Dear Friends,
It’s all about perspective, right? How we see and hear things is different from how others see and hear them. We all feel the same feelings, but the way they impact us is different, too. Understanding this about perspective allows us to remember that while we may share the same space, we inhabit different minds and perceive the world in different ways.
Over the weekend, I think I saw the world differently than others and that’s okay. There was nothing bad or unpleasant. I just got a really good reminder of what life was like at different stages by watching the kids do their thing and listening to them talk about the things going on with them. I pretended to be oblivious, but I heard a lot, and I think pretending to be oblivious was more about self-preservation than anything else.
When I just want to relax, the last thing I want to get pulled into is drama. Not that any of the kids had any real or significant drama to share, but I realized over the weekend that I just don’t want to deal with any drama any more at all. I just want to face life, deal with whatever I have to deal with, and keep moving forward until the day when I don’t have the ability to do that. That’s not asking too much, is it?
*****
I had an idea for a story on Sunday night that I am so glad I remembered on Monday. The gist of it centers around a person (not sure what gender yet) that really loves animals and feels like they are pretty good with them. They might be some sort of animal empath or something, I’m not sure. They decide to put an ad in the paper saying they will sort out your animal’s problems for a low fee per hour. $25 or something.
What they learn, though, is that while they are good at sorting out an animal’s issues (if there really is one), they are even better at helping the animal’s owner sort out their problems. People keep hiring them to come back and work with their animals so they can really work with them.
Now this person, this unlicensed therapist, is a good listener and more importantly, a people pleaser, so they keep listening to these people talking about their own problems and giving them advice, if asked, or just allowing them to talk. Part of the story could be some of these people and their crazy lives that untangle in front of the bewildered pet whisperer. It could also become a situation where the pet whisperer, who is really a people whisperer, gets embroiled in some sort of situation with one or more of these clients that takes them on a wild ride.
I feel like there is something to explore here. When I will explore it, I don’t know. I really feel like I have to finish a couple stories before I add more to the plate. Maybe not. Maybe my forte is starting stories and never finishing them. I hope not.
Maybe the pet whisperer realizes that some their clients are talking about situations that involve other clients and thinks they all complicit in some crime or something. Hell, this could be a new series for ABC. The Pet Whisperer. I like it.
Really, though, it would be just right for a nice, pet and people loving person to get all wrapped up in some hot, neighborhood gossip, and spin out of control. Maybe it could be a horror story? Or a comedy? Or both.
Maybe it just goes on the pile with the rest of the ideas and languor’s with the rest of them.
*****
I slept through the Suns game on Sunday night and was falling asleep during the first half of the Cardinal game. I woke up at 4am on Christmas morning and started having a few beers around 12:30pm, so I was tuckered out by the time everyone started going home.
Doug and I tried watching the game for a bit, but I was nodding off and I think he was ready to hit the road, too. I’m pretty disinterested right now when it comes to professional sports. Even if the Suns were doing better (and I read that it was an exciting game), I don’t know if I have it in me to care right now.
Maybe it is the idea of an utter asshole like Robert Sarver becoming a billionaire because he sold the Suns for $4 Billion dollars. Maybe it is the fact that my beloved basketball team is now worth that kind of dough and I can’t comprehend living in a world where sports is that big of a business.
Or maybe I just don’t care that much anymore.
I sound like the fox in Aesop’s Fable about the grapes. If both the Cards and Suns had won on Sunday, I might be singing their praises, but since they lost, eff’em in the B. Don’t need’em or want’em. I prefer to think that my interest is truly waning and it is.
*****
Later today we are prepping for some tamale making tomorrow. It’s going to be a big day full of gastronomic delight tomorrow. I’m going to have fast for the month of January to undo the damage I have done to my ability to fit in my pants over the past week or so. This is the time of year where I allow myself to enjoy the sugar.
It’s not my friend, though, and once a year is enough for this crud. I like the sweets way too much and I don’t miss them at all after about mid-January. It takes a few weeks to get them out of your system once you start putting them in there.
On Christmas eve I made some peanut butter bars and some pumpkin cake that were pretty fantastic if I say so myself. I tried my best to eat as much of both of them as I could. Fucking desserts will kill you if they get a chance.
See you tomorrow.
Found this guy in the alley on Christmas day when I was taking out some garbage.
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