Don't Play Tetris With Your Life.
I turned 39 a month ago.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't mean much to me at all. Age is just a number, right? I sure as Hell thought so, at least until this past Monday. So what changed?
I looked in the mirror...
... and for the first time, I didn't see a snide, know-it-all, jaded twentysomething staring back at me.
Instead, I saw a man in the prime of his life.
So, I had a conversation with this man.
"CJ," my mirror image began, "I have something to tell you."
"Oh, do ya?", I said, plagiarizing Cherenkov.
"Yeah," he continued, "Don't play Tetris with your life."
I sat there with a dumb look on my face. I probably drooled a bit. But I think I knew what he meant.
"Do you understand," he asked, "Or do I need to spell it out for you?"
A bit more drool.
"You're stuck in this narrow playing field you've created for yourself," he berated, "and you have so many things going on. You're twisting and turning yourself and your schedule, trying to fit them all in, and all the while more and more things keep coming at you. They're piling up and piling up, but no matter how fast you work, no matter how well you fit things in, they'll eventually overwhelm you... then it's gave over."
"Game... over?" I stammered.
"You ain't no spring chicken, CJ," he pointed out rather pointedly, "and given your family history and current lifestyle, it's Game Over... and you're out of quarters."
At which point, the phone rang and I snapped back to reality.
My first thought was, "Why did it have to be Tetris? Couldn't he have picked Soko-Ban? I was good at Soko-ban!"
But point taken.
It's time to shift priorities. I'm making a number of changes in my life, dropping some things and focusing on what's important... and what's most important is marriage.
Yes, the big day is just over two months away and things need to be finalized. We also have to get the house in shape so we can receive guests after the big event, and also to make room for any children we're blessed with. No small order, to be sure. I also want more time to concentrate on blogging and improving my writing because...
I'm also writing a book.
Part autobiography, part societal observation, and part made-up bullshit, its (working) title is "Fuck, You're an Idiot!".
Some of it will be content rehashed from this blog, recycled from my backcatalogue of even earlier writing, some will be material from my upcoming podcast, and some will be freshly excreted. Hoping to have it written by the middle of next year.
Speaking of the podcast, I'm now looking at a mid-March launch date. Gotta finish a few things before I can make this a priority.
Things will be quiet here on C&S for the next couple of weeks, and I'm hoping to have something to show you all when I return.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't mean much to me at all. Age is just a number, right? I sure as Hell thought so, at least until this past Monday. So what changed?
I looked in the mirror...
... and for the first time, I didn't see a snide, know-it-all, jaded twentysomething staring back at me.
Instead, I saw a man in the prime of his life.
So, I had a conversation with this man.
"CJ," my mirror image began, "I have something to tell you."
"Oh, do ya?", I said, plagiarizing Cherenkov.
"Yeah," he continued, "Don't play Tetris with your life."
I sat there with a dumb look on my face. I probably drooled a bit. But I think I knew what he meant.
"Do you understand," he asked, "Or do I need to spell it out for you?"
A bit more drool.
"You're stuck in this narrow playing field you've created for yourself," he berated, "and you have so many things going on. You're twisting and turning yourself and your schedule, trying to fit them all in, and all the while more and more things keep coming at you. They're piling up and piling up, but no matter how fast you work, no matter how well you fit things in, they'll eventually overwhelm you... then it's gave over."
"Game... over?" I stammered.
"You ain't no spring chicken, CJ," he pointed out rather pointedly, "and given your family history and current lifestyle, it's Game Over... and you're out of quarters."
At which point, the phone rang and I snapped back to reality.
My first thought was, "Why did it have to be Tetris? Couldn't he have picked Soko-Ban? I was good at Soko-ban!"
But point taken.
It's time to shift priorities. I'm making a number of changes in my life, dropping some things and focusing on what's important... and what's most important is marriage.
Yes, the big day is just over two months away and things need to be finalized. We also have to get the house in shape so we can receive guests after the big event, and also to make room for any children we're blessed with. No small order, to be sure. I also want more time to concentrate on blogging and improving my writing because...
I'm also writing a book.
Part autobiography, part societal observation, and part made-up bullshit, its (working) title is "Fuck, You're an Idiot!".
Some of it will be content rehashed from this blog, recycled from my backcatalogue of even earlier writing, some will be material from my upcoming podcast, and some will be freshly excreted. Hoping to have it written by the middle of next year.
Speaking of the podcast, I'm now looking at a mid-March launch date. Gotta finish a few things before I can make this a priority.
Things will be quiet here on C&S for the next couple of weeks, and I'm hoping to have something to show you all when I return.
There's no way Walmart will carry your book with that title.
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