Being Sick with Bob Ross

I think one of the worst parts about getting sick is trying to make up for it afterward. I tend to skip class a good deal. I’ve been doing it less than usual this term, but I’ve still skipped a couple times. So on tuesday, I got sick, and I missed all my classes (and work) on Wednesday. Luckily, Thursday is already my day off, so that didn’t affect me, but then this morning I wasn’t quite up to classes either, so now I’ve missed two class sessions for a real reason.

No big deal, right? Just go talk to the professor and explain that I was sick, right? Well, the boy who cried wolf syndrome works both ways. I’ve used sickness as an excuse to get out of class so often that I’ve stopped even believing myself. To the point where more often than not, I’ll just not talk to the teacher when I miss class, whether it’s for a valid reason or not. This time, I’ll have to talk to all three profs, since I missed a major assignment in all three classes and a test in one.

*bleah* When I got sick, I actually thought I might get some homework done over my two days off… but I forgot that being sick means that you have no energy to do anything more than sit on the couch and stare blankly at the TV, regardless of what’s on. Daytime TV blows. Except for one show.

The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I don’t know if your public TV channel carries this guy, but he’s fucking rad. He does a half hour show on oil painting that’s nothing but him standing in front of a canvas and talking. Sounds boring, right? Well, it’s not! I don’t even like painting, but this guy is fascinating. He talks constantly in a really soft-spoken voice and says things like “We’ll just paint a happy little tree over here. Do it really lightly, you just barely want to see it. Yes. And we’ll give him a little friend over here. I’ve been painting for 30 years and I think everything needs a friend. Now we’ll do my favorite part, we’ll clean the brush. Just swirl it around in your water can and then just beat the willies out of it on your easel’s leg (followed by several seconds of brush-whacking). Boy I enjoy that. I just get all my frustrations out.”

For a half hour! This just goes on! He just quietly babbles to himself, and finishes an entire painting in that time! It shouldn’t be interesting, but it really is. And when you’re sick, you get so into it, that for a half hour, you forget how miserable you are.

He died several years back, but I’m glad that they’re rerunning his shows. Wherever you are, Bob Ross, you rule. Thanks for the show.