The music plays and my mind drifts from the darker, more uncomfortable place it currently occupies into other happier spots.
I always figured I’d see Turandot with a particular person but can’t say it will or won’t ever happen.
Can’t say many things will or won’t happen other than that which I prefer not to focus upon but cannot ignore.
Maybe I’ll be surprised, you never know what can happen in life.
The Things/People We Ignore
A while back someone told me I was pushy but I didn’t respond.
I ignored it. It wasn’t something I agreed with or found meaningful.
If I want attention I know how to get it. I use the same approach in basketball as in life. I am a team player but if people refuse to pass the ball I go get it.
Frankly rebounding is my favorite part of the game because most of your success relies upon will/effort and not upon talent.
As my buddy Mr. Emerson says you have to work for the prize, it is not going to be handed to you.
****
I am fired up now, which on the Wilner scale is a couple notches above irritated and below truly angry.
Some of it is because of the response and reactions to the school shooting in Florida.
I can’t fathom how our leadership refuses to take real action to try and do more to prevent something is common but should be unthinkable.
Not just because my kids are the right age but because this is wrong and because it is not just limited to schools.
****
And I am fired up because I had another difficult but necessary conversation. I can’t do nearly enough to help or prevent what is coming there, but guns, well hell I can push pretty hard.
Ok, let’s be real and say I am going to try to find ways to push things in a certain direction here too. I am going to plant my feet and give what I have got to influence things.
Can’t say whether it will work, but it can’t hurt.
What The Dry Cleaner Said
My dry cleaner told me I look worn out and beaten down.
I thanked her for the compliment and then told her I am old.
“I would have guessed you were about 40.”
That is the second time in a relatively short period someone has cut almost a decade off of my real age. I told her if she was looking for me to bring my suit back in she didn’t have to lie.
She laughed and said she wasn’t.
“I’ll be traveling again soon, might have that suit in sooner than you think.”
Actually I don’t plan on bringing the suit on any of the coming trips, but you never know.
I spent more on this one than I ever have and got something that fits me better than any other suit has. That makes me happy.
So part of me says I ought to wear the damn thing and another part says no.
It is my California roots. T-shirt and shorts are my favorite attire.
****
The coming storm is going to be another life changing moment.
Another time when character is revealed and we show who we are.
A time to shine in some areas, not because of want but necessity.
But during the semi-calm I am focused on refining and reviewing who I am and what I am doing. That is the message that is being driven home now.
Now is the focus upon the road map, even the parts that suck.
Final Words
I had a disagreement with someone a few minutes ago and was told I am very mean and ignorant.
He didn’t have the common sense to consider his Facebook profile would tell me he went to the same university I did or that I know the area he lives in quite well.
If I am engaged in a heated debate it is common practice for me to see if there is information about a person.
I want to know if I am speaking with someone who might be an expert in a particular field or if they are just sharing an opinion.
Opinions aren’t necessarily right or wrong, but they don’t necessarily make use of fact and that is important.
Anyhoo, you could say I used very colorful language because his poor reading comprehension made it clear he didn’t carefully read what I said.
I don’t have time for this nonsense now and I really don’t have time for people to misunderstand, misinterpret and mischaracterize my words because it fits their preconceived political notion of who I must be.
Maybe I am more fired up than I realized or maybe he is just an idiot who needed someone to show outrage about his stupidity.
Maybe it is all of those things and more.
Maybe my colorful language means fewer people will take my words seriously.
Maybe I just like telling people I am typing slowly so they can keep up and or suggest that life in lollipop land is far from reality.
Maybe.
Keep writing. It doesn’t make the situation better, but it helps diffuse some (not all) of the emotional cursing that springs up from beneath your throat. Hugs to you & family.
Yep.