Slouching Toward Senility

People are crazy and times are strange; I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range, I used to care but things have changed…

 “Things Have Changed,” Bob Dylan, 2000, Wonder Boys soundtrack

It’s disorienting, one might say downright weird, to get an email out of the blue from someone you haven’t heard from in 50 years, and weirder still to respond, but yes, that happened, and here I am charged with writing a bio of sorts for a web site (of sorts), and on a tight deadline, no less. It feels a little like a family reunion where even after years when you re-enter that orbit you’re all of a sudden that kid again, with the exact same family dynamics as when you were growing up, as if all of you were frozen in time—except in this case I have no clear recollection of what my role was/is; things have changed and not only am I not the kid I was at 18, I barely remember that kid. That said, I’m intrigued by the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with that place and time, so I’m playing along to see what happens! J

So I think going roughly by decades is a convenient way to provide a synopsis of my post-RHS, post-Punography Ltd. life. [As an aside, everyone from those days will be relieved to hear that the Punography films were the pinnacle of my acting career, though I was involved in a short film in college on Alfred Jarry’s King Ubu that was clearly influenced, for better or worse, by the Punography experience…]

20’s:

College (Duke and UT-Austin), then bouncing between Texas and California getting a master’s degree in counseling psychology along the way; mostly spending far too much time being heavily influenced by my “little friend…Mr. Johnson”, to use Warren Zevon’s colorful phrase…

 “Lord Byron’s Luggage,” Warren Zevon, “My Ride’s Here,” 2002

 30s:

PhD work at University of Maryland, meeting and marrying my wife, Kathe while there, and then settling into a career in higher education, mostly in Virginia with a brief visiting prof gig at the University of Georgia

“Body of Work,” The Mynabirds, Generals, 2012

 

40s:

Move to Washington state to take state-level position I’m still in today, focus on raising our daughter Taylor (born 1989); through Taylor’s school meet and hang out with a group of what I call “northwest ReRe” (“relentlessly recreational”) friends but realize over time we’re destined to be faux ReRes at best—we perfect, and ultimately embrace or at least resign ourselves to, a LGLT lifestyle (“loads of gear, limited time”); I come to terms with the fact that I’m a Mississippi boy raised in Texas—deep in my genetic programming there’s a sense that it’s unnatural to trudge around in snow and cold, at least on any regular basis, and call it recreation! J

 “Father and Daughter,” Paul Simon, Surprise, 2006

 

50s:

Continue enjoying work (and having our daughter at home), but having lots of seniority and flexibility am able to focus on my tennis game and take up “senior softball” (and no, walkers and canes are not allowed), playing a dozen or so tournaments a year across the western US

 “The Boys of Summer,” Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast, 1984

60s:

Work continues to stay varied and challenging enough to keep me engaged; as we become “empty nesters” we struggle (mostly successfully!) to not slip completely back into our workaholic tendencies from our pre-Taylor days; retire from tennis but pick up pickleball and continue playing 10-12 softball tournaments a year

 “These little aches and pains, when all else goes, they remain…

I don’t count my losses now, just the gains”

“Little Aches and Pains”

Paul Kelly, Spring and Fall, 2012

So that’s my life by decades: I’ll wrap up, as Tommy did, by reflecting on the current American political landscape. I know it’s totally out of character for the sardonic ennui tone of this site, but I’ve been surprisingly moved lately by Bono and U2’s latest recording:

“I know the world is dark, but you don’t have to be…

…If there is a dark, then we shouldn’t doubt,

that there is a light, don’t let it go out…”

“13 (There is a Light)”

U2, Songs of Experience, 2017

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for me—I’m an inveterate cynic with a lifetime’s experience of being drawn to dark dystopic visions (like “Black Mirror”)—but the times may call for a different, more upbeat attitude…and who knows, maybe re-connecting to the absurdist crew of Punography Ltd. will bring me to that light. Wait, is that a bright light I see at the end of the tunnel...?