This is perfect for a grammar and spelling Nazi like me. It’s spelled “definitely.”

While I’m on the subject, I might as well complain about the astonishing prevalence of the substitution of “your” in place of “you’re” for a contraction of “you are.” Damn it, damn it, damn it! IM is ruining the English language. LOL.

Tried to jump it after filling up at Marge’s Amoco. Not enough juice in the jump pack. Got a ride back there after recharging the jump pack during tonight’s performance and cast party. Success!

Stalled at Henry and Gilman. So close to home, I could taste it. Not enough juice. (!) Got a jump from a helpful stranger. Made it up the steep incline of the driveway ingress. Couldn’t make it all the way back to the lot behind the house. Rocked back, forth, back, forth…and now it’s overheated.

This is the feeling of resignation and defeat. It sucks that the driveway can’t be plowed until (unless?) my car is moved, but for tonight, that’s where it’s going to have to stay. Right in the way. For tonight I am that guy. Can’t wait to get up in 2 hours to spend all day drumming in Racine in this mess.

Last night we had yet another rousing round of cast karaoke at Wilson’s. Our energy always spikes after a great show. When else can you see Peter Leidy channeling Gloria Gaynor?

The highlight of the evening was a septuagenarian singing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day. Why he knows that song is a mystery to me, but it was just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen at karaoke. He did a damn fine job.

Today’s YouTube chuckle comes courtesy of guywiththeglasses, who edits out the fluff from popular movies and leaves about 5 seconds of the good stuff.

Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk who was found to be “The World’s Happiest Man” by our own UW-Madison Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, had this to say in Robert Chalmer’s interview for The Independent:

…ultimately, it’s how your mind relates to the world that determines whether you’re miserable or not. You have to ask yourself: is my happiness dependent on other people?“

This isn’t a new idea, but it’s as easy to forget as it is to grasp. It helps me to be reminded of it every now and then.

I made it all the way through yesterday without wishing someone a happy Valentine’s Day or otherwise acknowledging it. It’s not that I don’t care about anyone; I do. I just think the holiday is distasteful and that expressions of affection given on that day are diluted somewhat.

When the last VD (an unfortunate acronym, yes?) rolled around, I was on the Katrina relief trip. When I announced to my ex, whom I was still “seeing” at the time — or something…I’m not sure what we were at that stage — that I would be in Mississippi rebuilding homes for that week, she got mad. Apparently that wasn’t an acceptable reason for missing her Valentine’s Day.

I called her from Pass Christian on Feb. 14th to wish her a happy V-Day and to tell her that I loved her, but she didn’t answer her phone because she was on a date with someone else. Aww, isn’t that sweet?

I think the idea behind Valentine’s Day is great. I also think it can be genuinely expressed without being such a financial windfall for sellers of flowers, chocolates, and greeting cards — 1 billion cards every year. Some people even like to give and receive plush things that make noise (common at Walgreens).

Ahh, sweet catharsis.

once around the sun since the shedding began
free to drift as the grip releases
tearing as it goes
an eye emerges anew.

I had the Capitol Chophouse’ grilled salmon for lunch today, and shortly thereafter my afternoon of GI discomfort began. I really hope this doesn’t develop into anything further.

When we’ve been rejected, we all have some initial trouble accepting that fact and resolving to keep our distance and move on. I know I sure did. The last time it happened to me, I was in denial for quite a while. I thought there was something I could do to change the situation. Maybe there was something I could say, something impressive I could show this person about myself that could overshadow all the things that had led to the rejection in the first place.

There wasn’t.

You can try to bargain and even convince yourself that the other person is fooling themselves, that you’ll be back in their life once they come around to realize that you’re OK after all.

But really, when it’s over, it’s over. We should be thankful for that. There are, in all likelihood, very good reasons for the separation between you and the departed — reasons that you may only later (or never) know.

It’s foolish to fight to maintain a relationship against the force of the other person’s will or the intent of a higher power to keep you apart.

There are, and will be, others. That person may have been occupying more space in your life than you realized — space that can be better filled with new people and interests. In the end, it’s best for both of you to just leave them in peace. It’s what I ended up doing, and it’s worked out really well.