Hang on there paper shoes
In the past 2 weeks several odd (read: completely unpredictable) things took place.
+I went to the funeral of an acquaintence's mother. She was 38. Died in her sleep. I hate funerals. I hate the priests conducting the sermon (they don't even know the deceased how can they speak of them?). I feel for the family caught in the ridiculous web of tradition. I realized I went in search of a forum to better grieve for Robert. Looks like I'll have to keep looking.
+The night of the Nom de Guerre show at Lestat's in San Diego I called my mother. I hadn't talked to her in some time (months maybe-the 3hr time difference and our conflicting schedules make communication difficult). She seemed mostly normal if not a little distracted. Apparently she may have cervical cancer. I actually had to take band photos an hour later. I don't even remember most of that night.
+A biker needing to pay for a sandwich came to the counter. I rang him up and joked with him about the lottery. We got to talking about Harleys. I mentioned my wanderlust. We discussed 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Somewhere along the line I found out he is a helicopter pilot, character actor, and stunt man. He gave me his card and now June and I are invited to his next networking party. Only in LA...
+3 separate people in their 40's and up mentioned (on separate days) that travel should take second place to nothing. 'Even if you have to quit your job, never give up on the adventure of seeing the world.' Not that I needed to be told exactly, but it's nice to have my position on the subject reaffirmed.
+A woman who stops by work a lot, talked my ear off about renting out a room in her house with upright piano, microwave, fridge, and jacuzzi included; tried to persuade me to seek out better employment through her connections; and gave me her business card with contact info. After my trip, I think I may just take her up on the whole kaboodle.
+An elderly Vietnamese man in an oversized plaid blazer came to the counter yesterday. He pulled out a prescription from his pocket. I told him where to go to have it filled. He nodded and smiled and said unintelligible things. He then looked at me and put his hand in his other pocket. He brought out a baby bird, said 'Baby bir' and tossed it toward me, laughing. Being too much in shock to reach out to the bird, I glared at the man and the bird fluttered down from the counter and hid behind a row of cupboards. The man continued to look at me, smile, and say 'Baby bir' while gesturing towards me. My boss did free the bird after we all left for the day. He set it free outside. I can only hope someone picked him up again. I couldn't tell you why this odd man would have thought it a good idea to have a baby bird on him, let alone toss it to me. The really worrisome part of this is that it was a sparrow, quite an omen to find out here, and I'm in an anxious/ominous frame of mind now to begin with.
Things are getting stranger and more vivid as I near the date of my trip home. I feel like my worry and excitement must be showing through to the world. It seems to be drawing people toward me like nothing else has since I've gotten here. Total strangers are heaping encouragement upon me for no selfish reason. They know nothing of my life but happen to be here at just the right time to keep me from losing my balance now when I need it most.
I had planned this trip to tie up loose ends and be able to move along for a while. It looks like my motivation has changed. If my mother really is sick, I'm the only person that can drop everything and try to help- the only one without a bridge burned. I wasn't prepared for this possibility so early in life, but there isn't much choice in the matter. I can only hope the tests are negative, that something far less severe is wrong. I've never been so anxious in my life- and that's saying A LOT.
-T
+I went to the funeral of an acquaintence's mother. She was 38. Died in her sleep. I hate funerals. I hate the priests conducting the sermon (they don't even know the deceased how can they speak of them?). I feel for the family caught in the ridiculous web of tradition. I realized I went in search of a forum to better grieve for Robert. Looks like I'll have to keep looking.
+The night of the Nom de Guerre show at Lestat's in San Diego I called my mother. I hadn't talked to her in some time (months maybe-the 3hr time difference and our conflicting schedules make communication difficult). She seemed mostly normal if not a little distracted. Apparently she may have cervical cancer. I actually had to take band photos an hour later. I don't even remember most of that night.
+A biker needing to pay for a sandwich came to the counter. I rang him up and joked with him about the lottery. We got to talking about Harleys. I mentioned my wanderlust. We discussed 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Somewhere along the line I found out he is a helicopter pilot, character actor, and stunt man. He gave me his card and now June and I are invited to his next networking party. Only in LA...
+3 separate people in their 40's and up mentioned (on separate days) that travel should take second place to nothing. 'Even if you have to quit your job, never give up on the adventure of seeing the world.' Not that I needed to be told exactly, but it's nice to have my position on the subject reaffirmed.
+A woman who stops by work a lot, talked my ear off about renting out a room in her house with upright piano, microwave, fridge, and jacuzzi included; tried to persuade me to seek out better employment through her connections; and gave me her business card with contact info. After my trip, I think I may just take her up on the whole kaboodle.
+An elderly Vietnamese man in an oversized plaid blazer came to the counter yesterday. He pulled out a prescription from his pocket. I told him where to go to have it filled. He nodded and smiled and said unintelligible things. He then looked at me and put his hand in his other pocket. He brought out a baby bird, said 'Baby bir' and tossed it toward me, laughing. Being too much in shock to reach out to the bird, I glared at the man and the bird fluttered down from the counter and hid behind a row of cupboards. The man continued to look at me, smile, and say 'Baby bir' while gesturing towards me. My boss did free the bird after we all left for the day. He set it free outside. I can only hope someone picked him up again. I couldn't tell you why this odd man would have thought it a good idea to have a baby bird on him, let alone toss it to me. The really worrisome part of this is that it was a sparrow, quite an omen to find out here, and I'm in an anxious/ominous frame of mind now to begin with.
Things are getting stranger and more vivid as I near the date of my trip home. I feel like my worry and excitement must be showing through to the world. It seems to be drawing people toward me like nothing else has since I've gotten here. Total strangers are heaping encouragement upon me for no selfish reason. They know nothing of my life but happen to be here at just the right time to keep me from losing my balance now when I need it most.
I had planned this trip to tie up loose ends and be able to move along for a while. It looks like my motivation has changed. If my mother really is sick, I'm the only person that can drop everything and try to help- the only one without a bridge burned. I wasn't prepared for this possibility so early in life, but there isn't much choice in the matter. I can only hope the tests are negative, that something far less severe is wrong. I've never been so anxious in my life- and that's saying A LOT.
-T