Monday, November 29, 2010

Lessons from Pac Man

Sometimes life gets so complicated and hectic that even giving a backstory is just too impossible and draining.  At least for me-I know there are people enjoy sharing and that's ok too.  But right now I feel like discussing Pac Man.  

Did you ever play Pac Man?  You may recall that the little guy would eat power balls or power pills or something powerful and the monsters  would freeze and he would run as fast as he could to make headway while the monsters were frozen.  I seem to be frantically looking for power pills and finding none.  If you played Pac Man you may recall that if you looked too hard for the power pills you often overlooked a monster and would be eaten.  Wooooooooooooo woooooo (sound of game over).    

I honestly don't know what lessons I learned in Pac Man that are resurfacing today-but I will enjoy thinking "wocka wocka wocka" as I go through my obstacles de jour.  Maybe that's the lesson-not everything is a "sign"...sometimes it's just another white dot on your way to finding a power dot.

Or maybe it's just fun to think "wocka wocka wocka" instead of "I can't do this any more".    

Monday, November 1, 2010

John Steinbeck-you old trickster

After discussing my plans to recreate your route in "Travels with Charley" I find you didn't actually camp all that much.  So-NOW I get to tell my father that my crazy dream I shared with him is just that-a crazy dream.

I was pissed, John, really pissed.  But hey-the book was good enough to get me and several other people in various stages of wanting or doing the same. So good on you.

Still-I won't be doing the epic journey now-at least not that way.  I travel with my dog and sleep in hotels now-so making plans to do what I already do just doesn't seem, well, epic enough.

It was a good dream though-and I'm glad I had it.  I've had that on the bucket list since I was 14 and read the book in Jr. High.  And I'm not mad-although I was for a minute.

The book did what you needed it to do-sell and entertain people.  It gave me a long lasting dream-and then the realization that I need to dream my own dreams-not follow somebody else's.  The dream is about finding adventure in familiar places-not about a road map and a camper.

It's ok John-I'm not mad at you.  Let's both keep dreaming.

(It's ok to anyone who is reading this-I know John Steinbeck is dead-but I talk to dead people sometimes).