I brazenly inform the world that I have a blog and invariably the question arises:
They: What do you blog about?
Me: Read it and you will find out, it is difficult to explain.
But then I switch gears becoming slightly helpful, revealing this about me and the process. .
Me: Well I am funny and that is what draws people into the blog but after awhile funny becomes superficial and trivial.
They: It does, there is no meat to the bones, it is trivial.
Me: Then I take on a serious subject, explore, do research and report. But that becomes onerous, boring and depressing. Relief from the reality of life becomes important as the feeling of being mired in the doldrums becomes prevalent.
They: What is the solution to that?
Me: Bring back the funny – it all begins again. It is rather like a roller coaster ride.
I remember a funny card, introduced to me by Colette while visiting Edmonton years ago. the card featured a picture of a dollar coaster the message rather cryptic. “To get the euphoria you have got to get on the ride.” That is so true about life. In order to experience an interesting and fulfilling life it is necessary to pay for the trip – not necessarily in coinage but in “thinking outside the box, “taking risks.
My curious mind focuses on the phrase thinking outside the box. I am blessed with a curious mind, this realization became apparent during the years of active study and concentration into the mind of my uncle Dave Dryburgh. My biography attempt to get inside his mind, figure out what made him tick. It was no small and easy task since he has been dead since 1948 and there was no one alive that knew him, even met him and that included me . He was distinguished from all members of his family, from his peers, from his ancestors. What made him tick? What distinguished him from all others? It was his curiosity, I finally determined. So, in typical fashion I decide (at this very moment that I shall explore curiosity. The first step (as faithful readers will know) is to look up the word, perhaps explore its origins and use the thesauruses to learn equivalent words – words that might even be better. Fasten your seat belts, away we go. That is a phrase often used in real life, I am about to reveal something to a listenerL
Me: Fasten your seat belt.
They: Fastened!
Me: No! You have to use the shoulder strap, not just the lap belt.
They: OK, it is in place.
I have no idea when or why I started that ritual – my curious mind wants to know but we are onto other things.
Curiosity”s origins are revea;ed: late Middle English: from Old French curiousete, from Latin curiositas, from curiosus (see curious).
The search cannot end there – was is its definition. Curiosity, a noun: a strong desire to know or learn something: (Filled with curiosity, she peered through the window | curiosity got the better of me, so I called him. )
What cam be learned now from the thesauruses? Here we go: curiosity: Interest, spirit of inquiry, inquisitiveness.
I think more about Uncle Dave Dryburgh (and me). The exploration of his life utterly and completely changed me. The usual explanation to my altered life is ;leaving the comfort and predicability of Marin for the adventure of London is only part of it. Being run over by a motorcycle on the occasion of my second day in London the second day and as a result of my massive injuries having a near death experience was certainly another factor. But the major determining factor was the attempt,(which has spanned five years) of trying to understand what made Uncle Dave tick.
Both Uncle Dave Dryburgh (and Alexis Dryburgh McBride) had/have a strong desire to know or learn things. Both Dave Dryburgh (and Alexis Dryburgh McBride) have/had spirits of inquiry, an internet in many things and were/are inquisitive.
It occurs to me as I write and sip coffee in my commodious bed in my newly acquired apartment in Hayes Valley that I should restructure and rewrite the book about that Dave guy. I can do, as I did here, explore a facet of his personality in the blog – throw it all together and then POOF a book – an ebook so that I do not have to deal with usurious publicists, agents, editors, publishers – that whole welter of folk who snap up their client’s creativity. Perhaps I am on a roll. And there are so many words to define. Words that spring out of my head. Uncle Dave had that ability and the ability to make up words – it is a joy to read him and delight in his workmanship.
I have got to get back to Uncle Dave. I do hate to admit this but I have been too distracted by other guys. I made a list the other day, to make a point to someone. The point was that I should not marry again, not settle down with just one man. I counted the men with whom I have had a “romantic” relationship (ocasionally contemplating marriage) since April of 2016. Now to be perfectly clear I did not go to bed with all of these guys, in fact very few of them There have been (drum roll) SIX men, six guys. I can just hear my darling English friend David asking the question (as had before on a separate matter.)
He: Little Girl! How many did you go to bed with?
Me: I do not know David. I have to think.
He: Hurry up Little Girl
Me: One.
He: One. That is OK
Me: When would it not be OK?
He: Three
Me: OK David. I will keep that in mind.
In some way (or the other) four are still in my life. All on the periphery, particularly since my return to the United States, but they still are around. I guess this is an issue to be dealt with. Do any of them interfere with my primary relationship – the one with Uncle Dave? I suppose a secondary issue is whether or not I go to bed with any of them. I have clearance for three. One cannot unring a bell but one could pull the bell cord again. Now that is a very strange analogy.
What is another word to define – there have been so many promising ones. I took a recent Apple lesson and therein learned about how to make my blogs speak to me – which is a good way to detect errors. I will listen with a pen in hand and pick out one or two words that appeal to me.
I did listen and the decision is to explore the concept of ‘thinking outside the box’
“Thinking outside the box is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. The term is thought to derive from management consultants in the 1970s and 1980s challenging their clients to solve the “nine dots” puzzle, whose solution requires some lateral thinking.[4] This phrase can also be found commonly in dance, as encouragement to move creatively, beyond simple, geometric box steps and their basic variations, to literally step outside the box into more complex patterns of expression..”
This is from Wikipedia and there is a long evolved further explanation. Use a little curiosity and look it up for yourself.
The photograph is a sing encountered along the Hayes Valley streets of San Francisco. I love, love, love the neighbourhood.
