TMI Tuesday: Walking To Daddy!

Our son has been cruising the furniture for well over a month now and he has been able to pull himself to his feet for quite a while but he has remained hesitant to walk on his own. In May he finally got the courage to take a step or two from the table to the couch. Of course, we helped him a bit by spreading them apart. And, soon after, he was confident enough to hold my hand and make his way across the play room with his irregular gait.

All of that changed a couple of weeks ago when I was walking our son to the kitchen. He had been strangling our fingers for a couple of weeks as his off balance sway staggered his steps but, this time, he had a loose grip on my index finger as we made our way across the room. When we turned the corner behind the couch, he let go and with both hands in the air took five or six steps all by himself before falling to his bottom with an audible thump.

Last week, having cancelled my plans for the evening to spend the night with my family, we were all sitting in the play room when our son decided to crawl over to the family room. This was nothing unusual as he likes to scurry about the house. However, this time was different, this time he was determined to walk. As he cruised along the chair and back into our view he had a wide smile on his face with a light chuckle echoing across the room.

This is when he let go of the chair and slowly made his way, step after step, across the room and into my arms. After an excited laugh and happy hug, he turned around and made his way back to the chair to repeat the same milestone again and again over the next twenty minutes. Each time he is getting a little better, a little steadier, and a little faster. And now he is even able to catch himself when he gets a little off balance and he can even turn around and change directions when the mood strikes him. Of course, some of those detours and changes in direction aren’t completely voluntary.

He is now comfortable walking both at home and while we are exploring a new place. It is actually pretty entertaining watching him push his own stroller down the sidewalk. He is gaining more and more confidence each time that he is on his feet and he enjoys practicing as much as possible leaving no opportunity lost to walk across the room, down the sidewalk, or around the property. All the while with the same wide smile across his face that we saw with that initial voyage across the room.

Achieving The Improbable!

When I first started this daily blog I had what I thought was a rather far fetched goal. I had never kept a daily blog before (heck, even my old journals have days missing here and there) and I knew that it was going to be a challenge but I still wanted to set a milestone that was possible even if it wasn’t probable. We all have these kinds of goals stored in the recesses of our minds many of which are forgotten regardless of whether they are actually achieved. Well, I clearly haven’t forgotten and now the improbable has happened as I find myself writing my 1000^th post.

Obviously, things have changed quite a bit since those first words were made public and the title of the blog has gone from descriptive to ironic but, overall, the basic purpose of the blog remains the same… honest reflections and reports about my life including my thoughts on topics and current events that piqued my interest. With that said, I have held myself to the basic guidelines of 400+ words per post which will be posted every day (although there are a few times I have had to play catch up). It has certainly been trying at times but, looking back, I am happy with the overall content that I have been able to produce and the ability that this blog affords me to look back at the details of certain moments in my wife especially those surrounding the birth of my son.

Not only has this blog served its basic purpose of pushing me to write but it has also forced me to pay closer attention to the world around me, the experiences that I have had, rework some of my long forgotten creative projects, keep in touch with people (family, friends, and followers), and simply appreciate all that has happened in my life. This is a record of my life which I can now pass on and while I started this for more selfish reasons I am now motivated to keep writing so that my son has something to look back on. This is now his life too.

One of the other ideas that developed in my mind as this milestone inched closer over the years is what I was going to do to celebrate this achievement. Well, sometimes the best way to celebrate the present is to revisit the past. Prior to this month, the last time that I published a book was in the summer of 2005 and now I have two additional books that have been resurrected from my hard drive, Paintings In Under A Thousand Words: Nature Poems and What Was Not Said: Echoes from the Holocaust. Both of these collections where compiled years ago and relegated to the confines of a small USB sitting in my desk. Now, having found the motivation in keeping this daily blog, they are finally in print.

However, that is just the beginning of the celebration as I am also turning many of the posts found on this blog into collections. They will, of course, be compiled based on topic and should be published throughout the year. The first two of these books are currently in the editorial process (I had forgotten how much “fun” there was in reviewing a galley proof), Out On The Limbs: Searching For Answers In the Family Tree and The Good, The Bad, and The Adorable: My First Year as a Father. These should be available within the next month. Again, those are just the first two with other collections from the blog to follow soon after as well as a few other creative projects unrelated to the blog that I have been working on.

So, I will end this post in much the same manner that I have concluded other milestone entries by offering my thanks to all of you who continue to read these simple words, those who continue to support this endeavor, and the family, friends, brothers, and colleagues that make these posts possible. Here’s to you. Here’s to the first thousand. And, here’s to the thousands that are to follow! It is only going to get better from here!

A Milestone I Wasn’t Sure Would Happen

Seemed apropos. 

This is a blog that I did not expect that I would reach especially in the equivalent number of days. It was my original intent to do so but there were more than a few moments along the way when it seemed nearly impossible to keep up the pace. But here I am, 700 days and 700 posts later. What started as something to keep me occupied during the long nights behind the front desk has morphed into a cathartic daily exercise that has allowed me to vent, reflect, record, and sometimes just play with words.  

This space has allowed me to keep track of my various interests and maintain a record of my experiences in a variety of different areas. Some of the posts have been simple recounts of trips that my wife and I have taken or events that I have attended while others contain opinions on topics with which I am certain not everyone will agree. And there is everything else along the varied spectrum.

It is a given, as mentioned above, that there are many posts that I have struggled to write for one reason or another. Sometimes I just didn’t feel like writing while other times I wanted to write but couldn’t think of how to say something. And because it has been a daily process, there are many instances (too many to count) when I have found myself repeating the same point time and again… along those lines, I am sure that this post is similar to those that I wrote for the other centenary milestones.

In the end, it is a means to get things out and maintain my writing despite the obvious depletion of the minimal skills that I once possessed. It is also a way to start conversations with those that I know read these posts… some regularly and others on occasion. In these regards it is an incredibly self-serving endeavor and I have never denied that fact. After all, this is a collection of my experiences, opinions, discoveries, and interests.

However, things have changed a lot since I started recording my life… while it is still a record of my experiences and a number of my opinions it is also about my son and what I want to make sure I share with him. There is nothing that can replace the connection of telling him in person but there will inevitably be things that are overlooked and I don’t want to end up like Michael Keaton. While there are some topics and things that I haven’t written about there is a pretty broad range of posts that can sum up a large part of my life. The words on the screen/page and the act of writing tells much of my story and I want my son to know me, the good and the unpleasant, the passionate and the combative, the structured and the creative, everything.

Passing One Thousand!

Last month I was able to mark the 500^th post on this blog. Today I was able to mark a slightly different but very similar occasion in that, between this blog and Getting Your Phil, I have published one thousand blogs since this all started in late May of 2013 (of course, there were a few blogs before that point as well). Obviously, the Phillies-centric blog came a little later and there were a few days missed here and there.

It’s interesting to think about all the different things that have been said, statements that have been made, and questions that have been posed throughout that plethora of posts. While there have been many occasions when I have repeated myself and even the entire subject matter of the post but there have been a wide variety of things that have been said. Some have been good, some bad, but they are all out there just for the heck of it.

Tonight I ran into the new guy working at the front desk of our apartment building and over the natural course of introducing ourselves we found that we had the common interest of blogging. However, it was interesting to hear the different perspectives that we each had for doing this. While I write this largely rambling posts for the sake of writing and attempting to maintain my creativity, limited as it may now be, he has diverged into the for profit model.

It was this shift in his perspective that has caused him to lose the passion he once had for sharing his art and perspective to his community. The graphic arts, like writing, requires a passion for the practice rather than a desire to get paid. If the money follows that is just a bonus, but it cannot be the motivating factor that keeps you posting blog posts day after day.

I really hate when I see this same thing happen to creative people over and over again. The money gets in the way of the passion leaving them grasping for anything that they can get a hold of and doing all they can to maintain an ember burning. All too often, I have seen heat within them completely extinguished. We must maintain our passions and focus our energy on the creative process not the possibilities of monetary gain.

Money is not the means by which to measure the creative process. If we lose focus on that which we are creating we can no longer truly commit ourselves to our art (regardless of media or genre). One thousand blogs and that remains my motivation… that and providing proof that yes I did exist. But you already read about my true motivation in keeping this daily blog.

What Does This Milestone Mean To Me?

When I started this blog my goal was to force myself to write everyday as writing had been absent from my daily life for too long after being so prominent for years. While the goal was daily I honestly didn’t have much confidence that I would be able to keep up that page especially given the fact that I had set certain parameters for each post. However, unlike in the past, I am glad that I didn’t restrict myself to a specific topic or group of topics even though I knew from the beginning what subjects would play a prominent role.

That was 500 days and 500 posts ago and not much has changed in this blog. Frankly, I am amazed that I have been able to keep up the pace and, for the most part, find different things to write about. It is with that I mind that I have become more aware of the things and situations around me, I have paid closer attention to things in my life that would have in the past just been another day, and on a few occasions I have forced myself to do other things, go other places, and think about different subject so that I might have something interesting to write about.

While not everything has made it onto the blog both by choice and forgetfulness, these 500 posts have been a great way to record and communicate all that is happening in a very simple life. This brings me back to a question that was recently posed to me in a LinkedIn genealogy discussion. I had posted one of the many genealogy related posts to a group and the response from one member of the group, after the obligatory thanks for sharing this story, was something along the lines of “it is great that you are learning about your family history, putting the pieces together, and writing about them but what are you going to pass down? What will your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. know about you and your life?”

With everything that has happened since I wrote the first word of the first post, this comment solidified why I keep writing. While these posts serve as a means of winding down and for me to remember all that I have done, they are also something to pass down. After all, it is one thing for future generations to know that you existed, it is something much more to know who you were, what you did, what you believed, and what you stood for. So I guess you could say that these 500 posts and all that follow are merely a means to add color, shape, and general character to my leaf on the tree.

Another Milestone

Last month I wrote about reaching a major milestone with this blog in that I finally accomplished the main goal that I set at the beginning of this experiment by posting a blog every day for an entire year. Well, as you have been reading, I have not stopped writing and posting. In fact, I have yet to dip under 400 words per post which, at times, is painfully obvious. I know that many of you are aware to these moments because over the weekend this blog surpassed 20,000 views.

Certainly, a lot of you read multiple blogs so I am uncertain as to how many actual readers are out there but it is a nice little milestone nevertheless. And it is one of those things that I really have no control over as all I can do it write, post, and do a little bit of dissemination through my social media accounts. The rest is up to all of you. So, really, this is your accomplishment.

It also got me thinking about how many times this blog is read and all of the views that I have gotten that are not tracked by the aforementioned stat. I know that I have a few people who receive my posts via email which doesn’t register in the total above. I am curious to know what the total really is but also what posts people enjoy reading versus those that they either delete or don’t bother finishing.

While this blog really is serving more as a journal or public diary if you will, I am not going to ignore those that read the contents on a regular basis. Obviously there is something that is interesting of else I wouldn’t have had so many views to date but what is it that you want to read about? You have taken the time to read about my views, time and again, but what are some of your opinions?

While I am happy with the progress that has been made on this blog, there is still something that is lacking… your voice. There are opinions on a variety of topics in the pages of this blog, some popular while others not so much but it should not be solely my opinion that is expressed. While I am sure that what I say represents some people it, by no means, represents everyone. So I open up the discussion to you. You can comment, email me, or write up a guest blog (even if it is of a completely opposite viewpoint). I want to make sure that there are more voices heard rather than just the sounds coming from my mind and mouth.

I Ain’t No Spartan!

Hard to believe but we have already reached 300 blogs. Whether there has been 300 things to write about is a different story but somehow we managed to get through it. It is almost like an odd curiosity this blog. There are times when the posts reflect the things that happened during the day while there are other times when I just rant.

Writing every day has not been the easiest thing to do at times (just ask my wife) but it has kept me writing which was the whole objective of this endeavor. While there has been a lot of posts put up that I really wouldn’t miss if they happened to disappear, there are a few articles that I am glad that I took the time to record the day, my thoughts, stories from my family, or pictures from our numerous trips throughout the past 300 days. All of these things pretty much sum up me. The good and the bad. The interesting and the boring (boring is kind of tipping the scales at this point though).

Knowing that I will be recording my daily life has made me focus on what is going on around me and has motivated to do more rather than let the days just pass by unceremoniously. While that doesn’t always guarantee that I will be out and about going from one place or event to another, it has at least required me to stop and think. And while it may not be evident in some of the ramblings that you have encountered over the past 300 days, I have had to organize my thoughts on a daily basis in order to move on to the activities of the following day.

So what am I planning to write about for the next 65 posts? I have no idea. Like many of the previous posts, and this one, I don’t know what I will be posting. I don’t even know if I will continue posting on a daily basis once I have his the one year mark. Although I am pretty sure that my creative OCD won’t let me take a day off. Maybe there is something that you want to read about, maybe you are curious about my thoughts on a subject or places that you would like to see pictures of (keep it local people). Well, I have just over two months of guaranteed content that I have to fill so don’t pass up the chance.

And now, because it’s Friday and I can, I leave you with a drunk monkey!

 

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Have You Been Enjoying My Box Of Chocolates?

200 days ago this blog didn’t exist. It was a time when I would rarely set aside the time to write. Sometimes I would be doing other worthwhile projects but many times I would simply be passing the time. There were many lost thoughts and forgotten recordings of my life that I would like to have back but know that is never going to be the case.

There have been days/nights when I have had a lot to say and there have been times, like tonight, when I just start writing and hope that I eventually stumble into something worth recording. That is how it goes when you post daily blogs… at least that is what happens to me. This is a medium that is reflective of life and sometimes it is interesting and exciting and sometimes not much is going on. This is accentuated by the fact that I am generally not a very interesting person and live a pretty simple life.

Of course, there have been times of opinion sharing and other posts have been about life and what experiences I have been fortunate enough to have during the whirlwind of days. In one post I could rant about presidential selfies and BS sign language translators while the next post could be about a nice little day trip into the mountains. I prefer keeping a blog using the Forrest Gump box of chocolates school of writing. Basically, if you don’t like what I have to say today just come back tomorrow and there will be something completely Monty Python.

All too often, and I have been guilt of this in the past, writers like to play the equivalent of the creative or literary knock out game. Some people have a perfect punch in their words and some of us get luck every once in a while but, most of the time, we are all taking big swings hoping that one piece connects with the audience. When it happens it’s a great feeling but it is also tiring. And I mean a George Forman kind of tired.

By writing daily, freely and openly, I have been happy to keep jabbing. Some hit hard, some clearly miss the mark but I keep throwing my first out there in a deliberate and constant way. Most of them make contact and keep me in shape. This is a matter of endurance and just like running a race at some point you are going to have to push through a wall, sometimes many walls. It the nature of the creative marathon and one that is both rewarding and addictive. 200 posts later and I am still running.

Having Fun

Today is a bit of an odd blogging day for me. I have been having trouble all day trying to figure out what to write about while at the same time I have so many things I would like to rant about (mostly dealing with the complete BS deal that the US and other countries has struck with Iran). There has also been a very simple fact floating around in my head in that this is the tipping point for my year of blogging. This marks my 183 post and, therefore, I have managed to post every day for just over half a year so far.

Not quite sure how I feel about that as I think it is more of a serious cause for concern more than it is an accomplishment because to post every day, regardless of topic, is a little nutty. But it is also something that has given me a daily constant. No matter what is going on that particular day I always have those 30-60 minutes to myself to put a quick post together. Of course, sometimes they take a bit longer, usually with the genealogy and photography related posts but for the most part I try and not overthink things and let myself just write.

That may be the most important part of this whole process. It is an exercise in being. For years I have spent hours if not days writing, rewriting, and polishing single lines making sure that every word had its place and purpose. While that undoubtedly is an important process and skill to have, you can quickly lose site of the actual writing process and the sense of freedom that putting words on a page (or in this case a screen) can bring to you. It is a cathartic process that most keep behind closed doors, buried in the pages of a journal, or hidden away in a file buried beneath the desktop.

That is how I used to treat my writing. Obviously, that is no longer the case. My process and my thoughts are in the posts on this blog out in the open for all to read. Whether you like it or not, here it is and here are the topics that I think about and want to write about. Whether its hobby or passion or routine I am not really sure at this point but I can say definitively that writing is a part of who I am and has been for most of my life at this point.  

But this was never intended to be a one way discussion. I think I enjoy listening to people’s comments about some of my posts than I do writing them. Whether someone agrees with me or not I get a kick out of starting that dialog and maybe making that person consider a topic, subject, or perspective that they may have otherwise overlooked. So, I guess this entire blogging process, from beginning to ‘end’, is one of the ways that I have fun. I have no idea what that makes me but I really don’t care because it is another way that I am able to enjoy my limited abilities and life in general.



But that is to be expected after an evening
filled with Guinness and Pepto-Bismol.