Relishing the past. Or maybe passing the relish.

Ha, terrible punnage ensues!

There are parts of my past I don't miss. Like sixth grade. Boy, I hated that year. My mom had gone out of town to "fight" in the gulf war (she actually was stationed in Germany, as she was a medical doctor and was waiting to receive wounded that never showed up), I had just switched to a new school, and had not yet really made any long lasting friends, and things started getting really strange chemically as I entered puberty. In short, it sucked. It sucked very hard.

But there are parts I think back to and smile.

Tonight, I was in a coffeeshop with an old old friend, and I ordered a Café au lait -- basically a latté made with coffee instead of espresso. It's a drink that, when done right, is delicious. Much smoother than a latté, but better than simply adding milk to your coffee. I commented to my lovely and beautiful wife that I hadn't had one of these since I was first working in a coffeeshop.

And that reminded me how much I enjoyed those early years of that job, before Mr.mike and Ali moved, and before lissa quit, and definitely before the managers got a bee up their bonnet and started firing everyone in sight.

Back then, I was surrounded by writers and creators, and spent my time at work thinking about writing, and often scribbling stories and poems on paper while I was there, and there were so many awesome people to interact with on a regular basis. So many awesome coworkers and great customers (well, ok customers).

Those days, I miss.

I like to think I'm in a pretty good place right now. I've got a job I enjoy, I'm doing something I enjoy (comics and writing), and I'm not struggling at all. I've got short term plans and long term plans and everything's just moving pretty solidly along... but I do miss the constant company of all those creative, intelligent people.

Ah well.

Did I tell you guys I saw a UFO?

The answer to the title is, "Of course not" unless you're like one of three people. But yeah, I saw an honest-to-god genuine UFO a few weeks ago, as I was exiting a bar with my wife and friend.

The funny part is that neither of them saw it.

It was triangular shaped, a series of glowing lights that spun around as they flew slowly behind a building. It was too low to the ground for an airplane (seemingly), and made absolutely no noise (it was 1am, so I would've heard it).

If you're into the whole UFO scene, you'll know this is not an unheard of circumstance. The "Flying Triangle" UFO is one discribed time and time again. So there ya go, it's real.

Well, not really.

I saw another one again about a week later, except this time, rather than disappearing behind a building, it turned and flew back across the city. It was a little one-person airplane. It had flashing lights on its tail and wings, and enough of them to actually suggest a full triangular shape. But the truth was that it was just a simple little plane.

So for me, the UFO became a IFO (identified flying object). And that was that.

It's rather depressing to have something happen that's all strange and mysterious, and think "wow, this is the kind of proof I've been waiting for all this time! I can almost bring myself to believe that aliens are here!"

And then realize that, actually... well... no. Just a plane.

Ah well.
--Joe