Morning After #9: Writing is Like Sex

Last night, it dawned on me.

Cloudy, dazed, and tired, I heard light music playing in the background. It was too faint to peg the song, but with one open eye, I saw a long, naked leg splayed out to the left. I touched it and instantly felt a sensation tickle my nervous system. Shit, that’s my leg.

Heat does that, you know? Makes one leg hang off the bed, dying for air, needing relief. It screams to the rest of your body, “Get me the hell outta here!” It’s that type of warmth that made me realize another body was next to me…

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    Lyrics I Love #8: Keep Me in Your Heart

    Track: Keep Me in Your Heart

    Length: 3:31

    Album: The Wind (2003)

    Artist: Warren Zevon

    Songwriter: Warren Zevon / Jorge Calderon

    Favorite line: “These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam”…

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      Morning After #8: I Wasn't Really Asking for Advice

      Yesterday, I needed some advice.

      This is a predicament we all seem to find ourselves in as we scour our lives for answers. Where should I turn? Who should I go to? These decisions are important, damnit!

      Herein lies the problem: people are pretty bad at giving advice. Most people aren’t listening, and even fewer actually care. Nobody should be expected to listen or obligated to care. The world is busy. Who really wants to hear my problems? That’s what shrinks are for.

      Family and friends, you say?…

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        An Intro to a Book I Might Write Some Day

        Some days I wake up feeling like the ocean. A consistent, reliable color. When you look to the bottom of the ocean it’s always calm. It’s always consistent.

        The ocean is the part of me that you know. The me that’s here for the world to see. The “successful” guy, whatever that means. The confident writer. The good son. The best friend. The person the world wants me to show up as most of the time. Just up until the point they don’t—mostly when it’s convenient for them, not for me.

        Other days, I wake up feeling like the sky. A constant evolution in color. There’s nothing really consistent about the sky. Yes, it’s different depending on location. A sunny LA might mean a gloomy San Francisco, but tomorrow, in that same location, the sky is likely to change. Actually, it’s likely to change at moment's notice. That doesn’t happen to the ocean. The sky is tumultuous, evolving, and something that you can never quite peg. As many would suggest, not even the weatherman.

        The sky is the part of me that you don’t know. The me that only some of you have met…

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          Lyrics I Love #7: Rocks Off

          Track: Rocks Off

          Length: 4:31

          Album: Exile on Main St (1972)

          Artist: The Rolling Stones

          Songwriter: Mick Jagger / Keith Richards

          Favorite line: “The sunshine bores the daylights out of me / Chasing shadows, moonlight mystery”…

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            Morning After #7: A Letter to Love

            Dear Love,

            I’ll give you this. You dazzle me in movies, melt me in songs, and wow me in books. But how well do I really know you?

            After all, these are the stories I want to hear. I will willingly watch, listen to, or read for hours. They say, “You’re based on a true story.” But I’ve never seen a beauty marry a beast or a street peasant marry a princess. Is it possible I like the idea of you more than I like you?…

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              The Accident: Inside the Ambulance (Outtake)

              This is a continuation of the story featured in The Accident, an article I published on August 1, 2019.

              It got cut from the original article, mainly, in an effort to distill rather than amplify the piece. It was a painful casualty of the creative process, but since I heard from so many people about the accident I figure it would be cool to resuscitate it. Plus, I thought it might be good enough to warrant its own day in the sun. But you’ll be a better judge than me.

              Oh, and I decided to leave it in the buff and totally untouched from when I first wrote it. Yes, there are typos, tense problems, grammar flubs, and battle wounds. C’mon, if I edited the outtake, how much fun would that be. Enjoy!…

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                Lyrics I Love #6: A Little Bit of Everything

                Track: A Little Bit of Everything

                Length: 5:39

                Album: Nothing Is Wrong (2011)

                Artist: Dawes

                Songwriter: Taylor Goldsmith

                Favorite line: “I think love is so much easier than you realize / If you can give yourself to someone, then you should”…

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                  What a Porn Expo Taught Me About Dating

                  Several years back, I was at a business conference in Chicago. Each night starting around 3ish, I would have some downtime. Two days into the trip, I’d already done all the Chicago things—boat tour, deep-dish pizza, visit Wrigley Field, etc. 

                  Sitting in the hotel lobby, flipping through those what-to-do-in-Chicago pamphlets, I notice men and women walking by wearing provocative Halloween costumes. Or so it seems. I put my head back into the pamphlet while laughing to myself, “Geez, Chicago is pretty freaky.” Not even thirty seconds later, I pick my head up again and notice more costumed people—it’s literally just one after the other streaming by. Now I’m thinking, “What the heck is going on?”…

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                    Morning After #6: The Moment

                    There are so many moments in life.

                    But there is one moment that seems to captivate me far beyond any other. This moment is so rare that it moves about in flashes, every so often, and only if you’re lucky will you get to experience it throughout life. 

                    This moment wrestles my heart to the ground, squeezes it like a boa constrictor until it stops beating, like a mouse that stops breathing. But just for a moment. Suddenly, I feel a release. I’m alive again. In awe. Speechless. Not sure what to think, say, or do. All I’m left with is this moment, dancing there still in my mind…

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