happy land

"When I was a little man
Playdough came in a little can
I was Star Wars' biggest fan
Now I'm stuck without a plan
GI Joe was an action man
Shaggy drove the mystery van
Devo was my favorite band
Take me back to my happy land"

~ The Aquabats

Beverage: Yellow Tail Shiraz 2004

Mmmm...Saturday evening of a beautiful blue sky day...broiled tilapia for dinner...nice glass of red. It all sounds so classy except for what you can't see, which is that for lack of an end table I've set my glass of shiraz on a cat scratch post.

So the blogging petered out for a while because a) I caught a cold, b) I've had a mad amount of stupid errands to fit into my evenings, and c) I learned that apparently you all can't post comments without giving signing in. I think I'll set up a bogus account and post it. That way you can comment without going to the bother or inconvenience. Half the point of this was to keep in touch, so I'll come up with some solution. I was considering moving the blog, but this is one of the better sites. Anyway, to make up for the lag this may run quite long.

I'm not sure what inspired the Happy Land quote other than a recent burst of listening to The Aquabats again. (Seriously, if you have any liking for quirky rock/ska they're pretty dang awesome) It seemed to tie in with my general mood though. Things are going to be good here, but they're not quite there yet. I'm not quite comfortable, don't quite have my offices/work environments set up yet. I'm still acquiring the accounts, information, general knowledge necessary to work and just to function on a daily basis here.

At the same time I struggle with the concept of comfort. Comfort, or more accurately, the pursuit of comfort, can distract from the task at hand. I can always tell when I'm not well focused on what I'm doing because that's when I begin to notice discomfort. If I'm truly absorbed in the problem at hand, comfort issues just don't matter. Comfort is a dangerous thing; it allows us to grow lax and lethargic. Once a person gets comfortable it gets harder and harder to explore, to push the limits of experience. Comfort was most of the reason to leave Maryland. I was really getting quite cozy there. Is that what life is about, the pursuit of comfort? Or is it about the pursuit of discomfort, searching out the unknown, untested, and untried?

Apparently I'm solidly in the discomfort camp. Just ask my mother, I've always been a bit of a stoic. But what's so terrible about comfort? Hasn't the pursuit of comfort, or at the very least, ease, driven much of our technology? And a certain amount of comfort is important for survival and the freedom to spend time on more esoteric endeavors. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, but too much comfort makes me uneasy at some fundamental level. Maybe because it's a relative measurement. There is no "too comfortable" just like there's no "too happy". That's why they are pursuits. There is always more and better to be had. How do you judge success? It's like number soup. The more you eat, the hungrier you are.

Also, comfort and happiness have the drawbacks of putting a person in a position where they have something to lose. Doesn't being comfortable just mean you have more to worry about? I don't know, it's all sort of silly, but in some odd way it makes me happy to have put myself in a position where I am not comfortable. But I wonder now if it is going to get harder every time. Am I going to reach an age where I have too much comfort or too much at stake to push my limits and to do new things? I hope not, but it's clear at that there is no path back to Happy Land. Onward and upward, I guess. Well, this is all too serious for a Saturday night, perhaps.

On a lighter note, I really need to go out with the camera. Our neighbor's halloween display simply can't be described in words. Also, fried twinkies are apparently a delicacy aorund here. Anyone ever had one? Oh that's right no one can comment. Maybe I should get that account set up.