Several years back, a person who I idolize wrote a song based on my blog and I’m sure to him it wasn’t that big of a deal. To me, it was everything. Another sign that I’m living, we are all living….together. The song is titled Chasing Something (which was the blogger name I posted under for years at 22goingon7.blogspot.com) on The Invention of Everything Else, by the artist Benjamin Wagner. When talking about the song Wagner writes:

I think I’ve pretty consistently failed at both the esoteric lyric and counter-lyric harmony, but it’s an aesthetic I value, one that trickles into every song I write. The last song on “Invention,” “Chasing Something,” isn’t terribly logical. Even Abbi asked, “What does ‘Drowning something real / Fumbling for to feel’ mean?” I dunno. It’s my “Daylsleeper,” my “Nightswimming.” It’s nostalgia and loss and regret rolled up in one pretty, major-key package. It’s nothing, and everything, all at once.

That song magically popped up on my Spotify rotation today…I love the song, and even more so I love the memories attached to the song. I remember the blog post about the fireflies. To me the song makes perfect sense, and I guess that’s all that matters.

I would spend time in between calls sketching cartoons with a love-struck character, dreaming of a day that my current situation could become the past; and a day that my dreams could become my present. As fate would have it, that day would soon come. You see, we were all under the legal drinking age and enjoyed breaking that law from time to time. One night at work I found out that another worker, John Hall, had a friend or relative or someone that could hook us up. This is where the story gets good.

Some friends from the art college were having a party and so I volunteered to round up the booze, and called up my new found hook up from Dial. What I didn’t know was that while a few of us went to get the drinks, some loud mouth from college would reveal to Lady that I was smoking some pot.  This news was new to Lady and so (obviously) she was pissed. As we pulled up to John’s apartment my phone rang, and it was her on the other end. She proceeded to tell me that I was a loser for getting high, she had been cheating on me and a list of other items confirming all of the feelings I had that our relationship was over. At that moment I hung up the phone and proceeded into the apartment to get the liquor. At this point I figured a stiff drink was more than in order. When we walked in the first person that caught my eye was Summer. She immediately greeted me with shots and some amazing conversation. We talked all night long, I never went back to the college party. I was in love.

That day was April 4th, 2002. Today marks 10 years of an amazing life together. We now have a beautiful family, a strong friendship and two great senses of humor. So this post is for my beautiful wife Summer, thanks for sharing your life with me.

My immediate response without much thought (go figure) was something along the lines of, “That’s a cool creature, is that some sort of monster?!”. I received a scowl and an instant clarification. “Seriously, Dad? It’s an abstract three, duh.”. Once again I’m blown away, and eternally thankful for the blessing of my children. They constantly keep me in check, remind me to look for the beauty in things and to not take life too serious. Happy Monday, dear friends. Go out and look for the beauty in your life, trust me…it’s there.

Have you ever sat down with your child, attempting an innocent Google search or YouTube search, only to have a list of unrelated (and sometimes inappropriate) results? I have, and rather than set up thousands of filters and blocking websites and urls I say try KidRex. Although I haven’t used the KidRex search for long, I can already tell they are using Google Custom Search™ and use Google SafeSearch™ technology and it really cuts down on the BS your kids will see. Give a try and let me know what you think!

Raw Photo (Before)

After

I will be spending the next week or so going through and adding tattoos before inserting them into the layout. When the printed piece is finished I’ll be sure to post an update. Let me know what you think!!