I and Thou, as Represented by a Chihuahua and 8 Cheeseburgers

What is the dog's relationship to the cheeseburgers? We must assume, of course, that the dog has intellectual faculties to a human being. Which it does not. So this means nothing. Except that I'm tired and need to vent.

So what is the relationship? His eyes are closed and his ears are pulled back. Does he feel the cheeseburgers? Feeling is an experience, which means the dog would then be in an I-It relationship.

Perhaps, though, this is so much more than four #2 extra value meals squished into his paws. Just as humans can have relationships with trees throughout their lives (Giving Tree, anyone?) perhaps the dog is in an I-Thou relationship. He is sharing a moment with the cheeseburgers. He is growing.

And when the burgers are cold and stale, and flies and small ants from the kitchen start to forage for food, perhaps the dog will take away from the experience. Perhaps he will have learned something

Or perhaps his owner will give him a bath, which he most certainly does not like.

Universal Constant

Whenever you are in an unfamiliar place, and you don't know what to do...

And it's dark...

Turn on your local PBS station.

Watch The New Red Green Show.

Chances are it's on, or it's being used for the yearly fundraising effort by that station.

It's a wonderful feeling.

Some things never change.

New Semester, New... something-something

I feel old.

Worrying about my credit score and the election. Constantly reevaluating the past. I guess my subconscious is trying to abstract something significant from it.

Hasn't my subconscious read Henri Bergson? It's a fruitless endeavor.

Lots of editing and writing. Trying to wrap everything up.

This reads like porno spam.

I am buzzing.

Today I Saw a Girl Cry

So I'm on my way to work on Monday, back to answering telephones and writing ideas and planning my future. I'm on Jefferson, about to cross Figueroa, when I see a girl driving a white Volvo behind me. She can't be more than my age. And she's crying. Her eyes are red, her lips are red, matching the color of her hair. And she's either speaking into a handsfree phone or she's repeating something over and over to herself. It's a sad sight. I continue on to work. She follows behind me until I turn onto Hope St.

What would make somebody cry like that on a Monday morning?

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

You don't really hear songs these days that just make you feel good. More than likely, if I hear a current song I think, wow, that would be really good in a movie trailer or at the end of an episode of LOST or Grey's Anatomy. What happened to songs that are just great on their own merit?

For instance:

My Maria by B.W. Stevenson

Photograph by Ringo Starr

Kodachrome by Paul Simon

Teach Your Children Well by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

Seriously, take a listen to them. I'm sure they've been used in TV or movies, but that's not the point. These songs speak to a part of us that doesn't get much flexing. Start exercising. 

You can go to pandora.com and put in any one of these artists or song titles, and get tracks back that are similar.

The Old Man

I've been back East for the past five days, and got to see lots of friends and family. I also saw my dad, which was a visit more out of necessity than desire. If I didn't visit, I wouldn't hear the end of it.

We caught breakfast with him in his hometown, at the old restaurant he and I used to visit. When I saw him, he was dumpier and older than I remembered. But in an amusing way. His neckflap had grown, his glasses appeared smaller on his head, his voice became more gravelly, and he was wearing a biker vest.

In some ways, he resembled Bill Adama. Not a spitting image by any means, but if there was an expanded lineage of the Adama family, he would be Bill's cousin, the one who runs a small fabrication company overseas.

The Happening, Part Two

9:25 p.m. Mount Pleasant, MI.

The sun has just dipped below the horizon. Two friends, Z and J, are walking back to their car. There is a light wind blowing through the trees.

"I think it's supposed to rain this weekend," says Z.

"Yeah, it's been doing that a lot lately," says J.

"It's nice, though. I don't get rain that often."

"Are you kidding? I'd love sun every day."

"I think it's supposed to rain this weekend."

"You already said that," says J.

"I think it's supposed to rain..."

"Z?"

"...supposed to rain..."

"You're freaking me out."

"...rain..."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Z shakes his head.

"I was just thinking about The Happening again. G-ddamn that was a horrible movie."