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I Was Wrong 2001-09-21 One would think I would stop anticipating the worst in everything, because generally things are not as bad as I think they're going to be, and then I have to say I was wrong. I need to say that about Mildred--I was wrong. The few previous times I've seen her, she has been virtually lifeless--like a houseplant only more petulant. I assumed that was her natural state of being, but last night she was totally different. She talked, she laughed, she joked, and I was tempted to look around for the pod. Who was this upbeat woman? People, she ate dinner with her teeth in. She seemed to enjoy herself; we enjoyed ourselves. It was fun. I'm a little sad that her good behavior has ruined what promised to be some excellent stories of misery (because you know stories of misery are always the most amusing), but it was cool to hang out with Mildred and relate to her in a comfortable way. I feel excited now for her to be on this trip with Francisco's mom, because Mildred has never been this far east. She's seen very little in life; she got married at age 16 and started having kids. She had 6 kids, they were poor, and she's never been anywhere. I guess I can't even be annoyed at her anymore for wanting to see the rubble in NY. It's ghoulish, but I can understand her wanting something sensational to tell friends. We're going to see them again tonight--they're leaving tomorrow morning--and I hope Mildred is still in good spirits. Just so you know, I am letting this be a lesson to me to work harder at having positive anticipations for things rather than negative. Negative is easier but I guess if you expect the worst you're more likely to get it. I am trying to be a better person. Baby steps; baby steps to goodness. My tongue hurts. The tip of it has a swelling, like a swollen taste bud or something. We're slated to eat pizza tonight; hopefully the sauce will not be painfully spicy. Normally I like painfully spicy, but tonight I'd be glad to give it a miss. Sweetpeas, Tattoobelly is gonna drink her some beer tonight, mmm-hmm. I hope they have Red Oak Lager. A pitcher of the Red Oak, bartender, and two straws. I have one word to say about Dubya's speech last night, and I'm only going to say that one word, because people I like and respect very much felt that it was a good speech, and I'm sure it was one of his best so far, but still, that one word is Flaccid. If you thought it was good, please know that I do not mean to offend by expressing my one word opinion, it's just that my opinions are very restless; they clamor to be released, and I'm too tired to fight them. I love you all, for real. I have to interview someone on Monday morning to replace our recently departed comrade, and I'm really looking forward to it. My boss has already interviewed him, so the guy is coming in for the second round. A few people in the office have spoken with him briefly and they all say he seems humorless and tense. I have decided to put this to the test. I will let others judge his skills and abilities, and I will judge whether we can all stand to be around him on a regular basis. His resume features, in not one but two places, the fact that he is an Eagle Scout. On Monday I will be bringing in a length of rope, and I will ask him to tie me a sheepshank and a half hitch, plus anything else I can dig out of Boy's Cub Scout manual. If the guy can loosen up and deal with tying a few knots, then he will pass the Tattoobelly Quiz of Laid-Backitude. If he gets cranky or snappish, I will be forced to blackball him. This job is stressful enough without having to deal on a daily basis with a crab. Flexibility is very important here. I laid awake last night thinking about BurningMan, and what my theme camp would be if I was going to go next year. I had a couple ideas: 1) Impromptu theater--people would volunteer to be in a play (this would be nightly) and would be given scripts and would act out the play with no rehearsal. I would serve cocktails to the audience and it would be great fun. Unfortunately, I was looking through the list of theme camps at BurningMan this year, and someone did that already. That leaves idea #2... 2)Land of the Lost. I would construct wooden sleestacks with face cutouts so that people could come and stick their faces in there and I would take polaroids of them. I would be dressed as Holly (the braids, the brown plaid shirt and brown corduroys) when I took the pictures. Boy would be dressed in a furry little Cha-Ka suit, and would scream "run Hari, Run!" while polaroids were being taken. We would give the polaroids to the people whose pictures were taken, and maybe we would have one of those Pylons and people could go into it and the theme song would be playing and it would be a Land of the Lost shrine. I could put a blank book in there called "Holly's Diary" and people could pretend they were her and write entries. "Dear Diary, Chased by dinosaurs again. Will has been very moody lately and I don't know what's wrong with him. He's getting facial hair and the other day I caught him watching me bathe, down by the river. He's making me nervous and I hope we can go home soon. Love, Holly". I don't know, it's still a little sketchy. I'm sure I can come up with something good, in the event that I actually get to go. Speaking of going, I need to leave now. I've got a hot date with some Red Oak Lager. Have a Great weekend--talk to you later. E PS Joleen, I love your guestbook signatures--do not Ever think you're signing too much. (!) |
come over some time & see me - 2011-02-25 |
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