Confederacy

Take me to another place
Take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me
Let me understand your plan

Columbia, Missouri
"Arrested Development? What’s this?"

“Just something I picked up. They’ll be huge this year.”

“Never heard of them.”

“We never hear of most of the good artists out there. They toil away at their craft while holding down full-time jobs, and usually disappear.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“John Kennedy Toole.”

Portland, Oregon
I took Alex to Portland on a perfect Saturday morning so that I could play video games with Kevin and Gary. Sitting around Kevin’s table, we got to drinking beer and being silly. But then Gary went and did something that angered me. He made Alex laugh.

In a perfect Ukrainian accent, he delivered a mock history of his life growing up in a rural dacha and making everything, including his clothes, from potatoes.

When another man is taller or better looking than me, that’s one thing, but he can’t be funnier. I hold on to my wife by a thread of amusement. Adding insult to injury, I even found myself laughing. I filled with self-loathing.

To make matters worse, Gary also aspired to be a writer.

modoquasi.blogspot.com
Gary commits mortal sin #2 by picking on the Little Prince, one of my favorites.

The Little Prick..er Prince
Le Petit Prince. I hated that book. I had to read that in french for class. It's basically a story about a man who meets a little twerp who lived on an asteroid and flew to earth. The man learns from the twerp what it is to be a kid again. Or something like that….

brando said...
ah, well shit, i was just about to write a post with the Petit Prince as the theme. i guess i sort of liked that little prick. i must have a thing for little pricks or something. 8:57 PM

gary said...
You ever see the Tick episode where Omnipitus, Devourer of Worlds eats the Little Prince's asteroid? Oh man. I cheered. I was jumping up and down with cheerios flying out of my mouth. 9:58 PM

Mortal Sin #3
Gary then showed me he was my master in the art of the blog, showing how in the most efficient usage of words how he could tell an entire weekend’s story, and reveal something about himself in that minimalist way I’m always trying to imitate.

Shadow Squirrel
The shadow of my house crept up the neighbor’s wall this afternoon and while I worked (that word again) on bills and paperwork, another shadow scampered across the neighbor's outside wall. A squirrel had run to the peak of my roof and sat for a moment, its shadow a perfect silhouette on the wall in front of my window. I'm glad I wasn't out xmas shopping, or I woulda missed it.

Portland, Oregon
Gary suffered a stroke on Saturday while visiting with his son. His family had to make the difficult decision to remove him from life support on Sunday. He was 34 years old. He was a writer, with a day job.

As I look back on my short path, I see a bit of luck, a bit of perseverance, and some hard work. But I also see so many places where less dilly-dallying and just a smidge of effort might have provided more doors open for me now. Then again, I am so happy now with a great many things. I just hope the boys make choices they can be proud of, close few doors, and put fire in their hearts, even if it's painting on the walls.