Incremental Chunks
I don't know. Not finished. I'm a bum.
I'm referring, of course, to nearly everything that's ever gone on in my life, but in this case in particular I mean the two promised posts, "Narrow Calm" and "The Day-To-Day." They are taking me a really long time to finish, and I have two excuses. First of all, I haven't had much time to write lately, what with all the driving and getting lost in the computer-free zone that is my golf course. For the last week, I've been either at the course, at the ballpark, hanging out with Ellen, or asleep -- I barely even check my email, unless it's from my cell phone. Second, I noticed that the pieces are bleeding in and out of each other, and I don't have the energy or the time to fix this complex problem. "Narrow Calm," I fear, might therefore fall victim to my laziness, though that title will no doubt come in handy at some point this summer, probably in early August.
As far as "The Day-To-Day" goes, the idea for has mushroomed into a massive project, and I keep adding a little something to it almost every day. It is, for the most part, my attempt to explain to you all the little things that make the daily trek up to Wisco tolerable. On a different level, it has helped me to gain some clarity as I try to figure out what I'm doing with my life. How Dr. Phil of me.
Getting back to the idea for the post, I have a million ideas for stories based on my experiences at the golf course. Since we are open-to-the-public and inexpensive, I end up dealing with a broad cross-section of society: farmers, executives, laborers, retirees, immigrants, my fellow Cubs/Sox/Bears-leaning Chicagoans, our Packers/Brewers/Bagers Cheeseheads, not to mention quite a few Nascar fans, a couple of homies, and number of military guys. I find myself continually fascinated by my interactions with my customers, because they are all so amazingly different.
Ours is not a private club, but we essentially run a club nonetheless; 90% of my clientele are regulars, and most of them feel like it's "their" club and that is fine by me. While I don't usually remember their names, I recognize just about everybody. As I describe intimately in "The Day-To-Day," I have created a long list of nicknames for my clients, a small deception which feeds Nick the Nicknamer, my alter-ego. I smoke butts, fret about the weather, keep an eye on the register, and, most importantly, listen to what people have to say about every topic under the sun. I ought to turn on a tape recorder; doing so might speed up the completion of my thought. But I don't think that'd go over too well with my customers, and as we are in the business of making people feel the opposite of uncomfortable, I guess I'll keep chipping away at the idea in incremental chunks.
So, incremental chunks being the case, you'll probably have to wait just a bit longer for some substantive and non-Cubs WIS material. So sorry! Ciao for now...
I'm referring, of course, to nearly everything that's ever gone on in my life, but in this case in particular I mean the two promised posts, "Narrow Calm" and "The Day-To-Day." They are taking me a really long time to finish, and I have two excuses. First of all, I haven't had much time to write lately, what with all the driving and getting lost in the computer-free zone that is my golf course. For the last week, I've been either at the course, at the ballpark, hanging out with Ellen, or asleep -- I barely even check my email, unless it's from my cell phone. Second, I noticed that the pieces are bleeding in and out of each other, and I don't have the energy or the time to fix this complex problem. "Narrow Calm," I fear, might therefore fall victim to my laziness, though that title will no doubt come in handy at some point this summer, probably in early August.
As far as "The Day-To-Day" goes, the idea for has mushroomed into a massive project, and I keep adding a little something to it almost every day. It is, for the most part, my attempt to explain to you all the little things that make the daily trek up to Wisco tolerable. On a different level, it has helped me to gain some clarity as I try to figure out what I'm doing with my life. How Dr. Phil of me.
Getting back to the idea for the post, I have a million ideas for stories based on my experiences at the golf course. Since we are open-to-the-public and inexpensive, I end up dealing with a broad cross-section of society: farmers, executives, laborers, retirees, immigrants, my fellow Cubs/Sox/Bears-leaning Chicagoans, our Packers/Brewers/Bagers Cheeseheads, not to mention quite a few Nascar fans, a couple of homies, and number of military guys. I find myself continually fascinated by my interactions with my customers, because they are all so amazingly different.
Ours is not a private club, but we essentially run a club nonetheless; 90% of my clientele are regulars, and most of them feel like it's "their" club and that is fine by me. While I don't usually remember their names, I recognize just about everybody. As I describe intimately in "The Day-To-Day," I have created a long list of nicknames for my clients, a small deception which feeds Nick the Nicknamer, my alter-ego. I smoke butts, fret about the weather, keep an eye on the register, and, most importantly, listen to what people have to say about every topic under the sun. I ought to turn on a tape recorder; doing so might speed up the completion of my thought. But I don't think that'd go over too well with my customers, and as we are in the business of making people feel the opposite of uncomfortable, I guess I'll keep chipping away at the idea in incremental chunks.
So, incremental chunks being the case, you'll probably have to wait just a bit longer for some substantive and non-Cubs WIS material. So sorry! Ciao for now...
posted by Pat at 11:39 PM
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