A Different Kind of Television...
What am I talking about? I'm talking about a certain form of entertainment where I watch people sit through their daily lives. This is supposedly the idea behind all those stupid "reality t.v." shows which keep spawning off of each other. But my version is better. It's truly interactive. And, the characters keep changing. My show is usually around half an hour long, with no commercial breaks, unless I choose to read the billboards. I stopped reading most of them long ago. Sure, there are your stereotypical characters. Bad drivers talking on their cell phone, not driving, down the road. The occasional redneck who stops at the light to get another beer out of the cooler in the bed. He has a long drive home from work, you know... Then there's your teenager who likes to yell nonsense out their window at me, only to be surprised when I catch them at the light. The light? Yes, the traffic light. The traffic light can involve an inordiante amount of showing off by all sorts of insecure characters, not to mention full-on make-up sessions by girls, both young and old. You can learn a lot about the human race sitting at a traffic light.
So, by now, you might have concluded I'm talking about driving. WRONG. My "reality tv show" is my daily bicycle ride to work. Because of the slower pace, I actually see more of what's going on. Because I'm actually exercising, my mind is alert enough to actually think about what I'm observing, and boy is it entertaining sometimes. Occasionally, it's even scary. And the surround sound is always realistic. People often think I'm crazy when they find out I ride my bicycle to work (my second job) eight miles each way. But then, I think they're crazy for sitting in front of their tv for hours every night. So, that's why I call my ride a "different kind of television." And it's only one of the reasons I like riding my bike on the road. If you're up for adventure, try it sometime. But beware the bad drivers... That's all for this show.

So I've decided it might be a good time to start blogging again. Maybe it's because the weather is beginning to turn to rain here in Texas. I was actually tiring of the sun. Day in, day out, the sun can get to you. Rain makes me feel like getting a good cup of coffee, eating doughnuts, and taking in the grey sky through the window while contemplating my life and the life of others around me. It also makes me feel like writing. I've even attempted poetry on days like today. Not that I ever end up with what could actually be called poetry, just take a stab at it.
I also tend to read more. I've been reading Cormac McCarthy's Suttree lately. It's actually not a very lighthearted book. Full of down and out types. The dregs of society living in the river bottoms of Knoxville, TN. Fiction though it is, it certainly makes one wonder what all McCarthy has experienced. His ability for description is amazing, although he sometimes describes things people may not want to experience so vividly. He's not always a comfortable read, which may be one mark of good literature. As an English major, I've noticed most "good literature" doesn't have a happy ending. So, in a sense I hope my life makes for bad literature.
As of late, it seems my life would actually make for good literature. Not that my life is horrible right now. Just that certain situations are definitely neither comfortable nor cheery. Uncertainty is ever present in a current situation. It's an ominous little companion, uncertainty is. Sitting on your shoulder, waiting for you to panic over it's presence, waiting for you to give it room to grow. It pushes me to remember there is God bigger than me or the uncertainty. So that's a good thing.
Did you know that riding your bicycle in the rain can be fun? It was fun and stress relieving at the same time yesterday. Now, I ride almost every day. My car nor my motorcycle is currently running. But yesterday the grey skies and spitting rain gave me a strange kind of satisfaction of just being out there in it. Even the sound of bicycle tires on wet asphalt was somehow good for my soul. Devon, who I work with, was actually riding with me. Because of his tendency to bow to fashion, he was actually riding in full length jeans, soaked after several short miles. Just all the more entertainment to me. My new fenders, fashion fopaux they may be, kept me from getting totally soaked. They also just fit on the bicycle of a guy with an English degree. Ah, well, enough has been written for one evening. Now I'm off to read what someone else wrote.


You have a lot going for you, but most people will
only remember you for one thing, and a lot of
them will try to copy it. They'll all suck at
it, though. Besides, you've got better stuff.


What band from the 80s are you?
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