Please don't read this...

Rain, lightning and thunder. Small price to pay...

...In Belfast Town... when the sun goes down there is no hope at all...

...for lead, for in my pencil. I had run out you see, ran out of pencil lead. Can you imagine? No pencil lead. None. My extras must have been left in Idaho. Pretty damned...
...Somebody to watch over me... all my Blue Moon nights...

...pathetic. NONE. Crap, no pencil lead at all. So out I went, into the slanty, slicy, pouring rain... had to have lead, had to get lead in my pencil... needed lead... an empty pencil ain't doin' no one no good...

...As I sit and dream in Boston, beneath the starry skies... memories come crowding of the time I was a boy...But now I'm coming back to Milltown...I want to see the sadness leave my dear mother's eyes...

...But then I got to Staples... too damn many choices... 2B, HB, 2H, 6H... what the hell? ... Soft, hard, medium lead. I freaked...What the...
...Took all trees and put them in a tree museum...and charged the people a dollar and a half to see um...they Pave Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot...
...honkers is going on? Okay...okay...hard lead lasts longer...sure, so I'll go for 4H, or maybe 3H? But then again... hard lead breaks and I have a heavy hand... so maybe it wouldn't last longer...for me... that is... maybe...
...Baby don't turn out the lights... I want to see you look at me... whisper only truth tonight... not just promises...

...Maybe I should go Medium... Yeah, medium... Moderation is the key... HB, H, F... They had lots of HBs, but what's this...

...Did you hear 'em talking about it on the radio? Did you try to read the writin' on the wall... Did that voice inside you say, I've heard it all before...It's like Deja Vu all over again...
...lots of 2B...lots of 'em... and they're cheaper...Hmmm... soft lead, doesn't break and they are cheaper...but 2B? Is that... um... really "kosher?" I've never used 2B lead in my pencil before... and it is cheaper... so maybe there's a reason for that... darker and software lead...
...One by one I see the old ghosts rising, stumbling across Big Muddy where the light gets dim... day after day another mom is crying...she's lost a precious child to a war that has no end...
...is it, somehow depraved? ... Whoa... tough decision... I think I'll go for the HB... safer... somewhere there in the middle...not as likely to be noticed...don't want to make a scene...
...She was young and she was pretty, and her heart was bright and gay, and she won me so completely in her shawl of Galway grey... In her eyes the love was shining, like the moonlight on the bay...but her love was for another, beneath her shawl of Galway grey...
...But they'll think I'm wishy-washy... Gotta' grab for the gusto... because thou art neither heart or cold... spew thee ... perhaps Aristotle had it wrong after all...Moderation...Smoderation... I'll go for the extreme! ... but which extreme...Damn!...
...There's a tear in your eye, and I'm wondering why, for it never should be there at all...so there's never a teardrop should fall...like some fairy song...and now smile a smile for me...when Irish eyes are smiling..sure it's a like a morn in in spring...in the lilt of Irish laughter...you can hear the angels sing...
...It's a fine pencil...it deserves good lead...A Staples "Pro-4- Mance" even sounds tough and ready. A Mance! and a pro one at that!...
...Cool...Yeah...Uh...uh...yeah...You're so complicated...your head over my shoulder when I read my mail...I don't appreciate it...Don't be stupid, you know I love ya'...
...Okay...6H!...NO...no, will break ...that'll break for sure... 6H... bad, can't go that way...
...Don't freak out until you know the facts...uh..relax...Max...

...Okay...Pentel...will my pencil like Pentel pencil lead...especially of a variety that it has never seen before...2B or not 2B? ... That is the question..
...Don't...you wish we tried...do you feel what I feel inside? ...stronger than pride...oh...don't...just give me the chance to say I'm sorry...don't turn me away... don't tell me to go...

...Okay 2B it is, should be good, should be alright...After all it's made in Japan, Japan makes good pencil lead...and it is Super Hi- Polymer and even 25% stronger... How can I resist...even a red, white and blue package...
...Ummm..In your arms I can still feel the way you want me when you hold me...I can still hear the words you whisper when you told me...I can stay right here forever in your arms...and there ain't no way...I'm letting you go now...
...Wait a minute...why would the Japanese sell their products in red, white and blue... and yellow... what are they trying to hide?...what are they trying to say? But 2B does provide a Darker Imprint... that must be what I need for those 3x5's...harder imprint... better outline... starker lines... more contrast...sharper, more defined wit... yeah!...that's the ticket!...
...I'm keeping you forever and for always...we will be together for all of our days... want to wake up every morning to your sweet face...always...
...It's right there on the bottom of the page "Quality in Writing" my new slogan... that's me alright, "Quality in Writing" ... it's a sign... this is it...yeah!... I'm feeling good about this... Really good...I'll get the three pack!... they don't have a one pack anyhow... No turning back now... but then again ...doesn't the 4H pack also say "Quality in Writing?" Now what?...
...If you ever go across the sea to Ireland...it may be at the closing of your days...you may sit and watch the moon rise over Clannard and see the sun go down on Galway Bay...
...Crap...Which lead has the better quality...is 2B going to be too soft and fuzzy...sure darker Imprint...but, perhaps fuzzier lines...vague...sentimental...fuzzy...gooey...drippy...syruppy prose... Yuck... don't need that...
...For the strangers came and tried to teach us their ways...they scorned us for being what we are...but they might as well go chasing after moonbeans... or light a penny candle from a star...

...But will the 4H turn me into a hack...sure, hard, clear, to the point...like a shill selling time shares...to the point...from point A to B...in a straight line... no twists, no turns...pure boredom...won't do...I don't want to be an accountant...
...I'll take you home again, Kathleen, across the ocean wild and wide...to where your heart has ever been...since last you were my bonny bride...the roses have left your cheeks...I watched them fade away and die...
...won't do at all... Perhaps the safety of the middle after all...NO...I can't go back...I shall go with the 2B! ... I'll fight its tendency to meander... to endlessly ramble in a cloud of vapid mindlessness... I'll have something to say... something... to uh...

...By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl call-a- alling...Michael they are taking you away...for you stole Travalian's corn, so the young might see the morn...now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay... Low lies the fields of Athenry, where once we watched the small, free birds fly...Our love was on the wing...we had dreams and songs to sing... it's so lonely round the fields of Athenry...

...where was I again...? Okay, pencil lead... soft, pliable, pencil lead... the hard decision, the soft lead...the darker imprint, the fuzzier line... Quality... yeah... "Quality in writing..."

...From this moment life has begun...from this moment your are the one...
...2B, you will be... the one...
...I will walk with you...every step of the way...love you all my life...love you every day...no matter where you wonder, no matter what you do...come what may... I will walk with you...

RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"