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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!
--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka
When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:
For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Saturday, July 26, 2003

He announced himself as he entered the facility,

"Good morning, Officer R___ is here. How is everyone?"

The first time mom said he looked like a robot I almost burst out laughing, except that I rarely burst out laughing. My dad has that belly-laugh thing, but someone I've lost that gene, and it's too bad; I really wish I had it. But I laugh inside as The Robot enters the room, announces himself, and makes the rounds, making sure everyone is pacified and safe. When an incident starts up, Officer R___ simply jokes with the customer, or patron, or client, or whatever you call us. Once in awhile he says "I see you!" in the playful tone of voice usually reserved for a child, but when I look to see who he's speaking to, I don't find the soft face of a child, but rather the hardened face of someone much older--and distressed, perturbed, or angry. A grown man or woman, agitated and tired of waiting, wanting to go home, or to a ballgame, or to the beach. Sometimes this person looks explosive, ready to go postal, ready to take out everyone with a dirty bomb. Officer R___ simply approaches the person and strikes up a conversation, carefully maneuvering their personality. I watch with fascination. Officer R___ is skilled--he knows what he's doing. I talk to him and he says 30 years--that's how long he's been doing this, in some form or another--and he's like the rest of us, just trying to get through the day, his aging long bones moving along as best they can. He does his job, and he does it well--and he has to, because you never know who's going to snap at the ___.
posted by Harold  7/26/2003 09:22:00 PM
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I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? Ads? Oh, hell no! It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.