Actors (The Real-Life Superheroes)

Peter Parker- by day, he's a misunderstood teenager attending a local high school. He takes (and aces) exams, gets made fun of, and almost blows up the school lab once or twice. After school, however, Peter dons a cheesy blue and red costume and leaps out of his bedroom window. No folks, he's not suicidal. He has superpowers.

Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, an event that he is likely to never forget. Little did he know that the spider's bite would bestow amazing abilities on him, abilities such as "spidey senses" and the power to climb straight up walls just like an arachnid. After he discovers his powers, Peter takes it upon himself to fight the evils of the world- evils he believes only he can defeat because of his special capabilities.

Now of course we know that Peter Parker's world is different from our own. We don't often see megalomaniacs roaming the rooftops, followed by guys in tights. However, we do have some superheroes of our own.

Actors- by day, they occupy many quiet jobs in various large cities all over the globe. they "sweat it out" for long shifts, slaving away in jobs no one else wants just so they can pay for acting lessons or a dialect coach. By night, they become completely different people. Actors have the ability to change themselves into anyone they want to be. And that is just what makes them so captivating- their talent for an art in which nothing is quite real and no one can tell the difference between truth and lies.

The Actor on Stage

He stands on stage,

his timing is perfect.

With a confident smile,

his voice projects.

His eyes are glittering

in the limelight.

His talent when beheld,

is quite a sight.

He becomes the person

he's trying to be.

He discovers a way

to be a new personality.

By day this man

is an average person.

At night, though,

he creates his own version

of a character

from a dusty old tale.

He is who he wishes,

and he doesn't fail.

copyright MPK 2010, all rights reserved, unauthorized use is prohibited

Thanks for listening!

Maggs

Going Green

One of the things I love is when old words acquire new meanings over time. For example, take a look at Google. The word "googol" used to mean, "a rather large number to which no one wishes to count." However, now google has actually undergone a sort of metamorphosis and changed into a word that means, "a search engine on the internet that has become an expert at wasting my time and a valuable tool for procrastination."

The word "green" has also changed. Long ago, back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, it described the stuff triceratops could eat. During the time of Shakespeare (see picture of poetic dead guy), green was used to describe the unfortunate tights many actors were forced to wear during their performances. While the Revolutionary War was going on, green was the color of the woodland foliage that offset the red coats of the British, enabling us to win the war. In the rather awful decade of the seventies, green was a color used in many repetitive designs of paisley. Now, however, green describes something entirely new. "Green" is now a way of life. If you're green, that means that you:

• carpool to work
• take quick showers
• have a bottle floating in your toilet tank
• don't let the water run while you're brushing your teeth
• hug trees on a regular basis (I'm not criticizing anyone; I have actually hugged a tree myself)
• eat organic food (extra brownie points if it's organic granola)
• snip the little plastic ring that goes around your gallon of milk's spout before you throw it away (this prevents animals from getting it stuck on their mouths or paws)
• etc. (see video for a bit of et cetera)

Thanks for listening!

Maggs

A New Beginning

You've all heard of the classic starving artist, right? You know the guy I mean- the man at the end of your city block who sits all day, staring intently at a canvas. You pass him every morning on your way to work (or school, it really doesn't matter). You see him every day, and yet his canvas always looks the same. It's blank. Let's face it people- this is why that guy is starving! But really, I'm in no position to criticize. I can draw three things reasonably well: vines, hibiscus flowers, and poinsettias. My artistic talents are purely agricultural. But I digress! To continue, I'm sure you've all heard about said starving artist. But as you now know, I am no artist. So instead I have become a starving poet. This is partly true, seeing as I do love to write poetry, and partly untrue. I am not, as you may have guessed, starving. If I were in fact wasting away to nothing, I would most certainly not be sitting here typing this right now. Instead I would be out scavenging for food in some local dumpster, or at a line in front of a soup kitchen, or preparing to die dramatically in my true love's arms, with the secret to eternal happiness on my dying lips. Yeah, like that'll ever happen.

I feel somehow obligated to share a poem with you, oh miraculous surfers of the internet. This is a poem I wrote about a month ago when I got a beautiful pair of Converse shoes for my birthday:

An Ode To Converse

Oh Converse, you're the coolest

thing around.

I love you very much,

'cause you bring me up when I am down.

Some People claim you're nerdy,

but that's so not true.

Dearest Converse,

I'm in love with you!

Black and white

never matched so well.

Oh Converse,

I think you're swell!

copyright MPK 2010, all rights reserved, unauthorized use is prohibited

This was really just written for fun, but I don't think it's too bad, all things considered.

Thanks for listening!

-Maggs