The Man Show

You can't tell me, ahhhh, the trouble's gone, before you reach the sky...
Find what you get there....
I just got back from driving my friend Carla to the ferry and listening to the song "Find What You Get" by Bang Gang. It is a glorious morning on a glorious day. The sun's shimmering rays alighted on the off-white decks of the ferries like whipperwills landing on a lake of lily pads. Beauty abounds.
Today is also the first day in 5 that I won't either be building or tearing down decks. That's right: building decks, tearing decks down. That's what I do now. It is my livelihood, my nirvana, my shangri-la...my calling. And do you know what? I don't hate it. In fact, I kind of like it. All that crap about the satisfaction you get from a hard days work and stepping back to admire what you've done holds true.

Still...my favorite part is lunch.

To realize what a monumental achievement this deck building business is, we should start with a small anecdote. Two weeks ago I came out of black-out to find myself in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies and whistfully humming the song "Criminal" by Fiona Apple. I had on an apron and vaguely remember saying to myself, "Golly, I wish the oven would pre-heat a little faster." I looked down, saw mitts on my hands, and I realized that something had gone horribly wrong. "Christ, what has happened to me?" I asked. Things were looking pretty grim.
But that has all changed since starting work as a carpenter/brute. Now, instead of smelling like baking powder and margarine, I reek of solvents and sawdust. After work I sit in the living room and look around idly, wondering whether or not random shit, like the coffee table, would shatter if I kicked it with my steel-toed boots.
I have become a man. A man's man.
This is a fairly groundbreaking achievement for me, becoming a man. After all, it is something that only comes along once in a lifetime, and after 24 years of checking in the mirror for hair in my armpits it is a welcome development. Who knew that all it took was a a little grit, being around a circular saw, and caulking a few joists? Who knew they sold testosterone at Lumber World? I certainly didn't. But then again, what do I know about anything?
I do know this: Building shit feels good. Working feels good. Getting off your ass feels good. And so what if I do bake a few cookies in my spare time? So what if "The Trouble with Love," by Kelly Clarkson, is in my Top 10 Favorite Songs? I built a fucking deck today.

-Boosh Clown


Apt comparison? Mesolithic Man may have been handy with the
stones, but he ain't got nothin' on these joists.


Song of the Day: "The Trouble with Love" - Kelly Clarkson