The emails tell me to remember that my father’s birthday is coming up in a few days so I tell them I know and listen to the silence.
It is tied into a couple of genealogy programs I use that remind me about important dates.
Haven’t checked to see if I can adjust the settings to remind me about specific individuals or unsubscribed, but I have thought about both.
There is a local bakery here that I try to support not because I like their food (I do) but because the woman who owns catches a lot of flak for her politics.
The most recent salvo came because she spoke out against the ridiculous Texas law on abortion.
I know several women who have had abortions and none of them happened because it was viewed as birth control or without significant thought put into it.
It is not our place to legislate against women having bodily autonomy and if I have to fight people to protect that you can expect I will.
Not because of my daughter, sisters, friends or anyone woman in general but because it is simply wrong.
But given the women in my life, well I have ample reason to fight hard but that is generally what you get from me.
Someone tried to bust my balls about some of the quotes they have read in some of these posts by asking how much I would charge for a love letter.
I suggested they get a prescription for Viagra and that they let me handle all communication with any woman they are interested in.
“Josh, eventually they’ll realize that my speech is different from you and that will cause issues.”
“At least I’ll get you in the door. Five minutes of speaking with you will be enough for them to realize you’re a dirt bag.”
“Ouch, that is not nice.”
“Neither are you and maybe I am not either. But I can promise you my letters are effective because they are sincere. Learn from that.”
A thousand years Dad showed up at my apartment and had one of several long talks with me about women.
He wanted me to remember that any thoughts or ideas I had about women were being applied by some other guy to my sisters.
“You treat the girls you go out with the way you want your sisters to be treated.”
I asked if he was concerned by something he had heard me say or do and he said no but that he knew by virtue of being male I would be exposed to bad influences.
He was right and I have tried to do the right thing and be a good guy. Won’t claim to be perfect but I appreciate his reminders.
They have jumped out at me during these recent days because I don’t understand the people who claim they are pro-life but act with complete disregard for women, let alone their uncaring approach to what happens once the baby is born.
****
Had one hell of a dream last night and part of me wonders if it is foretelling the future.
Got this funny feeling there is truth there and that happened in it will happen in real life.
Wrote it out so that I could see it upon paper and get a sense of whether it was hope, intuition or imagination.
Could be all, could be none–that is what makes life interesting.
Eighteen Years or Something Like That
I thought Visions of Paradise was about about 18 years old or something like that but it looks like I was wrong.
Doc Google says it came out in 2001 so chalk that up on the list of things I thought I know but didn’t.
Been thinking about a bunch of those and how I have done some things I never expected I would ever do as well as the things I expected to do but didn’t.
Told my going to be 21-year-old kid to accept there is going to be a bunch of “I didn’t expect that to happen” to be part of life.
I think he might understand that better than most. Kid and I got yelled at for being too loud and we both laughed.
We have voices that carry and apparently we both suck at whispering.
Think I have to make sure he knows these two songs among others.
The latter sticks out in my head, reminds me of a trip to Magic Mountain 39 years ago. I think it is the first time I heard it, but I can’t say for certain.
Was a crazy trip, Bow Wow Wow played a free concert and I watched while standing in the middle of a crowd of men with mohawks and multiple piercings.
Might look tame today, but it wasn’t then. No one paid much attention to me, spent the show in my world.
It is kind of strange to be able to look back 39 years and wonder if I’ll get to move 39 years into the future.
I think I will, but who knows, so many twists and turns.
It is why I keep telling some people to take action now because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and we’re not going to get to do all that we want.
So it is time to pick and choose a few and maybe experiment with others and see if we want to learn more.
Never know if you are going to be sealed in that Book of Life for one more year or not.
