Still Figurin' Out Who I Think I Am

This one's about observations, happiness, and trapped!

30DBC PROMPT: "Now that you have had a glance of what is around you, take a few minutes to journal what you see and what you don't see. How observant are you?"

Good afternoon campers! Nice to see you all on this gorgeous sunny day...I hope you all had a fitful sleep in your bunks and are ready for the challenges Lyn's a Witchy Woman says she's got in store for us this weekend. Activities and maybe a surprise or two, if you're paying attention, are on the agenda.

Speaking of paying attention, it appears there are some of you who fail to think I'm observant ! groovygirl, in her entry "Invalid Entry" , claims I "would no doubt be oblivious to the discomfort of everyone around him"...and that couldn't be further from the truth! I've made more friends than enemies through four blogs based on observations! Sure, I might laugh at your misfortune, but then I'll be the first to try to help you out. Moving on...

So Lyn's got us out in the middle of nowhere, and wants us to see stuff? She mentioned loons in her entry, "Loving Her, Choices, Camping and Happiness" . Perhaps she was referring to the bufoonery Charlie ~ , 30DBC Creator/Founder and I could be getting into, ladies. Pranksterism doesn't just dwell in urban areas, ya heard? Watch your backs...ya never know who might slip a dead frog under your pillow, or throw water on you while you're in the outhouse. It's hard to run from a seated position with your pants around your ankles. Jus' sayin'.

But I'm tryin' to see the forest for the trees, ya know? A setting like that where I can get semi-lost in nature, snap a few pics, and find a stump by a tiny little stream where I can take my notebook to write down everything I'm soaking in sounds like the perfect getaway spot. Truth be told, that's my ideal place to be when I want to clear my head and spit out what's goin' on in there. Maybe I'd start with some personal, confessional poetry, and then shift over to metaphors about trees, fishies, birds, and the camper's lifestyle. It worked out well for me once (except for the part about taking a nap and waking up to find most of everything I had on me in my "middle of nowhere" spot had been stolen...but I trust you people more than the general population).

And that's the thing...you can never be too careful. You always gotta have one eye open to your surroundings, even if you can't quite articulate verbally and orally what's going on around you. Perhaps I speak in actions...maybe one afternoon I'll help you chop and stack firewood, and later that night when you're asleep I'll tickle your forehead to make you think there's a fly just so I can watch you swat at yourself. Ya never know....

BCF PROMPT: "Founded in 1999 by the Secret Society of Happy People as 'Admit You’re Happy Day', Happiness Happens Day is celebrated each year on August 8th. This day was created to recognize and express happiness. August 8th was chosen as it is the anniversary of the first membership in 1998. Share with us what makes you happy...is expressing joy easy for you?"

I don't consider myself to be a happy person by nature...maybe it's because I've seen too much of what happens when you're happy but not prepared for what happens when the happiness goes away. That scares me for people who celebrate happiness and are overly optimistic...do they have the coping skills necessary to deal with adversity? Sure, maybe some do, and can look heartbreak in the eyes, stare it down, and smile at it as if there were gold middle fingers on their teeth. "I Will Not Look Heartbreak In The Eyes" 

For me, the starting starts with starting small...gotta get those small victories before you can begin to dream bigger. Believing in yourself comes with all you wind up conquering. And those little moments of self-satisfaction, them li'l happies, they add up, and multiply when you can limit your disappointments as well. But I'm a realist, and I understand that sometimes life gets in the way of even the best-laid plans. It's hard to rely on others because so many variables come in to play...expectations are great but they're often tossed aside because someone else has some quote-unquote better idea that takes precedence and time and maybe even money, while everyone else watches it go nowhere, and now I'm babbling totally off-point.

Happiness for me equals contentment, and it takes me awhile to get there. If it's a day I can come home from whatever my day was and relax without any drama, I'm satisfied. Another day with no worries is a great day for me. As complex as I can be at times, it doesn't take much to make me happy...I'm learning again to be a minimalist, and not having a lot doesn't mean you have to be unhappy. It's about appreciating what you have and the people around you in the here and now for who they are.

It sounds contradictory, but don't let emotions get in the way of your happiness (something else I'm still working on). You have to take care of you, first and foremost. Don't listen to people who call you "selfish" or "needy" because you're doing what's best for you over what they want you to do or be. If you're not making yourself happy, eventually people will see your efforts to please everyone else aren't as up to par as they should be were you to be truly comfortable with yourself.

Self-help 101, y'all. Just because I spit it on a blog doesn't mean I have to listen to it.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

"Barrel of Monkeys"  time, y'all! After some wondering about who's gonna go first, very thankful stepped up with "Invalid Entry" . That leaves me again with the letter E...seems like I've gotten E a lot, and yeah, there are tons of great "E" songs out there, but c'mon O-Tang Crew! Challenge me! Help me out! Help me help you!

Anyway, yo- this is from a seminal, critically acclaimed album that pretty much dismantled music from there on out...but with lyrics   that teetered a line between the raw, introspective side of Thom Yorke that counteracted with the clunky and obtuse political late 90's references to unaware Americans about British politics. This is maybe the last pure "guitar shreddin' and true band decadent" highlight of Radiohead's career before they turned music on its earhole with Kid A and Amnesiac.

I think you could transpose "you" and "I" in the lyrics, and you could pretty much accurately nail the current political system in many countries...when those ahead of us move forward, no matter what we do, we wind up moving backwards. Getting ahead is the goal, but I don't wanna die trying.

"Say the right things when electioneering...
I trust I can rely on your vote."

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

"If you were trapped in an elevator for 12 hours, which three bloggers would you most want with you in that situation? Keep in mind 12 hours is a long time...."

This brings to mind the classic Friends clip where Chandler is stuck in an ATM with a supermodel  . All sorts of awkwardness ensues...but the whole city there is down, so it's not like us civilians bailing each other out is gonna help. No cupcake runs, no bathroom breaks, nothin'. Just me and you three, at the dinner party table the highlight of my freakishness.

See, I don't like elevators to begin with. Lazy, need stairs for physical fitness, blah blah blah, NO. Just the motion infuriates my anxiety. I need a corner, and if I can't get one I need a side with a handle, even if I'm going up one goddamned floor. Plus it's a really closed-in space...anxiety trigger #2. Don't snugger in too close to me, please. Let me enjoy my anxiety attack alone...with NO TOUCHING  .

And once I get over the panic, and realize I now have a truly captive audience, I might try to break the ice. But Charlie ~ , Mitchopolis , and Brother Nature wouldn't mind...not a damn bit. Brochester College in Anywhere, New Wherever is where you'd all wanna attend for some schoolin', but ya can't unless you submit to the Dean Of Education- That's Life Division.

Simply put, I can only flirt with the ladies for so long until I feel comfy enough with them to say "Hey! We survived this! Let's make out!"

But get some comedy/blogging legends (and legends in the making) in the same tiny square together...take us at your own risk. We may twist words into crayfish and cattle. There might be a dire need to escape. But on the real, where else are the four of us gonna meet up where there are no rules other than the army of us?

Special shout-outs to Lyn's a Witchy Woman , Princess Megan Snow Rose , Ghostranch , and everyone else I wouldn't mind being stuck in a busted elevator with.

OK, I'm bouncin'...don't wanna hold you all up. Peace, somewhere we will meet, and GOODNGHT NOW!!