Warm is the Word…
I called mom a moment ago and asked if my father has put out my sodas yet. She no longer does that task. I could hear mom holler from her bedroom to the front of their house as she asked my father. “He is putting them out now,” mom told me matter-of-factly. I’ve been dropping lots of hints for us to stop this little ritual, or at least change to diet cokes. I am gaining too much weight. Dad always balks, though. He says I look fine and don’t need to lose any weight. I weigh close to 200 pounds now and that is too much for me. “Your mommas got ten 12-packs of Cokes in the basement for you,” my fat...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 18, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Two Dogs Down…
Maggie and I slept in until 3 PM this afternoon. As well as I do now out in public and socially, it still takes a toll out of me like yesterday. I felt exhausted today. I am waiting for Charlie and Dad to come by. They are bringing fried chicken tonight as they normally do on a Sunday evening. I will also get my medications which I feel I dearly need tonight. Come on Klonopin! Don’t let me down! Update… Charlie and my father have arrived. Maggie put on a grand show like no other for the two Gentlemen. She couldn’t bark fast enough to let her feelings be known. “Yay! Awesome! I love you! Get in thi...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 17, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
The Countdown Begins…
Well, in ten minutes I will be driving down the interstate to Auburn for a movie and dinner. Think of me as I am feeling especially shaky today with a little bit of paranoia thrown in for good measure. Just one of those bundled with joy mental illness days (sarcasm). I am also starving and will probably get the big ass bucket of popcorn. Mom and I will eat supper at Applebee’s afterwards then go to Sonic across town for dessert. Mom wants another Butterfinger blast and I want a molten brownie sundae. (Source: The 4th Avenue Blues)
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 16, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
A Workmanlike Post…
Mom and I made it to the movie just as the movie previews were playing. We left an hour ahead. Perfect timing. We proceeded in downing a mega bucket of popcorn and a mammoth size cherry Coke split between us. I was just ravishingly starving and that warm and buttery popcorn hit the spot. The girl at concessions recognized us from all the times we’ve seen movies lately. She gave me a “frequent flyer” points card that I have to activate on the internet. We get points for every movie we watch and the concessions we buy. I have a feeling we are going to need it. The movie was very harsh and extremely brutal at times tryi...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 16, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
♫♫ Helen Fridays! ♫ Oh yeah! ♫♫
I was about to head to bed last night around ten. I called dad on a whim to see what Helen was cooking. He usually stays up to 1 AM. “Does baked chicken sound good to you?” my father asked. “Hey! Beggars can’t be choosers,” I replied. “I think baked chicken would be great.” You always think of baked chicken being dry and rubbery, but not Helen’s chicken. She says the secret is to keep the skin on as it bakes. “I think we will have green beans as well,” my father furthered. You could almost hear my father deep in thought. My suggestion was to have that Mahatma yellow saffron rice so we will have t...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 15, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
My Little Bit of Instant Bliss…
Well, the plans have been made and we head to the cinema a little after noon tomorrow. We are seeing 12 Years - A Slave at the Carmike in Auburn, Alabama. Mom was over here earlier after she bought me new t-shirts and underwear at Wal-Mart. I showed my shirt shopper Applebee’s website and their menu. “That burger with blue cheese looks delicious,” she remarked. “That’s what I think I am getting as well,” I replied nodding my head yes. I was secretly eying their steaks after mom left. That mushroom masala sirloin certainly looked delicious. That would be my one little bit of instant bliss. Holy ...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 15, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
A Messenger in the Name of Jesus…
I was happily and quietly sitting in Dr. Kamath’s lobby this morning waiting for my nurse to call me back. A very large black man sat down beside me out of all the empty chairs in the lobby. “This is too close for comfort,” I thought to myself. I could feel my old nemesis anxiety welling up from inside of me. “Are you a family man?” the fellow asked me breaking the silence. “Oh no,” I replied. “I don’t have any kids.” “God can help you have a happy family if you pray,” he said to me. He then handed me a “tract” with Bible verses to guide me in my journey towards a happy family. Luckily,...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 14, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Moviegoers We Be…
“What’s in the theaters this weekend?” my mother asked me last night over the phone. “Your father is going to be gone all day Saturday to the football game.” I got on Carmike Cinema’s website and told mom what was showing. “Let’s go see that movie about 12 years a slave,” mom said intrigued. “We will go out to eat afterwards.” Well, I was just thrilled as I am not much of a football fan and the movie sounded interesting. James Berardenelli, my favorite film critic, gave it three and half stars out of four. “The movie starts at 12:45 PM central time,” I told my mother. “If we leave at 12:45 East...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 14, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Beleaguered By the Cold…
I woke up very early this morning to use the bathroom. I curiously went into my computer room to look at my wireless weather station after I shook the dew off my lily. I took a gander and it was showing 26 degrees outside. It doesn’t get much colder than that in the Deep South folks. A little later in the morning, braving the cold, I hurried over to my parent’s house to get my sodas and cigarettes for the day. I was expecting to find some frozen and burst colas. My sodas were fine thank goodness due to some good thinking on my father’s part. When I got home, my car still hadn’t warmed up and the thermo...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 13, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Episode III: The Revenge of Jermaine…
Dad got caught by Jermaine tonight. I laughed and laughed. I could hear Jermaine asking my father a hundred questions as I headed down the frozen food aisle. I was chuckling loudly as I got this week’s allotment of pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets out of the cooler and stuck them in my buggy. “Well, I’ll be damned. I got caught this week,” my father said when we were walking to my car. My father was playing devil’s advocate last week. “Shit!” “He is best described as a pest,” my father added. I laughed good heartedly. My old high school sweetheart works in the Pharmacy at Kroger and she says Jermaine s...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 12, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Like a Ship at Port…
I gave mom and I a soft landing today at the bookstore this morning. Mom can move faster than I can and I am not using a cane. Mom paid for some books and ordered some more. I stood to the side and coveted several pair of JVC headphones. “Your daddy said we need to buy these books online to save money, but I like the experience of going to the bookstore and eating out afterwards,” my mother told me. I agreed with mom. I was excited about getting a chance to do this again. Mom and I left the bookstore and ate at Jim Bob’s chicken fingers. I got the 12 wings which was the special of the day and mom got a Greek salad...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 12, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
So Sad and Lonely...
Feeling sad and lonely in this old, cold house this evening. Got quite a bit of mental illness going on tonight with my mind feeling fuzzy and buzzy -- That old jump out of your skin condition many of us with mental illness know all too well. Heaven knows when I will be able to sleep. Maggie's my constant companion following me into any room I go to lay at my feet. Bless her little heart. I often think she can feel my anguish at times. (Source: The 4th Avenue Blues)
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 11, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
No Trains in this Small Town Today…
Maggie and I slept in this morning somewhat and then we walked all the way down to the West Point railway depot after breakfast. Breakfast was cheese toast and some of the better grits I have cooked in awhile – stick to the spoon kind of grits and oh so buttery and creamy. I kept thinking surely some trains will pass by soon then I realized it was a holiday, Veteran’s Day, as I sat on the bench behind the bank. Duh! It was a long walk back home feeling dejected and denied. We did stop by Circle K and get us some snacks. I got two Big Mama pickled sausages, a SoBe citrus energy drink, and Maggie...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 11, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Come In From the Cold…
Precious and poor little Maggie was freezing this morning. The temperature in my house was 65 degrees and Maggie couldn’t snuggle up tighter to me this morning than she already was. Two peas in a pod as the old saying goes. I set the heat to 74 and it felt like a heat wave with heat blasting out of my floor vents. I was toasty warm as I had fallen asleep with my heavy clothes on. Soon, Charlie arrived around 10 a.m. with breakfast and gave me a reason to get out of bed. We had two sausage biscuits and McDonald’s hash browns. Maggie and I got one each. Maggie doesn’t always get her own breakfast so she was an e...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 10, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
The Smell of Burning Leaves…
I was beginning to think our nanny State had banned this as well, but I smelled my first fall burning leaves this afternoon. It is a smell of fall that takes me back years and years. I was also craving pumpkin pie and drove to Kroger, but they didn’t have any. I settled for a box of chocolate iced Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Pure gluttony, but oh so delicious. I made myself stop after eating half the box. This time change has brought out the melancholy in me. I hate it gets dark so soon and with the days so short. Luckily, I didn’t have to change my sleeping habits. I started back doing my “one little thing...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - November 9, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
