Month: November 2005

Sorry for the missed days, and all of that jazz. I won’t promise it will never happen again. I suppose my schedule just became overwhelmed with too many things that kept me away from the mindset that perhaps I should write a blog entry or two…(breathing)…

Since last Tuesday I’ve had plenty to do. I wrote 3 papers for school and finished my text reading for my Philosophy class. I’ve been driving some newly sober guys around to meetings, which can be tiring. I’ve been sleeping late (9am) and staying up watching movies and…ahhm…engaging in my new addiction. It’s not drugs, not alcohol, nor is it porn or anything like that.

It’s worse…

It’s EBay.

I have discovered that Ebay is swarming with people selling model airplane kits. To top it off, they are great kits that have been discontinued for 20 or 30 years and are selling for pennies.

Alright, dollars, but still very cheap, and cheaper than going to a store or ordering them on-line from Poland, the Ukraine, the Czech Republic, or Pennsylvania. I have cornered the market in Revell Sopwith Triplanes, discontinued sometime in the 1970’s. I now own 3 kits, with 2 more on the way. I missed out on one that went to high, however. I figured I wouldn’t be too greedy and let someone else have some fun.

I met with my sponsor today and had lunch and talked about Step 8 for a while and then he showed me his other office, as opposed to the one in The Big City and the one In Our Nation’s Capitol. Very fun. Then I drove to Staples and bought some printer ink, and then to my shrinks for some more NeuroCybernetics. Yahoo!

So I’m staying in, on this gray, drizzly, evening, because tomorrow is another crazy day-in-the-life of Johnnyboy.

Here are the haiku…

#183.
Mostly cloudy skies,
a chance of rain overnight,
gradually clearing.

#195.
Spinning wheels turning
interlocking clockwork gears
steel springs unwinding.

#213.
Softening blue light,
a cool, damp, forehead compress
calms frantic spinning.

Johnnyboy

I’ve been driving a bunch of guys around to meetings recently. I find that this is the kind of tangible service that I find spiritually fulfilling and socially enjoyable. There’s nothing more funny than a carload of sober drunks driving around the woods of my rural state en route to an AA meeting. The things that come out of our mouths can be pretty surprising, but there is great healing as well. The serious talk is off set by the craziness of the world around us and our unique views through the car windows of life. It definitely keeps me sober.

I’m the new Literature Guy for a group near where I live. I was given a $300 budget for my book order and came in under by about $30, so I’m happy. By next week the group will have 15 new big books plus some 12/12, Daily Reflections, and As Bill Sees It. For those of you not in the loop, those are popular and well regarded AA books, essential to my, and countless others’, sobriety.

I traveled to The Big City today with mom to visit her lawyer and take care of some family business. When we were done we had about 1 1/2 hours to spare before the train back home, so we had a nice walk through the park. At first she seemed hesitant to go, but once we were there it turned out great. We walked into the quiet of the pathways and trees out of the noise and traffic of a city in a constant state of movement and action. It makes me think of the inside of a bees nest. There is always something happening in The Big City. In the park there was reflection and people moving at many different speeds: running, walking, strolling, sitting, sleeping. Mom thanked me on the cabride back to The Big City Train Station. I felt connected at that moment. This was something that we had never done together. We didn’t rush the time. I would have never done that when drinking. Never. So much has changed.

On the way home we stopped at the polls and voted in the local elections. One must partake in one’s civic duty, if one wants to be able to bitch about how much the system is going down the tubes…

Being Tuesday, here are the haiku, on time, for a change…

#137.
Rising and falling
advancing and receding
natural movements.

#157.
I prefer mornings
with its fresh news: life and death
going on outside.

#170.
I can see the barn,
across the winter meadow,
from the road’s shoulder.

Johnnyboy