Back In The Game

I've been dreaming of the day I could write this post for years. The only obstacle, really, was me and my own insecurities and insatiable need to procrastinate. Or was it fear? In any case, here goes: I'm back in school! This Saturday we spent several hours at the local Community College getting myself enrolled and set up to start classes on Tuesday.

I'm stunned that it's been 14 years since I last stepped into a classroom. Where did all that time go? I'm not going to sit here and wallow in regret that I didn't do it sooner because honestly, I couldn't have...and wouldn't have.

When I left school I was pretty well done with it. In my own misguided mindset, I'd decided that I didn't need it. I would power ahead and forge my own way in the world. One year rolled into another and that into another and before I knew it I was married with two children and making about the same amount of money I have been for the past decade. I've moved from field to field in search of greener pastures, and while I've occasionally found them, the green is always a little more brown than it first appears.

It took me a while, but I finally managed to come around to my senses and get myself back into school so I can finish my degree and do something with myself. I'm not shooting for the most glamorous or high-paying career in the world. I just want something stable that I can be proud of. A real career instead of just a job. And more importantly...most importantly, I've chosen to do something I really want to do.

I'm going to follow my dream and be a history teacher. I've always had an intense love of history and a desire to not only know more about it, but to also understand how it impacts the here and now. I want to be able to share that love; to possibly be the catalyst that changes someone's life for the better. I want to take a shot at being able to help others see the connections to our past that so many people so often overlook. Our history is who we are. Without it, we have no identity, just like without the past 14 years of my life, I'd never have realized where I need to go in the future; and getting to the future requires me to work as hard as I can in the present.

College, I'm back.

Tough Break, Kid

Not that anyone noticed but I haven't been here in a while. Again. This time though, I have an actual bona fide excuse. I broke my wrist about a month and a half ago during a wrestling match with a steroid-fueled grizzly bear who also happened to be hopped up on PCP. He put up a tough fight, but in the end, I took him down.

Okay, that's actually bullshit. I broke it at the movie theater. I fell on the stairs while trying to climb to the top of Mount Theater 14 so I could enjoy Toy Story 3 with the kids. I lost my balance, fell, and tried in vain to catch myself on a stair.

There was a nice wet popping sound, excrutiating pain, and a really cool fireworks display that only I got to see.

To make a long story short, the cast has been off a few weeks now, but I still have a lot of pain and stiffness in my wrist but nothing that won't go away in time (I think.) All the same, until recently, typing was nearly impossible, and at the very least, rather uncomfortable.

It's funny to think that as a kid I always thought it would be cool to have a cast on my arm like it would be evidence of some epic battle that I'd survived. Then, at the age of 33, I actually got a cast and found out that not only was it not cool but it in fact sucked massive amounts of ass.

I remember seconds after I climbed into the chair at the theater; there I was gasping for breath, cradling my throbbing wrist and cursing my own stupidity. Two thoughts ran through my head in quick succession. One, the kids would have to miss the movie as I obviously needed to go to the ER. Two, I knew without a doubt I would not be able to play Xbox for quite some time.

I'm sitting there in agony and I'm actually thinking about shit like that.

Anyway, it's all over. The cast is gone, my arm has returned to its pre-atrophy state, and I'm back to gaming. Can't really flex the wrist all that much yet, but at least I've got the basics covered. Ahem.

I'm thankful it happened when it did though, since I'm going back to school in October and it's nice to have both arms operational.

Now that I've got all that off my chest, I'm off to finish filling out Gamestop satisfaction surveys in the vain hope I'll be the $500 gift card winner. Then, the kids go to bed, and I'm going to dive back into Mafia 2. Good times.

…The More They Stay the Same.

The shortest blog blackout in the history of the web is over, and Deliriously Normal is back.  I was looking at things all wrong. I had really considered pulling the plug on Deliriously Normal, but dammit, 5 years is a long time to throw away, and I think maybe I was being a little over ambitious.  I’ve struggled with a direction for this blog for a while, and I think blacking it out and starting a new one was the right thing to do.  It cleared my head out, and gave me the presence of mind to really figure out what Deliriously Normal has become.  I find that my posts here are so all over the board that I can’t really categorize them, and I think that’s exactly the point.  I can’t pigeonhole it.  It’s the place where I dump all the stuff that angers me, makes me laugh, makes me think, or just plain amazes me.  

I’ve struggled with that, because sometimes there are personal, family type things that I want to get out of my system, and those posts just don’t fit here.  That’s what’s been throwing me for a loop.  Just like there is a ‘work’ me and a ‘home’ me, there needs to be a separation of thoughts and blog posts in much the same fashion.  I have been thinking about this all day, and it just feels right.  Deliriously Normal will continue, although in a slightly tweaked and less personal way.  All the stuff that doesn’t fit here will go over to my new site, 32 to 1. 

They say that writing is the best type of therapy there is, and I have to agree.  Deliriously Normal has allowed me to vent for 5 years, and it’s going to stay that way; I just have a new outlet for things that don’t belong here. It feels good to finally figure it all out.  For those two of you out there who visit, well, you’re stuck with me for a while.