2ndchance

Remember

It is a rainy, cold day here in mid-October.  A perfect day to stay indoors, listen to old music, and write in the blog.  (which is obviously something I haven't done recently).

I finally got my tape deck working, and I've been listening to some old recordings from the late 80's and early 90's.  One is a sing-along among members of one of my graduate school classes.  There was this class we had to take the first semester called 'Formations', and we got pretty tight as a group.  It's fun listening to us laugh, tell jokes, and sing along with several guitars.  It reminds me of a 'good' time in my life. . .difficult, but fun.  I was working three part-time jobs and going to school full-time.  So were pretty much all my classmates.  How we ever did it is beyond me.  Yet to listen to the tape is to remember the good times.

Another recording was made at Christmas in 1992.  My then girlfriend had flown to my hometown. . .meeting my family for the first time.  I remember picking her up at the airport and driving around for about an hour (at her request), because she was so nervous.  Anyway, all of the women living in Mom's house joined our family for another one of those sing-alongs.  We had guitars, keyboard, and a hammer dulcimer.  We actually sounded pretty good.

I could go on.  There are loads of old cassettes gathering dust in my collection. . .each one with a story to tell. . .representative of old memories in my head that have also been gathering dust.  It's nice to shake loose the dust from time to time.

Still raining. . .sleepy cat in my lap. . .irish music playing on the tape deck. 

Friend Smoothie

Facebook continues to amaze and amuse me.  What has really struck me lately is how it takes friends and acquaintances from wildly different parts of my life and puts them all in the same place.  One friend of mine called this 'homogenization' of people. (Thanks Mark) I guess I am used to my friends being compartmentalized. . .college, former youth, family, online friends, etc.  Some of these friends know some things about me. . .others are privy to a whole different slate of information.  (For example, many people know what the name of this blog signifies.  Many do not.)

Just the other day, a several friends posted their status messages, as usual.  The first one was one of my more conservative friends who was ranting about President Obama.  Directly after that, was a status from one of my gay friends talking about a Pride March he was in.  Right after that was a family member talking about moving from one state to another.  And after that was a Christian friend of mine, using her status to broadcast her faith.

You get the idea.  I had to chuckle.  I started to think, which one of my friends would unfriend me if they could see all my other friends.  Would my pro-choice friends disown me because I also have pro-life friends?  Would my atheist friends sneer at my christian friends?  Would my straight friends be shocked that I have gay friends?  What kind of conversations would ensue if everyone was gathered in one room?

It only makes sense.  I usually describe myself as a mutt when meeting new people.  I have threads of many different philosophies, beliefs and choices flowing through me.  It helps me to relate to individuals and groups of many different backgrounds.  I was just always the kid who had friends of all different kinds, shapes, and colors.  I always try to respect other people for their beliefs; while still holding intact my own beliefs.  So my FaceBook friends are a reflection of all of this.

I would like to bring everyone together in one room.  Just to see.  How many people would get into heated conversations.  How many people would make new friends.  How many people would storm out of the room.

Wouldn't it be fun to watch.

Holiday Hello

For me, the holiday season is more about the people and less about the presents.  Don't get me wrong. . .thoughtful presents are always nice.  It may just be that I'm getting older.  It may be that my family and I don't have the financial resources we used to have.  It may just be that I'm tired of all the holiday hype.

Sounds simple doesn't it?  It's all about the people.

Re-connect

For the first time in many weeks, I'm excited about something.  Over the holidays, as I was cruising the programs on my mom's cable, I came across the Christmas at Belmont special.  Belmont College is a powerhouse of classical music and boy can they put on a show.  At one point, one of the professors took the stage to direct the choir and the orchestra.

Suddenly, I realized that I knew him.

Empathy

Part I

Just got off the phone with a friend.  Every time I start thinking that I have it rough, I remind myself that there is a person I know who has it rougher.

He has MS, and has experienced the loss of his life as he knew it. . .physically, emotionally, socially, vocationally, and more.  He is a gifted photographer and one of his prints graces a wall in my house.

What would I do without. . .

Thanks brother.  For being concerned, for keeping me company for not giving up on me.

Thanks mother.  For unconditional support, for the little things, for the big things.

Elegant

Here are three beautiful ladies in the wedding garden at the rehearsal.  Want to see more?  Go here.

Happy Day

The best man gives his toast before the cutting of the cake.  The bride and the groom are in the background.

The wedding was a great success.  There was a large, quiet, cool room at the end of the hall.  It was the perfect place for getting away from all the noise for short bursts of time.

Here's a funny:  the ice-cream truck was making rounds in the neighborhood which surrounds the garden during the ceremony.  I made a joke about special music.

Old Friends

I stayed for supper tonight at my mom's retirement community, after hauling a bookcase and some other odd items out there in my car.  Mom had an extra 'ticket' because she had missed a meal, so she was allowed to have a guest.

Of course I forgot the fact that quite a few people in this community have known me since I was a teenager.  And most of those people know nothing of what my life has been like for the past ten years.  They know the 'old me'. . .the young guy who was changing the world, one kid at a time.  The guy at the peak of his career. . .working with large groups of teenagers, managing budgets and programs, full of energy and life.

Oops.

Gift

Got a call from a friend yesterday.  She had just finished a long day at work, and is putting in overtime because of short staff.  The amazing thing about her is that she remains a consistent presence who is not put off by my ever-changing moodiness.

My moods have been riding a yo-yo lately, more than any other time in my life.  I can go from having boundless nervous energy and easy irritation. . .to gloomy 'leave-me-alone' unreliability.  Although I tend to be an extroverted talker at my best, the former state can be a source of annoyance for both me and the people around me. . .as I can chatter on and on with staccato abandon. When the awareness of this hits me, I find myself appologizing to whomever I'm with.  The latter state can leave us all with a feeling of 'sigh' and 'feh'.  Nobody wants to be around someone who seems like a constant drag.

My friend is put off by neither.  She remains a friend with cheerful concern and availability throughout all of the twists and drops on this roller-coaster illness.  She is not offering a gift with this. 

She is the gift.