Statement of Purpose

I will pay attention. I will appreciate beauty and ugliness. I will feel and listen. I will chew food slowly. I will express myself. I will exercise. I will eat dark juicy green vegetables. I will learn something. I will cry as long and loud as I need. I will question my beliefs. I will I will not think sleep is wasting my time. I will think things that other people have already thought. I will try to help. I will contribute.  I will pet any animal that wants petting, even if it’s dirty or smelly. I will sit still sometimes. I will consider other viewpoints. I will enjoy everybody. I will be responsible for something. I will not avoid difficulty or boredom. I will give things away. I will try to make something better. I will notice the new moon, small flying insects, and the beauty of old people.

Full

There came a time when she could no longer, as they said, “keep the place up.” When there was more clothing on the floor than in the closet, and yet the closet was stuffed full. When the newspapers stacked up faster than she could read them. When the rolls of bought-on-sale toilet paper stashed in the pantry outnumbered the days she was expected to live.

She knew that’s what they were saying. That it was “getting to be time,” that she needed to “move on,” “move somewhere they could take care of her.” She didn’t hear them say it, but she knew they were saying it. People all think the same things, and when you’ve lived a long time, you’ve had most of the thoughts that are possible for a person to have.

She didn’t care. She was staying, and it wasn’t a discussion or a debate or a compromise. She was staying until the newspapers reached the kitchen ceiling. She was staying until all the toilet paper was used up. She would stay green carpet until the clothing piled up dirty walls that chair belonged to her mother. That’s not a cockroach it was her apartment and people want her out the chess set, you can’t throw out a chess set. Her apartment too much rice does the neighbor like rice and she could fill every damn inch how she pleased, even if he was probably anti-Semitic, no, best to keep the rice this was grandmother’s ring, or was it that one, an adult can fill up space how she wants fill it up toilet paper rice the napkins were on sale you can always use napkins good pantsuit for a job interview rice rice can of beans can of corn toilet paper toilet paper toilet paper.

Exhaustive Study Tracing the Consumer Habits of Myself

I buy:

Almonds, apples, albums,

Bananas, beans, backpacks, boots, boxing gloves, books, bowls,

Combat boots, cookies, chocolate, cat food, cat litter, concealer, chicken,

Deodorant, drawer organizers,

Essential oils, eggs,

Fish flowers, flaxseed,

Gum, granola, grapes, gasoline,

Hair conditioner,
I

Jojoba oil, jam,

Kombucha, kale,
Leggings, laundry detergent, lipstick, lox,

Moisturizer,
Noodles,

Olive oil,

Protein bars, pens, pencils, paper, post-it notes, peanut butter, plants, plates,

Q
Raisins, raspberries, rice,

Sneakers, shin pads, shampoo, soap, socks, sportsbras, sardines, skirts, sweaters, soy-sauce, seaweed, spinach, scarves, shoes,

Tea, toilet paper, tights, t-shirts, tea-tree oil, tortillas,

Underwear,

Vitamins, vinegar,

Water,

X

Yogurt, yin chao, yoga pants,

Z

Conclusion: While I tend to buy products beginning with B, C, P and T, and while my strongest preference is for products beginning with S, products beginning with I, Q, X and Z fail to capture my interest. Further study is required to determine the cause of the perceived undesirability of these products to the target demographic, me.

All I Need

All I need is not you.
You are not all I need.

I mean, no offense.
You are nice and all.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to say you’re all I need.
Or even most.

Don’t you think it’s unhealthy to only need one thing?

What’s that expression--

You can’t judge a book by the tea in China?

Anyway,

Need is like water,

Need is like food,

Need is like shelter,

Need is like community,

And yeah, need is like love,

But you, while nice as I mentioned,

Are not everything I love.

“All I need is you,”

I heard it in a song,

I mean, in like fifteen songs.

Maybe twenty songs.

I thought,

Could that be right?

All I need is you?

Not friends?

Not a job?

Not artistic expression?

Not a purpose in life?
All I need is you?

Perhaps they are trying to convince themselves.

Perhaps they are trying to convince us,

Because if all I need is you,

I don’t need

Equality, justice, education.

I don’t need

An end to war and poverty and disease.

I don’t need peace.

I just need you.

I’ll look for you until I find you,

And when you are found

We will sit in our house,

Watch those people on the television

Doing things, singing, writing, protesting,

Avoiding taxes, beating up children, starting wars,

And we will say,

You, baby,

You are all I need.