on a father's gift to his son
and the joy of messing with levels
My dad went up to visit Skippy’s new cabin yesterday.
He went straight for the tool shed.
Skippy had just finished organizing and hanging all of his hand tools on a wall. Everything had its place and everything was in it - exactly where it belonged.
He went so far as to have drawn little pictures on the pegboard so he’d remember where to put them.
Nice pegboard Skippy, said my dad as he picked up two levels and switched their places.
It’s not just Jimmy - where do you think he learned how to be such an arse? He comes by it honestly.
Honestly?
I couldn’t have been more proud.
Today I was sorting through stuff. Surfing stuff. Mask stuff. The props from the show I used to do.
When I used the surfing stuff?
I was a surfer.
When I played with masks? An arts Educator.
The props?
I was a family entertainer.
Those were things I learned.
Those were things that today I started to pare down and leave behind.
On thing I’ve always been?
Well,
I’ve always been crazy about bikes.
(I’ll tell you more about that later)
And?
I’ve always been a bit of a shit disturbing prick.
I’d like to say it’s an ‘identity’ like being ‘a performer’ or ‘a surfer’.
It’s deeper than that.
It’s in my DNA.
Just ask my Dad.
Remember folks,
There are a lot of things about yourself that you can change. You can wear certain identities and the like.
But there are some things that speak to the core of who you are.
These things that make up your essential character?
They aren’t going away.
Some might want you to stop fucking around with their levels.
But adapting to their needs will only scramble your eggs.
Better to just accept that you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.
So when it comes to pleasing people?
Begin with yourself.
