I left Houston last Sunday for vacation, and it's been a pretty great eight days off. Paragraph-style, it would take forever for me to write, re-write, and eventually discard....so here's the vacation recap, bulletin-style.
Houston to Big Spring is a good 7+ hour drive. Nothing makes that drive fun, not even twittering song lyrics every couple of songs. (And if you don't believe me, you can ask anyone who followed along).
Killed my first bird last weekend. Not with a gun, but with my windshield. Somehow, driving no faster than 75 - 80 mph, I managed to clip a bird who was swooping too low for his own good. I'm used to dodging deer on Highway 87, but birds?
For Mother's Day I helped usher in the apocalypse by getting my mom an iPhone. Mom doesn't have a debit card, but now she's got an iPhone. If she gets a Twitter account, I highly recommend stocking up on canned goods and bottled water.
Had a great time hanging out with the kids. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to say "kids" much longer. In less than a month, Forrest will officially be a teenager and Reagan will hit double digits in age. Can't say it enough though, they're great kids.
Don't tell Fort Worth this, but I kind of missed it a little bit after driving up on Thursday and all around the mid-cities area on Friday.
Had fun catching up with several bank friends and Bethe on Thursday, crashing at Larry and Rachel's that night, and then out to Curt and Amy's on Friday. No way I could ever fit in every one of my DFW friends, but for the time allotted I had a good run while I was in the area.
Apparently there was an earthquake in Euless on Saturday? Come on, Texas, I don't care if it was just a 3.3. That whole "no earthquakes" thing is one of our advantages in the Texas vs. California debate.
Now it's Sunday afternoon and I just got home from the comparatively speaking "short" four hour drive from Granbury to my little corner of Houston. That first pile of laundry that waited patiently all week for my return is now ready to move over to the dryer, and I have assorted errands to run before dinner with the branch at 7:00. Oh, and speaking of running I should probably get some exercise sometime soon.
It's been a great vacation...and even though I could probably use one last day off to do little stuff around the apartment, in a weird way I almost miss work. Almost. Hard to describe, since I'm not particularly looking forward to the coming week for at least a half dozen reasons, but after eight days of playing it feels like I should go be productive for a while.
(I reserve the right to take back that entire last paragraph by as early as Monday afternoon.)
The music started. There was a certain kind of mood. And I thought there would be words. And there were, but they weren't adding up right. So I moved them around. More music came and went. I traded most of the words and sentences and titles and tones for new ones. Then I moved them around some more. And I still wasn't happy with any of it. Frustrated, I closed out the tab. Stubbornly, I returned to it a few more times over the next couple of hours.
Now it's 1:41 in the morning and I'm out of ideas. Out of words. For tonight, at least, I suck.
Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and release
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win
I discovered soulpancake.com yesterday. One of their ongoing series invites viewers to join in a respectful, on-going discussion of "Life's Big Questions." Looking forward to digging a little deeper in the days to come. For now, here's a recent video that was used as part of a post titled "Do We Measure The Success of Our Lives By Our Ability To Find Love?"
April 1 is an obnoxious day to be on the internet. Just sayin'...
I refuse to click on the Typepad-provided "Need exciting new blog topics? Get a dose of inspiration with our 10 Tips for finding new blog topics" link. My hunch is that my seven regulars would take to the streets and riot if I veered too far from all this incredible original programming. (Seven, oddly enough, being the legal minimum to label a fractuous get together as a "riot"). At any rate, I picture venomous protest signs and lots of shouting, perhaps a paper mache me being burned in effigy...you know, the usual shenanigans.
I started what would have been a train wreck of a blog on the topic of online dating earlier today, after two different friends brought it up. Best of luck to you all, I say, but I don't think I could do it. Probably for the same reason I struggle with accepting the numerous
blind dates that perfectly awesome friends of mine have pitched (Jay/Jackie,
Curt/Amy, other Amy, etc). Stubborn to a fault or not, this is one area I don't want the internet's help with (and this, coming from a guy who once used askjeeves to find a better way to tie a tie). If I don't meet Mrs. Right at Barnes & Noble or Starbucks or some other way all on my own, then so be it. But as the Verve so angstily put it a few years back -
No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,
but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold.
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next...
I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no,no,no
and I don't want to be the wrong end of one of those blind date stories because a mutual friend or an online bio gave some poor, innocent girl the wrong impression of what to expect from an evening with me - which, let's face it, is a roll of the dice on a good day. No, my belief is that Penelope (or whatever her name is) will have to know what she's getting into first. (/mini-train wreck paragraph)
Opening Day is this upcoming Monday (well, depending on where you live / what team you follow). Not that I had tickets or anything, but I was still bummed to notice that I have Robbery Training that afternoon. (Assumably it will be more of the "Prevention / What To Do If..." variety, and not the "How To" variety). Either way, that's just one game out of 81 that I'll miss...there will be others...but still, wish I was gonna be at Minute Maid Park.
How did I miss out on the Matt Pond PA party until now? One of many musical discoveries from blip.fm. Too bad my being one of the best DJs on the internet doesn't pay anything. Or help with that whole "music snob" tag.
Work has been good lately. Mostly. Might jinx it if I say too much. Different bosses have taken me to lunch the last few weeks. Wasn't fired or chewed out either time. Always a good sign.
Rocket Science and Rachel Getting Married are two awesome movies, but for different reasons. Thank you, Netflix. I do love a good movie.
Speaking of movies, Curt's "No Dark Knight? WTF?" comment the other day cracked me up. And speaking of comments, another friend said to me today, "Sometimes I read your blog and pray for you. That happened yesterday." That, my friends, is an example of writing that draws a reaction from the audience. I will now take my bow.
I'm listening to Clem Snide's Moment In The Sun, and thinking that would make for an excellent blog title. Not that I need any more blogs to write (or not write) for (as the case may be). Anywho, good song. Video and lyrics below.
When it's my moment in the sun
Oh, how beautiful I'll be
But in a normal sort of way
Like I am you and you are me
'Cause I have a lot of things to say
And you'd be wise to listen good
I think that hunger, war and death
Are bringin' everybody down
Laaa lala laaaaa
Lala laaaaaaa lala
Laaaaaa laaaaa
When it's my moment in the sun
I'll share my problems with the world
And psychosomatically I'll sing
To God and all His pretty girls
Laaa lala laaaaa
Lala laaaaaaa lala
Laaaaaa laaaaa
When it's my moment in the sun
I won't forget that I am blessed
But every hero walks alone
Thinking of more things to confess
I've been writing this post in my head for a few days now. For a few years, really. Depends on how you look at it, I guess.
I can't think of a single thing I'm looking forward to. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. There is nothing on the horizon at all. And what is the horizon, exactly? It's the imaginary place where the sky and the land meet somewhere off in the distance. But it stays way out there and it never gets any closer. At any rate, there's nothing in front of me and nothing waiting out there.
"Today was just a day fading into another, and that can't be what a life is for."
Tomorrow I'll go to work and it will either be a good day or a bad day. Then I'll go back on Friday and again on Saturday. And on Sunday I'll have a day off, much like the one I'm wrapping up now. I'll watch some movies and browse the internet. Then I'll go back to work on Monday, etc.
So why'd you fill my sorrows with the words you've borrowed from the only place you've known And why'd you sing Hallelujah if it means nothing to you Why'd you sing with me at all? ~ Delicate, Damien Rice
I'm going to update the blog when I get home. I'm going to update the blog after dinner. I'm going to update the blog...soon.
I'd like to say that I tried
It fits in with all the suggestions and lies
And empty tables with food untouched
I couldn't see the future I liked the past too much
I've been goin' door to door
Like I got something to sell
Wanderin' like a fool
Through the halls of a blue hotel ~ Blue Hotel, Ryan Adams
"Hey David, what's up?" I don't have a good answer for that right now.
Oh, the band marched on in formation The brass was phasing tunes I couldn't place Windows open and raining in Maroon, yellow, blue, gold and gray...
With a sky blue sky This rotten time Wouldn't seem so bad to me now Oh, if I didn't die I should be satisfied I survived That's good enough for now... ~ Sky Blue Sky, Wilco