Blogging every day is easy and not just because I love to write but because there are endless stories to share, to tell and seek out.
Flip through the blog and you’ll find posts about why Daylight Savings Times exists, what benefits you receive as president, how much it cost to build the Death Star and how to make hardboiled eggs.
The Importance of Half Birthdays
November 9th will mark my half birthday upon which I will officially turn 43.5. That makes me ancient to some of you and a baby to others.
If I didn’t have children I don’t know if I would notice half birthdays but they are important to them and hence I notice. These youngsters of mine ask if I feel old or notice the years and I say only years like 43 where I get to be a prime number.
I say that I don’t notice but I suspect the truth is I am more cognizant of the years than I want to admit. I attribute it to two things:
- Ego. I don’t like some of the changes that have come with age. Irks me to see some of the guys I play ball with outdo me. Years back they never could have, but there comes a revolution.
- I am more driven than ever to check off a few things on the list of accomplishments and objectives and more aware of time. There is so much I want to do and less time to do it than before.
Generation X
I am part of Generation X. Used to hate the label and was more than irritated with all of the stupid articles about how different we were from the Baby Boomers and the generation before. Used to roll my eyes when I heard how we grew up sheltered, entitled and were unwilling to work hard.
Now I listen to people describe the millenials in the same terms and nod my head. Can’t decide if that makes me a hypocrite or if this time it is accurate.
But I do know there are some things you can’t learn in school and that even a few years in the work force isn’t always enough to figure out some of this stuff.
When Did I Become This Guy
My oldest is going to be Bar Mitzvahed next year. It is a big deal and a significant accomplishment. I am tearing out what little hair I have trying to figure out how to come up with some cash to pay for it all.
It is not going to be a crazy-over-the-top party. It wouldn’t be if I was a billionaire. I don’t believe in that kind of thing nor think it is appropriate, but I need to do something because it is important.
My son deserves it, but it is going to take some doing to make it happen.
We’ll see if Jack The Elder is the Superhero his kids think he is. I guess this helps to explain how I found my first two real gray hairs today.
A Secret Handshake
My daughter is eight going on thirty. She was born a few minutes before midnight and I’ll never forget it.
It was two days after my father had a triple bypass. His surgery was the culmination of his beating the odds, docs said he would probably die and he didn’t. It is another piece of the puzzle that made me a blogger.
I remember watching my daughter emerge and walking with her and the nurse to the Pyrex incubator she was placed in. Nurse cleaned her up and I stuck out my right index finger.
She looked up at me and wrapped her entire hand around my finger. I told her I was her daddy, said I love you to her in person and promised to take care of her.
That became our secret handshake. Sometimes she walks up to me and silently grabs my finger. Sometimes people think she is trying to pull it and run away in anticipation of what might happen, but they couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I Never Owned A Mustang
I never did own a Mustang. I started with ’77 Chevy Impala station wagon, moved to a ’69 Dodge Dart Swinger, went back to the Impala and then to a ’77 Camaro.
Loved the Camaro, last year of the steel bumper and ever so much fun to drive. There were other cars and many more stories that happened before, during and after the times I have referred to.
Some might say I fought a balrog in the Mines of Moria and that I came out victorious. Others might argue no such thing happened and that I played a different role in the affairs of Middle Earth.
Perhaps we’ll save those tales for publication elsewhere and perhaps they’ll never be shared.
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon we will mend.
Else the Puck a liar call.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.”
Puck- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Happy Half Birthday, Jack. It is easy to blog everyday if you are in love with what your blog is about. I used to blog about stuff just to make some money. It was difficult. Now, I just blog about what I like.
I have also found it not too difficult to blog every day. Turns out that when I put my mind to it, there really are endless stories to tell, and things to say. I think this month is really going to help me find my voice.
Hi Samanatha,
There really are endless numbers of stories to tell. Time the the biggest challenge, or so I think.
Writing every day is a great way to find your voice.
Happy Half Birthday, Jack. Yes, you’re a baby to me. 😀
You know – I don’t find it hard to blog every day either, except I don’t do it. So, inspired by you and a few other blogger-gems, yesterday I created eight drafts and posted them via Picassa to my blog to be saved as drafts. This morning, I happily went to my dashboard to find that not one of the drafts appeared. I wondered for a moment whether I had posted it to another blog (I write three) – only to be disappointed. Then a brainwave struck and I checked my Google+ albums, since all photo uploads get stored there. Oh yes, I found the photos but nary a line of text. You can’t imagine how mad I felt. Oh, so I can write them again, but you know how that feels. Anyway, can’t do it when I am irritated. Also, work calls – and I gotta prioritize because of our intermittent power outages. So I must tend to the bread and butter first, and then look at the fun stuff. As it is, I am dying of guilt for not replying to comments on the last three posts.
But – I know exactly what you mean in your post. 😀 Hmm. I swear it used to be much easier when I used to write a real diary, you know, with pen and notebook.
Happy Half again! Hugs! Vidya
Hi Vidya,
I hate when I lose piece of my posts. It has happened more than once and probably will again- makes me positively pissed.
Sometimes it works out because you find a better way to say what you were saying or a more compelling storyline, but not always. Sometimes you have lost the one post that would have inspired a nation and led to a series of books.
How long did you keep your diary for?
I kept that diary for many many years. I still have a large part of it, written in shorthand, feeling very clever at the time that no one could read it. And now, when I take that pandora’s box down, even I find it hard to read. 🙂 You know, those days, letter-writing was also a beloved activity. I have a huge stack of letters I wrote Sury before we got married. (Don’t wonder why I have them – after we got married I found them in a folder in Sury’s desk). Then I have letters I wrote my Mom when we were apart for a couple of months – which I found in her bookshelf. I even have my Mom’s diary. Now, hold your breath – I also have a great grandmother’s diary!!
Not sure if I’ll change the nation – but I certainly dream of a series of books!
Hugs! Vidya
P.S.: Vidur will be quite happy to be on your side when we play the song tag.
Yes indeed, it’s not tough to blog daily, but that person has to be like you then Jack!
Ah…just blogging twice a week is enough for me presently, though yes, if one really just writes without thinking much about other things, it surely is possible. I used to do that long back when I wrote on pen and paper. 🙂
Wishing you a very happy half-birthday for the 9th 🙂
Hi Harleena
Posts that don’t require research are easy. I don’t have to take as much time writing them as I might otherwise require. And when you love the writing the way I do it is just fun to do it.
Happy 43.5, Jack.
I suppose it’s supposed to feel a bit awkward but, like you said, it is necessary.
Hi Stan,
Awkward is ok. Sometimes it helps us grow.