Nothing Lasts Forever

[karmasoup]

SEDATION

Around the turn of the latest century, I was in my mid-20s.  I wasn’t making great money, but it spent like plenty, for living as a single person with not so much in the way of family obligations or financial responsibilities (funny how that works).  In many respects, I had more disposal income then than I do now, even while pulling in

Comments

[viagra]

You have such a great way of creating characters and really bringing life to them. I really felt like I knew Grandpa Cabbie just from your descriptions. What a wonderful eye you have to be able to see people in such a way; I feel like this story really did him justice. Very bittersweet, but I do love that feeling.

Great work!

[karmasoup]

Thanks very much for that... I'd always felt like I hadn't done him justice, because I never knew anything about him other than a general impression, so he was never more than a 2-dimensional, peripheral character in my life I'd easily dismissed as irrelevant, and I did feel a bit bad about that once I learned he'd met a tragic end, but I don't know that I could have done anything differently. I was never rude to him, I just couldn't help him find what he was looking for, because it wasn't what I was looking for, and I guess, that's just kind of the way things go in life.

I'm glad you were able to get a sense of him, though, even twisted through my limited lens as it may be, but I do hope someone out there had a more accurate depiction of his life - I sort of hope that somehow, in some way, he was fulfilled in life.

[millysdaughter]

Sadly...I see myself in Grandpa Cabbie...

[karmasoup]

Aw... that is kinda sad, if by that you mean you feel frustrated and unfulfilled in life, but I certainly don't see you as curmudgeonly at all, so you definitely have that going for you over him! <3

[roina_arwen]

I’ve never had any real musical ability, and envy those who do! Great job with setting the scene and the cast of characters!

[karmasoup]

Thanks... the scene and cast pretty much set themselves in non-fiction, and I just tell it like it happened, but some situations are more interesting than others, so I try to bring that out where I can. ;-)

[lyssa027]

Alarma Soulson is an amazing team name, just had to say that ;)

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this

[karmasoup]

Thanks... that was a fun one to come up with. I'm glad you enjoyed them... I don't think I shared much about most of them except one, and I shared as much as I know about him, which is sadly very little, considering he was never in my life very long, though his presence turned out to be mildly impactful, for a while.

[alycewilson]

Wow. The fleshed-out story is even stronger than the "elevator pitch" you gave me while we were planning. I'm not surprised, because I knew you'd delve into the depths of what this experience really meant.

Some of the things I really loved about this were the descriptions, such as feeling like parents watching a third-grade recorder concert (which isn't quite as bad as the first couple months of them practicing at home)! I also quite loved the philosophical framing of it, and how you brought it back to the present, seeing yourself in his shoes, in a manner of speaking.

I also wanted to thank you for inspiring me to write the piece I wrote this week, which is so much stronger than what I had been considering!

[karmasoup]

Heh... yeah, there's always more to any story than you can get in an elevator pitch... in theory, the elevator pitch is just supposed to capture your attention, so I was glad I tried it, since "a story about a band" I'd briefly mentioned in passing before we'd really had a chance to connect wasn't really connecting

[alycewilson]

I wouldn't worry about a comparison; I think yours is very strong. As far as parenting is concerned, yes, there are a few years that are all about parenting, and should be! But the best part about putting that effort in is that now I have a young person whom I enjoy talking to and spending time with, and who is increasingly more capable of helping out.

My best, unsolicited advice would be to get Phoenix comfortable with entertaining himself, at least some of the time. I know someone who didn't do that, and her kids are always expecting her to come up with activities for them. That's fun when you want to do it, but if you need to spend some time writing or doing something else that requires concentration, it can be very difficult.

[karmasoup]

Thanks very much for your kind words. <3