Reflections on the Last Few Days (Part I)

I may have alluded to having a pretty great weekend in an earlier blog. Although it might have been a bit of bragging on my part, I have always been a big fan of the moral philosopher Jay Hanna Dean (AKA Jerome Herman Dean) who argued that "It ain't bragging if you can back it up." So I shall try to back it up with the parts that were great.

I might as well start out with the major failure from my weekend. Friday was the last day of employment for James at DM. I had all intentions of going in to congratulate him and pop some bubbly. I did not make my goal. As you can see by the image below though, it was the only goal that I failed to fulfill this past weekend. However, I do apologize James and I do congratulate you James. If you are the interested, James has accepted a position in Nevada as a CNA.

Although that was the major failure of my weekend, it would not be the first. I was given the proverbial "shaft" on two separate occasions. The first was the deepest and most savage cut.

I left the friendly confines of my place of employment on Friday night looking forward to the good natured camaraderie that is Friday Night Supper Club. I was slightly concerned because as I hit US30 I had yet to hear from the founder and president of Friday Night Supper Club. I usually get this call from Willy's pseudonym Lone Wolf Dinner Reservations by 5 pm. I decided I couldn't wait any longer for the call and I gave a little ring-a-ding-ding to Jay to inquire about this evening's dining situation. Jay's response hit me like a bucket of cold water in the face.

"Willy isn't coming! He went to go see some steroid jockeys talk about God. You want to go get a salad?"

Two things instantly occurred to me. First, I'm going to name my upcoming spoken word album "Steroid Jockeys". Second, Willy is in the process of abdicating his throne. This is something that will need to be addressed at the forthcoming Friday Night Supper Club.

So Jay and I went to The Colorado Grill. I was so disturbed by the absence of Willy that I knew I would have to take my dining experience up a notch. I normally get the Black Diamond Pita sandwich because the sauce that comes with it is absolutely extraordinary. There are times that I also take down a breaded pork tenderloin. The pork tenderloin is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches and will hopefully be the impetus for a forthcoming roadtrip to Hamlin, Iowa to a restaurant that serves what legend claims is "The State's Best Pork Tenderloin". I was going to need beef. So I ordered a sirloin sandwich, medium rare. Just how the gods like their steak cooked.

Somewhere in the middle of the meal my phone rang. I looked at Jay and said "I'm about to do something extremely hypocritical." Then I answered the phone.

The reason that this is hypocritical is because I have with the help of Scott taught the rules of basic phone etiquette to a certain Mr. Ungs recently. He had a nasty habit of answering his phone when he was out to eat with other people. A habit that is insanely rude. A rule that I will no doubt have to teach Jesse in the near future as well.

Stephanie was on the phone. She was offering to donate her tips from Friday and Saturday night to the American Cancer Society Fundraiser that I was intending on attending on Sunday. I accepted the offer and thanked her. What a nice person!

The rest of the night went by without incident. I went to bed early to ready myself for what was supposed to be a busy Saturday.

I had made the following plans: I needed to go to Hobby Lobby to purchase a can of matte sealer and some mat board. I was scheduled to go to visit Shannon and learn how to make lye soap. Then I was going to go to Des Moines with my eldest sister Teresa to conclude my Oscar Party pre-work by seeing "Notes on a Scandal" at the Fleur Cinema and dine on the tasty goodness that is Hu Hot. Then I was to head to The Colorado Grill to celebrate Shorty's 70^th Birthday.

Most of these plans fell through. For starters, Teresa had been hinting all week that if the weather was bad she wouldn't want to drive down to Des Moines. I told her that she was a coward and I was ashamed of being related to somebody that would let weather dictate their life. She relented and "agreed" to go. Then on Saturday she calls me in the morning to tell me that she can't go because she has been to the doctor's and she has "Strep Throat". Strep Throat. That is a made up ailment if I have ever heard of one. On par with Countchoculitis.

I hadn't gotten off the phone with her for more than an hour when my phone rang again. This time it was Doris (Shorty's wife) telling me that she was and I quote "uninviting me" to Shorty's birthday shindig. The roads were just too bad.

I still needed my stuff from Hobby Lobby. So I did what any "real" man does when the weather is bad. He gets in his car and goes to Hobby Lobby. After all I was out of matte sealer and I need to come up with a new picture for Salon 908. "Last, Loveliest Smile" is nearing the end of its 6 week engagement. I'm thinking about using a B&W flower picture from my sister's bathroom redecoration project as the next one to go on display. I don't know if I will be able to get this past the sole proprietor of Salon 908. Kelly possesses a longstanding disdain for B&W photography. This one could take a little bit of the Mayor Goldie's magic touch. If he sides with me. He might side with his wife.

I also heard from my Ogden Agent, Monica, this week. With her shrewd negotiating skills she has found a home for some of my pictures in "Everlasting's". So I need to make some product for this exciting new outlet. Since this is a flower shop, I'll probably stick with flower pictures. I don't anticipate selling much there, but you never know. Allegedly people have inquired about buying "Last, Loveliest Smile" and it isn't even for sell.

So I hopped in the car and headed to Ames. I'm telling you people, the roads weren't that bad. You could easily do 35-40. The only danger was swerving around the person going in the ditch in front of you, but after a couple of times of that it almost becomes second nature.

Hobby Lobby. I don't know why, but it seems like every time I go there I forget about there incredibly slow service. It always seems a surprise to me that I wait in line for 10 minutes when there is only two people ahead of me in line. I always stand in line asking myself the same question: "Do I really need this thing that bad?" Although I almost always tough it out, it never ceases to amaze me that as I am walking out the door, the "other" Hobby Lobby employee resurfaces and opens up another cash register.

Despite yet another painful experience at Hobby Lobby, I swore to not let it ruin my day. If my sister faking an illness and being uninvited from a birthday party weren't going to ruin my day, neither would waiting in line for 15 minutes to by 1 can and 2 matboards.

I headed to the nearest Salvation Army to look for cheap used frames. I don't usually find much at these places, but on this day I left with a 16 x 20 frame that I can paint and use to house the next Salon 908 image.

I made my way across an ice skating rink that I swore was a parking lot last week and called Shannon. ="">

"Still making soap?"

For the first time all day, somebody wasn't letting the weather dictate to them what it was they were supposed to be doing. The Little White Lye Soap Company. I believe it was this company that Herodotus was thinking about when he penned this line: "these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed".

So I learned how to and got to take a small part in the making of the latest batch of Little White Lye Soap. So next time you pick up a 6 pack, I might have played a small bit in the making of that soap.

Shannon said that it "wouldn't be very exciting."

She lied. It was exhilarating. It was indescribable. I wish I could tell you all about it. I can't because I signed a "confidentiality agreement". I can't tell you anything that might compromise any of her trade secrets. Sorry.

The rest of Saturday was a wash. The best part of it being that I fell asleep on the couch during the ISU-Kansas game so I didn't have to watch much of it. The worst part of it being that I'm trying to build this computer for Willy for his birthday present, but the thing keeps crashing every time you load Service Pack 2 on to it. It is trying my patience.

This is to be continued at a later time. So I can write extensively and exhaustively about the Oscar results.