Fading Light of Youth

It is only occasionally an honor and a privilege to be an American - unless one is a blogger. In that case, each day in America is a glistening, overflowing trough of garbage media, garbage food, garbage opinions, and everywhere you look literal garbage. If you are highly evolved, and have achieved Buddhist monk levels of oneness, you can navigate American culture without prejudice, simply enjoying the ride and praying to Jeebus you don't get shot or eat a bad Whopper. Almost twenty years ago, I took the path less traveled in America and tried  to evolve beyond prejudice, to live in the moment and give every second the benefit of the doubt. In other words, I chose to be grateful instead of resistant. What the fuck was I thinking LOL. Over the years, the things that have helped immensely have been cats, my wife, the home my wife lovingly creates, my family, my coworkers, and drugs. Specifically antidepressants unless you're offering something stronger. I still fuck up my one...

"God gave Daniel knowledge, skill in learning, and wisdom; but Daniel also understood visions and dreams." Lots of love to my dad for Father's Day 2020 :) I thought I would pay homage to him AND have my usual Fading Light fun with a list of songs that remind me of him for one reason or another. He is the best male role model I've ever had. For so many years he took care of my physical, spiritual and shopping needs. He has been an ox of a support system for my entire family my entire life. I love him dearly and I feel grateful that he knows that and that we have the relationship that we do. He is one of a kind, a great friend, and the best dad 😎 the Beatles - Day Tripper (1966) When my family moved from our duplex on Fiesta to our new home on Danz, we upgraded our "free space" in a major way. Our new basement was huge and had several separate "caves" where you could alternatively set up shop to hang out or dump a pile of stuff to be unto...

This entire site is nothing more than a love letter to the art and experiences of my life which can't be honored any other way. I feel a special connection to all of these songs, some going back more than thirty years. I'm going to do my best to honor the people and places that were involved or important in my love for them. It is my hope that somehow people will find my blog and connect with me via a shared appreciation of all this shtuff that, in part, makes up a life. I hope you enjoy reading and listening along, and I'd be thrilled to get a comment from you :) 100. Midlake - Roscoe (2006) It is clearly the band's intent to conjure up images and feelings of an earlier, simpler time with this song. The fact that the song succeeds so well in doing so is a result of fantastically odd and specific old-time lyrics and a catchy, driving instrumental. Midlake's strengths, pretty and ethereal vocals and explorative instrumentation, are both at their pe...

How much more meaningful sitting on one's ass watching television becomes when one has a blog . I've felt at times both guilty and burdened when it comes to my bloggeristic calling, but this stuff isn't going to watch itself, people! If I'm asking, my wife will officially only  watch her ten favorite films from now on: Return to Oz, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Hook, Twister, 28 Days Later, Train to Busan, and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition. Luckily for me she'll take recommendations from other people and we've been watching movies with our Madison movie club regularly.  In a typical post-workweek bender, I signed up for the Hulu/Disney/ESPN streaming deal, which means Sara has access to all of her favorite shows she'd never admit to watching. I see it is as a necessary business expense and we now have our content bases covered indefinitely. Long live the fading light of youth! Cape Fear (1991) Rating: 4.8/10 Summary: Robe...

My name is John and I'm a blogger. I was born on May 9th, 1983. Of course it was a Monday. My head was so big my mom needed a c-section. I've spent the past thirty-seven years trying to grow into that bulbous cranium. I was a very cute baby, resembling a cherubic Alfred Hitchcock. My dad called me "Shecky" after the Vegas comedian Shecky Greene. My sister, Josie, was three at the time and already an adult. We have a few cute pictures where she's eyeing me like a science fair exhibit. My parents named me John with the intention of calling me Jack. They didn't want to name me a nickname in case I became a professional. Heh. A stunningly plump potato with hands I am a Taurus. I don't believe Astrology has any factual basis, but I do consistently and vividly connect to and reflect back the archetype of the Taurus. I was a bull even before I fell in love with the bovine race, quit eating beef, and spent all day wishing I was soaking up the sun in ...

Some days hit harder than others. I typically float through life on a 90/10 split of easy, successful days to difficult days where I struggle. The problem, I've found, is that there's so many fucking days in a week! I don't know anybody who would vote to keep Tuesday through Thursday, assuming all relevant programming was rescheduled. Because there's so many days, by my math, someone who is doing great 90% of the time will have more than one bad day every two weeks! I guess it is no surprise I still frequently tear up on the drive into work. Or the drive home, walk to the mailbox, or the PM cleaning of the litter box...although that's for a different reason. It is almost always music that gets me. I have hundreds of songs I associate with people, places, memories, and dreams. One reason I have such a love affair with music is because even the songs I hate can elicit happy memories, or make me laugh. Sara and I just bonded over my hatred of this song that I'm...