readings

I am in the process of reading a collection of short stories by David Sedaris entitled 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames'. It may be the style of writing or the fact that it had been so long since I have read short stories, but I had forgotten how much I love them.

I was having a discussion about books at work with some people the other day and we got talking about short stories. I enjoy them for a couple of reasons. It only takes twenty minutes to get through them. Long boring details don't exist. It is hard to forget what happens at the beginning of a short story. The arguments against short stories are that just as soon as you start to get into them and start to care about characters BOOM. Done. Onward to the next story that doesn't always connect with the previous one.

That is the beauty of the short story. It is the purpose of them. Cram information and emotion into such a small space that the writer uses a plunger to get it all onto the pages. There is always time to sit and mentally digest everything that was on the previous pages and with the short story you can go back and re-read the damn thing if you don't like how it ends. I also thinks that it challenges the writer to focus. Think of all the details that need to be in these short stories. Quick and descriptive. As much fun as it is to read three paragraphs about someone's hair style and the history of that hair style, isn't it better to just read two sentences about it and then move on?

The perfect example is 'The Lady or the Tiger?' When I first read this in high school, I was pissed. I got to the end of the story and had one of those moments when you just want to throw a book and scream 'WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!' The older I got and the more I read, my mind went back to that story. I love that story now because it gives the reader the option of what happens. Some days it is the lady other days the tiger.

Quantity or quality

Case number one of the year: a two four of PBR. Now, as I was searching for my first case of beer of the year I had to consider quantity or quality. My fall back beer has always been Labatt Blue. Crisp and tasty. A full head and neck above any other beer I have ever tried, outside of Guinness. The problem is that the whenever it is that I find some Blue is that it is a twelve pack (cans or bottles, both are prevalent here in Wichita), and no two fours. If this case of beer is going to last me throughout the entire month, it won't be twelve beers. Twenty four beers can get me through the month, twelve cannot.

I am going to enjoy this challenge I have set out for myself.

happy dream

I had a dream last night about ice fishing. I'm pretty sure I have written about how much I love and hate ice fishing. It is fun to get in the ice shanty and be isolated from the world for a few hours with nothing but your thoughts, some beer, and a line in the water. The frustrating part is being able to see the goddamn fish swimming around just looking at the bait and not biting. Even if you are unsuccessful in your trip onto the ice, you can take a lot away from it. I always felt rejuvenated at the end of the day. Is it a pain to wake up early and bundle up? Yes. Is it a pain in the ass to get the ice auger out and hope that fish are under the ice? Yes. Is it cold as balls? Yes. Is it worth all the hassle, the loss of feeling in your fingers, and the time it takes to fish? Most defiantly. And I wouldn't trade any day on the ice for nothing.

This dream I had made me happy all day. When I woke up this morning I wanted nothing more than to go home and spend some time on the ice. We are trying to get home in February before all the snow and ice melt. The only problem right now is the prices are through the roof.

Snow again!

It has snowed again here in Wichita. I love the look of the outside after a night of snow. Especially before the city wakes up and drives all over and turns that lovely snow covered road into a gray slush. In the past four weeks it has snowed here three different times. One would think that with it being the end of December and beginning of January, the snow would start to compound. It hasn't. The timing in between snows has been long enough for it to melt. It gets cold enough to snow but then warms up to melt everything. It is frustrating for those of us who want to see the snow pile up. To be able to go out and make snow angels and little snowmen. It reminds people that they were once children, and all it takes is going outside and having a little fun. Just don't try to make a Zales commercial out of it.

We did get our wish this year, a white Christmas. Two years ago there was close to five inches of snow on the ground which was great. I loved it, it reminded me of being home. Last year it was a green/brown Christmas, which sucked. It takes all the fun and magic out of Christmas morning. This year, it was another white Christmas. There wasn't much on the ground, you could still see the grass in some areas, but for the most part the snow covered the ground.

Resolutions

I don't quite understand why there is a focus on making resolutions at the beginning of the year. Sure it is a benchmark that can easily be tracked, but you don't need a year to go by just to try to better yourself or quit something. I have never really been one for making resolutions at the beginning of the new year, but have never deterred anyone from doing so. Most resolutions lose their steam three or four months into the year regardless.

Who the hell wants to go to the gym anyways? And the best way to deal with stress for some people is to go out and have a smoke every once in a while. Who wants to deal with someone who is trying to kick a habit like smoking? They are just cranky and looking for something new to get addicted to. Hello, crack! Okay, bit of a stretch there but still.

As I re-read my post from a few weeks ago about cutting down on the amount of beer I am going to buy, I thought that this could be construed as a resolution. I suppose it could be, but I don't want to look at it as such. I want to think about it and look at it as an experiment in financial responsibility.