hey... i'm back

I apologize for the late blog posts. This week has been incredibly busy. We had one walk-out at work and are in the middle of training two new (and fantastic) hires; this means that everyone’s been working lots of hours. I put in around 45 this week and am looking forward to the paycheck. On top of all this, my grandma and grandpa on Mom’s side were in town, so I spent a couple evenings with them. Marion’s Pizza: always a good choice. I also spent some time with Carly and Alison, hung out a bit with Jessica (helped her move some furniture and box some shit up, as she’s moving back in with her parents in Wilmington), and I also got some “chill time” with Dylan: smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, climbing trees, and lounging outside on the one day it was warm and sunny.

The weather’s been downright awful. And I don’t just mean because of the rain and flooding. We’ve had horrendous storms, and my brain is slowly siphoning out my awareness of tornado sirens. This probably isn’t a good thing, seeing how many have been spawned as of late. I don’t need to tell anyone about the damage and devastation that’s written its name across the southern states. Over 250 dead, last I heard. The worst bout of storms since 1974. 2011 has been one hell of a year for some people. And, of course, all the doomsayers wag their fingers at all this, saying it’s the end of the world. But, really, this is nothing new. There have been several geological cycles, as well as weather cycles, throughout history which have spawned all sorts of chaos in bursts of damage and destruction. Remember El Nino? Most people don’t. It was essentially the same thing as this. These earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornadoes have made some people think the End of the World is upon us. Nah, I just shake such thoughts away. I’m pretty sure we’re in this for the long-haul. Weather will be weather, and earthquakes happen. And what about all the unrest in the Middle East? Rebellions, coups, overthrows. Egypt was just the first. Then came Libya, Syria, the Ivory Coast… It’s all quite chaotic there, a domino-effect. Some think this, too, is a sign of the End. Nope, it’s just a sign that people are unhappy and they’re willing to take up arms and fight against it. Lest we forget, this happened here in the States a little over 200 years ago. You know, the American Revolution. It was quite bloodier than what’s already come and gone, and you’d think that by now (after two World Wars) people would realize that “wars and rumors of wars” don’t signify anything other than “wars and rumors of wars.” Besides, the media brings all this to the forefront of our minds, alerting us that the world is going down the shitter. This stuff sells. This is what people want to see. But how often do we see the good things happening in our world? Dreams coming true, lives being transformed for the better, love igniting and flourishing, friendships growing and excelling? That stuff isn’t newsworthy so we don’t see it. We only see one side of the coin, and to gauge the cosmic climate off that is a ridiculous thing to do. Bah. I’m done with this.

Not too long ago I wrote about liking one of my friends, who shall remain nameless. That tends to happen a lot when I write about these personal things no one knows about. I outlined several possible routes I could take regarding her (and Mandy gave me a new one: #5, ask her out on a date and don’t be weird about it; if she says no, say that’s fine and no harm, no foul). I almost told her how I feel, but after talking with Amanda and Carly, I decided against this route, for multiple reasons. Logic tells me to play it cool (and to play it safe), and to employ wisdom in this situation. Wisdom? Ha. I’m awful at that. But thankfully there are many people in my life who know a lot about wisdom (or common sense) and can steer me in a more fruitful direction. At the moment I’ve decided not to really “pursue” her, but to just see what happens. Let the cards fall where they will. Don’t disengage my feelings for her, nor fan them into flame. Just see what happens. That’s a pretty good motto for my life right now. “Just see what happens.” I’m going to continue spending time with her, getting to know her, feeling her out (in a figurative rather than literal sense; that’d be moving too fast for this juncture in time), and gauging how I feel, and trying to use logic throughout our friendship. Maybe one day something will happen. Maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now.