Every Ugly Side's Got Another Side

I come to you tonight drinking Schell and listening to Bobby Bare’s musical interpretations of Shel Silverstein’s poetry. And if you’re thinking that sounds like a winning combo, you’re thinking right. I could get used to this. What I can’t ever seem to get used to, though, is how everything’s got an ugly side. No matter how reliable a thing is – it’s never perfect, and eventually, it will disappoint. Good books fall apart in the end. A great meal takes extra care (and sometimes extra cash). The greatest ballplayers seldom go better than one for three. And new tires will eventually become flats. Great bands will sometimes put out shit albums. And your favorite pen will inevitably run out of ink. You can wish and pray and click your heels, but you can’t make this truth go away.

You're probably asking yourself why a guy like me (a "The Sun is Shining Somewhere" sort of guy) is going on all fatalistically like this.

Well, for one, I just spent four hours working on a story that’s probably worse off now than it was when I began. And for another, I can’t help but feel incredibly unhelpful about a certain situation in my life. And for a final thing, earlier today I was dwelling on the sobering reality that sometimes, albeit seldom, the only thing left to do is to do nothing at all.

I’ve got two thousand books and as many problems, but at least I’ve got two thousand books.

And that there, that’s my version of an up turn. As much as things can’t be given the benefit of the doubt, they can nearly always be credited with something good. A bad ending leads to a good idea. An evening’s worth of cooking feeds the soul. .300 will assuredly lead to runs. A flat tire will sometimes lead to a much-needed walk. And even a shit album is usually good for a laugh. And who knows, sometimes it takes letting go of something old before you find something new.

Earlier today, while watching Lifetime – yes, Lifetime – an old episode of Frasier came on. This particular episode featured Dr. Frasier Crane going toe-to-toe with a new and uber-fierce boss. This boss gets inside his head and he loses control of some highfalutin thought and starts rambling. His boss watches this, smiles and says simply, “Isn’t it sad when bad things happen to good sentences?”

I think so. But I also think there will always be more sentences!