So, why not share some of those thoughts about our world, 33 years after May 11th, 1983.
- How long ago was "Californication" now? Seriously, I'm starting to realize that most of the classic albums of the 1990s are now twenty years old, and I don't like it. Aerosmith's "Get a Grip" is a quarter century old, Tupac's almost been dead twenty years, and Britney Spears has been a star for almost 20 years. The Red Hot Chili Peppers iconic CD though, the album I most associate with the late 1990s, is almost 20 years old. Basically, I saw that tour in 1999, and that is more than half a lifetime ago now. Ouch.
- At 18, I had a goal- to work in Hollywood, Wall Street, and the White House in my lifetime. I'm not sure any of them is my goal anymore, which amazes me. What you prioritize can change so much over 15 years, and I certainly now stand as living proof of that.
- It's no secret that I love the beach, but it's just as interesting watching what beach you frequent change. As a child, Point Pleasant Beach was my spot. Then in high school, Ocean City, Maryland. Along came the college and early 20's, and it was Wildwood Crest. Now? I can't wait to get to Sandy Hook Beach, the Gateway National Park at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore. I like the relaxation and quiet there. At 40, what will be my beach of choice?
- The Earth is approximately 4,543,000,000 years old, human time. I'm 33 years old. The oldest person in the world is 116. We are all just a blip in history.
- People like to think that we live in a special time in human history, basically all people at all times do this. I was recently listening to a 1962 speech by President John F. Kennedy, campaigning for Pennsylvania Democrats in Pittsburgh. What was he talking about? The role of government, the pain of companies outsourcing jobs, and how the industrial jobs of "yesterday" were going to need to be replace by something new. You could have stuck President Obama right in his place and given the same speech in Pittsburgh in 2016.
- From the "how long ago was that" file: I wrestled my final match in 2001, 15 years ago this past February. I competed in my final competitive athletic event in May of 2002, 14 years ago this month. Again, basically half a life ago. While you never stop viewing yourself as a jock, clearly you aren't one at some point.
- Some people don't exist for a relevant reason, they exist to be angry. The current Presidential election is proving that. In elections, someone wins and someone loses. Generally, if you're on the losing side, the smart thing to do is to join the team and work to make changes to the parts of the system you don't like from within. Most, probably over 85%, of the voters for losing primary candidates will back their party's nominee, because they know that's the smart thing to do. For a few though, they demonize those who they disagree with. Oh well, if you ask me.
- Ballparks I want to get to this Summer- Lakewood, Camden Yards, Nationals Park, Citi Field, and Harrisburg. I have been to all of the MLB parks that I named, though it's been since the inaugural year of Camden Yards since I've been there. I have never been to Lakewood or Harrisburg, and I want to change that this Summer.
- My high school wrestling coach, Steve Powell, just retired after coaching at Easton High School my entire life. He's one of the most successful wrestling coaches at any level in the history of the sport in America. He was a tough coach at times, but he made his teams better. I learned a lot of hard lessons during my time in his room, and for that i'm forever in his debt. I wish him well.
- I could never vote for Donald Trump, and neither should you, if your family history in this country is anything but Native American. My elders came through Ellis Island, often faced not being wanted here, and worked their way to respectability. Donald Trump would now scapegoat immigrants of Latino and Middle-Eastern backgrounds in order to win an election. He's a vile, UnAmerican human-being.
- Sometimes you wish they didn't speak- Billy Corgan, a 1990s rock god, a real genius, proves that again. He's apparently a real right-wing conspiracy theorist. He joins Mel Gibson off in the "great artists from crazyland" category.
- I've largely forgone many of the "rituals of adulthood" as i've grown up, in an effort to forego the rat-race that follows them. I've found mixed results in that. I refuse to "keep up with the Joneses," and yet sometimes you can't stop yourself. Patience and modesty are good slogans, but there is a point where you wonder what you're giving up, in the name of not living the full-time stress life that your less-fun friends are living in constantly.
- I've never been to California. Something is wrong with that. Everyone says they want to go to San Francisco, but give me the superficiality of Hollywood.
- I've never written anything nice about Donald Trump, and this will be the only time I do, but he has hopefully changed American politics with his nomination victory- hopefully we'll stop getting lame, boring, "perfect" background candidates with no history, no pass transgressions, and no personality. I do want a Presidential candidate who goes on Howard Stern and isn't afraid to use some "mean" words, I just don't want them to be Donald Trump.
- I love Citizens Bank Park, and I don't want to say anything negative about it, but I miss Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. That old, concrete, circular dump was a hell-hole, but it was our hell-hole, and it was home. Again, we've had some great times in CBP already, and it's one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball, but the Vet had a character that no other ballpark will ever replace.
- Did my grandfather ever like the Philadelphia Athletics? I don't know. He's been dead ten years, and it didn't dawn on me until the last year or two that when he was a kid, the A's were good. He was born in 1930, and at least in my lifetime was a Phillies fan. In the 1930's though, the A's were good and the Phillies were garbage. Until the 1950's, the A's were still an option for a Philadelphia fan. I never thought to ask him while he was alive, but it dawned on me that maybe he was an A's fan back in the day.
- The Moon Landing is real. Kurt Cobain did kill himself. Yes, Bernie Sanders is losing fair and square. Conspiracy theorists burn me up to no end. I have no use for their ignorance.
- I recently lost an uncle at age 59, to cancer. It made me think a lot about the "quality" of my life. At 32, what if I have just 27 years left, or less? While I've always been a patient person, perhaps the time for patience is wearing out in my 30s.
- People ask me what I didn't like about DC when I say how much I disliked it there, and I always answer with "the people." That's a real quagmire answer for someone with many friends in DC, which is something that is increasingly dawning on me. There are obviously lots of different types of people in DC, and broad-brushing them is not fair. As I age though, I'm pinpointing what it was that I didn't like. I hated the need for "importance," aka- the need for everyone to run around in their suits and tell you what their title was. I hated the disconnect with the rest of the world, as so many of the people I interacted with there were trust-fund babies that only knew the world from a theoretical glass, because they didn't have real world problems. I also just wanted a city where I could have a beer and talk about the ballgame with the person next to me- not tax policy. When I visit DC, I often times miss it, because there are some amazing things about it. I really don't know if I can live there in the future, or not.
- There are a number of things that I really enjoy, but know nothing about. I know nothing about art, but I'm becoming a fan of paintings. I know very little about hockey, but I love watching games live. I know nothing about a lot of things, something I realize today, but did not realize as a younger blogger. I try not to write about those things, even though they interest me. No one wants to read some ignoramus tell them about things he has no experience with.
- The common-thread between some Sanders and Trump supporters is an ignorance in understanding how hard it is to make change in the world. Trump's supporters, and the Tea Party for that matter, are angry at the GOP for not stopping the movement towards a multi-cultural world, for not going to Washington and burning it down, for not throwing a tirade when they don't get their way. The Sanders supporters largely believe President Obama did not make enough change. I would point to the ACA and the 2010 election, and their correlation, to understand how hard it is to change everything at once. Incremental change, realism, and compromise are not dirty words, they are not bad ideas. They're mature ones.
- I grew up a huge Superman fan. I liked Batman, and read him too, but Superman was my favorite. Today? I'm a Batman guy. I like the gritty, real nature of him. He's not a good guy, which is what makes him good.
- Dear Phillies fans- appreciate Ryan Howard. For real. I know, he's gone after this season (at the latest), and he's probably going to end up hitting like .185, but he deserves your respect. He gave you home run and RBI titles, something you didn't get much of post-Schmidt. He gave you an MVP, also something you hadn't seen since Schmidt. He gave you a World Series- you didn't have many of those. He gave you an NLCS MVP (please, don't ever turn into Curt Schilling). He's second in franchise history in homers. He gave up his body, busting up his legs for good, in the interest of trying to win. The guy is a competitor. I get it, he's not "Saint Chase" to some people, which I will never get, but Howard gave you his all. Appreciate him.
- The year of 33 will be the year I finally get back under 200 pounds. I've been weighing in between 201 and 204 in recent weeks. I hope to get to 190 this year. Once I do, I may even run a 5k. Yeah, I know, that's over-promising.
- I admire Hillary Clinton for bothering to run for President again. After all the Clintons have done for this country, she could have gone home after 2000, or 2008, or 2012, and said she's done. Instead she's subjecting herself to being called a "criminal," "corrupt," a "bitch," and all other forms of insult. For someone who has taken such a public beating from people who have had no positive impact on the world, i'm impressed she's willing to keep going.
- Some of my "happy" places- Lookout Mountain by Lehigh, the Weehawken Dualing Grounds view of Manhattan, the Point Pleasant Beach at dawn, and Strawberry Fields in Central Park.
- I have a "love/hate" relationship with identity politics. I get why some groups who face systemic oppression need them. I also see real evil in a nation who's politics are predictably divided along race, sex, sexuality, or religious grounds.
- My grandmother is 88 years old. I'm grateful that she's still with me at 33. She says and does some crazy stuff, but I don't know what i'd do without her.
- The history of "the millennials" will be kind, in the end, but we deserve to get ripped for our pop-culture. Our television shows suck. The radio right now is an embarrassment. I'm never growing a beard. In short, I'd consider trading living under Nixon or Bush 41 to get their music.
- When I was 25, I didn't want to get married because I didn't want to conform. When I'm 33, I don't want to get married because i'm not putting up with the expectations and demands of another person. Yet, sometimes, I do want to get married. The joys of adulthood are not joys at all. Maybe I can just have kids and not deal with the wife part? That's pretty hard.
- Despite my firm support of Hillary Clinton, there are things I disagree with her on. I didn't agree with her Iraq vote. I would legalize marijuana. I would firmly support the Iran Deal that President Obama put into place. I would have a carbon tax to fight climate change. Support is not zealotry. Support is not for 100% of the agenda. Support is about supporting most of the policies, believing in the person to get things done, and believing they are a realist that is capable of compromise. I believe that about her.
- One of the best decisions I didn't make was going to law school. I didn't belong there at 23. I'm not sure I'd belong there at 33. When I went to college, I was going straight to law school. While I might have a little more money by now if I had, I don't regret not doing that at all.
- The only critic that counts is one's self. If you're doing things to make other people happy, you're dying. Don't die.
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