A "BEATLES BIRTHDAY"/BLOG INTROSPECTION

 

Yours truly at Southwestern College, '80 on Clash Day. Photo courtesy of Steve Courteol.

 I have switched to Philosopher font as I'm getting this blog ready to post the day before my "Beatles" birthday ("When I'm 64"). Don't worry, though - my introspection will be basically on this year. 

Do I have the right to feel a little down? Key word is "little." God has blessed this year. I've had some good events this year, and allow me to start with them:

• Becky and I celebrated our 40th year of marriage!!!  Definitely worthy to start the list!
  
• I not only got to judge some speeches/debates for NCFCA this year on on-line competitions, I also was able to attend my first live competition since COVID struck. I also had the honor of meeting Evan McMahon, chair of the Libertarian Party of Indiana during the competition. (Not the first "celebrity I met at these events - several years ago I met then Indy Star political cartoonist Gary Varvel.)
• I have the honor of co-teaching a men's Sunday School class at Northside Baptist Church with Dale Greenly, as well as serving on two committees (missions and prayer) and being on the rotation for operating the video camera. Add to that being part of a Zoom Tuesday night Bible study, where the members take turns leading it. If that's not enough, I'm on a 3 time a week men's phone prayer group founded by Mark Mirza and including Lewis Turner.
  
• I got to attend my first Kingdom Come Festival, and hang out with Chris Bousum, Chad Fenner, Divine Martyr, Undefeated, I Am The Pendragon, BRVVE, Eyes Aflame, and Rusty Shipp! Plus, The Pit is coming up in a couple of weeks, where I might get to hear (finally!) True Revival and Crimson Overtone, as well as New Day Rising (which features several of the Eyes Aflame band members).
  
• I have the honor of seeing Becky flourish in being on the board for the Central Indiana Chapter of Child Evangelism Fellowship.
• Last but absolutely not least, I have spent 24 years with Mid-America Clinical Lab/Quest Diagnostics (6 months as a temp), and have wonderful people to work with (as I have for 24 years).

So with all that, why am I depressed? Actually, I didn't use the word "depressed;" I said "down." And "melancholy" or "philosophical" would be an accurate term. Why?

• I'll start with the biggest one - the others are minor. Last December, I came down with what a pulminologist termed chronic bronchitus.  I've had three CT scans this year, and I have some infection in my lungs; the spots on the earlier scan disappear on the next one, but are replaced by others. On Sept. 26th, I've had a biopsy on my lungs and am waiting on the results, and I'm expected to be put on antibiotics for a year. The doctor said it's not life threatening, but it may have affect on the quality of life.
• Okay, second one is also a major one. I'm at the point of considering retirement. Question is when. No, I don't want to retire too early, but I also want time to enjoy with Becky. But I mention that just because it's on my mind.
  
• Let's look at my artwork. Enjoy that look? You remember my Christmas drawing and my "All My Rowdy Friends Happen To Be Preachers?" Those are the most recent, and they're about a year old now. Songwriting? Haven't done that in years; the only instrument I currently have is a cordless keyboard. Novel writing? That's been dormant for years.
• You may or may not know - the last few years my goal was to read 24 fiction books and 12 non-fiction, and I've been making it. I was getting to the point that I didn't want to push it on the fiction, so I dropped my fiction goal to 12. I have made those goals - so far, I've read 14 non-fiction books and 16 fiction.  But I also realize I'm not taking as much time with fiction as I have been. Nothing to get depressed about, but still it does seem a little sad.
  
• My title mentioned my blog. Regular readers may realize it varies between essays, reviews of books and albums, and interviews. And you may notice that the interviews are, putting it nicely, not as frequent. Here's the number of interviews I've done on this blog: 

2020 - 7

2021 - 14

2022 - 36

2023 - 3 

YIKES! Notice how each year doubled or more, until this year! To tie last year's, I need to average 11 interviews a month! By the way, two of those three were in January, the third in April! 😱 And the interviews are usually my most popular blogs, basically because the interviewee invites their friends.

Again, let me say I'm just a little down. I'm keeping busy with a lot of things. But I do miss drawing, songwriting, story creating, and interviews. (Should I interview my characters? Would that help me get started?)

But I do have a lot to look forward to. Next year's NCFCA champions! Maybe getting to hear some bands/singers I want to hear like Undefeated, TheoTerran, Zahna, Worhol, Daniel Band,  Steve Camp, etc. Maybe a mission trip or two. Maybe developing a chaplaincy for Christian musicians (which may be something brand new). Possibly a trip to see friends out west? Who knows.

Thanks for reading this. If you have a comment? I'd love to hear it!