Forty for Forty – #28. Home Movies
Editor’s Note: I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending one calendar year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. Today, it’s all about one of my life’s true loves – the movies. This post was originally published a few years ago but I’ve gone back and freshened it up for the occasion.
It’s safe to say that my Blog serves two very important purposes. For starters, it’s become the digital scrapbook of my life – capturing all of my latest comings and going while also providing a canvas upon which I can paint from memory. Secondly, I’ve used it to create conversation with the folks I love chatting with most. I’ve got a small group of people who frequent this place – most friends and family but a few strangers who stopped in for a spell and decide... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #29. Fashionably Late
Editor’s Note: I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending one calendar year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. I should have been at the halfway point by now but in mid-October, I went astray. At the time I didn’t think anyone was reading these things so I thought about scrapping the project entirely but thankfully, at the end of the year, I realized I need to finish what I started. If anything, I owe it to myself. With that said, I have a little work ahead of me but certainly nothing insurmountable. If you are reading these and enjoying them, there’s plenty more to come. If not, then what are you doing reading this. Get out... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #30. Along Came a Ryder
Editor’s Note – Here’s the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. After this, we have 29 more to go in five short months. Now, technically the following piece was published a few years ago (2007 to be precise) but it’s a pivotal moment in my life and I thought it would be silly to start from scratch and write the same damned story all over again. The only thing that would prove is whether my memory has held up. IT HAS!!! Instead, I’ve gone through and rewritten some portions to freshen up the room. But the core tale remains the same – following me and two buddies as we grab our first apartment after college. Enjoy!!!
Like every red-blooded American male who had successfully launched from the nest and landed ... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #31. Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Editor’s Note: By now you know the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. This is #31 with plenty more to come.
The last time I did this, it was mid-October (my anniversary) and I was only at #32. I have 5 months left and 31 posts to go so it’s time to get busy writing or get busy dying (just a little something I learned at Shawshank). The fact that it’s the big 4-0 coming ’round the bend probably means I’ll get a lot from column A and a smidge from column B.
I have a bit of a theme developing over the next few posts. I think some of these will be humorous, some poignant and some a bit cautiously optimistic that with every day, everythi... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #32. Your Song
Editor’s Note: By now you know the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. Well, I’d say the fact that one woman in this world actually took a chance on me is pretty damn important. So – this post is all about that lovely lady, Andi, with whom today I share an Anniversary.
It’s a little bit funny… this feeling inside.
But here we are, eleven years from our wedding day and it’s stronger than ever. And although those eleven years have seen their fair share of the ups and downs, as I’m sure all of our married friends of so many years would cop too, I have that funny feeling inside that the best is yet to come. After all, we’ve still got two ... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #33. A Good Walk Spoiled
Editor’s Note: By now you know the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. In this one, I focus on one sad truth. I was the last guy picked on almost every single team. Baseball. Whiffleball. Dodgeball. Solitaire. Nobody wanted me. Well – it’s nice to know that I can laugh about it now.
I have no game.
Almost 40 years on this Earth and probably a good two decades removed from when any semblance of athletic ability should have kicked in, I can finally come clean. I am woefully inadequate when it comes to feats of strength, sport or conditioning. There’s a reason we don’t celebrate Festivus in this house and it has nothing to do with lack of gri... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #34. Picking up the Pieces
Editor’s Note: By now you know the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. This one is technically a reprint. I wrote it years ago. But it has to be one of the most important things I’ve ever written and published on these pages. And as far as commenting on my life – this is as personal as it gets.
“New Insights into the Hidden World of Autism”
The headline screamed from a Time magazine cover as I was walking through the Des Moines airport, awaiting my flight home from a two-day client visit. As my tastes in periodicals tend to run towards the entertainment, sports or video game mags, it’s not the sort of cover story tha... Continue reading »
September 11, 2001
“Where were you when…”
Growing up, I always heard that same question (usually connected to recounted tales of JFK’s assassination) and never quite understood the heartache a simple line of inquiry could implant in a person.
On September 11, 2001 – at the tail end of my twenties – I suddenly learned with great gravity how hard a few words stitched together in just the right way could stagger a person. This was one of those days where I remember every minute in vibrant detail. I mean everything, every damned thing that I did that morning is tattooed to memory.
Where were you when that day’s beautiful dawn broke?
Where were you when you learned that the first plane hit?
Where were you when that second plane made its shocking entrance on the CNN live feed?
Where were you when the Towers fell?
Where... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #35. The Monkeybar Mafia
Editor’s Note: By now you know the drill. I turn 40 on June 6, 2012. As a little challenge to myself, I’m spending the next year writing 40 posts that say something about my life. This one’s an easy one. Tonight I got some great news. It’s probably the biggest thing I’ve done creatively to date. And how fitting that it all comes together next year, just after I round the bend and hit my shiny new decade. Anyway – that’s enough tease. Read all about it now.
They say if you have to write for someone, do it for yourself. That’s pretty good advice. After all – you’re the sole guardian of those wispy thoughts; you might as well jot them down before they are lost in the ether of time. But, I’m only human. Of course I want an... Continue reading »
Forty for Forty – #36. Hard Times at Rockland High
Editor’s Note: The Mayans say the Earth will end on December 12, 2012. I turn 40 on June 6th of the same year. I say I’ve got them beat by 6 months and 6 days. As a little challenge to myself, I came up with this year-long project. Forty for Forty is my bid to write 40 articles that say something about my life. Little moments or anecdotes, likes or dislikes – that made me the guy I am today. Today we’re at #36. Yes – this one has been published before BUT it’s a pivotal real-life moment in my life, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna’ write it all over again. And, I did freshen it up a bit. So, sit back in shock and read the torrid tale of The Ed Zone’s resident probie.
From one bad mo fo to y’all, I’d like to dedicate this one... Continue reading »
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