About this time last year, I wrote a lovely sentiment about “pride” and remember wishing I had a blog on which to post it.
A year has passed. I realized this morning that it was Pride week again in Kansas City. And I still had no blog.
In an attempt to force myself into action, I am going to procrastinate no longer! While this is
I think the primary reason for delay was (and is) that I am a man of too many interests. The label “Jack of all trades, master of none” is sort of my life story and is likely what has prevented me from ever knowing what I want to be when I grow up. Like a dying Spock, the needs of the many have outweighed the needs of the few.
But Spock returned, and so can I... reborn with more focused interests, about which I will use this space to write.
Until now, I have been overwhelmed by everything I wanted to accomplish in a blog, with a grand vision for an all-inclusive, universe-spanning catalog of all things Jeff. But following some quality “me” time the last couple of weeks, it now seems more manageable for me to go back to the basics and focus on the interests that have always been with me.
It’s the interests I collected early in life that remain close to my heart and the things I discovered on my own without influence of others that seem most authentic to me. So I’ll write about how my father took me to buy comic books after weekend haircuts, how the werewolf from Dark Shadows terrified me after school (even while I continued to watch), how I used to set my alarm clock for late Friday night/early Saturday morning so I could wake up to watch Count Gregore and the old Universal Monsters on TV, and how I threw a such a bloody fit about seeing the latest Planet of the Apes movie that my parents dropped me off at the theater alone.
Although I have already referenced Star Trek, I probably won’t write about it again. That was an interest I latched onto; it was never really my own and has not remained consistent since junior high. But I will write about the reboot movie from 2009, because I loved it. And if there’s anything I will always write about, it’s movies.
And TV. Because I remember the day we first got cable and how my parents surprised us with it, having to be home on Saturday nights to watch Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett, and the first thing I recorded on our brand new Betamax (the 2nd season premiere of Charlie’s Angels).
That leaves me to reconcile just one thing. It’s something that is really nobody’s business, yet is nevertheless part of who I am. We’ll see how it develops, but I think for now (and except for right now) I will not necessarily draw your attention to the fact that I am a gay man; instead, try to weave it seamlessly into my blog. I’d be a hypocrite to do otherwise.
So I invite you to join me on a trip. With our route mapped, expecting a few inevitable detours, let’s start by reviewing my thoughts from last year about pride. Because, if anything else, I hope that this blog is something of which I can one day be proud.
Click to read: My Pride Email from 2010