I like mine without butter.”

“Too bad,” he said, triple buttering his corn. “This is fun.” He turned to Kerri asking, “When were you going to tell us about this?” He looked at me, puzzled, “Why does she always keep things from us?”

read Kerri’s blog post about CORN BUTTER SPREADERS

Like it. Share it. BuyUsACoffee (Kerri calls it our on online tip jar). Comment. It’s all good.

Filed under: Language, Random, Story | Tagged: artistry, barbeque, cook out, corn butter spreader, corn on the cob, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, friendship, gadgets, gullible, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, story, studio melange, teasing, the melange, witless | 1 Comment »

Not So Difficult [on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on November 7, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Good human beings.

Since I was a child I’ve been told that Santa keeps a list. Naughty or nice? Naughty means taking from others; being mean. Nice means giving to others; being kind.

It’s not so difficult.

Tomorrow is election day in these un-united-united-states. Election officials fear for their lives. A sad statement for the sacred epicenter of a republic: the right to vote. Safely. Securely. Without intimidation.

It’s really not so difficult. Good human beings look out for each other.

The Big Lie continues to swirl around the folks on the right. Evidence is not required when filling bellies with hot air. All that bloviated gas-bagging makes people angry. Seeing nothing but red, people become easy marks. Red is the color of gullible.

Good human beings are not bullies. They play fair. They do not gerrymander or twist the rules so they win the game before playing. Good human beings bring their best ideas to the center. They offer their ideas. They consider the ideas of others. They need not always get their way. They require a safe place to freely speak and guard that space for everyone.

It really isn’t that difficult.

Naughty means consumed with self-interest. Nice means enlivened by service to something larger than self.

Naughty means hoarding all the pie. Nice means sharing slices with others.

Tomorrow we vote. To bully or be kind? It’s really not so difficult.

read Kerri’s blog post about GOOD HUMAN BEINGS

Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, bully, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fairness, good intention, goodness, gullible, hoarding, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kind, kindness, politics, republic, safe, self interest, service, sharing, story, studio melange, the melange, vote, voters | 1 Comment »

Raise The Bar [on DR Thursday]

Posted on January 7, 2021 by davidrobinsoncreative

I just spent a few minutes reading quotes about expectations. The overwhelming message in my brief survey of expectations is this: expect nothing and you will never be disappointed. Or, said another way: lower the bar and you’ll always be able to clear it.

Expect nothing. Lower the bar. Shield yourself from disappointment.

Context is everything in the game of meaning-making. Humorists, philosophers and poets alike recommend with great humor and good hearts the disavowing of expectation. Expect nothing. My context is January 6, 2021. To expect nothing seems profoundly sad. And, with a nod to the wisdom shared through the ages, to expect more from our leaders seems to court nothing but disappointment. What a low, low bar we witness on this day. A low bar that seems to have no bottom.

MM wrote, “I don’t know about you but I found that the monumental sadness of this largely preventable pandemic coupled with the heartless, ignorant, half-assed, sociopathic drivel from our national leader and his apologists and sycophants this last four years – but especially this last year – just too much.”

Monumental sadness. Preventable pandemic. Heartless drivel. Sycophants and apologists.

Like MM, I do not wish to shield myself from disappointment. I am not capable of dropping my expectation of my nation or those we elect to office. As of this moment 352,464 of my nation’s citizens have died, many needlessly. The simple adherence to wearing a mask would have cut this number dramatically. That is not opinion, it is science. As of this moment, many members of congress are going to knowingly and willingly support a lie that undermines the very foundation of our democracy. In a circus of sedition, they are going to betray their oath of office and the country they vowed to serve.

Why should I not expect more?

Why should we not expect more of ourselves? At this moment, thousands of angry citizens, too lazy to check a fact, too gullible to ask a few obvious questions, are amassing at our nation’s capitol. They are assembling to protest unfounded-and-repeatedly-disproven allegations of voter fraud in which they themselves create as willing participants in a bevy of lies. Why should we not expect more of them?

There is a simple reason we do not see eye to eye. Many citizens of this nation do expect more. It is precisely why we voted in record numbers. Many – including some of our leaders – can’t be bothered to expect anything at all.

read Kerri’s blog post on EYE-TO-EYE