Luke Perry

There are times when I’m doing something I’ve never done before and I say to myself, “You are so young! I can’t believe you are doing this.” And I feel young. Like the same age as my 25 or 26 year old children. 

Then there are days like  today where you say “Damn. Luke Perry died today.  From a massive stroke.” And I’ve never felt older. I never watched the show 90210 or Riverdale, but I knew that Perry was my age and it makes me sad he passed. My cousin is a stroke specialist and I kept thinking all day today that Luke should have at least reached out to someone like her but that is silly I guess. Sometimes it’s just your time I guess. Mortality make the jokes and blogs serious and somewhat more self reflective. 

Feels weird, this empathy thing when it’s for someone you didn’t know or even admire, but this is where we (I) are at I guess. 

Edible Collard Greens

Edible Collard Greens

No matter what I entitle this post, many out there will think I have written a contradiction in terms, stating that, "There is No such thing as 'Edible Collard Greens!".
Well I beg to differ and offer up this recipe that I cooked today as proof.

The Ingredients you'll need are as follows:

12 Slices of Hickory smoked bacon (finely chopped)
2 medium sweet onions  (finely chopped)
6 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
3/4 lb of Smoked ham (chopped)
3 - 32 oz Organic Chicken broth containers
2.5 lbs of washed organic collard greens
1/3 cup of Apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon of organic brown sugar
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of cayenne
1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning

How do we make this fine thing?

Take a 10 quart pot and cook the bacon of medium heat until almost crispy.
Add the onion and saute for 8 minutes.
Add the garlic and ham and saute for 2 minutes.
Stir in the broth and the remaining ingredients.

Cook for 2 hours over medium heat. stir every 20 minutes.
When they are done, they are spicy and fantastic.
Enjoy!

Epic Things

I was reading some of the old blog posts I wrote, you know, reliving some of the old glory when I felt funny everyday. When every morning was greeted with, "Let's find something that makes us giggle." and "Let's make a whole slew of people laugh." (I'm using 'slew' right, right?)
A lot of that was unintentionally put on hiatus once I started a business. It just happens. You are worried about home life, like what you may miss if you plan badly. You are worried about keeping the very patient wife happy, remembering to rephrase "It's not always going to be this hard. This will get better soon." You worry that your grandma, dad and mother are not getting any younger and that you may have misplaced your priorities. You worry all the time that friends and family time are being sacrificed on the alter of "Managed Growth".
You worry that the patience of those you love most is wearing thin.

Then there are the business worries.
You worry you're getting shafted by the bank or the insurance agent or that you've left too much money on the table or that you've asked too much for the same work that buddies are low balling the same client for.
You worry about payroll NONSTOP.
You worry about hurting peoples feeling because you are being too direct.
You worry that one of your employees is sad because of home issues and there's nothing you can do.
You worry about your employees kids when they are sick.
You worry that you can't grow fast enough and strong enough to effect partner investment.
You worry that you might hire a wing nut. (You worry that you might be the wing nut.)
You worry that you can't give the employees everything they want or need.
You worry that your accountant thinks you are a moron.
You worry that your lawyer is screwing you (He was, according to new counsel).
You worry about things now, that not long ago, you didn't know existed. (This happens, regrettably quite a bit).

I say all of that to say this however; I've never been this happy in my career. I get to work from home for a little bit and I get to work with some of my best friends in the world when I'm on the road. (Some of them are the clients.)
I want to leave you with this quote from Leonardo da Vinci, of Mona Lisa fame.
I think it represents the spirit and attitude of Bloc, not only of myself and the other owners of Bloc, but every employee that we work with.

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

Renewable Children

Been a while since I've posted. I've been building a commerce machine. Things are going good. I've been stressing to people that "Children are our future. Clean burning. Renewable. Children."

I was working at my kitchen table today. Two cute little birds landed at the base of the bay window I was sitting at. I whistled a tune like something like "Whistle while you work". They copied it note for note. I opened the screen on the bay window and they came in and help me re-sew my dress and straighten up.

Have you ever had a thought, so inconsequential, just overtake your brain for a bit? Mine is nicknames.  I’m not saying I’m missing out or anything. I’m living a pretty good life. Good wife. Good kids. Good friends. Good careers. But I was doing some thinking while “hunting” this weekend (Drinking an adult beverage while wearing really comfortable clothes that look like trees), and it occurred to me that while making it to this Half way mark in life (I plan on dying at 94) I never had a nickname. I really wanted one in high school but it never took. On my HS football team, the mighty Ingleside Mustangs, a coach named Coach Brent, who was boning a student, nicknamed me “cave-dog”. Don’t judge it was a simpler time. That only stuck for 3 weeks, four days and six hours. (The nickname, not the relationship).

I know a “Chip”. I know an engineer named “Buzz”. I know hundreds of “Bobbys” I know a guy named “Ira Washington” who goes by June, because his parents hated him, I’m guessing. I know a guy, and I’m not making this up, whose entire little Texas town, calls him “Pecker”. Big guy. Girthy.

My wife has a nickname of sorts. A lot of people call her Mis. All my kids have nicknames, sort of. Coby is called Cobe a lot. Darian is called “Dare” or “Dare Bear”. Shelby is called “Shel” or “Shelly” or “Shelly Belly”. Alexandra is called “Ally” or “Ally Grace” or “Accident”.

But one never took for me.

I have a good friend who calls me “Col” about every 4 months, but that sounds weird from anybody else but him. Let’s do an experiment. Stop reading this for a second and say “Col” and hold the L a little bit. Sounds like you’ve had a stroke, right?

Anyway, have a great 2017! Sorry for the random thoughts, and I pinkie swear promise I’ll try to update the blog more this year.

;)

King David

There is a Hot dog restaurant here at the Indy airport. It's called King David. I was sitting just outside of it in a general seating area, minding my own, when I happened to see a sweet gay couple ordering their lunch from there.
After they received their order of hot dogs and chili dogs, they sat down at the table next to me. I don't know them but I find out later that one of the gentlemen is named "Kevin". After they get settled at the table next to me I pick up on that "Kevin" is a bit of a jokester and what I picked up on in the 2 or 3 minutes of eavesdropping is that "Kevin" had been picking on "not Kevin" this morning. "Kevin" is drinking what looks like an iced coffee and is watching "not Kevin" about to eat his hot dog. "Not Kevin", went to take a bite of his hot dog, and "Kevin", reached over and pushed the back of the hot dog while his partner was taking a bite, causing "not Kevin" to gag and immediately say "Kevin!"  I was drinking a black Iced tea when "Kevin" did this which I immediately spit upon the airport floor. I couldn't stop laughing. Then we all three laughed together. I told them I was going to post this to my blog and that it would be entitled, "Gagging on Not Kevin's wiener", but I doubt I'll do that.

If ashtrays could fart

On my flight tonight I saw the cutest old lady. In fact, she sat down next to me. She was about 4’10” and frail looking. When I asked her how she was doing, she replied in a voice that sounded like she had gargled with hot boiling oil since the Carter administration that she was “Mighty Fine”. She told me in that same gravelly voice that she was going back to her farm in Nebraska after visiting her daughter in Colorado. I noticed when she got on the plane, and I’m not making this up, her carry on was a case of Marlboro reds. 12 cartons. That did explain how her breath smelled like, well like if an ashtray had a nasty butthole. Like if ashtrays could fart. She was sweet though, bless her heart.

 I also saw 8 cross-eyed people and 3 cleft palates get on this plane to Omaha. Had to mention that. Seemed odd to me. Like I was on some kind of Americans for disability act (ADA) flight.

Edible asparagus

Ingredients: 

1 bundle of raw organic asparagus 

1/2 stick of organic salted butter. 

1/2 cup of organic Garlic Italian dressing. 

1 lb package of organic peppered bacon

2 pinches of garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Cut two inches off the bottom of each stalk of asparagus. 

3. Gather 5 stalks, making sure the tops are even. 

4. Start at the top of each bundle and wrap the pepper bacon diagonally down toward the bottom of the stalk. 

5. Place on a non greased cookie sheet. 

6. Before placing in oven, brush on the butter. 

7 . Then brush on the Italian dressing. 

8. Bake for 22 minutes. 

9. At 11 minutes, apply garlic salt. 

10. Enjoy