By The Way

     With another birthday looming in the headlights, it’s time to turn reflective and thoughtful (although only for a little while – it’s impossible to contain the rage too long).  I wrote about this in an earlier post, but one of the benefits of getting older is realizing what a jackass you might have been at earlier stages in your life, especially when you reach that age where juvenile behavior starts to look sad, depressing, and pathetic….I believe that having friends helps you through those kinds of bumps along the road of life.  And I believe that you can never have enough friends – old friends from high school and college (who have lived, died, and cried with you through those formative years, and who know where the bodies are buried yet still won’t tell), as well as the new friends you meet along the way as you get older.  Years ago I was a headstrong individualist who believed he could go it alone, no matter what, and although I still maintain that the choices I make and the paths I take are my responsibility, I couldn’t have gotten where I am without the support of a tight network of friends.  Although I think one of the limits of friendship is sharing stories about medicines, aches and pains, weird growths on unseen body parts, and prostate exams......I wish I had done a better job of maintaining friendships from long ago, and I regret letting some of those friends slip away, but the beauty of modern technology makes it easier to rekindle what was once lost and rebuild things that might have once been broken.   

      I believe I should have paid more attention in school, at least in certain classes, but I’m convinced that no matter hard I studied and how much extra effort I gave, I would never understand chemistry.  Nor calculus for that matter.  And at this point in my life, I can live without that knowledge.  I believe that the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid” has more relevance now than it did in 1992.  And I believe that all the politicians who cite their “business experience” obviously never learned that a key component in running a business isn’t just controlling expenses, but increasing sales (or in the case of the economy, REVENUE.....maybe that's why they're in Washington and not still running those businesses).  I believe that while a little Creedence Clearwater Revival, Foghat, and Grand Funk on the car radio makes the ride that much better, a James Brown song can have you doing ninety in a thirty-five without even realizing it.  Really.  Thanks for stopping by!