I can’t wait for baseball season to begin. It really is a weird feeling because baseball wasn’t a big part of my life growing up. I never enjoyed watching it until recently. My childhood primarily revolved around basketball since I was a kid. My siblings and I started playing at an early age and continued … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Down by the Water – PJ Harvey
My wife had to stay in Hawaii due to a family emergency and I flew back solo. I sat watching people pass me wondering who was going to squeeze into the open seat next to me. A few huge muscle bound guys approached and I sighed with relief as they kept walking. I just looked … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: King of New Orleans – Better than Ezra
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or in our case, find a good local coffee roaster. It’s Friday and we were on our way to LAX. Our flight was at 5:00 and we left early to miss rush hour traffic. The first delay notice popped up while we were rolling out of the house. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Inside Out – The Mighty Lemon Drops
I had a moment the other day. You know the type. One of those that gets you all up in your head. My imagination was running amok, weaving what ifs with what might bes. I was mentally constructing elaborate scenarios, complete with complex chains of events, only possible if that first random domino happened to … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Go Crazy – Flesh for Lulu
It’s an odd thing. I’m hoping to retire within five years and I can’t wait for that day to come. At the same time, I’m trying to slow down father time because it’s flying by too damn fast. It’s a jumble of conflicting feelings. Broaching the 60 year mark is definitely a psychological hurdle. And … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
I just polished off the last of our Halloween candy. Two Costco bags worth and no trick or treaters last October. I’m not complaining. Secretly it’s my plan. I just had my physical and I was a little nervous about my blood tests. Who would have thought my A1C would go down after all that … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Candy – Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson
My sister in law was over for dinner and the conversation shifted to our wedding. For some reason, the subject of our marriage certificate came up and we wondered out loud where ours was. They should have mailed it to you after you applied for it with the state of Hawaii, she said. There was … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Will Always Love You – Chris Cornell
My wife colored her hair at home for the first time. We’ve had numerous conversations (well, maybe her talking about it and more me just listening) about her being nervous about experiencing a potential catastrophe her first time around. It took months, but she finally mustered up the nerve and did it. It looks great. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Every Breath You Take – The Police
My brother loved Calvin and Hobbs growing up. He was such a big fan, he started creating his own Calvin and Hobbs Christmas cards. He’s been sending them out to family and friends for over 25 years, each with a new message for the holidays. His comic strip illustrations have become pretty good and we … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Einstein on the Beach – The Counting Crows
Episode 8 is the final episode of Ripple. A final quote and a song. It’s a curious thing, this idea of timing. We move in and out of each other’s lives. Sometimes by choice, and sometimes you don’t get to choose. We may never know or understand why. This quote made me think of a … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Perfect – The Smashing Pumpkins
Episode 7 of Ripple. Another quote and a song. Tell me. What’s the meaning of life? It’s not what you’ve done. It’s who you are. It’s your heart. That’s the whole point of living, isn’t it? My heart scare sparked the first time I thought about my mortality. I’d never dwelled on it before, but … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Rainbows – Kacey Musgrave
I’m on Episode 6 of my second time around with Ripple. Here is another quote and song. Faith is bigger than salvation and damnation. It’s about the love and joy that we find in each other. Faith is community. Lifting each other up, that’s what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter what you do or … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: The Returner – Allison Russell
Episode 5 of Ripple, the second time around. Here is a quote that spoke to me. Nobody wants to hear they can’t handle life alone. Maybe we shouldn’t try to. It’s kind of what it means to be human. After putting in sixty hour work weeks, I used to go out for drinks to let … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Human – The Human League
I finished Episode 4 of Ripple. Another quote and a song. A rainbow’s good luck you know… This reminded me of a double rainbow I saw on my way home from work one day. I took a photo of them while driving. I thought my dirty windshield would have made the photo a bit hazy. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Broken White Line – Kris Delmhorst
I’m on Episode 3 of rewatching Ripple. Here’s a quote and a song from the episode. No matter what you’re struggling with, the world keeps going on around you like everything is normal. When things get bleak, you just have to focus on the things that bring you joy. Look Up is from Episode 3, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Look Up – Joy Oladokun
I’m on my second go around watching Ripple. I just rewatched Episode 2. I found a few lines that caught my ear. Why do people feel like they always have to fill in the blanks? It’s OK to say nothing sometimes. And do nothing. How I would love to say and do nothing with someone. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Cry – The Sundays
Wishing you peace, love and joy this holiday season! I looked for a Christmas song this morning and had many choices. I chose a Gen X staple that I haven’t heard in years. I remember the U2 version more than the original by John Lennon. Here is U2’s cover of Happy Christmas. – For a … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Happy Christmas – U2
I watched this series on Netflix – Ripple. I binged it and recommend it to a friend. My friend recently said she was on episode five and loved it. At that moment, I tried remembering the plot and drew a complete blank. I’m not sure why. I just remembered the show made me feel. So … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist – Another Story – The Head and the Heart
Matt from iMartist did a Music Tag post. You randomly play ten songs from your playlist and write down your favorite lyrics from each song. This sounded fun so I thought I’d give it a try. Thanks for the idea, Matt. Here goes. Girlfriend in a Coma – The Smiths Only Morrissey could write and … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist – Music Tag
I made the drive into Los Angeles for a quarterly meeting. One of the speakers shared she started each day with a mantra. I can’t remember what it was, but it was a feel good positive phrase. I’ve never been open to these kinds of things in the past. My unspoken mantra was to put … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Dreams – The Cranberries
Here were a few things I think I was good at as a kid. Keep in mind, sometimes reminiscing unintentionally allows you to take creative license on the past. We used to play a game with our baseball, football and basketball card collections. We’d each lean ten cards against the wall that were up for … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: One – U2 & Mary J Blige
I’d been away for a short while and was catching up on blogs while listening to Spotify. I came upon justrojie’s post about CDs and the combination with my playlist in my ear got me thinking about making mixed tapes when I was younger. There is an art to a good mixed tape. Some are … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Sunday – The Cranberries
I saw a random ad for a fire sale on used vinyl and CDs. It’s been a long time since I bought any kind of music. Since I donated my turntable years ago, I went to check out the CDs. Surprisingly, this sale drew a decent crowd. The demographic was on the greyer side. That … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Running to Stand Still – Darius Rucker
I used to love reading. I got the bug early. As a kid, we used to go to the library on a regular basis. My mom would put a limit on the number we could check out each week. It was too difficult keeping track for all four kids. She always had to figure out … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes) – Book of Love
When I was on sabbatical, I discovered a coffee roaster by chance. I was running errands and was looking for a place to chill between appointments. I stumbled upon this place and fell in love with the vibe. I’ve mentioned on this blog that I’ve always wanted to open my own coffee house. If I … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Circle – Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
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