So Here's What I'm Thinking

I've had a blog for two or three years, but it's been focused on my radio play-by-play work for the Xavier Saints football team on KMRY radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (1450 AM, 93.1 FM, and online on the worldwide web - obligatory shilling complete.) It seemed kind of odd to me to use that venue as a regular ol' personal blog, with all my aches and pains and political hot takes and views on popular culture and whatnot. So I split them up.

My high school football blog is still up: Third And A Mile. Hop on over if you're interested in Iowa high school football topics, sizzling playoff predictions, and how the Saints are doing in the fall. It's February right now, so not much going on at the moment. Also, I kinda tailed off with my content with a game left to play last fall, so that's on me. (Spoiler alert: The undefeated Saints made it to the state 3A semifinal and lost to eventual champion Pella on the last play of the game.)

This blog will be more about me, what I'm thinking about, what I'm complaining about, how I'm dealing with my cats and my mole problem in the yard, stuff like that. Oh, and here's the inspiration for (part of) my blog title:

Yep, I'm feeling older and older by the day, so why not embrace it? Plus, it's The Simpsons when it was good, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

In addition, considering the way the political climate has turned since November, I'm also thinking about starting up another re-watch of the NBC 1999-2007 TV series The West Wing. I just finished re-watching the entire series on Netflix a couple of months ago (a project that took me around a year and a half, I think, to get through all seven seasons), so I'm sure my wife will roll her eyes at me if I mention diving back in to Season 1 again already - but you know, I'm wondering, if I watch The West Wing with enough conviction and strength and tenacity, maybe I can transport myself into that universe. A nation led by a President Bartlet would be a far, far better nation to live in than the current Trump dystopia, I tell you what. Plus, that's the inspiration for the rest of my blog title; there's plenty of walking and talking going on in Sorkin's White House. You'll get a cardio workout just watching a couple of episodes.

Should I get after this project again soon (and I own the complete series on DVD, so I would watch them this time rather than using Netflix), I will talk about each episode here. It would be a chance to go over some great Sorkinisms, talk about the performances and relationships of the cast and characters, and trace the seven-season arc of the Bartlet administration. I mean, this series was a huge influence on Lin-Manuel Miranda and his creation of Hamilton, so it's still relevant now in Trump's America. Plus, it's just so damn good - yeah, Season 5 is a little rough (I remember I actually stopped watching during the original run sometime during that season, only picking it up again during Season 6 and the start of the Santos campaign; which made my recent re-watch even better to give me the chance to see some of those episodes for the first time. Even Access.).

So check back soon, tell your friends, and we'll chat about stuff. Maybe the Pilot episode of The West Wing, who knows ... where the President comes to a sudden arboreal stop, Sam Seaborn accidentally sleeps with a prostitute ("did you trip?"), and we meet Leo, Josh, Donna, CJ, Toby, Mrs. Landingham, and all the rest of these wonderful characters created by Aaron Sorkin, before he burned out and left the show in a cocaine-fueled haze after Season 4.

Yes, even Mandy. For one single, solitary season, even Mandy.