Month: August 2017

Come on. If you’re a baby boomer, you’ve badly sung along to John Denver’s ode. Let’s do it together:

“Rocky mountain high-iiiiiiiiiii Col-o-ra-do”

Nice. You should check out the lyrics. It’s not about smoking a doob.

Regardless, I will be exploring all that Colorado has to offer during my pilgrimage to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre to see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Psyched! Yeah, I was hemming and hawing about the trip until I heard my mom say, “Just go. Isn’t it you who always tells me you only live once?” OK, Mom. I still have some details to work out with Billy Shatner (is he still at Priceline?) regarding wheels and a couple nights in the Mile High City. Oh, and bakeries. I want to bring some fresh baked goods when I go for a mini-reunion with some college friends in Breckenridge.

While scanning the calendar it occurred to me that our reunion will commence on our mutual friend, Mike G’s 60th birthday. Sixty… Dude, you’re old. Anyway, I’m looking forward to catching up with Heide and “Krak” on high in the Rockies. We’ll celebrate our dear friend.

Back to the Music. This will be my second JI show in 2017 after a trifecta the year before. The Red Rocks thing has been on my “bucket list” for years. I didcough up the cake for “VIP” seating in the sound booth area, but hey, we only live once, right Mom? Speaking of bucket lists… Other than going into space, I’m not sure there’s anything else on mine. Actually, there are a few other experiences closer to home that would be on the list if one existed… Italy, Greece, the jungle in Peru, Barre, MA for ten days… Oh, and the Louvre. Yeah, that would be cool.

Oh, the music. Yeah, I was teetering… The June show at whatever that tent place is now called on Boston Harbor was a bit underwhelming due to sky high expectations, but then last week after falling asleep to a live stream of Isbell’s “Austin City Limits” taping, I was jarred awake when YouTube then played a full February 2014 show from the House of Blues in Boston. Pal Jeff and I were there. You can be, too. Laying awake being blown away by song after song, I thought, “I have to go.” Here you go.

As adults, we’re supposedly all responsible for behaviors that impact our (or others) physical and/or mental health. Some of those behaviors include:

• Smoking
• Drinking
• Using Drugs (legal and illegal)
• Making poor food choices and/or overeating
• Inactivity
• Engaging in unsafe sex
• Engaging in bad relationships
• Engaging in risky or unsafe behavior
• Trying to rationalize the election of Donald Trump…

I’m sure there are more. Participation in fundamentalist religions comes to mind. I’m just listing those off the top of my head that I’m guilty of. Often these behaviors occur when we’re young, before our frontal cortex is fully matured to temper rash decision-making. Our tendency toward or away from these behaviors are influenced by nurture and nature:

• Genetics
• Our socio-economic conditions
• Cultural influences
• Mommy/Daddy issues
• Past experiences
• Future expectations

All you have to do is open your eyes and look around to realize this life can be hard. Given the huge role of genetics in this, do any of us really have a choice in our behaviors or are we somehow biologically and systematically pre-disposed to them? I think it’s both, and they all can be difficult to overcome. In the recent past, we’ve seen “successful” people like Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, and Robin Williams take their own lives while battling mental illnesses like bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. And those are just the suicides that make the news. Tens of thousands more don’t. A 2016 New York Times article indicated US suicide rates reached an all-time high with 42,773 recorded in 2014. It’s estimated that 90% of these individuals had a treatable mental illness… Statistically, your personal orbit is likely filled with people suffering from anxiety, bi-polar, depression, PTSD, and many more.

Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers wrote a song about the struggle with depression and about Mr. Williams. I’m sure many can relate to it. I know I can. Especially the last line about luck…

Tossing off the baggage that is pulling down on me
Toss it in the river and be free
Move so close together, only inches separate
you from all the darkness in me
I’m not seeking explanations for this thing that you did
a thin line separates the laughter from despair
I’ve had my own depression since I was just a kid
but been blessed with the means to repair