IMPROVISING AND IMPROVING

IMPROVISING AND IMPROVING

One begins the day, and if you work there is a routine that works for this situation.  The details vary, but when I remember back, I found myself being very comfortable in the fact that I had a job, could influence others and have a degree of control and power, or at least a sense of it, because I had money coming in that I could predict and depend upon.  From that point, or because of that I began to work on other projects, while still making work the main fact of my life. 

One begins the day, and if you don’t work it is because you don’t have a job, or perhaps its because you had a job and kept it for a very long time, and now you at the end stage, where they say the baby boomers are getting older, finishing up their time of dominance in the work place, and moving on to the next stage of life.  And that would be, retirement or part-time work, or something I would like to think of as Improvising and Improving on the moment and the place you are in life.  And so that is my theme for today:  Improvising and improving.

 

Start my day pretty much like I do every day.  Not important to give details, but it didn’t take me long to figure out, I was bored.  That if I continued doing the same thing over and over again, boredom would take over.  But I wasn’t ready to just say or convince myself, that the things I was doing, was not sufficient or worthy.  After all, I had worked a life time to have enough money, to retire and determine how I might spend my days, as if it was a special choice and situation.  And it is.  Dawns on me that its up to me, what I do.  24/7.  Okay so I am not yet ready to be comfortable  with the idea of being at work 24/7.  Meaning I have a smart phone and technology and work is constant or can be.  Phone rings, demands attention, and you answer it.  Slave to the demands of the devices and things that make up your day.  24/7.  

And this is the very reason I do not have a cell phone.  Want some peace and quiet.  Want to be in control.  And so when it dawns on me that I must do something more or different than what I do each morning when I wake, make my way to my activity stations, mainly the kitchen where I brew a pot of tea, and then the kitchen where I have a computer work station conveniently off to the side, where it doesn’t interfere with cooking and cleaning and well it doesn’t interfere with the things would normally do in the kitchen.

 

Into the kitchen and for the first hour of my day, there is much I can be doing.  Part of the normal routine, to make tea, clean up around the sink, putting away last night dishes.  Yes, am a bit old fashion, and don’t have a dish washer, automated.  After a long day, doing dishes late at night isn’t really my thing.  But day after day, having a clean kitchen to start my day, is a mandatory thing.  Makes it easier to fix tea and breakfast.  Makes it easier to look around and decide, something new or left overs.  And so in all of this is a routine, and I take it as mandatory.  Am sure if I had a housekeeper and she kept my kitchen clean and ready for the next days usage, I could be doing something else.  But without her, I  haven’t gotten too far away from what I do, day in and day out.

 

And that is spending the first hour of each day, saying prayers, thankful that I have another day of life.  After that its tea and kitchen straightening up, and then enjoying the tea, sitting nearby looking at the computer.  Looking to see if I have received any new emails.  Looking to see if the daily banner news, is of interest.  And so it is, the first hour of my day is more or less, automatic.  And somewhere along the way I asked myself, “Could I improvise and improve on any of this.  Would doing so, make me more content and satisfied?”

 

Started the morning and it dawned on me, I didn’t really like what I was seeing or doing.  Now this doesn’t happen everyday.  Most days I am happy being left with the way things are.  So it take me long to free myself from the kitchen sink, adjust my state of mind, and figure out what it was that was bothering me.  And once I was able to tell myself, “This too will pass.”, I was able to get on with things.  Part of moving past my discomfort so early in the morning, was to come to grips or understanding of the why of the matter.  “Why do you let things like this bother you?  You know better.” 

 

Indeed, on this day it is true.  I know how to make things better.  So first, I should clue you in.  Seems this is super bowl nfl football week.  4 days before the big game.  And there is a routine and a basic interest, so I turned on the computer, went to the headline/online news concerning the Super Bowl, and quickly realized.  “Dumb.  Dumb.  Dumb.”  Is the point of this blog, it took me longer than what was certainly necessary, to feel the discomfort and do something about it.  Details for a few minutes will purge my soul.  And often I write blogs to just make things go away, and to purge my soul.  Okay this might sound silly.  But it is what I do.

 

Super Bowl Week will go by quickly.  Is the job of the media people to do what is necessary to hold our interest during the 7 days before the game, and then do it adequately so we are not burnt out on the whole routine, and just like clockwork we tune in on the game, inspire a Super Bowl Party, and have fun based on the notion that the best two teams in the NFL are playing football with each other.  So that is the details.  Too much football, but will be the last of it on Sunday.  Then we wait for Spring Baseball.  Damn Yankees.  Like I said, “Habits are hard to break.”

 

Improvise and Improve.  Is what I will be doing this week.  Is already Wednesday so it is not hard to imagine what might be on my schedule.  Improve in the sense, that if you are bored and disinterested, it is up to you to make changes and get an energy infusion.  Or not.  Choice is like that.  And since I don’t want this blog to get too long, I will stop here.  Winter Storm in the North East.  Boston got hit, and we have gotten use to the idea of Boston and Buffalo being difficult places to play this time of year.  Turns out the New England Patriots are in Arizona, preparing for the Super Bowl.  Good luck all.

As for me.  My Seattle Seahawks will improvise and hopefully improve.  Last year they won the big game.  What happens this year I will leave to your imagination.  And go into the kitchen and put the clean dishes away, make lunch and decide.  New And Improved.  How good is that.  Deflate the Footballs.  Talk about that on Media Day. 

 

And by the time Sunday rolls around, we will be ready for The Big Game.  Some of will watch the game.  Others will watch the commercials.  Some will drink and socialize.  Others will ignore the situation and we know what that is all about.  So done with this blog.  Have a good day.  “Damn Yankees.”  Big Storm.  Dig yourself out and take care of you.  That’s what I am saying.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

I don’t want to put undue pressure on myself, and like it when things occur in its natural state.  A rain storm would be a good example.  Unprepared, but then in the moment and it makes me happy.  The unexpected and to respond spontaneously and without a lot of backlash, reminds me of the old days, when technology was at a minimum and people just had no idea, what was going on.  And so today, I am pleased with myself.  Want to get back in a routine that suits me, and it is true I have been in the wobble stage, getting out of synch and orbit with the natural part of my existence. 

 

Like I said, my reference point back then was those things that occurred naturally, in my backyard.  A protected space and we had a fence to keep the dogs in, and the neighbor’s visual point at a minimum.  Nothing new here.  Home and backyard and privacy.  Was a natural starting place for a day in life.  That was then, before technology.  And this how I will build on the subject for today’s blog:   Conflict of Interest.  Will find a way to open up the gate and let you in.  Bring you into my realm and sphere of influence, and even then not sure if you will see me in my natural state, because of course, over time I have had to adjust and improvise. 

 

In my backyard and on the planet, my current natural state is not my preferred existence.  Not sure I can expand on that, being I like to keep my blogs short and mostly impersonal, as a matter of passing entertainment for those who read blogs to get a casual look at how others live and spend their day.  Conflict of Interest, and yet I open the gate and let you in.  With the warning of course, be careful where you walk as I am still in process of picking up the dog’s crap and his leftover’s from yesterday.  Bird carcass included.

 

Conflict of Interest in my backyard and here I am on location, picking up after the dog and windstorm that has spread things around.  Took a few minutes but now have safe passage in a natural state of relaxation and heightened interest.  Like being here, with laptop and the capability to share good times with you.  It is winter, and so I am dressed appropriately, with not that much to see or tell.  Conflict of Interest is the theme and am in the mood to do some exercise.  Too cold to do it in my backyard, and so after doing my chores I will move the action indoors.  Where things will heat up and I will chill, but in a good way.  Have visions of yoga and stretching and getting limber. 

 

Is what has been missing lately, as I spent much of September to December on the road, involved with an experiment to determine if I could combine my normal solo state of existence with another, go on the road and develop the possibility of being a snowbird, which suggests heading into the sun, leaving the comforts of home and backyard behind, and with dog on leash, join the millions that have found an alternative way of life, called Snow-Birding.   Ok, so I have mentioned this before and it turns out my travel companion has a conflict of interest, that resides away from me.  Family and Work call out.  Not ready to abandon the life and take on the characteristics of a rolling stone.  

 

So after 3 months in the let’s-try-it-stage, Stoney blogger has returned home and its time to exercise and get back into shape.  Shape the mind.  Work on the body.  Write some blogs.  Watch some football.  Be a guy.  Do the man thing.  And so that’s where you find me.  In my backyard.  Picking up after the dog.  Figuring out what comes next.  Conflict of Interest and sharing the backyard with you.  Then realizing that it is too cold to do this for very long.  So I am headed inside.

Inside now, and getting down to the bare essentials.  Backyard chores are done.  Conflict of Interest, done.  Now is time for me to relax and listen to self and music.  Feels good to be free of worry and the hassle of commuting to work.  Stress free and that’s the part I want you to see.  Dog is curling up by the fire.  Happy with the present moment.  Not going back to the RV until the Super Bowl is over.  That happens on Sunday.  The last of the football for me, and will plant some seeds and get an early start on Spring and baseball and the boys of summer. 

Renewable energy produced by a little white ball hit by a bat, and at a certain level, is harder to do than one could imagine.  Backyard days and stick ball.  Easy to enjoy and hit the fence, just 20 feet away.  Now it’s a major sport, as is football and is done by an exclusive group of athletes .  Seems when backyard activities become big business there is a conflict of interest.  But that’s where I change directions.  Because my local team is still involved, and the Super Bowl is next Sunday, I will keep at it.

Will read the sports headlines and a few articles.  Will watch to see what others are doing and coping with.  But mostly I will stay walking distance from my backyard, forget about The RV and Sunshine on the immediate horizon.  Won’t chase.  Will let the day and its’ contents come to me, naturally.  And that’s it.  In my natural state.  Not going to Arizona for the week or weekend.  Will be like millions of ordinary people and guys.  Watching the Super Bowl Game on TV and on the big screen.  And thinking.  This is it.  Football season is over.  Life as we know it has ended.  And then it dawns on me.  Conflict of Interest and the answer is in my backyard. 

 

All I have to do, is wake the dog.  Grab the favorite toy, and exit whatever state of mind that has a hold on me, and makes me think:  Football.  My meaning in life.  Time to find out what’s out there.  In my backyard and beyond the fence.  Time to leave sports behind, and find something better to invest in and fill out my day.

 

So that’s my blog for today.  Snow-birding with a friend is fun.  Going to the Super Bowl is fun.  And so is something simple like blogging and sharing time with you.  Will strip down now, and get my exercise mat out.  Want to do a little yoga and stretching and be flexible.  Life without football, and its possible.  But even better, before we leave this conversation, I must say:  “Go Hawks.” 

 

Knowing the rest of winter and the time before spring baseball will be easier to handle, if my team wins two Super Bowl championships in consecutive years.  Not a common feat or occurrence.  So here I am.  That’s my blog for today.  How are you?

 

ONCE A DAY

ONCE A DAY

Each time I sit down to write a blog, and ask myself the unspoken question, that usually goes away when I talk to G-D or talk myself into the proper state of mind.  I ask myself, “Is this something I could share with my mother?”  And when I say “yes,  I’m good to go.”  And if I say, “No, then I spin the bottle, climb a tree or otherwise invert the proposition, smoke something, take a pill, or as we have come to be familiar with, ask the question again and hope for better results.” 

Once a day, and we sanitize it some by suggesting it might be a laxative or a vitamin pill.  Once a day, and avoid the details.  What if he wants to talk about sex, and mother is not around, do you go to the Supreme Court?  That’s what they are doing in America on the issue of Same-Sex-Marriage, and suddenly it dawns on me, am I just being old fashion?

Battle hardened and living in America, difficult to know which way to go, and who to go with.  Holding hands with the girls, holding hands with the boys, and does it matter that you wear a hoodie and its not really gender-specific when the street camera zooms in, and starts with you.  Once a day, and I have a routine to purge that which is inside of me that is agonizingly complex and has no answer in real time.  Have to let it all play out, and then maybe next week or next year, or later:  it all dawns on you.  To worry is not what you will do.  NO matter how perplexing things might seem, you have decided.  Don’t get bogged down, move forward, and when you’re done with your daily routine, or New York Times Crossword Puzzle, or in my case, the unspoken question, remember.  Once a Day.  That’s what its all about.  Its quite simple.

Get on with it.  This day will not wait for you.  The quest is to achieve:  Once A Day.  Unspoken question.  What does G-D have to do with it.  Man to Man.  Use to be that it all began with a handshake.  They had words.  Came to a common understanding.  When it was explained to me, they said, “It was a gentleman’s agreement.  It can be trusted.”  Never heard the same to be said, when it was woman to woman. 

And over time, the word transgender came into the conversation.  Over time, and more than Once a Day, it began to be part of the natural landscape.  Now they are going to the highest court in the land, SCOTUS.   Sounds like scrotus, but its different.  Same-Sex-Marriage and  now we have taken things as far as we normally do.  Decoded the message.  OTUS.  Of The United States.  Now I feel better.  Soon the unspoken question will be asked.  Put into some complicated language and legalese.  Have faith.  They know what they are talking about, even when I do not.

WHO WILL WIN THE BIG GAME?

Green Bay.

Seattle Seahawks

Men.  Women.  Everybody.

Two Men Suspected.  Now two men, shot dead.  Not sure of the details, but am sure if I am willing to wait, I can read about it on the Internet.  Unspoken Question:  “What did they do?”  Suspected of recruiting, financing and helping.”  And that’s when it all goes away for me.  G-D works in mysterious ways.  Once A Day I ask.  “Was it good for you?”  And that’s it.  MY routine.  Not complicated, when you are a Stoney blogger. 

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Has his sights set on bigger things.  Football on Sunday.  Once A Day gives way to Twice in consecutive years.  Now if you ask me, that is not a lot of sex, nor much of an effort to catch up with China or India.  Over-the-limit, and Only in America will we try to sterilize and sanitize and clean up the conversation. 

 In a civil manner.  Let Scrotum or wait, it is. Let  SCOTUS figure it out for us.  This  year and maybe for the duration, its Same-Sex-Marriage.  The Unspoken Question to mother I never asked.  And I am okay with all that.  Stoney Blogger and we know by reading his blogs, Depressed and Repressed and Obsessive.  Likes his football and fun and games.  Not sure if he likes girls.  Not sure if he likes me.

Sooner or later, The Supreme Court will decide.  When said and done, we will know.  Who to shoot, and who to ignore.  Who to have sex with, and who to just take to movies.  And he thinks it is safe to say, “This is a conversation best had at home.  But not on the Internet.”

GO HAWKS