Month: August 2015 (Page 1 of 2)
Not nearly as exciting as last week. I didn’t listen to any senators talk. My week was so boring I looked back at my calendar to try and find anything interesting to talk about. Sorry it is so short. I pretty much worked without accomplishing anything last week. Course if you ask my boss he will tell you I never accomplish anything 🙂
There seems to have been a general cease fire in the squirrel war. Though on Thursday I woke up to this:
I think they are plotting their next offensive. I did open the door and run after them yelling and swinging a brush.
Jobu spent most of the week engaged in his favorite activity:
This weeks words of wisdom:
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but few think of changing themselves.” Leo Tolstoy
This has been one of those really hard posts to write. I know in my head and my heart what I mean by “When I leave this world I want to be all used up”. The hard part has been trying to figure out a way to communicate that. I ended up with poetry more than prose.
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| From flickr user Lisa Edmonds |
I sat next to the old man. I marveled at his face. It was hard and worn with creases. The skin darkened and toughened through years of working in the sun and the wind. This is a lived face imprinted with the years of laughter and love, pain and loss.
His hands are worn, hard, and calloused. Years of hard work, years of life, have chiseled and formed those hands like water shapes the rocks.
He looks used, poured out, radiant, and magnificent. He looks like he has lived for 100 years. He looks like he has seen his children grow, his grandchildren grow, and his great-grandchildren grow.
I gazed at him and I realized that before I leave this world I want to be that. When I leave this world I want to be used up and poured out. It will be my time to go once I have emptied all of myself into this world.
We can often try to hide from life. Trying to keep ourselves within ourselves. Trying to keep our wineskins full. Trying to insulate ourselves from life. We hide within the mundane. We coat ourselves in the armor of indifference. We fear true open life and love. We are often as likely to experience pain as joy from love, and that is all right. That is part of the fabric of life. If you hide yourself from life you are still going to die. The world fills our lives with pain and loss. The world fills our lives with joy and beauty.
The world is real and stark and true and painful and glorious. It’s not just that all this stuff is inevitable so we just need to live with it. This stuff is magnificent . It is the holy weave that makes up the tapestry of our lives. Life isn’t about being happy all the time. Life is about living.
When you pour yourself out into something meaningful family, art, hard work, the earth, you become whole
He Talk Pretty
On Tuesday I had the honor of assisting with a speech given by the Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin. By assist I mean I had to stand with a microphone and hand it to people asking him questions.
He did a good job. He said pretty words tailored specifically for his audience and even got a dig or two in on the Republicans.
I don’t talk about politics much, but sufficed to say, I am not big fan of politicians. I don’t like people who manipulate and control others.
The Beginning of the Great Squirrel War 2015
Last year I grew some tomato plants on my balcony. I had a rage inducing long war against the squirrel menace. They kept destroying my tomatoes. They didn’t eat them. They would take one bite and then leave the tomato to rot.
This year I stepped up the effort and have added several other things to my balcony jungle. Maybe the other plants helped to dissuade the squirrels from eating my tomatoes. That was until Wednesday. I had grown one big perfectly round tomato. It had almost finished ripening and I looked forward to savoring its delicious juiciness. I came home from work and looked out in horror at the carnage. My perfect tomato lay on the balcony. Its juicy center had been ripped apart by the vile teeth of the evil poofy tailed rats. I tromped about in anger vowing my revenge. As if to mock my resolute steadfastness the squirrels tore down the second best tomato later that night.
I am working on a proposition to make in front of the UN. I plan to lead an international effort to free the world from the tyranny of the vile rodents called squirrels. The A.S.L.L (Anti Squirrel Liberation League) will save us all.
Nothing to Do but Watch Cars Crash
This was the first weekend in a month, maybe five weeks, in which I did not have some form of travel planned. I’d actually be in town the entire time. I took it easy. I did a lot cleaning and read. I finally finished Pride and Prejudice. I also got around to watching Mad Max Fury Road. What did I think of it? Let me preface this. My favorite movie of all time is the Road Warrior(Mad Max 2). I am not joking. So yes I really liked Fury Road.
Not Fury Road but the Road Warrior
This weeks words of Wisdom:
People who are bothered by being called a failure, are people who think of themselves as failures.
The work week went by in the normal boring work week fashion in which I didn’t get enough stuff done. Monday night I did go to my buddies little dive bar. He doesn’t really run a dive bar I just call it that. He actually charges quite a bit to keep the riffraff out. He recently had the States gambling machines installed in a bid to stay solvent, him and the State. While I was there hanging out with some friends I decided to through six dollars in one of the machines. Just for fun I did the minimum bets. Lo and behold I hit a “big” win and cashed out twenty-five dollars.
I had made plans over the weekend to head up to my parents for visit. As I ran around in the morning trying to get ready I went for a short walk by the pond. Lo and behold (love that I used that twice this post ) there sat our friendly neighborhood heron. I ran back to get my camera.
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| Not a heron |
I enjoyed the weekend at my parents. After driving up on Saturday, I wandered around downtown Naperville with my friend. I bought tea and we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Potter’s Place. It was good, not great. I would be willing to try it again.
Sunday I spent time with my parents and then drove back home. I lead an exciting and unique life
On Monday I made my best home made pizza yet. I made a pepperoni pizza with mozzarella and my usual pizza sauce. I managed to finally get the thin crust I had been trying for. How did I accomplish this amazing feat. I made less dough. I made less dough by using less water. Instead of 3/4 of a cup I used about 2/3 of a cup. Now if you aren’t using a specific sized pizza pan like I am the amount of dough won’t matter. You can just roll it out as thin as you want.
The rest of the week frustrated me at work. I spent time chasing down bugs, I am a programmer, and not really able to accomplish anything of substance.
Saturday ended up being the highlight of my week. My Mom came down and we drove to see my grandparents. Also, my brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews came up from Tennessee to meet us there. My grandparents farm has always been one of my favorite places.
I enjoyed the great weather by sitting outside with my grandpa and discussing farming for like an hour. My grandma who has had a stroke was alert and talkative. My nephews beat my soundly at chess. There was even a really cute little kitten.
Re-energized from Saturday, Sunday I decided to be productive. I did the laundry, cleaned, tended to my balcony garden, and read a lot. I do need someone to explain to my why in Pride and Prejudice they are all happy that Lydia is marrying the good for nothing guy.
Wake up in a strange bed angels over my head