Tuesday Too #23

1.) Do you have a friend like Mr. Potatoehead? In other words do you have a friend that trouble seems to follow like a bad penny? Tell us about that friend or one of his/her bad pennies?

I do know a woman who has a really tragic, heartbreaking life - one thing after another, all very serious, life-changing, sorrowful events - something like the trials of Job. Somehow, she manages to keep it together - at least in public anyway. I also have a friend (or she used to be my friend, before the disintegration became too far gone for me to continue enabling) who has a hard life due to alcoholism. That was not the root of her problem, years ago - but now it has blossomed into the most serious of her problems. Both situations are too sad, and private, for me to elaborate more at the moment, although in the future I may write on this subject, or I might post a link to some things I have already written.


2.) Was there something you really meant to accomplish, or really wanted to do that you didn't do last week? How come you didn't do it?

Well, I wanted to go the the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival last weekend, and I also wanted to go to the Greene County Youth Fair. I didn't go to either, but instead worked around the house and in the yard. It is a rare weekend that we spend at the weekday house, and there were so many projects to do. This place really needed some attention. We made a lot of progress - moved a large forsythia bush with the truck and a rope; put in a set of stairs from the side of the house to sidewalk level (something I've wanted for 10 years to improve access to the garden), and started staining the fence. Another reason we stayed home was that Dave Carter, a musician we really wanted to see at the folk festival, died a week or so before, at age 49, from a heart attack. His partner, Tracey Grammer still performed; Bob wasn't really feeling up to a memorial. Then, there are several more fairs nearby in August, and we will be sure to go to at least one. Finally, we had tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band in Saratoga last night, we knew we were definitely going, that it would be a very late night, and honestly there is a limit to the old stamina.


3.) Pretend you're in the market for a therapist. What would be the therapist's most desirable quality? Why that one?

Hmmm...I'm not sure. I'm not really in the market, to tell you the truth, so it is kind of hard to pretend. "Good listener" comes to mind, as does "excellent education and credentials," "philosophy I find palatable," "references," and "takes insurance/realitic fees."