Dirty laundry

I thought I'd spice up my blog with a bit of edgy commentary!! For real though...I do recognize in myself a sometime unhealthy gravitation toward the salacious...details about incidents or individuals that I just don't need to know. Why is that? Don Henley wrote, ''It's interesting when people die, give us dirty laundy.'' Not sure the propensity bears nourishing though. Your thoughts...why do we care about Britney, Brangelina, or Hurricane death tolls?

Visions of Italy...

Last year my buddy took his wife to Italy for their wedding anniversay and sent me this postcard. I've never been to Italy...but it looks really nice. So, I keep this travel destination ever before me as I type away at my desk. Some day.

Spam soup?

Sunday lunch at a Hawaiian restaurant with the family and I'm all for authentic...but Spam soup!! I can't believe that a restaurant would actually offer that! I was later informed that the state of Hawaii boasts the highest consumption of Spam per capita versus any other state in the union. That said, there's no way I'm consuming it - wouldn't want to jeapordize the bragging rights of Hawaii.

[This blog entry sent remotely using my phone :) ]

Guitar Lessons

For Christmas I gave my son (under my wife's inspiration) a book of coupons for guitar lessons. Today was lesson #1. Though his intro to music class allowed him to try out a little (nylon string) guitar along with piano and recorder...today he started on steel stringed acoustic.

It was cool to pull out my old axe that I bought upon graduation from college 20 years ago and start passing on the musical heritage - note the ''Rock for Life'' motto along the little guys sleeve. Will he become a guitar legend - another Stevie Ray Vaughn...Phil Keaggy...or Jimmy Hendrix? I don't know. What matters is that my son and I have a whole coupon book and beyond to explore the possibilities together!

[This blog entry sent remotely using my phone :) ]

Hold on Loosely...

I was chatting with a friend over lunch the other day and we agreed that sometimes we (or anybody) can wrap our head around and idea, argument, position, or expectation and literally stop thinking! We cease taking further data in about a subject or conception and thereby risk missing the discovery of a better or improved understanding. The presumption is dangerous because our understanding of reality is continually being refined. Think this is too philosophical...think "parenting!" Just when I've got one phase figured our...bam, my kids age on me!

While it is critical to "keep an open mind", I also believe that we do so in order to then close our minds upon better ideas and deeper truths. It is a process. If we fix our minds too rigidly, we stop allowing ourselves to be refined. [Old Guy Alert!] There's this 80's band called 38 Special that summed up well what I'm trying to say:

Just Hold On Loosely,
but don't let go
If you cling to tightly,
you're gonna lose control

[PS - The Daffy Duck image above is from a 1956 Looney Tune entitled Ali Baba Bunny and NO, I'm not that old, but I do like cartoons.]

You blog???

I had a 20-something co-worker ask me this question the other day - with the clear emphasis on the latter word, as in, "aren't you a little old for that?" Well, technically, I DO have a blog site...but I think there is a frequency requirement to actually declare that "yes, I blog."

I like to read blogs. In fact, a few of my faves are listed to the right. But, "do I blog?" probably not. I like to think of it more as a really inconsistent online journal of an otherwise occupied old guy. Facebook, LinkedIn, Club Penguin...social networking is a big commitment that I'm not sure I'm really up to.

Nevertheless, to maintain some semblance of understanding of the world around me and "the buzz" I do have token place markers in each of these worlds - okay, the Club Penguin is vicariously through my children, as I peak over their shoulders.