not a perfect day...

Today I had to do entirely too much talking at work. Plus I spent more than half the day on projects which had to be done TODAY which I did not know needed to be done Until TODAY. Then, the main comment I'm getting from those in charge is, in effect, "Thanks for all your hard work. Could you please work a bit harder?"
hmmmm -- Could be worse:
At least they are still saying Please and Thank You.
And I'm still working.

self-reference - Not Reverence

In the early 70's I was in Jr. High school and the new minister at the church down the street was one of those guitar-playing young preachers somewhat common to the era.
He drew a pretty good-sized crowd of teenagers from all the churches in town to his youth group meetings. He was a good guy, very entertaining, and made religion seem fun.
As part of the group activities we sometimes did the psychological role-playing thing. One particular time one of the boys in the group was told to pick another person and to BE that person as he was interviewed by the pastor. We all watched as the boy answered every question with a joke and a laugh and generally giggled throughout the entire process. Before the end of the interview everyone knew who the boy was acting as. Everyone but me. I absolutely did Not recognize myself in his behavior at all.
It was one of the better lessons I learned in a church-related setting: It's hard to see Ourselves as others see us. And it's hard for Others to See us as we are.

elevator games

Today I played the elevator game where I'm the first person on the elevator and I say to the next person getting on, "May I offer you a lift?"
And the fellow I said this to responded, "Do you even know how to drive this thing?"

not an original thought

I often have the delusion that I've come up with an original thought.

Case in point, in naming this blog I tried for one of about a dozen phrases that I thought were original or close to it. Two dollar guitar was probably the tenth thing I tried. I think it works ok but I was surprised at all the things I wanted to use which were already taken.
(Aaanndd, I find there is a musical group going around by the name of Two Dollar Guitar -formed in 1992(!)- No Way!)

This same type of thing has happened to me any number of times and I guess I shouldn't be surprised by it anymore. I even had this idea about how the universe and EVERYTHING works and thought That was original too, then I read a book called The Dancing Wu Li Masters and discovered most of my ideas about that were already thought of too.

so...this partially explains why so many movies and tv shows are remakes and sequels... original thought ain't easy.

elevator games

Sometimes when I'm in the elevator all alone I pretend I'm trapped.
I beat my fists against the doors and scream.

Okay,
I Usually don't scream.
Still.

a walk in the 'park'

Erieview cemetery is a peaceful place to visit during lunch hour. I've never seen any ghosts there, and very few people for that matter. So many of the graves are for people who died so long ago. It makes me think "who still remembers this person?" and things like that.

why "Two Dollar Guitar?"

A couple of weeks ago I went in to work a bit later than usual. I was driving west on Lake Road and noticed a sign: "Yard Sale."
I usually don't bother with such things but I had been on the lookout for a couple of items I need around the house so I turned around to see what they had.
The length of the drive, the garage, and the whole of the backyard was full of stuff. Tools, photography equipment, books, Record albums (vinyl), CDs. Just loads of stuff. I walked around the yard and had decided there was nothing I couldn't live without and was headed back down the driveway. As I walked I glanced toward the backdoor and spotted the guitars. One was pretty much only "good for slide." That's a guitar which cannot be adjusted for regular playing because the strings are just too far off the fretboard. The other guitar had no strings, indeed, no tone pins and not even a saddle. But the neck seemed to be pretty straight and the frets showed some wear, which, to me, meant that it was decent enough in its day that someone played it a good little bit. No prices were on them so I asked and the man in charge said, "You spotted the best deal in the yard. Two guitars, two bucks apiece!"
I bought the one I thought had possibilities (it came with a case!) and I took it home.
After several hours of cleaning and restoration work I must say the old boy is not too bad. It almost plays in tune and it almost stays in tune. I derived as much enjoyment resurrecting the old fella as I do strumming on it.
This is, in a nutshell, my attitude toward things most of the time. It is better to fix than to toss, and that's true even when it seems that it's more trouble than it could possibly be worth.
By the way, that's the two dollar guitar in my title photo...