December 31, 2003
By the time I am done with this BLOG, I will have BLOGGED 63,000 words in 2003. That is the word count of a short novel. That is way too much sharing.
I started taking the bus to downtown Cleveland, OH when I was fourteen years old. Doug (Quazimodo), some other geeks and I would go comic book shopping on Saturdays. Too young to drive but growing up, we took the bus. We would ask for transfers every week and use the transfers to take the bus back to Garfield Heights, OH from downtown even though we knew that the transfers were one way. We did this every week because they rotated drivers on Saturday duty and we could get every bus driver to take pity on the fat nerds with bags of comic books. We did not think that we were slick fast talkers who could charm the bus driver and get our way. We knew that we were geeks and stressed the fact that we were pathetic. We used pity to our advantage and rode home for free every week.
I started working for a law firm when I was eighteen. I did the same thing at the courts or at the County Administration Building when I had to get something filed for the firm. I would play dumb. I would act helpless. I always got top notch service at the Justice Center because I acted like I was lost. People want to help the pathetic. I am thirty-two years old now and I have been playing dumb at the office for over thirteen years. It still works like magic. If you ever need anybody to go to the Sheriff’s Department for you, send me. I know how to look like I need to be helped.
There is an urge, because of what day it is, to use the aforementioned examples as some sort of big picture analogy for my life but I won’t because I don’t want to do that anymore. I am going to avoid statement. I am not declaring anything on the last day of the year 2003. Oh, man, the temptation is there. I want to make everything seem so important. But it is not.
I have a lot of things cooking in my head right now for the New Year but no real plan of action. To quote Sloth: “When it Happens, You’ll Know”.
I can tell you this, I did not do anything tonight except hang out with Laurie. Tomorrow, I am going to wake up, listen to Bruce Springteen’s “Nebraska” and start again.
I wish every reader of this BLOG and every listener of the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (Yea) a Happy New Year!
I will talk to you later.
BLOG 2003 = 63,331 words.
The End.
posted by Thea at 9:19 PM
December 30, 2003
I just got home. On my answering machine was a message from Baby Fea accurately pointing out the humongous deal that is being made out of John Ritter’s death. I will let her get into to it for you. She prefaced her rap by saying something to the effect of that she knew that I was not answering the phone because I was watching the Cavaliers game. No, Baby Fea, I was at the game with tickets that you, Baby Fea, got me for my birthday. What a great gift. Big ups to Baby Fea for her generosity. Big downs to the Cavaliers for collapsing in the third quarter and forgetting how to score in the fourth. The game was a major disappointment because it was so damned winnable. Damn it. If the Cavaliers don’t start winning soon… ahh, damn it anyway. I went back to work today after the holidays, I sat in my office, thanked God for my job, listened to the Warlocks, pretended that I did not work there and then became embarrassed by my behavior once again. As soon as I said that I was done with feeling shame with who I am as a man was when the problems started. It is like Shame Fest 2003. I am fixing it in 2004. Wish me luck in putting a cap on all of it tomorrow.
posted by Thea at 9:48 PM
December 28, 2003
I started off the day listening to a couple of Badfinger records and a Volta Sound record a couple of times. It was a good way to spend a Sunday morning.
I got caught up waiting for a friend for the better part of the afternoon. As soon as he cut me loose, I went for a walk. It was a good way to spend an afternoon.
The Cavaliers just beat the Trailblazers. (A good way to spend a Sunday evening.) LeBron James played a pretty good game against a more talented but completely unfocused team. The Trailblazers should start over. Something about spending good money after bad. The Browns won today as well. If I was the type of person who based my happiness on the fortunes of Cleveland sports franchises, I would be a happy man today. The Cavaliers or the Browns winning never makes me happy but them losing makes me more miserable for like a half of an hour maximum. If that makes sense.
I am going to spend the night thinking about what I should do with 2004 – the Year of the Big Shuffle. I am not sure if that is the best way to spend my evening but I need to get a game plan together before Thursday. We will talk about it tomorrow on the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (Yea).
posted by Thea at 9:43 PM 