Calling all Men

Men get the shaft when it comes to so many things in this world. Women are beautiful to look at, fun to be with, soft to touch and they usually smell very nice. A beautiful woman is the object of every man’s affections. They are beautiful when they are young and some grow old gracefully. Notice I say some, because most women fight aging with all they have. Botox, facelifts, breast augmentations (I am not against this I love breasts as much as the next guy), and the list goes on and on and they fight with everything they have. Mine, she is growing old gracefully and becoming more beautiful everyday. Then there is menopause which is a deadly disease and it almost killed me and it affects every woman on the face of this earth. She yelled almost daily, cried almost as often and made me want to commit suicide on more than one occasion. This is where the scales tilt in our favor.

It is this middle part of life where the tables turn and I want to shout to all of my brothers in arms that this is when we get to be the cool one. Our need to impress is gone, we can’t drink and party as much but the trade off is worth it. I want you to think of Dennis Hopper. He is the epitome of cool, there is not one person who will read this that would not buy an airplane ticket and fly out to California just to hang with Dennis Hopper. He is seventy-two! James Garner has been a favorite of my family for years. He is eighty years old and as cool as a cucumber. He’s freakin eighty and cool as shit. Al Pacino is sixty-eight and as cool as they come. These men have cultivated the one true time in a man’s life where he can shine. Middle age! Middle age doesn’t mean buying a corvette and pulling lots of ass. But for some reason men are sexy as hell during this time and all age groups are attracted to us. Middle age means we, men, finally have the knowledge necessary to be the best we can. This is a time where we find ourselves, our likes, our dislikes.

There is a middle-aged guy I know, he must be near 60, and he is definitely different. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He draws the ire of people with his actions and words. It’s not that he is not a nice guy he is just tuned into a different frequency, like he is in his own world. This guy is giving middle-aged men a bad wrap. Glen has one of those friendly faces he looks very kind. Glen is a little dorky but not so bad as to be off putting.But Glen is definitely not cool! He’s a wanker.

What is it that makes some men so cool; I mean women adore these men? What is it that makes Glen such a dork? I think I have it figured out. Women! Women are what make men either cool as ice or a huge dork. You see there are 3 stages of life for men when it comes to dealing with women. Firstly the pursuit stage, usually the teens and twenties, is spent chasing women and trying to get laid. Some men get trapped in this stage. Secondly, the settled stage when men are domesticated by, you guessed it, women. This domestication process takes longer for some than others but it changes the mans psyche. During this time women reshape almost everything about us men. Now don’t get me wrong this is the foundation of what being a cool man is built on. Thirdly, avoidance, deception, survival! (menopause) The woman is so unstable and highly volatile that the man has to cope in many different ways. Some men are broken at this point of development and the woman just breaks his will. Now it’s the not the woman’s fault, this is natural to her. It’s no different then water seeping into a crack in a rock and freezing thereby breaking the rock. It’s not the waters fault; it’s in its nature.

You see it is women that shape men. Like the Colorado River cut the Grand Canyon over millions of years, women shape us men. It is how we weather our time with these women that defines whether we are cool or Glen. This is where the men and the Glens are divided. After the man has had all of these experiences, each essential, with women he wakes up one day and says. Fuck it; He is doing what he wants to do! If she loves him then everything will be cool. Then he will be cool. The man decides he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks and he is going to do what he loves to do whether that is fishing, painting, or drinking. It is this sudden wake up call that turns this average man into a cool guy, a confident guy. The Glens of this world never have the time with women and never have this moment.I know Glens of many ages!

We have all met him, the cool sometimes even sexy middle-aged man. Washing his sailboat on a sunny Sunday, Fishing with his grandson during summer vacation, whatever this man is doing is exactly what he wants to be doing and there in nothing cooler than that!

I hope my muse is almost finished with me because it is about time for me to be cool!
Later

Greek Fest

Photo by Anniebluesky

My families love, and I do mean love, for Greek festivals comes from a long, loving relationship our daughter had with a Greek Man. You see she worked with a Greek family who owned a small restaurant in Gulf Breeze, Florida. When she first moved to Florida she started to look for work and the owner of the place told her to come back tomorrow, she went back the next day and had a job. Now I use the term job loosely because he treated her like his daughter. But she loved him like the Greek he was, she loved this Greek man. She worked alongside him for years making all kinds of authentic Greek foods listening to his stories of his childhood in Greece. They became very close and through that relationship my wife and I became good friends with him also. I would stop by the restaurant after school and help a little bit with whatever needed to be done and Mr. Greek would provide lunch for me most of the time free of charge. We went to Greek festivals and watched his children dance. They were awesome dancers and we were proud of them like they were our own children. Our daughter would partake in the Ouzo and lust after the Greek men in Toga's.

We were always a bit envious of their sense of belonging (I am referring to the Greeks here), their history, their oneness because they all share a common heritage. We are of European decent but none of the contributing countries contributed enough for us to declare I am "X." Where X equals a country we could declare we are from. All of the Greeks we knew were very kind and giving. The men were the best of friends and fought like they were still teenagers. There were times that grown men over the age of forty would have a tiff and not speak for months. Only to be found together again months later drinking and laughing after having made up. I was never privy to a Greek make up but I would have loved to seen one. The women on the other hand, well they are treated a little differently but they are a stoic bunch, strong and opinionated. When Ya-Ya was at the restaurant you had to watch what you said and did.

The Greek Fest is in Saint Augustine this weekend and we had to stop by. We were lucky enough to see the kids dancing their traditional dances. I have always liked it when someone runs out while they are dancing and showers them with money. That makes me smile every time. We picked up a few food items and some wedding cookies. The whole time I kept thinking about our daughter who came as close as anybody I know to becoming Greek without having Greek blood. She would have cried a few tears today at the Greek festival for the Festivals she has missed and the people whom she loved. It tugged at both of our hearts and made us miss a place we dearly loved.

I am a little envious of him being raised in such a beautiful place.

picture by Maria and Thilo

Pensacola Greek Festival, November 14-16th

There was also a Shrimp festival back home on the Gulf Coast this weekend. What a weekend for festivals huh?

First Christmas Tree sighting 2008

Photo by laffy4k

Yesterday, October 9th, 2008 I was sent out to retrieve dinner for my beloved. As I was driving to pick up said dinner I looked over at the local Walgreens. I say local because I believe that currently everyone has a local Walgreens. I do believe they will soon start building one Walgreens per subdivision. I don't know who the hell shops there, it certainly is not my family. But back to the story as I was driving to pick up dinner I looked over at the Walgreens and noticed Christmas trees in the windows.
Year after year I mention to my family when holiday decorations first appear. It is a sickness of mine that I am compelled to share these things when I notice them. I am always on the lookout for the first Valentine's day, Halloween, Thanksgiving decorations that are available and report it back to my family. As a side note none of them give a damn when these things appear they have what some people call, "lives." I on the other hand must stay vigilant about these minute details. So I decided to write this entry to allow me to create a timeline to use as a reference next year to see if the stores are truly starting the holiday season earlier and earlier each year. As I suspect they are.
One sad note about all of this is the demise of Thanksgiving decorating. It seems that the stores have decided Thanksgiving is not a very marketable holiday and they seem to jump from Halloween straight to Christmas. I love Christmas just as much as the next person but Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday. We seem to get custody of our daughter on Thanksgiving because our SIL and the communist Canadians do not celebrate our Thanksgiving they have one of their own. By the way I have no idea what Canadians would be thankful for, bunch of drunks.

Fall is upon us

Central Park

Photo by : Roopeshkk's

This is the best time of year for just about everything. Camping is great; it’s cool enough to sleep at night and the bugs are not as irritating. Any activity that one can do outdoors is better when the weather gets cooler. We are at the end of our hot humid summer and we have all of this energy to expend before the winter sets in and we become more sedentary (I personally hibernate, seriously). Of course here in NEFL we still have our A/C on but the temperatures are in the low 80’s and much lower humidity than normal.
With this change in temperatures, people have crept out of their homes en mass. Everywhere we went today people were out walking, biking, running, yard saleing (Not sure that is a word), and all in all just enjoying the beautiful weather. I observed all of the people who were out enjoying the day today and noticed each of their prospective appearances. Some of the bicyclist had children in tow or their significant other with them. They biked along at a leisurely pace enjoying the sunshine and cool air. While others had on as little spandex as possible and rode their bikes with purpose. These people were out for exercise; they were not interested in the trees, animals or nature that they were flying by. I couldn't’t tell if they were trying to get away from something or trying to get to something, but they were in a hurry. While I greatly respect these people I would say I identify more with the former group rather than the latter group.
I watched all of the people out walking today, easily a hundred people. They exuded the same kind of characteristics as the bicyclists. Many were out with their children in strollers walking at a snails pace, looking at all the flowers in bloom and smelling the honeysuckle. Some were walking hand in hand with loved ones, while others had to keep an eye on the family pet. Then there were those who had the bare minimum clothing on and were running or jogging with all they had. I admire these people, I really do they have the panache to give it all they have. These are the people who get things done.
My favorite people were those of mixed relationships. Where one of the family members was on a bicycle and one was jogging alongside. They kept pace with one another and the one riding was not sweating nearly as much as the one running. It seemed the one riding the bicycle was kind of drinking in the sights while the one running had a different motivation for this experience.
What was most interesting is all I had to do was look at one of these people for one split second and I knew if they were exercising or just enjoying being outdoors. I thought about how I appear to others when I am out walking or bicycling. I am pretty certain I look the same if I am exercising or if I am just out for a leisurely stroll. I sweat, move slowly, and always look tired. If you ever see me out walking even if you think I am exercising do me a favor and offer me a ride home. Thanks

Fall Colours @ our Family beach
Photo by: Austin

Heads or Tails you call it!

Whew it has been a while since I last posted. Sorry about that ya’ll. My life has taken a crazy path lately. I decided against joining the corporate masses in the trenches toiling away at their careers while missing out on life. I haven’t arrived at any decision as what I will be now that I crossed Tycoon Corporate Attorney off my list (what makes it easy to cross off my list is I could have done it easily because it is built on my worst traits) . There has been rumblings of teaching, nursing, and financial advisor but nothing has been decided as of yet. I am surprisingly unworried about this and I will share with you why.

Throughout my life I have always walked backwards into great situations with people who look out for me. I of all people worked at one of the most intellectually dynamic research facilities in the country, quite possibly the world. Did I plan that? Did I know that was going to happen? The answer is both yes and no. I knew that where I went and what I did would put me in contact with people who could mentor me and maybe open doors I couldn’t open myself. So I knew something would happen but I had no idea what was going to happen or when. My sin in all of this is I have never been open to the possibility that I was not going to be an attorney. I walked away from situations that I could have turned into brilliant careers. All because in my mind all I could see myself being was an attorney. I guess you could call that narrow minded. That’s what we will call it for now because I cannot think of anything better to call it.

So now that Attorney is off my list of great things to do with my life everyone is worried about what will replace it. I was sick with worry over this for a long time and that did nothing but make me miserable. I have never been one to worry about such things. I always knew that what was meant to be for me would reveal itself when it is time. So instead of being worried about what, who, or where I am going to be, I am excited at all the possibilities I have. I had become so focused on being an attorney I missed out on many opportunities. I am open now to what the world reveals to me. My health is my number one concern right now because if I don’t take care of myself I will not be around to experience the next great thing that happens in my life, even if it is just a relaxing night at home with my wife.