http://slow.writerscafe.org/Felipo64 The original writings of author Philip Gaber en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776085566 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 TITLE: JUST SOME DUDECHARACTEROne man. Late 20s to 40s. Could go either way.A stool, maybe a table. Optional drink.MONOLOGUEThis dude.Yeah.This dude who is he? Nobody knows. Just some dude.Grew up here, there… wherever. Doesn’t matter.One of those non-descript guys y.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131695/ Failed Poet said,“I stopped taking my meds because I didn’t like the way they made me feel. I walked around like a zombie numb. What’s the point? I’d rather feel something, even if it’s anger, despair, irritation, sadness. I’m a poet I need the full range. That&.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131458/ The good thing about not having to worry about publishingyour s**t is you can be free as hell and you don’t even have to write well, ifyou don’t wanna, you can stop, take a sip of six of wine, pause, be in a stateof repose for three, four minutes, while watching some guy sing &ldqu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131353/ Zoë Fluck and Chloe Zuckwere always partying sober,tanning all summerand never quite getting their makeup rightlike something was off in the mirrorbut not enough to fix.When Zoë had her breakdownduring the autumnal equinox(she went to bed and stayed therefor a couple week.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131114/ My prose was flaccid crass, shapeless, unclear.My characters were about as developed as a third-world country, and my analogies as sophisticated as a bottle of Manischewitz Extra Heavy Malaga.So I holed myself up in an old saltbox house in New Hampshire.I gained weight. Discovered Zen Buddhism.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131068/ I will forever remember that cold morning.I’d just returned from a month-long road trip cross-countryin a beat-up Chevy, chasing something like spiritual renewal.She stood by the picture window, in a kind of blah, lookingtypically unavailable, watching the leaves change in the fron.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3131063/ Lately, I have the push to write. I want to write. Notworking on anything in particular. Just trying to put one word in front of theother while avoiding ChatGPT. I met with my therapist this morning. We talkedabout my procrastinations, my avoidances. I shared with her the story of when Iwas .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130996/ What am I saying. I’ll tell you exactly what I’m sayin’. Nota goddamn thing. Just wallowing around out here, not knowing what to do or whoto do it to…I’m exhausted. I remind myself of my father, who died early becauseof his goddamn heart attack brought on by his .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130922/ One Day… He tried to write a poembut didn’t know how. Meters, rhymes,schemeshe had none of that. What he had was this: waking at five-thirty,skipping breakfast,racing to work,body already there,mind still ca.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130919/ My writing teacher told us to write a page, put it away,take a walk, and then come back and rewrite it from memory.So, I went looking for my drug dealer.He liked to read John Cheever in public outdoor cafés,usually smoking cigarillos and pretending not to be seen. Or maybe th.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130908/ God, those sideburns. You’d think he wasfrom the nineteenth century or something. Belly, too. Big feet. A red, bulbousnose. Sixteen teeth. A gray, greenish-coated tongue. Who knows what it’s coatedwith? That, I don’t wanna know. He believes in something north of Philly.Chec.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130829/ Got bored and pulled a flask of J&B Scotch from aninside jacket pocket and took a large pull from it…I quietly guffawed to myself…isn’tthis what the world expects of me? I thought…the woman in the front row was asplacid as a glazed donut…she couldn’t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130650/  …you were out on your own, driving around in a blue ChevyNova without a radio, smoking too many cigarettes. Thinking about that girlwith the braces and the motorcycle. Not washing your clothes enough, and smoothingout the wrinkles in your face, coming to the conclusion that no.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130494/  I wipe my mouth with my sleeve. Then don’t know what to do…whento begin a conversation…I was reading a play about a guy without a moral conscience. He had recently been diagnosed withbipolar & mild schizophrenia. His children were recently diagnosed with .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130354/ That fight had been brewing longer than he cared to admit.At first, he tried to narrate it, give it structure, like one of his paintings. If he could just name the colors, define the edges, maybe the chaos would settle into something meaningful. But the mind doesn’t obey composition rules. I.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130273/ He wanted to know what I did in my spare time. I told him Idid a little writing here and there.“So you drink much or…?” he said.“Do I drink much?”“I know a lotta writers drink.  I was just curious.”“I mean, occasionally.”.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3130254/ You left the party, where’d you go?You said somebody followed you.Somebody named RexWho was wearing a khaki suit,A white T-shirt, white Vans skate shoes.  Somebody you went to school with…A Valedictorian…He asked you to marry him.You told him .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129999/ By the timethe early sixtiescame around,she really became a muse. She was always there,she was very clever.Give her a mirrorand she turned it intoa drama.It was as ifShe was irreplaceable.There was thisIncredible reactionBetween her and her clothes.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129980/ They mean welland their heartsare titanium-plated.They're lactose intolerantand can't readmore than two pages of Homer.They often admit to forgetting howto do long division with a pad and a penciland almost neverestablish dominanceov.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129830/ I got high, I looked to the skyI saw my mother cry And the sun refused to shine.The skies turned blackAnd it began to snow.I made love to a girl named Orion.I looked in her eyes, and I saw stars shining.I kissed her shin and grinned.Tears rolled off her chinAnd mo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129493/ Suddenly I felt betrayed...& I felt guilty for feeling betrayed...& then I started denying that I felt guilty and betrayed... & then I began to rationalize my feelings of betrayal and guilt...& then I resigned myself to the fact that it was OK to feel guilty and betrayed...That it wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129489/  Yep, I think it was one of those deals where nobody isthinking too much about anything. They were just sitting around in groups ofthree and four dangling participles and cleaning their pips with theirtracheas. It was insanity at its best. The lovable people without hats weren'tasha.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129428/ He thought back. To an earlier time. But the memory wasfragmented. In pieces. Collided with other memories. Just out of reach. Accessibleto him only during rapid eye movement. In a room. No, in the womb. Thenwhispered to. During a full moon. In June. Yes. That was the memory. In thewomb. He .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129091/ A lavish last wish, an idle ladle,a raceme of blue flowers.Skeletons coming outof moth-eaten layettes.The woman with the leaky ego and the hideaway liferepressed her laughter.She'd just come off of aRorschach high.She'd seen an inky Buddha,a blotchy Jesus,two Picassos an.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3129010/ I find myself being less and less engaged in conversation. People’lltell me about their trips to Italy, their friends who call them up at two o’clockin the morning to tell them about their troubles, how they’ve got a couple ofdays’ vacation and they’re going to sp.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128998/ This girl I knew had been lonely…depressed. Reticent aboutgetting involved in relationships…didn’t date for three years…She’d sit at homewatching TV, playing fetch with her dog. I’d talk to her on the phone; shealways sounded monotone and unenthusiastic. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128789/ You were unaware Of the glareOf her stare.Said she didn’t careFor your lairOr your hairOr what you wearOr the airInside your Corvair.Played Truth or DareWithout much flair.Shaved her legs with Nair.Slept with a teddy bear.For Christmas asked .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128638/ I awoke without her. Again. I wasn’t at all unhappy withthat. We’d done our time. She was calm, sedate, soft-spoken. I was angry,fearful, and dark.“I’m a product of my life experiences,” I told her themorning of her abortion. “And my life experiences hav.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128563/ I sigh a lot.Have you noticed?I feel the tearsbehind the curtains of my eyeswaiting in the wings,waiting for their cue,waiting for the actors todeliver their lines,waiting for the audience's reaction,the critic's reviews,hoping that the showwon't closeafter toniight's performance. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128448/ My sunglasses couldn’t keep the glare of your dishonestyfrom blinding me. Oh well, of course, perfidy once again. That’s when I’m toldthe F.B.I. opened a file on me. I’m awe-dumbstruck… she says “You prefer yourimagination to reality.” So we break up... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128396/  She was compassionate yet sexy in her own way, despite herpolitics. What she was is a storyteller without an audience, with only atypewriter to hunt ‘n peck on, disturbed child-poetry creeping out of everypore… “Semi-blazing eyes watering my cactus, prete.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128385/ He was at the bus stop.Kept checking his watch.Kept reading the same line in the newspaper over and over.  “Two women, one of whom was carrying a baby in a car seatcarrier, were arrested for stuffing various items down their pants and into adiaper bag.”He thought.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128298/ Iwas spiritually and psychologically imbalanced when I came here. I needed totell the story to better understand myself. I was a drunk and a meth addict. Iwas a natural rebel. Of course, it was all just self-medicating… and it feltgood, don’t get it twisted&h.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3128073/ I'm tired of writing about this s**t...I need a new protagonist...I need to explore the heart and soul of humanity...I need to have sex with a cute Asian girl...I need to love her without needing commitment... (I laughed as soon as I wrote that, and justifiably so) Remember this line from my high sc.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3127947/ What am I saying. I’ll tell you exactly what I’m sayin’. Nota goddamn thing. Just wallowing around out here, not knowing what to do or whoto do it to…I’m exhausted. I remind myself of my father, who died early becauseof his goddamn heart attack brought on by his .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/3123482/ Barney lifted his glass of gin with the 4 olives drowning atthe bottom.“I did say I was going to curtail my drinking; yes, Idid…but I didn’t say when, nor did I say why…That’s about all you’re going toget from me…”He was waiting for th.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2940088/ Phone rings, somebody on the other end wants to know when I'm coming to visit them. I'm so distracted I mutter, “Haven’t been myself lately…” “Hmm?  What did you say?” “Nothing,” I say, wiping sweat from my brow. The caller wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2933479/ From L.A. I ventured east to NYC where I worked part-time ina photographic lab, enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, majored in didn’tapply myself, minored in mind-altering experiences, tried to figure out whatwas between a major and a minor, thought maybe I'd have some luck there... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2931715/ There were things that were said thatnight,but I don't really remember.I was either too drunk, too sleepy, orboth.The only thing I do rememberissomebody got mad atmebecause I couldn'trecall the nameof the person whomthey were describing."You.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2931641/ Samantha’s session with Dr. Bombay began a few minutes late. “Sometimes,” she said. “I go out in public without myglasses so that if I have to look people in the eye, I don’t really seethem…I’m not so inhibited around them when I do this&he.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2931373/ “...because of a deeper grief which is peculiar to childhoodand not easy to convey: a sense of desolate loneliness and helplessness, ofbeing locked up not only in a hostile world but in a world of good and evilwhere the rules were such that it was actually not possible for me to keepth.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930921/ He was the Monday morning of human beings. The kind of guy who would confront you in a public restroom if you didn’t wash your hands or shooed you with his fingers and bellowed, “C’mon, c’mon!” the second the stop light changed from red to green. In the late a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930790/ The day after I barely graduated from high school, my father took me fishing.I didn’t really like to fish, but I had nothing else to do, so I figured what the hell?The problem was as soon as we cast our rods, he said, “So what are your plans?”Which was a question I really wasn&rsqu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930789/ Remember back in the day?A poet would write a poem, and it said something?Meant something?We could make sense of it.Explain its meaning.Then along came Dylan.He was having a drink with Keith Richards.Keith was drinking Jack Daniels and smoking.Dylan tried to bum a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930676/ My prose was flaccid, a little crass, and lackedclarity and structure.My characters were about as developed as a third-worldcountry and my analogies were as sophisticated as a bottle ofManischewitz Extra Heavy Malaga wine.So I holed myself up in an old saltbox house.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930639/  IWell, I was trying to stay on my hustle by working for this company that paid me to hold up a sign on the side of the road:  “Store Closing!   Liquidation sale!  50% off everything!  Everything  must go!” when my  cell rang.It was my supervisor.He tol.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2930634/ Think it was 1990.Funny how you can’t remember dates when you’ve been alone for so long.Seems like somebody was always pulling a gun on me in those days. Something about sleeping with women I wasn’t supposed to be sleeping with. Fortunately, I never got shot. Little muscle pain eve.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2929916/ Let me get something settled cause you’re gonna hear all kinds of stories about me.Yes, I am a fallen man.I was tempted by the serpent and I believed him when he said the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would make me wise.So now I’m surviving �" by the sweat o.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2929915/ This dude, who is he, nobody knows, just some dude. Grew uphere, there, wherever, it really doesn’t matter. Just one of those non-descriptdudes. Except he liked to write. Started writing when he was like eight ornine. Silly s**t. Silly stories. Parents had an old Royal manual typewriter.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2929679/ 1.I got up, got dressed, drank some coffee, lit a cigarette.Walked to the bus stop.       Boarded the crosstown bus.Sat next to an old woman who smelled like Vicks VapoRub. She was reading The New Yorker.Talk of the Town.Every now and then she'd giggle; but you could tell she wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/Felipo64/2929668/