Good Days

In the cancer community there is a mantra: one day at a time.  Today has been a good day.  Everything has been different this time around, mostly better.  I believe the improvement is due to adopting this mantra, being in better physical condition, and knowing what can't be known.  During the previous treatment I overanalyzed; I tried to answer the unanswerable; and I tried too hard.

Scott Ashby is coming to visit.  He is, simply, as good a friend as I've ever had.  I look forward to spending the evening with him.

Today my time was spent on exercise, grooming, eating, resting, Steve Jobs auto/biography, and receiving fresh new blood.  I was down to 23 on my hematocrit count this morning.  Now I'm probably at 27.  I slept for ~5 hours last night and hope for better tonight.  It has been a pleasant and quiet day.

Tomorrow I'll visit with my sister and her husband.  And, since it is an Emily day tomorrow, we'll all get to visit together.  Which, honestly, is probably more fun for everyone.  The next bit doesn't apply to Terri and Ryan.  Writing about their visit caused me to think about victims of my conversation.  Having a pulpit and all, I thought I'd write a bit about my philosophy.

When left without the supervision of my better half I tend to steer conversation toward the nearest gutter.  It isn't the gutter you're thinking of.  It is my gutter.  It is filled with topics that are dark, not politically correct, charged, or insensitive.  I do this because those topics are interesting.  They let you learn something about your conversational partner.

I'd like to believe that I know a person well.  Simply knowing the weather in their world is boring.  I realize this is selfish.  Many people are uncomfortable with my conversational style.  I don't talk to those people often.  Not because I don't like them.  There are, in fact, many such that I love dearly.  I don't talk to them often because I don't see much value in conversing with someone uninterested in sharing.

I'm alright with small talk, I don't think I offend the people I converse with minimally.  I feel a bit sorry for the people I talk with at length.  I am always ready to share way too much information.  And I expect the favor to be returned.  I wonder how many people, as a percentage of the population, feel this way about conversation.  Based on my encounters, I'd say most people are willing to go through the "too much information" sharing.  However, I'd also say that less than 1 in 5 appear happy about what they're doing.

I leave my ramblings incomplete.  Hopefully all of you have had a good day today.

The picture of the day.  Jonas and Max receiving a care package from Chelle and Jeremy (thank you!):