Lower the Bar

Originally Posted Monday, February 3, 2014

I  successfully did nothing this weekend.  Having set that as the goal, I feel tremendous about it.  Lower the bar, I say.  You'll be more successful and happier, too.  You'll find that you do the same things but the outcome is different.  High achievers are butt holes.  They are never pleasant to be around and are never happy the way you and I define it.  A slow meandering with a happy ending, that's what we want.  All the books and movies try to tell us that.  Who wants you to keep busy all the time and to be productive?  Bosses, that's who.  I'm not saying you should do less than you can, not saying you should be lazy.  It is the expectations I'm challenging.  If the bar is low enough, the achievement will always be above it. 

To wit, how happy are those high expectation boys in Denver right now?  Or that fat fuck from the Red Hot Chili Peppers?  He looked stupid next to Bruno Mar.  Mars?  I had never heard of him before.  Listening to his music was like reading People magazine.  But I liked his little James Brown tribute all the same. 

I made a delicious beef and vegetable soup last night for mom.  Jesus, it was good.  An ex came by as I served it up, and she ate a bowl. . . then two. . . then three.   No kidding, it was that good.  The secret?  3/4s of a bottle of port.  It had been open too long and I didn't want to waste it.  It sweetened the pot fantastically.  Use port with beef kids, nothing else. 

And now the sun is struggling to rise, and I am preparing for another week at the factory.  I would like the week to myself.  I am terribly good at that.  But the bosses know what they are doing when they give people weekends.  The batteries are finally recharged just enough when it is time to return to work.  In truth, if they could just work us to death without weekends and then replace us, they would rather do that, but there are laws and such, so there are weekends and vacations if you are "lucky" enough to have a full time job.  In my case, I have been very, very lucky. 

Aunt Thelma, though, has it figured out.  I don't believe she has worked a day in her life.  There is always something to carry her forward.  It is rumored that she has done some "questionable" things.  It is whispered that she once smuggled diamonds for some minor European royalty.  She may also have used her "persuasive" powers to help close some deals for a Canadian business tycoon.  It could all be bullshit, of course, just part of the myth that grows up around someone of her particular qualities.  She seems, though, to be in possession of a secret internal life.  Such is her charm. 

I, however, have lost mine to a great degree, have sold it for a wage, an insurance plan, and the promise of a retirement pension.  Tell your kids it isn't worth it unless they want to become farina or oatmeal. 

And one other thing.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman was a damned good actor.