End of Summer

     The end of summer comes quickly, and though fall brings much to look forward to, there is a particular sadness that comes with the gradual shortening of days and filling up of calendars. Days of laying in the sun are all too swiftly replaced by hurried walks to appointments and preparations for returns.

     Taking stock becomes a secondary focus, put back on the shelf for the season, until next summer comes around, and reflection is back in style.

I'm on Vacation

And so should you.

I Think It Should Be a Rule

No one should have to do that thing anymore.

To-Do

Be

Summer

     Summertime is such a nice time. Not fall, not winter, not spring. Summer. There is nothing better than water and cool, sun and heat, eating and drinking, talking and laughing. School is out, and life is in. Nothing better, nothing ever.

Short.

Very short.

Time Off

I hope you have it. If not outside, then inside.

Summer Heat

It is getting hotter and hotter outside and it is making me sweat more. But it is nice to not be so inside all the time. More outside. More outside can be nice.

On Vacation

Thank you so much for reading. I will be back in the real world shortly. In the meantime, you can email suityourself@suityourself.com.

All best,

Dan

Classified

Will work for money.

Right Now

     I love how cold my air conditioner makes the room but I also don’t like how loud it is during the summer months when all I want is quiet and cool and there’s still so much going on like the trees and water I love to be around when it’s too hot outside and there’s nothing to do is the time when everything feels the best and when is there ever that time when nothing is done but everything is fine and then I just tell myself wait until next time next week next year maybe and then I will start but for right now just relax and everything will work itself out but for now it is all only fine which isn’t fine great I imagine there’s worse but of course always better by why not right now when right now feels like it always just keeps going and going and never stops?

Same Thing

     Do you ever do the same thing over and over again? And sometimes it feels great and other times it feels suffocating? And sometimes you look forward to it and other times you dread it? And sometimes you wonder if maybe you don’t really have to do it and other times you know that you absolutely have to do it? And sometimes you are so grateful that it’s something you get to do and other times you are so resentful that it’s something you have to do? And sometimes you want to never do it again and other times you want to do it forever? And sometimes you’re unsure if the feelings you have around it are actually about it and other times you know precisely that your feelings around it are definitely about it? And sometimes you hope it will be different and other times you hope it will never change?

     I do.

Unofficial

The unofficial beginning of summer, the best type of beginning.

So Beautiful

     Wouldn’t it be amazing to be so good looking that people think you’re catfishing them? (For my parents: “Catfishing” is when one steals photos from other people on the internet and claims them as their own, constructing an alternate online identity in order to win the heart of another web-based suitor who would otherwise be “out of one’s league.”)

     My experience of online dating, however, has been consistently real, with absolutely no question being brought to the possibility that my looks may be those one would willfully select. My face screams, “I wouldn’t, like, choose this, but this is what I got!”

     There is a part of me that imagines having a catfish boyfriend as a fabulously indulgent experience, appealing in the way that eating Twizzlers Pull & Peels after every meal seems gleeful in the abstract. After all, all they do is respond quickly, tell you how amazing you are, and send you gorgeous photos of semi-nude, semi-famous Instagram personalities.

     But it is an experience that, I’d also imagine, is painfully hollow. The Catfisher must be consumed by some force of guilt, and the Catfishee must grow weaker under the weight of such willful ignorance. It’s bizarre to conceive that one person's beautiful images can set the stage for such deep interpersonal angst.

     But I have no worry that my photos are in such danger. I’m real, baby. I wouldn’t, like, choose this, but this is what I got.

Springfield

     In New York, success is having a laundry machine in your home. It is having a linen closet, some outdoor space, and a spare bedroom. It is facing south, being close to transportation, and receiving packages without worry.

     Nearly out of the question is a car with dedicated parking, a home gym, and homeownership. Even fewer can aspire to several bathrooms, a kitchen island, and full-size appliances.

     The ultimate dream is the standard of living of Springfield, Ohio.

New York

     New York is a city I lauded for a long time, and I am relieved to live here now. But I don’t buy the “center of the universe” theory. The center of the universe is wherever one can find a deep breath and a curious mind.

     I get that in New York, but I’m sure it’s happening in Toledo.

Productivity

     Do you ever get distracted by the internet? There’s so much out there. Like, so much.

The Report

     It feels like one of those shows where the wife has been suspicious that her husband has been cheating for a long time, so she hires a private investigator. The private investigator finds out that he has been cheating. And then she gets really mad. And I keep sitting on my couch like, “Yeah girl, we all knew.”

Spring Break

Nothing

Sick

     It’s not until you have a stuffy nose that you remember how easy it was to breathe.

     It’s not until you need a bathroom that you remember how amazing it was to have one.

     It’s not until it starts to rain that you remember how nice it was to be dry.

     And it’s not until the music comes on that you remember how much potential was living in the silence.