The trick is to keep breathing

Great news. At the first of the year medicaid will no longer pay for prescription drugs. My mom also has Medicare but they will only pay a portion and it won't be nearly enough. She will no longer be able to buy her depression medicine (without which she WILL try to kill herself), and she won't be able to buy her cholesterol medication. WAY TO GO INDIANA! ELIMINATE COSTS BY ELIMINATING LIVES. Gotta love it.

Ok, this is weird. All of my limewire songs magically reappeared. I don't understand it, but I'm not complaining.

Hey Megan, there is a fresh new copy of Harry Potter sitting on the table.

I wonder how much longer my infatuation with Garbage can last. It's been going on for quite a few weeks. Any suggestions on who to move on to?

I want to go for a long walk on a beach and pick up shells, and watch the sunrise, and right my name in the sand with my piss. (Stop making that face.)

Here's the letter I wrote to Nora. And I'm putting it on here just so Megan can see all the fucking big words I used without having to search my mind or a dictionary for them. Moo Cha Cha.


Greetings Nora,

It’s your favorite co-worker. (How presumptuous, I know.) ((I LOVE parenthesizes.))

Just as a warning this letter may be a bit hard to follow cause it’s going to be a bit stream of consciousness. I’m just saying whatever pops into my noggin.

I’m not sure if this letter should be maudlin or facetious. So I will try to make it a mixture of both. (I’m going to use all the big words I can.) Here’s a great quote from Mae West about choosing. “When I’m caught between two evils, I choose the one I never tried.”

When I came in and found out that JCI wouldn’t be working my last week I was quite upset. I was scared I wouldn’t get to see you again, but then it came to me that someone’s got to pick up my last check and it isn’t going to be the Virgin Mary. Then I was at peace again. All was right once more.

The reason I needed to see you was to thank you for being the one person here that I could be witty, bitchy, smart, or whatever with, and I didn’t have to worry that you were thinking of me as a snob or a pretentious eccentric.

It was always nice to use big words and have someone respond to them in a positive way. Most people would make fun of me and complain that I used big words, but you were always interested in learning new words and that was quite a nice delight for me.

It’s people like you that I hope to fill my life with. I see you as a person who loves knowledge and fun; which I consider to be the two essentials to a happy and fulfilled life. You’re the kind of person that I want for a close friend because you are interesting, and it’s apparent that you are quite the maverick. I never found you ponderous.

I am quite happy that I have left that place, and that I’m going to “fly away.” But it makes me sad that you’re there. I want you to be away from all of the despotism that is factory life. From just the few times we’ve gotten to talk I’ve inferred that you are above it, and that you deserve more. But that last time we talked you said you were taking classes and that makes me so very happy, and I’m completely sincere in saying that. I hope all the best for you too.

I have a great quote that I found in that book “Main Street.” Change the pronouns and it is the perfect sentence for me, I think. Here it is: "She had her freedom, and it was empty. The moment was not the highest of her life, but the lowest and most desolate, which was altogether excellent, for instead of slipping downward she began to climb." Quite beautiful, don’t you think?

I will definitely miss you most because you were “highbrow” enough for me, and I will miss our discussions, our jesting, and the repartee we had. It was one of the only things that made me happy while I worked there, and I want to thank you for it.

(Have you been impressed with my big words yet?)

I think I’m a touch more sentimental than I had wanted to be, but I guess one can’t always be flippant.

I’ve been sitting here this week reading and thinking and when I’m looking over quotes or words I continue to think of you and I want to share these things with you. So I have decided I’m going to include a few pages of my favorite quotes. I will also print off some pages of big words so that you can have a word of the day for a while.

This is getting pretty long and you’re probably getting a headache now so I will try to wrap it up. Don’t worry; closing statements always take a few paragraphs.

Sorry I didn’t come up with any cheesy metaphors for what you are to me. Like “You are a ray of light shining through the darkness.” Give me a second here and I’ll try to come up with a funny, offbeat one. (I’m going to time how long it takes me to make one up.) “You’re a Tiffany lamp surrounded by 80’s clothing and used Colgate shaving cream at a garage sale.” (Two minutes.)

I’ll try to be succinct here. Thank you for your friendship, your wit, and your effervescent presence.

Love,


David Brandon


P.S. If you want to contact me to say hi or catch up, my cell number is --- --- ----, and my email is imthegreateststar@hotmail.com. (Yes, I got that from Funny Girl.)

(I guess I won't let the stalkers get me.)