The Once-in-a-While
Daily News
1 Well!
2 That montage of old DN pictures sums up my feelings this fine morning.
3 We awaken grumpishly. I'm quite certain. I learned at a young age that waking up grumpy doesn't mean you need to stay grumpy.
4 At around 5-years old, I woke grumpishly, and decided for no reason whatsoever to smile.
5 Within no time I felt better. At that young age, I thought to myself, "I have to live until I'm a hundred. I think it would be smart not to remain grumpish, so I intend to wake up and smile every morning, or at least most every morning."
6 I may have exaggerated those thoughts, but I don't think so. I also feel I can pinpoint it to the age of five.
7 It coincided I'm quite certain with heading off to school.
8 It worked. Los Cerritos Elementary School in South City was quite the place if you consider that my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Swanson, planted those kind thoughts about waking up with a smile into my frabjous little mind.
9 South San Francisco. The Industrial City. I loved that place.
10 I lived on Fir Avenue. It was like Mayfield with fog.
11 Come to think of it, my memories of South City remain foggy.
12 I walked to school with a guy named Joe Steely. This much I remember. I loved walking to school because it was a long walk, and Steely and I used to debate if God existed, or if life goes on afterward, those sorts of things.
13 Railroad tracks stood next to the school. We would put rocks on the tracks in hopes of derailing trains.
14 Not to kill people, mind you. Just to see if we could knock it a few inches off the tracks. This always happened with electric trains. Sometimes THEY would derail and fall over, but I didn't yet have the wires to think that something like that might happen to a real train.
15 Good times.
16 Mrs. Swanson, by the way, stayed friends with our family for years.
17 I have her to thank for my attempt at avoiding grumpishness first thing in the morning.
18
19 What's THAT, you say?
20 "Grumpishness" is not a word?
21 Ha.
22 You took the bait.
23 Before I used "grumpishness" I looked it up in Dictionary.com, which now seems to own every dictionary online. The word "grumpishness" is listed as a noun in the British version.
24
25 Here is a copy/paste from Dictionary.com. I dabbled a bit with color and placement, but the words come straight out of the British Dictionary.com:
26 That being said, each time I wrote the word "grumpish-
ness" on this, my little R2 whistleblower Grammarly would correct me.
27 Nope.
28 My word choice.
29 Freedom of speech.
30 <b-r-r-r-r-r-r-ing!!!!>
31 "Hullo? Huh? Oh, yes, yes, I will refrain from further use. Immediately? Yes. So sorry. Hope you weren't offended, Mr. President." <click>
32 Moving On, Part One: Oh, bother.
33 Winnie-the-Pooh has such a nice outlook on life, doesn't he?
34 I spent the past three days researching conspiracies.
35 Then I found my best resources had been infiltrated by the Empire.
36 I awoke three days in a row grumpishly.
37 I had written at least 7,000 words when I looked up and stopped.
38 You know, like that Broadway show Stop the World, I Want to Get Off?
39 Yeah, like that. We get like that.
40 Donald Grump.
41
43 Nope.
44 Not gonna go there.
45 Know why?
46 My first nine years were spent in South City.
47 I learned about heart and soul there.
48 We had a real sandlot.
49 The Colonial Bakery was in deep center.
50 Everything smelled like fresh-baked bread. A bunch of my childhood smelled like fresh-baked bread.
51 We buried cement chunks under the dirt so that the bases were flush.
52 So.
53 Some other time.
54 I spent my entire day yesterday with two gorgeous babies. They wanted extra hugs all day, so it was a bonus.
55 Love everything today.
56 Life's precious, you know?
57 Gottago.
58 Have a GREAT day.
59 See you again.
60 Live life.
61 Love life.
62 Peace.
3 We awaken grumpishly. I'm quite certain. I learned at a young age that waking up grumpy doesn't mean you need to stay grumpy.
4 At around 5-years old, I woke grumpishly, and decided for no reason whatsoever to smile.
5 Within no time I felt better. At that young age, I thought to myself, "I have to live until I'm a hundred. I think it would be smart not to remain grumpish, so I intend to wake up and smile every morning, or at least most every morning."
7 It coincided I'm quite certain with heading off to school.
8 It worked. Los Cerritos Elementary School in South City was quite the place if you consider that my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Swanson, planted those kind thoughts about waking up with a smile into my frabjous little mind.
9 South San Francisco. The Industrial City. I loved that place.
11 Come to think of it, my memories of South City remain foggy.
12 I walked to school with a guy named Joe Steely. This much I remember. I loved walking to school because it was a long walk, and Steely and I used to debate if God existed, or if life goes on afterward, those sorts of things.
13 Railroad tracks stood next to the school. We would put rocks on the tracks in hopes of derailing trains.
14 Not to kill people, mind you. Just to see if we could knock it a few inches off the tracks. This always happened with electric trains. Sometimes THEY would derail and fall over, but I didn't yet have the wires to think that something like that might happen to a real train.
15 Good times.
16 Mrs. Swanson, by the way, stayed friends with our family for years.
17 I have her to thank for my attempt at avoiding grumpishness first thing in the morning.
18
19 What's THAT, you say?
20 "Grumpishness" is not a word?
21 Ha.
22 You took the bait.
23 Before I used "grumpishness" I looked it up in Dictionary.com, which now seems to own every dictionary online. The word "grumpishness" is listed as a noun in the British version.
24
25 Here is a copy/paste from Dictionary.com. I dabbled a bit with color and placement, but the words come straight out of the British Dictionary.com:
British Dictionary definitions for grumpy
grumpy
/ˈɡrʌmpɪ/
adjective grumpier, grumpiest
1.
peevish; sulky Also grumpish
Derived Forms
grumpily, grumpishly, adverb grumpiness, grumpishness, noun
26 That being said, each time I wrote the word "grumpish-
ness" on this, my little R2 whistleblower Grammarly would correct me.
27 Nope.
28 My word choice.
29 Freedom of speech.
30 <b-r-r-r-r-r-r-ing!!!!>
31 "Hullo? Huh? Oh, yes, yes, I will refrain from further use. Immediately? Yes. So sorry. Hope you weren't offended, Mr. President." <click>
The venerable Winnie the Pooh.
32 Moving On, Part One: Oh, bother.
33 Winnie-the-Pooh has such a nice outlook on life, doesn't he?
34 I spent the past three days researching conspiracies.
35 Then I found my best resources had been infiltrated by the Empire.
36 I awoke three days in a row grumpishly.
37 I had written at least 7,000 words when I looked up and stopped.
38 You know, like that Broadway show Stop the World, I Want to Get Off?
39 Yeah, like that. We get like that.
40 Donald Grump.
41
42
44 Not gonna go there.
45 Know why?
46 My first nine years were spent in South City.
47 I learned about heart and soul there.
48 We had a real sandlot.
49 The Colonial Bakery was in deep center.
50 Everything smelled like fresh-baked bread. A bunch of my childhood smelled like fresh-baked bread.
51 We buried cement chunks under the dirt so that the bases were flush.
52 So.
53 Some other time.
54 I spent my entire day yesterday with two gorgeous babies. They wanted extra hugs all day, so it was a bonus.
55 Love everything today.
56 Life's precious, you know?
57 Gottago.
58 Have a GREAT day.
59 See you again.
60 Live life.
61 Love life.
62 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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