Garden Of Blog

… Santa.

Had a lovely time with Kaye and Craig seeing Richard Thompson tonight at the Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, Maine. What a great guitarist and performer.

I’d also like to mention that SMAC makes an awesome kielbasa chowder. Yes, kielbasa chowder. Don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it! Also a great venue.

The commercials on Pandora seem to be getting more frequent… is it me?

I logged into LinkedIn for the first time in awhile. They’ve really added a lot to that site.

In other news, I’m dying for a Celtics game. I’ve abandoned a couple of my “mind off” activities this summer, and I really miss the pure escape of watching a game or, let’s say, playing a little World of Warcraft. The latter, however, is forever behind me, I officially quit a couple months ago, never to return to the land of Azeroth.

Lastly, I don’t think shopping cart software should be used to collect town and state vehicle registration dollars. After payment, one has the distinct feeling that the cart is still quite empty, and that one may have been robbed.

Very interesting article, here (Did emotions evolve to push others into cooperation?)… makes all the sense in the world to me. I definitely find that lowering my expectations of others has a mood stabilizing effect. I actually find that stability so gratifying that I’ve tried to remove any and all expectations, and the zen-like royalties keep coming in. I sincerely, honestly and completely just don’t give a damn what people do with their lives, and it feels amazing…

One of my oldest lines in response to an emotional person (’you make me so angry!’) has been “I can’t make you feel anything‘. And I think it’s true. People feel stuff on their own, probably in an effort to manipulate those around them, subconscious though it may be. The actual sensation of ‘feeling’ an emotion is probably secondary to the outward behavior it is meant to produce for the ‘benefit’ of others…

[note: I titled this post 'I Second That Emotion' after the Smokey Robinson song because it's exactly that relationship between motion ('I second that motion') and emotion (Robinson's savvy twist) that I want to point out: both parliamentary motions are human emotions represent movement, or the yearning for movement, in an evolving contract between individuals or groups.]

When you celebrate your birthday by yakking up room service…

When everything on Animal Planet is ‘repeats’ for you…

When you’re looking for an affordable ‘Eye of the Tiger’ ringtone at 3:30am…

… it’s time to go home.

Wow, in two days I’ll no longer be a member of Playboy’s target audience?

Hogwash. This proves I’m young at heart.

… not realizing this was another Gulf of Mexico oil story.

That is all.

Or hell, let’s just win!

I have been thinking lately of how little life actually requires of me, moment to moment. Sure, I have responsibilities to fulfill, but beyond that baseline… what do I require of myself? Not much these days; I’ve been backsliding for years, in truth.

I’m hoping to make some changes in my lifestyle, maybe just little tweaks at first, but inching toward the Good Life. Nobody is getting any younger. I’m pretty sure there were days at age 30 that I felt worse than some folks in their 50s, because I wasn’t taking care of myself mentally and physically, and because I allowed my dreams to sputter. I’d rather beat the clock than have it beat me. I turn 35 in July.

I want to feel proud of myself as I hit that halfway mark to 70. I want to feel really, really good. And I’d like to feel that engine of my dreams hum to life again. Not because there’s any point to it. Just because that’s the way to live.

Too good not to share.

…this. Because the more hummus, the better.