I use the word dude a lot. Dude is one of those words that can mean absolutely anything in my vocabulary. I use dude in so many ways that it often frightens me. I use the term to express gratitude, disappointment, frustration, anger, happiness, exasperation. It is both a noun, an adjective and an adverb but I have yet been able to find a way to use it as a verb. How the hell did the word dude become such a staple in my life? Recent history would point to my time spent on Kauai as a surf bum eternally looking for the ultimate wave but I suspect my infatuation with the term goes far beyond that. I find myself using it a work at most where I try to use it as a replacement for more colorful language though I find limited success in that endeavor. Do you suppose that my coworkers and friends notice how often I say dude? Do you suppose that they think I'm weird (I most certainly am)? I like to think of myself as an articulate human being yet I spend so much time employing the term dude that it would seem that I am the exact opposite of dude. DUUUDDDE! Or is it DOOOOOOD?
I may spend an inordinant amount of time saying dude but it falls well short of two other words that I speak far more frequenlty. Those words would be the names of my two terrierists. Terriers make excellent vanquishers of all things evil and nefarious. This is especially true of Jack. Jack thinks that anything that makes noise or walks by the apartment that doesn't have to do with me or himself is evil and must therefore must be fought and vanquished. Jack is a premier evil fighter and also has a Phd in making mischief. As a result, I spend a great deal of time uttering his name in the futile struggle to get him to shutup or quit poking his nose into things that he shouldn't. I have so many inflections for uttering his name and each one literally conveys entire conversations worth of information. Jack hears his name so much that I'm not even sure he knows how it even pertains to him. Carter is a different story thoug. Carter lives for about three things, his ball, his dog food and licking his Dad. When I let Jack and Carter out of their crate after a long day of work Jack jumps all over me while Carter goes straight for his ball followed by making sure that the dog dish has plenty of food in it. It's almost like I don't exist other than to facilitate a neverending game of fetch the ball. It's ball time when I'm eating, sleeping, taking a shower, taking a crap, getting ready for work, enjoying quiet time.....etc. The only times when it isn't ball time is when it's food time or lick Dad time. Carter isn't happy unless he gets a solid hour of licking Dad's face and ears each day. He is absoluletly relentless in this endeavor and it drives me absolutely crazy. Whereas I call Jack's name in all sorts of manners and inflections, Carter's name is always used in exasperation. Am I neurotic dog owner or am I just the father of two very eccentric terrierist? Both I suspect.
So there you have it, my vocabulary is dominated by the words dude, Jack and Carter. Just another entry into the whole eccentric versus crazy arguement that I'm sure scholars around the world debate about me everyday........dude.
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