There is a certain incongruity between the music I am listening to, the mood I am in and the words and movie clips that appear upon the page.
Got Bob Dylan singing The Wedding Song in my ear and if I don’t make any adjustments to this mix it will touch All I Ask Of You from Phantom and finish with No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley.
A parade of images, memories and moments take their turns on the internal movie screen and I roll my eyes at the “I didn’t mean to upset you” and litany of broken promises given within.
None of this is of particular import other than sharing a few thoughts and setting a partial scene from which people will derive their own misguided sense of what may or may not be going on.
Time For A Change
I pulled into the parking lot at BJs and mulled over calling it a day early so I could grab a Jeremiah Red and decompress it.
Had my phone not rung I probably would have kept driving towards home but since I had been trying to reach this person for two days I didn’t want to let it go to voicemail and take a chance on missing him.
Twenty-five minutes later I hung up, made a couple of notes and then exhaled deeply.
In two days I had put in close to 500 miles of windshield time and I was tired.
So I put the seat back slightly, turned on Sirius and listened to Bruce sing Thunder Road.
Man, some of those lines never get old for me and I see the picture he is painting and find it easy to view it as a bystander and a participant.
I look around for a moment and couple memories make me smile but there is no time to get lost in those thoughts.
Now is a time of tests and there is a part of me that finds it particularly irritating and distasteful to be in this position.
Some people have created situations in which they expect me to juggle chainsaws, knives and bowling balls.
They haven’t figured out yet how very much that irks me and how invigorating I find it to share that with them.
That is when I bring out my inner Picard and let them know they have gone far enough.
And should that not be sufficient there is always time to let them know I approve of the Chicago way.
Time For A Change
That might be one of the few times you hear me praise the midwest, live on that for a while. I cannot confirm nor deny that making a nephew laugh until he heard me say that some East Coast accents are ridiculous.
When he asked me about a Californian accent I told him we don’t have one. “Uncle Josh, what are you going to do if you develop one of those Texas accents?”
“Guess I’ll sound like a hick.”
“Why are you smiling if you are going to sound like a hick?”
“Because I am not bothered by any of this. People will love me or hate me the same way they always have. It is a time for a change anyhow.”
*****
Speaking of changes I am starting to explore changing the blog again.
Haven’t decided if I’ll just shut it down and start over or if I’ll just change the theme.
Now you might say I covered two extremes and wonder if I want to change why I don’t just choose the second option.
If you compare the amount of work required to make the changes against just starting fresh there is a certain freedom that comes with starting over.
You don’t spend copious amounts of time combing through every post and page to make sure the links work and that things work as they should.
Can’t say which direction I am going to go in because I need to spend a little time thinking about what makes the most sense.
It will probably be a game time go with my gut decision.
Music Break
These videos aren’t going to help the page load any faster which definitely won’t help with my SEO efforts but then again I am just not worried about that right now.
At the moment it is about transitions and changes and so I share this music with you and mention I appreciate Pink and Lady Gaga because they don’t need the autotune and machines to make them sound like real singers.
More Changes To Come
Stay tuned to this Bat Channel and you might hear of more changes to come or maybe not.
If I choose to start over I don’t know that I will mention it. I might just turn out the lights and walk away. Wouldn’t be the first time, might not be the last.
Sometimes Thunder Road calls.
It was sweet while it lasted and then it was sweet no more.
I’ve been binge watching This Is Us all week. Next week, my birthday rolls around, and it’s the last year of my forties.
I don’t know if they’re related, but I’ve been thinking a lot of legacy, and impact, and where I am now versus where I want to leave.
Change can be good. A fresh lick of paint, equally so. An introspective appraisal.
Whatever you decide, I’ll be here for the ride.
That is a much better show than I had expected it to be. I got into it earlier this year and binge watched my way through it too.
I am a year behind you, but I can feel the end of my forties approaching and it is surreal.
Glad to share the ride with you.