Living Proof

There was a howl to the wind yesterday morning, almost like screaming a message while tears of raindrops stream down my windows. I heard sirens going off every ten minutes or so, indicating that perhaps a tree had fallen down or an accident happened somewhere. I thought at some point during the day, the electric will finally let up and I would be left with a candle, a battery powered laptop with no internet connection and the sounds of mother nature giving me her wrath. On top of everything else, while I was working, the rain had somehow managed to make its way in from the skylights, dripping slowly onto the side of the leather sofa. I had to place a huge pot underneath, which gave me a tempo of rhythm that somehow was driving me to the brink of insanity. “Plink, plink, plink, plinkity-plink, plink, plink.” The classical background music didn’t help much at this point. It just made it more “dramatic” if anything. I had planned on doing a promo video for a local gallery nearby, but wi...

In some cases, I feel like I tend to psychoanalyze people more than a shrink. Sometimes, I have to stop myself and bite my tongue over what someone had just said. I used to say pretty much anything that was on my mind, even if it was very offensive. These days, I’m finding I just sit back and watch the madness flow like a bad comedy show. I’ve come to the conclusion that whenever someone says something in bad taste: it’s not my problem, it’s theirs. Whether they have ulterior motives or not, I let it ride out like a runaway train. Have you ever had a friend or relative say something so “neutral” sounding, but was a hidden insult instead? Or, have you thought to yourself, “Hrmm, maybe I took that the wrong way”, and got confused over whether or not it was an insult or just a remark said in bad taste? In cases where people say things in means of “constructive criticism”---that I don’t mind, in fact I love it. I remember in one case (which is funny), if my mother didn’t like what I...

While grabbing a coffee at a local cafe nearby, I overheard a woman say something I knew that she would soon regret. She had reconnected with an old female coworker while waiting for her latte. By the conversation, you could tell that they’ve worked together for a long time, but when the job ended, so did their friendship. They never kept in touch after the company went out of business. It seemed like a friendly little chatter, until the woman asked her old friend, “So, when are you expecting?” You could tell the woman was shocked by this question, leaving me to believe that she wasn’t pregnant at all. Her response was, “The day you get a face lift.” She then dropped a wrapper in the garbage and quickly shuffled out of the cafe obviously insulted. The woman still left in the cafe looked over at anyone who may have overheard this appalling exchange, shot a glance at me and then slightly lifted her arms as to say, “Did I say something wrong?” Whether it was a matter of being ri...