Some days, it’s just about Springsteen

I first wrote this a few years ago in preparation for a blog project I never got around to finishing. I hope to get back around to finishing the project one day, but until then, I wanted to share this story I wrote as an introduction for it. Tomorrow, I head to Nashville to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for my 10th, and quite possibly my final, time. As the band dusts off old gems each night, many fans have the feeling this might be the group’s last tour, as many of them have crossed the 60-year mark and might have retirement in mind.

Making this concert even more meaningful is the fact my sister, brother-in-law and three nephews are also going (albeit separately from me, through a fluke in schedules), meaning another generation gets to be introduced to this world-class band. Beyond that, it’s another shared moment, another shared love between my nephews and me.

Nashville, here we come.

Why Bruce Springsteen?

In the late 1980s, my sister dated Scott Rose, easily one of the coolest kids at Powell County High School. He worked as a lifeguard. He had a moustache. He drove a Jeep.

Taylor made

I became a fan of Taylor Swift this past weekend.

TV is no longer a mindless wasteland

It’s been chic to bash network TV the past few years, and to be fair, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC have deserved every bit of it. Smart, challenging shows (I’m thinking specifically of Freak and Geeks and Arrested Development) weren’t given room to breathe and grow, while dreck like Two and a Half Men still continues to air.

Halloween 2009

My girlfriend Liz and I wanted to do the whole “couples costume” thing, and since she’s a new fan of Arrested Development, we had no choice but to go as Lindsay and Tobias Fünke, complete with the eventual unveiling as a nevernude. It’s a serious condition that affects dozens of people …

So long as I don’t look like Justin Guarini …

I have been single for a long time.

There are, apparently, good reasons for this.

Leave no shrimp behind

Never doubt the power of ShrimpFest.

Each year, my friends and I gather at Red Lobster for what the restaurant calls “Endless Shrimp,” but we lovingly (and dorkily) refer to as ShrimpFest. It’s an annual change to gorge ourselves on different types of shrimp, and we take full advantage of it.

Rap concerts can pose a problem

None of us were sure of the rules.

I’m pretty sure none of the 59,997 others around did either.

Near the end of our second day of our first Lollapalooza experience in 2006, Cory, Rachel and I stood in Chicago’s Grant Park, ready to see Kanye West take the stage. We’d been hyped for this particular performance for months, but despite all of our preparations, we still had one question that remained unanswered:

A day, a birth

Today is my birthday.

Often, birthdays are spent celebrating the person who was born, honoring one more year spent on this earth doing whatever it is we do. For me, I turn 34, and the changes in me between Sept. 29, 2008, and today are monumental. I have changed, for the better (at least I think) and have managed to find peace.

For that, I’m thankful.

The UKrain

Today, for the first time in 21 years, I’ll be attending a University of Kentucky football game.

To put this in perspective, the last time I saw UK play in person, Florida’s star quarterback Tim Tebow was just a year old. (Speaking of Tebow, reports are now showing he’s suffering from the flu today, which gives UK more of a chance to win, but I’m guessing the QB will just add this to his list of head-shaking accomplishments, leading his team to a tough win while disgustingly sick).

I saw UK play Central Michigan on Sept. 3, 1988, on a trip with the Powell County Middle School football team. It was our first year of existence, and I knew very little about football. All I recall about that UK game was the rain. And more rain. And even more rain.

The skies opened and flooded Commonwealth Stadium, leaving us soaked but happy. Beyond that, I can’t remember a thing.

Today, though is different, but mainly only in that Kentucky is actually a good team now. The rain, of course, is returning, making it a perfect circle for my return to Commonwealth. Forecasts are calling for rain all day, and even though it’s supposed to end by game time, I’m not counting on it. I’ll have a poncho. I’ll have my hand-sanitizer (can’t let those pesky flu germs get to me).

But most of all, I’ll have fun.

The Lost boy

I spent the better part of the weekend plowing through Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol.