thoughts on a rainy morning

sitting in neighborhood laundromat,
downstairs from son's apartment,
near the window having coffee (we are out),
making use of the wifi,
watching people walk by on the streets ...
people are a little nuts with the holiday energy (is that all it is?)

but not me, i gave up on holidays a LONG time ago ...
they have always been great for a day's off work but other
than that, they seem chock full of hypocrisy to me, so
i play a less intense game when they roll around ....

i got a library card yesterday, the library is a relatively short
walk away ... i saw on the map a children's park along one
route, so i walked that way ... the "park" was a parking
lot with some play equipment inside, all concrete and
asphalt, no grass, no trees, surrounded by a fence ....
this is in a "poor" part of the city, so i guess i am not
surprised, but you can bet the rich kids have greenery
and real sand in a box ... anyway, my first 2 books checked out
are by harlan ellison, who i never heard of until i watched
a documentary about/with him and he piqued my interest ...
one is a collection of short stories, one is a sci-fi novel, will
submit my book reports when/if finished ...

i was on a bus the other evening
on my way to hear my son sing in a church, the driver had
stopped at a red light, some guy rapped on the door to
be let on, the driver told him to walk to the proper stop, so this
guy (wearing a red santa hat) punches the door and
breaks the glass and then runs off ... the bus cannot continue,
everyone gets off ... come to find out that it was the evening
of the "santa pub crawl" where you dress as santa and go from
bar to bar, getting smashed ... i saw groups of santas as a
matter of fact, but didn't know what was going on until later,
just thought they were funny, like the flying elvis'es ...

so i googled and MSM has reported on this "event" for years ...
see story and pics here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/12/santacon-san-francisco-2011_n_1143971.html .....

i have been looking for
some kind of simple work to help son with expenses ... i
thought cleaning houses would be a slam dunk, but even tho
there are plenty of ads, no one has responded to my inquiries ...
very strange ... as far as childcare, apparently these days you
gotta pass a drug test, fbi background check, CPR certification, you
should speak 3 languages, have valid driver's license and passport,
be available day and night every day of the year,
be willing to do housework also and run errands ... good grief, a lot
is expected in return for what amounts to minimum wage

my biggest challenge continues to be staying in observation mode,
not giving in to fear or anger or frustration, "being" rather than "doing"

hope your holidays are going well (that may sound sarcastic, but it is
not meant to be ... ) REALLY

"some guy rapped on the door to
be let on"


That was a laugh out loud moment



Holidays down here is pretty much the same this year round. At night time the street looks like a flashing disco with all the Christmas lights.