Tag: #OldFriends

  • Difference Between Midlife Crisis and A New Career?

    I had drinks with a friend last night at a local bar, and I am still amazed/anxious about going to bars, but was happy to do it. The friend and I are close to the same age, have weathered the pandemic with our families, and now that we are on the other side, we are both looking to do things differently with our careers.

    He told me about his endeavors and opportunities that he is hoping break his way. He also informed me that his old career came knocking, and he has been hesitant to jump back in. Going back for him would be lucrative, but it would also mean doing the same old thing and expecting a different result. Fair enough.

    He asked me about what I was doing, and I pretty much gave him the same answer. I think I was a little more blunt by saying, “No more working for or with assholes.” (Which reminds me of a rule/guideline when it comes to interviewing people for a position; If a potential employee tells you that all the people at their last job were assholes, usually that means the potential employee was the problem. So, maybe I was the asshole?) Really, what I meant was no more toxic work environments.

    And as I walked home, a thought came into my head; Isn’t this just a midlife crisis? We are both forty, life hasn’t work out as planned, so we are trying a new career in an effort to get things moving again. The only thing we are missing is a divorce, a sports car, and dating a twenty-year old.

  • Missing Friends and Theatre

    The other day, a very good friend of mine, let’s call him “Shawn”, who lives back in Dallas, posted some pictures of a performance he took part in of “A Midsummers Night’s Dream” for the Shakespeare Everywhere company. He posted a video as well of the cast backstage. Then another friend put up some pictures of a group of our college friends, some I have known for close to twenty years, all going to the show. I was really excited and happy for “Shawn” to be in front of an audience again. He’s a theatre whore, and that is meant as a complement, as his joy and excitement of preforming is boundless and contagious.

    I won’t lie, I do miss my college friends, and it would be nice to see all of them in person again. (Which is possible now!) It would appear that we are all approaching forty still in one piece, and having learned a thing or two. I didn’t so much have a pang of missing out, in so much as I had a pang of missing talking to them. I miss the diversity of our group, and their individual experiences that they brought. But I miss how we all made each other laugh.

    The other thing that happened was that I got a little bug in the back of my head that kept saying to me, “You miss audiences, too.” The last time I performed for an audience was in September 2018, in Eau Clair, Wisconsin – almost three years. Normally, I would say that I miss the camaraderie of a being in a cast, and working together, But… But, I started thinking about being in front of people, making them laugh, or making them pin-drop silent hanging on the next word that comes out of my mouth. I miss fighting to get an audience on your side, or when they get ahead of you and you have to catch up to them… To be a player in a troupe of actors…

    Stupid theatre whore making me want to be a theatre whore…

  • Talking to Friends

    I had a friend come in town the other day (We’re back to doing that again. Awesome!) and we planned on going out to get a drink and talk. “You’re going to sit and talk?” my kid asked. “Pretty much.” “Why?” “That’s what grownups do.” She shook her head at me, “That’s boring.”

    Now, my wife’s birthday is coming up, and you know what she wants more than anything? To go out with friends and talk. Minus a husband and a kid. Our daughter was again disappointed that this is what her mother wanted to do on a birthday. “All you do is talk,” the kid concluded.

    She’s not aware that she does talk a lot, as she talks to me and her mom all the time. Soon, my kid will start talking and communicating with her friends constantly. I’m trying to value the conversation time I have with her, because it’s a cycle; she’ll form those life long important bonds and enjoy just talking to friends.

  • Old Friend Birthday Wishes

    Old friends. I was struck by this idea this morning as I texted an old friend from college, wishing him a happy birthday. He’s in Texas, and I am in New York, but to be honest, we could be in the same town and that would not be a guarantee that we would be able to see each other.

    Old friends. I can say that now without irony. I have known him for 20 years. Our friendship is just about to be old enough to drink. I have a hand full of friends that I have known for over 35 years. Those friendships should start thinking about setting up retirement accounts.

    I am missing all of my friends, as we all are. I think things getting Spring-like warm in the City isn’t helping, as this would be the time that I would make an excuse to go take a walk around the park with a friend. To grab a seat on a bench with an old friend, and talk. Nothing complicated, just simple and basic; a conversation.

    Old friends who inhabit those fading pictures that were developed off of film are sprinkled on the walls of my home. The orange-yellowing of those images reflect the sanding of the sharp corners of my memories. It was all fun and silly, though those emotions then were stronger, and deeper, right? Only an old friend of mine could conform my nostalgia, or honesty.

    Happy birthday, old friend, and all of my old friends.