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BEDRIDDEN LIFE
A Few More Things I Want to Mention
Or Tweets, let’s be honest
When my eight-year-old son Thomas was six, I engaged in some experimental parenting. One day I said to him, “Your butt stinks like an old cat,” to elicit a response as if another kid had said that to him at school. He replied, “I’m going to punch you in the face if you say that again.” I said, “That’s not how we handle things.” Then I didn’t know what else to say.
If I was on the brink of complete madness and absolutely had to jump off a bridge, I’d want a Peter Cetera song playing in the background. I was never a big fan, not by any means, but it seems fitting. I can’t help but feel a sense of melancholy and nostalgia when I hear one of his songs.
As I listened to J. S. Bach’s “Concerto in F Minor” one morning, I couldn’t help but think of all the pen pals severely affected by the last technological revolution — the rise of digital technology — over the last however many years.
An old therapist once told me that it’s not good to give advice because then if it backfires, the person can come back & say, “You told me to do it.” I disagree and don’t give a crap. I love to give wanted and unwanted advice. People sometimes don’t know what the hell they’re doing or what they want. Neither do I, but still.
