David's Boring Blog

 I have started two posts for this week's Thursday blog. Both of them are interesting to me, but they aren't quite what I want to write about. I am having to force the topics a bit much. That doesn't feel good.  I think instead I want to talk about being a Dad. I have made some interesting Dad moves lately. I am enjoying them quite a lot. I am also always looking to expand my repertoire. I have come to think of parenting differently. That is a good thing. Like all of life, parenting is a bit of trial and error. I have done plenty of error.  Teagan is finishing up Kindergarten over the next couple of months. It is a fun time. She has enough literacy that her interest in books is really blossoming. Hopefully with a little investment and focus she will be a reading addict.  I devised a plan that I am tweaking as we go. The initial thing came together as a result of the book fair at her school. I let her spend a stupid amount of money and gave her no real limits on her choices.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my posts. I was very proud of Hauling Gravel  and really appreciated the folks who dropped comments on Facebook. Even though I do not necessarily write my blog to solicit reaction, it feels really good when something resonates and people say so. If I were ever to achieve the status of being 'widely read' (notice I don't suggest popularity) the hope would be that I would say things that would have meaning for others and provide help, encouragement, or comfort.  Two posts back I talked about my scheming to buy myself a new bed frame, mattress, and bedding set. Often moves like that are the harbingers of a series of actions on my part. For example, the rising gas prices and sluggish economy sold me on the idea of not investing in a truck or SUV. It is much cheaper to keep my little gas sipping Hyundai Veloster than to take on a car payment for a super thirsty vehicle capable of hauling a camper.  The decision was followed quickl

 I don't know if it is a little boy thing or not, but as a kid I really had an affinity for gravel. There was something great about finding a puddle of small loose gravel that I could spin out the tire of my bicycle in. A pile of gravel waiting for any other use became a mountain to climb or a hill on which to be King. Best of all gravel was always amazing for throwing or shooting out of a slingshot.  At some point in my teen years I began taking gravel for granted. There were exceptions. I appreciated a nice secluded gravel road for a romantic date night twist. I also liked to avoid gravel when sitting up a tent to camp. Beyond that, I got to thinking about gravel a lot less. Gravel hits totally differently as an adult. If it hits your windshield there is a good chance you are making a glass claim with your insurance. If it is missing from your drive way, you mourn all those gravels you tossed away in your youth. When you buy a few ton and pay that bill, you really appreciate grav

 I have needed a new bed for a while. It is one of those investments that isn't just a money thing. The quality of the place where you rest really does matter. I feel like the ability to assess your bedding needs should be taught in school. Then again, there is quite a lot that we need to know that we simply are not educated on unless we have an exceptional parent.  My Mom and Dad didn't teach me a whole lot about beds. From time to time my Mom would decide I needed something. That something could be new towels, new blankets, a bathrobe (once), or a bed and with little to no consultation said thing would be gifted to me throughout my life. I appreciated this a great deal. Occasionally, I slept better.  I cannot believe I made it to nearly 42 years old without ever having to buy myself a new bed. It made me feel a little ill equipped to make a decision. We typically find things out about ourselves through experience. I knew enough from past beds to be absolutely sure I didn'

Today was Prime delivery day. It is funny how much I look forward to it. Having a stack of packages delivered does not happen every week. I am working on my self control and my budget in these inflation-aware times. Still, in all my little experiments with leading a satisfying existence there does come occasion more frequently than I care to admit where I do online shopping for things other than ridiculously expensive pens.  Incidentally, I really do like the pen. I have written a surprising amount with it. I can even say that I like it more than that particular $59. If you don't know what I am talking back read in my archives. If you want to know more about that standby for a post at a later date.  The interesting thing that I have found is that the shopping spyware built into our phones and internet browsers is smart but not that smart. Facebook sold me on both my expensive writing utensil and a Lochby brand of journal. I hate calling it a journal. Even though I purchased it with

 How do you define yourself? Are you a smart? dumb? fat? fit? an athlete? a couch potato? Are you clever or funny? Are you a gamer? Republican? Democrat? Right? Wrong? Good or bad? Is your identity firmly fixed in your mind? Are you constantly adding new definitions of who you are? What if I told you that the way that you identify impacts huge pieces of your life.  Let me provide a quick and easy to understand example. Let's take an imaginary husband and wife couple. They have been married for a decade. She identifies herself as a happy wife and mother. He identifies himself as a father and a married but mingling man. In other words, his identity includes the idea that situationally he can flirt and sleep with other people. His wife is unaware of this identity. He likely doesn't give much thought to it himself except when he lets his extramarital partners know that he is married.  This system works for him. Because she is unaware of it the identity doesn't case the wife tro

I have an interesting life for a guy who tries hard to remain extra boring. I occasionally mess up and cause myself stress with a not-well-thought-out move, but for the most part I am thankful for the limited series of troubles that I face. Like most people, as I understand people at least, I spend quite a bit of my back of the mind processing power on chewing over my problems and working out how I am going to solve them.  The thing I keep coming back to lately is bizarre. I keep mentally stumbling over my Mom's old Wurlitzer piano. Why in the world am I thinking about a piano as a problem, you ask? Reasonable question. Long explanation.  It starts with my house, but not the one I live in. The other one that is unlived in across town. That house is just an opportunity wrapped in a complicated series of difficulties that I don't quite know how to solve. Where did all this start? Well, I guess it started when Mom died.  Some good things happened as a result of all of the fall out

 I really wanted to write a blog post about the way the human brain functions. The idea came to me as an interesting exercise partially because I have learned a lot about basic neuroscience in the past few months. The real reason it was on my mind is that I had a moment on Saturday when I was able to understand the functions as they happened and it gave me a greater control over my reactions to the unwanted emotional stimulus.  Things were said to me. Emotions triggered. I thought to myself," I will only feel this for about a minute and a half after that I am either making a choice to react or I am ruminating to myself." I wasn't timing the length of the emotional response. In fact, I was standing in the shower and enjoying the very pleasant physical sensation of warm water cascading across my neck and shoulders. I doubt the unwanted emotional response really lasted even thirty seconds. It was just washed away by my awareness of the process and hurried along by the physic