Relections On Turning 60

Rehearsing two bands from 12 to 8:00 and then back to my house with the guitarists to rehearse the "unplugged stuff" everyday makes for a long day but will keep me out of trouble. Unfortunately it also keeps me celibate.

Every time we do this I find myself having to review the lyrics to songs I wrote in order to remember them all...much less the lyrics to songs by other artists....but both bands are coming together and Friday night is going to rock. On this night, everyone attending is going to default back to 1985 and go the distance. :0)

I set a few goals for myself this year to be met before my birthday. when Shelley and I separated again in 2007 I sort of let myself go for the entire next year physically and my cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight shot back up. My health and my appearance are important to me especially in a job market where I compete with 25 year olds for gigs...so I got back off my lazy ass and as of yesterday my BP is 103/62, my cholesterol is under 200, my weight is back in the 140's and my % of body fat is back in the teens. Not bad for 3 days shy of 60.

60 is a milestone and believe it or not I'm not a completely shallow clown, so I've been reflecting my life here lately. When I was 7 I saw Elvis Presley and decided that's what I wanted to be... a singer and a rockstar. I never wavered ever in my goals or desires personally or professionally. I gave up an academic scholarship to college to go on the road with my first band, much to the consternation and disgust of my teachers and family, as I was considered the best and brightest in my class. Outside of a handful of "straight" jobs I've been at this all my life.

When it became clear I wasn't going to be an international filthy rich household name my goal changed to making a living in the entertainment business and also to never work under the thumb of some asshole or corporation who told me when and for how long I could go to lunch or wrote me up if I was 5 minutes late twice in a month and put a report in my permanent record. A major crock of ****. Mission accomplished.

Doing what I do, performing and also coordinating big events is a lot harder than it looks and that's the idea, to make it look effortless to those attending. You wear a lot of hats behind the scenes, give up a lot of time and personal recreation, and the job becomes your entire social life, but it sure is worth it.

Saturday I had a hellish day with no sleep from working Friday night after rehearing all day Friday and was short handed at an event and found that the middle piece of a 145' inflatable obstacle course was put up backwards. This meant that I had to station myself at a six foot climb wall with no hand holds and literally boost and lift hundreds of children over that wall... 6' high (I'm 5'7") for 4.5 hours, not to mention tearing the whole event down and packing it up with assistance of only one teenage boy after. My back felt like an open sore, but those kids and their families had a wonderful time and walked around with big smiles all day long and THAT'S the payoff for what I do. When I do my job, at any given time, whether it's running an event, playing live, being a dj/karaoke operator, people are smiling, they're happy, the children are happy, and for a few hours, no one is concerned about the economy, disease, war, pestilence, how they will spend the afterlife, or anything else. they're just having a good time.

There are those who have called me among other things, an immature lout who won't grow up, a loser, a waste of a good mind, a self centered jerk, all my life because of what I do. I say, bullshit. I make people happy... and their happiness makes me happy if only for a few hours at a time and I don't know of other professions where if you do your job, everyone's happy.

I know that reaching 60 means that I may not be able to do what I do and keep up the schedule I keep for a whole lot longer no matter what kind of shape I'm in or how hard I work...so it means more and more to me.

I hope that every person on this board will be able to look back on their lives as they approach (and pass) milestones and say to themselves that they were lucky enough to do the thing they were passionate about and make a living while taking care of themselves and their loved ones. I've been way up and way down in my life but the balance has been blessed. If you're not doing what your passionate about then make a change in your life while you can and tell the naysayers to **** themselves. It's your life and it's a good one if you don't lose your nerve. If you're already getting on up there in age and haven't done that one thing you always wanted to, no matter what it is....get off your ass.

Sometimes I just ramble. I've got to stop drinking Patron at 6am.