Rish's Ramblings: January Sweeps

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

January Sweeps - Day 346

If you read this blog, you know that I'm like a broken record, saying the same thing over and over again (and over and over and . . .). I had a friend that was like that, telling the same exact jokes and stories so often that you could sometimes quote them along with him, and it got old fast. So you've heard me, day in and day out, say that I wrote something, and in looking over it, was bummed to find that it wasn't that good. I said it this week, in fact.*

But today, I was copy and pasting the writing I did the last two days into the master file of "Only Have Eyes For You," and I started reading one of the MANY scenes with Mason Bradley and Natalie Whitmore on their overnight shifts together, just having conversation.

I got to a bit where Mason asks her, "You ever have a bunch of your friends doing something on a Saturday night, and it sounds fun and exciting, but you can't be a part of it because you work here weekend nights?"

She says, "Yeah, all the time. It drives me craz--"

And Mason says, "Well, some people feel that way every single day. Life is their Saturday night, and it's going by, faster and faster, and they're missing it, and the worst thing is that they're not stupid or oblivious: they realize they're missing it. And it tears them up inside. Life is going by, and one day it's going to end, and what will they have to show for it? And that eats at them, jumping into their heads at inopportune moments, reminding them that they're on the outside, and while so many people out there are having a great time, or at least participating in life, they're on the bench, waiting for a chance to play, but seeing the game clock running down right before their eyes. Tomorrow is Saturday night for you, but for them, it's today, and yesterday, and today, and oh, tomorrow too."

I ended up burning half an hour, just reading through parts (adding "he saids" and such where I felt they were needed), and I really liked what I saw. I enjoyed the dialogue, I thought the funny parts were funny, and I thought the romantic wistfulness was real rather than sappy. It pleased me to read it.

Sometimes it's hard to keep going, especially when it seems like there's no reason to push a boulder up a hill. But it's nice when you can look back and say, "Oh yeah, that particular day pushing on this rock wasn't at all bad."