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..........

A Blast From The Past: Christmas Snickerdoodle

'Twas the night after Christmas, and boy, what a house!
I felt like the devil, and so did my spouse.
The eggnog and turkey and candy were swell,
But ten hours later they sure gave me hell.

The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care.
The darn things were sprawled on the back of a chair.
The children were nestled all snug in their bed,
And I had a large pack of ice on my head.

When at long last I dozed off in a nap,
The ice woke me up as it fell in my lap.
For some unknown reason I wanted a drink,
So I started in feeling my way to the sink.

I got along fine 'til I stepped on the cat.
I cannot recall what occurred after that.
When I came to, the house was all flooded with light,
Although under the table I was high as a kite.

While visions of sugar plums danced in my head,
I somehow got up and climbed back into bed.
Then what to my wandering mind should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

Then the sleigh seemed to change to a mammoth fire truck,
And each reindeer turned into a bleary-eyed buck.
I knew in a moment it must be old Nick.
I tried to cry out, but my tongue was too thick.

The old devil whistled and shouted with glee,
While each buck pawed the earth and looked daggers at me.
Then he called them by name and the names made me shudder.
When I heard them I felt like a ship minus the rudder.

"Now Eggnog! Bacardi! Four Roses! and Brandy!
Now Fruit Cake! Cold Turkey! Gin Rickey! and Candy!
To the top of his house, to the top of his skull,
Now whack away, crack it with thumps that are dull!"

And then in a twinkling I felt on my roof,
The prancing and pawing of each cloven hoof.
How long this went on I am sure I can't say,
Though it seemed an eternity plus a long day.

But finally the night after Christmas had passed,
And I found that I really could think straight at last.
So I thought of the New Year a few days away,
And I made me a vow that no tempter can sway.

I'm sticking to water, don't even want ice,
For there's nothing so tasty, or nothing so nice.
The night after New Year may bother some guys,
But I've learned my lesson, and brother, I'm wise.

You can have your rich food, and your liquor that's red,
But what goes to my stomach won't go to my head.
So here's "Happy New Year" to you one and all.
I'm back on the wagon, and I hope I don't fall.