Today I was thinking about some completely unrelated topics, but I thought they might be thought-provoking enough to share them. They’ll be in Shutter Island and Doubt format. As in, I’ll leave the thinking up to you.
The first thing I was thinking about was basketball. Most of you are aware that I spent most of my time before high school playing basketball, whether it was through the school, a league, or recess. Speaking of recess, I spent the majority of my lunch breaks during 7th-8th grade playing basketball. Randy, Dylan, and I would be out there constantly, as early as we could make it. (You needed to be early on the court, otherwise a bunch of jerks would take the good, not torn up baskets)
The reason I was thinking about basketball was because I was also thinking about my perception of high school from an 8th grade point of view (how this train of thought came to be, I have no clue). I remember seeing the high school from a distance, and the only thing I could think of was how there was no outside basketball court. “What am I going to do during lunch?”
Funny thing is, at the 8-9 school where I spent my freshman year, there was an outdoor basketball court. That’s around when I stopped talking to most of the people I would have normally played basketball with.
The second thing I was thinking about was a bit darker. I started thinking about it a week ago when I was working on a concept for a new book. It’s centered around a debate team and some of my own experiences, but only loosely.
When I used to work at the nursing home, I had to call bingo a lot. I mean, what other sap was going to give up their Saturday night? So once, on a particularly bad day, while I was waiting in between calling numbers, I found a safety pin. For reasons I still can’t explain, not even to myself, I opened it and ran the sharp edge across the soft ivory skin of my wrist. Several times. Then I freaked out, shut the clasp, and threw the instrument behind the TV, where no one else could get to it.
That was more than a year ago. Hm.
Again, we are in the same boat (more or less).