That’s all a child needs really…..encouragement. That little nod of approval that says, “you
are nuts, but go on ahead with your silly self and give it a try.” There is nothing more supportive or uplifting
in one’s life, I think, than to have someone, or several somebodies, who make
it their business to adopt an attitude of solidarity in the presence of those
creative individuals they choose to love.
My life story could easily be punctuated by those hobbies
and interests that have inspired me and propelled me toward new discoveries,
adventure and fun. Music was and is my
first love. At the age of four, a family
friend, a guitarist, was probably the first to awaken in my young, growing
brain the notion that I could do something besides eat, sleep and shit. I can clearly remember sitting cross legged
on the floor in front of Nole Chivers, the seventeen year old son of my mom’s
friend, Val. I asked him one day if I could “try” his
guitar. He smiled and looked down at me,
still seated on my bum at his feet and said, “There’s no reason why you can’t
try anything.” Not long afterward, Nole
was killed while racing his motorcycle.
I inherited his guitar at the age of four and a half. His features has faded from my memory over
time but his words to me have never left my brain, and are never far from my consciousness.
Nole would never know the power of what he said to me that
day, but as in that first time his words
have changed my life repeatedly ever since.
I have never steered clear of the things that interest me, from that very
first day on Nole’s carpet, with a giant guitar in my lap, to multi
instrumental recordings. From skydiving
to learning to fly, sail, ride motorcycles and all manner of adventure, I have
been fortunate to have the opportunity and talent to chase my dreams and have
never been afraid to try anything.
Cycling further , yoga, and getting more fit have taking up
a lot of my hobby time lately, but I need to get something off my chest. I have a new love in my life now, and it’s
pretty serious. So serious that I fear I
may be putting my own health and well being at risk. Funyuns!
Oh my god I love Funyuns. Little
round crispy, loaded with nastiness, delicious, onion flavored rings of
happiness. Whoever invented the Funyun
should get the Nobel Prize in Yumminess.
I bought a bag a couple of weeks
ago when Eileen and I took the Catamaran to the lake for a day in the sun and
wind. I almost never buy junk food,
honest, but for some reason that lime green toxic waste bag caught my attention
and I said to myself….”I’ll try it!”
Since then I have eaten way too many damn Funyuns. I’m gonna turn into a Funyun if I don’t stop. I feel so guilty. They’re like crack for cyclists. I think that had I discovered Funyuns in the
70’s, that by now I would be a frizzy haired, shirtless, nut job sneaking into
abandoned houses with a bag of onions under one arm, a five gallon bucket in
the other, building illegal Funyun labs just to feed my own disgusting
habit.
If I don’t get on top of this problem, things are gonna go
south in a hurry. At the store last week
I found a giant bag of Funyuns with 12 little smaller bags inside. Eu-bloody-reka! What a score.
I tried not to appear too guilty at the checkout stand, but I still got
the “look” from the clerk. It’s the same
look I got when I was a teenager, trying to slide on by with a Playboy and a
pack of Marlboros nicely mixed in with cart full of groceries, hoping the clerk
would be too busy to notice. Just forget
it! They always notice and you always
get the “look!” Maybe it’s just me….I don’t
know.
Today at work, I was putting in roman tub faucet. My client, a cyclist coincidentally, asked
how I had learned to be able to repair such a variety of residential
issues. My honest answer to him was that
over the years, if I wasn’t familiar with something, I just tried it till I
understood it. Webster’s dictionary
defines the term “autodidactic” as a self taught person. That’s me I guess…..autodidactic. I like being autodidactic, but wish there was
a different word for it. It doesn’t sound
as pleasant as it is to be. In fact, in
my child like mind, it sounds like there ought to be “colony” for autodidactic
people like they used to have for people with leprosy. “Oh, don’t go over there….he
autodidactic!” No matter, I will be
autodidactic and learn to like it. I
wonder if all autodidactic people are prone to Funyun addictions.
All this talk of atomic lime green fat food has made me
hungry. There’s still a few little snack
sized Funyun bags left in the pantry.
When they’re gone, that’s it. No
more! I gotta stop. Well maybe one more, just to be sure I don’t want
any…..or if I buy just one big bag and eat them all I won’t want any more….or
maybe….
