The Myth & The Majesty

I was four years old when I started growing out my hair. For the next two decades, it was nearly miraculous if I was willing to let anyone near it with a pair of scissors. Sure, it got trimmed on a regular basis, and here and there the trims were maybe four full inches, but the bottom line was that I had long hair. I was obsessive about it, downright vain, and that was just the way it was. It was alternately a crutch or a point of pride ... but more completely, it was part of my identity. One of the more fun Google Image searches I've made today. And for a very, very long time, I looked ... very much the same. Other things changed (glasses to contacts, crooked teeth to braces to straight teeth, eventually hitting 5'3" and staying there) but my hair? Not so much. It wasn't until I graduated college and moved to Wisconsin that I even considered anything else. I don't know whether it was boredom, a new location, or the suddenness of feeling...

I've certainly mentioned this a few times (this is, after all, my life now), but here's the rest of the story. * A few months ago, I made a questionable decision. It started with a semi-surprise job loss in 2010. Along with the usual anger and grief came a deep feeling of relief; this was a job that at the beginning had made me very happy, but by the end was something I nearly dreaded each day. There were a lot of reasons, but the bottom line was that when I was called into the HR office and informed that my position no longer existed, I knew not so deep down that they'd chosen the right person. This didn't mean I was unaffected. What followed was a depression for which I hadn't totally prepared myself. I could pull myself out of it here and there, but the rejection was still at the back of my head and it took a lot of effort to get going again. After a move back to Sioux Falls, I started trying to sort out my life again. I spent the better part of two...

... That may very well be the most disturbing thing I've typed in quite some time. Sorry about that. So! Here we are. I told you things would be changing. Not drastically -- I was looking for a drastic change but I just can't bring myself to use the dynamic views that Blogger offers just yet. Maybe in a few months when they can do all the things I want. I'm not done. For instance, I really don't like Arial as a font (or as a Disney heroine, but that's different). I haven't decided if I like the three-column thing, either. And the Blogger website is getting buttheaded in some ways so not all of my changes are staying. Gotta work on that. But I'm here, it's functional again, and ... that's it. Have a good day, all.

Stop! It's still me! In the vein of this particular weekend, I decided my blog needed a few changes. Like a new name. And a new layout. And a new background. And some slightly revised titles. Basically, I left the posts alone (although played with fonts a bit). Sometimes you just need a change, eh? The address remains the same (yeah, that'd be far too much of a chore) and the lists haven't really changed (yet). What do you think of it so far?

because you take life in your stride(instead of scheming how to beat the noblest game a man can proudly lose,or playing dead and hoping death himself will do the same I've been working on this blog for awhile, and I wasn't sure how to approach it. That sounds odd -- after all, if I've been working on it, then obviously I found an approach. In any case, it didn't sound right to me. because you aren't afraid to kiss the dirt (and consequently dare to climb the sky) because a mind no other mind should try to fool has always failed to fool your heart Just recently, however, I started reading some e. e. cummings , and I happened across this poem. Just like that, I had an approach. You see, what I am about to tell you involves a person that I have a certain admiration for. That's right kid -- I admire you. I've seen what he's gone through in the last year plus and I've been privileged with being fairly close to the action. But one thing I've never had ...

I made it! Technically speaking, I've been here for over two weeks already. In that time, however, I haven't had Internet access. Oddly enough, that didn't stop me from blogging -- after all, this is really just a journal I'm willing to make public. It stopped me from posting, though, so over the next few days I'll be getting you caught up ... That's enough of that. Let's get started, shall we? ---------------- Sunday, February 11th, 2007 I'm in a Days Inn and I start work tomorrow. It's weird. Friday I packed up the car and drove away without thinking too much about it. There was plenty of time to think in the car, and I was already running an hour behind. Friday night was great. I stayed in Minneapolis with my sister, where we went to a performance by Hip Hop Theater there on the U of M campus. It was awesome -- a student on campus takes actual accounts from students and sets them to ... rap. It's half-rap, half-dialogue/standard play. And it...