It is the week before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and introspection is the name of the game.
I am seated at my the new old computer, it is an iMac I inherited and I am quickly becoming enamored with how this sucker works and beginning to think that maybe it is time to be assimilated into the collective.
Don’t have the cash to buy a new computer, but when I do I’ll probably buy a Mac. I like what I see and there is something beautiful about using a 21″ monitor and not relying upon my old laptop. My eyes are still good, had Lasik almost 12 years ago but it doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate not having to work as hard.
Speaking of work I am listening to Gonna Fly Now and thinking about how this is so very appropriate for me. It is the perfect song for a guy who is working to turn things around and get back in shape. Perfect song for reminding myself that hard work is what is required to change my body and change a number of other things that are going on now.
But it is sometimes hard to write with this playing because the little boy that lives inside me has to get up and shadow box and then pound out a set of push ups. When I lived in my old house I would go out to the garage and play this while I was working on my heavy bag.
Some days I go run up the stairs and pretend. I am not in Philadelphia but it doesn’t matter. I know that most guys who are of a certain age and probably a bunch of women hear this song and respond in similar fashion.
Same story comes when I listen to Eye Of The Tiger. I suppose it is worth adding that if I pass by any of the Rocky movies on the old boob tube I have to stop and watch part of them. Can’t help it, I love it and I love watching Rocky overcome the odds to win.
- What lies beneath the mist…
What Kind of Blogger Are You?
People still want to know what kind of blogger I consider myself to be. They ask if I am a dad blogger or a business blogger. I am just a writer who is a blogger. I am a father and my children are an enormous part of my life.
How can I not be influenced by what they do and what I try to do for them. How can I not think about them when I write. If a writer is influenced by the life he/she lived and the dreams they have then it would be impossible for me not to include parts and pieces of them in this.
But every now and then I take time to think about it all and to look at what the stats show to be my most popular posts. I stop to read them and try to figure out if they are what I consider to be important and or well written or if they managed to obtain that title in a different way.
- The Cure For Insomnia
- A Letter To My Children-2011
- The Best Cover Letter….Ever
- One Slightly Used Pump For Sale
- Why Steve Jobs Isn’t Important Now
- Some Things I’ll Teach My Children (Updated)
- A Letter To My Children-2012
- 1 Foolproof Way To Become a Better Writer
- Mean Girls Come From Mean Moms
- A Letter To The Universe
- Why Your Post Sucks and Everyone Hates Your Blog
- Do Things Happen For A Reason?
- What Happens To Your Facebook Account When You Die
- 666 Devilish Ways To Become A Social Media Superstar
- Dealing With Divorce
- 1 Foolproof Way To Become a Better Writer
- Bloggers Are Narcissists
- The Song Of My Heart Makes My Soul Sing
- The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
I look at those posts and see a few stand outs. I look at them and wonder if they are worthy of inclusion or promotion.
Some of that is colored by the knowledge that tomorrow is 9-11 and like so many others it is a day that stands apart. No different from December 7th it is another day that shall live in infamy except I lived through this one and watched it changed the world and the lives of millions, if not billions.
And then it all circles back to my thinking about what sort of life I want for my children and the questions I ask about how to make it happen. In between it all I sit and wonder about how I got to be where I am at and just shake my head.
Life is nothing but interesting.
I hate/loathe/despise that horribly inevitable question, “What do you blog about?’ It’s such a boring question. And does anybody really care anyway? Avoiding that question is the main reason I’ve learned never to tell civilians that I blog. I don’t have a neat little niche and I’m tired of trying to come up with one.
Even though I’ve been a mommy for a combined total of 46 years, and sometimes I write about my kids, I can’t call myself a mommy blogger. Apparently the rule is that you still have to be dropping viable eggs every 28 days to call yourself that.
I won’t be a sex blogger because I don’t like the spam I get.
I can’t afford new clothes and accessories often enough to be a fashion blogger.
And I can’t sustain the unrelenting emotional pain it takes to write serious shit all of the time.
But neither am I altogether funny enough to be a humor blogger.
I’m not bright or learned enough to be a either a faith or political blogger.
I think I’m a blogger who blogs about abortion, skinny jeans, my children’s parakeet’s funeral, and sometimes I write advice columns on how to get your husband to tie you up a la Christian Grey.
I’ve started describing myself as a memoirist and a social commentator. In other words, I’m a narcissist who likes to talk smack about the world around me. Hey. Maybe I’ll have some new cards made that say that. Oh, and I’ve mastered the 1-3 sentence paragraph. I’ll put that on the back of my new cards.
Hah, you just made me laugh out loud. I think you summed up a lot of my thoughts and feelings about this whole blogging business.
Better not to be categorized and stuck inside a little box, at least I think so. The opportunity to write about anything and everything makes it all far more interesting and less likely to fall into the trap of “I have nothing to write about.”
I’ve always thought of the year beginning in the fall with the changing of the seasons (where I live, at least) and the return to school – and that was even before observing Rosh Hashanah became part of my family’s reality – so what better time to be looking within.
I’m also a big fan of the Rocky movies. My favorite is probably Rocky IV, a fact that should probably embarrass me, but I’m okay with it. The next time you’re feeling low, find the Siberian training montage on YouTube and just try not to be inspired.
L’shanah tovah, my friend.
Fall and the return to school does have a significant impact on our perception. I always felt the same way, Rosh Hashanah just highlighted it for me.
I like all of the Rockys. That training montage in Siberia is something I tried to recreate once or twice. It hurt when Apollo died, just didn’t feel right.
Shana Tova to you too.
Kristin, I also feel that the new year starts in the fall. It probably goes back to those school days.
The new year is always that time, somehow. I just made a bunch of videos on the blog, sitting on my front porch. I kind of surprised myself by doing it, but I just wanted to do something more engaging, something that would let people see who I am (or not, their choice). I guess we’re all right where we need to be, introspection included.
I am quickly becoming a fan of video. It provides a nice change of pace and helps build a connection between the readers/watchers and the blogger/writer/video producer.
I think they are very effective.
I decided trying to get back in shape was just too hard so instead, I had my left arm removed to reach my optimal weight; somewhat inconvenient and the pants are still tight as hell but psychologically being at the ‘right’ weight gave me a lift……….
I too don’t even know how to describe myself as a blogger other than someone who enjoys writing and engaging and I just happen to have a blog to make this happen.
I joined some new tribes in Triberr and they wanted to know what type of blogger I was; I had to give them the ‘hell, I don’t know’ response because I don’t think I have an appropriate label that fits.
9-11, still makes me want to grab a gun………..
Hi Bill,
The biggest question isn’t how others see you but how you see yourself, at least when it comes to blogging. After that it gets a bit easier, at least that is my experience.
You are not the only one who gets angry about 9-11. What a waste. Too bad OBL couldn’t die twice.
Garage. Heavy bag. Gonna Fly Now. Shades of 1980, Batman. Another trip back in time courtesy of the JackB. 🙂
Hi Joe,
Gonna Fly Now- that is the motto and the theme. This is when it happens and where it starts.
Wishing you a good year, a better year, and the year full of joy, windfall and awesome.
Thank you Stan. I wish you the same. I hope this the year that we all look back upon as having changed everything for us in the most positive manner.