there is
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
so what are you looking at?
What makes me happy
my wife
my son
writing
books
listening to music
comic books
movies
fantasy football
man's exploration of space
law & order
unemployment
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What I dislike
Working at uninteresting, unfulfilling, jobs
My wife on PMS (hey, at least I'm honest about it)
Ignorant people who are unwilling to learn
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One current obsession
Digital Video Creation
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Sequential artwork I've recently read
**** out of *****
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If I were single, here's who I'd like to ask out and inevitably be turned down by...
Sanaa Lathan
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Serialized television viewing
DEADWOOD
****1/2 out of *****
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Recent posts
Weird Home Stuff / More New Home Stuff / Lala.com
Sunday Morning Shuffle 6/25/2006: Ultimate Playlist
Graphic Novel Review: Blankets / Star / Octogenarian Murderess / Hump Me
African-Americans & A New Racism / Baseball iPods / Money & The Wife
Fight Club / Life Between Jobs / Homing In On Home
Sunday Morning Shuffle 6/4/2006: 1990s Playlist
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Sites I visit regularly
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Reading or Read Recently
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Listening
***1/2 out of *****
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Cooler than a penguin's feet
Venus and Earth
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(most recent article on top, earlier articles on bottom)
June 27, 2006: 1219 hours
TRUST ME CHARLIE BROWN
"That won't be a problem, will it?"
I have a fairly healthy distrust of people in general and my family in particular when it comes to following through on promises made to me. As a rule, I usually try to avoid placing myself in any situation where my physical well being or emotional equilibrium are dependant on someone else doing something. I probably go too far in that direction, but I pretty much try to do everything that needs to be done for my life to continue functioning.
This coming Friday, my wife and I are closing on our house. That, I'm told, entails a couple of hours in a lawyers office, signing a few dozen papers. Friday also happens to be the first day of my daycare provider's summer holiday. I know, bad combination. In no way is it a good idea to take a four year-old to a mortgage closing, or any legal proceeding.
However, a solution presented itself when the subject came up (really, just came up naturally) during a conversation with my stepfather. He offered that he and my mother could watch the little tyke while we bought our house. I was wary, but my mother agreed that it would be a great idea.
I should mention that they have never babysat my son at their house. I should also mention that they've only babysat him twice, and those two times were more than a couple years ago and at our place. Still, they are his grandparents, and they always say they would like to spend more time with him, and we really really really needed someone to watch him for a couple of hours. I accepted the offer.
Today, Tuesday, three days before the closing date, my mother calls me to say she and my stepfather have made sudden plans to go out of town this weekend. They are leaving Friday morning. That's about five hours before we were to drop off our son for them to baby-sit while we closed the mortgage.
"That won't be a problem, will it?"
That's what she said after she dropped the news.
"Not really," I said, pushing the lie through my gums with as little enmity as I could muster.
"Great, we're really looking forward to this trip. We're going to . . ."
I didn't actually hear anything else. No, that's a lie. "AAUGHH!" That's what I heard in my brain. I heard the steaming blood pulsating through my ear veins. I heard my heart pounding an angry message to my consciousness. I heard my wife sighing, just this side of crying, when the time came to break the news to her later this evening. That Charlie Brown exhortation that perfectly encapsulates a feeling of predestined disappointment, that's what I heard.
Of course, I can save my wife from that frustrating sigh if I get cracking and find someone else to watch our little king on Friday.
Trust. Such a simple little five-letter word.
Never again.
nothing to see here
Overworm is a writer available for work and/or agent representation. I write mysteries, tales of suspense, and African-American fiction. I also write articles for web and print, and marketing collateral.
nothing to see here