Progress Not Perfection

Progress:  To improve; advance toward perfection or to a higher state.


Here's what 24 years and 1 month buys you:


I made plans a few days ago to join some guys in The Program for a rock documentary or "rockumentary," if you want to sound really cool.  I didn't know too much about the band being featured so my friend who was organizing the get-together burned some CDs for me to listen to.  While the music was good it wasn't really my bag, man, so I started to regret my decision to go.  Plus, the movie started at 9:30 -- at night, mind you -- when it would be quite normal for me to be going to bed, not going out.  I'm definitely not cool anymore, or "cool" as it were.


How to do this, I wondered?  LIE!  LIE!! LIE LIE LIE!!! That's what came to mind.  That's always what comes to mind when I imagine being uncomfortable and wonder how I can squirm out from underneath this feeling.  "That's the ticket," I thought.  "Not a big bad lie but a little pleasant unoffensive lie."  I didn't think that wouldn't smell too bad rotting in my garbage can.  I could profess being tired.  I could say "something came up."  I could, of course, blame SuperK.  This is why most people get married: to have a built-in excuse whenever we need to lie about something.  That way my friend could develop a resentment against my wife and I'd come out smelling like . . . well, not a rose but not a rotten rutabaga either.


The reason I tell the truth most of the time today is because I can't remember what I said 20 minutes ago.  So I figure if I stick with the truth then I don't have to worry about what has or has not come out of my mouth.  It was exhausting keeping track of all the lying going on when I was really into the lying game.  I had so many stories to organize that I couldn't hold them all together.


Dude was fine with it, of course.  "The truth is, Horseface," he sez.  "I'm going whether or not anyone shows up."  Now the deal is that I can't do this consistently.  I can't change my mind and leave people hanging at the last minute.   But I'm hardly a friend if I can't show some flexibility with others.




Since there were a few people going I didn't feel too bad about flaking out on my friend