To quote the Grateful Dead, what a long, strange trip it's been.
Fuckin. A.
Welcome back, faithful readers! It's been a minute, hasn't it? I last posted on 7
January 2012-just shy of nine years ago. And, I'm sure like many of you, a lot
has changed. To give you a brief rundown as to my whereabouts since our last
correspondence:
- In 2014, I married the sweetest, most kind-hearted woman ever in existence.
- We moved from the South Side to Wash. Co. in 2017.
- Our son was born shortly after we made our move.
- Our daughter was born in May 2020 during the pandemic.
- My brother got married to a wonderful woman, I gained a sister, and they're
expecting their first child in a few weeks.
- I lost the last of my grandparents, which is sad because I miss them, but it's
unfortunate because they would have been over the moon due to all of our babies. In fact, my grandmother may have lived forever if she knew she would have had two great-granddaughters.
- I've upped my Pearl Jam concert total to twenty shows, including my last
two at Wrigely Field. I was scheduled to see show twenty-one in
Nashville in April; however, COVID...
- My wife and I have done some traveling, most noteably to small western
European cities like Sligachan and Glencolumbkille that are hard to pronounce
but easy to fall in love with.
- I'm still teaching full-time and playing roadie part-time, one of which has
become infinitely harder during this pandemic while the other has been
nonexistent for the past ten months. And it's not looking good going forward, either.
- Obama, and then Trump, and then who the hell knows. Regardless, the next three weeks are going to
be great fodder for Saturday Nigh Live and twitter.
- I've been using the subordinating conjunction
as a lot when I write.
Like, a lot. I know. Super douchey.
So, overall, I'm a little older-growing into my dadbod quite nicely, and I'm
getting grayer by the day, but I'm grounded...in a good way. And, at least
according to my wife, I've mellowed in my middle age. I've learned to sit back,
relax, enjoy my family and be more in the moment. I'm like a duck calmly wading in
his pond, waiting for whatever is to come. (On a side note: ducks are calm on
the surface but are paddling like
Hell underneath. Serenity now-insanity
later...)
I don't know what my intentions are going forward. Do I set a goal to post once
a week? Monthly? Just music reviews or include personal items and editorials?
It seems like the older I get, the more I get left behind in the world of social
media. Case in point: while I rarely post on Facebook, if I do, I know that my
parents and our relatives and family friends are going to give me a "Like" or
make a comment-I'm very popular with the Baby Boomers! On the other hand, my
Millennial and Gen-X counterparts aren't as active. Are you on other social
media sites, or am I not that interesting? (On a side note: if you comment on
one of my FB posts, my mum will "Like" your comment. It's adorable. All of yinz
should have a Pittsburgh Mom like mine.)
I could try to figure out a way to incorporate TikTok into my schpiel, but I
fear that once I do, something newer and shinier will be created, and I'll again
be left in the lurch.
Besides, my dance moves are akin to a baby deer taking its first steps shortly
after birth and would most certainly drive away readers.
Also, how much time will I have to write going forward? Nothing screams "Dad of the Year" more than taking time away from family to write something only a handful of people are going to read. I mean, really-who do I think I am? Mickey Spillane?
Regardless, I'm going to try to write more in 2021. Even if it's not to publish,
writing for me is therapeutic. It allows me to get what's in
here out
there. I think it's because I agonize over the written word and see my prose as a challenge. As an English teacher, I'm adamant about the writing process: I stress to my students
that their first draft is to put pen to paper, to put ideas on paper as quickly
as possible because they can (and
will in my class) go back and edit and
revise. "Perfection in the end!" is what I always say or at least intend to. On the other hand, I started this post at about 8:45 p.m. and will finish sometime after midnight. No rough drafts for this guy. Academic anxiety will kick in. Sleep will be lost.
I'm just like a duck...
