Forget them - the Hawks are undefeated. 6-0 is their best start yet. I'm a fair weather fan when it comes to hockey, so when the Blackhawks have been good, I've been there. This year, I've been slow to get on board, and apparently I'm missing some outstanding hockey. I'm a little reticent to start now; if they lose, I'll have to stay away indefinitely.
I have a way of killing off things by liking them too much. I've worked at two companies (my favorite jobs) that have either ceased to exist or have gone on life support while I was there, despite looking strong when I started with them.
My track record with computer software is nearly as damning. Lala.com was my favorite music service (now folded into iTunes - disappeared, if you will) and MusicMatch (bought by Yahoo! - also disappeared) are some prime examples. There are plenty of others.
Back to sports - I cite the Chicago Bears. I can't even complain about the last ten years under Lovie Smith. Every year, there were a reasonable amount of wins and the defense was always good or great. It wasn't enough to win a Super Bowl, but it was respectable. On the other hand, I only barely remember the 1985 season and I would love to see a current Bears team go the distance.
Sadly, my interest in the Bears is also the thing most likely keeping them from getting over the top again. Well, it might have also been Lovie's inability to adjust to Peyton Manning's adjustments at half time. He'd have a restaurant in the loop by now had he been able to adapt and overcome. C'est la vie.
He's gone, but I'm locked in, as I share initials with the Chicago Bears. Sorry, Bears. I will point out, however, that Michael Jordan won six titles with me watching. So, maybe just step it up, Bears. Overcome the me factor.
January 28, 2013
January 1, 2013
This is the End...
...only of 2012. Sorry to be dramatic, friends, but this year sucked. Even my sister's wedding (which went even better than I expected) was marred by the fact that I could barely emit sounds from my flu-ridden throat. I have become very familiar with the concept of an upper-respiratory infection and I can tell you that whiskey does not fix it.
For the rest of the year, besides having been sick more than any other single year I can remember, ground I had thought to be solid (or at least had had no trouble standing on in the past) turned to quicksand. Luckily, my foot ended up touching a rail, and I could sort of work my way out, albeit slowly and unsteadily. (Doggone near lost a $400 hand cart!)
My focus for the coming year will be again on being a better me. That missive got lost by the end of January last year, and then the me that had been cruising along, avoiding grief, took a line drive to the nuts. I continued to get shelled until the bitter end of the year, when the New Year's Eve party we've enjoyed for the past few was cancelled due to yet another illness.
I should point out that all of the family and close friends who were sick have recovered, or are at least stable by now, so there is that silver lining. Two people I knew did not survive the year, and both cases were incredibly sad. They were also not much older than me, which is probably what triggered an existential crisis (midlife?) at some point this year. I'm not young and this is when I start noticing it, I guess.
Anyhow, it's just a few minutes into 2013 and nothing bad has happened yet. Oh wait, our internet seems to be crapping out. Perhaps nobody will ever see this. If you do, I'm glad we survived the end of times. Perhaps, if this does publish, you'll see that I'd enjoy getting together with you for a beer or two this year. You'll have to be a little understanding that my schedule is somewhat tricky, but my intent is to reconnect.
There may be a move in our future, I have rough plans for both a blog and a brewery, and as I just mentioned, I plan to be a friend you actually see once in a while. Not sure which of these endeavors will fall away first, but I'm hoping it's the blog and/or brewery. I probably miss you.
Here's to a 2013 of better luck and happier times.
For the rest of the year, besides having been sick more than any other single year I can remember, ground I had thought to be solid (or at least had had no trouble standing on in the past) turned to quicksand. Luckily, my foot ended up touching a rail, and I could sort of work my way out, albeit slowly and unsteadily. (Doggone near lost a $400 hand cart!)
My focus for the coming year will be again on being a better me. That missive got lost by the end of January last year, and then the me that had been cruising along, avoiding grief, took a line drive to the nuts. I continued to get shelled until the bitter end of the year, when the New Year's Eve party we've enjoyed for the past few was cancelled due to yet another illness.
I should point out that all of the family and close friends who were sick have recovered, or are at least stable by now, so there is that silver lining. Two people I knew did not survive the year, and both cases were incredibly sad. They were also not much older than me, which is probably what triggered an existential crisis (midlife?) at some point this year. I'm not young and this is when I start noticing it, I guess.
Anyhow, it's just a few minutes into 2013 and nothing bad has happened yet. Oh wait, our internet seems to be crapping out. Perhaps nobody will ever see this. If you do, I'm glad we survived the end of times. Perhaps, if this does publish, you'll see that I'd enjoy getting together with you for a beer or two this year. You'll have to be a little understanding that my schedule is somewhat tricky, but my intent is to reconnect.
There may be a move in our future, I have rough plans for both a blog and a brewery, and as I just mentioned, I plan to be a friend you actually see once in a while. Not sure which of these endeavors will fall away first, but I'm hoping it's the blog and/or brewery. I probably miss you.
Here's to a 2013 of better luck and happier times.
December 28, 2012
Out With a Bang
Dear 2012,
The three words that best describe you: STINK, STANK, STUNK.
With a few exceptions (my sister's wedding, our son's birthday party, and a fun trip to California) this year sucked. I feel like I spent more time in existential examination than playing trains with Eli; my midlife crisis came at the beginning of his ability to empathize.
There was a point where I had to evaluate everything: who I am, what I've done, where I'm headed, etc. and I did not like all of the answers. It's a little trite to try to fix things with new year's resolutions, so the idealist in me needs to kick the realist in the nuts and take some chances. Big picture stuff, like doing work that means something. Creating things. Reading books. That kind of stuff.
Current me has become so "go with the flow" that my identity got flushed. I need to be better than I am, and that means not caving in to being tired or low on time or excuse-rich. I need to pick a thing to do and do it. It's advice I give to my cousins in college and it should apply equally to me.
I do have a few hair-brained schemes in the works. One is a blog, but I still need to figure out the identity of that. I have the basic idea, and I have a band of miscreants in mind to power it. Another is a brewery. I have the place and the beers named already, and I have a scheme to get it off the ground using a completely different group of talented friends.
Most importantly, I have some ideas for some music I'd like to make. It's tricky for a few reasons - mostly logistical. I'm really hoping this one, if any of them, comes to pass.
So, if I've shorted you this year, or seemed like a jerk, or acted generally badly - it's been a tough 12 months. Please forgive me and don't give up on me. Let's go get a beer. Here's to 2013 (who'd have thought we'd see it...)
The three words that best describe you: STINK, STANK, STUNK.
With a few exceptions (my sister's wedding, our son's birthday party, and a fun trip to California) this year sucked. I feel like I spent more time in existential examination than playing trains with Eli; my midlife crisis came at the beginning of his ability to empathize.
There was a point where I had to evaluate everything: who I am, what I've done, where I'm headed, etc. and I did not like all of the answers. It's a little trite to try to fix things with new year's resolutions, so the idealist in me needs to kick the realist in the nuts and take some chances. Big picture stuff, like doing work that means something. Creating things. Reading books. That kind of stuff.
Current me has become so "go with the flow" that my identity got flushed. I need to be better than I am, and that means not caving in to being tired or low on time or excuse-rich. I need to pick a thing to do and do it. It's advice I give to my cousins in college and it should apply equally to me.
I do have a few hair-brained schemes in the works. One is a blog, but I still need to figure out the identity of that. I have the basic idea, and I have a band of miscreants in mind to power it. Another is a brewery. I have the place and the beers named already, and I have a scheme to get it off the ground using a completely different group of talented friends.
Most importantly, I have some ideas for some music I'd like to make. It's tricky for a few reasons - mostly logistical. I'm really hoping this one, if any of them, comes to pass.
So, if I've shorted you this year, or seemed like a jerk, or acted generally badly - it's been a tough 12 months. Please forgive me and don't give up on me. Let's go get a beer. Here's to 2013 (who'd have thought we'd see it...)
November 5, 2012
And How Have You Been?
Fair warning - this post is going to spray to all fields. But first, a bit of an explanation.
For some reason, the firewall at work blocks access to Blogger. I can upload any file I want to Google Drive, but blogging is verboten. My new setup is to write bulk text when inspiration hits in a text document in Google Drive, then copy and paste into Blogger (and edit, usually) when I get home later. How's it working? Check the (lack of) archives.
And so, this evening I went through the fragmented ideas I've squirreled away, and found this interesting bit of politics from August 24th of this year:
In light of Christie's kind words for Obama after the hurricane ran roughshod over his state, his criticisms seem less cutting now. I applaud him for considering the humanity over the politics when it mattered (and for designing those awesome sweatshirts - they've inspired me).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A brief rant about how Google may have worked toward the end goal (an all-encompassing ecosystem like Apple's) before solidifying the components. Remember Google Wave?
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And finally, a tip o' the hat to one of my all-time favorite bands, The Flaming Lips:
You should find Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd on Twitter and follow them. Interesting dudes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for your indulgence. I'll do my best to get regular again.
For some reason, the firewall at work blocks access to Blogger. I can upload any file I want to Google Drive, but blogging is verboten. My new setup is to write bulk text when inspiration hits in a text document in Google Drive, then copy and paste into Blogger (and edit, usually) when I get home later. How's it working? Check the (lack of) archives.
And so, this evening I went through the fragmented ideas I've squirreled away, and found this interesting bit of politics from August 24th of this year:
To Chris Christie:
“Waited silently”? Is that really what you’re going with? Don’t you remember this guy, from only 9 months into the Obama campaign?
Plus, don’t you have a majority at the moment? Make laws and quit complaining about how awful Obama is. He’s doing something to help people while you focus on helping companies.
In light of Christie's kind words for Obama after the hurricane ran roughshod over his state, his criticisms seem less cutting now. I applaud him for considering the humanity over the politics when it mattered (and for designing those awesome sweatshirts - they've inspired me).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A brief rant about how Google may have worked toward the end goal (an all-encompassing ecosystem like Apple's) before solidifying the components. Remember Google Wave?
Google AltsI also meant to touch on Android here, as it's a Google property. I don't understand why they didn't just replace the native Android music player with Google Music. The native player has a nice lock-screen control panel, GM doesn't. GM can stream music, native player can't. I know it's a big company, but surely someone within it uses both apps, right?
Google does lots of things very well and while they seem to improve user interfaces, they also still have baffling disconnects in some areas. Sometimes, it’s just nicer to use a different program than the Google standard.
Vimeo > YouTube (my opinion, only, and by the slimmest of margins)
Wordpress.com > Blogger.com
Flickr > Picasaweb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And finally, a tip o' the hat to one of my all-time favorite bands, The Flaming Lips:
The Flaming Lips
I just watched the documentary on the Flaming Lips called “The Soft Bulletin” on Pitchfork, and it brought out some odd feelings. I am proud of them. Talk about an anomaly - they’re a garage band making grandiose, artsy records on Warner Brothers. I’ve been trying to get away from the major labels (more specifically, from supporting the RIAA) but the Flaming Lips have made that impossible.
From the time I became aware of them, their music definitely stood out in a crowd of post-punk, genuinely independent bands. I’ve followed most everything from Oh My Gawd through their most recent releases. I’ve not loved everything they’ve released, but it turns out they have had misgivings about a record or two as well.
You should find Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd on Twitter and follow them. Interesting dudes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for your indulgence. I'll do my best to get regular again.
July 31, 2012
It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
If you know me, you know I'm a "path of least resistance" type of person. I have relatively low resolve, and I very much enjoy eating a good meal. Thus, I am overweight. Not by a lot, but by enough that I feel the need to do something about it.
I am still in decent shape. Closing in on 42 years old, I can still maintain a 10-minute mile jogging pace (something I would have mocked in high school) and can pull my son in a trailer on the bike up hills for many miles. Everything has atrophied in the past five to ten years, but nothing is torn or broken, so it can be fixed.
Musically, I have been in a bad way lately. Projects have been pushed off and practice has nearly been eliminated. Mostly, it's my own re-prioritization of time. It's also difficult on Jennie when we play because Eli would like to be part of the action in the basement, and thus, will not sleep. He was lulled to sleep by the dulcet tones of Supercush or Big Drag in the early days, but it's not the noise that's the issue now - it's the fun.
So, it's logistically difficult to get in some rock time, and that doesn't make me happy, but it'll have to work for now.
The main point here is that I'm not done with anything yet. I am very proud of some of the music I've had a part in making over the years, but I still feel like there's a magnum opus in there somewhere. I've written a lot, but I don't feel like I've really captured what's in my head and put it into words (and I think some of it would be worthwhile reading). I've been in love with the same woman for 14 years but I feel like I've been sort of working around being the husband I could be. I'm still chubby, but in my mind, I'm fleet and foxy.
All of this can still come to fruition.
I am still in decent shape. Closing in on 42 years old, I can still maintain a 10-minute mile jogging pace (something I would have mocked in high school) and can pull my son in a trailer on the bike up hills for many miles. Everything has atrophied in the past five to ten years, but nothing is torn or broken, so it can be fixed.
Musically, I have been in a bad way lately. Projects have been pushed off and practice has nearly been eliminated. Mostly, it's my own re-prioritization of time. It's also difficult on Jennie when we play because Eli would like to be part of the action in the basement, and thus, will not sleep. He was lulled to sleep by the dulcet tones of Supercush or Big Drag in the early days, but it's not the noise that's the issue now - it's the fun.
So, it's logistically difficult to get in some rock time, and that doesn't make me happy, but it'll have to work for now.
The main point here is that I'm not done with anything yet. I am very proud of some of the music I've had a part in making over the years, but I still feel like there's a magnum opus in there somewhere. I've written a lot, but I don't feel like I've really captured what's in my head and put it into words (and I think some of it would be worthwhile reading). I've been in love with the same woman for 14 years but I feel like I've been sort of working around being the husband I could be. I'm still chubby, but in my mind, I'm fleet and foxy.
All of this can still come to fruition.
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