Friday, June 24, 2011

I'm so tired of acting tough, gonna do just what I please....

I have been on a fairly large Jack White bender lately.

Don't confuse this with a Jack Black bender. Fortunately that has never happened to me.

Often a fan of the White Stripes (Icky Thump was one of the albums Chris and I played incessantly on our trip cross country and some part of it reminds me of Arizona and endless stretches of road), I have been listening to everything by him lately.

And I have to admit, I think I may be a tad obsessed with Jack White as a "person."

Or, at least... as a persona.

I have loved his commitment to doing what he pleased forever now.

Pretending an exwife is a sister. Wacky, but great. Helps avoid awkward questions I guess.

Teaming up with Lorretta Lynn? Just plain awesome.

Starting a dozen other bands...just for fun? The man is starting to sound as hyperactive and in need of stimulus as I am.

Throwing a divorce party to say farewell to a relationship that had beauty but didn't work? Who does that? Jack does.

But mostly I just like that whatever he does, he seems to commit 100% to. That whole only wearing red or white or black thing? That could've been difficult for many. He did it with panache. He was steampunk before there was a word.

Simply put - I love him, and think he is a genius, for doing what has made me happiest - no matter what. And I think doing that has made him a success.

I'm not saying I am going to commit to a three-color pallet (though, to be honest, I wear a lot of blue) or that after 5 months of piano lessons (I'm up to F thank you) I'm going to start a band, but...

I think I am going to try to inject just a little more of Jack White into my life.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

With my lightning bolts a-glowing, I can see where I am....

Day 1 of trying to be happy.

Well, currently I am happy - happy to be finished with grading research papers!

But that was not really about attempting to be happy as it was attempting to be done.

This trying to be happy stuff is harder than Uncle Leo made it out to be.


But, my attempt today came during traffic.

I am not certain who taught me this, but I have been taught that traffic is car-dance-party time.

I have done this in just about every car I have ever driven.

I have started multi-car dance parties on 80 at rush hour.

And today, I ignored the looks on my fellow drivers as I busted my move.

And I realized, not for the first time, that this was an odd way to deal with traffic, but that it made me happy.

Or, happier.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Give us this day...

...my daily lesson.

I have abandoned the Lessons from Literature approach. Though I am certain I will still make frequent literary connections, I think it was feeling more of an extension of classroom epiphanies and less about actual learning for me.

And I need to learn.

Yesterday my 95 year old great uncle told me the secret to his age.

He said he tries to be as happy as possible.

While a relatively happy person, I don't know if I can say that I actively try to be as happy as possible.

I try many things: to be as fit as possible, as efficient as possible, and even, frequently, as good as possible.

But I do not think I have ever tried to be as happy as possible.

The idea is ponderous to me.

How can this change my daily life? I will try to find out.