My American Splendor Week

I finally got a chance to see American Splendor last night. Darn fine film, I must say, and I highly recommend that even if you're not familiar with Harvey Pekar and/or his work. But it occurred to me this morning that I've had an unusual number of what might be called "American Splendor Moments" this week already. Those odd little conversations that could easily have a definite twinge of gloom to them if you're not careful.

Monday, 9:00 am: Conversation With A Co-Worker

"Morning, Sean."
"Morning, Nic-- Whoa! What happened to your arm?"
"Umm... OK, this sounds totally worse than it really was, but I had tumor removed from my bicep, and they had to take some of the muscle out with it as well, so I'm supposed to keep my arm in a sling and not doing anything too strenuous with it for a while."

Tuesday, 8:00 am: Voicemail Message From My Soon-To-Be Ex-Wife

"Hi, it's me. Dad just called and told me my grandfather passed away earlier this morning. I thought you might want to know."

Wednesday, 10:30 am: Conversation With My Boss

"Hey, Sean. Sorry I'm late -- family emergency this morning."
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just... My sister-in-law called and told me that she just found out that her husband's been cheating on her for the past couple of years. Not exactly something I could just stop her and say, 'You know... I really should be heading off to work now.' I haven't even had my coffee yet!"

My grandfather-in-law's funeral is this afternoon and it'll be the first time I've seen most of my soon-to-be Ex's family since she left. So I'm sure there'll be more than plenty more awkward/uncomfortably odd conversations there too. Not to mention all the "Hey, Sean, why are you wearing a tie today"s I'm bound to get this morning.

Not that I seriously think that Pekar is at a loss for material, but gimme a buzz if you get hit some writer's block, Harvey. I've got more than plenty of ideas these days.

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