The Four W's - A Weekend of Firsts

I did something for the very first time this weekend. A few things, actually.


Wakey-wakey, lunch and breaky

I've eaten at all times of the day or night.  But I don't think I've ever had a mid-morning meal and given enough thought to it to call it brunch. B. and I went to brunch at a friend's house and enjoyed an increasingly rare respite from our day-to-day, home-to-work-to-school-to-work-to-home lives.  We caught up with some old friends and enjoyed a great meal.  Our weekend felt more like a weekend somehow because of that brunch.


"Well, this might as well happen..."

I've just sort of accepted that God challenges great men to help them achieve greatness,

but He challenges me just cuz it's funny. 

I don't mean to say I'm destined for the biblical curses of Job, but if there is some sort of minor mishap that could effectively ruin my day or distract or divert me from getting anything done on time, it's bound to happen eventually.  And I always follow up with a humorous report later.  He  gives me great material, I guess.  You'll recall my long trek across town to right a foolish wrong.  This was less dramatic and even less time-consuming, but still frustrating.

I've developed a habit of locking the door on my way out in the mornings.  This is great for security, although I'm prone to lock the door even when I'm not going that far.  Like the mailbox.  I was pleased to get a check I had been expecting from a freelance client, but my joy was soon snuffed out by the realization that my keys were in fact not in my right pocket as they usually are, but sitting on the kitchen counter.  I had locked myself out. 

I had no keys.  No way inside the apartment.  No way into the car sitting parked in our driveway.  What I did have was a bike.  And a wife with keys at work.  Six miles later (uphill, against the wind) I borrowed B.'s keys, cooled down with a vitamin water and made the much smoother downhill downwind trip home.  Biking will always be preferable to walking in these sorts of situations.

I'm actually relieved to have done it now.  Finally it's happened.  Somehow there's less apprehension about it now that the deed is done. 


Withdrawals

Not the kind you're probably thinking of.  Unless you're thinking chocolate.  Then... you're still wrong.  Darn those girl scouts and their delicious boxes of minty chocolate temptation.  No, for the first time in my collegiate career, I'm quitting.  I dropped a class.  It had just gotten to the point where it was more of a burden than a help, and at this point, so close to graduation, I can't afford to be distracted by courses that don't pertain directly to my career.  I'll write more about this later but suffice it to say I much prefer to write creatively than take creative writing.


Wisdom(?) 

An impressive "behold my profundity!" aphorism escaped my lips in the middle of Barnes & Noble a few days ago. 

Folks, this NEVER happens.  Anything remotely impressive I've ever said - I didn't actually say.  I either memorized a quote from someone super-deep or I wrote it down beforehand.  I'm a writer, not a speaker.  I didn't even think it was all that great, but B. pointed it out as rather clever.  So with her praise being really my only goal in life, I'm happy to share what she deemed wisdom.

She expressed concern over the tests she would have to take before and during grad school.  Those tests are expensive and extremely difficult.  I tried to console her and tell her that price wasn't something to even factor in, and that not passing the first time is no big deal.  There's no shame in failing.

"There's a difference between failing and being a failure," I remarked sagely. "Once you've stopped failing, you've done it - you've become a true failure."

And I honestly believe that.  I downloaded a student version of Maya a few days ago.  This 3d modelling software has already reduced me to thumping the keyboard like an ape more than once.  Failure is exciting.  I'd rather frame my rejection letter to my BFA program than the acceptance letter I received later.  You learn so much less from success.  Keep trying, keep failing.



And with that, I'll leave you.  How was your weekend?  What were your W's?




S