Fourth of July Weekend

Slice of Life

Monday           July 8, 2024                08:31

Last night before going to sleep I couldn’t help but think that I had wasted the whole four-day weekend.  I didn’t do anything different from a normal weekend.  I didn’t do anything extraordinary for fun.  I didn’t go to the beach, watch fireworks, or visit a casino.  I stayed home.  The focus of my weekend was not to relax, but to work on personal projects.  I made a new recording where I used what I learned in a recent training class.  I took a cool photograph of a tomato, I went to a thrift store, I listed some items for sale online.

I enjoy doing those things, but maybe I shouldn’t try so hard.  There is a whole lot of struggle and not a lot of moving forward.  A large part of me wishes I could do this stuff for a living.  I think it is possible, but right now I don’t see much money from it.  I enjoy the fluid lifestyle these activities could provide.  I enjoy the thrill of a good secondhand find.  I enjoy putting media together.  If I focus on how much money I made this weekend, it wasn’t really a great weekend.

            I did have some fun though.  I went out and got a coffee milkshake one morning.  I bought a copy of “Dazed and Confused” from Barnes and Nobel.  They are having a 50% off Criterion sale, I think for the whole month of July.  I had never seen this movie before, but now that I have, I understand a few more pop culture references.  If you haven’t seen this movie, it’d be a lot cooler if you did.

On the Fourth, my mom made a delicious salad.  It had cabbage, vinegar, blue cheese, grapes, and pistachios.  Another day she made juicy breaded chicken cutlets.   Then again, she made Uncle Johnny’s tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes from the garden and made a Ratatouille with it.  My sister also made some fresh salsa with tomatoes from the garden.

In reflection, the worst part of my weekend was that it had to be over.

Monday           July 15, 2024              23:01

It’s funny I wrote that I try too hard.  I bought a book last week at the Goodwill thrift store called: “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff.  Folded in between the pages were some relics of a previous owner: A Mega Millions ticket from the September 07, 2010 and a yellowed with age notecard with a handwritten note on it that reads:

“The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard-one that thinks too much.  I think, therefore I am confused.”

I believe these are two separate quotes from the book determined to be valuable by a previous owner.  This card now has a place on my bookshelf.  This time help came from this chance encounter with a book.  It’s one thing to hear advice and it’s another thing to take it to heart.  For me, the idea that it is ok and likely beneficial to not try so hard kind of gives me the stamina to try harder.