Meko Kaprelian
Bio
I love the adventure in traveling and how it realigns your social compass to help point you in the right direction. We are here on Earth to learn from one another not destroy each other. I hope to learn from writers here on Vocal.
Stories (24/0)
Why Write on Vocal
I joined Vocal about six months ago and put up one poem then completely forgot about the online writing platform. Then about two months ago with ads constantly popping up on my social media feeds promoting the "Little Black Book" challenge with a twenty-thousand dollar prize going to the winner, I decided to give Vocal some serious attention. Since my fictional short-story, "The Event" submission I have been writing and contributing to the platform consistently ever since. I didn't win that challenge nor have I been receiving a large amount of reads for my stories. To date I have made $16.67, with $15 dollars of that total coming in the form of Vocal paying me for my fifth ($5.00) and tenth ($10.00) stories and one lone tip for a dollar. This week I have finally reached just over 100 reads with my ten stories combined, making up the remainder of the money I have in my wallet.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Motivation
Quiet Cup of Coffee
My normal morning routine is to wake up earlier than my wife, dogs, and sometimes visiting grandson to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee while I do some free-writing to help get head working and words down on paper. The following poem was written during one of those early morning free writing sessions.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Poets
The REF
Promptly and without exception every night at eight, I'll hear the whimper and cries of a 110 pound baby while he looks at me with begging eyes and wagging tail, signaling to me that it's time for the nightly stroll. Chance my rescued Lab-mix dog, will without fail, expect a nightly walk to which his pint-sized Pekingese companion, Gizmo, will be right behind him; being awakened by Chances nightly walk-dance ritual. Gizmo knows as well does Chance that this behavior gets me up, putting my shoes on, and taking them out the door. Little do they know that I have this walk planned as their daily exercise and love doing it at night as it seems to be the best time to clear my mind while my dogs get a little exercise and the chance to take in the neighborhood scents and leave some of their own.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Petlife
Caught With My Pants Down
What I'm about to share is both extremely gross and utterly embarrassing. My story will end with me in a very vulnerable and compromising position with my pants down caught in an unavoidable epically disgusting act. This is the kind of story that doesn't take too long to get to the point, where I reveal to you my life's most awkwardly awful moment. My admission here will have you both grossed out and feeling absolutely sorry for me in my moment of shame. However, before I can conclude with my dubious episode I have to take you all back to where I contracted the issue which would lead to my disaster in a San Diego Parking lot back in the fall 2006.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Confessions
A Second Chance
September 2019 our beloved Golden Retriever, Sophie, passed away at 14 years old. We were immeasurably saddened, moving us to tears for quite some time afterwards just thinking about her. In her memory we enshrined her signature red collar with a tag inscribed with the words, "Sophie, She Loved", because that is exactly what she did to everyone; family, friend, or stranger.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Petlife
Tacos in Tulum
Recently my wife and I ventured to Tulum, Mexico to celebrate my retirement from the United States Navy after 24 years of service as a Deep Sea Diver. With CoViD restrictions lifting and the pandemic seemingly in retreat we also have missed our routine of traveling annually with the lock-downs and strict orders from the Navy not to travel further than 300 miles radius from my command; this was also a trip to stretch our worldly legs again, and rid ourselves of some cabin-fever. Returning to the United States does still require some CoViD testing procedures that can induce stress into what is supposed to be a time for relaxation and no worries; However, that's for a different story all together.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Wander
The Event
The Event By: Meko Kaprelian He found himself walking La Rambla, the bustle of people and the foreign sounds that bounced off his ears gave him the sense of being small in a large place, but the tree-lined cobblestone boulevard, open only to foot traffic, left him romantically comfortable; all at the same time. It was early July in Barcelona; the warm sunny weather had the streets full of activities and tourists, that stimulated the senses. As he walked the Gothic-inspired city that’s nestled between the majestic Collserola mountains and the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean, he felt reassured that the location for “The Event” he had been planning for months couldn’t be more perfect. James on break from his duties as an inspector for a company contracted by the US government to build housing for the military in Djibouti, Africa, arrived in Spain a full day ahead of her, to meet with the planner he’d been working with online to finalize the preparations for “The Event”; following the GPS map on his phone he made his way to the meeting location.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Wander
Trip to the Beach
‘A Trip to the Beach’ By: Meko Kaprelian The sun was warm, and the wind whipped up just enough to make it difficult to hear the ocean waves cresting onto the sandy shoreline. All though it was winter in Southern California, it still was a beautiful day to be at the beach. Only a few souls littered the tan strip of sand that was situated between a row of magnificent homes and the sapphire Pacific Ocean. A man fishing from the shore could faintly be seen as What looked like a young family entered the beach along a walkway that was guarded by a high wall covered in beautiful murals of random street art and graffiti. When the man and woman verified the coast was clear they untethered their white Labrador retriever and released hands with the young boy encouraging him to follow the dog down to the small breaking waves in the ocean.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Families
Find Adventure
The last year has been challenging for us all. It has been hard to feel normal and with so much contradicting information surrounding the pandemic and politics it can feel almost impossible to know where to look for truthful answers. I think this has left all of us depleted mentally and physically. Until now we used entertainment and social gatherings to help drown out the things in society that tend to get us down; however, now without those things to help us all cope we are left in a state of anomy. We don't know what the normal social order is anymore and for social creatures that is down-right scary. We can see it in how we are all pulling away from each other and loosening the cohesion of our social fabric by retreating further into our ideological camps created in the only social space still widely open; social media.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Humans
Education Philosophy
Education: The Measure and Means of Democracy in Society My Life’s Education Early on a cold morning, Thursday November 7, 1974; to an Irish Mother and Armenian-Italian father, inside a Racine, Wisconsin hospital that no longer stands; After subjecting my mother to 11 hours of horrendous labor; I was thrust upon this world with no understanding of who or what I would become. Only possessing my innate abilities to breath, eat, sleep, and cry I was officially matriculated to this world’s classroom awaiting to be nurtured through all of life’s lessons in and outside educational establishments. Without a predetermined lot in life; that autumn morning, a fantastic set of circumstances converged resulting in the random probability of my life becoming a reality and setting into motion what type of personality I would possess and develop, what values would forge my character, and what the combination of these would result in the interests I pursued.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Education
Cartagena Before Lunch
Cartagena Before Lunch By: Meko Kaprelian The sudden jolt of changing altitude and speed is felt collectively throughout the plane; but nowhere is it felt more intensely than in my left hand as my wife squeezes it tightly with her right hand as she clutches the good-luck pendants around her neck with her left hand while giving silent prayer or thanks for our safe return to the Earth’s surface. We’ve arrived! Cartagena, Colombia; a trip to commemorate our five years of marriage and exploring this planet together. This trip had been a vague target on our travel radar since we tipped off our engagement with a three-week European vacation that included Barcelona, Paris, and Rome as our destinations. My wife’s reply of “Yes” a top Montjuic in Barcelona on that hot summer day not only agreed to marriage but also to a life-time of travel as well. Love was not the only bug biting that day and thus began our life of global-adventure together.
By Meko Kaprelian3 years ago in Wander
