...fine line between insanity and genius

i'm coming back, i'm coming back, i'm coming back... no one wants to see the evil shit. ...they want the good shit... ... i'll give you the good shit. patience.

brian james flores is falling down. falling down. falling down. brian james flores is falling down. god bless us, everyone.

i've had a rough go at it, the past couple of days. the stomach's been a mess... the sleep has been non-existent. then today, at the end of a training session, one of my regulars asked me a question. no doubt it was because i was staring into space. "where are you?" "huh?", i responded, trying desperately to remember what we were just talking about. "you're not yourself today." i apologized to her and told her that i had some things on my mind. "i could tell that you weren't here today." i told her that she was astute. i literally said the word "astute". and without even asking what was wrong, she offered the following... "you know, god has a plan... you may not like it, but everything happens for a reason... and everything is going to be okay." if i wasn't surrounded by customers and co-workers... something bad would've happened, but i kept my composure. i told her thanks and she gave me a little pat o...

so i'm here in tuscaloosa, alabama attending the wedding of my father's cousin's daughter (so, my second cousin's wedding?) and i haven't been around these parts since the previous wedding (of the other daughter), which was like 7 years ago. in any case, here are some observations i've accumulated during my stay... good, old fashioned southern hospitality is alive and well. everyone we've met has been very warm and welcoming... even those not related . the rivalry between alabama and auburn is real... almost too real. my smartass uncle thought it might be funny to shout, "go tigers ( auburn )" while in the tuscaloosa city limits. after a bunch of threatening looks he decided to calm down a little bit. also, some stranger told him that people have been killed in these parts for boasting about being auburn fans. i didn't see any confederate flags waving around, but in the "yacht club" where the reception was held, there was a framed...

at work, i put a picture on the break room computer that inferred that i was leaving the woodfield store to go to north michigan ave . since i am generally a smartass and a clown at work, most people caught themselves and remembered that it was april 1st. some people were tricked, like ariel , and she later punched me hard in the kidneys... twice.

here's all you need to know... “Dear Brian Flores, Congratulations from Bank of America for finishing the 2008 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K! Your chip time was 1:08:19 and you placed 22,002nd out of 22,558 finishers.” jeezus h krice. i only beat 556 people. there was a lady pushing a stroller with 2 kids in it. she beat me. there was a blind man with a seeing eye dog and a peg leg. he beat me. but then the old woman with the walker... well, she was in the way until she fell... so i was able to jump over her before crossing the finish line. i guess i should be grateful that i didn't have a heart attack. and i did get a nice shirt and coupon for a free sandwich at potbelly's. i also got a banana and a whole wheat bagel. i'm still proud of myself... and i'm running another race in 2 weeks. see you there.