Tired of Being Angry *gasp*
I am typing this in the dark. This means that I have finally had the opportunity to use the gift certificate my parents gave me last Christmas to purchase a Deck backlit keyboard. She’s purty in the dark…I can see all mah keys now, and I ain’t gotta turn on no lights. I’m a giant nerd. I just hope I don’t spill any beer on this baby as I’m not used to keyboards that cost more than $20.
I’ve not be posting recently not because I haven’t had anything to say, rather I’ve had too much. The problem is all the things I want to say relate to things that make me mad. In fact, if I pop back to a post I started writing a few weeks back, I see the following:
…the controvery over the Pope’s reading of some pretty inflammatory “scholarly” writings about Islam and the ironic response of many of the world’s Muslim communities (Hey! Someone in power read someone else’s thoughts that accused those of our faith of being violent and war-like, let’s call for holy war and the death of the man who read those statements…that’ll show ‘em how wrong those statements are!); the recent intelligence reports that indicate that all of Bush’s rhetoric about the Iraq war making the U.S. and the world safer from terrorism is a bunch of bullshit; and my recent disgust with people who have no better use for their energy than to trash the banks of a river, dump their trash all over the place and tear apart public parks.
Since then I would have added rants about the personal hygiene habits of coworkers who are supposedly grown-ups (why can’t these guys lift the seat when they take a piss so when I go in there to do my bidness, I don’t have to disinfect the entire toilet…and why do guys think it’s acceptable to pick their noses at the urinals and wipe their nose goblins on the wall?), the continued idiocy of Massachusetts politics and the distraction of the “Battle for the State House” (thanks for that idiotic headline, Channel 7 news), and the continued drama at work regarding some of the most useless coworkers its ever been my displeasure to see on a daily basis.
Then I realized: I’m tired of being angry. So I’m taking a break. Not from being angry (I can’t really help it, hence the entire existence of packingheat.com back in the day and, more recently, this blog), but from focusing on those things that make me angry. It’s a temporary break, as I realize that I cannot stay away indefinitely. Regardless, the next few posts will be on upbeat topics and things that put a smile on my face.
For example: I just returned home from a long day out at King Richard’s Faire. This Renaissance Faire is the ultimate money sink, but is a lot of fun. I had an especially good time this year as I met many new people, thanks to my buddy Rich. There were the three gypsies (awfully cute girls, all in veterinary school together; not only very attractive ladies, but smart too…me likey), the Warrant Officer reservist with a feather in his cap and his very cute (there’s a thread here, innit there?) and entertaining wife/fiancee…not quite sure which, and the ever popular Danica and Chuck combination. There was also the young family with the two cute kids and their costume-wearing parents - I didn’t meet them until the end of the day and we never really got introduced, but my brief time with them was very pleasant. Even better, my good friend Sean also attended with his friend Diane and we ran into (completely coincidentally) the mother and sister of another great friend of mine, Ammon, along with the sister’s husband and two kids. I managed to spend lots of money on food and drink (lots of yards of beer), but did not purchase any trinkets. I wanted a particular ring, but they didn’t have it in the size I needed for the middle finger of my left hand, so no go.
It was a beautiful day with a lot of sun and cool October air. I got to see the last tourney of the day, which is always fun, and the Mud Show was as good as ever. After the last tourney, we wandered slowly out of the faire and, for the first time in the many times I’ve attended, I stayed long enough for the end-of-the-day send-off (which I didn’t know even existed). First there was a bunch of musicians just outside the entrance and we got the treat of watching one of the gypsies dancing (she’s quite good) as well as watching all the young kids dancing along as well, which is always fun. Then the King, Queen and court appeared on the balcony overlooking the entrance and gave an official goodbye, followed by a song by all the performers. As I said, I’d never experienced this before and it was quite fun as it was a small crowd of people who were really there to enjoy themselves, not just the tools who wander in to “look at the freaks” (most of whom had already departed).
Happily, I felt very comfortable with my friend Rich’s friends (which is unusual given my tendency towards anti-social behavior amongst those I don’t know) and they were kind enough to invite me to dinner afterwards. I went and had an excellent meal with a great group of people. I chose not to go to the Irish Sesiun they were headed to afterwards (as much as I love a good Sesiun) because it was a long ride home and I wanted to make sure that I was sober to drive.
So here I sit on Saturday night; a bit tired but enjoying a Magic Hat and some Clapton doing Robert Johnson blues tunes while typing this. I’ve got a smile on my face and a sincere desire to see this group of people again before a year has passed. I’m hoping to snag an invite to one of their parties, as they are quite the pagan folk and enjoy putting on parties for the many and sundry pagan holidays.
And tomorrow there’s a Patriots game on TV. Think I’ll head down to Rich’s place for the game…but maybe this time we won’t down a bottle of bourbon between us…maybe…
