Annie Long | 06/19/04

Jamie and I rejected the idea of going to estate sales this morning. In the afternoon we went to Ruby Tuesday's with Chris and met up with Theory-Chris for some Cubs-talk. I bit the bullet and bought myself a new cap because I'm tired of wearing bandanas now that my hair is so short. Jamie and I ran some errands after lunch and then I took a nap during the power-outage causing storm. As far as storms go, I like these--the ones where there is no rain but a lot of thunder and lightening. Well, I should say I like them when I'm safely in my house. Poor Chompy, though, having to hide in the closet until it passes. Although I had prepared thoroughly before giving Jamie her birthday present, I apparently didn't plan thoroughly enough and couldn't find what I needed to. At least we got a nice little day-trip out of it. Once we got back I borrowed Meet The Parents from one of Jamie's roommates. What a funny movie. It's funny because it's true. While I've never knocked a bride-to-be out with a volleyball I did have a girlfriend's father once ask me, "Son, are you a pervert or a liar?" With only two choices, the decision was tough.

I got an email from an elementary-school friend, who moved away in (I think) 7th grade. I have a lot of fond memories of hanging out with her, since she was one of my first real friends. I remember one time in 4th grade my mom made me go over to this other girl's house to play instead. Ooh, I was pissed. I received a lecture on being nice to everyone and it's nice to see that it paid off. (Me being the emotionally empathetic and generally kind person that I am.) I sent her a reply back and I hope I get a detailed account back. It's funny how something random like that leads to such speculation. Maybe she's famous now, making hundreds of thousands of dollars on the LPGA circuit? Maybe with a husband and houseful of kids? Maybe he does something famous too? Conversely, what if horrible things have beset them? Well, who knows. The point is that it kind of forces you to take a more objective look at your own life and decision making. Well, if I *had* gone to Northwestern for graduate school, I'd be sitting somewhere right now as Dr. Catania. Well, if I *had* gotten that little pug, I wouldn't have Chompy. It's funny, really. Truth be told, I though I'd be a lot further in life than I am now. I was talking with my friend Ben (in Uruguay) and his baby...child, is now almost 2. He's married, plays with a couple orchestras, has a cool wife, a cool dog and now a cool toddler. I am just a year younger than he is, but I bounce between almost-getting-great-professional-jobs/peeling-over-the-Tallahassee-careers section-looking-for-part-time-office-work (the same work I could have done as well in high school), no wife, a cool dog, and no kids. Not that it's absolutely essential to have a family in your mid-20s. I know I wouldn't be able to balance everything I do with husband-father commitments, but still. As more of my friends get married and have children I wonder how they find the time to do that. Sure, Matt's going to be 31 this year, but still. He was dating Jenny when he was my age. And now they're married---and from what I heard at the wedding, there just might be some mini-Flynn's running around soon. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy. I'm happy and grateful to have a lot of friends and do what I love to do "professionally". I think of all the people running around that hate their job, or even dislike their job and I feel that much better that writing music is never worse than an 8 on a scale of 1-10. That's pretty damn good. Add in that when I was a senior in high school I didn't think I'd ever even GO to college, to be sitting here on top of a handful of degrees makes me feel pretty damn good too. So what if I don't have a wife and kids? I have a dog, some fish and some nice houseplants. And they don't nag me.

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