That Tylenol scare really put a lid on Halloween. Hardly any kids came around. Some girl in Kelowna (a Canadian city in the same valley as Yakima, but around 300 miles north of here) got an acid trip out of a Cadbury bar. They should have asked her if she minded.
You won’t be proud of me but I’ll tell you what I did. I dropped by Liz’s place. Even if she is a head case, I like her. To give her the (birthday) present and make sure she was still alive. She got into a guilt trip over it all, “I can’t take this”. Anyway, I was due to come back and get her in a bit ager sher [unknown phrase] powdered her nose, but instead I found these super bargains at the Kennedy Heights Sears Clearance and she was out by the time I rolled up. Tough life.
I got home just in time for my lesson and was interested to learn I didn’t miss much. That’s likely because the instructor, Roy, is not a natural teacher. Jumps all over the place. It is only natural, also, a guitarist tends to like songs with guitar. But I hate commercialized junk like “House of the Rising Sun”. Tripe! And Gordon Lightfoot? Gimme a break.
Speaking of guitars, Sears had a nice-looking 12-string on sale. I hadn’t planned on it, I’ll have to think. What do I know about 12-string? I know 5 chords on a real guitar, maybe. I’ll never see that price again and it is the same brand Harry has in his studio. I could always take the extra strings off I think, and be like the groupie in Roy’s class. “Just play and let me listen.”
I’m also in the market for a door. Without it, I have to leave my heater on. And this result is I have to wash my hair every day, no good. I’m a busy man. On the home front. Leon is making himself at home, another Dakenken, talking with him generates more heat than light.
In the usual way, tho, it’s good. People like that are so far behind they think they’re right out front. It has always been amazing to me how the general populace can see good in a person who accomplishes nothing, but rather just sits there, inert. You could say they are ‘relaxing’, but you can’t [really] relax unless you’ve done something constructive first. Otherwise,you get to the semantic problem of saying you’re going to have fun, then relax. If it ain’t work, how do you rate relaxing after it, and if it ain’t work, it ain’t constructive in a truer sense.
Anyway (I got little sleep last nite) so it confounds me, as an example, Bobbie saying “Leon is such a great guy”. A guy who never does anything—I’ve seen no evidence he has ever done anything—to me is lazy and useless and not worth considering whether he is nice or not. Mind you, Bobbie’s statement is usually predicated by the reminder of how hard-working and frugal his parents and that he was raised in a work atmosphere. Yet there is not a shred of evidence that old Leon has picked up on it. And that, Ms. Ross, is where you make your judgment, sad but true. As usual, tho, you can’t really say anything to Bobby because she reverts to the old “you-think-you’re-so-great” instead of looking at the facts. My challenge stands, however.
[Author's note 2021: I've long since forgotten the issue, but it seemed important at the time. Leon went on to become one of best music fans. But not much else. Also, you might note this is a much later Dragon Natrually Speaking rendition of the original writing.]
Show me what, with all this superiority Leon has in upbringing and attitude, what he has ever accomplished with it. And avoid the nonsense of saying you don’t have to accomplish to be good. An advantage wasted is not an advantage, it is a waste. A mature mind cannot ignore the waste when examining the issue.
I am frustrated by the references Bobbie makes, tho. I suspect it is founded on jealousy that she knows for all my shortcomings, I am more qualified to, and will make firm judgments in such cases. If for none other than the fact that she knows it is ultimately the Leon types who wind up coming to me for capital and example. I am content to let all of them be—-but aren’t people quick to compare on terms they prefer? I mean, Bobbie, do you dare compare Leon to me on my terms? I think it is her inflated image of his parents plus her refusal to recognize my unbroken chain of success and lastly her notably miserable record of failures on tangible issues. I do not dispute any successes she may have in “family ties” or any equally undefined area.
[Author’s note: whatever the reason for this blog blab, it has long since forgotten. But I believe it had something to do with money, where Bobby had to chose between Leon and . I don’t remember but I do recall he showed up at the last minute and wanted something that was had been promised to me. His only claim was his family, which I protested for obvious reasons. And isn’t it interesting I was having identical issues with guitar players thirty years ago? Was I taking guitar lessons?]
