Homeless News reports the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, President and Founder of The Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny says, “Since feminists have gone unchallenged for decades, many have become fascists in pantsuits who tolerate zero dissent.” and waxes eloquent that “The feminists’ fake outrage over what men say is absurd. How about the rights and … Continue reading
A young girl in fishnet stockings walked by, as in too young for us. Not particularly exotic looking- maybe Italian, could be Jewish. Sometimes you can’t tell. I raised my eyebrows and looked at old Jack, then indicated the girl. “No, I like a shiksa,” he said. “Well, she may be a shiksa.” “No, I mean a pure shiksa.” “Oh, … Continue reading
They were told this was where Great Grandpa learned to fish. Over the years, the twins heard much about him. They were so young when he passed. Just three. Great Grandma said Great Grandpa came down every morning as soon as the sun started to leak over the mountain. Day after day, year after year, he came down without fail. Great Grandma said … Continue reading
Streetlight Magazine Blog
Are you a professional blogger? What does that even mean? Nowadays it’s hard to say. I can’t help but ask as I sit here celebrating my two-year anniversary on petearmetta.com. Pop the cork! Seven-hundred posts later, there’s cause for reflection. Has this behemoth been in vain? This is the seven-hundredth post. I’m growing older and wiser … Continue reading
That lady that power walks with her three dogs yells at them too much. That’s mean. I see her not only walking past my house, but when I’m out and about in other areas of town. She covers a distance! Walking head high with fists up and chest out, her stride is regimented and precise. … Continue reading
He called me a loser -since the day I was born. He was uptight and angry -I never knew why. As a child I didn’t understand, not a clue. Him seething and nervous -me looking to run. I hadda learn early to walk on eggshells, and with finesse. I still do. Is it because it’s … Continue reading
“Well doc, I think I might take down the bay leaves, that’s a start. I know it’s not a New Year’s resolution per se, but a whole ‘nother year of looking at them isn’t gonna do me a hill of beans of good. I just can’t look at them up there anymore, ya know?” “I … Continue reading
They’d been together for a while and though Betsy felt they got along well enough, she couldn’t put her finger on why she still felt so empty. Was it the carefree way they drove down the road and he sang those lame top forty songs at the top of his lungs? Or maybe how when … Continue reading
I’ve looked at you and agonized for days. I really just need to get away from here. You’re so beautiful, yet infinitely frustrating. And you SUCK all the life from me. I’m deflated. Do I have to do everything for you? I mean I’ve spent every waking second and minute and hour of my day … Continue reading
She talked about the dog next door. “I like him well enough. I never hear him bark. Actually you hardly even know he’s there. He looks more like a pig to me, at first that’s what I thought. But black. He walks around like a pig is the funny thing, with his nose down in the … Continue reading
This morning at dusk while outside watering her prize heirloom roses, Mrs. Sullivan reports walking into a cloud of bats. Did you know that’s what it’s called, a cloud? We here at Homeless News had to look it up. She says she innocently turned a corner and a single bat swooped low in front of her. … Continue reading
Moxie sat in the doctor’s office, waiting. Why is it so mandatory to be on time for an appointment but these doctors are always late? A travesty of justice! She spent her time reading an old issue of Vanity Fair, with that deliciously pretentious Christopher Hitchens going on and on about the integrity of his … Continue reading
6:33am I can’t help but think of you. As the light starts to leak over the wide mountain ridge. As the day from its slumber begins. There are thick black clouds overhead but they”ll burn off, they say. Winter looms in all its glory around the bend, but birds still tweet. Resilience. You must be … Continue reading
Momma was in the kitchen and Katie sat on the sofa across from me, relieved to have completed the long and arduous drive down the interstate from DC, what with all those eighteen-wheelers and the holiday traffic from too many states to count. She’d been nervous about meeting the family, but she and Momma seemed to … Continue reading
We’re on the air viewers though we’ve been remiss. We’re operating on a shoe string budget as our Fund Drive yielded mostly cans of vegetarian beans. That in lieu of money, but we’re not frettin! Our next Fund Drive starts, uh now, so send what you got! You’re the ones keeping us on the air, … Continue reading
Hector felt like he was getting bedsores. But just turning over was a huge chore, exhausting. And he was in the hospital anyway, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do there? Stay in your bed trying to sleep it off, while a worker comes in periodically and takes your blood, another comes in and checks … Continue reading
I am unwell. And crazy too. Well crazy in the best sense mostly, but to say insane would be a stretch. Well there’s not an appropriate word to describe it really. I should make up my own. Who says I can’t? The situation is I’m too sane. I’ve a discernment that’s more than it should … Continue reading
I had Blondie in my head last night. While I was sleeping. Well I must’ve cause when I woke up and made way in the dark to the kitchen, I had flashes of Debbie Harry up on stage at CBGS’s. And back stage too where I had regular opportunity to mingle with her and that … Continue reading
She walked over with my gin & tonic. She was in way too skimpy an outfit. I put five dollars on the table and looked at her with what I hoped was an appealing expression. “You keep the change, I know you work hard. ” She put down a cocktail napkin and my drink and … Continue reading
I see them every Sunday Those fine people going to church Dressed like they mean it Sauntering down the street Arms swinging Heads held high Going to the holy land Fine people Going to church. I have a random memory of being a small child and sweeping the driveway. My dad looked over my shoulder. … Continue reading
I enjoy silly string more than the average person. I laughed when Anderson Cooper got scared by the fake Bigfoot. The lady in the library’s smug for some reason. They’re mowing down trees and building roads and putting up stores and the weather’s nice and there’s lots of activity all around. I had giggles yesterday when … Continue reading
First appeared in the The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature It’s a common thing around here. Family cemeteries in people’s backyards or somewhere on their land. On land that’s been passed down from generation to generation. There are currently laws on the books protecting this sacred land from development. Would you want to build a … Continue reading
I’ve hardly left my street. That’s my summer vacation. Well not literally I mean I have left this particular street. I’ve gotten in my car to go to my landscaping “job” and the grocery store and church and I’ve been around on foot, but my “vacation time” has been here on this street. I know lots … Continue reading
The garbagemen aren’t bad people. Neither are the ones who work behind the pharmacy counter. Nor the guy you said was going too slow on that downtown street where the speed limit’s twenty-five. I think he was going thirty. And watching for pedestrians. Yelling out the window did nothing by the way but it did grate … Continue reading
I felt a little like Jesus yesterday and will again tomorrow. See of all things to “lose” while moving, the cord to the rechargeable shaver is most unexpected. It’s a “gotta be around here” situation and will show up soon enough and I could BUY a new one but won’t. I’ll live. In the meantime … Continue reading
i slept like a log no a brick no a dead man i dreamt of a time when a much younger man on a plane heading west at least younger than today i casually leafed through a new york daily news i sat like a stone no a stiff no a sentry i pictured a … Continue reading
Around 6am I went to the grocery store to use the Coinstar as I’m known to do and it was out of order. I jokingly and with feigned indignation dropped my tupperware of coins on the counter in front of the ready cashier and told her to “start counting”. Being the little darling that she … Continue reading
“I’m really mad at you, don’t you feel bad about that?” The waiter took away her menu. She ordered the moussaka, here where she says it reminds her the most of the moussaka her grandma used to make when she was growing up, the most “authentic” is how she put it, closest to real “old … Continue reading
This just in: Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post reports that the U.S. Labor Department announced that “the economy has been steadily adding jobs, pushing the unemployment rate down to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent.” Mr. Delaney adds, “The improvement won’t mean much to people without jobs, especially people who’ve been unemployed a long time.” … Continue reading
“You use humor as a defense mechanism,” she said. “No, actually I use it offensively.” The cashier asked for and scanned his Shrewd Shopper Discount Card. “The pizza’s two-for-one Sir.” “How so?” She was caught off-guard, eyebrows raised, hands on hips. “Well, you tell me. Who here’s on defense?”
So it’s nice but it’s creepy that I can see the google search engine terms that people type that land them on my blog. The things people are looking for! By far the most popular all-time search terms (in a variety of syntax) have to do with Adrienne Barbeau’s rack. Seriously. There are a lot … Continue reading
Going on. Blah blah. There I’ve said it. Yippity-yap. Well I’ve said it many times before. I don’t mind listening. As a matter of fact I rather enjoy it. I find people likable and interesting enough. There’s a lot of talking on the TV and on the radio and on computers and gadgets, in grocery … Continue reading
Happy birthday It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you Over twenty years at least I remember the last time like it was yesterday But that’s not what I remember most I remember the day I forgave you For all the years of conflict and strife And for being a target Of your ignorance … Continue reading
He pushed the shovel down in the dirt and turned it over. This was gonna be easy. The morning was brisk and the sky was blue and no doubt it was gonna warm up quick. He moved swiftly, thinking about the cash that would be leaving with him. He sang a little bit of that Paint … Continue reading
“No I work two other part-time jobs too- one of them cleaning houses and the other picking up people’s garbage.” “Oh so like you’re a garbage woman? You ride around on the back of a truck for the county or something? In a uniform?” “No no, on my own- I have a few that I … Continue reading
Oh for the love of a poet. You should be so lucky. Or damned. Oh for the love of he who looks to die for his art. If only you were art. Oh for the love that relentlessly and unceasingly is love incarnate: breathing and alive and busting at the seams and joyously pining and … Continue reading
Brenda has lived out in the county for over twenty years. Her ex-husband hasn’t worked in over two, leaving her with no child support for her three young children. She’s struggled to keep up with the house payments and been in danger of foreclosure for months, this despite working two jobs. She’s been coming to … Continue reading
Fixated. On oddities. From time to time, strange little things. I face them head on when they come up. Then they go away. Until they rear their ugly heads again. They always do. Know what I mean? I hate my neighbor. His fat, puffy face. His awkward gait. His squeaky, incoherent way of talking. Well … Continue reading
Remember when you told me my old truck wouldn’t pull a slick prick out of a lard bucket? Well I thought about it and you’re just plain slicker than otter snot. Slicker than cat shit on linoleum. It’s so hard to deal with you. It’s like tryin to put butter up a wildcat’s ass with … Continue reading
Of all the wacky things we thought Facebook might roll out for its ninth birthday, Homeless News most coveted the replacement of the LIKE button with the YAY! button. Facebook’s been flat. The LIKE overused. We really need some pep. We’d rather click on YAY! The world’s too morose. Talks of more deal-making today sent the … Continue reading
I don’t think she looked around in a while. When I walked in I couldn’t help notice several of the pictures on the walls were cockeyed. Not level. One in the living room-that seventies looking Buddha thing she got at the schlock market in Taos several years back, when she was honored with her lifetime achievement … Continue reading
A Lady Gaga fan made fun of me, trying for under her breath, when I told the cashier in the grocery store I’m a huge Muppets fan. Now I of course have been and am a fan of many things, far and wide. This cashier giggled, as I see her often do, as I frequent … Continue reading
i’m watching cows they’re up in the pasture on the hillside puffy white and winter grey clouds WAY above bare trees beyond the mountains even further beyond you can’t see those from here in the summer months what with the leaves the cows have their snouts pointed straight into the ground pointed in the amber … Continue reading
I know how much you love me. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here. You can spend time with me now or later. Whenever. But I can tell by the way you’re looking at me you want to right now. Yes, look at me. I don’t mind. When was the last time … Continue reading
My husband is so mad at me. Again. I oughta be used to it by now, but he’s really starting to grate on my last nerve. Today it was the weatherman that got him all riled up. “Being wrong again,” is how he put it. Said it over and over too. Shouting at the TV telling … Continue reading
Are you having plumbing problems? Acme’ll send a guy over to root and unclog your pipes. We’ll remove all obstructions and free you up good as new. When’s the last time you had them cleaned out? Feels like forever huh? I’m sure they could use it. Has your well run bone dry? Acme’ll send a … Continue reading
She’s cold. Frigid. And that’s not an innuendo, just an apt word to describe her. When she smiles it’s with frozen lips, which only complement her icy stare. Everything about her is chilly. Not warm in the least. Her icebound emotions and wintry disposition. Her arctic heart. It’s impossible to engage her what with her … Continue reading
Was I ever gonna learn not to fall into the same pattern? It never failed, over and over. I’m the guy that always overestimated people, gave them too much credit. I’m the great encourager. And every time it let me down. Why? Haven’t I acted in good faith? It’s a “belief in fellow man” thing is … Continue reading
I had a dream about you last night. That’s not unusual. I’ve told you about those times when I’ve dreamt of you in the past- the odd plot lines or humorous circumstances where your face has shown up or your presence was made known. Funny how in life it seems about anyone or anything can … Continue reading
Pete Armetta 