Wandering Down Memory Lane

Hola y’all! A week ago Matt-Man took a little stroll downmemory lane and talked about some of the things he misses. Not family and friends who have passed away or drifted apart from, those are obvious, but some people places and things from his far and recent past that he misses for different reasons. So, I thought I would do the same this week.

Fishing on the White River and Playing Golf: Fishing for trout on the White River and playing golf are pretty much the only things I ever did with my dad when it was just the two of us. We weren’t close and didn’t talk to each other about our lives or anything like that. Mostly we talked politics and sports when we were together. I’ll never play golf again mostly because of my back and I sold all of my fishing gear after dad died 16 years ago. Maybe someday I’ll buy some more gear and go out there to the Fisherman’s Friend (assuming it’s still there) and fish from their banks again.

The Rocket Restaurant: The Rocket was your typical greasy spoon. They served cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken sandwiches and fries and onion rings and whatever else could be deep friend. But, their food wasn’t all that memorable. What I miss is their chocolate milkshakes. They were amazing! They used real, premium chocolate ice cream that didn’t taste like the usual chocolate ice cream you could get at the store pour in some Hershey’s Syrup. Then they would mix it for the perfect length of time to make it thick yet creamy and it was pure Heaven!

The Old HGTV shows. I’ve said many times that I never and have possibly never will own a home, but I love home improvement and gardening/landscaping shows. HGTV had cool shows like “Help Around the House,” “Weekend Warriors,” “Gardening by the Yard” and “Designer’s Challenge” where they ALWAYS brought the inside out, and the outside in. They weren’t just real estate investment or house flipping shows, they actually taught us how to do things. Things like fixing door jams, replacing windows, patching hardwood floors and other small jobs that can be so annoying to do. Gardening by the Yard’s host was this goofy guy who lived over in Tulsa then moved to Nashville. He gave so much great advice on keeping your garden, shrubs, flowers and lawn in tip-top shape. Now all they do is build “water features.”

The old Bloggerhood. Back in the day I just couldn’t wait to get on the computer and wander the Bloggerhood to see what people were up to. So many creative and funny people were blogging and we really did seem to build a community. We laughed and each other’s jokes and hilarious adventures. We got angry when someone was wronged in some way. And we cried when people lost family members or struggled with life. Then we all joined Facebook and that was that.

Glass Pepsi Bottles. Pepsi (or any pop/soda/soft drink) is soooooo much better in a glass bottle than it is in the can or yucky plastic bottle. It gets colder in glass bottles and I think that’s what makes the taste better. The only place I can still find it in bottles is over at the Mexican Market in Green Forrest. Sometimes it’s worth the 20 minute drive over there just to enjoy Pepsi the way God meant it to be drunk. And maybe while I’m drinking that Pepsi I’ll sit there in the car and listen to good old 70’s and 80’s heavy metal music.

Jayman3768@gmail.com
Facebook.com/Jayman68
@Jayman_IWS

Lent and Lunch are Like Peanut Butter and Jelly ... Or Something

Hola y’all! You know what? I’m kind of having a problem with two things, and they both begin with the letter “L.”  There are a lot of things that begin with the letter “L” that really suck. Just of the top of my head I can think of  love, loneliness, lobotomy, losers, litter, lawyers, licorice, lunatic, liars, liver, Lichtenstein, love letter, lizards, leprechauns, lice, lameness, loins, lettuce and well, LIFE!  I’m sure there’s a lot more, but you get the idea. But, like I said, there are two things that begin with “L” that are really pissing me off right now …

Lunch and Lent.

I really don’t care for either. They’re both stooooopid! And, I can never decide what I should do about either. So, I guess the obvious thing to do is combine the two. No, I’m not giving up having lunch for lent, but there are some things I’m going to give up having for lunch during lent.

Originally I was going to give up Pepsi for lent, but then I thought, fuck that. See, there are some very good reasons not to give up Pepsi for lent. 1) I don’t want to. 2) I won’t do it. 3) It’s not worth it.

I’ve done the lent thing a few times. I gave up alcohol one year, which was much easier than it seems. I gave up chips and fast food another year. Again, that wasn’t a really big sacrifice. Now, I know people say you should give up something big that you really love. This somehow brings us closer to God and gives us strength and blah, blah, blah. If that works for you then that’s great and I totally support your lifestyle choices. But, it hasn’t done shit for me. In fact, even after participating in this lent-thing what did I get from God?

HEARTACHE!

God damn right, bitches! Nothing but heartache. So, what’s the point? Why should I bother? Especially if I try something I know I’m not going to succeed at. Or worse, something I have no intention of succeeding at. In this case, trying and failing will not be superior in any way to not trying at all.

So, what to do? Ignore lent? Well, I’d like to. That would also mean ignoring Matt-Man’s attempts and guilting me into observing lent, which really wouldn’t be that hard to do. But, part of me feels like I should do something, if for no other reason to provide moral support for my partner in crime Mattcicle. Oh and that whole “get closer to God” thing too.

This is where lunch comes in. I’m terrible at lunch. I always end up eating something “bad.” I tend to have hot dogs, cheeseburgers, frozen pizza, breaded chicken patties, Beefaroni … shit like that for lunch. Well, that’s gonna just have to change. For lent I will give up those “bad” things that I have for lunch (including the chips I would have with some of those items). This way I will not only observe lent, but I will use it for good.

Trying to give up Pepsi, and failing, really wouldn’t accomplish a thing. But, if I stop eating unhealthy things at lunch, and replace them with healthier things or at least things not super unhealthy, then I will be doing something positive. It’s fucking brilliant!

So, the great Lent Crisis of 2013 has been avoided.*

Jayman
Jayman3768@gmail.com
@Jayman_IWS


*I wrote this post on Wednesday, February 13, 2013, the first day of lent. But, since I had BBQ Pork Sandwich for lunch today, I started lent on the 14th. I checked with Jesus and he’s totally cool with it.