Devouring life, one bite at a time
There’s something that’s been eating at me all week. I’ll just let it all out, dear reader. Last week in my creative writing class, my teacher was discussing point of view. Since I write primarily in 1st person narrative and have a strong base for …
A lovely birthday surprise to brighten my room, and test my plant-guardian challenges! The message is clear. I need to wear more red this year.
It is not uncommon for me to wake up with a random song in my head, and this morning was no exception. As I let the chickens out and sipped my brewed coffee, a flute tinkled in the background of my brain, an accent to the ongoing soundtrack of my life. What was that ditty from? Oh yes, the interlude music to Punky Brewster, my all-time favorite show as a child. Nothing like an odd start to the day.
A few years ago, I Netflixed a few seasons of the show on a whim. I often revert back to childhood themes and corny movies during times of strife. I also thought it would be wildly entertaining for me and my roommate, who happened to be an old friend from camp whom I knew would appreciate the sentiment.
The memories came flooding back- missing my cat having kittens because I couldn’t bear to miss a single episode (those were the days before Tevo), standing in front of my closet each day thinking WWPW (what would Punky wear), and of course, the harsh life lessons ingrained in the show. Lessons such as, don’t joke around in CPR class because you never know when your friend might get trapped in a refrigerator and need to be resussitated, and you don’t want to be the guy who can’t do it because you weren’t paying attention. Or the importance of literacy in case your little brother drinks poison and you need to read the label. You don’t have to do drugs to be popular. And of course, the subliminal messages of our need to buck the system and rage against the flaws of beaurocracy.
The themes were heavy. Maybe a little too heavy for innocent girls everywhere who had never had to dig through trash for dinner or break into a deserted apartment for shelter. When I watched with my roommate, she realized watching Punky Brewster was the reason she suffered so much separation anxiety when her parents went out. If Punky could be abandoned in a grocery store parking lot, how could any of us be safe? In a chaotic, right-wing time of Reaganomics and a national obsession with money and status, the message was clear: if an orphan and her puppy could make it in the school of hard knocks, then so could you.
But there were simpler lessons, as well. It’s okay to be weird. Be yourself, and love who you are. Be a devoted friend.
Punky’s indefatigable spirit and iron clad moral constitution set in motion for me a lifelong role model of the kind of person I wanted to be. She was a gal who could see the bright side of things and keep it all in perspective. The adoption agency won’t approve of an old man becoming her foster parent? Just another administrative hoop to jump through. Bad things will always happen to good people, and all you can do is keep being good and hope for the best. Do things for others and be the best you can each day, and all will turn out right.
A nice reminder from the adorable 80s theme song on my internal loop this morning.
This weekend, I took my first hike in over a month, and quite possibly my first real exercise since the fall. And all out of the sling! (It’s the little things.) I packed some sandwiches and trail mix and hit the highway. Bohemian Highway. There’s …
I finally went to the doctor yesterday. I probably should have gone sooner, I know, but honestly I felt like I was doing so great for having an arm in a sling. The pain was tolerable, and I’ve figured out a way to do just …
I’ve been called a lot of things due to my talking, but never, not ever have I been called a sharp talker. More often I’m told I have a big mouth, I talk fast, I talk too much, too loud, I talk about boring things, I …
When I set out to Washington a few days ago, it was to take advantage of down time from work and reconnect with family. It’s really become a vision quest. This is me with one of my new goddesses on the third day of my …
I have this friend. She’s a go-getter working on her phD in ecology, driven by personal challenges and accomplishments. She’s a fan of the popular 30 by 30 lists common for motivated people in their 20s to try to fulfill 30 goals by the time they turn 30. I have a few friends with these lists and I always scoffed at them.
Why set a timeline for pursuing dreams? Why is there so much pressure to get things done by the time we’re 30? Why do we feel the need to put the pressure on ourselves?
She said that as you get older and get through landmarks like getting a degree, traveling independently and settling into stability (all important), it can be easy to become apathetic and lazy. This, for her, is a good way to stay engaged and keep focused.
I’ve always believed in setting goals for myself. I had to agree, there is something to giving yourself a deadline, or those very things can fall by the wayside.
So with much hesitation, I am trying to open myself to crossing some of those things-I-want-to-do-one-day off my list. Thus begins my 35 by 35.
I’m going to start with some easy ones, just to make sure I get them done. The first thing is learning to change the strings on my guitar. That one broken E string has left my poor neglected guitar crammed in the corner of my room.
My fave site for guitar basics has been guitar.about.com. This is a straightforward tutorial on changing strings- and they also have the most approachable guides to learning chords and basic tuning.
In a perfect world, the strings are coiled neatly around the peg. Mine came out pretty sloppy, but hey, it’s my first time. (This is also why I would strongly recommend buying a very cheap guitar for your first one, so it can take some abuse until you get your bearings.)
Not the prettiest, but once I sat down, I did it! It took about an hour, including a very tedious tuning session (as the strings stretched and settled into their new positions). Now she’s ready to jam again!
