Next of Kin: Giving Thanks for the Online Family

In spite of what the retail world has been trying to shove down our throats for the past month, this is the week when the holiday season really begins. Before all the insanity starts, this Thursday we gather with family and friends, look around the table and for one brief moment, get all choked up and thankful and shit.

Now because most of people I am thankful for will not be at my dinner table (hmm, is there a connection?) I'll just put down a few words.

The more you write online, the more you become involved with other writers. You comment on each other's sites, you blog hop, you guest post, you share articles... you help each other out. I have a bunch of those guys for whom I am thankful. Now some of them have books and I know they would be thankful if I plug them. So I will. See how that works.

Jim Wood. Now Jim and I have actually met a couple of times. He writes at gojimmygo.net, GuitarWorld and other places. He has also written two children's books, both with illustrations by Michele Quinn. The first book, Doodle, saw profits go towards helping the family of an ill child. The second book, Doodle Meets the Pound Pup, will see profits help an animal shelter. Good people doing a good job. Help them out if you can, they will be very thankful.

Lance Burson. Where do I start? Lance writes... a lot. And he writes well. He has two books published at the moment, and number three is in the works. His site is My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog and his two books: The Ballad of Helene Troy and Soul to Body are good reads. Please buy them, his wife and three daughters would be eternally thankful. You can find them here: Buy The Books

Linda Roy. Not only is she a writer, she's a rocker. Yes, she's in a band, Jehova Waitresses. I dare you to find a better name for a band than that. She has a great blog Elleroy Was Here, which is funny as hell, and it's where she serves up cocktails every Saturday. Cocktails people. We can all be thankful for that.

Jen Kehl. Another busy writer. Jen has her own blog My Skewed View and she runs the wonderfully fun Tuesday Twisted Mix Tape blog hop. And she's included in a book too, The Mother of All Meltdowns. For the blog hop alone we would all be thankful, but wait... there's more. Jen, along with Lance and Linda, run a new and most excellent music website called Raised on the Radio. You should visit there often. You will be thankful you did.

Richard Fulco: Editor of Riffraf.net, another great music site. He is also an author, but we all have to wait until March, when his first novel ‘There Is No End to This Slope’ will be published. I'm sure he would be thankful if you pre-order his book, but checking out riffraf will make him smile too.

Ok, so those are the writers I am thankful for at the moment. They always have your back, and are there to catch you when the written words you have committed yourself to writing, become this dark cloud from which no light can penetrate. They are also a little weird, funny and don't know how to say no. For that, I am really thankful.

You guys all rock.

Oh, This Is Gonna Be Embarrassing

To write a blog, you definitely need to be able to laugh at yourself...because you know damn well everyone who reads it, is laughing at you. But that's the point; allow others to see what makes you tick...even if it isn't always your best side.

Now in the past few months, I've discussed my doctor's appointments, my roller coaster ride of getting some things accomplished when the outcome became more and more uncertain and as always, the good old aging process...which is never as pretty as Hollywood makes it out to be.

Today, you will see just how far someone can progress (hopefully you will think I've progressed) and laugh along with me...or at me. It is what it is.

Yesterday, while going through some music memorabilia, I came across a book of early samples of my writing. They were mostly poems, some prose and some miscellaneous lines which were never finished. And here's the thing...holy shit, they are shockingly BAD. Now granted most of them were from the ages of 10-13...a few from around 17 or so...but again; real bad.

Now in high school, I aced everything English. I had a side business writing term papers for my friends (oh did I just say that, oops), and my teachers encouraged my free-lance writing. Hell, I even had a column in the county newspaper with a picture & byline for my junior and senior years. But looking at these writings, it made me wonder why would I ever think to pursue it at any time of my life? Really bad.

So this morning, just for shits & giggles (at my expense, I might add), I am providing just a taste of what I thought was good enough to save...all those years ago. I can't begin to tell you how painful this is. Choosing which poem to print has been a long process...apparently not one well thought out..

"Tears can only shadow the fears that are to come
And though yesterday is far away, there still might be no sun.
So just rest your head, lay gently now
Let your thoughts be true and kind
Ease some times of tenderness into your peaceful mind.


Don't care for what the others say, their eyes are just like yours.
They see as far as you can see, and then they see no more.
So just settle down and find your soul, let your thoughts be true and kind.
Ease some times of tenderness into your peaceful mind.


So far away, I'll only say your love is in my heart.
And it hurts me so to have to know, how much longer we must part.
So wait for me and I'll be there, let your thoughts be true and kind
Ease some times of tenderness into your peaceful mind."


Well. Ok so maybe this wasn't the worst of all my writings, and I admit it might be better than some rap songs I've heard, but...not good alot (as we say in jersey).  So as you read my future blogs, remember how it all started.

Lots of rhymes, but what was the reason?
Not expecting a call from the Pulitzer committee any time soon.


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Sometimes A Dog Walk Is Not Just A Walk With The Dog

While writing blogs is a great way to vent, it also allows other people to realize just how really screwed up you are. However, even socially malfunctioning people with writing outlets require a little therapy.

Mine occurs every Friday when we arrive at the weekend house in the Poconos.  Evening drinks on the deck, afternoons walking around the lake, or the morning walk with the dog...are all times to be savored because they are always too short.

Until I'm out the door, the morning walk is not something I generally anticipate with any degree of enjoyment.  But once the walk begins, the silence and beauty of the lake and surrounding woods lightens my mood. Turning down one road, 10 deer in the road in winter formation.  During the winter months, deer generally walk in single file in larger herds.  My guess is once the snow is broken by the leader, it's easier for the rest of the group to follow in the same footprints.  Seeing my approach, 9 veer in one direction while one doe stays behind...and stares at us.  Is she older and no longer skittish of dogs and people...or just too scared to move.  We pass and eventually she rejoins the pack.

It's around seven in the morning..the sun has just begun transforming the sky with a paintbrush of pink and blue.  The colors reflect on the newly formed ice on the lake.  No cars, no people...just a nice start to a Saturday.

Three miles around the lake this afternoon seems like a go. Hope there's a glass of wine waiting for me on the deck.  Very therapeutic indeed.