Twisted neck

I've been slowly discovering that my neck, which should turn my head in various directions with equal effort, does not do that. I can easily turn my head to the right and hold it there. But I cannot turn my head facing left and hold it there without it becoming uncomfortable. I learned this while lying face down and trying to hold it different ways.

This is not evidence of my political views, but I can see why you might make that mistake.

My wife poked around my back for a bit and can find a clear difference between my left and right shoulders. I'm not sure if I need an orthopedist, a massage, or physical therapy.

I suppose at my age I should get this looked at before it becomes a permanent feature.

Senior portraits

When I was in my senior year of high school, they didn't do a standard 'picture day', where a studio showed up and acted like they were the only ones in town that owned a camera.

Seriously, why do they charge so much for this?

But my senior year, we had to submit our own photos. Everyone else still got the standard lineup, but we had to do it on our own. This was back in the 90's, so it was all still film cameras. There was no way of knowing how good a shot ended up until you got it back.

I don't miss those days.

So being the broke, chronically unempowered teenager of limited means, I struggled to figure out what to do. I had long since abandoned the idea of asking my parents for anything, so I was running out of ideas. Then during a free period at school, my brother found me and led me to the art wing. I had no idea what was happening until I found myself sitting in a makeshift photo studio getting a picture taken. Then the girl behind the camera said she'd submit it for me.

I was ambushed. I wished I had some warning. I was wearing an ill-fitting flannel shirt (again, it was the 90's), and I badly needed a haircut. I suppose I should be grateful, otherwise I wouldn't have been in the yearbook at all. But my super serious senior portrait was just as bad as a candid shot. 

My oldest is entering his senior year, and my wife made an appointment at an actual portrait studio. Why she didn't ask any of our actual photographer friends, I don't know, I suppose she doesn't really know how long it takes me to earn that money.

But I digress.

I begged him to just do a solid job of washing his hair. The once-over he gives it in the morning is... fine. But for this, honestly, he needed to visit a salon. Or at the very least someone help him with it, because it's long and needs more maintenance than he gives it.

It was during the day, long after I departed the house while everyone else was still asleep, and before I would ever leave work. Nothing happened. The proofs came in my email, and what was an ambush to me was not with him. I suppose instead of disappointment I should just resign myself to it.

Summer absence

This begins a week of my two oldest boys being gone and out of town. It's gonna be weird, it always is. It's not camp, that's next month. It's FSY out in Amherst Massachusetts, and my wife's friend (who lives in nearby CT) has kids attending the same week. It's unfortunate that neither of them considered meeting up and hanging out in the duration.

I still have my two younger children, and the boy in that part can be a noisy one regardless. Still, half as quiet is still oddly quiet.

One day I'll be an empty nester and have no idea what to do with myself.

Concert

At the age of forty-six years old, I finally attended my first concert. Not for lack of trying, but for lack of desire. I enjoy a lot of music, but never felt the need to go see them live. Any concert I would have really wanted to attend was so far away it was barely worth it, and no local shows had any interest.

And then my wife got me tickets for Christmas. She bought them back in November when they opened sales, and since then I've been wondering what I've been missing. The show was a few days ago, on Friday, and it was Weird Al Yankovich. Without going into any detail whatsoever, I'm attending every one of his shows I can manage.

I'm too old and have too many obligations to follow the tour, but I'm ok with that. Now someone tell me why the t-shirts are so expensive?

Fourth timing

I like celebrating the 4th of July and anyone that doesn't is a soulless killjoy and / or communist.

Now that I got that out of my system...

It was on a Saturday this year. This works because it's a 'stay up late' holiday and you never have the next day off, and I have an early start in the mornings. But it also rained late morning through early afternoon. At least the weather had the decency to let up for the end of the day.

Heat wavey

A full week where the average temperatures are well above "ABSOLUTELY NOT" make me both grateful to live in a nation where air conditioning is a way of life, and miserable that I'm not in the Adirondaks where the average temperature is twenty degrees cooler.

I'm in the wrong part of the state.

Fathers Birth Day

My birthday is on June 14th - dangerously close to Father's Day. But being the 14th, it will never fall on Father's Day. Closest it will get is last year when it was one weekend (Saturday-Sunday), and the furthest it gets is this year, a full week apart.

What it means is that all the cool stuff I like suddenly gets propped up for Father's Day sales.