Common Threads

An article by Don Quixote    2 Comments

So why do you come here every day?

Honestly. I mean I can understand why my mom comes here on a daily basis, sometimes this is the only way she finds out what I’m up to. Oh, don’t misread me, I’m not a bad son, I call twice a week to see how the folks are doing and what’s going on, but a lot of time I listen to what is going on at the Church, my sisters (I guess I could always call them, but hey, this saves me several phone calls – come to think of I don’t even think I have my youngest sister’s number since she moved to Tennessee), and other such family related things that I often forget to talk about what I’m thinking and feeling. But dude, she’s my mom, what’s your excuse?

My ego would like to think that perhaps you find something of value in the mindless crap that I crank out in a daily basis; that some how your life is enriched by the fertilizer that is posted on this canvas every day. But more likely the reality of the situation is that you are merely gawkers on the highway of life staring at the accident on the side of the road hoping to see a dead body or a decapitation. Worse yet, that I am merely a sideshow at the local carnival that you paid two bits to see, only to find out the bearded lady is fake and the woman in the box of swords still has all her clothes on.

Why do the lives of others fascinate us so? We are a people who loves and craves gossip, we cannot get enough of everyone else’s lives. But why? Why do we love hearing about what is going on with someone else? I mean all the gossip of my life has been pretty well spelled out, do you really care that I watched Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust last night? Are you overly interested in hearing about Dafyd & Jace’s first day of school yesterday? (I can see my mom shouting yes in the background as she reads this – but what’s your excuse).

Why? I think in the end it boils down for a few simple things. For me, it is the longing need for a connection to humanity, the hope that some how I am not alone in my thoughts, my feelings, and my struggles. That perhaps if I can find someone out there who is like minded, I can find that place where I belong.

All this is not to say that I don’t have someone like that in real life, because I do. Michelle and I are of a like mind, which is I guess why she is my best friend. She’ll play Settlers of Catan with me, she’ll join in at game nights, she’ll sit through Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust with me, and she’ll even like it to, though she still refuses to let me win a game of Samurai, but maybe some day.

But life was meant to be lived with more than just one other person. We are people of tribes, communities and towns. I’m just looking for (to quote Mr. Michael W. Smith) “my place in this world.” However, I’ve been more of a Field of Dreams kind of guy, “If you build it, they will come.” So I’m a collector of people. I seek out those that I find a common bond with and nurture that, I grow it, and I look for others to fit in with that. So that’s why I read your blogs (or skim them if they get too long and wordy – Michelle reads them all the way through though, she’s good about that, she’s the one who told me that Crystal Brown got a new job at GLCC working in the library, who knew?), looking for common threads that I can weave in my everyday life. That whether you believe I am real or not, I can share in that fellowship that we were all made for, even if it is only at a distance.

Part of all of this is why I write every day. I cry out into the ether and hope to get a response back and not just an echo. I write as a much needed exercise for my brain. I write partly because of ego (I mean come on, there is that part in all of us, if not, then why wouldn’t I just put this down on paper or keep it private). I write partly as a sounding board to hear my own thoughts spoken aloud. I write to inspire, to challenge, to piss off and to amuse. I write because sometimes I crack myself up. I write because someday I hope Crystal Brown will know that I am Bob (for someone who doesn’t believe in me, she sure did invest a lot of energy writing, thinking and talking about – when was the last time you had a discourse with the Easter Bunny on his existence?). So I write and I hope that you read, and in reading, you find something.

So I watched Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust last night. It was AWESOME. This one was made 15 years after the first one and it was a world of difference. First off the animation was great (it wasn’t quite the computer enhanced stuff of Gungrave [that was more like an Image Comic Book]), on top of that, it was a riot. “Left Hand” (who Gaines btw is a parasite that D got at some point) had me crying. The guy who does his voice, Michael McShane, was also the voice of Tuck & Roll in A Bug’s Life, he did voices in Clerks: Uncensored, was in Office Space, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (he was Friar Tuck) and some guy in Tucker. He also did voices for the Spawn animated series, Treasure Planet and a few other things. But if you even kinda liked Vampire Hunter D, this one was just awesome.

I’m fat. I hate it. I mean, I’m not I can’t get out of my chair fat, but you’d certainly think I was a heavy drinker (aka Beer Gut) kind of fat. Michelle and I had been walking at night (did for 5 days straight), but the weather the past few days hasn’t been conducive to it. I’ve thought about a treadmill or some sort of stair climbing thingy, but come on, they really don’t store away anywhere and I don’t want to dedicate the real estate in my home to it. I could join a gym, but with working 7 days a week, it’s not really going to work into my schedule. So today I just feel at a loss about all of that. But here’s a little topic of discussion for ya: Gluttony & Sloth, the top two acceptable ministerial sins.

Did everyone have a good day on Monday of this week? I mean, think back, was it just me and several others, or was there a wave of good-day-idness that swept the world. Conversely did everyone’s day suck yesterday?

Well, that’s all I have for now, the old grind stone is gearing up and I have to put my nose to it. For all your trivia people out there, where does that phrase come from, and what did it originally mean?