Saying No.

My therapist wanted to coach me through saying "no" to people who want me to do things I simply do not want to do. She wanted me to practice what I was going to say to someone.

I told her I didn't want to because it felt uncomfortable and I didn't see how it was going to help me. She said, "Just try it." And I said,

"Aren't I supposed to be practicing saying "no" to people who want me to do things that I don't want to do?"

"Touché."

Selling your soul to get to California.

Yesterday I talked to a lady who told me a bit about her son. When he was small, they used to travel to California in the summers to visit relatives. At the end of the trips, she said, he would cry and cry. He'd cry when it was time to leave, he'd cry on the plane.

"He just loved California from the time he was little."

When he was older, he went to Cornell and then got a job working for Philip Morris, which enabled him to move to Irvine, California.

I thought about it and came up with this:

It's like he sold his soul to the devil in order to get to California and in one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenarios that the devil is somewhat famous for, he ended up in Irvine.

Which he actually apparently enjoys, it's just funnier if you don't know that.