April 17: Sun Breaking Through Clouds, "Silence of the Lambs," Better Mood

It's still freezing cold outside, right around 32 degrees.  However, the sun is breaking through the clouds, and the snow is starting to disappear.  It's not all gone, but when I went to my car after I was done teaching this afternoon, the asphalt around the car was dark with melt.

That pretty much describes my state of mind this afternoon.  After yesterday's 24-hour crap fest, I'm beginning to see some sunlight.  It always amazes me how disappointments seem to congregate like fish in schools.  They find a nice little cove and decide to hang out.  My family's cove was teeming with rejection minnows yesterday.  (I never even mentioned the car problems I had on my way home last night.)

This week, I'm screening Silence of the Lambs for my mythology classes.  You may wonder what Hannibal Lecter has to do with fairy tales.  Well, it's all there if you're looking for it.  Clarice starts the movie running through a deep, dark woods.  Think Little Red Riding Hood on her way to Grandma's house.  Clarice's last name is "Starling," a bird.  In many fairy tales, people are transformed into feathered creatures.  There's no better Big Bad Wolf than Anthony Hopkins, who communicates in riddles.  And Clarice has to rescue a damsel in distress by defeating a monster.

I bet you'll never watch that movie the same way again.

Anyway, I'm in a better mood this afternoon.  I'm getting to that point where I can say "it's an honor just to be nominated" without gritting my teeth.  Listen:

It's an honor just to be nominated.  It's an honor just to be nominated.  Year after year after year after year after...

Maybe Saint Marty needs to work on it a little more.

Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?

September 1: New Day, Better Attitude

Welcome to the first day of September.  In case you are worried, I'm in a much better mood than I was yesterday.  I no longer want everyone I meet to die, and I'm not having a hard time remaining upbeat.  In fact, this morning I have a department meeting for the medical office in which I work, and I'm sort of looking forward to it.  Well, I'm not dreading it, anyway, which is a step in the right direction.

If you read the poem I posted yesterday afternoon, please go back and reread it now.  I have changed it quite a bit, and it is a MUCH better poem.  Yesterday, my mood influenced my ability to tell good writing from bad writing.  When I got home last night, I examined my work and found it less than poetic.  Therefore, I made a few revisions.  I'm much happier with it now.

A good deal of my shift in mood has to do with the practice I had with my band last night.  Actually, it's not my band, but I play keyboard in it.  It's called the Underground and is sort of a Christian rock/blues group.  We spent two hours last night practicing for the Blues Fest this weekend in Marquette.  We are going to be playing on Sunday at noon.  The music last night really lifted my spirits, took me out of myself, reminded me that my problems really aren't all that bad. 

If you're in Marquette, Michigan, this Labor Day weekend, stop by the Lower Harbor and enjoy some great music with Saint Marty.  He'll be the one with the halo behind the keyboard.

I really need a cool Blues name...