So tonight when my wife Rebecca said that she would not sit through another basketball game and I refused to look at “House Hunting”or “Please Sell My Dump“ or whatever else the ridiculous shows that comes on Home and Garden, I relented. We decided to watch a movie. Today being St Patty’s Day why not watch a Irish Movie. The Banshees of Inisherin. I knew nothing about the movie except it had been nominated for several Academy Awards. Based on the description of the film I wasn’t very excited about watching it but on a a couple of friends opinions who I value said that I probably would like it. After seeing it they were right. I should have seen it when it came out in the theaters and been the first one in line. It resonated with me on such a personal level. It’s about a guy who hates small talk so much and who despises aimless chatting that he will cut off his own fingers to avoid it. He is tired of pointless small talk and will start amputating his fingers in protest to get this other guy to stop talking to him because he finds the conversation that uninteresting. On that kind of surface level I have never found a movie to be more relatable. I found it to be quite powerful. Of course there is more to the movie and I will not give it away but when the movie finally ended I found myself thinking only about if there was anyone I knew that in conversations with them it would cause me to want to self mutilate myself. Of course not. I am pretty sure my mental illness hasn’t reached that point. However in conversation with them maybe the thoughts COULD have entered my mind that maybe it would be nice to mutilate them.

Am I the ass that I appear to be because I related to this character on such a personal level? Apparently. The first step toward improvement is self-reflection. If you don’t want to be an ass, you’ll have to first admit that you *are* an ass. My wife says I am and she is a good judge of character.

I had lunch yesterday with a old friend who I had not seen in years. Afterwards I realized that I don’t really have that many friends anymore. I’m not super close with my family. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you may be wondering why more people get on your nerves as you get older. I used to have a ton of friends. I confided important things in a couple of people I considered to be my best friends. I felt like they knew my soul through and through; they could see me; they would never go anywhere. Things changed and many of those relationships fizzled out. I’ve come to the conclusion that the older you get, the harder it is to make friends because you start to realize you’re done with drama and don’t have time for nonsense. And the most important takeaway of all is that it’s really OK, because this is your life to live.

Now I have turned into that grumpy, get off my lawn guy. The Daily Mail recently had a article “40 things that can trigger Old Man syndrome.” Huh? There is such a thing? The very first sign was you complain about your spouse leaving he lights on. POW, BAM, SMACK. The Kardashians is a trigger. HOLY CRAP!!!! People stacking the dishwasher incorrectly. NOOOOOOO…….. Elections, State of the nation, politicians, stupid people…….that is repetitive. Where is the freaking remote!!!!

I close. I am afraid the few friends I do have may be looking around for the knife to start waking off their fingers if I continue.