March 27, 2009
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Happiness in the Dock
If at the present moment I should suddenly find myself standing at a street corner, and a mirthful neighborly fellow waltzed up beside me and asked in a buoyant tone, “Why hello sir, how do you do?” I am sure, as sure as I am that there was a gunman on the grassy knoll, that I would slowly turn my head to him, and gaze at him eternally with an infinitely confused look, completely clueless as to the answer. Quite basically, I am experiencing a complete paralysis of emotion. Based on the last two weeks of events, should I be happy, or should I be sad? I will lay the evidence before you, and let you decide.
First, good things that have happened:
1. Road tripped to Kansas City to visit a dear friend who I stayed with for a few days, and had lots of fun with her family.
2. While in Kansas City, we met with londonsgirl, which was very fun (at a Starbucks as well, appropriately enough).
3. Had the largest burrito of my life from Chipotle while in Kansas City, probably weighing about the weight of the average domestic cat. It was the only thing I ate all day, and I wasn’t hungry again.
4. Got to a lucrative house-sitting job for Spring Break. The house has comfy couches, a basement with a large screen TV, a sauna, and a billiard table.
5. Started and finished Crime and Punishment, surely one of the greatest novels ever. It gripped me emotionally all the way to the end, and was simply one fantastic plot filled with brilliant characters from start to finish.
6. Watched Planet Earth on the aforementioned large screen TV in a pitch black basement with some friends.
7. Met with an old friend and talked about life, and watched an amazing movie also in the basement called Sophie Scholl.Now the bad:
1. Got a fever the night before a very important breakfast, thus giving me delusions all night in my dream that if my friends organized ourselves in the right way on my school campus, I would be cured when I woke up. One of my friends who was helping me do this in the dream called me in the middle of the night, which was very confusing since I was already with him.
2. Lost hearing in my right ear for 10 days, and in my left for a few days, including for the entirety of the trip to Kansas City.
3. I also lost my voice for the trip (I tend to misplace the most important things, it seems), and had a wretched cough the whole time.
4. Woke up with a bloody nose one day in Kansas City, which would not stop, and I ended up losing about 15 minutes worth of blood.
5. While house-sitting, my car was broken into, and $200 worth of goods were stolen.
6. One dog I have to take care of has crapped large puddles of brown liquid in the house eleven times, including six on the dining room carpet in a seemingly systematic way around the dining room table.
7. I forgot about spraying the frog cage with water every day, and both the frogs are now dead. Frozen stiff in their places. I repeat: The frogs are dead.You see the dilemma. There are a million more little instances which could work as evidence for both sides, but these are the salient facts of the case. You be the jury: should I be happy with the last two weeks of my life?
Comments (14)
The frogs are dead?
(no need to repeat the evident… I’m just amazed)
So do the benefits outweigh the costs… I’m trying not to make this into a personal matter but I’m a bit biased on the side of the good events
If you had the choice of either being sick or spending time with Megan F. and the many other friends mentioned, which would you have chosen?
$200 may have been stolen from your vehicle but you did say that you got a lucrative house sitting job. In the end do you come up on top, even, or a bit short?
I watched a movie on Sophie Scholl called “The White Rose”, I believe. Excellent film. You get positive marks.
You were gripped emotionally. Something which also receives positive marks.
I would have to say that you have probably come out of these trials a stronger, happier, and more valiant man which makes the positives far outweigh the negatives. So chin up.
Take care and best wishes for a brighter week ahead of you
Cheers
@londonsgirl -
It’s crazy really, the frogs being dead. My friend from good thing #7 comes over and hasn’t been to the house in awhile, so he’s looking around upstairs and asks from upstairs, ‘This is Alec’s room, isn’t it?’ I began to answer him, but I then froze in place when my lips were milliseconds from uttering a word. I stayed in the same shocked pose for about ten seconds until I rushed up to go check . . . and sure enough, they were shriveled and dead. My friend did not help. He’s like, ‘They’re not dead!’ and he poked one with a stick, and the statue of its dead, cold body moved altogether, and he just burst out laughing. The thought ‘The frogs are dead’ now passes through my head once every ten seconds. It’s terrible.
Whether or not I end up in the plus between the theft and the job depends on how much buying two frogs cost. I am scared that they were rare jungle frogs or something that I will have to trek into the Amazon Basin on an expedition in order to find.
There’s another film about her!! Wow. Such a powerful story. I don’t think I could be a martyr. The terror and finality of it all – could I do that if Christians really were persecuted like they are in other parts of the world?
‘If you had the choice of either being sick or spending time with Megan F. and the many other friends mentioned, which would you have chosen?’ . . . what?? Haha, I feel like I’m in the SNL skit where Harey Carey asks Jeff Goldblum, ‘Would you rather be the top scientist in your field, or have mad cow disease?’ Per your question I would have swiftly chosen the latter.
I’m sorry . . . but the court has noted the definite personal bias you bring to this case, and I’m afraid this is going to have to be declared a mistrial.
And one more time . . . yes, the frogs are dead.
Haha! Sounds like life to me. Ups and downs. When I moved to the States several years ago, I could only finish half a Chipotle burrito, but stuffing myself on giant portions every time I eat out has stretched my stomach two or three fold.
Planet Earth is amazing. Both the planet and the documentary.
Losing your hearing–must have been terrifying!
Terribly sorry to hear about the break-in, too. Oddly enough, just tonight, I’ve read entries from four xangans who have just gotten robbed–no kidding. If it makes you feel any better, your $200 is the smallest loss.
I’d say you have to choose. After all, that’s what we do in every circumstance. It’s perspective, and perspective is our personal responsibility.
So, do you WANT to be happy with the past two weeks or would you rather feel miserable?
~V
Hm.
Happiness and sadness. I think both should occur at the same time, because one cannot exist without the other. One cannot be fully happy without inflicting some kind of pain to someone, directly or indirectly. Just as wit isn’t fully appreciated without a hint of sarcasm in it.
@c_jamaica -
Funny you should mention that. I had thought, well I’m happy that I’m not sad, but I’m also sad that I’m not happy. So those reasons cancel out as well and I’m still stuck in the middle.
“One cannot be fully happy without inflicting some kind of pain to someone, directly or indirectly.”
Oh no I’m not a sadist . . . killing the frogs was an accident you see. I would have rather the frogs lived. Although my friend laughing at me when we found out I let the frogs die is another story.
I vote happy on the grounds that “Even if you don’t find something good, at least your shall find something interesting.” You had an experience, you’re still alive, and everything ended generally well. Hopefully, you’ve come out a better man and a more diligent frog keepered. What’s not to be at least mildly cheerful about, eh? ^_^
I’ve never heard of anyone measuring blood in minutes.
@StrokeofThought -
From reading your frog updates on Facebook it seems that everything smoothed over alright. That is a blessing!
So how are the weeks looking now?
I feel strongly that my opinion should not be thrown out merely for a small percentage of bias. After all, we only met for a couple of hours on that day which is a tiny sliver of time given the events of those two weeks. I humbly realize that tea with you and Megan was not the epic event of your week
And yet I still believe that your happiness should overpower any feelings of depression or pain.
On the note about martyr’s… I like this quote by someone: “If you have nothing to die for than you have nothing to live for”
@londonsgirl -
I am happy to report that happiness won – which I suppose means that this very reporting further cements the happiness’s victory. In fact, it’s practically a blowout.
Point well made – although I am bit surprised that someone as political as yourself would throw out due process so quickly. You have denied sadness his civil liberties. Nevertheless, the court agrees. , and has readmitted your testimony in favor of happiness.
Great quote. It also helps because I don’t think those frogs had anything to live for.
@Yume_Shii -
Indeed, indeed . . . as G.K. Chesterton said, ‘An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.’
@yello_lego -
I was talking to an Asian-American in high school, and he said he could eat *four* Chipotle burritos. I said I would give him $20 to do it, but I never found him again to do it (I didn’t really know him).
Wow, tough call. I think I’d be really bummed out because of how much better it should have been. At least you have Xanga!
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