That Thankfulness Thing 2014 - Part Two Of Three

Okay.  Two years ago, I did the Thankfulness Thing.  I should have stopped there, but no - I did it again in 2013.  And now, I just can't stop.  No time to lose!  Herein you will find the second ten of thirty things for which I find myself thankful in November, 2014...

GO!

11.  Jets.  Benny or no Benny - they are bone jigglingly amazing, whether just rolling from point A to point B...

 

 

Or performing the Missing Man formation...

...over the Daytona 500.

12.  Sparkles.  (for [Maris])

13.  The 1st-generation Sony FM Walkman.  From Rehoboth Beach, you could hear Ocean City (NJ or MD) pop stations, as well as 96-Rock, 98-Rock, and the legendary WHFS (on a clear night), and life was good.  Life was, of course, already pretty good, being life at the beach, and all, but the Walkman made it just that much better.

14.  Flasks.  Yes, these little life-savers have previously appeared on this list, but this year, more than ever...  And no - I don't need a flask in order to survive my wife's family - or MY family - but it's always better to be prepared, right?

15.  The fact that [Maris] was willing to help with this year's list.  Granted, I out-drank her (for once), tonight, so she has been of VERY little help, but still.  Just knowing that she's in my corner makes ALL the difference.

16.  Mountain Dew (Throwback).  As long as we're talking about sleepyhead over there.  This stuff is like honey.  But with caffeine.  It's... It's just TOPS...

17.  Legs.  Still.  Legs.  Sue me.

18.  Anthony Rendon and/or Asdrubal Cabrera.  Yes, it's a baseball (specifically Nationals baseball) thing.  If that's not your thing, no worries.  Go to 19.

19.  Vacations.  It doesn't matter if your vacation is some six-star escape from your five-star life of utter leisure, or a one-star motel on the "cheap" side of your nearest budget/family-friendly seaside town - or something in between...

...just getting away is half the battle.  Read, sleep, eat, write, play mini-golf - whatever - just get away.

20.  Doctors.  Mine, [Maris]'s, my mothers', my nephew's, my in-laws', and so on.  Independent of everyone's individual issues and/or coverage options etc. - I'm just really glad, tonight, that they are there, doing what they do, sometimes utterly thanklessly.  Here's to YOU, docs!

More on the 30th.  There's just so much for which I should be thankful.  Will Spridel and Chim Chim make the cut?  Stay tuned...  

I found a way to, lame as it may be, incorporate my own phrase/prompt, "I should have stopped," for my buds at STUDIO 30-PLUS, and I'm at peace with the results.  Come back again, won't you? 



 

See, What Happened Was...

I used to work with salesmen.  I processed the orders that they would extract, sometimes by magic, conjuring, and fraud, from often shady customers in a strange suburb of the high-tech/telecom marketplace.  We did 85% of our business in the final 48 hours of each quarter, and in their desperate drive to make quota, these boys would often attempt to make ludicrous deals.  I would bring them to my once-beloved Boss Lady for approval.  Aware of (and sharing, to some extent) my disdain for salesman shenanigans, she would ask me what was wrong with the orders, and I would tell her.  She would roll her eyes and call the salesman and ask him what in the hell he was thinking.

His answer would invariably begin with, "See, what happened was..."

This hasn't much to do with what follows, other than to give you some idea of where my fondness for this post's title originated.  How I loved the VORTEX OF DOOM, for a while, there.

Anyway, in 2013, what happened was...

January

I went on and on about TURNING 40, despite the fact that this happened in 2007.  Look - here's a picture...

Joe, 10-Cane, Atlantic Ocean

February

Turned another year older, and despite the fact that we in the DC area were enjoying our third straight mild winter (after 2009-10, we were due for a break), I pined about things like THE FOUR MOST AWESOMEST WORDS FOR WINTER HATERS, and THE MYSTERIOUS AIR OF THE FLORIDA KEYS.  It can't really be described, that air, but I gave it a shot.  Also, I have a picture of it...

See?  Magic.

March

There was, of course, Madness.  In the midst of it, I did manage to post a few things, one of which was an EXCERPT from a long-neglected first draft of my second little novel.

April
 
The first week of April is usually one of the happiest of my year, with Spring and Opening Day and the end of March Madness, but this year...

Kidney Stone.  'Nuff said.

That much pain (and Oxycodone) made me think of weird stuff, like my COMPLETION BACKWARDS PRINCIPLE.  Objects in mirror, and all that noise...

Contrary to popular opinion, the past is NOT gaining on us.

May

"The writing was on the wall, and she recognized the hand."  I jotted this down on a post-it, but couldn't find a place to use it.  Also, baseball!

June

My story ideas come from odd places.  I'm sure that's true for most writers, but it still amazes me.  My friends at STUDIO 30 PLUS posted the prompt "enormity," and I took that, added an old Kate Bush song, and out popped HEADS WE'RE DANCING.  There's not much more to it than some snappy dialogue, but from that strange beginning...

...my July Camp NaNoWriMo novel would grow.  And grow.  And grow.  All I remember about July is writing, staycationing, drinking, and weighing less than I had in many years.  Oh - plus, "Sharknado!"  Okay, July is in the lead for Best Month, now.

August

Just in case my hobo stories were beginning to wear thin, I did an exercise in efficiency, in the form of  88 LINES ABOUT 44 HOBOES.  It's also a nod to the songwriting of The Nails.

September

Speaking of writing, after being canceled and resurrected three times, one of the best-written shows on TV finally reached its bittersweet finale, when Futurama's final episode aired.  Also, THIS happened.  

October

More work on that July novel happened, and so did [Maris]'s and my annual visit to our Happy Place, the OBX of NC.  See...

Pelicans!

Also - and I know I'm showing my age, here - I could not pass up the opportunity to see my 80's heroes Simple Minds at DC's legendary 9:30 Club.  I hope it wasn't the last time, but if it was, they certainly went out on a high note...

Don't You...

November

My final National Novel Writing Month.  A typical boy-meets-ghost story, blah blah blah.  Besides that, Thanksgiving, and a bunch of terrible "football," I remember nothing of November.  [Maris] assures me that she had a great time, and got a ton of reading done.

December

I remember most of this month!  I started getting caught up, with THINGS FOR WHICH I'M THANKFUL, and a LETTER TO A CONCEPT, and a few NEW HOBOES.  Plus - and please believe me when I tell you this iPhone video clip does not begin to do justice to this night - there was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra...

There.  2013.  Thank you for reading my stuff.

What lies ahead?  2014 lies ahead.  And change, hopefully.  More hoboes, I suppose, to keep the three people who enjoy those stories happy.  Beyond that, I have a manuscript to prepare for countless rejections and hopefully one acceptance, and a lot of adjustments to make to my existence in this drivel-y place and elsewhere.

Come with me...

I Think It Might Be Working

At least twelve dozen times in the past five years, I have sworn off news.  I've declared that I would not let the noise and hate and endless streams of doomsday-themed lies take another minute of my oh so finite life.  Almost twelve dozen times, I've failed.

I couldn't help it.  I've been trained for years to crave conflict, to thrive on blood and guts, on shock and awe and pointing fingers and huge, sweeping accusations of horribleness.  We all have been so conditioned, and it sells advertising, so it's not going away. My repeated failure to tune it out is understandable.  It takes a vigilance more intense than I can muster.  As long as I have anything to do with the internet or TV or even radio (newspaper - what's a newspaper?), I'm screwed.

Not so!  The twelve-dozen-and-first attempt seems to be taking.  When [Maris] and I went to the Outer Banks last month, for a week of doing nothing but staring at the sea all day and trying a new restaurant each night, we left our computers at home, kept the TV off except for an aggregate of about three hours (we had to see the end of the Tigers' sweep of the yankees) and kept the iPhone use to a bare minimum (weather, restaurant menus etc.).  No news was seen - not a single headline.

It was the jump-start I needed.  I haven't gone 100% cold-turkey, but I think this time, my great tune-out has a chance.  I know only the most basic of news.  Obviously, big stuff like the election and the hurricane got through, but beyond that, I'm feeling a little ignorant.  I know that Mitt Romney made some comments right after the election that even his own party leaders didn't like, but I don't know what they were.  I know that the University of Maryland is leaving the ACC for the Big-14, and most of the other local sports headlines.  I know there's some renewed blowing-up of each other going on in Gaza.  I think President Obama is in Asia somewhere, but I didn't find out until today, and that's only because it was mentioned on the radio, right after the weather.  But that's about it.

I have a lot of work to do.  It takes a concerted and sustained effort to tune out.  It's a process.  But if my lowered blood-pressure and stress level are any indication, it's worth it.  If something important happens, I'll find out about it.  Otherwise, I'm a "Walking Dead," "Sunny," sports and cartoons guy, and I WILL succeed.  I've wasted so much time on involuntarily-received input that accelerates my aging and degrades my quality of life, and to my knowledge, there's no rehab program for that.  So I'm on my own, here, but I think the separation might last, this time, so the healing can begin.