DAVID'S PLACE:

   great day

  First time I remember getting bullied was standing in line at the entrance of Jones School when I was 7 years old. It was the first day of school. A kid named Larry who was my size and age asked me if I'd ever been kicked in the balls. I said "what are balls?" He pounded his foot into my scrotum and I keeled over in pain. He, and a few other people stood over me asking if I was ok. I recovered and whined "yes, I'm ok". Larry said nothing. Groaning, I asked him why he kicked me and he said that he felt like it and why don't you do something anything about it? I was scared to death he would kick me again.   I was standing up again. "Well" he challenged.  .What are you going to do? I said " Nothing. Just leave me alone ". I was in the same class as Larry and I stayed as far away from him as I could https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2819147375098537888/7688584191152785782?hl=en the whole semester. I was nervous all the time. When...

 It was a Saturday night in Chicago back in 1974. I was 25. I was out to dinner with my fiancée Janice and another couple. There was a guy named Al with his girlfriend  I used to play racquetball with. I met him at the sports club in the building I lived in. This was at a time I was a total anxiety ridden mess because of a fear of getting married because I didn't feel like a real man who could protect my wife from harm. At that time, like now, I was constantly anxiety ridden with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I had this relentless feeling that I was not brave like my brother Joel always told me to be. It was all about physical courage. I had to now.  I had chickened out of so many fights and confrontations my entire life while trying to be like my idol Joel. I was athletic, smart,  kind of in the in crowd, but never the guy who was respected.  Joel was a matinee idol. When it was time to fight someone who was bullying me or others I backed out. In my grou...

                                        OCD HAS BLOWN UP MY BRAIN I am just another guy sitting in my kitchen chair trying to figure out how to become a successful author. I just read David Baldacci's autobiography on this best selling all time successful author and he made writing seem so easy. He made it sound like good writing was just like telling an interesting story to a friend. I am a 74 year old guy who is retired and disinterested in almost everything I have been doing besides talking to my family of a bunch of kids and grandkids my dog and girlfriend. Writing seems like the one way I can justify an admittedly indulged existence because of the good fortune of a well endowed family and some business success. Otherwise, I feel very empty sitting out here in Florida far away from my roots in Chicago. I never saw the point in going to school so I ended up graduating last in my class ...

Tap Root Pub Chicago 1974 It was a Saturday night back in 1974. I was 25 years old and out to dinner with my fiancé Debbie and another couple .There was a guy named Al who I used to play racquetball with. I met him at the sports club in the building I lived in. This was into the time that I was constantly anxiety ridden with OCD because I had this feeling that I was not brave like my brother Jack always told me to be. I had disappointed him because he had seen me chicken out of so many confrontations and fights. I never stepped up when it was time to punch someone who was bullying me or others. Jack couldn't stand that. I was a chicken. But, this night at the Tap Root Pub near downtown Chicago would be different. At the table behind us was a group of six 25 to 35 year old loud, rowdy guys. The group's loudest guy was a drunken big, fat faced brute who was yelling out profanity and embarrassing our adjacent table. I felt like I should tell this guy to hold it down considering I ...