That’s me ^^^ above in 2nd Grade. I didn’t like anything at all that day. I didn’t like that it was picture day, I didn’t like that my mother dressed me like that, I didn’t like the Miami Dolphins (that was my older brother’s favorite team – not mine), I didn’t like that we had moved away from my best friend I’d ever had up to that point, Laurie Newsome, and I didn’t like 2nd Grade in general. That face on elementary me? That’s my face when I don’t like something. Not much has changed.
Flash forward to this week in the year 2021, and I was thinking about a songwriter that I very much do like a whole lot, Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s, and a particular verse was in my head. You have to know in advance that Rhett Miller has highly influenced my social media writing style from the very beginning stages. I’d never heard anyone write songs so upfront and common speaking. As if he’s just writing in a personal journal. I was part of original bands creating original music for 30 something years, and we never did that. Great songs, but you never really knew what they were honestly about. But Rhett…he just writes to you like you’re his best friend. I started doing that and it fit me like a tee. I still do. In fact, that’s what I hope this blog turns into. Soooooo, anyway…
Rhett has a song titled, “Stoned,” and within the brilliance leading off the 3rd verse (you can go listen on YouTube if you’d like – Old 97’s/Stoned), is this truly great line, at least to me, where he’s pretending he’s dictating a letter and he says…
Take a letter to God
“Dear Sir, I’m dissatisfied”
The very first time I heard that line so long ago now, Rhett Miller instantly became my favorite songwriter. I’d then go on to discover he has nearly an infinite amount of other incredible lines, too, but that’s the one that hooked me. Because I felt it, but I would’ve never said it. Until I realized – I COULD SAY IT. And I probably SHOULD SAY IT. So, I did. Because God values are sincerity and genuineness in prayer, not a clueless soul mindlessly reciting to the creator of the universe what we think he wants to hear. It really changed a lot of things for me, that one simple little line. It opened up an entirely new path…
I have spent the last few days compiling a list of things that I do not like. Some of them are common to most people, and others make me the oddball that I am, but the exercise of making the list has been quite therapeutic in getting me to see that I hold a great deal of dislikes in this one mostly joyful and smiling person. I should probably talk about that more. So, to spare you from hearing anymore of this yammering…
Here is a partial list (because I’m not sure that this well has a bottom) of things I do not like. Please feel free to share with me things that – you – don’t like. If it’s me or this post? Just be nice about it 🙂
- Blown Glass
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cackling Laughs
- Pretentious Sports Cars
- February. Like the whole darn month.
- Raw Tomatoes
- Line Dancing
- The Color of Pea Green. It’s just insanely hideous.
- Discount Stores full of cheap garbage.
- Overcrowded Settings (even before the doom plague came).
- Southwestern Design (love the food).
- Day Beds
- The New York Yankees
- Restaurants That Serve Microwaved or Frozen Foods
- Cheaply Made Furniture
- Nations that Bioweapon the World and aren’t Honorable Enough to Admit it
- Social Media Posts that Divide or Hurt
- Boring Plates and Drinking Glasses
- Having to Wear Prescription Glasses
- Being Yelled At
- When My Dog Gets All Bossy and Tries to Herd Me
- Architecture With No Soul
- Ceiling Leaks
- Very High Humidity
- When it’s Supposed to Snow but only Rains (my hometown is famous for that).
- When Fellow Christians Weaponize Scripture and Shoot it at Would-Be Seekers
- The Slow Demise of Traditional Church Hymns
- Anything That Impedes My Path While Driving
- Squirrels That Suicide Dart at My Car
- Whippoorwills (my wife loves them – I say, “Shut up already, bird”)
- The Screech of our Neighborhood Hawk – Henry. Love him, but the screech is unbelievably annoying.
- Temps Above 90 Degrees
- When a Major Hurricane Forces Me to Evacuate
- Being Placated to Condescendingly
- Losing Friend/Family Games or Competitions
- When I Just Can’t Seem to Make My Point
- Speaking to Large Crowds
- Seeing My Daughters Cry
- Jellyfish. Sneaky little stinging underwater meanies.
- The Smell of 99% of Air Fresheners (They’re worse than the smell you want to cover up).
- Bourbon
- Ketchup
- Biting Into Any Size Piece of Onion
- Bathrooms with Single Ply Toilet Paper
- People That Refuse To Bend an Inch from Political Ideology
- Shorts that Fall too High Up the Thigh
- Paisley (should be banned)
- Asparagus
- When No Major Festive Holidays are Imminent
Thanks for listening 🙂
Gary
Second Place is for Winners... 