OK.... so it's time I got this blog underway.... but even as I thought of what I would want to say, being the very deliberate person that I am, I tried to think of what (if any) purpose I would want this blog to have.... this is what I came up with....
Some of this blog is for you, my potential visitor, and some of it is for me. So I'll lay out which is which so we understand our virtual relationship from the get-go... communication is key.
For You - this purpose will change day by day.... sometimes I'll just seek to entertain (part of being a professional magician and a very enthusiastic storyteller). Sometimes I'll seek to enlighten (yup, that's me - the enlightened one.... bwa ha). And sometimes, I'll just try to provide a distraction when the negativity of the daily news, daily life, or just the day itself seems to be so overwhelming that you need a safe place to go.... how's that for service?
For Me - this will be a place to show off my family, photos, videos. It will be a place to lay out my personal philosophies and beliefs - not for the purpose of preaching to others (which is how I think it seems to my beautiful wife sometimes - but more about her amazing self later) but instead to see how they hold up to the light of day. I believe passionately that anything worth living by is worth examining, so this will be a place of self-examination. Occasionally this will also be a place to get things off my chest - to vent - although I'm also a believer that venting should also be done with a purpose - otherwise it's not venting, it's complaining. I have a larger philosophy about venting but I'll save that for another post - suffice to say that the very word "vent" indicates a very clear purpose and I think that is often misunderstood - but I digress (oh by the way, I'll be doing that a lot too). Finally, sometimes I'll just post for my own amusement or entertainment - my blog, my choice.
Oh, and it will also "accomplish other duties as required". And that's where I'll start my first blog topic....
"Other Duties As Required"...
What a ridiculous phrase that is and yet it works its way into every job description I've ever had. Basically, it says that my job could be sales representative but if they suddenly decide I need to clean bubble gum from the underside of the desks, then so be it. Do you ever think about what the reaction must have been the first time it showed up? I can just imagine some poor schlub, having just been hired as a shoe salesmen back in the 70's at some small family-owned shoe store, suddenly reads on his official job description....
Duties: process transaction and sale of shoes, restock shelves, report cash transactions, other duties as required.
"Uh Mr Johnson"
"You can call me Boss"
"Right. Um... Boss.... what's this last part on my job description"
"You mean the 'other duties as required'?"
"Yeah, that."
"Isn't that great? My wife came up with that last night when I asked her what exactly she wanted me to do around the house."
"Yeah, but what if those duties aren't anything to do with my regular job."
"Bill Bill Bill.... trust me! If you can't trust your boss, who can you trust?"
"Umm.... okay."
And Bill signs the paper. And three weeks later Bill is dressed up as a clown on his day off getting beat up by fifteen little rugrats at the Bar Mitzvah for the boss' kid. And that's how it came to be.
Oh and by the way, the above story, while fictional, is actually almost a completely accurate retelling of one of my own experiences - just change the job description, the decade to the 90's and turn the clown into a poor schlub climbing onto the icy roof of his boss' house on Christmas eve wearing three pillows, slippery boots, and a Santa suit.... no.... really.
Well that's it - one post down, millions to go. Expect to hear a little about my nightmarish experiences as Barney the dinosaur (I actually had a drunk father try to beat the snot out of me IN THE BARNEY SUIT in front of his 6 year old daughter!!), the freaky experiences as Cookie Monster, a whole lot of views on my life, and even more about my amazing family (aforementioned Light of my Life Kate, budding philosopher and fulltime family guardian angel Sam, cup o' love and drama queen Julie, and the newest mystery prize... 5 month old Jordan....yes, it's a girl.... shut up about the name because I like it!)
TTYS!
Oh and BTW, comments about anything and everything are always welcome
