Okay, the general thought is that when someone turns 40, especially a male, they experience some kind of midlife crisis. I am glad that I am not affected by this old wives tale. If you were here to look in my driveway, you wouldn’t see a red sports car. I didn’t get my ears pierced on the 28th. There are no tattoos of Juli on my arm or anywhere else. In fact, I didn’t even get my hair permed. I’m just the same old boy from the Midwest. Forty hasn’t affected me at all. Or that’s what I keep telling myself. See, there is this one issue. Juli and the boys know exactly what I’m talking about. Not even one more word is necessary for them. So do many of you.It’s called songwriting. Has this thing I’ve loved to do since I was 12 years old run it’s course? Am I old guy who shoots free throws like Don Nelson (my dad would know what I’m talking about) and thinks plays like Kobe? Am I the old guy that tries to dress like the college students but looks like their father trying to look like them? Am I the pastor who uses illustrations from Happy Days as everyone under 35 daydreams about the next song they will download off of I-Tunes? Am I still amazed at the ability of watching the magic white ball go back and forth during an exhilarating game of Pong and thinks he understands this modern technology? Am I still convinced that CD’s are the last advance of mankind? Or even worse, do I think I can still write relevant songs?
As I flipped through channels the other day there was a Cream reunion concert on PBS. Ask your parents. Better yet, ask your grandparents. Do I look like the drummer and bass player? Will Sam and Spencer have to ask me to please stop embarrassing them someday? Is it time to put the guitar back in he case for the last time, except for the occasional sing along around the campfire? Is it time to give up the unnecessary dream of getting a song published? Who knows?Yeah, 40 has not affected me at all. I’m still the same old boy from the Midwest. Oh, by the way, if you go to garageband.com,you can listen to the MP3’s of some of the songs I’ve recently recorded.
3 comments:
From one Midwestern Boy to another, Congrats on 40! But I am still older than you by a week (a hint to who I am). It's good to hear your heartfelt reflections. I always appreciated that in you! You will always be a "REAL" friend in my book. I enjoyed the garageband demos. Take Care! P.S. If you ever come to town again maybe we can do Taco Tuesday for old time sake!
i (juli) was just talking about you today...email us - i don't have your current email address. happy birthday to you!
Hey Gene, I'm sorry I didn't get in on the Virtual B-day party. I didn't hear about it until afterwards. However, I have posted on my blog about you and your lovely wife (hey li'l mama!) and if you check out said blog: (subversivejousting.blogspot.com) not only will you see a post about y'all, you will read that your pics reside in the ether of the WWW for perpetuity! Happy Belated, my brother. We miss you down here.
jefe
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