Chirpy Beware!

I’m NOT a morning person! For the sake of those whose coffee may not have quite activated their ‘start’ button, let me repeat that: I am NOT a morning person. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against morning or its people. I just don’t happen to be one of them.

morning person

When I was in the military, we had to rise at O-it’s-still-dark-thirty, which in civilian speak means “just went to bed.” And what did we do at this glorious time of morning? Dash about with painted faces, hefting our weight in our rucksack, scampering from tree to tree like armadillos on crack. All the while listening to the sweet melody of our drill sergeant reminding us that whatever we were trying to do needed to be done faster, more efficiently, and with greater enthusiasm. We had to decode this encouraging message from the surrounding volumes of profanity, obscenity, and his doubts as to the legitimacy of our parentage.

Upon my exit from the military, my dislike of mornings continued with one exception, coffee! While in the military we were given many things, it just so happens that coffee was not among them. That’s not to say we didn’t make full use of the opportunities to obtain the wicked nectar from various means and methods, but I have gotten off task…

Anyone who knows me will tell you not to speak to me at all before I have had at least 30 minutes of quiet time and coffee. Why? Because, until the second influx of caffeine has been properly infused into my brain, my brain is focused on two things: breathing and not killing those who disturb this routine.

I purposely set my alarm to allow enough time for peace and quiet with my coffee each morning before toddling off to face the day.

Those cheery people who are so perky before my fourth cup has been ingested are like mosquitoes and should be smacked. My job requires focus and concentration, thus in order to be ready for peak performance, I do drink a lot of coffee. While this might explain the bouts of insomnia, I can hardly attribute it entirely as the cause.

I will mere stick to my original premise: I am NOT a morning person!

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Bug Zappers And Recliners

NSC

Many years ago, and no you may not ask how many, I was once young.  Chuckle if you will, at the truth. I was young….almost a child.  I thought the universe revolved around me and anyone over the age of 25 was an idiot.  Okay, some proved my point and some are still proving my point, but I digress.

I remember the days when we actually played outdoors. We had pick up games of stickball, basketball, soccer and tag.  We wandered in the woods without fear and rode our bicycles until the streetlights came on.  I used to ride by myself up to the corner store without fear to trade in soda bottles (yes, soda used to come in actual glass bottles. It isn’t a myth, it’s the truth) for candy. This was also before *gasp* cellphones and computer games, and we used to actually spell words out to make complete sentences.  Yeah…..and dinosaurs roamed the earth and we had just stepped off the Ark.

But all that was a distant age.  Time has passed and I have grown.  I would say I’ve grown wiser, except far too many have witnessed the idiotic things I say and do for that to pass.  Honestly, I didn’t appreciate listening to people talk about how things were better when they were young, and I’m not going to say they were better when I was young, because I can’t say that.  I will say I enjoyed my childhood, for the most part, except for the wedgies…..oh and getting my shoes glued to the floor…..then there was the time I got stuffed in the clothes dryer for a 10 minute ride….and the time I fell up a tree (yeah, the insurance company was skeptical about that too).  For the most part, my childhood was pretty fun.

Then I discovered girls…and life completely changed. But we won’t go into that phase.

I said all that to say this, the saddest thing I have witnessed of late was a lady about my age dressed in clothes that I’ve seen teens wear. That sight not only made me embarrassed for those of my age bracket (yes I’m claiming an entire bracket), but made me really not wish to ever go to Stuffmart ever again.

I have accepted that I am no longer in my teens.  I have accepted who I am and recognized what I am not (or will never be again).  I have accepted the fact that should I wear speedos I would most likely be arrested by the fashion police.  I have accepted that the all you can eat buffet is usually more of a courtesy than the issuance of a challenge.  I have accepted that I am no longer as athletic as once I might have been and that I enjoy sitting a lot more than I used to. I accept that my mind is not as agile as it used to be, and I enjoy naps more now.

I accept that I am not a spring chicken, but I’m not old buzzard either…yet….am I?

By the way, the title just donged about in my mind and came trundling forth. So there!

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Afraid To Live?

carpe diem-1“It’s astounding….time is fleeting…..” I won’t ask you to take a jump to the left (unless you feel so inclined), but these lyrics ring very true. It truly is astounding how time is fleeting. Okay, unless you are waiting in line at Disney or the DMV, time is whizzing past us at a rate of 24 hours each day. While that may not impress some people, it is still the truth. How many times have you heard or said, “There just aren’t enough hours in the day”? Really? You get 24 hours each day to accomplish all the things you want and need to accomplish.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to be busy or to have a lot to accomplish or wanting to do more. What I AM saying is, if we are so pressed for time, then something is going to have to give, what is it? Are you too tired and brain fried to deal with your family? Are you so busy that you don’t make time to eat properly? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you enjoying a sense of accomplishment?

We expend a lot of time and energy trying to do it all, and make sure we don’t miss anything, that we are aging ourselves with stress and strain. This seems to make the cosmetic surgeons and make-up companies pretty happy so they can target their customers with “anti-aging” goodies and services. But my question is “why?” Why do we have this compulsion to constantly strive to do more and more and more? Is there some reward for who does the most in their lifetime? Will someone build monuments to you posthumously, that you won’t get to enjoy, for all your accomplishments?

I am all for Carpe Diem! Seizing the Day and squeezing the most life I can out of it is always a good thing. But I am also including in my squeezing the occasional nap, time to read and relax. Seizing sometimes means “fitting into your day time to do little or nothing.” We weren’t designed to run wide open for long periods of time. To me, Carpe Diem is more about how do I want to be remembered. Do I want to be remembered as someone who worked so much that he got every promotion and yet had no time for friends and family? Do I want to be remembered as someone who studied all the time earning degree after degree but didn’t really do anything with them except hang them on his wall?

No! I want to be remembered as someone who tried to enjoy life and tried to share that enjoyment with others. Why would we want to be completely stressed out to the point of a heart attack all the time? It’s hard to learn to slow down and let go of some things that really don’t matter much. It’s hard to release that Type-A personality, that driven personality, that can’t relax without being shot with a tranquilizer dart.

It’s important to Carpe your Diem. To squeeze every drop of living out of every day. But it’s not a good thing to choke the life out of every day.

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Toddling Unescorted

Image

Hopefully you can forgive me for my absence of late. I gave my mind permission to wander and I’m not sure it’s going to return any time soon. Thus, I shall seek to carry on while it is out boondling about like a tourist at Disneyland.

Isn’t it odd how people will say, “Oh, he’s lost in thought” simply because we are pondering?  I’m not lost by any means.  I know exactly where I am.  And I give my mind leave to toddle off on its own with a question so it can seek answers and perspectives. Some wanders take longer than others, which is why I tend to glaze over during long tedious bouts with “small talk” and chit chat. One of the pluses of being a contemplative introvert is that my mind is in a constant state of wander-readiness.  The downside of such a readiness is that, while I can usually remember faces or names, I have some difficulty putting the two together with any degree of efficiency.  Most people who are familiar with me understand and accept this, and will make it a point to tell me their name again and again, until I am able to put them together.

 

There are some who state that this lack of social grace is an indicator of the onset of some debilitating disorder.  To which my thought is, if you ever see me at Stuffmart sitting naked in a buggy trying to paddle up the aisles with a pool toy…you have my permission to shoot me (laughter is optional).

Not to change the subject too drastically, but whilst I am penning these words, one of my favorite songs from my childhood is playing.  It’s “Free Ride” by The Edgar Winter Group.  It describes my mind’s vacations quite well: “Come on and take a free ride, Come on and sit her by my side, Come on and take a free ride.” If you haven’t heard it, YouTube it and listen.

A wandering mind isn’t necessarily lost, it’s just meandering along the canals and boardwalks of thought, visiting different places, talking with eccentrics (as if you were the only eccentric), and then scrunting back home to sort through the collection of thoughts and insights.

 

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Illuminate, Educate, Ruminate

 

Candle
The candle is not there to illuminate itself.

Categories: Hmmmmm........ | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Welcome To The Dork Side

image

For my wonderful friend DOC this is our club!

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

You CAN Fly!

You CAN Fly!

Sometimes the best way to fly is to close your eyes, open your mind, and spread your wings.

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........ | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Voices In My Head – An Answer to Rachie’s Tag

Well…….Thank you to my new friend RachieBear for tagging me in a post, as if there’s something interesting about what goes on in my head.  Shhh…The voices are singing Barbershop Quartet!

Rules:

  1. Post these rules. (Tah Dah)
  2. Post a photo of yourself and eleven random facts about you.

(The photo is how I see me and I have difficulty counting to 10, so we’ll see how this goes).

wpid-befuddled.png

3.   Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post. (okey dokey. Might want to sit down for this).

4.    Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them. (define: NEW PEOPLE)

5.   Go to their blog/Twitter and let them know they’ve been tagged. (Must I?)

Facts About Me:

  1. I’m an Introvert. This doesn’t mean I’m shy, it means I like to think in quiet.
  2. I, big surprise, drink a LOT of coffee.
  3. I collect Sockmonkeys.
  4. I read a LOT. Mostly historical fiction and textbooks, but sometimes something fun like “The Gunseller” by Hugh Laurie (yeah, the guy from House). Sometimes I even read between the lines of a conversation.
  5. I have a specific place where I sit when I go to my favorite pub. If my seat isn’t available, I go home.
  6. I sing very loudly when I’m alone in the car (with the windows up).
  7. I love squirrels. They’re funny, adorable, and tasty.
  8. I have a greyhound who is SUCH a Drama Queen she should have been in “The Birdcage” with Hank Azaria, Robin Williams, and Nathan Lane.
  9. I am a dog person. Not because I dislike cats, but dogs are fun while cats make me feel like I’m their employee.
  10. I have a something called Misophonia (when I concentrate and focus, noises I can’t control piss me off), which makes for an interesting life.

Questions from Rachie for Moi:

 

  1. What Is Your Super Hero Name? (If you haven’t already made one for yourself this is your chance to make one up).  I am (dun dun DUHHHHHH), MANATEE MAN!  I am cuddly and can be docile in a split second.  My superpower is looking adorable in water.
  2. What was the last thing that actually made you laugh out loud? I suppose you mean besides seeing my reflection in the mirror as I exited the shower, soooooo I’ll have to go with the dude next to me at the stoplight; he was on his cellphone arguing with someone (I could hear through my closed windows). He stopped to sip his Starbucks coffee and the lid came off.  His expression as the hot coffee dribbled on his suit and into his lap was priceless!
  3. Who was your first celebrity crush? It was and still is Helen Hunt. There’s a story there we won’t get into.
  4. What foods are your picky about, and why? I am very picky about the food that goes into my mouth. Not so much about the food I wear as clothing (also known as dribbles). Why? Because I like the things I ingest to be recognizable to me as something I want inside of me.
  5. What do you hope people will remember about you? I don’t want to be remembered consciously. I want to be incorporated into their lives where they don’t even know I’m gone.
  6. What is the worst pick-up line that’s been tried on you? I can honestly say I’ve never had a pick-up line used on me. Well, not that I’m aware of.
  7. Do you play an instrument and which instrument? If you are asking if I play an instrument well, then NO.  But I do sing (in the car) and I once played the saxophone.
  8. When you hear the word “prayer” what are your first thoughts? My first thoughts are “continuously” because prayer, to me, is a conversation.
  9.  Did you have an imaginary friend when you were a kid, and what was their name? As a kid? Jeremy is still with me. We talk often, which might explain the weird looks I get.
  10. If you could pluck one memory from your head and record it on a DVD to share with others, what would it be? I can’t think of anything worthy of a DVD that has happened (well, anything I should put on a DVD anyway).
  11. Do you think the nature of time is linear? Why or why not? I believe time is more oblong than linear. I think that way because that stupid thing I do today will eventually come back to bite me. It can’t come back on a line. No, I’m not a scientist and it shows.

 

 

Eleven Random Questions for the Taggees:

 

  1. What is your quest?
  2. If you could select any character from the Big Bang Theory to describe yourself, which one would you select and why?
  3. When was the last time you laughed hard enough to snort (aka Donkey Honk) and what was so funny?
  4. If you could travel anywhere and live all expenses paid for a year, where would that be? (No you may not select Uranus. Stop giggling!)
  5. What was the last book you read that you actually enjoyed and why would you recommend it?
  6. What is your motto or mantra for your life?
  7. You have one chance to witness first hand any event, you cannot alter it only witness it, what would it be?
  8.  A book is being written about your life by an observer, what would the title be?
  9. What would creep you out the most? (seeing me naked is NOT an acceptable answer!)
  10. You have a friend who really needs a laugh, how do you get them to laugh? (dress in a hamster suit and dance the Macarena is funny)
  11. What is the worst pick-up line you have heard used that worked?

You’ve Been Tagged:

Ames

The Fabulous LaLa

Realityinprogress

Suzie

Troy

Crazymom

Greenembers

Categories: Hmmmmm........, Koffee Klatch, Perspectives, Wanderer's Wonderings, Wandering Mind | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Perhaps I’m A Smart Aleck

Perhaps I'm A Smart Aleck

I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop (office away from the office) doing the research and observing that I so enjoy, when a rather boisterous friend came in. Apparently my expression was not as inviting as she would want, so she made a b-line to my table and said, in a rather loud tone, “What’s wrong with you?”

I met her gaze, smiled, and replied quietly, “I’m working on research for a presentation.” And returned to my observing of humanity and its interactions.

My response, apparently, bounced off her understanding like a bullet hitting a steel block, and she said in an even louder tone, “Why are you watching all these people?”

So much for my unobtrusive research! Again, I met her gaze, smiled (or grimaced, as the perspective might interpret), and asked quietly (yet insincerely), “Is there something you want or need?” She gave me a confused expression as though I had asked her to solve for pi to the 1,000,032 point. I even thought she had suddenly developed a tic of sorts, as if her circuits were shorting out.

She plopped down, uninvited I might add, in the chair across from me, almost toppling my coffee, leaned over the table to look right into my eyes and said, “Why are you always SO QUIET?”

By now, my head was about to explode, and I honestly tried to stop the words from blazing forth like a cannon shot, but they were out before I could manage, “Because YOU WON’T BE!”

Perhaps, it was because she got angry by that response; perhaps, she got her feelings hurt; perhaps, her mind imploded at the notion. Sara hasn’t spoken to me since.

I do enjoy the quiet. It’s like a vacation.

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Hmmmmm........ | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Confessions of a Coffee Fiend

coffee and writingI have some favorite past times: reading, coffee, writing, coffee, thinking, coffee, dreaming, oh, and coffee.  Hopefully you picked up on the theme here. I love coffee.  Not in that creepy, “I Love You Man,” sort of way, rather an intense enjoyment of copious amounts of this dark nectar.  My day begins with coffee and usually ends with it too.  Not to mention the volumes between.

One might think that all this coffee would create indigestion or, at least, jitters. But I have found that it sparks my imagination and helps this introvert deal with the gaggle of extroverts.  Let’s face it, it’s bad form to speak with your mouth full. Thus, coffee allows me the opportunity to sip and remain quietly within my own fortress, speaking only when I have something to say. 

More times than not, I venture forth boldly to my office away from the office, get my juicings of that naughty bean we call coffee, find a table away from the herd, and ponder. Sometimes a thought will bing around my brain until it thonks firmly at the feet of my consciousness begging to be written down, much like a dog anxious to go for a walk.

The other day I witnessed a phenomenon that completely baffled and befuddled me. Yes, that would encompass any number of situations, but this one actually made me wonder about humanity.  Whilst I was enjoying my much needed caffeine, a group of young people came in.  I say “young” because they were younger than me and that could be quite the range.  But they excited got their “coffee” amidst their animated discussions about who likes who, what teacher “sucks the big one,” how lame their parents/siblings/anyone not them were, and just as my mind began to reel from this cacophonous revelry, I noticed that their “coffee” was more cream and sugar than actual coffee.  As a matter of face, it looked more like a milkshake that anything resembling the beverage I adore.

There was a part of me that wanted to run screaming from their proximity, but there was also a part of me that pitied these poor people who were enjoying their dessert beverage (I cannot bring myself to utter the word) with such enthusiasm.  Ah life, thou hast dealt a vicious blow to this poor soldier.

Alas, I will get yet another cup and ponder a while longer.

 

Categories: Fortress of Solitude, Koffee Klatch | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Adventure Journal by Contexture International.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 620 other followers

%d bloggers like this: