The black pickup truck with the rattling muffler rumbles into a parking spot in front of the dollar store. The decal on the back window reads, “this is what white privilege got me.” Trash bags and empty water jugs fill the pickup bed. The driver’s backwards cap boasts the stars and bars.
Category: Life
My Dog with the Abby Normal Brain
Every step in the process of re-homing my dog feels like a loss. Reaching out to the shelter. Answering their emails. Scheduling a vet visit. Scheduling an intake visit. Every single step feels like I’m saying goodbye. Every step feels like a betrayal and a failure on my part. If I have a savior complex…
Goats on Van Ness
On the drive home from work today I passed a hillside where a few goats were grazing. Sometimes, the goats are out, and sometimes they’re not. I like seeing the goats. When I see them, I say (in my head) hello goats. Today, shortly after I passed, I tried to imagine the goats in the…
Hefty Cropping
The other day, an old friend texted a picture of the two of us and wrote, “you used to be hefty.” I sent back a photo of Wilford Brimley and said now I’m old and hefty. Fun fact: though he looked much older, Brimley was not quite 51 years old when Cocoon was released (I’m…
The Dog, Again
Yesterday, I wrote about the dog and the walks we have. Given that we live together, it’s a topic from time to time. We take two walks a day – every day. Quite often, they’re short walks because it’s cold and windy here for five or six months of the year. Because the roads were…
Be the Person, Blah Blah Blah
Yesterday, I ended my post about belief systems with some statements about the world being a more wondrous place when it’s shared with good company. I didn’t say it that succinctly, but it was part of what I was aiming for. That sentiment runs slightly counter to the type of self-reliance I’ve been trying to…
Green Flags and World Beliefs
The prompt on the dating app reads, “I’ll fall for you if…” One answer I recently came across said, “You’re a gentleman who does that thing where you walk on the street side of the sidewalk …” Admittedly, this is not something I do or consciously put into practice. This isn’t the first time, I’ve…
Stretching Beyond the Daily Task
Yesterday marked half-a-year of my daily fifty-two project. The on-going goal is to force myself to write a little something every day. The on-going goal is to spend a few minutes, maybe ten or fifteen observing something or thinking about something I’ve observed. Limiting myself to fifty-two words was an arbitrary decision, but is/was intended…
Differences of Opinion
They might not be the worst people in the world, but the couple I met from Florida were among the least generously spirited people I’ve encountered. Our conversation ended when they called me disgusting and a pedophile and stormed out of the bar. Meh. She was an attractive blond who was well put together with…
The Come Down
This is the come down. The moment of crashing back to reality where Saturday night entails listening to some music and Sunday will be spent doing chores and prepping for the week ahead. After a week of urban exploring, meeting new people, eating and drinking, and sitting outside at cafés in the sun, I am…
Be Here, Now.
I’m still caught off guard by how quickly negative emotions or something approaching nervous dread can creep in, pour themselves a drink, and settle in on the couch with feet up as though they own the place. Minor setbacks in the face of major change, or small realizations that none of this is going to…
Lovely, but Fleeting
After a full day of travel (3+ hours in the car and close to 7 hours on a plane), I arrived in San Francisco Saturday night. I had just enough time to check in to my hotel and Uber my way over to Oakland for a dinner date. We hit it off well, and had…