In life, you have to cherish the small things. It seems stupid to let yourself be excited over a movie, or a game, or really nice weather, but these little gifts pack a lot of punch for their size when you let them into your heart. I mention this because today was one of those “little things” days for me; an Xbox 360 game I had been long awaiting was released. Days before, I had reserved my copy and paid for it in full (using store credit, I assure you, not the precious few dollars Corelyn and I actually possess), and now that magical Monday had finally rolled around. I made a mix for the occasion of driving to the store, whistled merrily in the bright summer air, and reflected on how treasuring these moments can make one’s troubles lighter. I felt certain that God wanted me to take in this moment as richly as possible, while at the same time acknowledging that it must pass. Yes, it was a warm, happy occasion as I marched into my local GameStop to make this beloved video gaming experience mine and mine forever.
Turns out, it doesn’t come out until tomorrow.
Little things suck. Don’t treasure the little things. Let me tell you why: when you do treasure them, and then they end up letting you down, you find yourself inexorably pissed off about something that doesn’t matter at all. Sure, it’s fun to get all worked up because a game comes out, but when it’s not to be, you spend the rest of the day moping over a video game. You will not receive sympathy from any sensible man, woman or child on this planet. You won’t even get sympathy from yourself. The worst part is, once the disproportionate misery from a trivial inconvenience rolls away, other things that you should be upset about get that much worse: you have no job and there’s no way to get one, you’re broke, you’re moving across the country in a month and you have no idea where to, the kitchen is a mess, the credit card debt from your wedding is a towering tsunami, your graduate school won’t give you a straight answer as to when you’re starting, and so on and so forth. If an Xbox game put you in a tissy, this motley crew of disasters is going to send you to Mars. Oh and, just to add insult to injury, none of your problems are bad enough to make you feel good about letting them upset you.
Sigh.
I don’t really mean that, dear reader, the little things are an essential part of being happy. But the truth is, every day I have no job to go to, I feel my patience growing thin, and small annoyances have a better and better chance of getting my goat. My temp agency just won’t give me a new assignment, and it’s just not a practical reality to acquire a new job for a month or, more likely, less than that. I feel totally useless, part of me kind of likes to hide from my wife when she gets home from work. I do what I can to be useful around the house, but it’s continually humiliating to know we need money and feel like I can’t do anything to provide it. Even though it was a mindless job, I really loved working at Sri Trang for that one week, mostly because I would think about how I was helping out our little family. Now I’m just costing us money on food and gasoline. I wonder if the lady who arbitrarily ended my contract even thought about having a hand in any of this happening.
Anyway, in the brighter news column, Corelyn and I had a very nice 4th of July weekend in Alexandria. We headed down Thursday night, and were instantly barraged with a somewhat exhausting night of bar-hopping. The next day, Cor went off with Katie Meyer (one of her bridesmaides) and her family to see the fireworks at the White House. From what I understand, the highlight of this event was seeing the Meyers standing right next to President Bush on a balcony overlooking the crowd. Pretty exciting stuff.
As for myself, I went with a large entourage of friends and their families to Potomac Landing, where we played an intense, 2-hour game of football in the pouring rain and then enjoyed the same fireworks my wife was seeing from a different vantage point. That night, of course, was Jason Alea’s (a good friend) 21st birthday, so the exhausted masses sucked in one recuperative breath and stormed Old Towne’s bar scene yet again. We hit something like 8 bars in an hour and a half, taking one rapid-fire drink at each location before departing. Sadly, I was a designated driver (something you volunteer for often when you can’t afford to keep buying drinks), so I mostly watched, but it was still a fitting celebration of Jason’s 21st year in existence.
The next two days were more laid back. The highlight for me was when I warned Billy that I would “crush” him in Wii Tennis, and he decided to take me up on the offer. I absolutely destroyed him; we played somewhere near 10 games and he lost every one. After that, Mike stepped in to see if he could do better, and met the exact same fate. I then traded off to my wife, who also stomped on both of their spirits. Then, in a grand finale, Corelyn and I teamed up against both of them…and the exact same thing happened. All totaled, neither Mike nor Bill won a single game ever. They were both wonderfully good sports about it, I suspect they were developing a weird gluttony for punishment. My fall finally arrived when I faced off against Corelyn, who soundly beat me and thus pronounced herself the Wii Tennis champion. A fitting title, she has excelled past my skill level. *Sniffle* They just…grow up so fast.
If you’re heading to the cinema this weekend, allow me to throw a little knowledge on you:
-”Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” comes out on the 11th, and the word on the street is hugely positive. The director, Guillermo del Toro, is a brilliant guy. Now you should be aware that Hellboy is a very weird breed of superhero movie, so don’t roll in there expecting Spiderman, but it seems to be a safe bet if you’re in the mood for a little eye-popping adventure.
-”Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Much to my surprise, this ridiculous-looking Brendan Frasier vehicle is getting decent press. One caveat though: see it in 3-D or don’t see it. This is a point almost every review I’ve seen emphasizes.
That’s all for today, dear reader. Hope everything is well on your end. Aunt Robin continues to be in our thoughts and prayers, and we hope yours as well. We’re also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Brady Benjamin, who is probably very near his debut and, from what I understand, his mother is anxious to hurry this occasion. This little guy is the main reason Corelyn and I aren’t already on the other side of the country, so you can imagine we are pacing the floor waiting for news.
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