RobZerrvations
Musings from a Meandering, Mischievous Mind
The Night Was Balmy And So Was I…
Brewster McCabe and I have been good pals for the last 30 years. It's been something of a love/hate relationship, as we haven't always been on the best of terms. That happens when you've lived with someone for so long. While you relish the core of the relationship and look forward to seeing each other with great regularity, at times you simply want to punch one another out. If you don't know who Brewster McCabe is, let me clue you in. He's a private eye, a Dick, if you will. He's been stuck in...
Will That Be Tour Or Three?
I am not a very organized traveler. I rarely purchase a package trip, you know, where the flight, hotel and rental car are all included. I also don't book tours, largely because they are too structured and too limiting. I did, earlier in my life. I must confess that I've done the cruise ship thing, goaded into booking a 10-day journey through hell. Well, the hell part was only in the room aboard the ship, since I was traveling with Psycho. The ship was doing a repositioning through the Panama...
A Sinister Situation.
One would think as they grow older that the world would become a bit clearer, that the journey to acquire knowledge would lead you somewhere where clarity was the rule rather the exception. But I admit, I am growing more confused by the day. We seem to live in an odd world of inclusion, where everyone gets a slice of the pie and no one is left out. You saw the beginnings of this in youth sports, where every kid gets a trophy, medal or certificate, because we don't want anyone to feel left out....
I Ain’t Goin’! No Way. No How!
Most people have a bucket list of places they want to see before they die. I have a list too, but true to form, it's a list of places I have no desire to visit. Let's start with the easy stuff. Asia. That pretty well covers it. I have absolutely no desire to travel to Asia, whether it's Japan, China, Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. Especially Vietnam, as I would continually be scanning the crowd for a 57-something man, wondering if he was the 11 year old boy who tried to kill my brother in the...
Hey Batter, Batter!
Someone posted a while a go that life is hard and they wished it was easy, like it used to be. I'm not sure it ever was. I think we just lose our rose-colored glasses as we age. We start to see the world for what it is rather than the way we hoped or wanted it to be. Let's face it. Life is messy. At times, really messy. And just when you think you've finally got everything figured out, you get an unexpected curveball thrown your way. When you swing and miss, it's easy to blame life for...
The Ununited States.
I grew up in a very racist family. For all I know, some of them still are that way. I never really understood it, even when I was young, largely because there weren't any people of color in my neighborhood and few families of color lived in my school district either. Yet, I was still very aware of the problems going on in the south with segregation, the riots in Watts and the civil unrest going on throughout the nation, not only about civil rights and equality, but about the war. Walter...
Me, Me, No!
I've had an epiphany of sorts. Somewhere, somehow, over the course of the last year, my life is no longer all about me. Yes, you read right. I guess some people figured this out eons ago. They didn't have to go through much of their life thinking mostly about themselves. Not in a bad way, mind you. I have certainly had my periods of being self-centered, offset with times when I never put my own needs before anything or anyone, largely because the people I was surrounded with didn't want to put...
Don’t Ever Start A Band.
Jimmy Buffett warned me years ago. I still remember those words from his song Morris' Nightmare, a song that no one seems to remember except me, though largely for this piece of advice: Don't ever start a band! I didn't listen. I started a band, a band that in most respects, is still together all these years later. Yes, there have been some changes over the years. If I count the number of musicians in the band – official ones – I count 11. Let's see: Waterrat, Animal, Big Nick, Buckwheat,...
Happy… To Me.
My birthday was last week. It was a major one, too. No, not the 40 or even 50 rollover. Instead, I turned 57. O.K., so it's not a big one for most people. But this is the age my father died. He never made it to 58. In fact, he didn't even make it to 57.1. He died within a month of his birthdate. To be fair, my mother made it to 89, so at least from a DNA aspect, I don't have too much to worry about. I am feeling relatively fine these days, outside of the usual creaks my old bones make, so I...
Floridaze.
I love it when life imitates art. Well, the art in my head. Being a creative, I often live in a world where reality and fantasy are just across a small footbridge, with either side exchanging places with the other, often at the most unexpected times. Such a time happened this past week. I was in my boss' office and noticed the flowers on her desk. It was her 21st anniversary and I joked that all the years I had been married came close to that. It was then that another coworker in the office...
If You’re Happy And You Know It…
I'm a pretty happy guy these days. I don't post this a lot on any social media, largely because such posts would have caused me to go ballistic back in the day when I wasn't happy and I would have lambasted anyone who boasted they were. While I would like to say it's because I met Kat and that life is all rosy because I'm in love, that's not really the whole story. It is one piece of the puzzle, perhaps the final piece I needed. But happiness has been a long and hard road for me to travel and...
Now That’s Entertainment!
I'm not really sure why I am learning so much about myself these days. I have a sneaking suspicion it is Kat's doing, at least in part. I should really just buy a couch and make some appointments with her. But in this last case, my epiphany came at the hands of CBS Sunday Morning. Yes, I'm a regular watcher because it's not all about death and disaster. Rather, it has great features that show you how amazing this world really is. Case in point, the feature on Alabama Shakes. If you've been...