Most days I simply breathe, terminus. I place one foot in front of the other, chomp on whatever elephant is in the room—one bite at a time, and mind my own real estate business. Occasionally, I stick two cents worth of my neck out into the Social Networking traffic snarl… then quickly retreat and power-lock the doors after posting a terse one liner or two in the Comment section but before the light turns yellow reminding me to STOP, lest they find me out and veer into the HOV lane where yes, I sometimes poach alone. The rest of the time I’m thinking of something decent to compose that doesn’t state the obvious or contribute to someone else’s conspiracy theory.
I’ve mentioned before that I only need to be 51% in favor of something to concur, though it’s not as easy as it sounds. I find myself indifferent about so many things, in these, my middle years, that I’m often unsure where I stand on even the simplest points or issues. Lobbying for those last few votes in my own head seems a waste of electromagnetic energy better spent on, I don’t know…. apathy? So here’s what’s been brining in the mental stock pot since last I published here:
My economic survival instincts tell me I’m a conservative but my starving conscious contact still whispers liberal.
I can barely tolerate NAR but I sell real estate to make a living and thus, support the paper tiger.
I think I support NRA but I’ve never been too crazy about weapons.
I often get the two groups mixed up.
Same with AA and AAA.
I can’t stand the thought of cruelty to any animal but I love a T-bone steak, rare.
I can usually recall the names on Facebook but not the actual faces.
I loathe the New York Times but enjoy The New Yorker.
I admire anyone who admits a mistake promptly although I’m generally intolerant of mistakes.
I prefer being a Buyer’s Agent over a Listing Agent any day of the week, especially Sundays.
‘The Take Away’ is the most powerful Closing technique if you really want closure.
I don’t particularly like the genre but I’m working on a screenplay entitled Chick Flick.
There are some mob guys in it.
I no longer smoke or drink except in my dreams where I’m always smoking and drinking.
I wonder why guys like Lowell George make small, deep cuts in pop culture then suddenly die leaving the rest of us to listen to their small bodies of work over and over and over again.
Little Feat looks old as hell on Facebook.
Where the hell is Tehachapi?
Rob Chipman says:
Funny post, Geno! I liked it long before I got to Lowell George, but you summed him up enough to make me admit – I went way out of my way once just so I could tell the truth whenever I sing “And I’ve been from…” Its just east of Bakersfield, if you’re ever looking.
March 4, 2009 — 1:26 pm
Geno Petro says:
“I went out of my way once…”
LOL
March 4, 2009 — 2:13 pm
Karen Highland says:
I just read this post to my husband, and we laughed because he could have written it (If he could be a wordsmith like yourself), except instead of mob guys, he would have had Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. You never cease to entertain us:)
March 4, 2009 — 3:29 pm
Smithers says:
I got married in 1985 near Tehachapi to a lovely Bakersfield girl (she is still lovely), in a kind-of mountain community called Bear Valley. One of the many, many Bear Valleys in California.
Geno, I always enjoy your posts – at least by 51%. Please dream having a nice cold beer on my tab (with your rare T-bone).
March 4, 2009 — 4:15 pm
Geno Petro says:
Done. I’m there. Now where is my doxylamine succinate…?
March 4, 2009 — 4:22 pm
James Boyer says:
Funny post Geno, I liked how it flowed and all though did not know that last guy you talked about. I find myself becoming a little ambivalent about many issues in my old age. Oh I turn 40 next week, now where is my AARP card.
March 4, 2009 — 4:51 pm
Don Reedy says:
Let’s see….doxylamine succinate….
Is this a post from Geno Petro, or his nefarious counterpart, Petro Chemical?
“Chick Flick”, the screenplay? You, my friend, ARE a chick flick in and of yourself.
March 4, 2009 — 5:07 pm
Geno Petro says:
OTC sleeping aid because Sleepy Tyme Tea is…well, it’s for chicks.
March 4, 2009 — 5:12 pm
Greg Swann says:
A doctor of the heart and a doctor of the mind… You got me to turn off Radio Paradise for the first time in weeks. Those early Robert Palmer albums, too. You’re right. Lowell George sticks in the mind like Townes, but the sound is so tight and perfect. The timing just kills.
March 4, 2009 — 6:27 pm
Geno Petro says:
Yeah, like Townes. JJ Cale,too, for me. Don’t know why but every so often I need to sneak back and listen for an hour or two, like I’m stealing a look at something secret that everyone else forgot about. It makes me feel young, I think.
March 4, 2009 — 6:47 pm
Greg Swann says:
Check. The Band, too. I think we’re both too young for this, but the music we’re talking about was a counter-reaction to 1968: Drugs, protests, riots, political murders. And then: Music From Big Pink — itself explicitly a counter-reaction to The End by The Doors. In 1968 it was Creedence in Marin County and The Band in West Saugerties. By 1969, roots music was everywhere.
March 4, 2009 — 7:18 pm
joe spake says:
about 300 miles from Tonapah, NV. And don’t forget to put Gram Parsons and Otis Redding on the list.
March 4, 2009 — 11:14 pm
Geno Petro says:
It does a soul good to chat & ponder a subject other than RE, if even for a bit.
March 5, 2009 — 6:05 am