Family Is The Best & The Worst

I never thought I would like The White Stripes, don’t know why I didn’t or if it was just one of those arbitrary decisions we make about people, places, food and things.

Wouldn’t surprise me if that is how it happened, ‘cuz I am a person like you and as much as I want to say all of my decisions are based upon logical thought and rational ideas they just aren’t.

I have eaten foods and done things that I shouldn’t have for reasons that weren’t based upon anything other than whatever was taking place at that moment in time.

Not going to list or detail them or even try to suss out the reasons why because it is silly. What would you learn if I told you in college I fooled around with some women because I was drunk and horny and not because I was interested in their minds.

What would you learn if I told you in college I fooled around with some women because I was drunk and horny and not because I was interested in their minds.

Would it help if I told you that I am lactose intolerant and I ate some ice cream and pizza because I love those foods even though I knew they would wreak havoc upon my system.

Probably not.

What Made You Change Your Mind?

You didn’t ask me what made me change my mind about The White Stripes but I am going to tell you what happened anyway.

Summer of 2013, I am standing on the balcony of my apartment, drinking a bottle of Shiner Bock and waiting for the sun to leave me and the rest of Fort Worth bathed in darkness.

Stars start to wink across the sky and I decide to head back inside, set myself down on the couch and I turn on HBO.

There is a special about Led Zeppelin and there are famous people talking about Jimmy Page. Jack White is talking about Jimmy and sharing thoughts about music and I decide he is likeable.

He is relatable and that makes me decide to listen to the few White Stripe songs I happen to have downloaded from Google Music.

I downloaded them because they were free and I figured it was an easy way to decide if I like them or not, but for whatever reason I haven’t really listened to them yet.

Icky Thump starts playing and I smile, it is kind of catchy, a couple of lines grab my ear and I finalize my decision, they aren’t bad.

I don’t buy any of their albums, but I might, the door is open.

Later on I’ll head back to the balcony, another beer in hand and headphones on my ear, time to stare at the stars and think about the future, think about topics to write about and just enjoy the moment.

People told me Texas would be far too hot for me, I am laughing because I grew up in the San Fernando Valley where we played on blacktop and metal playground equipment during days where it was past 90 and sometimes beyond the 100s.

It was way back in the ’70s when it didn’t matter if your parents smoked or not because every other adult did anyways.

Family Is The Best & The Worst

Ma and Pa Steiner are happy because their entire brood is here and I have spent all sorts of time showing my kids what dear old dad is/was like as a brother.

Niece and nephews have encouraged me to tease their mom so that they can see how a real master pisses off a little sister.

I tell them it is not the best idea, “I don’t live with her and she’ll know you are behind this.”

“But Uncle Jack, it is really funny.”

Good old Uncle Jack agrees it is really funny but not all of the time and not every day, of course they haven’t asked for it to be that way.

Nor have they coordinated things so multiple children have approached me upon multiple occasions to ask for it, all because they once saw their uncle and mother go at it over something neither one of us remembers because it was years ago.

Still there have been a time or two where I entertained  them all with comments that escaped from between my lips not because they asked me to but because I was pissed off.

It is the same love/hate relationship I see with my own kids.

The majority of the time all is fine but there are moments and we remember that family is the best and the worst.

The Mostly True Confessions Of A Festivus Miracle Man

Shared some of the confessions of a Festivus Miracle Man with the family and realized the source of some disappointment is we weren’t all together for the airing of grievances.

It would have been good to have a set time for that but we didn’t and now I have to decide if I am going to pull a couple of them aside to let them know they have irked me and why.

I probably won’t not because I fear to do so but because I don’t see an upside to it. If it won’t create change and I don’t have to deal with the stupidity on a regular basis it is probably easier to let it pass.

That is logic and rational thought speaking and in concept that is how it will go but people don’t always act based upon logic and rational thought.

Press the right button and set up the right circumstance and who knows what can happen. That is part of the joy of the journey, now isn’t it. 🙂