A-to-Z with D

17 de Agosto 2022 Sitting in a bar in Barthhhhelona drinking a Coronarita and life is good. I left the States 13 days ago now and it has been.....an adjustment. I was warned about this early part, and it's logical to assume a trans-Atlantic move would come with its struggles. But I was arrogant enough to think I was special and better-prepared. Karma got me pretty good.  First of all, the physical move was exhausting. Drive to LAS > walk to gate > fly to MSP > walk to gate > fly to CDG > walk through customs > get luggage > walk luggage to taxi stand > ride to wrong hotel > ride to right hotel > walk luggage to room > walk luggage from room > ride to London Kings Cross > walk luggage to waiting area > walk luggage to furthest car on the platform > train to Edinburgh > walk luggage to Uber > ride to the flat > walk luggage upstairs. All with two 50lb bags (one with broken rollers), a 45lb backpack, and a 15lb cat in a carrier. Go...

The following was written months ago, between H and I, but wasn't posted because it wasn't perfect enough to share with the hypothetical masses.  Given the theme of the next post I intend to write I'm #laterposting this in all of its imperfect glory. Start: Today I caught up on a dear friend's blog.  I make sure to read every post he writes and had fallen woefully behind.  By ten posts to be exact.  Your definition of "productive" may be different than mine, but I considered that a worthwhile hour. Reading his blog made me think about my own.  Specifically about how I never write in it.  One of his posts explicitly listed the number of and titles for the topics he has queued up in his mind but hasn't put pen to paper on. I should mention that this guy is on post #351.  (Well, technically #350 since today's audit discovered he skipped #344.  What a slacker.)  The total number of my posts is a rounding error in his total, so I'm not sure...

I've been contemplating life a lot over the past six months or so.  My life, human life, purpose, meaning, short-vs-long-term happiness, the pros and cons of intentional living vs. going on autopilot.  Overthinking at a micro scale is one of my fortes. I hand-wrote the following on an October 2018 flight.  Regardless of the admittedly-low point I was at last Fall, the sentiment still resonates with me.  Capturing the words here for posterity. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I love flying.  Staring out the window as we make our ascent always gives me a refreshed view on life.  Reminds me how insignificant our individual problems and concerns are.  Even the bigger ones - local, regional, by country, worldwide.  How much does any of it matter?  This hunk of rock I'm staring at has been floating around its pocket of infinite space for what, four bill...

Warning : The following post contains life views that some readers may find unrelatable or disagreeable.  Viewer discretion is advised. Before starting, a quick thanks to those who reached out after reading G.  My anxiety post-posting was sky-high.  After all, why would anyone care about what's going on in my life or my opinions on topics I deem important?  Hearing that others could relate or that they liked having a glimpse into my life was incredibly comforting.  Your encouragement meant more than this paragraph conveys.  Thank you. Okay.  Sap over.  Post H: Unpopular Opinions! My Midwest upbringing was wonderful.  I had parents that were involved and together, four living grandparents married to college sweethearts for sixty+ years, plenty of family friends serving as role models for what a parent/spouse should be, and friends from near-identical backgrounds with few exceptions.  It was comfortable.  It was supportive....

It's been a hot minute since I blogged.  Approximately 2,270,880 of them in fact.   A lot has happened in 4+ years and nearly all of it for the better, BUT this post has nothing to do with any of that.   Instead, I present to you with a random conglomerate of disjointed thoughts I've had over the past few months, mostly DC-related.  A thorough write-up of my first six months in the District is halfway drafted and will go up at a later time though, so for now enjoy the smattering. But first, an explanation of why I decided to pick back up on this blog.  "But I don't care!" you say.  No worries!  It's conveniently indented for you to easily ignore, so scroll away! My mind swirls with fractured ideas, opinions, revelations and questions on a second-by-second basis.  This may be common for everyone.  It could be unique to me alone.  I doubt either extreme is true, all I know is how hard it is to keep up with ...

I made a sad realization today. To preface, I have a wonderful life.  Great friends, awesome family, loving fiancé, good job, shelter, food, clean water, etc. etc. There is no ‘but’ coming.  Only an addendum. A certain movie quote keeps playing over and over in my head – Grandma Molly’s comment from This Is 40:  “One day you’re going to blink, and you’re going to be ninety … I’m telling you, I’m warning you.  Don’t blink.  Don’t blink!” Fun Fact:  This is Judd Apatow's real-life grandmother. On 8/21/13, I blinked.  And woke up a year later wondering what in the world happened during the 365 days my eyes were closed.  That was my sad realization. Next Wednesday I’ll be celebrating twenty four years of life.  These past 52 weeks whizzed by way faster than I wanted.  What did I do this last year?!  My poor memory can’t be solely to blame for the lack of a substantial answer.  Here is what I do remember...

If you hate KU or college basketball in general, no need to continue on from here.  Thanks for stopping by. This post was supposed to happen a week ago, but life happened.  (Actually, that's a blatant lie.  I've had two snow days since then--as a working adult--and plenty of down time.  I'm just terrible at blogging.)  But this is important, dammit!  It shall not go ignored! Last Wednesday I took a last-minute road trip with  +AJ Sidhu  and  +Aaron Gillespie  to Stillwater, OK.  Why you ask?  To watch KU beat Oklahoma State in double overtime, duh.  I could go on and on about the details, like what we ate on the ride there and talked about on the drive back; about the snow storm we ran away from at 3 o'clock in the morning; about the feelings running through me before, during and after my first-ever KU away game; about how my freshman year Linear Algebra professor went out of his way to say hey to AJ and me after...