Blog of Billy

It really is amazing how much we take for granted these days. My family has a farm in northwest Oklahoma that only got indoor plumbing and reliable electricity in the last 40 years. So much we assume will from being hooked to the grid: refrigerated food, heat for the home, hot water from a faucet, even just water at all. Everything seems to come from without. This seems natural now in an interconnected society, even to the point to which we don't know what to do if it were missing. What would you do if tomorrow all of the electrical plants exploded, like in Sim City? Do you know what kinds of candles burn the longest, or the most efficiently? Do you know how to cook where there is no heat but the sun in the middle of winter? Do you know what kind of woodpile makes the best fire for cooking? What about for keeping a house warm all night? Do you know to bathe when you can't get water hot enough to prevent hypothermia? Lent begins today and for those who have trouble coming up with creative things to give up, let me suggest your electrical service. Nothing feels quite so holy as reading the Bible by candlelight. Plus, with the spring warmup, the next 40 days and nights will feel like they are just blasting by. At the end of it, I guarantee that you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem that watching TV just won't provide.

There is a greater interconnection, though: an interconnection to people themselves. In the latest act of my own Shakespearean tragedy, I find myself having lost quite a bit of this connection. Back when I was still letting Rosie live with me, I forced myself to sit at home for financial reasons. Rosie, too, demanded that I stay away from all of her little kids and little haunts. Only lately have I really found out the depths of depravity that that request was covering. I wish I could have gone to Amy's birthday party, or played ultimate street frisbee at Hafer Park. I guess that her philanderings with bryan were reason enough for her to tell me to stay away. (And yet, she still thinks that I didn't pick up on signs that she was doing something wrong. Such a bad liar.) I wish I could have gone out so much more, kept alive friendships with Lizzi, Blake, Dustin, Mark and all the kids at Denny's. Stupid capitalism.

Sometimes I think I take myself entirely too seriously. %)

The joy of interconnectivity is in making the new friendships, and learning about people and how they see the world. I'm lucky to say that in a delightful turn of events from the past few months, I've gotten to do that for a few days with a young womun with whom I have been able to have some of the most entertaining and welcome conversations I've had in at least the last year, even if those conversations have been limited to instant messaging. She's coming down to Norman North to judge, and I'm really looking forward to meeting her in person. The only problem will be her OSU education surviving a trip to the homeland of the Sooners. All should be well, though. The sheer number of National Championship football victories should keep everyone sated enough to refrain from making any really bad jokes...

Mick Cornett won the mayoral election with the votes of right at 8% of the population of over 18 Oklahoma Citians. If that’s not a referendum then.....wait, no, it’s not.

"Kill the pain. Integrity don't keep you warm and sane." No it doesn't, but does put more people on your side than those who antagonize and divide sides in the first place.

My thanks to Seamus Donovan for pointing me to today's lyric and song.