Puzzles

The unfinished puzzle on the flattened cardboard box resting on the floor. Netflix. Two white shirts, one has a hole in it. I can't wear it to work anymore, but I'm reluctant to throw it away because then two would be one. A green and brown Lego set. Flowers, dead and dried. A bottle of vitamin C, chapstick, no calorie soda, and a box of Christmas decorations.

I wish and I hope, does it matter? Does any of it matter? I've been meaning to blog for a while now (yes, yes, I promise to blog more basically every other post...it's not my fault....). I mean, really blog. Like, the other night, I was awake in the small hours of the night (what's new?), and I half-dreamed/half-planned three or four different posts. One would be funny, one would be educational, one would be serious, and one would be crazy. Maybe some math, definitely some comics, possibly some history or a good story from my life. Instead, I tossed and turned in my bed for two hours, passed out, then woke up and played computer games for about 12 hours (possibly more). This post, for better or worse, is going to be about everything. All of it. Every last shred of my sanity is henceforth poured into these digital letters. Because if there's anything that I've learned over the last couple years, it's this: when you feel your life slipping out of your grasp, sometimes it's better to let go. So...onward! To glory! I'll follow myself down the rabbit hole of insanity.

I had a table of interest today. Three ladies, not young yet not on their deathbeds either...well, perhaps they were. I try not to judge people who I serve, as a general rule, so please don't take it that way. They are allowed to live however they choose...but seriously...6 glasses of peach tea is...uh...a lot. And I think the other lady put at nearly twenty packets of regular sugar into her iced tea. That makes it sweet tea, right? She didn't have a Southern accent, but maybe she still developed a fondness for the drink.

She's a rose

Oh, I didn't tell all my readers that The Piebald Penguin turned 24 a few days ago (...ok a few weeks...I'm really behind). So yeah. That's a thing. I made my own cake, bought my own alcohol...and then spent time with the people I wanted to spend it with. I don't really like my birthday. I don't think it's supposed to be complicated and all that...but...well...hey, if I'm involved it's probably going to be way more complicated than it needs to be, right? Oh well.

Life should be an adventure. I read all kinds of stories. Characters in books always get to go on adventures. I think I need a vacation. I know that I know how to do a vacation properly. People tell me that they are for relaxing. For sleeping and resting and sitting. But I relax by doing things. I find peace in a plan that works out. When I fit all the pieces of the puzzle together just so. And I get to see people, go places, do things. Vacation. Yeah. No. Work, always work. The thing I can't get away from. Maybe in a few years. I'll pay off my student loans and be able to save for a year and then I can just quit it all and go somewhere. I think that's what I want to do. Buy a camera (and some new pens! I need pens desperately. It makes me sad. Maybe my christmas present to me), pack a bag, and take hulk jr somewhere he's never been before. We'll explore it together. On that note, maybe I'll find that unicorns are real, and there are pots of gold at the end of every rainbow. Sigh.

I've been told that I just need to have confidence in myself. Newsflash: I don't.

~The Piebald Penguin