Philosophical Wars are being waged all of the time in society. The war on Drugs, The war on Poverty, the war on illiteracy.... and the list could go on. One war that the media of any kind or politician will never talk about that goes on a lot of the households in the United States is the war on estrogen. It is a battle that men lose everyday.
A friend of mine called me the other night and he was had a battle on his hands. He has a wife and two teenage daughters and they were all going nuts at the same time. He made them all go shopping to get them out of the house so he could have some peace and quiet. No matter how much money his wife and daughters spent, it is a small price to pay for peace of mind. Another friend of mine isn't married now but he has five daughters and two sons. The estrogen has the testosterone outnumbered in that household. All five of his daughters will be teenagers at the same time. If they all turn out to be as nutty as is wife is/was, he will be ready for the Federal Witness Protection Program in about five years. How did man go from being the King of his castle to being a serf in the livery stable?
My advice to both of my friend's is this. Find a room in your house, preferable the basement, that you can turn into a "man cave." Get you a big screen TV, every sports package on the satellite known to man, a well stocked refrigerator, a well stocked bar, and maybe even sound proof your man cave. Put in a great sound system, maybe even surround sound, a gaming table, the most up to date gaming system, plant your flag and declare your man cave an "estrogen free" zone. Make your man cave an up to date version of the Bat Cave complete with a kick ass muscle car for a clean get away if you have to make one.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Memory Lane
I was going through some old papers of mine that I dug out of my storage unit and buried deep down, way in the bottom of a box, I found a ticket stub for a Loverboy concert that was held at the Asheville Civic Center on September 11, 1983. That was my Senior year in high school.
It was a big deal back then because no big bands came anywhere close to my hometown. Loverboy was just getting their start and I believe this was a tour that supported their second or third album. Yes, there were albums back then. A group named Zebra opened up for them. I think just about everybody that was anybody from my high school went to that concert. I was a nobody and I even went. Try to picture Revenge of the Nerds Goes to a Rock Concert.
The concert was on a Sunday night and my friend Jeff came and picked me up at my house in his old Subaru. We went and grabbed something to eat, probably McDonald's, and headed towards Asheville which was about 25 miles from my house.
The Asheville Civic Center was only about ten years old, it was a dump even then, and 31 years later it is still being used and still a dump. We had the standard "stadium seating" meaning that we stood on the floor for about three or four hours listening to the bands play. I remember very little about Zebra and they only had one album out and had gotten very little air play. Loverboy was beyond loud but the acoustics in the Civic Center were not that good. I couldn't hear a thing for about three days after the concert. I did learn what "contact buzz" meant that night as the guy standing beside us must have smoked a bale of marijuana during the concert.
The concert was great, it kicked off our Senior Year with a little bit of style and everyone showed up at school the next day wearing a Loverboy t-shirt. I made the mistake of buying a muscle shirt (how many muscles can a teenager that is 5'8" and 125 pounds actually have?) and I caught hell for it. It was also overcast and chilly that next day after the concert and I damn near froze to death but I refused to wear a jacket because I wanted to show all of my classmates that I was at that concert. Nerds can rock on, too.
It was a big deal back then because no big bands came anywhere close to my hometown. Loverboy was just getting their start and I believe this was a tour that supported their second or third album. Yes, there were albums back then. A group named Zebra opened up for them. I think just about everybody that was anybody from my high school went to that concert. I was a nobody and I even went. Try to picture Revenge of the Nerds Goes to a Rock Concert.
The concert was on a Sunday night and my friend Jeff came and picked me up at my house in his old Subaru. We went and grabbed something to eat, probably McDonald's, and headed towards Asheville which was about 25 miles from my house.
The Asheville Civic Center was only about ten years old, it was a dump even then, and 31 years later it is still being used and still a dump. We had the standard "stadium seating" meaning that we stood on the floor for about three or four hours listening to the bands play. I remember very little about Zebra and they only had one album out and had gotten very little air play. Loverboy was beyond loud but the acoustics in the Civic Center were not that good. I couldn't hear a thing for about three days after the concert. I did learn what "contact buzz" meant that night as the guy standing beside us must have smoked a bale of marijuana during the concert.
The concert was great, it kicked off our Senior Year with a little bit of style and everyone showed up at school the next day wearing a Loverboy t-shirt. I made the mistake of buying a muscle shirt (how many muscles can a teenager that is 5'8" and 125 pounds actually have?) and I caught hell for it. It was also overcast and chilly that next day after the concert and I damn near froze to death but I refused to wear a jacket because I wanted to show all of my classmates that I was at that concert. Nerds can rock on, too.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Being Uncle Dan
Someone asked me the other day why I did not talk about my only niece much. Niece's are much harder to be a bad influence on. As an uncle, you almost feel guilty about it. I took my responsibilities as an uncle very seriously. I let my nephews know early on that they were there for my amusement and we took it from there. It was my duty to get them into trouble and laugh like hell when they did.
This philosophy did have its drawbacks especially when they got to be of school age. If my nephews farted in church or some other public place, Uncle Dan got a phone call. When they said a cuss word or flipped someone off while there parents were driving down the road, Uncle Dan got a phone call. My favorite had to be when one of my nephews taught his kindergarten class how to play "pull my finger" during "show and tell" one day. I was a proud uncle because he just wanted to share his wealth of knowledge with his classmates. I still got a phone call.
As they got older, I was able to introduce them to the real world or at last the sleazier side of it. I got to take them to their first Hooter's and their first strip club. One of my nephews was so paranoid about his first Hooter's trip that he tossed his "to go" box of perfectly good Hooter's wings out of his car window on the way home because he was afraid his Mom would find out. I still got a phone call.
This philosophy did have its drawbacks especially when they got to be of school age. If my nephews farted in church or some other public place, Uncle Dan got a phone call. When they said a cuss word or flipped someone off while there parents were driving down the road, Uncle Dan got a phone call. My favorite had to be when one of my nephews taught his kindergarten class how to play "pull my finger" during "show and tell" one day. I was a proud uncle because he just wanted to share his wealth of knowledge with his classmates. I still got a phone call.
As they got older, I was able to introduce them to the real world or at last the sleazier side of it. I got to take them to their first Hooter's and their first strip club. One of my nephews was so paranoid about his first Hooter's trip that he tossed his "to go" box of perfectly good Hooter's wings out of his car window on the way home because he was afraid his Mom would find out. I still got a phone call.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
A World Upside Down
You learn a lot about yourself when your world gets turned upside down. I started working third shift a couple of weeks ago and that demands a complete shift in lifestyle. It was a choice I had been thinking about for a while and after my last surgery, I needed to take a step back and take a closer at where I am and where I am going.
This is not a new debate for me because I have been debating a radical change for quite a while now. I just need to take that leap of faith and trust in myself and my instincts. I have spent my entire "career" with one company and big business being big business, loyalty is rarely rewarded. That place has chewed me up and spit me out. My body and my psyche are bruised and damaged but that I can survive.
This latest surgery on my shoulder was a real eye opener. I found out that I am not bouncing back as fast as I used to. I returned to work four weeks ago and my shoulder is still not one hundred percent. That should really not be a revelation because I am not "ten foot tall and bulletproof" any more in spite of my best efforts.
I decided to scale back my responsibility at work (with some of my company's insistence, of course) and now I am just a "flunky." All I have to do is punch the time clock and I am happy with that. A tremendous weight is off my shoulders and it gives me more time to do what I really want to do, and that is write. Nothing may come of it but life needs to be about what I want to do, rather than what I have to do. I need to live the life I want because existing is not living. It has nothing to do with money because I have found that I really just need the necessities not all of the extras.
This is not a new debate for me because I have been debating a radical change for quite a while now. I just need to take that leap of faith and trust in myself and my instincts. I have spent my entire "career" with one company and big business being big business, loyalty is rarely rewarded. That place has chewed me up and spit me out. My body and my psyche are bruised and damaged but that I can survive.
This latest surgery on my shoulder was a real eye opener. I found out that I am not bouncing back as fast as I used to. I returned to work four weeks ago and my shoulder is still not one hundred percent. That should really not be a revelation because I am not "ten foot tall and bulletproof" any more in spite of my best efforts.
I decided to scale back my responsibility at work (with some of my company's insistence, of course) and now I am just a "flunky." All I have to do is punch the time clock and I am happy with that. A tremendous weight is off my shoulders and it gives me more time to do what I really want to do, and that is write. Nothing may come of it but life needs to be about what I want to do, rather than what I have to do. I need to live the life I want because existing is not living. It has nothing to do with money because I have found that I really just need the necessities not all of the extras.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)