To a guy who never fails to make me smile

An open letter to Jersey John, the Cash 4 Gold guy at US-19 and SR-52 :

Screencap of a video by Emailjharris

Dear Jersey John,

You rock. Literally.

There is nothing good about my drive home other than the fact that I'm going home. It's hot, my right window doesn't work and I'm usually exhausted and flushed by the time I drive past the Gulfview Mall. However, despite the heat and the tedium of driving home, whenever I see you jamming with your bright yellow PAWN or CASH 4 GOLD sign, I can't help but smile.

That light at 52 and 19? I HATE it. I hardly ever get past it and, for some reason, it takes people ages to move forward when it's finally green again. But when you're there, I don't mind it at all. I see you dancing out there in your half shirt, cutoff jeans and white suspenders and I forget that I'm even at a red light. You just seem like there's nothing in the world that can bother you and you're just gonna keep on rockin'.

Just before I wrote this, I had no idea who you were. I kept meaning to look you up online, but it always slipped from my mind by the time I made it home. For some reason, I saw you yesterday and made a point to write a note down in my "handy dandy notebook" before the light turned green. I just finished looking you up and even found a news clip about you:

My thoughts? You're everything I'd hoped you'd be. You even quote Jim Morrison: "It's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel." You certainly do just that, Jersey John, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to thank you.

I've been feeling pretty down lately because of massive changes going on at work, but you've helped me, believe it or not. I see you out there doing your job in the insane heat, thick humidity and the gusty rain, and you're still rocking out like it's 70 degrees with a good sun and a cool breeze. It's a great visual that though conditions change, things still have to be done...the world keeps turning...life goes on. Thank you so very much.

I'd never thought I'd say that to a "sign guy," but there it is. The other "sign guys" are completely uninspiring and, though I look at them, they're just not attenion-grabbing like you. There's an old man north of Main St. who just shuffles. The Little Caesar's pizza guy with the guitar sign is interesting, but it looks like he's only into heavy metal and is limited to headbanging and imaginary riff-making. Oh, and those mannequin head contraptions that wave colored flags are just plain frightening. There's no one quite like you, Jersey John. Thank you for your individuality and your dedication to the craft. You really are making a difference!

Sincerely,
Signorina Sirena

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

What an unoriginal title, but it's incredibly apt, so I'll use it.
So many things are happening with too many changes taking place. I can't drown, because I'm a mermaid, but, as of right now, I'm tangled up in too much seaweed and there's a sense of panic rising within me. There's no real reason to panic, but I can't help it. The water's still cloudy and it's making it hard to see my way out of this slimy clump. Argh! "Time to face the strange," indeed, Mr. Bowie.

Over the Easter weekend, I enjoyed swimming with my little cousins. They're fun little fishies now that they can swim without those inflatable swimmies and we played a game I made up where if Candace or I put a diving ring around any little ankles, they were our "pet" until they could remove the ring; they loved it, as did we. Of course, they didn't get tired of it and their excitement turned into gleeful shrieks as we swam anywhere near them. So, every once in a while, to escape the shrill cacophony of happy little voices, I sank to the bottom of the deep end and just watched the sun beams penetrate the water's surface. All I could hear down there were muted splashes and the delightful fullness of a content feeling. My fears were gone and I thought about nothing down there. As the light flashed prettily off of my shiny, painted fingernails, I contemplated nothing, glorious nothing.

Unfortunately, I cannot sink past this blasted clump of seaweed. There is no escape except for straight through and that's hard for a lazy, panic-prone mermaid like me. I become alternately panicky and then lethargic. It's awful! I must remain calm and work my way through it. Perhaps I can alleviate some of this stress by striving to write something for myself every single day. That might help. Like I said, I've been lazy lately and have refused to do even that. I've been sinking into books, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I've been letting the other authors do all the work and THAT is bad. I need to help myself out of this icky patch!!! Some changes are good, some aren't great and others are downright terrible, but whatever they are, I just need to deal with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!