Lookin' At The World Through a Windshield

Only one trucker song came up on the iTunes today on my drive back home ("Little Liza Jane" by Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer), and a what a doozy.  I think it is a good thing that my drive did not have the same level of excitement, much more than I or my darling Wee Lass need in real life.

It set me to thinking about the life of a road dog, however.  I don't kid myself that I'll ever be able to sell everything, buy an RV or a motorcycle, and spend my days just cruising all over the continent; that remains a dream deferred.  It did occur to me that long drives are not as tiresome to me as they used to be.  Impatience to get to Point B from Point A always colored my perceptions of time and space, always leaving me totally exhausted and irritated by the time I arrived at my destination. 

That went hand in hand with a near complete lack of acknowledgment of the places I had been or sights I had seen along the way.  And that is a minor shame.

Now I seem to enjoy the process more.  I take better note of the buildings and terrain and am starting to see a timeline and changes in the landscape.  I am starting to care more about the Between in relation to the Here and There.

This is a good thing.  I believe that, for perhaps the first time in my personal history, I have learned to treasure the process rather than shortchange it.  One of my architecture professors tried to get that through my thick head, many years ago in Big Gumbo On Campus days.

Pity it took me so long to learn.  I can tell you this:  It's about time, and to borrow from the great sage Dr. Seuss, "Oh! The places I'll go!".  I'm dreaming of some road trips, and of the places and people I'll see.

The GoodFather Clause

Sometimes, nice things just arrive out of the blue, catching me completely by surprise.  Like this weekend, when I received a gift most cool, from this righteous dude, Jeff at GoodFatherBlog.  He took a shine to my post of last Saturday, "On Not Reading Books, Occasionally" and decided it warranted some recognition.  To wit, I am humbled and honored to be the first recipient of the GoodFatherBlog Seal of Approval:

I don't need no Good Housekeeping or UL Listing...I've got the GF seal!

Thank you, GoodFather!  Truly a great way to start off the week.  So please drop by Jeff's place (link above) and drop some luv.  Tell Jeff that Gumbo sent you, and that's gets you a digital coupon for 20% more good karma!

So That Explains the Noise

Hey...

You.  Yeah, you...

Know what today is?  Besides Wednesday?  Besides the tenth day of November, 2010?

It's a birthday.  Gumbo hits the mid-forties mark today.

He isn't, I mean, I am not sure how I feel about that.  Better than the alternative, I know.  I am happy to have made it this far without maiming myself or others, and to have started growing into the person I think I was always was (whoever that is), but didn't know how to be.

It's Wednesday.  I'll get up, go to work, do my thing, then go to class.  Afterward, once I'm home,  I think I'll put my feet up and treat myself to a wee dram of Scotland's finest.  Simple may be best.

Will you join me?  It's better for the sharing.  Slainte, my friends!

How To Tell If Someone Is A Good Buddy

I’VE BEEN WAFFLEFIED! Or is that WAFFLY-FIED! Hmmm. I am not quite sure. I do know that the amazing Rebekah at Waffles Waffles All Day Long has kindly bestowed upon me an award! She has been kind and helpful to me, and I am happy to receive it. Please do me a favor, and drop by the Wafflehaus, drop some love on the Chief Waffler and kith and kin.

I’m not usually very good with rules, but Rebekah laid them out so well (she’s got the mad tech writing skillz) even a knucklehead like myself could easily stick with them. So in the spirit of things, here they be:

The Rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Award some other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Let the other bloggers know they received your award.

I didn’t have to think too long about who my compadres might be in such an endeavor as that implied in the logo. Not that we would really do such a thing. Just sayin’. Yes, this is a list that pretty much wrote itself:

Captain Dumbass at Us and Them: Having a rank always adds authority. And he commands stormtroopers.
Idiot Boy at Idiot’s Stew: He’s gone all ninja. Ninjas have certain useful skills. Need I say more?
Mama Dawg at Two Dogs Running: Someone has to give this operation some class. That and a lovely, lovely accent.
ChurchPunkMom at Embellished Truth and Polite Fiction: Someone also has to keep us in line. She has 5 kids. No sweat.
cIII at The Goat and Tater: When the documents require alteration, call the professional.

There you have it, folks. An All-Star lineup, five fine folks with the credentials of Winston Wolf, from Pulp Fiction: “I solve problems!”

A CURIOUS PROBLEM OF COMPLICATED RULES

I have created a problem for myself. In my Part Deux interview post, I implied that the 14th person to comment would be the lucky soul to receive questions from me, provided that the same person also had NOT commented in the 13th and 15th places. This did not work out exactly as I had intended. Captain Dumbass, in his own inimitable style, managed to flout the rules AND make his own loophole. In my fatigue and confusion, I did not say how I would handle the selection if the same person DID comment in all those places. I didn’t leave myself an out.

I have been out-loopholed. Damnit. So the lucky victim of my painstakingly researched questions is…Captain Dumbass.

I’ll get you. And your little dog Toto, too…