Tuesday, October 29 2019

Dear Journal,

Good morning everyone! Hope you're having a great Tuesday, wherever you are. Where I'm at now, it's 7:29 AM, and there's a bit of snow on the ground - which is exciting, because it feels like with all the extra light bouncing around the morning is just a little brigther.

This morning I have a lot of things rolling around in my head. Yesterday wasn't really that recap worthy. I took Rodney to the grocery store, came home, then made some hashbrowns with tilapia cooked over onions. I grated the potatoes with a cheese grater and wrung out all the water with cheese cloth, then cooked them in hot cast iron. They were a little too salty, but I was just grateful that they browned and actually formed a little patty. Before and during dinner was a little rough - Rodney had kind of a bad behavior day, and Marissa and I are still a little exhausted from dealing with it, and it just doesn't feel right to make light of it. Putting him to bed last night, we ended things on a high note, and if all goes according to plan we'll be back to goofing around in the grocery store, cooking dinner, and making jokes around the dinner table.

Another topic that is rolling around in my head this morning is typos. These journal entries I make every morning usually have one or two mistakes. Sometimes when I have trouble focusing or waking up, I publish an entry with about a dozen mistakes. Typos make things hard to read, and I avoid them. Usually, after running the publishing script and walking over to the bus stop, the first thing I do is read the entry. Yesterday, I cringed at how many errors were in my post. One or two doesn't bother me, but if it gets to the point where it hinders what I'm trying to get across, that's a problem for me.

You might ask, "why don't you just proofread it?" I try to. I used to write for twenty minutes in the morning, get about 800 words, then I'd take about 10 minutes to edit it down. I tend to write too many words, so the final product would be around 700 words. These days, the more I write, the more comfortable I feel filling 1000, so much so that 700-800 just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Eventually I chose to just sacrifice the last few minutes of proof reading for the sake of writing more. Writing clears my head, it feels good, and while I try not to leave any typos, I don't want to sacrifice extra time in the morning.

I also feel the need to point out that a typo isn't a lack of understanding. Typo's are a mechanical failure. Even though I might type "though" instead of "thought", or "your" instead of "you're", I know which word you're supposed to use. I know my grammar, and unless you bring an eight grade grammar book over and challenge me to a shootout, you'll just have to trust me. I'm one of the only adults I know that can still diagram sentences. I care about grammar. It's part of the way I think.

Just wanted to throw that out there. To sum up, I'm aware that I leave typos behind. This is a very personal medium, which is why I choose quantity over quality. I assure you the typos are a trade-off of time and focus - not a result of me being stupid.

Man, another thing kicking around in my head is this new Kanye album. The reviews finally started coming out, and they're not looking good. My favorite music reviewer even gave it a 4/10. I love the album, and that doesn't change; but the critical reception of Jesus Is King has already put things in perspective. I was sobered remembering how much I enjoyed watching Chance's The Big Day get ripped apart by the presses, and how much I egged everyone on. I did the same thing with Eminem's latest album.

I still love the album, but the first time you listen to something after the reviews come out always feels a little different - like you're burying your head in the sand because you're afraid to confront something.

I think the album is good, and people will grow to like it over time. If you read the reviews, it seems like people are too hung up on the concept to enjoy the music. Yes - whether or not Kanye's faith is genuine, he's not qualified to lead you in worship. Attending a church and leading it are not the same thing. The lyrics are a little misguided. Even wrapped in the robes of religion, he still finds plenty of places for his ego to shine brighter. But Kanye's depravity and ego has always been a part of his music. One of his albums is called "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." He has a song called "I am a god," for crying out loud.

But I'd encourage you to just listen to the music. Do your best to forget about Kanye, how expensive his silly ripped t shirts are, and how many times he's delayed the release of this very brief album. Just listen to the album.

So that's my time. As always, thanks for reading. I had a lot of things to get out of my head this morning, and as a result I'm feeling lighter and happier.