"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx
These are dark days that are filled with millions of lights being lit all around the world. The Jew haters are actively moving to try and place their thumbs upon us, but they fail to recognize the days of the shtetl Jew are over.
We are small in minority, but mighty in spirit and resilience.
We may bend, but we do not break.
The shooters at Bondi Beach were met by people of spirit and not just members of the tribe but others too. There is more good than bad, the light shines.
Maybe you’ll read the other letters and we’ll have a real conversation about what is in them.
Maybe it will be one of those naked honesty conversations we used to have with regularity and we’ll get deep into the muck.
Maybe we’ll find what was lost and maybe we’ll lose what has been discovered.
Lots of maybes and lots of reasons why exploring some paths again would be different now than in that time that way.
Maybe we’re so very different it has caused a fracture that cannot be repaired or maybe fear of what could go right is stronger than the fear of what could go wrong.
Lots of maybes with no way to answer without walking through the door and diving into the pool.
There was a time when I would receive emails from a few readers asking for updates about the love story and for information about when the next chapter would be written/shared here.
Been a long while since the last one so I am not certain whether the reader(s) who wanted such news are still around or what the last update they saw was.
I have some ideas about what sort of update to provide and have played around with how to present it but obviously haven’t yet done so.
Some might ask for clarity on whether I am waiting to hear back from the readers or if I intend to share something new here regardless.
It is a reasonable question and one I could answer but probably won’t.
Yeah, that is the kind of mood I am in. 😉
Not a bad one, not by a long shot but I am sort of enjoying the warmth of this particular feeling. We all have our secret worlds and sometimes we choose to live in them for a bit longer because we can.
Sometimes the king and queen require their time to be their own so they can have a moment to get reacquainted and rebalanced.
It is good for all parties and what is good needs to be watered and nurtured so the trunk stays strong and the roots well fed.
Somewhere in the 1,930,938,784 words here you will find the story of two souls outline and a variety of parts and pieces that are tied into it.
Seventeen, 28 or 50 some years of burning love produced and prepared in a sort of a jigsaw puzzle format floating in cyberspace.
Intermixed are the comments, emails and questions that have asked for insight and or answers but have yet to be given.
It is not clear yet whether an update shall be shared here or left as is in other places but it is safe to say that something will happen and when it does you will discover it.
Or at least that is the expectation, that you will show up one day and find something that offers a beginning and a middle but probably not an end but the reasons for that aren’t to be shared today.
People say you shouldn’t write when you are jammed for time because you might make some silly errors but I don’t follow that advice.
Mostly because I think there is a certain beauty that comes from not having time to question your muse and his/her idea for the words you’ll put on paper.
I am jammed now because I have to finish packing so I can catch a flight in a couple of hours. Â Got to build in time to toss the clothes in a bag, drive to the airport, park and then walk through security.
It is not high on my list of desires, flying, that is.
I don’t like it very much anymore but I do it often enough I am pretty good with the drill. Still, post 9/11 flying is a task and it is not made any more enjoyable by seeing videos like that one from United.
I often remind my children that our attitude has a big impact upon how our days go and am doing my best to just smile and stay loose today.
The more relaxed I am the easier it becomes or so I tell myself.
It works most of the time, but not all.
Have I mentioned how happy I am not to be flying United today. Can’t say I am interested in paying for food, blanket, ticket and a beating.
****
I didn’t get as much sleep last night as I wanted to because I had to make sure I talked to the kids before my flight today.
Since they are two hours behind me and were busy until quite late it meant I didn’t finish speaking with them until after midnight.
Most of the time I don’t think twice about that because I am good at sleeping on planes but this flight is all of an hour so I am not sure if I’ll be able to catch as long a nap as I might like.
But I’ll do my best and maybe some lucky person will get to hear me snore. 😉
I kind of feel badly about it because no one wants to listen to someone snoring and yet I need the rest. Since I am unlikely to see these people again I’ll just let it go I suppose.
That reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who asked how many social conventions are lifted if we are with strangers.
The answer for me is not many.
You won’t catch me clipping my toenails on a plane or engaging in other personal behavior like that, especially since I have seen it on flights before.
I don’t gross out easily, but that just makes me go yuck.
Been a while since I provided links to other posts here and since I won’t be able to update for a few days I’ll provide a list you can dig into if you so choose.
Here is a short selection of posts to get you started:
An Uncertain Certainty
Words Are The Death Of A Blogger
A Father Describes Parenting
A Father’s Burden
How Sister’s Helped to Train A Father of “Daddy’s Girlâ€
Inside the Blogger’s Studio- A Dream, Er Nightmare
The GermoPhobe
What I Dream About
I am In Love
Becoming a Dad
Dad’s Most Important Job
A Decade of Dad
Grandpa
Donuts
Why Your Post Sucks and Everyone Hates Your Blog
Of Dads and Daughters
See you in the comments. Back with new material later this week.
P.S. The post before this isn’t bad, try giving it a read.
I shouldn’t be writing this blog post of taking time to read Facebook, pin things on Pinterest or Tweet at the Conman-In-Chief.
That is because Old Jack Steiner has to finish packing for a business trip and this blogging thing isn’t going to help him finish the job.
The thing is that Old Jack Steiner has one hell of a stomach ache which may or may not be related to the trip.
Blame the uncertainty on the beauty of having a dysfunctional digestive system, sometimes you just don’t know.
Given the enormous anger and rage surrounding the US and much of the world I am wondering if 2017 might mark the year the social media crash.
In other words, will it be the year we run out of energy and time to be outraged and or outrageous on social media.
You might wonder if I am mean that to be tongue-in-cheek and the answer is, sort of.
If I take some of the comments friends and family are making there is some truth to the question of whether it has become exhausting to hang out on some platforms.
As a father I find myself wondering how much of the anger is spilling over and into the platforms my kids use.
Are they seeing/feeling it and if so, what sort of impact is it having upon them?
****
When my kids were really little we were very careful about what we said around them because we didn’t want them to be exposed to certain things before they had to be.
That changed as they got older, especially once they got cellphones and computers because once the barn door opened we knew the horses would go running.
That is not to say we stopped monitoring because that never happens but our and your ability is limited, especially in the middle and high school where it is common for kids to have easy access to the ‘Net.
The kids and I have had multiple conversations about when to stand and when to run.
We have talked about figuring out the value of winning the battle and losing the war and vice versa. I have always thought about it as being important, but lately it has increased in value.
That is because when people tell me they find social media to be exhausting I ask why they are still there and what they hope to accomplish.
If you are not paid to be online then your presence is a choice and if that choice hurts you, well you know where this is going.
Anyhoo some have told me they think it is important to keep pushing out certain messages and fear what happens if they take time away from the platforms they reside upon.
My response is always the same, we’re in a marathon and not a sprint. If you want to last you have to find a way to take care of yourself.
It is really not any different from the conversation I have with the kids.
Don’t mistake that to sound like I am saying I am better or smarter than the next guy because that isn’t it.
Hell, I am the guy who likes to argue and will fight for months but as I have grown older I have learned to be more judicious in who gets my time.
*****
Speaking of flight I have to go finish getting ready for mine.
I used to love flying but it is not something that I particularly enjoy anymore. We’ll save the how and why for a later date and say I hope the plane isn’t stuffed to the gills.
Be good to each other and I’ll see you around the comments.
