 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
2002-01-04 - 7:30 a.m.
I wrote this entry for the On Display collaboration for this month. The topic is �What are you sure of?�
�Only fools are sure.� �Are you sure?� �I�m almost sure.� -----One of Day-Hay�s favorite sayings I answer 942 questions day after day. I can tell you who the quarterback of the Packers is (Brett Favre�you can�t live in this state without knowing that), what the capital of Albania is (Tirane), when Kat starts school in the morning (the ridiculous hour of 7:20 a.m), where to find the stapler in this house (next to the computer if no one moved it), and why oil floats on water (water is denser). On a good day, I can even tell you how to get magenta crayon out of the drum of the dryer (but trust me that you don�t want to have to know). What I can�t answer is the question, �What are you sure of?� I�ve tried to answer the question several times. The first time, I wrote that I was not sure of anything. It sounded trite�most likely because it was. Worse, I began to wonder whether I was sure that I was not sure of anything. If the answer was yes, then my statement wasn�t true. If the answer was no, then the statement wasn�t true either. The situation made my head ache. It made the little guy with that voice that echoes in my head scream �you�re acting insane.� So I did the only thing that I could do. I deleted the draft and went for chocolate. The next attempt was on the theme that absolute safety does not exist. I talked about risks and benefits. I talked about the intertwining of risk and growth. I started sounding either like the fine print on a stock prospectus or the most obscure, deadly-dull contract clause I could think of (and I can think of plenty.) My writing was proving my point. After all, such bad writing could cause readers to fall asleep and flatten their noses on their computer keyboards as their heads fell, thereby proving that reading a computer screen can cause a broken nose. No safety here. No, sir! In my last failure, I wrote that I was sure that times change but people don�t. I should believe it absolutely. My father told me it was so and he would never lie to me about such important things. Well, at least not on purpose. He�s been around for a while but really, when you think about it, he hasn�t been around long enough to be sure himself that he�s correct. He�s relying on his old teacher, Mr. Haggi, and while he has indicated that Mr. Haggi was quite old, he never said Mr. Haggi�s first name was Methuselah. Even if Mr. Haggi was Methuselah, it probably would take longer than 900 years to be sure that the nature of people really doesn�t change. What to write? What to write? Writer�s block is a terrible thing. And then, I figured out what I�m sure of. I�m sure I know why I never became a philosophy major. I couldn�t handle the pressure.  |
|
|
| [ Previous 5 | Next 5 ] [ List Sites ] |
