I began writing this blog as a creative way to think out loud by putting those thoughts on paper. I’m one of those people that has never felt compelled to write, but I enjoy the cathartic benefits of putting my fingers on the keyboard. After beginning this blog, my wife and I separated which crushed me. I was able to talk about feelings of isolation, loneliness, pain and coping with a life I didn’t ask for. Now, as a newly single, 49 ear-old man, I am using this blog to chronical my journey, my discoveries, and observations.
I am born and bred New England, lived here all my life. I live in southern Maine, close to the ocean.
In former lives, I was a radio disc jockey in Boston and southern Maine, a customer service agent for American Eagle airlines, groundskeeper and landscaper. Now I am a materials handler for a Southern Maine hospital.
Some of my passions are traveling. in America, I’ve traveled to New York City, Dallas, Chicago, Las Vegas, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Elsewhere, I traveled to London, Scotland (Edinburgh and St. Andrews), Paris, Amersterdam, Bonn, and Franfurt Germany. I enjoy faking my way around the kitchen, putting up a batch of homebrew beer, smoking some good barbeque, and I’m always eager to sit and enjoy a good book. I love to play golf and was fortunate to tee it up in St. Andrews.
The best part of my life are my kids. My Daughter will soon be 20 and My Son is 16 They are my pride and joy. I am blessed to have them as a part of my life. When they are not around, I look forward to the times we are together.
My likes: I really do enjoy long walks on the beach…it’s no cliche’…walking by the ocean reconnects you with the essence of all life. Plus, I love breathe in the ocean air. I can see the mountains AND the ocean from 12 stories up at my workplace, and feel blessed to have those views when I need them. I love to get in the car and just drive. I love playing golf at dusk when there is no one else around. I like to blow bubbles. I like walking the streets and observing the human condition.
My Powerball fantasy: to pull up stakes and buy a crofter’s cottage in Scotland. I want to get away from the American ratrace and find a slower, more civilized way of life. Anywhere I can play links golf can’t be all bad. “Any world that I’m welcome to/Is better than the one I come from” – Steely Dan
My philosphy in two parts: You can never have too many books or own too much music, and ….”and it’s only the giving that makes you what you are”–Ian Anderson
MUSIC: To quote a line from the movie, Almost Famous, “what is it you love about music? …..to start, everything”. I sang in choral groups and choirs when I was in high school. I spent 13 years working as a radio disc jockey, starting in college ( I guess that’s why my hearing is starting to go from having the headphones cranked up too loud). I’ve been exposed to alot of different styles over the years, so there’s not much I don’t like for music. My CD collection may be small, but it covers a WIDE spectrum. I enjoy bands like the Police, the Beatles; some jazz, Brazilian and bossa nova of Tom Jobim and Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Steely Dan, singer/songwriters James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Duncan Sheik; 70s soul and disco, especially anything produced by Gamble and Huff, horn bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, and lots of odds and ends culled from iTunes. I like listening to UK stations on the internet. Among my favorites are two stations in the UK. One station from Bristol, England..Original 106.5..a wonderful mix of different styles (www.originalbristol.co.uk). The other is its Scottish sister, Original 106 in Aberdeen, Scotland. You can access both from www.radiofeeds.co.uk I have also discovered Free Form BCN (www.wbcn.com), which is an online free-form station based on the original WBCN in Boston. It’s fun to hear the mixure of genres, some completely unexpected. My local favorite is WCLZ-FM… the music is great (www.989wclz.com), although since being bought out by a large media conglomerate, they’ve fired all the interesting DJs and replaced them with drones. But I still enjoy the music. I love to talk about music, musicians and bands. I’m open to all points of view, but NO HEAVY METAL.
BOOKS: I do more reading since I don’t get cable TV or internet (at home). AT the top of my list is “The Drifters” by James Michener. It should be required reading for any young person who has no idea what to do with their life, within the context of the 1968 Democatic Convention and the social upheavals caused by the Vietnam War. I just finished reading, “White Bicycles: Making Music in the ’60’s” by Joe Boyd. If you want an English perspective on the Summer of Love, this is your book. I am planning to re-read “Forever” and “Snows in August” by Pete Hamil. This former New York beat writer is in love with his town, and it shows in his writing. Both of these books are interesting takes on life in a bygone New York City, stuff that gets lost in the puff-chested rhetoric that comes out of NYC. And I recently read, “Two Years in St. Andrews” by George Peper. Peper is the former editor of GOLF magazine, and his story is about buying a flat in St. Andrews, pulling up stakes and moving to Scotland.
TV: I own a TV, but only get the over-air digital signals. That means to only watch the local news, Seinfeld reruns, Jeopardy and whatever is on Fox for sports. But NO NASCAR. I do miss cable, though. But it’s like Springsteen sang, there’s 57 channels and there’s NOTHING on. But I do enjoy these programs: Cash Cab on Discovery Channel (I could make BIG money on that show), Little Britain, Cash In The Attic and Bargain Hunt on BBC America. My choices fior programs are comedies, like Seinfeld, M*A*S*H or Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I do like the majority of programs on public TV. If the Boston Red Sox or any hockey game are on, then I’m there.
MOVIES: Since I don’t have cable I’ve been watching more movies. I’ve gone through most of my collection multiple times, so I am always on the lookout for new titles, usually the classics or stuff I enjoyed in past years. This section is always evolving, but here are the defintes:
The Sting, Local Hero, Dirty Rotten Scouldrels, M*A*S*H, Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen; Oh, Brother Where Art Thou, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Four Weddings and A Funeral, and The Italian Job (the original with Michael Caine and Benny Hill).
