Thursday, October 7, 2010

"Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny. Pretty song.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one looking out the window and saying, "Oh, nice! It's raining and getting colder outside! I'll bet we see the fall colors soon!" I had a coworker say, "So dark and dreary out there... depressing." I can't imagine seeing the world that way. How would you even get out of bed in the morning?

Took my little girl to the store this evening. Everyone can't wait to tell me, "Someday she won't think you're cool, won't want to hang out with you, won't get excited when you come home." Well, we light up when we see each other now. For this, I will live in the moment, as long as it lasts.

Listening to Phoenix and Franz Ferdinand now. Wondering if anyone will ever look at this blog. Maybe I'll post a thousand times... and maybe that's ok.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Writing Again

Ideas to the page. I've been meaning to write down a few persistent thoughts rolling around in my head.

My first idea is to talk about people I have known in my life. Some of the most fascinating people I have met are those without any direction or focus. When I think of these people, they appear in my memory as both good and bad. There have been harmless and harmful people, those with good intent towards others, and those who thought only of themselves.

I'll start with Ubaldo, one of the harmful ones. Mostly because he made such an impression on me. I still think back on him with disbelief, like I can't quite wrap my mind around him.

Ubaldo and I worked on several construction jobs together. At first, he would speak of his sexual conquests and I automatically thought he was lying. The stories he told were so extreme that common sense told me he was full of BS. After working with him for a bit, however, I began to consider the possibility that what he talked about was more truth than fiction. What started me thinking in that direction was my second week on the job with him when we all went out for a fast food lunch. He got the phone number of the girl behind the order counter, and supposedly arranged for a midafternoon rendezvous at the construction site parking lot. He tells us to gather at the window at 2 pm and watch his car. Sure enough, another car pulls into the parking lot and parks next to his. The girl gets out, jumps in Ubaldo's car, and her head instantly disappears. This was met with much approval by the rest of the crew.

The reason I found Ubaldo fascinating was because there was this other side to him. Something that gave him the potential to be something other than "just another dirtbag." I remember shaking my head after he told me one of his stories.

Ubaldo: "Man, what are you shaking your head for?"
Beau: "Because that is such an awful story."
Ubaldo: "You mean, you think that's wrong?"
*Note, when he asked me this, he was truly taken aback. He really hadn't considered any moral consequences of his actions, his living for gratification in the moment*
Beau: "Yeah, Man. I think there is a special place in hell for people like you."

I'll continue my next post with further Ubaldo stories.