It's All About the Journey

The morning started with the usual phone call on my way to work. It’s the best part of my mornings and I’d missed him for the past couple of days, since he’d been away from home. Nikola seemed a little anxious, but because of who he is, that’s not really uncommon. He’d forgotten the pocket square to wear with his suit. He seemed a little distraught over the concept. It seemed like a silly thing to me, but he always seems to have his reasons. He was late picking Jean up and it took him twenty minutes to get out the door because that’s what happens when he’s anxious. I was just excited to see him and happy that I would be on my way to him soon. We were going to relive the concert where we met a year ago. Same artist, same opener, same venue, same time of year. It was a little like magic. I had a sneaking suspicion of what was to come. He never gave anything away, but I tell myself that I know him pretty well, and that his heart and my heart are made from the same stuff. So I got a ma...

I’ve told part of the story, but I can’t leave any story untold. I guess it started way back on the original Isbell fan page. Someone would post about the meaning of a song or a personal analysis of a lyric and since that was sort of my first love, I almost always join in to add my take. Sometimes I feel like I hit it pretty square and sometimes I learn all sorts of new things. Well, a few people seemed to like what I wrote, and one thing led to another, and I eventually shared my blog on the page with all of those people. It’s hard to open up something so personal to strangers from the internet, but these people already felt more like friends than most of the people I’d known my whole life. I shared the link to a music review. Then I shared the link to this. It was   very personal, very raw post. But I went bravely ahead. And I got a response. One I never anticipated. From a guy on the fan page. He wrot e “I really appreciate your candor in this. I saw you mention your blog ...

One year ago today, my whole world changed. One year ago today, I left work early on Friday, slapped on a little makeup and drove to Nashville. I posted a Facebook update when I got into town to see who was around and if anyone wanted to meet up. That was back in a time when I couldn’t group message a whole bunch of people “Where are you fuckers?” I knew a few people well enough. I was sharing an Air BnB with a guy I’d met in person all of once, Eric. Was I worried? Not about this guy. I never doubted for a moment that he was one of us. To this day, I know he’s absolutely safe and always an ally. A really good man. And ferocious about it. We were all in town for the same thing: to see our favorite band in a sold out six-night residency at the Ryman Auditorium. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, live in the Mother Church for six nights. It was like a family reunion of people who hadn’t met yet. It really did feel like meeting the siblings you never knew you had because you were adop...

I realized that my last post was made two days before the world kind  of rotated and spun into something entirely new. I guess that world has come full-circle in this blog now. It started out as a way to laugh at and relate to all of the people living in the internet and trying to date that way, and here I am, head over heels for a man I met on the internet. And that really does seem like a lifetime ago. Remember back in October when I said I wouldn't date for a long ass time? What exactly qualifies as a long ass time? It's funny, because I met the man I'm dating back in October. I roundly ignored that lightning strike. But the same storm came around in Milwaukee at Summerfest and when lightning strikes twice, you sit up and pay attention. I'll tell that whole story one of these days, after I discuss it with the man. But let's suffice to say, that after I found my place, it was no surprise that it happened to be right next to someone else who had found his. And we...

It started with accidentally winning tickets to a country music festival, so I went to look for musicians I didn’t know that were in the line up. The first one I came across was Jason Isbell, so I plugged his name into Spotify and pressed play. This song came up and I knew I had hit on something. "Cover Me Up" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-7VM2VMcQ After that, I listened to everything he wrote. There were so few of his songs that didn't speak directly to me. From the outset, I felt like he understood the notion of being Southern and being proud and being poor, but not being trashy and not being hateful. His music had depth and breadth and something to say, even when saying what he needed to say was hard. And that's what makes his music important. I went the the festival expecting what I had seen before, a really talented songwriter with passing technical skill and a lot of flash, who would ultimately disappoint me with how he sounded and looked li...

Here we are. It's been a while again, huh? I could say that I've been busy, and while that's true, I think I probably wind in and out of my love affair with my own stupid words. There are moments when I love my writing, not just because it's cathartic to me, but because I genuinely believe that it's good and of value. And then there are times when I borrow the words and music of other people to get me through. I've been living that reality for the past several months. I'd been thinking for the past week or so to give this a refresh, but I was catapulted into action this morning when I woke up to find that Anthony Bourdain has died. I think it hit me hard because he's living the life I would most love. He travels and eats food and talks about it. He's been called the rockstar of the culinary world. His taste in music was incredible. I think what hit me is that his death is proof that happiness doesn't come from the outside. Stuff, and places, an...