NoJoMo 11 in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

Sunday was busy with Iowa Prosecutor’s Conference.

NoJoMo 11 Prompt 1: Write about something that gives you the feeling of success.

NoJoMo 11 Answer 1: Feelings of success come from two incredibly opposite feelings.
There is the feeling of success that comes from Jury Victories. That feeling where you’re exhausted but amped… just energized but drained. A conflicting feeling that only equates with the feeling of a successful stage production. Where you’ve left everything out on stage but it went so well that you’re totally jazzed and energized.
Then there is the feeling of success that comes from a Satisfactory kind of success. Like when you know you’ve done something well or at least given your very best. That “I’m tired, I’m going to sleep well tonight” kind of feeling.

NoJoMo 11 Prompt 2: My happiest memory is…

NoJoMo 11 Answer 2:
I should say the day I got married or some such but.... no. There are two possible “happiest memory” moments and they both involve the same woman who is not my wife, who is married to someone else, and is much the better for marrying someone else.
Buffy.
The reason why I’ll always argue that while Angel and Buffy certainly love each other… they are both, inherently, too selfish while in a relationship together. Buffy needs someone like Riley (as boring as people say he is) because she needs someone that cares about her, can support her and her family, and can really be the solid source of no-drama comfort and support. To my mind the only reason why Buffy shouldn’t be with Riley is because she’s addicted to pain (in her way) and would always be more drawn to someone like Angel or Spike.

ANYWAY…

17th Birthday. I’ve written about it before. It was back in my Open Diary Days. My parents had tickets to Rent on the night of my 17th Birthday. So they left a note with some cash telling me to get pizza delivered and get to bed at a good time. Some birthday. House to myself, pizza money… but I was a Good Boy. I didn’t take the opportunity to invite friends over to drink or women over to fuck.... I was just.... sad that even my parents didn’t feel like spending my birthday with me. So I complained on Open Diary and ordered Pizza. I was dating Buffy at the time, and she came over after reading my OD saying, “You shouldn’t be alone on your birthday. That just isn’t right.” But… again… I’m Good Boy. I’m not allowed to have people over when my parents aren’t home (I’m 17 at this point!) so I don’t let Buffy come in. I set up a candle-lit picnic on the porch and we eat pizza, listen to music, and talk. It was sweet, it was romantic, it was wholesome. It was a good memory. Of course… it is also a bad memory in hind-sight as if I was less of a Good Boy, that night could have been something else and lead to something else. If I had brought her into the house, made out with her.... maybe we wouldn’t have broken up. But then… if we hadn’t… she wouldn’t have wound up with the man she’s now married to. So.... my happy memory, my proof of Rule Following… at least allowed Buffy and her husband to have a better life.

Germany/Austria.

In the small town of Graz, Austria, there is a Castle that has been renovated and modernized so that the courtyard can be either open or closed off by glass ceiling. It was the Graz City Hall. My orchestra was chosen to play there for a Government Event and we were playing “Air on the G String” a moving piece that can often feel incredibly emotional… it is often used in War Movies to underscore the number of bodies. You may know it from the movie Se7en. The courtyard was open, a fine June evening in Austria settling in, when suddenly a light rain began. So here we are, playing this super emotional piece while the sky lightly cries. They push the button to get the ceiling closed and it closes right as we finish. It was beautiful. The kind of perfect timing, perfect song, perfect location that only happens once in a lifetime. Afterwards, we were ushered into a Fountain Shop in the basement of the castle and non-alcoholic drinks were on the house. I met Buffy on that trip and that night, we just played the evening over and over discussing how perfect that all was. It was.... amazing.

Last updated November 12, 2018