3-6-09

It was one of those days. One of those days that just feels right. The kind that you want to capture the feeling in a jar like you captured fireflies when you were 7. And then you want to run that jar home and show everyone what's inside. But days like this, you know you can't capture the feeling in a way that you can show it to someone else. It's just a feeling you feel deep inside of you & it pours out from within so that maybe someone passing you on the sidewalk will catch a bit of it in your smile.

It's the warm cloudy day at the end of winter. A day where the sun breaks through every once in a glorious moment and when it does, it looks like Heaven is shining down. But it doesn't need to, because this is the kind of day that reminds you Heaven is on earth and all around you.

It's the shy little boy from Iraq who doesn't speak any English who you just helped enroll in school. You know he is terrified, but you are filled with hope for his future, even though you know it won't be easy.

It's eating lunch and reading your new poetry book that causes you to laugh out loud at parts and for tears to come to your eyes at other parts.

It's the cool clothes you found at the thrift stores that actually fit you. It's the 15 new records you bought to play on your new record player. It's the conversations you had with the women working at these thrift stores. It's the little girl sitting on a chair singing "Jesus Loves Me" in the Salvation Army as she waits for her grandma to finish shopping.

It's the girl on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle who spreads her arms out as they ride so she feels like she's flying. It's the smile she gives you at the stop light because she can hear Michael Jackson pouring out of your open car windows.

It's going for a walk when you get home and passing the 8-year-old boy you made friends with last summer. It's you getting him to toss you the nerf football he's holding & him saying "Nice catch! I didn't know you could play football!" & you telling him you have a real football and that you'll play with him this summer.

It's dancing down the sidewalk to the song on your mp3 player.

It's your neighbor introducing you to her dogs, but you forgetting to ask her her name.

It's crossing the bridge over the interstate and waving to all the people going home from work during rush hour for the weekend.

It's smoking that cigarette you found in perfect tact on the floor in your living room after your last party.

It's taking pictures of random things.


It's looking at people through diner windows.

It's sitting on your porch swing at dusk & drinking a Blue Moon & being reminded of almost every Wednesday night last summer.

It's thinking of about 50 journal entries throughout the day and knowing you will never remember them the same way when you actually sit down to write.

It's listening to Cat Stevens on record while trying to show people the feeling you captured in a jar today.

10-14-08

I'm getting better at this "real world" thing. At least dinner-wise. Well, at least in the past few days.

In college when we got tired of pizza rolls, taquitos, & peanut butter & jelly sandwiches we would walk to one of the 2 dining options on campus or take a trip through the taco bell drive thru. Making rice-a-roni or mac & cheese from the box was considered making an effort on dinner.

This Friday was a glorious evening. My roomie & I decided to actually attempt to cook something & for some reason we decided to try & make chimichangas. I don't know of anyone who has made chimichangas except for the Mexican restaurants I frequent so it seemed like a challenge, but we were up for it. So we went to the store & got what we thought we'd need. As we were baking the chicken we watched the final episode of the 3rd season of The Office & were SO happy that Jim & Pam were finally going to get together! So that started the great joy of the evening.

After that we went on to make our food. Neither of us have much common sense when it comes to practical tasks such as cooking & such so we had no idea what we were doing so just made it up as we went along. Finally we had our chimichangas made & sat down to eat & start on the 4th season of The Office. Time for the first bite, the moment of truth...THEY WERE SO GOOD! The joy of eating something so good is great in itself, but the fact that we made this wonder that was so good made the joy almost explode!

Our great evening continued to go on a great note as we walked to Radio Radio for a show. Cliff Snyder, Mandy Marie, & Joe Pug performed. We know Cliff & he was good as usual. Really enjoyed Mandy Marie too & she enjoyed us sitting on the floor in front of the stage. And I fell in love with Joe Pug. He got up to sing & I said "aw, he's so adorable." Then he started to sing & his voice blew me away. The lyrics of the song were amazing too. At the end of the song I looked at my roomie & said "I'm in love." And when I bought his CD I got to meet him too. Then Justin Townes Earle performed & he & the 2 other guys in his group were great as well. It was so much fun. I was reminded why I love the folk/country (not radio country) genre.


Tonight my cooking efforts surprised me again. I made chicken, mushrooms, rice, & broccoli. I ate on my front porch & the neighbors' dog joined me. He asked so nicely for some food & I gave in (don't tell his owners). I first tried to feed him some broccoli & he wanted nothing to do with that junk, but had no problem saying yes to the chicken or rice. I wasn't about to give him any of the mushrooms. I'm a sucker for dogs, but giving one my precious mushrooms would be too much. After we ate (he only got a couple bites, don't worry) we sat on the step & I pet him & we chatted a bit. I hope winter never comes.

10-8-08

Sometimes I pretend the neighbors' dogs are mine. Toshi came up on my porch the other evening and laid at my feet as I swung on the porch swing. Then I moved to the front step and he moved with me. I did this so I could pet him and I know he appreciated it because when I would stop petting him he would look at me and put his paw on my hand as if to say "Please don't stop."