Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for August 01, 2020

Life is always there Corey. Romp in it, revel in it, enjoy all that life has to offer.

Maybe if Corey was a little less ….noticeable, just sayin’ A few less desserts?

Just stop making a spectacle of yourself.

Corey regrets his recent move to the area and listening to Babs of B. S.* Realty & Muffin Shop that his current house on Ballard & Main (you remember that fixer upper next to the Tiki Lounge?) would be a peaceful sanctuary…

*Ballard Street

Corey still carries his miniature slide rule that his first crush, Ethel, gave him. Ah those were the days; going on picnics, doing advanced calculus, figuring wind resistant coefficients together. Cory remembers how helpless and hot Ethel would look when he would pull of her amazingly thick Buddy Holly type glasses.

So that’s his name. The kids called him “Boo”.

A man of my own heart. When i’m not lonely, solitude is good!

Yes, there are days like that….

Corey is really creepy looking….

Ya gotta be smaller than the post Corey.

But Corey, if Life passes you by, what’s the alternative?

Hope is not enough Corey.. you need to find a wider post.

I like to hide in the shadows.

Corey really shouldn’t have read that story about hidebehinds. He’s so impressionable.

You can find a quiet corner, Corey, but life will find you if you wear a loud shirt.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Life doesn’t notice you at all. I can’t remember where I read this or who said it, but the observation was: “When you’re 20, you worry about what everyone thinks of you. When you’re 40, you don’t care what anybody thinks of you. When you’re 60, you realize nobody was ever thinking of you.”

Life is standing right behind you, Bub, with its hand on your shoulder. As Buckaroo Banzai said so eloquently, Corey, “No matter where you go—there you are.” Or, as the Rabbi says in the final episode of "Northern Exposure, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Of course, Lewis Carroll and many others have expressed the same thoughts in many different ways. Take a step, Corey. Don’t hide. As Evan Hansen says, at the end of the show, “Step into the sun!”

Corey needs to find another corner. One that isn’t on the front porch.