Love in the 2010's

I follow a few bloggers.  A few have lots of followers (James Altucher), some a few (Brooke Farmer) and some in between. I have no followers yet and I'm not sure I care one way or the other. This is more of a writing exercise at this point.

One thing that impresses me if how open so many of these folks are about exposing their lives in print. James Altucher is a public figure yet he tells you just about every thing good or bad that ever happened to him. In intimate detail. Things that I might not tell in confession! In fact I know I wouldn't, I'll just take my chances in the afterlife.

James discloses all kind of details about his experience with women, former girlfriends, attempts at dating, ex-wife and current wife.  For a guy that seemed to have a lifetime of failures with woman, he seems to have found his life/soul mate. Good for him.

Brooke Farmer is a young lady just coming into her prime years (her thirties) and is enthusiastically forging ahead into all kinds of relationship starts and stops as she looks for a compatible mate. She is a bundle of contradictions, a small town girl in the big city. A modern day "Mary Richards", a la The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She is a dreamer in the best sense.

Both of them, as well as other bloggers I follow, write about love and finding a balance in life. They write about their experiences in an honest, transparent way, warts and all.  It's a real time look at their diary.

If this is what they share with the public, do they have any secrets? I have secrets. I'd share them with you, but then, well they wouldn't be secrets.

I've broken hearts and had my heart broken. My adult dating experience was a bit out of the norm. I married my childhood girlfriend at 19 and was divorced at 28 years old. So, I found myself as a late 20's guy with just about no dating experience (meaning little sexual experience to talk about)  I was single until age 44 or so. So, those were prime years, I was doing well career wise and traveling all over the world for about 15 years. Life was pretty good sexually though I did miss the real intimacy of a long time relationship. Dating in the late 70's and 80's was a very promiscuous time. Sex on the first date was maybe a 50% chance (if you knew the person for a while before the date, maybe 100%) Sex on the second date, close to 100%.  So, if I was a young guy today, I'd have quite a bit to blog about. However, I have never been open about my relationships. I can't imagine sharing all this information like people today do.

I wonder if the level of promiscuity is the same today as in my 20's and 30's.  I could ask my daughter and nieces but that would be pretty creepy.

Getting back on point, is the openness of bloggers today a good thing or bad thing. Do their significant others get peeved at them disclosing intimate details about their lives? Do they tell them to put a sock in it at times?

Just wondering.

Getting paid to be wrong

This Dilbert cartoon in another blog reminded me of conversations I use to have with my Dad. His biggest pet peeve was weather forecasters.  He held them personally responsible for bad forecasts. I grew up in the Philly area and we used to watch the ABC affiliate and the weather guy was Dave Roberts. He was there forever. If he said the weather was going to be nice on the weekend, my Dad held him at his word. If it ended up cloudy or rainy, Dave's ears must have been burning. "That fucking Dave Roberts said it was going to be nice, he should be fired, I'm writing them a letter"  I would try to explain that the best a weatherman can do from an accuracy standpoint is tell you what happened yesterday and today. Tomorrow? A best guess most of the time, even with all the fancy computers today.  I remember one year, one of the stations started a contest with their forecast against the Farmers Almanac. The Almanac publishes their forecast about 16 months in advance (like they release it in September for the following 16 months I think)  My recollection is that the station stopper the contest after a few months as they were getting their asses kicked. So these guys get paid big bucks for being wrong all the time.

Dave Roberts has a famous son, who is he?

I can't for the life of me figure out why any station has a weather man or woman or person. Can't the anchor guy/gal  just read the weather?







Who else gets paid for being wrong all the time? How about economists?  These guys hardly agree on anything. Not only are they wrong on predicting the economy but they are usually wrong on telling you what happened in the past. So, they're a rung down from weathermen in that regard.  Every once in a while I see an economist getting an award for the most accurate forecast. Usually you never hear from that person again. It's the blind squirrel finding an acorn thing.

How about stock picking experts?  Wrong all the time.

Guys who draft in the NFL?  The world is littered with First round picks that are now picking up trash for a living.

If I was wrong as often as these guys in my job, I would be seeking employment elsewhere.


Want to add to my list?  Feel free!

What I've learned about Brooke Farmer from her blog

• She is more complicated that many girls I have known in my life. She is full of contradictions
• She had a very painful introduction to relationships but remains optimistic that she will end up in a happy  situation with a man
• She writes under a pseudo name to be anonymous but I think I have a picture of her
• As a writer, she can be incredibly honest and raw but I think she keeps some very personal truths secret
• I share a similar past with many of the same brushes with bad habits that I remember with clarity even after thirty years have passed. She remembers them as well and these memories worry her
• She has a kinky side but really wants love with her sex.
• She makes no bones about her love of sex, I like that about her
• She writes quite a bit about her pussy, and I don't mean she has a cat
• She loves her boy with every fiber of her being
• She loves her parents but is happy to live far from them
• The impersonal aura of LA appeals to her
• She likes being outside her comfort zone, it scares her but is exhilerating
• She wants to be a successful writer but I'm not sure she would enjoy the success
• She can't decide if she has a drinking problem. If she does, it will be hard to accept
• She feels oddly comfortable around people that are failing in life
• She tries to fix her own problems but really could use help at times
• She craves attention but doesn't like compliments, boy is that a contradiction
• She is loyal and fair, two traits anybody would want in a friend
• I know more intimate information about her than most of my friends but I don't know her at all, how weird is that?

So these are a few things I've learned about Brooke, maybe she will comment on whether my perceptions are accurate or off base. Maybe I bat 1000, maybe just .500, who knows.

I have to acknowledge that writing a blog is challenging. I just started to write a blog. More than anything, it's just an exercise in writing for me. I am trying to improve my proficiency in writing. Most of my writing is business correspondence. I have never tried to write anything else but I have a desire to pursue something else with my life after I retire. Writing may be part of it, I'm not sure. It may be business writing or script development for documentaries. This is a good practice and I realize I have lots of work to do.

In the meantime, I will admire other bloggers, including Brooke,  and put in my pick and shovel work at getting better at this.

Brushes with fame

In my time, I've met quite a few famous people. Most I've just said hello to and shook their hand. A few I've had more meaningful exchanges with. Some I just observed and maybe waved hello. It's always a little odd when you meet somebody that's famous, especially when it's unexpected. I'd hate being stared at like those folks. Being an exec at various times in my career, I had a small brush with occasionally being the center of attention. Like when I visited a site I was responsible for, you could feel some eyes on you when you toured the building. Or when I gave a speech at a trade show. But the attention was minor and fleeting. I can't fathom that constant attention.  Given a choice between rich or famous, I'll take the money and run for sure.

I've met a few celebrities that I honestly ignored when I met them just to give them some space.

Like I met Clint Howard (Ron's brother) in the airport once and decided to ignore him. Just to give him some space. He and I looked at each other a few times but I just acted like I didn't recognize him. Maybe he wanted some attention, I'm not sure

He looked just like this

 I sat beside Kenny G once on a plane to Mexico. We talked golf the whole time and I never let on I knew who he was. I also didn't mention I broke up with a girl once because she listened to Kenny G all the time. True story, I can't take his music.

I ran into Tommy Lee Jones in a bar once, he started straight ahead while he was eating and avoided all eye contact. That's a rough way to live.

Some celebrities are really nice when you meet them, some, not so much. I met Bill Cosby once and he was really rude. And this was before he had his show that made him rich and he could fly in a private plane.  I could tell you a few Donald Trump stories but I don't want to get sued.

I was in Norway once and the hotel room I was staying in had windows that opened into the lobby atrium. I was awakened at 3am by somebody playing the piano and singing. I looked out, kind of pissed off I guess, and saw a guy sitting at the piano with a hand full of people looking on. I bellowed out the window that it was 3am and he should STFU or something clever like that. To my surprise, Phil Collins turned around and apologized. I returned the apology, told him to carry on and closed my window. I later discovered that there was a huge concert in town and the hotel was crawling with musicians. I ran into Ricki Lee Jones in the elevator.

I once tried to pick up Chris Everett at Wimbledon. She was doing a press conference in the hallway and I kept interrupting her to ask if she was busy later. I know you won't believe this but I had been drinking. She did not agree to go out on a date, again hard to believe.

I met three US presidents and one Mexico president. All but one were by accident. Just random events.

I met President Carter on purpose, he was giving a speech and a friend was covering it. She asked me to go with her and I did. Not that I was a Carter supporter but I wanted to see the speech. He came over afterwards and I did say hello. He was a very nice guy, very genuine.

I ran into the President of Mexico( Fox) by accident. I was staying at a hotel in Mexico City and he came in with his entourage as I was waiting in the lobby. I thought he was a movie start or something. I shook his hand as he came through and wasn't quite sure who he was at first. We chatted for thirty seconds or so before I realized who he was. Somebody later told me he lived in the hotel.

It's worth seeing, even if your
date doesn't put out later

A date and I went to the Cirque de Soleil in Washington once. I got really good tickets as I was trying to impress her (it didn't) and we noticed the first three or four rows were empty in front us us and they were roped off. We were wondering why when a small group of people came in from the stage entrance towards the roped off area and it was President Clinton, Hillary, Chelsea and several others. They sat right in front of us. My date was a little more impressed but it still didn't get me anywhere with her.  I did get to say hello and make some small talk with the President and family.



I was waiting to get cash from an ATM in Georgetown once and turned around to see Eric Clapton waiting behind me. Don't famous people have assistants to do that stuff?

Maybe the most bizarre meeting was this one. Picture this, it's a warm summer day and I was living outside of Philadelphia. I wander into a Bennegin's for a sandwich and beer. As my eyes adjust to the dark interior, I notice a man and woman sitting in the booth across from me. Something seems odd, then I notice a couple pretty official looking guys guarding the scene. I looker a little closer and it's former President Nixon sitting in the booth.  Hard to believe. I later read his daughter Julie lived in the same town I did. It's hard to even write this story without laughing out loud.  I didn't try to approach them, who knows what might have happened to me! But I did wave and got a return hello. By the way, I wasn't a Nixon supporter either.

He wasn't this happy at Bennegin's

Some of the other famous people I've randomly run into:

VJ Singh, Muhammed Ali, Clint Eastwood, Chris Berman, Greg Gumbel. If you travel all the time like I do, it's funny how many famous people you run into.

My longest encounter was with a person in the news as of late, Steve Jobs.  I'll write that experience up in a later blog.