The things in my head go 'round and 'round

At some point the question always comes up.

Why do you blog? Why do you put yourself out there for everyone to see and to comment on?

First off, not everyone sees it. Usually when you start writing the crap that goes on in your head, only the people you tell about it actually read it. Unless you are incredibly lucky to have stumbled on a SEO keyword that brings folks in. But that isn’t the usual.

Secondly, it is fun. It is interesting, and can be cathartic. As long as you obey the first rule of blogging.

Rule #1. Don’t blog about work. Period. Don’t allude to it, don’t try to change the name of your company, or your co-workers, just don’t do it. Someone will find it out and you will have to face the music. And it can cost you your job. Yes, it can.

So, again, why? MLW asked this question on her Facebook page, and I answered it as succinctly as I could. MLW is a very private person, with a great amount of class. I am not. I am an attention whore. Have been from the get go, and don’t see it changing much in the near future.

This has caused MLW to shake her head in amazement in the past. Hopefully it hasn’t caused her too much embarrassment. I am the one who walked on stage at a jazz band concert, without prior permission or approval and started playing songs that I had written on guitar. Just did it. Freaked my parents out. Made my middle brother laugh. He didn’t think that I had it in me.

Surprise.

I am the one, at the tender age of 16 while at band camp, took some liberties with some music, added some lyrics that talked about the camp and the totalitarian policies there (remember I was 16), and played the finished song at the camps talent show. Again without approval. I had gotten approval to play another song, but pulled the first one out of my back pocket when I was on stage. To a standing ovation, mind you.

So, I write here because I do like writing. I like crafting stories, and getting feed back from them. But I also do it to show who I am to everyone who will read this. I am the third son of three sons. A Gemini. I have this need to talk about myself, and about the thoughts in my head. And it can be irritating.

I am ok with that.

And I write to help me understand me. I would hate to make some broad generalization here about people and their personal quests for understanding, but I do believe that we all are looking for who we really are. Are we the sum total of who we married, where we live, where we work, where we spend our time? Or are we something more? I am a believer in the something more part. I am a Father, but I am more than that, I am also a Husband, but there is more to me than just that. I am a mid-level executive, hell a can jockey, but I am a whole lot more than that. I am a son, and a brother and more than that. I am something that I haven’t put my finger on yet. And I keep learning more each and every day. Putting those thoughts down on this electronic piece of paper helps me sort it out. Mostly by helping me see that there is always something more to me than just what is going on right now. Because with the typing of those words, “right now” is gone.

See how I am going all esoteric on you now?

I find it amusing that of my 4 kids, the youngest doesn’t read this any longer. It is of no more interest to her. The youngest son reads it occasionally, though his ex-girlfriend checks in pretty much every week. Hi Dani. The eldest son, I don’t think that he even reads this, but in talking to him on the phone the other night, he gets it. And that made my night. He gets blogging, understands the mechanics of it, and was encouraging me to continue. I was floored, and elated all at the same time. That eldest daughter is so busy between work and college that I am surprised that she can even breathe. But she reads every now and then.

So that, in a nutshell is why we blog. And specifically, why I blog.

Any questions? Please leave any comments below.

Namaste.

Have you heard of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act yet?

I was surprised to hear about it from my son this morning. He is discussing it in one of his classes at UofM. The proposal is being sponsered by Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC), and is heading for the november ballot.

The proposal would

* Allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctors’ approval.
* Protect these seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking their doctor-recommended medicine.
* Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for their medical use, with limits on the amount they could possess.
* Create registry identification cards, so that law enforcement officials could easily tell who was a registered patient, and establish penalties for false statements and fraudulent ID cards.
* Allow patients and their caregivers who are arrested to discuss their medical use in court.
* Continuing certain restrictions on the medical use of marijuana, including prohibitions on public use of marijuana and driving under the influence of marijuana.

Here is hoping that it passes.

namaste.

Life is complete when you get to talk to all of your kids in a single day.

That makes life complete.

I have talked about my kids ad nauseum ever since I started blogging. And I don’t see that changing any time soon. But I will admit that I am not the easiest person to talk to, nor are they. The apples fall not far from this tree. So when I hit the trifecta of talking to them all in one day it is time to celebrate.

Two of my spawn are in college while working. The third is living with his GF in California helping to keep our food chain free of harmful chemicals. I can respect that.

And today I got to talk to all of them. Hear their voices and everything. I am happy.

And complete.

Namaste.

I finally did it. I think that I was the last hold out not to be an Ipod. I purchased an Ipod shuffle today for use in my truck going back and forth to where the heck ever it is that I am going.

Earlier this year I had purchased a really nice cd player for The Red Beast so that I would have music other than the crap played on local radio stations. The idea was to burn a billion cd’s and live happily ever after.

That idea crapped out when our computer absolutely refused to burn cd’s. Even though it is supposed to be able to do that. I could have reached out to my friends and begged, and bribed them with Dodd Family Legacy Beers, but that didn’t work out either. So today The Princess and I, yeah she is home from school again after going to the Dr. this morning, went out and did the good consumer thing and spent some cash. Cash that I got from dividends on an insurance policy that I have on myself, and the girls. Sounds like a Monopoly game, doesn’t it?

Moving on.

Now I have this piece of plastic that holds 1 gig of music. I have 145 songs on it now. That is the equivilent of 14 cd’s. Awesome! Of course this means that I am going to be spending time setting up folders with fav songs in them so that I can download them whenever I want to.

Great. Something else to waste time on.

Namaste.

I just looked up to the TV after reading about the Hadron Collider, The Today Show is currently on, and the big story now is whether or not you should wear white after Labor Day.

WTH?

Is this what is of major interest to the residents of the US?

And the discussion is revolving around the different shades of white. Ivory, cream, winter white.

Again, WTH?

You have folks who are home during the day for various reasons, and what they can see on The Today Show is two female talking heads discussing why it is now in good taste to wear white after Labor Day.

I am going to shoot myself.

Namaste.