The JackB

"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

Getting Bolder

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They asked me if I have ever called the Shmata Queen a broad or a skirt and I asked them to answer their own question.

They came back at me in multiple places and I provided multiple answers because I could. It was that simple and that complicated.

“But Jack, I don’t understand. Tell me more about you two.”

Good old Datingmaster Jerusalem, haven’t a clue where he went but if I said this post was about him he would get very excited.

It is not, he isn’t referenced there and probably hasn’t been in years, though I could be wrong about that.

Blog issues prevent me from checking easily because the comments on older posts don’t seem to want to load. Not sure why they are hidden because if I try to edit the posts I can see them.

Sometimes it bothers me because some of the best content came from or was in the comments section.

Apparently, it doesn’t bother me enough to spend time researching a fix, but who knows what the future holds.

Anything can happen somewhere down the road because even though I can smile without you I just want to spend that weekend in New England.

Ten points for anyone who catches one reference there and 25 if you aren’t confused by the mix of artists and songs.

And here we go, more music.

Swallow The Seed

One day I’ll tell you the story about drinking pulp-filled orange juice at a work function and what happened when someone said be careful not to swallow the seed.

Hell if that didn’t come this close to turning into an HR moment for multiple people, including myself and I wasn’t the one who said it.

Someone said I was getting bolder with my commentary in reference to some comments I made to the boss and it was construed by another as having been a reference to the whole swallow the seed mishegoss.

As a side note, I like orange juice but I generally don’t like a lot of pulp in it, but I digress.

Most of the time I am relatively fast on my feet and adept at talking my way through situations but this one was harder than most.

Why?

Because the people involved were certain about what they thought had been said and uninterested in being told there had been a misunderstanding.

Cue more music.

A Few More Words

Got so much more to say but listening to Bruce sing is taking me to other places and I have to stop typing long enough to enjoy the ride.

But not before admitting some of this stuff touches those places and spaces where the skin isn’t thick and maybe never was nor will be.

Regret, hope and a dash of optimism that fights the what ifs of the time are sitting on my shoulders, asking that I take a hard look at certain situations and acknowledge the truth of what is and the possibility of what isn’t.

Not such a bad thing, is it.

Written In The Stars

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There are things going on now that have me shaking my head in both amazement and the occasional moment of disgust.

Can’t decide if I should try to explain or just use the song to illustrate it all, contradictions all around.

I had a dream last night,
The world was set on fire.
And everywhere I ran,
There wasn’t any water…
The temperature increased,
The sky was crimson red,
The clouds turned into smoke,
And everyone was dead.
But there’s a smile on my face,
For everyone…

That Lonely Place

Sometimes the life bus drops you off at that lonely place without any regard for your wishes or desires and then you have to figure out what to do with it.

You can drop your bags and unpack knowing you might be there for a while or you can take other steps and work on a plan for getting out of there.

There rarely if ever is a reason for an extended stay there but it doesn’t mean that you can choose the time and date you enter or leave.

If life were that simple it would be a very different world but it is not and smart people distinguish between the world we live in and the one we wish we did.

Doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t work for better, just that you keep one foot planted on Earth so that you can take care of reality while working towards the other.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

I could tell you a story about the Shmata Queen and how I told her she would have to say ‘please’ but that is kind of risque and we’re short on time.

So I’ll share the second Oingo-Boingo video of this post and tell you the lyrics absolutely prove the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I always liked Boingo but I wasn’t as big a fan as some friends who went to thirty or forty of their concerts as opposed to the handful I hit.

Might have been two or three, heck it could be one.

Been about 24 or 25 years I think since the last show I saw at the Universal Amphitheater. It was one of the Halloween shows and it was phenomenal.

They didn’t need auto-tune or any studio effects and the crowd was filled with diehard fans who never stopped dancing and singing along.

I don’t recall if the venue held 12,000 or 30,000 people, just that I felt like I knew most of them or knew someone that knew them.

Was kind of cool, made it feel like a more intimate show.

An Extended Walk About

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Been on an extended walkabout thinking about many things such as posts like this one and one from a different blog.

One of those was applauded by a former sub commander, never know who you’ll run into within the wild and woolly blogosphere.

Been a strange time and I have had to fight my way through a few moments. Been thinking about whether those were smart moves or foolish and haven’t decided.

Might have to converse with SQ about it when she wakes up from her long slumber.

In the interim I am thinking about many things.

Sometimes that is what you have got to do to get to the other side. Courage friends, it takes courage.

Two Quick Thoughts

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Went back to an older blog where I compiled some stories and thought about picking up where I left off.

Read a few comments and smiled when I saw SQ say I just get relationships. Might have to talk to her about that and remind her to always listen to the Taurus. 😉

Definitely need to clean things up at the old blog, that place has been left mostly untouched for 13 years or so and it looks it.

Kind of a mess, but I can fix it.

Placeholders Continued

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Moving on from this post with thoughts about integrating these songs into a new post.

Song one

Song 2

Song 3

Got three or four ideas for a story inside my head and that is without thinking hard about whether they ought to be integrated into one or expanded into six or seven.

If you cared enough and took the time I could take you through the seventies into the eighties and into the present.

And hell, I might tell the tales anyway because I am that guy whomever that is anyway.

Or at least that is what someone said to me, “you are that guy” and I didn’t fight it.

I just nodded my head, smiled and said “you have no idea.”

That is what happens when you try to label me or pin me down. I don’t like it very much and I respond. Maybe it makes me juvenile or maybe it just means I am human.

Don’t think I am particularly different from many, I am just a man.


It Happens This Year

Made a decision about a few things a while back and decided I am going to get the answers and do something about them.

“It happens this year. I take action or drop it all and move on because it is time.”

Not sure who I was talking to when I said it, but I know I said out loud so it maybe it was for me. Maybe I had to say it so that I could my own voice and accept the promise I made to myself.

Sometimes that is what you have to do, speak out loud and hold yourself accountable to yourself.

After all, if you can’t do it for yourself than whom are you are going to do it for.

That is how we have to roll. Can’t be good for anyone else if you aren’t good to yourself.

Placeholders

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Can’t decide what to do about a few things. Can’t decide what to do with this blog.

Some people treat me like this guy because they can’t figure out what to do about me either.


Placeholders

Thinking about doing something with the links below, but haven’t decided so this is a post of placeholders.

Plenty Of Time

Timing

Asked And Answered