This is what I wrote last night on the new village site at sixmilevillage.com. 

There’s a weekly radio show called “This American Life” which I enjoy.  The idea is that they tell stories of things that have happened (sometimes fictional) which reveal some aspect of the American Life.  Who we are, what we do, and frequently leaves us thinking “I wonder why…”   I wish I was able to convey somehow, in story form, the events of my life that you, reader, might find yourself thinking “Hmm…” every once in a while.  But I’m not that skilled. So what you get is a series of events in the life of me that end up being not quite antecdotal at best – sometimes verging on the sarcastic.

My wife is in bed, I am not.  It’s the first time we haven’t gone to bed at the same time.  I don’t know if that means anything other than I wasn’t tired.   So I write while the sleepiness creeps up on me brain like some kind of jungle foliage they had warned you about before you set out from the last village.

All tendrilly and such.

I spent 5 hours at work, 1 hour resolving financial aid problems (partially), and probably a total of 3 hours trying to render functional a program designed to let you give your phone your own ringtone.  The results of the day are 60 dollars, partially resolved financial aid problems, and non-cool ringtones.  I bring it up as one of those illustrative thingies.  I spend 5 hours making about 12 dollars per hour in cash – yet I’m unwilling to spend the 1 dollar and four bits needed to just have Mr. T. (mobile) send me the song I want over his newfangled radio waves thereby essentially saving me 3 hours of my life to use in other (perhaps more useful or meaningful) ways. 

I could say something about how I’m a better person, or overcoming trials, or growth or something; but in so doing there would be a part of me that would simultaneously pipe up with something about time as a valuable asset and how at this rate that “first million” is going to take about two million years.

Tomorrow it is my intention to watch the movie “Lady in the Water.”  for which I am excited.  It is in writing this meaningless and useless sentence that I wonder how future generations will perceive my life.  Will they read my writings looking for keys to unraveling the mystery of how to rival my successes?  And if so, will they say “I must see this film!”

Or is it that they’ll say, “Yup, another consumer lost in American history?”

To consider the question is a definite path to grimness in thought and wardrobe.

Tomorrow I will also take a major exam, submit an appeal for financial aid, clean up the place a bit, watch charlie and the chocolate factory and I’m sure there’s something else I wanted to do…

Speaking of time.

Time is an asset I have less and less of as time goes on.  By the onset of the school semester, I don’t know how I’ll ever have any time to post more than a perfunctory “Hello, I went to class today.” on the site.  Not that the site is a hugely important deal to me, but I’m just trying to illustrate how much time is lost.

Seems like I may have mentioned before about selling my time to applebees for 2.13 an hour.  I don’t know why I bring it up now, except now that every time somebody types in the word applebees in google there’s more a chance they’ll see my name in there somewhere.

That would suck.

I have had a lot on my mind lately, but the wicked weed of sleepiness defies me now, and the sneaky fog of lack-of-time obscures my plans at other times.  I keep intending to write up my talks from church, or my oral report from class, or my thoughts on my history class, or the educational system, or whatever else enters my mind.  Is this me apologizing? Yes.  To who? I have no idea.  The hits on the site took a hit, so I know it’s not to you – according to the stats you’re not even reading this.  I have no idea who even glances at sixmile any more.  Not like I had a big idea before, but yeah.

Now I go to sit in the dark to try and relax my brains.

–Greg Hamblin