I truly detest that feeling of “incompleteness” that come from parting on poor terms, but as the saying goes, “When a ship lifts, all bills are paid.”
(Yes, I know the full quote is followed up by the words “No regrets,” but I don’t think I’d trust someone with NO regrets any more than I’d trust someone overly burdened by them.)
Still . . . I wonder how bad it would be if I dropped either one of them a line just to ask how they’ve been.
Pretty bad, I imagine.
I REALLY set myself up nicely with yesterday’s thought, seeing as it was promptly followed by the discovery of a window into the current status of not one, but TWO former loves of my life I’ve long wondered what happened to after we parted ways. (Technically I suppose *I* am one of THEIR “former loves” (if even that much) since I’ve never mastered the art of falling OUT of love, but I thought I’d use the common phrase for clarity.)
That’s what you call “getting what you asked for with a twist of irony and a tug at the heartstrings, with a shot of maudlin on the side.”
I really DO have to know everything . . . eventually (Sanity annihilating knowledge that would leave me a broken wreck of a soul can be postponed until I’m ready for it).
I know a lot of people whose goal in life seems to be to always look no less than 10 years younger than their actual age.
Can’t honestly say I see the point myself.
That’s the sort of thing that tends to be insignificant when you’re 109, and flat out WRONG when you’re 9.
Years ago I took one of my younger brothers to a theme park where his eyes immediately lit up at the sight of a particular roller coaster, and he begged me to take him on it. Having my doubts that he was old enough for it, I made him a deal: I’d take him on a ride I deemed less intense first, and if he still wanted to ride the roller coaster after that, then I’d take him.
Halfway through the ride (on something called ‘Da Vinci’s Cradle,’ as I recall) he turned to me and said “I’ve changed my mind! I want to get off!”
Around my laughter I tried to explain to him that this wasn’t the kind of ride I could just stop for him as much as I might want to; he’d just have to hang on for a bit more until it was over.
It’s still not bad advice for that sort of situation . . . even when there’s nothing funny to laugh at.
Yes, sometimes it does feel like I’m just talking to myself, thanks for asking . . .
Somebody DID ask that, right?
You know you’ve crossed a milestone in your work when it’s spread far enough from you for you to start hearing back how people DIDN’T care for it. You know your status is assured when you hear how someone passionately hates everything about you and what you stand for . . . but admits that you’re damn good at what you do.
I haven’t reached the latter point yet.
“And in science news today, Professor Phineas Phoolishness announced he had just completed his ten year search for the African elephant in the Mariana Trench. ‘The results were quite disappointing,’ the Professor was quoted as saying. ‘I didn’t find even the slightest sign of a single African elephant despite the legendary size of the beast. I feel my study not only conclusively proves that the African elephant never existed, but also casts doubts on the whole ‘Africa’ theory.'”
Some people spend their entire lives looking the wrong way for something in the wrong place, and despite the silliness of the above example, you’ll hear things like it said with depressing regularity.
Years ago, in response to an impending mandatory seat belt law, a friend of mine, full of indignation and completely oblivious to the factual inaccuracy of his statement, proclaimed to the heavens “They can’t make me wear a seatbelt if I don’t want to, that’s . . . that’s. . . COMMUNISM!” (1)
Right then and there I thought “THAT is the crux of political rhetoric boiled down to expose the shameful secret of its core, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
And it still hasn’t.
(1) It really ISN’T Communism; it might legitimately be labeled other things, but it’s NOT Communism. Look it up.
Well . . . more random than most, I mean.
For the next two weeks my time is likely to be limited due to a series of houseguests, so I’ll be posting a series of random personal thoughts as they come to me. Yes, I know my chosen “filler” is usually quoting someone else, but that usually comes from finding out somebody has already made the point that was on my mind that day, so this will be . . . different. (I wonder how much euphemism and prophecy are wrapped up in that word? Ah well . . . we’ll all know well before the two weeks are up, I’m sure.)
Today’s thought:
To all the people who have told me I’d be better off without them in my life:
As much as I didn’t want that to be true, it looks like you were right . . . sometimes I still feel your absence though.
To all the people who have told me that THEY would be better off without ME in their life:
I hope that worked out for you as well as you thought it would. I doubt you’ll be surprised that I have my doubts it did, but I hope you realize that doesn’t make me any less sincere.
Candles & Curses 