Does it work?

Movable Type … well?

G’bye for now!

I’m transferring to a new hosting provider over the next coupla days. So if I don’t see y’all for a while, take care of yourselves!

It’s Halloween …

… and you know what that means.

Doggies in Costumes!

Zevon on Letterman tonight

Don’t miss it.

Where is the love?

Uh, sorry – did y’all think I was being preachy? Really, at midnight it’s more ’stream of consciousness’ than anything else, so don’t take it personally. ‘kay?

Hello?

Hm.

Poor Man gets new digs

The Poor Man has moved. Right on. Congrats, Andrew.

The Story

When I started my counseling job, I expected I would have lots of interesting stories to share. I’m finding that, despite the wholly obvious fact that every single client’s situation is unique, the individual tales are all sadly similar. Every day, there is something that stays with me, a moment or two that I take home with me – the woman in the adjoining room today, for example, whose sobbing I could hear, but whose situation I never learned – but the stories themselves all merge into one long, melancholy, and desperate narrative.

I’m trying to think of one story that stands out more than the rest … a story I can tell you, so that you will understand why every day of this work is an epiphany for me. It’s maddening, not being able to illustrate why. Yes, the stories merge – and generalizations arise – but behind them are people. And I want you to understand that. I want you to read this and see where generalizations, individuals, preconceptions, and surprises all meet up.

Perhaps I’ll give you some of the moments I bring with me, and let the stories write themselves.

Woman in the next room, alternately sobbing and shouting. She is on the phone, with whom I have no idea.

I’m meeting with a client named Greg – he has lost part of his leg to an infection and tries to stay off his feet as much as possible. Another client brings him some coffee so he can relax where he is.

Family sits in the dingy waiting room. Younger child is about 2-1/2 and adorable: purple overalls with matching purple pony tail tie. Older brother of 7 or 8 keeps an eye and hand on her empty stroller, while she hops up and down next to Dad.

Woman in 60’s, on Social Security, asks for help feeding 2 children left temporarily in her care by their mother, a friend of hers who is in county jail for welfare fraud. They are not her children, she does not have birth certificates for them, the food closets can’t help her. She has no food left and no money until her Social Security arrives at the end of the week. Their father has disappeared and is likely homeless. I don’t even know if we were able to assist her. I am tempted to call CFS, but I do not.

Man meets with Housing Counselor and tells of being delusional and losing custody of his child – he has since been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome, he says, and is a musician. He charms the counselor and keeps her attention for forty minutes while three other clients wait for her. He talks about tics and neuron misfires – and working as a Montessori teacher. I overhear this eccentric man spinning yarns, and realize the delusions are still an active part of his daily world.

I don’t know if I’m getting through here. I don’t know if I can share bits and pieces of reality with you – show you snippets and quarters through a keyhole – and have make any kind of sense.

In other news …

I was tentatively offered a job with a non-profit housing referral and advocacy organization. Details to be worked out later, pending finalization of funding. Wish me luck – and send vibes of ‘enough money to pay the bills plus the order the occasional pizza’ as the salary is worked out.

Spinal Tap: Funniest Movie Ever?

Whaddya think?

No? Well, what’s your selection?

Stonehenge
Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well.

Why yes, I am a geek. Why do you ask?

Plugging Away

wKenShow on how to interpret arguments.

Leftbanker on the Myth of Happiness.

Jeff Cooper on political advertising.