Border Collie Mode Engaged

All Play and No Work Makes Jen a Dull Girl

Okay, the good news is that I am about to roll onto new projects. That is what’s best for everyone, as I have a tendency to not use my free time wisely. I never want “nothing to do.” I want “everything to do” because then I will steal moments to do nothing and those stolen moments feel like a grand treat.

So, here’s the tale of the latest victim of my Big Border Collie Energy.

On Monday night, I attended my friend Gina’s father’s memorial ceremony. I know I’ve written about him in at least My Fair Lazy, if not other books, too, so you guys may already be familiar. The short of it is, Mr. Barge was the coolest cat in the universe and it was an honor and a privilege to know him.

In MFL, I sat down with him because I wanted a better musical education and thought that would start with understanding jazz. On that occasion, he was talking so incredibly humbly about his life. He kept mentioning, “And then Doc and I did this, and then we did that.” It took me longer than a beat to recognize he was talking about his friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So her dad left an enormous mark on the world, not just professionally, but also by creating a really spectacular human being in the shape of our friend Gina.

Anyway, his memorial was a true celebration of life a life well-lived, and his old band members were there to perform between tributes. While we were waiting for everything to begin, I got a weird text. I read it to my friends and we laughed about how random it was. Normally, I ignore these things. But Gina is famous for taking scammers to task, and doing the same seemed like a good way to honor her, so I put a pin in the text and saved it for later.

Even though the services were in the Chicago area, it was a four hour drive round-trip, so I had plenty of time to think about the text on the way home, largely because it kept me from obsessing about the Millionaire’s Shortbread in my bag that my friend Joanna had sent home with me.

Obviously I needed to get my mind on something else.

Obviously.

Here’s what the text said:

Here’s the thing… I LOVE MESS.

Especially when I don’t have better things to do with my time.