goostermon musings

2006-09-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

I just had an experience that MUST be written about. It must be remembered and re-lived over and over ... so unbelievably cool. I have the best feeling you can imagine.

It is my birthday ... and I'm old enough now (55) that birthdays are not particularly something to look forward to. But this was a surprise of all surprises, and, just like Brad said, we will [probably] never do this again in our lives.

The plan was for Susan and I to meet Brad and Jeremy for dinner at Rocky's in Jeff. I was really looking forward to it, of course. When we were on our way, I got a call from Brad - he said he was at Mom's Music buying me a birthday present. When he went to leave, his car wouldn't start! He was going to have his car towed, and asked me to come pick him up. I was bummed for him, but I was hoping we would still have a good time at dinner.

So, we get to Mom's Music. I don't see Brad, so we go in the store. Still no Brad. Then, Brad AND Jeremy pop out from behind a bunch of drums and say "Happy Birthday!" I didn't get it .... Then Brad says, "Any of these drums look familiar?" And I said, "Yeah ... those look just like mine." On closer inspection - They WERE mine! I still didnt get it. There were actually three sets set up in a row facing the front of the store.

Then Brad explains ... We have always talked about all three of us playing together on three sets of drums at the same time. We'd mentioned it YEARS ago ... but it just never was gonna happen. So Jeremy and Brad MADE it happen. They had gotten permission from Mark Maxwell (owner of Mom's), Brad snuck over to my house and loaded up my drums (so I could have my own set to play), set up two other sets, and had it all ready to go when I got there.

But that's not all ... Brad's friend Dan was also there - with his video camera - and was ready to video the whole event!! And they had ordered pizza and it was on the way! And, to top it all off, Susan opens a gift bag she had brought with us - and pulled out my tennis shoes that I wear when I play out!! HA HA! She had been in on it all along.

Well, let me tell you, you could have bowled me over with a feather. I realize now that I was kind of stunned by it all .... amazing that they would put this together ... and all for ME!

So, after a bit of drum tuning and rearranging, we started to play - and it was A BLAST!!! We played a nice rock groove with everybody improvising ... then a 6/8 feel ... then a shuffle ... then a half-time groove .... all with lots of fun licks and shenanigans flying around everywhere.

Jeremy has a lot of experience with a number of albums under his belt as well as loads of live gigs. He is a killer player with a unique style and some true Jeremy-isms ... nobody could sound or feel like him if they tried. He played his butt off. Fun!

Brad has less experience ... he's never had the chance to be in a gigging band. But he played GREAT. He's got a fantastic feel, he stayed with what he can play well, and it all worked. He has some cool licks and he held himself together and kicked it! We ended with the John Bonham groove from the beginning of "When the Levee Breaks" and Brad sounded just as good and Jeremy or me. It was a gas for all three of us to lock onto that groove and nail it. I would not have been surprised if stuff would have started falling off the walls.

We played and ate pizza for an hour to an hour and a half. The boys wouldn't let me help tear down or put the store back together ... it was all part of my birthday present. So Susan and I said goodbye and headed for home.

It was then, on the ride home, that the whole thing really came together for me. How thoughtful, how special, WHAT LOVE! For Jeremy and Brad to be so creative as to even think of this - then to actually DO it - left me in awe and amazement. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I have the best feeling you can imagine.

I challenge anyone who ever reads this to come up with something this cool to do for your dad ... because I can tell you, I will never, ever forget it. It is a cherished night and I'll carry it with me always. AND I 'll get to see it on video as well.

It is wonderful to have that undeniable truth that my sons really do love me that much. Thanks guys. I love you, too. That was the best present in the world. Amen.

2006-06-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I blogged and a whole lot has happened in that time - mainly, I got angry, decided to look for a new job, applied many placed, interviewed extensively at one place, was offered the job, and took it. I believe with all my heart that this was orchestrated by God Himself, for the good of me, the company I am leaving and the company I am headed to tomorrow. It feels so right.

To further illustrate the God thing, I used every connection I could muster, every on-line job search site, newspapers, etc. over a period of a couple of years ... without one single invitation to interview. Then this one comes along. It is 8 minutes from my house (compared to the 35 to 40 minutes each way I have traveled these last 15 years). It is the exact same size company I am leaving in terms of sales revenue and number of employees - so it is a culture I am used to ... except it has achieved these sales in 5 years as opposed to 30+ years. The owner and general manager are both Christians - and really seem to be the real deal - but both are also driven businessmen on a mission.

They have a style of involving everyone in the hiring process ... the people who work there really love it, and the management is intent on keeping it that way. I interviewed with 10 different people, and the top guys told me later that every one of them wants me to come to work there. Because of some things that happened at my old company, this means so much to me it is hard to put in to words. Then, on top of it all, when it came to the final negotiating about money, they ended up giving me a bit more than I was asking!

I'm talking about this because in life, I look for the real stuff ... I am not interested in fairy tales. I worked very hard during this time to submit my own will to God's and to be willing to stay where I was, to overcome my resentments, and to go to work each day with humility and a servant's heart. I worked hard to be polite, professional and exemplary in all ways every single day. And that is no small thing when you are hurt and angry.

But, in my (kind of) old age I can tell you .... this is how a real man conducts himself in the world. It has taken me a long, long time to understand it. Now I realize that my own father modelled this behavior for me all his life. Many times I thought he was rather weak, when in fact he was brave, diligent, and unbelievably kind, humble and loving.

So, this is my very real story ... this is what happened to me. It has increased and solidified my faith at a time when I really needed that. I hope it helps you, too. Of course it remains to be seen if I can behave correctly and maximize this opportunity for the benefit of the company and myself ... but I'm real excited for the first time in a LONG time, and I can't wait to have at it!

More later.

2006-03-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

I just learned about a website that has me pretty happy. Here is the link:
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/

This is Wolgang's Vault. You can click on Vault Radio and listen to selected songs performed live at Bill Graham's Fillmore (East and West?). Well, this was all going on in my younger days and it really takes me back. For any of you interested in music, it is quite a thrill to listen to artists you never got to see live, in all their extended self-indulgent glory. They change the playlist once a week, I'm told.

They also sell a lot of WAY overpriced t-shirts, posters, etc. I guess that stuff is worth it to some people, but not me.

But the music is great ... I'm diggin' it. It may get old later, but at the moment I'm having a great time.

2006-02-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a song captures my emotions in a way that is so powerful, that it demands my total attention ... then it carries me along for a journey. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel just did that to me last Saturday. I know this song isn't new, but I only knew it from the movie Say Anything. I heard the live version on the radio, and man, it took me AWAY somewhere. Now, this is before I actually paid much attention to the lyrics ... it was just the rhythms, feel and performance that killed me. Now I've read the lyrics and I'm slayed all over again.

It is wonderful, almost magic that a song can do this to me. I'm going to try and find some part to play so I can play along with it at home. In the process of dissecting and formulating a part it will lose the magic. I'll have technical issues, stickings to master, etc. But I hope that I get all the way through that to play with skill and let the emotion return. That's THE BEST. The committment is not a small one, and it remains to be seen if my resolve is strong enough to really do it. It is so much easier just to listen.

I hope every one gets the chance to feel these emotions in real life - not from a song, but from the eyes of the one.

2006-02-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to a site of interest:
http://www.thetrustmusic.com/home.html

This is the home of the band The Trust formerly known as The Herbie Hinckle Ensemble (a rose by any other name .....). The drummer is Jeremy Smith - one of my favorite people in the whole world. I'm very proud to say that he's also my step-son.

I got to go see The Trust recently when they performed at "Live Lunch" - a radio show put on by WFPK - the Louisville, KY version of NPR. These guys are wonderfully dedicated and talented. They've been together for quite a few years now and they have that connection that only comes with a zillion hours of practice, doing gigs, and going through the ups and downs of it all together.

Jeremy is a fabulous drummer, with a style that really is all his own. His sound is such an integral part of the band's sound that they would be an entirely different band without him. This is amazing considering that his life has been incredibly busy as he fought to keep his own restaurant alive for several years, got married, had two children, and all the rest of life to deal with. He is worthy of respect as a man as well as being a gifted artist. By the way, he sings, too!

Be sure and check them out.

2006-01-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is more accurately what I look like, or at least what I looked like at a Falcons gig last summer. Pretty groovy with the shades and all, what? For some of you this may come as a surprise since your memory of me is based on pre-gray hair, pre-gray beard, pre-pretty darn fat.

If you want, you can go to http://www.thefalcons.us/oldliveaudio.htmand hear some bits of the band. I recommend the ones featuring "Carry On." That's one of my favorite songs that we do.

Man, now that I know how to insert pictures I'm gonna have to find some good ones to use in posts. Stay tuned.

2006-01-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah!
Thanks to B. I now know where to go to post a new blog so I can include a picture. This is old hat to all of you, but new to me, so please be patient.

I decided that this is the official picture of Goostermon, even though it is actually a picture of Animal from the Muppets.

While this does not resemble me, I like the picture and he's holding drumsticks, so thats good enough for me.

Thats all for now.

2006-01-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Has anyone else noticed that Blogging is the high-tech version of CB radios? We all have a "handle" and send our thoughts out into space for anyone to "hear" who is on our same frequency. The only difference is that we are not limited to real-time conversation. I guess instant messaging is more like a CB radio. Well also, a difference is that we are not ragged truckers with missing teeth making lewd comments to each other about chicks we pass in cars as we toodle down the highway. Well, okay another difference is that we don't give each other traffic info, or the location of speed traps, or opinions about the merits of the country fried steak at the truck stop in Memphis, IN. I guess another difference is that we are not all on speed just to stay awake, most of us know nothing about spending 18 out of 24 hours everyday alone in a moving vehicle, or the typical travel time between every major city in the country.

Okay, there ain't hardly nothing the same about us and CB radio users. Forget I ever brought it up.

2006-01-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Okay so we go to this event at my wife's school (Mother of Good Counsel = MGC) called Taste of MGC. It is a lot of fun and frollicking (sp?) but can be expensive as you will see. Tickets are $25 per person to begin with. It is held in the gym and all around the walls on two sides are about 12 or 13 restaurant representatives with free samples of their food. So there is pizza, and sirloin steak wraps, and crab bisque (yum!), and turkey pot roast, and Jambalaya, and pork with red cabbage, and donuts and ice cream and, and,and .... Now all this is teeny little portions so you can try just about everything. This is really quite fun, with the possible exceptions of it is so crowded that you can lose a wife in the blink of a crab bisque bite if you are not totally vigilant.

Then, in the middle of the gym is a rectangle of long school-type tables. These are covered with baskets full of goodies in shrink-wrapped plastic. This is a silent auction where you sign your name and put your bid on a piece of paper, and then check back to see if anyone has out-bid you so you can bid again, etc. The short-term version of ebay. Also there are things like a dinner for four, or a night for two at casino Aztar (which also included passes to Blue River canoeing, Marengo Cave, Squire Boone Cave and other stuff). I wanted to win that one but did not - which is a good thing, financially speaking, as you will see.

Now drinks are not included in the $25 ticket price. I actually think that is a strategic error on the part of the event putter-oners. We used to go to these things at St. X (called X-Travaganza, BTW) and the drinks were free ... a very smart move because drunken people cannot WAIT to outbid each other on total nonsense. But I digress.

So we buy tickets and get some wine ... actually my wife gets wine ... I have another diabolical plan. See they do not sell whiskey, and whiskey (with ginger ale) is my drink of choice, except when I like to drink wine which was not that night. So, I brought along my trusty (and sneaky) flask of good old Jack Daniels. Well I can't tell you how juvenile it feels to sneak into an elementary school bathroom to mix up a high ball amid all those urinals that are 12" off the floor. Now THAT is just wrong.

So here we are, alcoholic drinks in hand and all this food and friends and frivolity. Now it is VERY crowded, as I already said. And you have your sample of crab bisque which takes two hands to eat. There is hardly anywhere to set a drink, so the only intelligent thing to do (question on the "intelligent" part, as you will see) is .... drink it! So we do. Then we eat a little, eat a little more - and DANG I'm thirsty. So it's back to the bar for another ginger ale and wine, back to the restroom for the mixing of the high ball amid the urinals, etc.

Now, repeat the last paragraph a few times.

So now, here we are, well-lubed, so to speak, replete with food of every type, and we start looking at the silent auction stuff. Did I mention we were pretty well lubed? Well, in that condition, and since it IS, after all, a fund raiser for the school, and since, after all, people ALWAYS come along and outbid us on stuff, we just start bidding. This is the part where it is really great that I didn't win the Aztar trip .... BTW, I was only outbid by $5.00 ... praise God (the one who may or may not exist depending on the outcome of Bleaches survey).

I suppose that, all things considered, in the end we really got off easy. My lovely actually won a basket that she didn't even remember bidding on with some not-so-attractive jewelry, etc. But that's not all. We actually won THREE baskets, and one was so heavy I had to move the car closer to the gym just to take it home. I was capable of that task, but Susan volunteered to drive home - and I be letting her!

In the end we had a nice big bottle of Woodford Reserve (that me and a guy named Bart had to crack 'cause the flask was long gone), about 10 bottles of wine, a bunch of those little whiskey sample bottles, a purse, some gift certificates, a picture, a scarf, a bunch of italian cooking stuff, and God (same one as before) knows what all else. But it was a LOT of what else.

The total on the night was I think $335. For that kind of money we could have had the best dinner at Ruth Chris, lots of great wine and a night on the town in a damn limo.

Man, these Catholic Schools know how to throw a fund-raiser.

PS Almost half the money was for the big basket put together by parents of Susan's fifth-graders, so we were practically obligated to snag that one. So I don't feel quite so silly. However, we'll be eating brats and beans for a while all the same.

PPS I also forgot to mention that there was a band at the end, they were great, people were in a very happy mood (including us) and we had a fabulous time. And the school really needs (and deserves) the moola, so ..... it's all good.

2006-01-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Well, here's the thing about focusing on things I'm happy about. It really works ... but I ended up so happy that I bought my wife a car! Actually, this is a good thing and needed to happen, but it can kind of sneak up on 'ya. Like we went out Saturday morning in sweats, got coffee at Starbucks and decided to just mosey on down to a little car lot near the house. Low and behold! They had a car we liked .... go figure. But - since we are mature thoughtful people - we did not rush right in and buy it, we went to two different lots and looked there as well. But the bottom line is that by 5:00 that evening we had closed a deal and drove off with a 2005 Camry. It was a very good deal, and I'm happy we did it, but you'd think after all these years of buying and selling things that I'd show just a little more restraint. Exactly the opposite is true. I spend so much time buying things (my job is purchasing), that once I know that the deal is as good as it is likely to get, I see no sense in waiting .... BAM. Sign here, sir. Also, where we live (Hurstbourne Parkway and Taylorsville Rd. in Louisville, for those familiar) there are literally more cars for sale in one small area than I bet anyplace else on earth. It's nuts.

Susan was a wee bit nervous about the whole process, but in the end trusted me and now is very happy with the car. This is her birthday present, and it is a good one, except for all the times I'll now get to say, "No, sorry we can't do that 'cause we have a new car payment." I hope it still seems like a good present then! She was also very patient and good through all the negotiating, which can be difficult for a lot of people.

2006-01-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

T.'s blog about things to be happy about made me want to think about things to be happy about in my own life, particularly since I haven't been acting particularly thrilled lately, even though I am mostly pretty darn happy.

However, I had to go to a doctor today for a shoulder problem I'm having, and it is not the easiest thing to write about things to be happy about under those particular circumstances. But I decided to try, especially since my poor wife is worried that I'm not happy.

Here goes:
The doctor visit was good and made me happy because:
I didn’t have to wait hardly at all.
He was very nice.
He confirmed everything that Dr. Neeley (a chiropractor) said, firming up my already confident confidence in him.
I don’t have to have surgery on my shoulder – at least not now. (I have “significant” arthritis in the joint and two bone spurs that push into the rotator cuff – that’s what causes the pain.)
He gave me two cortisone shots into the joint, and I’m hopeful that they will help.
I was afraid the shots would hurt a lot but they didn’t.
He gave me an Rx for a new anti-inflammatory drug that might help.
He told me to start taking vitamin B6 - maybe that will help, too.
He gave me explicit instructions regarding exercise – what to do and what not to do.
It is clear that the exercise I was doing aggravated the problem – a lot.
Now, I know how to proceed.

More and even gooder reasons to be happy:
Just talked to BB – he is planning on going back to work at least part-time on Monday.
He is signing up for more school today – classes begin Monday.
So, he is really feeling much better.

Also way good reasons:
I love my lovely wife.
She loves me back.
It’s Friday.

All-in-all .... MUCH better than it could be.

2006-01-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

As the new year starts I've got loads of feelings (mostly good, but not all), wishes, fears, and even some confusion going on. The Christmas season came and went like a speeding train, and it actually went far, far better than it might have. I gained back some pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I'm still down a lot from my high in 2005. It remains to be seen if I can get back on my program and continue the weight loss. Still ~ 50 lbs. to go! Man, that is A LOT of treadmill time.

I decided to stop playing drums at church .... maybe for a while, maybe for good. I haven't felt real connected playing there. I've played in church before and it was a powerful way to pray and worship, but anymore, at this church, I just feel like I'm doing a lame job and not really helping the music all that much. The music is great, I'm just not great for the music.

On the other hand, I'm still in two bands (The Epics and The Falcons), and will continue with both. Playing is such an important part of how I see myself, and a source of pride and satisfaction. It doesn't really make sense financially 'cause I spend about as much as I make, and when you figure in rehearsals, etc. it doesn't pay much. But it is still important and I'm lucky I get to do it with such talented people. Music is a very good thing. It is also a way to make a tangible contribution to the world ... it is great to see people dancing and having a good time, away from troubles and work.

More to say, but out of time.

2005-12-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised but happy to find that instead of a post-Christmas let-down I'm feeling kind of jazzed. All went pretty well, and I'm glad it's over, but I'm satisfied that everyone is satisfied. The exception is B. I'm concerned - he's not improving near as rapidly as I thought he would. Today is day 13 of him being basically flat on his back. We go to the chiropractor today - this is 3 days in a row - and he will feel way better when he's done with therapy and adjustments, but then is in pain by the time we get home from riding in the car. No doubt he is improved from when it all happened, but not all that much.

Please keep him in your prayers. If you don't currently pray, please start!

2005-12-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

I was really worried about Christmas. I was getting the feeling that it was very stressful for everybody and that all would be better off if we just called the whole thing off, had a pizza and enjoyed each other's company. I'm still not sure maybe that would be the best idea, but at least I'm getting closer to in the mood.

I put up outside lights and the whole time I was doing it (even though this was back when it was warm enough outside to work in a t-shirt) I was borderline PO'd about it. Nobody was making me do it, but I felt pressure about it, if you know what I mean. However, now that they are up I'm really getting a lot of pleasure out of them. Same with the tree. It was way messed up from last year (artificial tree, of course), and it was a giant hassle to get it back to where it was. One of those things where it seems exactly the same as last year but took me HOURS to get it there.

Also I have a wife that is a fifth grade teacher. She is a very lovely lady, and she has some really endearing attributes (maybe from being around 10 year ilds all the time), and is also excited about getting out of school for two weeks, plus she really loves Christmas and her family, etc. That is a big help. Plus she works her butt off at home, shopping, etc. I'm blessed.

But still, it is a strange year. My dad died this past June. Actually, since he was 96 and not doing so well anymore, it was a blessing. But I'm having episodes of that real strong, poignant, painful nostalgia ... not necessarily about dad ... but just lots of memories. Come to think of it, I always have that this time of year. So, either this year is not strange or ALL years are strange. Christmas songs on the radio are very powerful catalysts for this. Holy smokes, I can be just regular old normal, click on the radio and next minute be on the verge of tears, with a flood of memories that span five decades.

So what I hope will happen is that as I go through the motions being as genuine as possible and doing it all the best I can, I'll have a moment where I can for just one instant really connect with those that mean everything to me and that they will know with total clarity that there is one person on this earth who loves them so deeply, so completely, so unconditionally, that they will never be alone, never be without a safe place, never be without a support person to call.

But sometimes that magic moment is pretty elusive and I just have to trust that they know. I'm pretty sure they do.

Now if I feel that strongly and am capable of loving that much, and if God is way better at this than I am, well, then, I figure I'm gonna be ok in the end. And so will you. If the next 50 years go as fast as the last 50, I'll be checking out of here in about 20 minutes, so that is an important point. It's hard to imagine that while I was in a bad mood putting up the damn Christmas lights that I was IN REALITY being an instrument of God's love. But it is true.

Next blog I'll try to lighten up some. It being Christmas and all. Ho Ho Ho!

2005-12-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

My car got broken into last night. More on that in a moment.

Susan and I went to the St. X - Trinity game last night. This is a high school football game, but it was for the state championship. If you aren't from Louisville you will think that is completely asinine, and you'd be right. It was her idea - but I was for it. All of our best friends are SO into this you wouldn't believe. People from New Albany, who act normally and sensibly about high school football games, would never understand. But this is not the point of the story.

Those of you in Texas may have forgotten what it is like to be cold. I must have forgotten as well. I wore zillions of layers of clothes, scarfs, ear-cover things, etc. I even took a sneaky little flask full of good old Jack Daniels along for the ride. I was actually cocky about it ... being ready for the cold, etc. I was an idiot. 1st quarter was fun, 2nd quarter tolerable. By halftime I was really cold and by the 4th quarter I was really, truly, miserable. I had this scarf wrapped around my face (actually Susan wrapped it for me, I was frozen in the "too cold to do anything but hug myself" pose) and everytime I breathed I would completely fog up my glasses. Anyway, the game ends, St. X loses (I was for St. X) ... but I am friggin ECSTATIC (because I am drunk) that after only 89 miles of hiking back to the car I can turn on the heat. This is one of those really fun little tricks God plays on us when we least expect it. Ha Ha!

When we got to the car we got THE SURPRISE .... someone had smashed my passenger side window in .... and stole Susan's purse! Yes, I am aware that we should have put it in the trunk. Yes, we USUALLY put it in the trunk. But not tonight.

To make a long story short, after many phone calls and conversations with Police officers who calmly explain that this MUST be reported ONLY by UofL campus police, we finally get the report filed. In the meantime we are calling the bank and credit card companies to discover that the thieves are not only GIANT ASSHOLES for doing this to us, they are MORONS as well. Are they buying plasma TV's and snappy new waredrobes? NO. They are out and about using our debit and credit cards at KRISPY CREME DONUTS. That's not all .... they've been to Speedway Gas Station FIVE TIMES and to Captain D's for some fried fish. And I thought I was an idiot!

Well, needless to say, I'm standing out in the cold through all of this, freezing my ass off. But, interestingly, I discover that I'm not really all that bugged about it. I realize that if something does not require a trip to the emergency room, with episodes of pain and vomiting, and subsequent long hospital stays, and even way longer recovery periods, that now, to me, it is merely INCONVENIENT.

Now, let me say that this is just as big a revelation to me as the idea about chores. Keep in mind that now I have to change all the locks on my house and Susan's car, get all new cards, get her a new driver's license, get my car window fixed, wrestle with the insurance company, etc., AND live with the paranoia that these shits are gonna show up at my house and try to steal my car and Christmas presents. (Of course none of that will happen since they are busy wiping Krispy Creme Donunt goo off their faces and then breaking into another car - but I can't take a chance.)

Now, in times past this would have been a very BIG DEAL. I'd have spend untold amounts of time feeling sorry for myself and crying the blues. But the truth is, it really is only inconvenient. Everyone please pause for a moment of enlightenment as the truth of this sinks deep into your innermost being.

Of course, I'm buying a gun and if those Krispy Creme eating M***** F*****s show up at my house, they'll get a dose of all the INCONVENIENCE me and Jack Daniels can stir up for them. Then THEY can try the old emergency room, et. al. experience for themselves, and know where I'm comin' from!

Ha Ha!

2005-11-27T07:52:00.000-08:00

It's my first blog ever, so I might as well start at the top. I have discovered the meaning of life. People may say that from time to time, but this is for real. Ready? The meaning of life is ...... chores. That's right, boys and girls. After reading a zillion books, spending lots and lots of hours in church and in prayer, it came to me as plain as enlightenment ... the answer is .... chores.

And the thing is I can't find a shred of evidence to contradict this. Mother Teresa? A saint without doubt. But what did her day to day life consist of? chores.

There is also another way to say this that I've seen on some T-shirts lately .... Do Your Job. This is probably better than "chores" but I didn't conceive it that way.

The chores idea holds up at work for sure .... after all, work is getting paid to do chores. Then you come home .... feed the cats, change the litter, fix a meal, clean it up, cut the grass, clean the gutters, vacuum, dust, scrub the tub. Make sure the bills get paid, remember important birthdays, go to church, run errands. The list goes on and on. It is also true for being in a band, or sports, or rebuilding cars or any other hobby.

Now, there are certainly activities that are not chores. Watching TV, playing video games, sex, talking on the phone, shooting pool, but these are not the meaning of life .... athough they COULD be the focus of a meaningless life.

Now, here's the thing. The crux of the matter, you might say. If you do your chores, and you do them with the best attitude you can muster, and you are conscientious about it, and if your motive is (as often as possible) love, then you get to have these incredible moments. The best example I can give is being in a band. You spend literally years and years and countless hours developing your vocabulary (technique), and you go through a number of bands with people coming and going and never really feeling much satisfaction, and never getting much money or recognition - but getting loads of negative shit. But then, one day (usually a night, actually) it all comes together, you lock up with these other people, and the music takes you somewhere ELSE. There is nothing like it on earth. And you realize that it was worth the wait ... it was worth all the effort. And you happily spend significant time working to get to that spot again. Occassionally, the audience gets there at the same time you do. Nothing better.

Another version of the crux .... the exact same thing happens in relationships. It is vital that you do your chores and do them with love and almost ALL of your time has to be spent doing that. But then you get to have those moments with your wife and kids and pets .... even your yard for God's sake.

I'm 54 years old and I spent a really long time feeling shat upon because it seemed like all I ever did was chores. I spent all my wishes wishing for time to do nothing. I was a boob. Now that I know what I know, I still don't always like it .... but man, I do it. Chores are me. I are chores. You'll have to excuse me now. The meaning of life is calling me to go love it.