The second summer of Matt began in May of 2017. It was a transformative time for me. That winter I went out with a woman to a blues show – one of my first small-venue, local, live shows in a while and I began to fall back in love with live music. We only had…
Love (6/17/20)
Yesterday was the two year anniversary of when I met my ex-fiancee, B. It was also Bloomsday – the day in which Joyce’s Ulysses takes place (also the day Joyce met his wife). Today is my wedding anniversary. I was with my wife for 17 years, and we were married just shy of 10 of…
Wasps
Wasps, I pretty much hate ’em. I’m not talking about the modern day Karen (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) who would like to speak to a manager, but am talking about those little assholes with wings. Super sleek, no waist, a head and fat-ass stinger. They have none of the fuzziness of bees. They’re not cute and…
Overwhelmed and Frustrated
I can’t count the number of times I paced my apartment yesterday wanting to write, or create, or move, or build, or do just about anything other than pace around the apartment trying to figure out where to start. I wanted to grill in the backyard. I wanted to hang at a bar and have…
Sending Smoke Signals Through the Fog
To say my writing, my attempts to write, my thinking, my attempts to think have been muddled these last few weeks would be an understatement. Clarity of thought and of purpose is elusive. I feel as though I’m sending smoke signals through the fog. Lying in bed, groggy and ignoring the cat, one of my…
Protesting in Memphis (Part 2)
Memphis has had a march or protest of some sort every night since May 27. I’ve participated in 5 of the marches. I suspect I’ll attend more – though one of the stated goals was to ensure all 4 officers involved with the killing of George Floyd were arrested/charged, which has happened. There seems to…
Protesting in Memphis (Part 1)
For the past eight nights, residents here in Memphis, TN have taken to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin as three fellow officers looked on. The protests are part of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. For five of those nights, I donned my cloth…
Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Despite what my 5th grade yearbook says: “In 15 years I will be… ‘A pitcher for the California Angels,’” for much of my childhood I wanted to be a doctor and a writer. My father worked for the government but always defined himself as a scholar (Russian military history). He had his own room in…
THURSDAY THINKING
If you’ve been following along, I’ve been writing about how these last few days and/or weeks (hard to tell time in the age of COVID) have been a challenge in terms of focus and writing. Yesterday and this morning, that trend continues, and I’m still in a list making mode of sorts. Site Revamp I’ve…
THE SMELL OF BURNT TOAST
For a few days now, maybe even the past week or two, I’ve felt a kind of malaise and/or lethargy… perhaps more of spirit than of action. For me it’s been most noticeable in my writing, or lack thereof. It’s been difficult to write every day. Something in the feedback loop feels off. I haven’t…
MEMORIAL DAY 2020
Today is Memorial Day. I’m not sure I ever gave the holiday much thought. I’m not sure I give or gave it its “proper” due. Being a bit of a peacenik, I tend to shy away from those things that celebrate or honor our military. I haven’t read enough philosophy to have a strongly reasoned…
A FEW DAYS IN PICTURES
I haven’t been writing as much. I don’t know how I feel about that or if I can pinpoint why. This morning I went for a walk, and my mind was pretty busy – on a few different things. I tried some walking meditation, but it wasn’t working. And decided to get out of my…