Thanksgiving Night

There's only one thing that can beat Thanksgiving Day. And that's Thanksgiving Night. Hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends. Sit down by the fire and get warm. The holidays are upon us.

Dad was right

When I was eight years old my dad bought a used Suzuki 250 dirt bike. I think it was partly because he wanted to hang out with his friends. But it was also because of what he got in return - freedom. A little time for just him that no one could take away. Shortly after his purchase, I got a Yamaha 80. We used to ride together on the weekends. We had tons of fun. We were as close then as ever. It was a great time in our lives. My dad taught me a lot about riding when I was a kid, but the bike taught me about freedom.

A Day Like Today

Today was beautiful. Truly one of those really special days you hear about in Kansas. There's only about 27 of them every year, each dodging oppressive heat, tornados and ice storms to get here. But they get here. And we had one today. Jeans and a flannel shirt will do the trick. You do a little yardwork. At some point in the day you wear some leather work gloves. You generally get some stuff accomplished, and at the end of the day, you eventually find yourself out on the patio. The flannel shirt is still hanging in there, but you throw on a knit hat and kick back with a beer. Life is good. You look around. The yard looks good. Your yard. Your house. You think back a little bit and remember your father, or his father. on a similar day. You remember they looked proud, with their chests stuck out a bit. You remember being small and how they seemed like giants then. You take a swig of your beer. And smile.

May 6, 2003

Something I wrote in May of 2003:

*******************

A day like today can really only hold one true lesson — that life doesn’t necessarily try to beat you down on purpose, it just tests your resolve, in case it decided to. And that’s just it about life - always with the lessons.

For some reason, life has taken it upon itself to prepare us. To be ready for anything and live to tell about it. Actually, when you break it all down, life seems pretty much a series of survival handbook pop quizzes. It’s a prep course in what's next. And maybe that’s the problem.

There is no memorization. There are no study questions, No tutors, either. No one knows what's coming, or what awaits us. It could be a curve ball inside or a romantic comedy with clean and palatable actors and a Hollywood happy ending.

More often than not, it’s a lot more like the weather. Bring an umbrella.

note to self:

c'mon, don't be an ass.

make time for what's important.

you pride yourself on being one that 'does' shit rathing than talk about it.
that's how you've ever accomplished anything decent or worthwhile in life.
that's how you've ever done anything that made you happy or proud.

why break precedent?

How?

How do you say you wish things were different? How do repair what's always been broken? How do you tell someone you're ashamed of yourself? Or, that they should be? How do you choose between wild abandon and fear? Cynicism and compassion? Between hope and resignation? How do you accept the unacceptable, and forgive the unforgivable? How do you move on?

I think you just do.

This and That

The weekend was full. Be certain of that. And this week promises more of the same.

Whether it’s Saturday and Sunday, or some less fortunate day of the week, life generally appears divided into two main groups – the “have to do” and the “want to do.” It’s a pity that the first group seems to win so much of the time.

The last few days have held nothing new. There was songwriting and lawn mowing. There was dog walking and script writing. There was furniture shopping and, well, more furniture shopping. After all, I am married.

All in all, I’ve spent a lot of the last several days creating, thinking about, working on or buying something because of, advertising.

This is just a hunch, but that can't be good.

hello again

It seems incredibly vain to apologize for how long its been since I've written. Strange as well.

Vain, because who am I to assume there's really anyone frequenting this online legal pad. And strange, because I'm somewhat apologizing to myself.

It's been June 12 since my last post. Almost a month. That's sad. But it does speak to my questions from a couple posts ago — whether this blog gives you discipline to write and whether it questions your overall commitment to write in the first place?

It's now July 9. I think both questions have been answered.

Words. Not again.

Sometime soon there will be a link here. Sometime soon there will be a photo that says something words cannot. Sometime soon there might be a sketch or pieces and parts of songs or half-conceived films. But today its just words. And tonight I feel so much more than that.