Eternally Beloved

For a very special Lady, who still means the world to me...........

Happy Birthday, Pet.
LILY, A&FE.

Listen - they're playing our Song:

Nine Eleven

Lest We Forget................


And lest we forget who was responsible.....................

Ain't No Cure........

........ for them summertime blues.

True enough.
It has been a while hasn't it, boys and girls?  Per usual, the best-laid plans of this humble little mouse have taken a rather violent hammering since last we spoke.  Virtually the entire foundation I labored on since the summer of 2012 collapsed in a rather bloody heap as this past April gave way to May.

I've been rebuilding ever since.

Only now am I able to look 'round myself a bit, and give some attention at last to the wounds sustained; even my trusty "burn the candle at both ends AND the middle" adrenaline can only carry so much of the load indefinitely.  Not to worry though - I've corrected many necessary issues, and forward progress has resumed once more.  Oh, there's a certain amount of lingering bitterness, but I'm channeling it all into the rebuilding, if only to supplement said adrenaline.  I'm still determined to come out on top when I can, and I'll try to keep y'all up to speed as time and circumstance allows.  There's still a hell of a lot to be done before I can resume me usual habits, so please be patient.

Better days are just ahead, believe me.

In the meantime, send as many "positive waves" {a-la Kelly's Heroes} my way as possible - I can use all the help I can get, dig?  Hopefully things will be cooking again by the fall.

Stay tuned...............

April Antics

Greetings, Boys & Girls!  I'm still here, still fighting the Good fight.  Spring has definitely sprung, and with it I find myself surrounded by more than a few pleasant opportunities.

First and foremost, I have embarked on a new chapter in my writing career.  My most recent article is on the newsstands right now; in the Summer edition of Classic Trains Magazine.  Over the course of this past fall and winter, I carefully forged a working relationship with the CT editorial board, with the end result being an outlet for several articles of mine either in the can already, or under construction.  LSS, there will be many more bylines of mine in CT going forward.

On the meat-and-potatoes front, I'm approaching the threshold of yet another new career; the next few weeks will be crucial to the success of this endeavor, but if all goes well I'll be set up for good.  It's taken many a 15-hour workday {and cost many, many hours of sleep}, but nothing worth having ever comes easy.  I ain't complaining in the least!!  Y'all will hear the good news right here just as soon as it breaks.  There have been hints in the past, and I'm sure the sharp knives in the drawer have already figured it out - but the rest of you lot will have to be patient a bit longer.  The wait will be worth it, trust me.

Domestically, I'm quite taken with my new motley Horde.  All and sundry have provided good support the last several months, and all are as excited about the future as I am {when they're not hijacking the blog, making me sleep on the couch, or pooping on the floor, that is}.  If nothing else, my Lady Sheila has seen a couple sizzling jams recently.   Nothing super-extraordinary; just a couple instances where I caught fire in a way very much in keeping with previous high-water marks.  I'll hit the boards again soon, too - it's about time I generate some new material for my humble YouTube page, and my chops are as nimble as ever.  Strike whilst the iron's hot, and all that.

And that's pretty much the latest.  I know the postings have been pretty sparse lately; blame it on the long hours and heavy workload mentioned earlier.  As the pic attests, I've acquired even more grey in me beard, as further evidence of me labors.  It's all good, though - the future is a damn sight brighter than it was exactly one year ago.  And y'all will be along for the ride, as always - I still deeply appreciate you lot who visit these silly pages regularly.  Even better days are coming, so be ready for just about anything, n'kay?

More shortly - keep your noses clean in the meantime!

Ten Years After

The above is for that very special Lady who captured my heart ten years ago today.  I miss her with all my being.


LILY ~  A&FE!!!!

doggie bloggie III

hi everybody!!
my Daddy thought it wood bee fun for me to meet you all, so here i am!!!

my name is Boris, and i'm a 7 week old yellow Lab.  Mommy Sheila and Daddy Chris adopted me from Rescue yesterday.  i really like my new home, but my brother Buster and sister Tippy seem to be afraid of me!  Daddy says they'll come round shortly, and we'll have lots of fun together.  i sure hope so; everything is so new and scary.  i miss my litter mates, but my new fambly seems to be even more fun, so things should be ok.

alrighty then, Daddy says it's nap-time, so i'm gonna sine off for now.  it was great fun meeting you all.  i hope Daddy lets me doggie-blog again - this is fun!!!

bye-bye!!

In Like a Lion.....

Yeah, I know the whole month of February slipped through me fingers with nary a blog posting.  I was simply too damn focused on consolidating my gains since New Years' to notice.  The hard work is paying off, though.  A new and rather stable career-path has presented itself to me, and I'm well out of the starting gate on strong footing.  What's more, the future has some rich potential - so much so, that I could very well be involved in the "re-imagineering" of a cherished enterprise in the near future:

For now, let's just say I'm messing around with freight logistics and transport, and leave it at that.  Much more will be forthcoming, as I gain knowledge and experience {a couple clues have already popped up here and on my Facebook page in recent months}.  I will say that I'm pretty jazzed about the overall potential; there's good bread indeed to be made humpin' freight!!

Once things settle down a bit more, my l-o-n-g delayed Grand {Musical} Plan will sputter back to life, complete with all the trappings I've lost since 2008.  Well, maybe not all the trappings - there's an ex, some family members, and a couple-three former friends I'm quite happily doing without, thank you very much!!  They'd only keep trying to hold me back, y'know?  I'm through with that mess - it's been totally cut loose.  My path is clear, and my focus is sharp; y'all best get ready for a pretty pleasant ride.

In the meantime, smoke 'em if ya got 'em, stay warm and safe, and keep an eye on these pages when you can.  I'll keep everybody up to speed, going forwards.

More shortly....................

Midlife......rebirth

"Crisis?"  What's that then, eh?

Nope, no midlife crisis here.  No sudden urge to buy a red sports car; or grow a ponytail / get a tat / pierce something; or start chasing 20-something women.  None of that mess at all.  My 45th year on this rock actually finds me with a nascent sense of near-contentment.  I'm reasonably healthy.  I have employment, food, shelter, wheels, and a budding relationship of Significance once more.  My music is still with me {and as wanton as ever}, and my freelance-writing niche has flared to life again quite unexpectedly - my latest article will appear in the Summer edition of Classic Trains Magazine {should hit the newsstands around April or May}.

Oh, there's still the daily grind and a spot of mopping up still to be done before things will shift back into higher gears again, but the momentum is slowly - and steadily -  building.  Doors of opportunity are cropping up here and there, and for once my "checkered" resum`e looks to begin to pay off handsomely in the very near future.  Not that I haven't already had a pretty full and at times a rather vivid life to date, mind you.  It's pretty hard to argue with a fair amount of national and international travel; several hundred concert performances {and counting};   a healthy contingent of staunch Friends; eight years of blogging; and more or less the freedom to do it all "my way," or at least come pretty damn close.

Things could be much, much worse, believe me.

Somehow, some way, I'm actually taking my own damn advice and just laying back and riding the groove with nary a concern about where it all may lead, what might or could happen, or anything else.  The groove is the thing, in other words - period.  Life is what we make it, and I'm getting too bloody old and tired to keep trying to re-invent the wheel, cash in on the next Pet Rock, or become Supreme Dictator of whatever.  Others can struggle with such issues; myself, I'm pretty much done with the trivialities.  If my attitude qualifies as "mature wisdom," then so be it.  I'm proud of each wrinkle and grey hair on my battered and abused body - those are my Badges of Honor, and every last one of them was earned the "hard" way.  

"Middle-age?"  I now think of it as High Noon, the peak.  The kicker is that whilst at the peak, you can pretty much do what you like {to paraphrase one of my favorite Ginger Baker songs} if you have the courage.  I do, and more importantly, I will.  As long as I'm true {and good} to myself, all shall be Well.  Being good to myself is easy - my personal Birthday tradition of long standing sums it all up perfectly.  So I hereby invite all and sundry to join the revelry by digging this track, which was cut on 1/26/68:

{And a postscript shout-out to Fellow "26ers" Wayne Gretzky, Eddie Van Halen, and Corky Laing - I Salute you, Birthday-Brothers!!!}

Through the Furnace of Mordor

The Endgame is finally approaching, Boys & Girls.

It has taken me four years and one month of ceaseless struggle, setbacks, profits, losses that wipe out previous profits, tragedies, and even the odd death or three to arrive at this point in my total rehabilitation.  The title of this post is perhaps 40% of the whole story, but it's accurate and descriptive enough to stand in for the rest of the facts, at least here in public.  Let's just say that nothing worth having ever comes easy in life - especially if you're on a chosen path thick with both peril AND an infinite army of Opposition - and y'all can draw any conclusions at your leisure.

For me, the next two weeks will be the worst part of it all; although 99% of the pieces are already in place {put there with 100% of the suffering}, the full task will not be accomplished until a couple of tiny but extremely crucial loose ends are tied up right-n-tight.  After all the literal Hell on Earth I've slogged my way through since 2008, it's these last two confetti-bits that could still sink the whole damn project - and that fact bugs the fluck out of me {in a Chinese "flied lice" sort of way}.  I aim to neutralize and eliminate them ASAP, but as my colorful past has amply proven, sinking this simple two-foot putt on the golf course could very well turn out to be akin to Tiger Woods' last several Masters showings, or the Dixie Chicks' post-Bush-bashing career trajectory.........

If things do finally pan out that way though, one thing will be certain - Judgement was passed over my dead body.

It's that serious, my very Good Friends.  I've been living "old beyond my years" {fighting like a berserk maniac the whole time} since I was in early elementary school, and I'm way, Way, WAY beyond dog-tired, Boss.  Just give me my mule-n-40, and let me finally kick back and enjoy a bit of peace for the soul, n'kay?   I've endured more than enough shit to fully penance a not-so-small population for a few generations or so; I really don't think it's at all unseemly of me to want a bit of reward and true solitude for services rendered, y'know?

Oh, I'll keep on working like the hopeless Pavlov Pup I already am afterwards - should I be so lucky to succeed - but for the next 16 days it's still going to be the old familiar slog.  Gandalf Greyhayme, Spock, Trapper John MacIntyre, Eugene Martone, Meher Baba; each could easily relate to the path I'm on right now, and each will be with me when I mount the final charge.  I can only hope that this last true leap of Faith will land.............

..............at all.


More shortly.   

2013 - The Winds of Change

Happy New Year, Boys & Girls!!!

The Mayan "non-pocalypse" notwithstanding, I for one am looking forward to the new calendar leaves with a certain amount of stoicism.  2012 worked me over pretty damn good, but I'm still in the fight, and quite determined to keep on moving straight ahead.  As always, I've got several irons in the fire; all of which will play themselves out in the weeks and months ahead.  God willing, I'll finally get that bit of peace-of-mind I've been chasing since 2009.  The signs look promising, but there's still much to be done "before."

Knowing my luck though, 2013 could quite well turn out something like this:

Time will tell................

In the interim, I want to wish all and sundry a fantastic New Year - Health, Wealth, Peace-love-and-vegetable-rights for the lot of you!!!

Okay 2013 - show me your stuff.  I'm as ready as I'm ever gonna be.

More shortly..........