Reward Redemption (Dillon)

Dillon, Dillon, Dillon
I can just see you...carving a notch in your hotel bedstead for each day you spend, homesick, longing for the sunshine and the hot dusty air, imagining the taste of beans and rice on your lips, wishing you were hanging out with that girl you went on one date with, cursing the injustice of Arkansas halls of justice. The weight of the cross you bear! Jesus, and Atlas, and Andre the Giant all rolled into one. And I, I take a half days at work because I have a "sore throat" and go get a pedicure. How the other half lives, eh? But, the more notches you carve, the closer you get to this "pool and hot tub" of which you speak. Your day will come, "D", and it will be sweet nectar. Just keep your eye on the prize and your nose to the grindstone.

So, you like elephants, huh? Have you read the book Modoc? It's terribly written, but the story is true and AMAZING. It's the story of the greatest elephant that ever lived, and that's not just my impression of the whole thing. That's the actual tag line on the book, the subtitle, if you will. Anyway, I will loan it to you maybe and you will love elephants even more, particularly this elephant Modoc. But, I would caution you about the PBS series, Echo and the Elephants, which tormented me for three solid evenings after it arrived from Netflix. Saddest. Show. Ever. The drama, the heartache, the brutality, honestly, a part of me died when I watched. But, I'm a real bleeding heart when it comes to anything to do with animals. Particularly baby ones. Which brings me to the whole fur issue. Because you asked about the seal in my Facebook photo which is actually a giant inner tube for sledding. And full disclosure, honesty, is important. So...I do own a seal cape, and a couple of fur hats, and a couple of fur coats. BUT, in my defense, they are all really old, vintage pieces. They have been dead a long time, so it's not like I'm supporting the wicked fur trade or anything. And to tell you the truth, there is nothing more divine and soft than that seal fur. I can't help loving it...and it's seriously, from the 1920's. So, no big deal,right? Say right, Dillon.


So, on to your questions. If I were to admit to a religion, it would probably be the religion of celebrating religious (and otherwise) holidays in a pagan and commercialized manner. I love Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. I like the trappings, the costumes, the gifts, the merch. Without all the flim-flam of religious wars and guilt and judgement and early Sunday mornings at church. I do attend Christmas mass with my family when I'm home for the holidays, because really, no skin off my back and we have a nice dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant beforehand, and it's usually snowing and we're all packed into the car laughing while we careen down the road, my father's capable hands at the wheel. And Santa is going to come in just a few hours and if all I have to do is go to church one night of the year, well, small price to pay for a tangerine colored KitchenAid.


Did we already talk about "Let the Right One In?" I'm assuming that's what you've been watching when you mentioned Swedish vampire movies. I saw it. It scared the shit out of me. But, I never ever watch horror movies, so it was probably way more horrific to me than to most people. I wish I hadn't watched it, because I'm really sensitive to that stuff, but I also thought it had many redeeming characteristics, enough that I recommended it to my
brother, who actually lives in Sweden. And is a vampire. Not really, but he is very, very blond and pale like that boy in the movie. What did you think of it? What do you like in a movie? Do you ever watch t.v. shows? Which ones?

I hope my herb garden lives long enough so that I can show it to you. Not that you'd be impressed or anything. But, I'd be impressed if it lived that long. I have a notoriously black thumb, which is mostly because in the past I've had a real bad attitude toward gardening. I grew up on a ranch and there was always endless field work to do, and I have terrible allergies, so it was a particular torture for me to spend a day (or weeks) pruning or weeding. And then, when I was 19 I bought a house, and it was new construction, so there was no landscaping. So, every evening and weekend, I spent my hard earned money and my time, raking and watering and planting and weeding. And as soon as I got it pristine and blooming, I moved to another house where I had to do the exact same thing. And, I just ended up resenting it. It wasn't relaxing, it was taxing! So, I was super stoked when I moved to the southwest because you can have dirt for a front yard and nobody even blinks an eye. No constant watering and tending to lawns. But, working in a garden has softened me a little, and the economy has everybody planting victory gardens and working together and blah, blah, blah (my best friend even got chickens!), so I'm planting herbs. For the war effort or something (maybe the wonton war soup effort).

So, tell me something else. Your choice. Top 3 things I should know about Dillon. So next time we go on a date I'll be a little more prepared with fun facts. 

Joce

Wow, you're quite the wordsmith Joce! In fact, I'd say you're a bonafide email bard!  Finally, I've met my match. I particularly enjoyed the very visual description of your whole family, undoubtedly clad in "gay apparel", dashing through the snow in your 6-cylinder sleigh and spreading holiday cheer to the good people of Idaho.  This thought gave me the kind of warm fuzzy feeling that I thought only Hallmark could produce.

As for your seal coat, sure, I'll say it's alright:  It's alright Joce. It's alright for a poor defenseless animal to die before it's time so you can waltz around draped in jazz-age regalia, flippantly reenacting scenes from The Great Gatsby. Well, to avoid being egregiously hypocritical, I'm actually going to give you a pass on the coat because I own a leather jacket and a variety of other cow-derived products. And while the "symbolism" of wearing the jacket might be off, I DID buy it before I became a vegetarian, and despite having since made the realizations that led me to the dietary change, it was simply too late to bring ol' Bessie back to life.  Although I always thought it would be hilarious to rush into a veterinary clinic clutching a leather jacket and weeping hysterically, and yell "Doc, you've got to do something!".

I actually didn't see the Swedish vampire movie. I'm not much into horror either, I just brought it up because Halloween is coming up. For movies in general, I don't really have criteria.  I either like one or I don't!  I'm a big fan of suspense, and recently acquired most of Hitchcock's major works, although I've only watched a handful of them.  I really don't consider him a horror director at all, and only a few of his films have elements of that.  Most could better be described as suspense or adventure type films.  However you label him though, the man was simply brilliant.


So my time in Arkansas is almost up. I just hope I don't end up like the prison inmate that finally gets out and then commits a crime just so he can go back to jail, or the hostage who falls in love with her abductor, and end up not wanting to leave Arkansas.  Haha yeah right! In all seriousness, I'll never have been happier to cram myself into an ergonomically horrendous seat inside a big tin can with wings bolted on and filled with stale air and loaded with heavily volatile liquids, all kept aloft at 30,000 ft by jet engines that can apparently be utterly destroyed if someone's escaped parakeet flies too close to the intake. I've been in Arkansas too long, and am starting to lose it a bit.  For instance, I mentally refer to a thing as "Arkan-thing" now. Look at all those Arkanbirds!" "I wonder where that Arkancat is going?"  And of course, "what a bunch of Arkan-a-holes!"

Ok, three things about Dillon you should know:
Dillon's favorite album is Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys his favorite film (at the moment) is "Immortal Beloved" and his favorite book is Steinbeck's "East of Eden."

I am very much looking forward to my return to home next week and the opportunity to go on a second date.

 Have a wonderful evening,     
               

 ArkanDillon