Rapid Eye Reality

Home of Brad Willis: writer, traveler, and suburban warrior

Rapid Eye ephemera

by · April 5, 2009

It may be that I’m working a lot, not sleeping a lot, or becoming naturally concerned with the all-too-soon birth of the boy we call Dos. Regardless, I haven’t written yet in the month of April. I usually wait around for one subject to grow to a full post. Nothing is doing that right now. I have these little ephemeral glimpses of life and little else.

I lost my virginity many years ago on April Fool’s Day. This year, I paid my taxes on the same day. I did it primarily so I could make a joke on the blog about how I’m paying for my first time by getting screwed on the anniversary. Then I decided it wasn’t a very good joke. I still had to pay my taxes.

Shortly after I got home from Uruguay, somebody broke my glass-topped stove. The repair costs hundreds of dollars. Worse was being without a stove top for more than a week. Yesterday, the repair guys finally showed up to fix the thing. Since then, I’ve cooked one meal. I used the stove for all of five minutes to toast the walnuts. Otherwise, I used the charcoal grill and the oven. Odd.

I went out with my buddies for the first time since February. We watched the Final Four and prop bet on anything we could. I came out a winner, including a key win on Price is Right for the tab. An old friend showed up and hung out with us for the evening. She brought a girl we didn’t know. The young lady was as friendly as you could possibly want and more of an expert on zombies than I would’ve expected. She was a pleasure to hang around with. She was also born in 1988. At some point, someone asked her how old her parents were. “Forty-three and 46,” she answered with a smile. It was not lost on us that at least half of our group was old enough to be the girl’s father. Cue midlife crisis. I am currently pricing red sports cars and hair plugs.

My wife is pregnant. You know that, I’m sure, but it bears repeating.

I read The Secret History for the first time on a recommendation from Bloody P. Currently reading World War Z on recommedation from Jey “WhoJedi” Newnum. Also taking my time on The Prince of Frogtown. Next up is John Jeter’s The Plunder Room.

Two of the books mentioned above entered my library shortly before I left for Uruguay. I was in a bookstore and drew a blank on what I wanted to buy. I sent out a Twitter message asking for some recommendations. I got a ton in a just a matter of minutes. People make fun of Twitter all the time. I cannot find a reason to dislike it. The key to appreciating Twitter is to accept that it is just a thing. It’s not a revolution. It’s not the second coming of Edward R. Murrow. It’s not even all that brilliant. It’s just a cool little tool that can be great in the right hands. It’s easy to be disappointed by something you hold up as important. So, don’t hold Twitter up. Use it or don’t use it, as long as you don’t expect the second coming to be preceded by a “@believers I’m on my way.”

Odd work schedule has me up at all hours of the night. When not listening to music, I keep the TV on in the background so I know the world hasn’t gone silent around me. I’ve learned:

  • The military lost an h-bomb off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia back in the late 50s and never found it. There are people who believe the thing could still be a viable weapon and if detonated could put a real damper on living in G-Vegas.
  • Apparently we’ve reached a point at which it’s cool to advertise vibrators on television. This little gem ran during an episode of 48 Hours on Discovery ID. I’ve watched it ten times and am still catching nuances. This is art.

    • I went to an Easter egg hunt. It lasted for 60 seconds.

    How about a quick review of New Year’s resolutions.

  • Weight loss–The amount has changed, but the overall health challenges have not. I’m doing pretty well and I’m growing proud of myself. I’m less concerned with losing a ton of weight and more concerned with being healthy.
  • Online Poker— You may remember, I said I was going to finish two writing projects before playing another hand of online poker. I am pleased to report I have not played online once in 2009. I miss it sometimes, but not as much as I expected. I actually added two more writing projects to the list. Three of the four projects are collaborative, so actually finishing will depend on other people. Still, unless I finish the one solo project, no online poker.
  • Boycott 2009— I still have not gone to McDonalds, Red Lobster, or Ruby Tuesday. It’s probably the easiest resolution ever.

    • I’m treating myself to a big new deck in the back yard. It’s expensive, but what isn’t?

    There.

    Purged.

    Feel better.

    Brad Willis

    Brad Willis is a writer based in Greenville, South Carolina. Willis spent a decade as an award-winning broadcast journalist. He has worked as a freelance writer, columnist, and professional blogger since 2005. He has also served as a commentator and guest on a wide variety of television, radio, and internet shows.

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    3 Responses

    1. Dr. Chako says:
      April 5, 2009 at 8:52 pm

      In response:

      1. If you need help shopping for a sports cars, let me know.

      2. Do you have number of the zombie fanatic, and does she like older married men?

      3. Great commercial. I may have to get one for myself. (TMI?)

      4. I was killing myself to think of a great quote I heard, but couldn’t remember the source. Here it is:

      Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar. – Edward R. Murrow

      Thanks.

      -DrC

    2. Steve Wood says:
      April 5, 2009 at 10:01 pm

      Hi Brad,

      Now i b a blogr 2.

      To check it out go to the website I entered above the comment box and click the “Blog” button. I won’t put a link here for fear the spam getter will get my message.

      I thought of you as I posted an entry today about SCOOP. I too cut back on online poker during March… simply because I was spending so much time on the website. Had I discovered WordPress sooner a lot of time would have been saved at he cost of not learning very much about building a website. Fair trade off I suppose.

      Be forewarned here and now that the competition at the next blogger tournament will be different… not necessarily better… just different.

      —

      “The radio plays some forgotten song. Brenda Lee comin’ on strong. The road has got me hypnotized, and I’m speedin’ into a new sunrise.”
      -Golden Earring-

      I added that because adding stuff like that seems to be all the rage. 😉

      —
      Que le vaya bien…Steve

    3. Steve says:
      April 6, 2009 at 8:04 am

      Hello! I have been reading (lurking?) for some time now, but the “Prince of Frogtown” remark caught my eye enough to comment. If you haven’t read the other two books that Rick Bragg has written about his family (“All Over but the Shouting” and “Ava’s Man”), treat yourself and do so. I live about 3 miles from where most of the stuff in the books takes place, and work about a 2 minute walk from Frogtown, which may bias my opinion (and my father grew up in Frogtown), but Rick Bragg has been a writer I always made sure to read, even back when he wrote for the local paper. He has a nice way with words.

      And while I’m at it, I like your style also. Very eclectic choice of subjects, very subjective yet illuminating–you can tell I wouldn’t make a good critic, I roam around too much–I like the way you write, I guess you can say. Keep it up. Missed you while you weren’t there–not nagging, I know how life is, I’m glad nothing bad had happened. Hope things go good with Dos and your wife. (My Dos is 19 and female, Uno is 27 and male, and BOY do you have some fun coming up! But you probably already know that…)And I know what you mean about getting older–work at a school system, and the teachers all look like kids now. Well, not all of them, but many….

      Anyway, have a good one!