Staring problem

On my way to work today I witnessed an odd spectacle. A man was standing outside of his apartment looking down at something. Since I'm nosy, I had to look. Between his legs was a duck. A duck?! It wasn't your typical mallard either. It was a white one like an Aflac duck. I, of course, couldn't help but stare. Why in the world would you have a duck in your apartment? Where does it swim? The bathtub? It was a pretty bird, but man, that apartment must not smell very pleasant.

Shortly after I got to work another odd occurrence surfaced. The antique shop across the way started putting up a giant foil cutout of a naked woman. I was like "are they putting up a naked woman?" After I said that Neil, Dave, and I proceeded to stand in the middle of the office and watch them put up this shiny figure. I was like, seriously? So this is what I see whenever I look up from my desk now. I have to admit, I can't help but stare at it. It's just so shiny!

I figured that since I blog about the office folk frequently that I should put pictures up of them.

Neil (head honcho)

Josie (office mascot)

Dave (partner in crime)

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Yesterday was a difficult day at the office because we had a long term customer seemingly forget how the whole system worked. He's not even old! So it was busy because he called back like five times and kept asking the same questions over and over. To battle this frustration, I went grocery shopping and cleaned like a mad woman. I deodorized the office, living room, and bedroom carpets with baking soda. I made sure to vacuum with my left arm since my right arm is noticeably more muscular than my right. I also dusted, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the windows in my car, sanitized the fridge and disposed of all the condiments that have been sitting in there for the past year untouched, put away the laundry, and went to Target, TJ Maxx and Home Depot. It was quite the productive night.

I've also finished the Didion and moved on to The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm. He is a genius, or close to it. The book is not what I expected. I thought it would be more of a guide to love, but it focuses mostly on the theory of love. I realized that it wouldn't be "right" for him to try to tell someone how to love and I appreciate that. His observations are good ones and I would suggest this book to anyone.

Dave and I have been doing a lot of discussion on life and God lately. We have gotten very in depth and surprisingly haven't gotten upset at one another. I have never been able to discuss such a sensitive subject with anyone without wanting to throw something. It is quite refreshing. He has been reading books on faith and I of life. Together we have been figuring out aspects of ourselves that we didn't know we had. It has contributed to my outlook on life. I've come to realize that in order to help others, I need to be able to help myself first. Fromm says that it's all about balance. If you can't love yourself then you can't love others and if you can't love others then you can't love yourself. Basically, your capability to love is dependent on your ability to love. How am I to love others when I don't love myself? How can I love myself when I don't love others? How can I help others when I can't help myself? I've already made some major headway in the discovery of myself and how to make myself happier. Rekindling my enjoyment in books has helped significantly. I don't know why I didn't read nonfiction before. It's like stepping into someone else's life, reading their stories. Since I'm so nosy anyway, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. It also gives you perspective on your own life when you read about others.