Let me start by saying, last week was literally the week from hell…

It all started Tuesday morning. I barely made it to the bathroom, which is unusual for me. But hey, I had a fruit and yogurt parfait, with granola, and a cup of coffee from my local McDonald’s. The coffee alone could have caused the problem. The other McDonald’s around me have so-so coffee. The one closest to me? It’s like drinking jet fuel. It’s so damn bitter that, if you add enough sugar to make it taste decent, you’d get diabetes just from that one cup. Creamer does nothing. This black sludge just eats it like a black hole eats stars.

Everything seemed okay until about 10 minutes after I’d finished up in the bathroom. That’s when it all went downhill and I thought, “What fresh hell is this?!”

Suddenly, it felt like a thousand knives were stabbing me in the gut all over the place. What the fuck?! Then the nausea started… Lovely.

I wasn’t sure at first what was going on. After 4 days of this shit, I finally went to the doctor. Even she thought it was food poisoning. But no… I ended up giving it to someone else. I caught the dreaded stomach bug… Thank goodness for anti-nausea pills and anti-spasmodics for my gut or I’d have really been miserable.

So since I was already out at the doctor, I decided to stop at DSW. They really shouldn’t shouldn’t send me emails… They were advertising a pair of Vans I fell in love with! Not that I give a shit about the brand name. I just thought they were funky as all hell! White with lime green checkers… For me, the funkier the shoe, the better!

Well, I got a little distracted first… I went into the purse section. I don’t know why I do this. I have about 50 purses and I’m only one person! Why do I keep buying them?! Well, at least it wasn’t that expensive and it’s just my type, so I decided to get it. Then I went in search of the Vans. Sadly, they didn’t have the color I was looking for. The nice salesperson even looked them up online and it seems they only had one size left in that color. It was not the “Bozo the Clown” size that I wear, sadly. But checkered shoes… I had to have them! So I got a cream color with black checks. I love them!

The down side to this is that there’s a Game Stop a few stores up from DSW…

If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a bit of a nerd… I love science fiction shit, manga, anime… And, to a point, I love video games.

I won’t say I’m a junkie like some people. Far from it. I grew up playing the Atari 2600 (yes, I’m that old). I was so used to using a joystick that I was literally inept at playing the newer system games. It wasn’t until the analog stick came out that I got better.

One game that I’m obsessed with is Crash Bandicoot. I have every single one including the remastered versions. I also love games like Tetris, any of the old Atari compilations, Guitar Hero I was pretty good at and I’m literally in love with Animal Crossing and My Sims. I love to build shit. When I was a kid, it was always blocks and Lego. So, since I was close to Game Stop, I popped in and bought Super Mario Maker 2! I’m terrible at playing the levels, but I love making them! I could play all day! I also bought a rubber duck that looks like Crash Bandicoot as a duck! He’s so funny! And yes, one day I will relax in a hot tub with him!

I wish I could say that my shopping spree ended there (because it was expensive enough). But it didn’t…

Sunday came and I decided I wanted to go to one of my favorite stores. It’s like nerd heaven! I mean that literally… Video games, books, manga, Japanese goodies, Pop! figures, sci-fi stuff, anime, records… If you can geek out on it, they have it! I just wanted to go for the hell of it, to get out of the house since I was feeling better. But, before I left, I had some disturbing news that a Klonopin just wouldn’t touch. Fun times… I was in this weird, depressive, anxious state, feeling my age and I felt sick to my stomach even though I took an anti-nausea pill. In fact, the urge to purge didn’t stop until I went into the store. I had a blast! They had a life-sized Darth Vader I got a picture of myself with and I did crazy amounts of shopping! I got books, Pop! figures, a squishy stress cat, a few Gatchaman DVDs, an “Om” pin, a pen with a little Rey Pop! on top, 2 bottles of lychee Ramune soda (omg, delicious!)… I think that’s about it. I spent almost $160!! What was I thinking?! Well, I wasn’t… I was having a mixed episode. Then I walked up to Joanne’s (the fabric/arts and crafts store) and bought 3 tubes of washi tape that I didn’t need because it was on clearance. And if that wasn’t enough, I ran to Barnes and Nobel and bought that cute little platypus guy from the Fantastic Beasts movies. I felt better, but now I regret spending money I can’t afford to. But that’s normal for a mixed episode…

See, I knew there was a reason that I bought this book at that store…

I’ve heard of wabi sari before, so I picked it up and read the back cover and decided that this was something I needed to read.

My life is very imperfect. Hell, no one has a perfect life. But the idea of living in harmony with the Earth, with life’s imperfections, to live simply and stop striving for shit you don’t need and have everything uncluttered? That sounds like my cup of tea!

I’ve read a few pages of it so far. Sadly, I have to finish another book before I start this one and I have dozens of others just waiting in the wings. I’m beginning to think that calling me a “book whore”, at this point, is a gross understatement. Ah, well… C’est la Vie…