The man asks me if I can explain to him how a man who has a BA in Journalism ended up in a field that is so far away from what his degree is in.
“I am independently wealthy and have written more than 10 books.”
I watch his head cock to the side as he processes what I have told him.
“What kind of books? Would I know any of them? Why is this the first time I am hearing about this?”
I smile and ask him how many conversations we have had and remind him one of the most important things we need to focus on is asking good questions.
“Give me the name of a book. I am on Amazon now.”
“Ok, look up “When June Was My Girl by Willie Norbtim.”
I try not to smile because I know he isn’t going to find anything and consider what I’ll say.
“Josh, I can’t find it.”
“Ok, try BJ’s Pizzokie at Gloria’s Latin Cuisine.”
He scrunches up his face and wants to know if I wrote about local restaurants.
“I sure have, you ought to know about Shady Oak and The Keg.”
The hook is in deep and he hasn’t figured out I am messing with him. Just as I am about to send him down a new rabbit hole one of the other guys clues him in and he shakes his head at me.
“When you make old man comments at the guy who is 25 years older than you try to remember he might not be as slow as you think, even after two drinks.”
Music interrupts my next comment, it is Bow Wow Wow singing Do You Wanna Hold Me? I look at the kid and say I saw them in concert at Magic Mountain when I was 13.
I Used To Be The Young Guy
Haven’t heard the song in what feels like a thousand years, makes me laugh because it has been one of those days where I am reminded that even though I used to be the young guy in the office I am not him anymore.
Not the oldest, but much closer to that than the youngest.
It began during what is my first visit to TopGolf when I ask if anyone remembers a scene from the movie Black Rain that is relevant.
The guys who are close to age to me ask when it came out and I say I am pretty sure I was 20, so late eighties.
They don’t recall but appreciate when I talk about the Peppertree theater I used to see new movies at for a dollar. It was near the university I went to.
Spent more than a few nights seeing flicks there because it was affordable. Wasn’t as cool as going to Westwood but the difference in price made it the better choice.
Those Westwood nights were saved for big dates or movies you knew would be much better with THX. Those were the days when not every theater had the big screen and great sound system.
Days when I looked a little different than I do now, 501s with a t-shirt, shorts and a tank top or something along those lines.
Just for kicks here is a bit of a selection you can call Josh through the years. Roughly 18, 23, 25, early and late thirties along with mid forties and early fifties.
Kind of funny to look at these shots because I tend to think of myself as looking more like the twenty something and am surprised to see the guy who is twice as old looking back at me.
The middle picture in the shot above me, the one next to the 25 year-old version of me with the threads hanging around my neck was taken in Houston.
It was my second trip out to Texas but I had no idea I would one day live here. Technically my middle sister is in it and our cousin.
Said cousin ended up clerking for RBG and is a law professor now. I think he knew then what he wanted to do and was working on that.
I am certain my sister had no idea within a couple of years she would start a life on the East Coast and never live in California again.
And me, well I already said that I didn’t expect to live in Texas, though in those days Ann Richards was governor and politics were very different than they are now.
The world was very different in the early nineties than it is now. I suppose that really isn’t unusual or surprising and I am guessing my kids will be able to point out big changes that take place between now and when they hit their fifties.
It occurs to me that December 7 marked the 135th birthday of one of my great grandfathers. He survived the Spanish Flu and given that he is one of the people I am named for I always thought that gave me some luck with Covid.
Not a logical thought but I figured it didn’t hurt and since I haven’t ever been officially diagnosed with it I’ll take it as unscientific proof that my superstition worked.
He died 10 years before I was born so I never did get to meet him, but I definitely would have liked to, especially now.
Would have been a big help with the family tree and I would have loved to have picked his brain about what life was like in the old country and here.
He lived through two world wars and the Spanish flu but wasn’t around for Kennedy’s assassination, or the moon landing.
Come to think of it, he was alive for McKinley’s assassination, though he didn’t get to the U.S. until a couple years afterwards.
Kind of crazy to realize he could have lived here for two of those…
Think I’ll end this here and ponder some of that and a few other things. Never know what will happen or who you will end up being inextricably linked to.
It is one hell of a ride.
