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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

A Little More Personal or Narcissism Unleashed!


I have been mainly blogging about fitness, weight, and related issues. I have not blogged much about me, what I do, who I am, etc... I have wanted to, but time has been an issue. Also, I have to figure out just what I should reveal and what I should hold back.

There are a few reasons why I believe I should hold back some information. 1) I hold back because I want to be more open. Doesn't that sound insane? No one I know personally, not even my wife knows about this blog. I don't want people that I know reading this blog in case I write something that would piss them off. If I want to blow off a little steam, I want to be able to do it here without repercussions.

2) I have heard about people getting in trouble with their employers because of their blogs. Well, I don't think I would get fired over this blog, but it could cause a lot of discomfort. I have said some things that even as vague as they were would have caused me problems if people where I work knew I was writing this blog.

3) As lame as this might sound, people treat me different when they know what my profession is. It's a little different and most people don't know how to handle it. No I am not a member of the mafia, or a gerbil psychologist, or anything off the wall. In fact, I have had a lot of education to prepare my profession including post-graduate work. I know it's lame to say that much but not give you any clues. All I can say is tough. Deal with it.

Now for some more personal things. Some of this you may already know from previous blogs. I married my high school sweetheart at age 20. We lost our first child to an early miscarriage. Since then, we have had 5 beautiful children. The oldest is 8 and the youngest in 9 months. My wife and I are both 39 years old.

Though we were high school sweethearts, we didn't go the same high school. I met my wife at a summer band camp. She plays bassoon. I play trombone. She plays in a community band. I play in a big band. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a jazz band that play a wide variety of styles. We have 18 musicians playing and 3 singers. Music is an important in our family.

Also, I am an avid reader. I love reading all kinds of books. I'll read classics like Les Miserable or the Iliad. I'll read Tom Clancy novels. I'll read books on religion, philosophy, and science. I read health and nutrition books. I love to read. Unfortunately, I often buy books when I know I won't get to them for a long time. I probably have a good year's worth of books waiting to be read.

Two of my guilty pleasures are cigars and Everquest. I like a good cigar now and then, but I am certainly no afficianado. Everquest is an online computer game considered "Old School" by today's standards, but I like my friends there and I don't want to have to learn a whole new game. I am such a GEEK!!!!

We live in a little resort/retirement community in Michigan. It's a beautiful, wonderful place. I used to love it here, but now I find that I am missing the suburban life. I don't want the traffic, but I wish I had all the conveniences and opportunities that come along with living in a metropolitan area.

My 2 favorite cities are St. Louis and Toronto. I like St. Louis because it has almost everything a bigger city like Chicago has to offer but is much smaller and easier to navigate. I like Toronto because it is so clean and it is very cosmopolitan. I love the cultural mix. There is no cultural mix where I live. Our greatest cultural mix is when a Republican and a Democrat sit down together.

None the less, I have mixed feelings about where I live. There is lots of places to run, bike, and x-country ski. We live less than a mile from Lake Huron. There are lots of rivers and hiking trails. I would hate to give that all up too. Right now, there is no opportunity to change where I live, so I figure I better enjoy the heck out of the area while I can.

Just one more thing about me for now. I use to work as a part-time professional magician. I did kid's shows, churches, community groups, and the like. I am a self-taught magician, but it's been a long time since I have down any shows.

I think I am going to try to post about my life, at least that part which does not directly tie into health and fitness, about once a week. I know this was more about me, but I plan to post about things happening in my life as well. Sheez, is this narcissistic or what?

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

8 comments:

Sayre said...

I think it's natural to want to share something of yourself when you have "spent some time" with people - even people you only know through the internet. Thanks for the peek!

I have two blogs that I share with people. I try to keep the weightloss one separate from my regular blog because I don't want to bore my family with weight stuff when they really want to see pictures of my kid or know what ELSE we've been up to. If you're interested, it's http://sayresmiles.blogspot.com

cmae said...

Oh my GOD. I PLAY TROMBONE! That was my major the first time around in college. I quit playing out about two years ago, but I know it's not forever. You never unlearn how to play and you never fall out of love with it. I love everything about it, even if I don't play right now.

Brad Clements said...

Thanks for sharing. I too enjoy a good cigar once in a while and while I enjoy music and was a percussionist in high school that was a long time ago. I want to blog about many more things too but it seems time sometimes gets in they way...

Glad to know you a little better...

Yeldarb

Apex Zombie said...

Ah, mate. A musician! In a big band no less! It seems almost every blogger I read has some tie to music :D It's awesome to finally get to learn some stuff about you.

And cigars! Do you have a humidor? I've wanted one for the longest time now. I haven't had a cigar since... well my birthday last year.

And magic! Bloomin heck, man! That is so awesome.

ArleneWKW said...

Not at all narcissistic. It's nice to know a bit more about you. I understand about your reticence to write things about yourself that may come back to bite you. In my first year of blogging, I realized that I made a mistake when I wrote that my hubby and I were planning a 3 week vacation and shared the actual dates that we'd be away. My concern was with the wisdom of this being public information. This is different than what you are writing about. With regard to that, i am well aware that my hubby reads my blog. This constrains what I write.

My only association with music is that I like to listen to it. And that people tell me to shut up if I sing.

Dottie said...

A blog is whatever you want it to be. My husband does know I blog, but nobody else that I know in person. I too have the same reasons. Although I put my real picture out there and know that people could probably find it if they chose to. I'm in Michigan as well. I do like here, although I'm closer to Lake Michigan. I played clarinet in band. I don't play as often as I used to, but I try now and then. My daughter also plays clarinet and we have been trying to learn Alto Sax as well. I love music!

Half Man said...

Sayre - I thought of starting another blog, but I have enough trouble with one.

cmae - What's more fun than playing an instrument that you can use as a weapon while playing it.

Brad - LOL, I just figured out your screen name. Finding the time is the most difficult.

FLG - I used to keep a humidor, but I don't have much time these days to keep up with it. Cigars are far and few between for me these days. Although I had a nice one last week.

Arlene - Thanks for the kind words.

Dottie - Yay, a fellow Michigander

Kim Ayres said...

It's great to hear more about you. I used to play the trombone at school, but then we moved area and it belonged to the school so I had to leave it behind. Haven't touched one in 27 years now.

As for narcissism, my blogs are entirely open about who I am, so who's the more narcisstic?