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John Wessel
5521 Brubeck Street
Ventura, CA 93003-0219

(805) 746-0248

It is not alright to call me if you don't know me.

Me, bicycles and a Google map.

John Wessel 9/22/2009

A map of the best ways to get around Ventura by bicycle.

Dad taught me how to ride a bicycle in, I think, second grade. My memory says that it hadn't occurred to me before then and that no one had brought it up but that doesn't jive with another memory: a feeling of embarrassment that I was really behind the other kids in learning.

Dad bought me a bicycle and took me to Chumash park to learn how to balance. At first, he ran with me balancing the seat. The first time I managed to balance on my own, I didn't remember how to stop and ran into a metal trash can in the middle of the path. Then Dad got lazy, told me I just needed momentum to balance and started pushing me down a grass hill for said momentum. I flipped over the handlebars once and remember that it hurt strangely less than it should have. I shouldn't blame Dad too much though; I looked at the hill and it's far shallower than I remember it, almost not to be there. He probably gave me a shove too :(

...read the rest.

On a Friday Night

John Wessel 9/8/2009

This poem more or less sprang directly into my head two days after said incident. It has long vowels that give it a rise and fall, which I find whimsical.

Last Friday night, I was all alone.
I called some friends. None answered the phone.
So I mixed me a drink and typed out a letter
To a girl from Hong Kong I want to know better.
I wrote a few pages,
Of words for the ages.
When to my consternation,
Came a dreadful sensation,
Of spiked carbonation,
Twisting my stomach.
I threw it up.

...read the rest.

Friendship

John Wessel 9/8/2009

I don't mess around with small talk and sometimes my interest frightens people. Writing my reassurances in rhyme probably didn't help... It's one of my favorites though!

If I wrote to you,
Of thoughts deep and true,
What would you think?
What would you do?

Would you doubt the intention,
Behind such attention,
Though your wit were not worth,
My creative invention?

...read the rest.

Spirit

John Wessel 1/3/2009

The imagery of mortality looks like this to me. This poem is very nearly a sonnet, with the exception that the odd numbered lines have 9 syllables instead of 10. I lead with the stress on the first syllable of each line, making things sound impending, and the odd number of syllables helps when reading it aloud.

Death annoys immortal beings not,
Though even they must pay the reapers due.
Love to life as concept is to thought;
Observe the crop once cut will rise anew.

Picture endless interlocking rings,
Denoting every possible desire.
Each man is the cross of countless things,
All vying for the universe entire.

...read the rest.

Denial

John Wessel 9/16/2009

Denial pushes pain into the future, allowing you to get by for today. Perhaps this is necessary, sometimes. But, you will miss real opportunities so long as you chase imaginary ones.

When I reflect,
I sometimes neglect,
The proper respect,
Of what I once knew.

When holding a stake,
In something quite fake,
My mind tries to make,
What's false appear true.

...read the rest.

Little Rhymes

John Wessel 9/8/2009

I keep a txt file on my desktop to write down little rhymes should they pop into my head.

Hey pretty gray morn,
They say you're forlorn.
I worked through the night.
To me you look bright.

If you think long enough,
With a mind insecure,
Then yourself you will bluff,
And to joy you'll demur.

...read the rest.

Water Under the Bridge

John Wessel 3/21/2009

I wrote this poem to be lyrics for some lovely music that Emily composed and recorded. It does not have any especial meaning as I primarily wanted it to match the music and be an interesting narrative. It does touch on one of my favorite themes from Protagoras: that a wrong inflicted is more painful to bear than a wrong received.

As a young girl,
I would hide my face,
From the gangly old man with the shivering pace.

On the arch bridge,
Between here and town,
I could never escape from his weather worn frown.

...read the rest.

Bank Bailout

John Wessel 9/29/2008

I provide some moderately accurate background information on banks and then examine whether bailing them out is a prisoner's dilemma for our politicians.

If you haven't been following the news lately, the credit market has failed. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Wachovia and Merrill Lynch have all either gone bankrupt or been sold at a fire sale. Today, Congress failed to pass a bailout bill that would have hopefully stopped the blood letting. A lot of people are throwing around the term "prisoners' dilemma" to describe why it failed. As the resident math guy, I thought that I'd investigate.

Some background on banking:

...read the rest.