I have an awesome girlfriend, Molly. We’ve been together for over 20 years and I know her very well at this point. But not completely. That’s a good thing in my view. She still does things I don’t always anticipate. I know her character very well and when she surprises me with something, I can see how it’s true to her. One of her traits I have come to admire most is working. She will think to do something, “I’m going to get some paint remover and see if I can strip the layers of paint that have accumulated in the hallway of our common area on our floor.” Within a day of having the thought pout loud, we have a sample pack of paint remover samples. Without warning, she’s doing a test the first time she has a gap in her busy schedule. Very quickly after we began dating I realized she doesn’t wait very long from thought to action.
I have moments like this but will fall into an unproductive back and forth with myself and whoever else will listen way longer than I should. Example, I hemmed and stressed over my back tattoo idea for 5 years before Molly had heard about it too many times and herded me into the tattoo shop of her friend and I was getting my back tattoo. Molly has had a lot of success because she doesn’t wait. She is smart about the things she does, they aren’t brash or foolish. Not planning creates some chaos but that usually gets straightened out and again, she will have another accomplishment to put in her next autobiography. (I think she’s almost due for another one)
A few weeks ago I pondered here if I should try a video Substack. Taking a page out of Molly’s play book, I just did it today. The weeks since I put it out there, I was overthinking it and doing the, “I want to write something out, I want to draw some things as props, can I find someone’s cat to put in it so everyone thinks I have a cat… Pyrotechnics … ?” Silly or cool stuff that might add to my video. Mainly because I don’t always like my voice and I also will phrase things awkwardly when I talk, not that I don’t write awkwardly when I write! So here is my first crap video of probably a few others.
I have so many things to talk about, adventures in the city, etc. I still don’t have a focus but over time I think a pattern will form from the chaos. I’m now having a flashback to my failed attempt at spoken word for a talent show tryout in high school. The big takeaway was it was a disaster and I over thought everything and it got too abstract for me to describe what I wanted from all the other people I brought in to help with the “experience”. When you are creating a new world, having all the options of what to do isn’t always best. I think a limited pallet is a good way to get started. The first couple of vids I make for here will likely be this. Short and sweet. Maybe sweet isn’t accurate but it will be my goal. It says this video is 47 seconds and that’s probably 42 or 43 seconds longer than it needs to be. I wore pants for this even though I didn’t have to.
Shout out to Dave Baxter at the Substack “Vintertainment” for being so supportive!
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