The Nappy Cat Chronicles

A brief outage fixed by our fearless leader, Will. Hopefully no one even noticed.

My niece has been the first person to send me birthday wishes this year.  Not even in Kindergarten, I believe her mother (my sister) helped her in the picking of the card.  Nevertheless, she is the first to wish me a happy birthday this year, and for being such an early bird, I thank her.

Thanks Dalida!

While I am by no means a movie critic, nor could I ever be a good one, I realized the other night that Rush Hour 2 uses a plot point that is from a Last Action Hero.  In Last Action Hero, counterfeit money is introduced for a short bit with its only “tell” being that when set on fire, it burns red.  Ditto for some counterfeit money introduced in Rush Hour 2.

Here’s the catch.  Rush Hour 2 came out way after Last Action Hero, but Last Action Hero was a movie satirizing action movies.  So, let me get this straight, you used a plot prop borrowed from a satire?  It could be the one of the most genius movie moves, or the dumbest.  Luckily, only an inane nerd like me would notice.

I thought about telling someone special recently all the amazing things that they are to me.  This would mean that they can be a variety of different characteristics.  Unfortunately, while in my mind I was trying to orchestrate the arrangement of words I would write and/or speak, I realized that my sentiments would be all too familiar if that person had ever heard Meredith Brooks’ song, “Bitch.”

Even academics run into this all the time.  Of course, when they cite something, their peers and other readers can tell themselves, “Well, he has certainly done his research.”  When trying to convey an emotional message  though, most receivers will think the following things.

You could think that I lack the intelligence to conjure such thoughts on my own.  You might also think that I have that album or song somewhere in my music library (I can attest to you that I do not).

But I wonder how many times someone has tried to express a thought only to have the thought marginalized by later on finding out that those thoughts have been conveyed already in some other popular form.  Or, when we censor ourselves as I have from saying how we feel because the words we want to say, or write, have already been uttered.

I just wish there was some way around it all.

For the second time in my life,  I have had a collapsed lung severe enough  surgery.

While still in an intense amount of pain right now I would like to thank Dr. Cloney for, once again,  being the right man for the job, my mother for being completely and unnecessarily overbearing, Brett for joining me in the ER and helping me stomach my mom, Sara for showing me the concern and caring of someone that matters in others lives, and Ann for always caring.

Last time I had a collapsed lung was in high school, and I could have not felt more alone.  This time, through this once again excruciating pain I am reminded of what I am thankful for and the people who have made it happen for me.

I remember many years ago when Jude was coming out with his first major release, he discussed how Maverick Records felt about signing him.  Jude explained, in an interview, that the label’s idea was something analogous to, “If we could just get this guy into people’s living rooms, they would fall in love him.”

For Jude, his music career has been accomplished, however with many road bumps along the way.   And even taking his accomplishments into account, super stardom has not come his way.

I have come to find that some facets of our lives can be defined in similar terms.  Almost all new relationships are invitations where, depending on the intimacy, souls are laid bare, and value of each other’s company is judged.

Over time, I have developed a paradigm of self worth where I, much like Maverick Records, thought that if I were simply given the time of making a full impression (i.e. allowed into the proverbial living room of one’s mind) then certainly everyone would fall in love with me.

While that paradigm allows for a good bit of self confidence, the problem occurs when things don’t go the way you hope.  So, you (I) end up wondering if a full impression was ever made.  Soon, you might feel that you should try again, as if someone didn’t see the right version of you the first time.  Think of exes who still try to win you back.

Unfortunately though, people will see what they want to see in others.  The chances are great that whatever impressions you’ve made and feelings you have shown will stay typecast and projected from others on to you.

While I don’t have any real advice for when this happens, I hope that understanding that it happens will help others gain some perspective in their relationships.  The real hope lies in continuing to be able to define yourself, and not let others do it for you.