RIP My Friend

I will miss you my friend.

For your faith: Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women,and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. For mine: I will remember you at Samhain & bless you then. I hope to see you in the Summerlands, my friend. Blessed Be.

One by One the Penguins Steal My Sanity: I Will Remember You

One by One the Penguins Steal My Sanity: I Will Remember You

I Will Remember You

For My Dear Friend:
     I want to say that I know how lucky and blessed I was to have had you in my life. Even for just a couple years, though I think it was far too short. I learned so much from you, my friend. I learned more about patience. For, as those of us who knew you well are aware, you could be the most obstinate man around when you wanted to be. A lesson I learned very early on in our relationship, when I feared we would never get along. I’m so glad that changed, or I would have missed out on so much.

I learned more about laughter and the power of being happy. It was a rare occasion that you couldn't make me laugh. I loved spending time with you; you were always so happy to see me for the shortest times and for the simplest things. From this I learned that it really is the simple things in life that matter and a smile really can make someone's day. I hope I did the same for you.

I think the most important thing I learned from you is that the love of friendship knows no age limits, notices no differences in abilities, and finds you in the places you might least expect it. I will never be able to hear polka music without thinking of you. I've never met anyone with such a passion and knowledge for something in my life.

 I will miss you trying to convince me that you're the boss or the president of the whole US of A because your computer told you so or that Lawrence Welk had told you so. Or that any favor, no matter how small, would cost me a million dollars. I'll miss hearing: "that's it...you're fired" even though I didn't work there anymore; "oh, write her a ticket...Wendy's a squirt"; or "call the Marshal...911, US Marshals...Wendy's picking on Emil". I will miss your laughter. I will miss our coffee and lunch dates. Our talks about Czech Days, old television shows, movies, your love of running when you were a boy. We talked about everything. Sometimes about nothing. But being together: on the bus, walking downtown, or just sitting around the house, was always the best part.

Earlier I said you could be obstinate. This is true. But you were also smart, funny, and sensitive. I've never seen someone so happy to be singing along to a song as you when you listened to your polka music. When you laughed, it encompassed your whole being, as laughter should. Your friendship was one of the greatest gifts I could ever receive. I love you, my friend, and though I will miss you dearly, I will remember you with more fondness than tears. I think you would have wanted it that way, and after all, you’re the boss.

Tis the Season...for Changes

So one of my best friends is graduating from our college program in just a few days and moving back home to Iowa. I know I'm going to miss her dearly. And I got to thinking after our coffee, snack, salad time tonight about exactly how much. See, we've only known each other a couple years. And it's not like we do a lot of stuff together on a regular basis. But, we've shared some really strange classes, bolstered each other up, and learned to laugh with each other. She's one of the very few people I've met here in SD that I've truly connected with and made friends with. I don't really fit in with most of the other grad students for some reason. Maybe it's my personality or insanity. Maybe I'm arrogant because I did my undergrad at UI. I really don't know. Or maybe the other students are just so much younger than me that they don't really know how to adjust to me or approach me. My friend on the other hand, just takes me as I am. Plus, she's funny, talented, and totally random. All qualities I really appreciate in my friends. We recently started including another girl in our little group and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, but it won't really be the same. Then, thinking about my friend leaving, I got to thinking about my other friends I've left behind. And the guilt set in. I don't talk to them as much as I'd like to. When I do, it seems like all I do is bitch and whine. I don't get to see them as often as I'd like. And I worry that my friend who's moving will end up like my other friends: we'll stay in touch via Facebook, email, and such but not really stay in touch. And I'm not sure I like that idea. Oh, it's okay for the in-betweens. The time in between when we can chat on the phone or get together, but not what I want any of my friendships to rely on. So, now I'm working on trying to figure out how to change that. Not even Christmas yet, and I'm working on New Year's Resolutions already. Tis the season...for changes.

I'm Just Not Sure

     I'm not quite sure what my problem is today. Aside from being exhausted already from seeing all these allegedly adult college students walking around looking like morons, though stylish morons, wearing things not suited to winter weather in South Dakota. Where are these people's parents? I swear I just want to call them up and tell them not to be surprised when their student is hospitalized due to poor dressing habits. Twits. The lot of them.
   I'm also sick of the city and college officials who do not seem to remember from one year to the next how to maintain streets, sidewalks, parking lots, etc. in winter. Using a road grader instead of a plow makes no sense to me. Neither does only plowing 3/4 of a street or leaving one long pile in the middle of the parking lot between the rows of cars. And don't get me started on scooping sidewalks or using ice melt. Or lack thereof. Sea monkeys, I'm surrounded by sea monkeys.
    Really, I'm not sure if all that crap's the problem or if I'm just losing my mind because it's so close to the end of the semester. Or both. Maybe it's not any of that and is just my winning personality. See, this is why I am not active in politics. I have no patience, no tolerance for stupidity, and I'm running out of room in the small black box of souls I keep in my underwear drawer.

Blindness or Unobservant

It took a friend of mine, Jolls, to point out a strange gap in the middle of a building on campus today. It's weird. I would think the buildings had been separate at one time, but the gap only goes halfway down between them. There's what appears to be a walkway near the top connecting the two, and at the halfway point, the buildings are seamlessly one building as though it was one building all along. Jolls said she didn't notice the gap until today herself. Both of us walk past that building, and the gap, on a regular basis. Neither of us has noticed it before. From either side of the building. And it's not like the gap only shows on one side or is concealed by anything. Yes, on the one side, there is a tree, but it's not that tall of a tree. Plus, as you look into the gap, you can see daylight at the top and other end of the tunnel/gap/thing as well as recognize treetops on the other side of the building that you could see on that part of campus.

So, the reality is, I have been walking past this strange building gap for over a year. I don't think I'd have noticed it without Jolls, who has been walking past it for 5 years. Which begs the question, are we both blind or just that unobservant? Personally, I'm of the opinion that the gap is similar to Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter series - it only shows up at certain times and to certain people. Apparently Jolls and I are among the special few to whom the building has chosen to display it's oddity. That has to be it. I mean, I can't truly speak for Jolls, but I certainly cannot be that unobservant and I'm fairly convinced I'm not blind. Now, where'd I put my glasses?

Back In the Saddle Again

So I see it's been, oh, a few years since I was on here. I have no excuse or reason. Just ran out of steam or something. Anyhow, I'm back. Yup. As Jim Carrey said in Liar Liar, "Here she comes to wreck the day!" Nah. I'll try not to. Even if it may seem to my Ph.D. classmates that I am.

Honestly, I'm not trying to drive people away, but I don't understand what happened. There are a few basic things I think some of my classmates have forgotten, seeing as how they are Ph.D. students and the rest of us are merely lowly M.A. students. Such as literary writing doesn't necessarily mean inaccessible writing. I'm sorry to inform you, but there's a reason people who write like Hemingway and Faulkner aren't being published much any more. Or at least being widely read any more except by academics. If you want to publish something for your enjoyment, that's one thing. If you're wanting to publish for reader enjoyment, that's a whole new arena. Maybe I'm wrong, but the academic writing just doesn't seem to pay as much or get as widely read and appreciated. My other hobby horse on this topic is separating speaker from author. It's not that hard of a concept, even for creative nonfiction. You don't have to write about yourself for it to be nonfiction. People do it all the time.

Okay. I'm done now. Gosh it feels great to be back.