I’m searching for love that doesn’t want to be found, yet it is considered profound by so many.
Because the saying love is dead is all in your head and that thought isn’t worth a penny.
Here’s something I never shared, and that’s that I’m scared of what I’m about to admit.
Because I hate to think that love has gone extinct and that I’ll live my life and never find it.

I met a young couple that claimed they knew what love is.

They had been married five years and even had a precious baby girl.
They appeared to be blissfully happy as their hands had the restraints of 16 year olds.
They began to list the qualities of love to demonstrate that they had it,
But the infidelity in her eyes proved otherwise.
Because while she told him she loved him, she was planning to leave him for another.
For he was oblivious to the affair that had been going on for years
And that his most precious possession that he held in his arms was not even his.
And I don’t think that’s what love is.
And I don’t think it ever was.
No matter what you tell me.

I met a middle aged couple that claimed they knew what love is.
They had been married 25 years and their kids had all moved out.
I admired their commitment to each other as they spoke of hard times.
They began to tell me stories of their love, but they proved to be only fairy tales,
Because the whisky on his breath and the bruises on her arms, told a different story.
He had tried to kick the habit for years, but always wound up kicking her.
She told him she would leave him and he told her that he loved her,
And he swore he would never do it again.
But 25 years later she wishes she would have hit the road instead of being hit by him.
And I don’t think that’s what love is.
And I don’t think it ever was.
No matter what you tell me.

I met an elderly couple that claimed they knew what love is.
They had been married for 50 years and their kids had families of their own.
I stood in awe at their accomplishment as they told stories of their children.
As we talked he continued to control the conversation like he had always controlled his wife.
He told me that love was hard work, and while he worked his whole life, she never did.
For she had always wanted to leave him, but getting work as a woman was hard back then and she had no experience.
Her husband never allowed her to work and she was a slave in her own home.
Society and her husband always told her that she was nothing more than a house wife,
And she was too afraid to call them a liar.
And I don’t think that’s what love is.
And I don’t think that it ever was.
No matter what you tell me.

I’m searching for love that doesn’t want to be found, yet it is considered profound by so many.
Because the saying love is dead is all in your head and that thought isn’t worth a penny.
Here’s something I never shared, and that’s that I’m scared of what I’m about to admit.
Because I hate to think that love has gone extinct and that I’ll live my life and never to find it.

For who am I?
Who am I,
To clothe the cold hearted?
To mend the broken spirited?
To give water to those thirsty for hope?
I am a messenger.

Sometimes I forget where I am.
I find myself distracted by the daily routine of life.
Going through the motions like a choreographed dance, unable to change the track.
My life is too busy, my time too important.
My $3 latte taste of trendy bliss and ignorance,
While others 3 mile walk, leads to dirty diluted water, with the bitter after-taste of oppression.
And while people die starving and distressed,
I sit comfortably on the couch of American liberty.
Unaware of the privilege I have and the suffering others were born into.

Sometimes I forget what I’m doing.
I find myself distracted by the thoughts that hijack my mind and float in the clouds.
I dream of flashing lights, under starry nights, while standing over velvet red carpet.
My dreams are sheltered with warmth, as I’m told that I can accomplish anything.
While others dreams are left cold and naked, unsheltered by the harsh rains of reality.
My skin is the color of privilege,
While others are shades of poverty, and racism.

Sometimes I forget who I am.
I find myself distracted by all of our society’s short comings.
Movies, music and the internet have become my holy trinity of distraction.
For I live a comfortable life of luxury,
And while I want the latest trend,
There are others that want nothing more than food on their plates and water in their glasses.
My stomach is full of empty knowledge as I speak of the hardships of others.
My words are like a knife being dulled by my actions,
And my life is not even a dripping faucet for the thirsty.

For who am I?
Who am I,
To clothe the cold hearted?
To mend the broken spirited?
To give water to those thirsty for hope?
I am a messenger.

The videos posted below are some of the most hilariously entertaining “martial arts” (if you want to call it that) fight scenes from a foreign film let a lone any film I’ve ever seen. I will someday find all this man’s work and own it.

Part deuce:

April fools used to be one of my favorite days of the year, but as I grew older I celebrated it less and less. This is mostly because I never know what day it is, let alone the month. Well the other day a Canadian stranger (@mirels7) sent me a link to the new Barats and Bereta video via Twitter:

April Fools – barats and bereta

The video brought back memories of joy and mischief. Like the time I filled my boss’s car with popcorn, or the time I replaced the cream filling in Oreos with toothpaste and let’s not forget the many times I hid alarm clocks  all over my brothers room set to go off every half an hour after 2 am. It took him three years to catch on to that prank. For years after he would go search through his entire room before going to sleep on March 31st

This year I decided to think of a new practical joke I could do. Grad school keeps me busy and I spend most of my time at home. I really need to get out more but time is not a luxury I have. While I sat at my desk (it’s not actually a desk, it’s a couch. I don’t actually have a desk, I would like to purchase one but they are just so expensive. That and I got used to using the couch every day. I spend like 3 hours a day on this thing reading homework and writing papers. Look how long this has gotten, that’s kind of out of control. It’s like its own paragraph. I find it humorous, but for those of you who don’t let’s get back to the end of that sentence.)

I devised a plan to unleash on my roommate. Before you get too excited it’s nothing like OMG AMAZING! But it is humorous and very creative. I made a scavenger hunt. Now I know some of you may be thinking that something like this on April fools day would obvious, but you are wrong. Stupid face! Okay that was a little over the top. Anyway he didn’t suspect a thing because I had talked to him on the 30th, he had been out of town for the weekend and I called to ask if he was going to be home soon. He said he would be back the next day and I told him I had made this scavenger hunt and that he could do it when he got home. Now as I quickly learned there are actually 31 days in the month of March and not 30! My plan was in jeopardy but luckily for me he was not able to come home that day and actually came home on the first. I wish I could say I planned it like that but that would be a lie. Meh, who cares. It worked out exactly like I planned it.

For the start of it I wrote a lengthy and pointless message on our refrigerator board. I wrote about how I had gotten him a gift and that he had to follow the clues to get it. The clues were actually riddles and I wrote about 7 or 8 of them and placed them around the apartment. The final piece of paper did not have directions to a prize, instead it told him to go to this web site and watch this video:

After watching the video he sent me this text “oh that was a good one. The most elaborate April fool’s  joke I’ve ever heard of! Ha ha ha.” I called him on the phone and he told me how he actually believed me in the video (I would like to thank the academy). He said that he was impressed and that it was very elaborate. Upon hearing the news of my victory I took a moment of silence to bask in the glory that was my genius. This moment did not last long and was interrupted by Eric saying “Phillip, you need more friends”.