"Man In The Box" -- Alice In Chains

Back at Christmastime one of the kids had asked for a pedal for their guitar. Dad ended up getting the gift. Not knowing what cords were necessary to plug such an accessory in, he slipped a little money into an envelope and taped an extra phone cord to the envelope as a physical representation of the words he had scrawled on the envelope. In the end, Dad explained that he didn't know what cords to get.

This morning Jamie woke me to tell me that a box had arrived. Normally I would roll over and go back to sleep. But not today. For the past five days we have been on the phone with The Name That Won't Be Uttered trying to get internet service--and the equipment necessary for using said service. By UPS, early this morning, we received this box. After shaking the box, Jamie pulled it open and emptied the contents onto the table.

After hearing the news of said box's arrival, I wiped the sleep from my eyes and rifled through the bevy of papers and picked up two bright-colored cords wrapped neatly with twist ties.

"What the hell is this?" It was a phone cord and an ethernet cord, but I realized this though I'd already spoken. I had a whole box of such cords myself, though they weren't wrapped up so nicely. They were more like one big tangle.

What I realized then was not only that I needed more than just a green phone cord and a yellow ethernet cord, but I also realized that everyone in the world has such a plethora of these cords that The Name That Won't Be Uttered can afford to tauntingly send us such cords by UPS.

Thanks. That made my whole day--especially the part of the instructions that showed pictures of all the other equipment I needed that wasn't in the box.

Maybe I should shove that giant tangle of cords in my cord box into another box and ship it back to The Name That Won't Be Uttered. Then they can wrap them neatly in twist ties and taunt us all with them.

Then again, maybe I'll just keep my cords.

"Love Is The Answer" -- Weezer

Happy Valentine's Day!

For those of you who may hate the holiday, for those of you who love it, and for those of you who may not even acknowledge it I bring to you the reason why none of it really matters. Forget that today's marketing propaganda idea of Valentine's Day has forever changed the real story behind this day. What we must remember is that love is the answer, as Weezer says.

Love will bring you the greatest happiness, as well as the greatest sorrow you will ever experience in life. To be loved is the most precious feeling. From childhood to adulthood and beyond we seek the love and affection of others. Some are shown it all their lives. There are those who have been craving it for theirs. To have it, gain it, discover it and endure it, love is giving the purest part of yourself over completely to another, thereby opening your heart to the possiblity of the greatest sorrow imaginable. For to lose a loved one is to lose that piece of yourself that grew with their heart in love.

For me, Valentine's Day is not just about romance, but also cherishing all those people that I love and remembering those whom I have lost.

Happy Valentine's Day.