A Doe and Two Fawns

Last week we saw three white tailed deer in downtown Ipswich at dusk.

I was driving but took a hand off the wheel to point as two fawns crossed Route 133 into the Ipswich Police Department's parking lot, where a doe was waiting...

I was alone yesterday afternoon and saw the same combination in Rowley, a doe with two fawns, crossing Route 1A into a backyard.

Both times I was awestruck just watching them run and both times I cursed the pavement, houses, buildings and roads they battled.

The feeling only lasted a moment, but it was very Real

although, I'm not "against" deer hunting or deer hunters.

I've never eaten venison but I would likely try it if you offered.

Hourly Job Contest

The older brother of a childhood acquaintance

recently sent me a digital message,

via a social networking platform,

in regards to a contest,

(I'm assuming a contest run by a company he works for).

The general idea is that

people with full time "hourly jobs" (as they described it)

send in their videos

displaying the music talents

they can never truly fulfill

being too busy

at their pointless jobs.

I responded along the lines of,

"Hey Pal, thanks for thinking of me for this,

but I already follow my dream full time

and do NOT have a shitty job

and am therefore disqualified from this particular contest"

which felt really good,

but the whole episode made me feel really bad,

in a "The Matrix" sort of way

Reverse Chronology

The format of this blog has always slightly bothered me,

but is now becoming an unsolvable mystery.

The current setup shows the most recent post,

and you can scroll down and read older posts.

but,

I like to think I've gotten better at writing

since beginning this experiment,

therefore,

the posts would get progressively worse

as the reader continues reading,

and I do not want that,

either.

Three Months

"Oh, Joe..." the Junior Varsity doctor exclaimed,

drawing out the "oh" sound in both words,

seriously but quietly, in an awestruck way,

her voice cooing like she was talking to a kitten

and not examining stitches,

inches from my arse.

"It's healed" she said.

"I don't need to see you for three months."

Bond. Savings Bond.

My grandmother gave me a savings bond when I was a kid. I get $25 in 1993, so that'll be good.

This quote from Adam Sandler's Wedding Singer is particularly funny because the film is set in 1985.

During my recent medical malady I have not scraped Financial Rock Bottom,

in fact, ON THE WHOLE, things have gone Pretty Alright,

However, I have dipped into uncharted waters: the Savings Bonds that had accumulated from the generous foresight of my grandparents and great aunt.

Great Aunt Peg has Alzheimer's and is here but already gone. You can read about her in the April 2012 post entitled "Buckeyes" and future posts will surely discuss Aunt Peg, as soon as my future self begins to handle wrapping my future brain around her condition.

My dad's parents are dead.

As I cash these bonds, as they pull my arse from fiscal fires, I feel a spiritual bond with Papa, Grandma and Aunt Peg, and I say legitimate prayers of Thanks, because I do not have an opportunity to tell them to their face.

That said, my mom's parents are very much alive. They gave many bonds as well. I could call them right now and say thank you, but I don't think they would be happy to hear the news that my bonds are being cashed and spent.

I think it would be a cause for concern.

This portion of my current story will be omitted when I next visit Gram & Gramps.

The Olympics Are Racist

We were watching gymnastics. Women's vault. Final.

and the announcer said something along the lines of,

"This young lady is from Romania, so she MUST be considered a favorite for GOLD..."

I quickly mused to my Old Lady, "That's pretty racist."

The moral/point of this less-than-half-serious story is:

2012 London Olympics have left me not with an overwhelming American pride,

rather an overwhelming inspiration from humans everywhere. Human Americans just as much as the humans from parts of the world that I never knew existed.

and also that Countries are arbitrary boundaries, invisible lines

and that we transcend that. Humans.* Being competitive. Playing epic games.

Every country seems pretty darn cool. In a bunch of ways.
and every country is probably fucked up. In ways I'll never even fully grasp.

It's hokey, but we're all in this Together, no matter how you slice it.

*I get the same feeling from season 2 of Falling Skies