Friday, December 6, 2024

F.A.M.I.L.Y.


Sportsball. 

Whether from right or left, RETVRN Twitter or Bluesky elders, it implies lack of seriousness and commitment for those of us who choose not to spend our lives in the studied contemplation of productivity or accelerationist revolution.

There is little point to debating the merits of fanhood. I think most of us who would post on Bluesky or read about it here are aware of the realities of dedicating such time and deriving such enjoyment from watching other people (generally much younger) compete on the field, court, or ice. We are aware of the downstream effects and can reflect on our own contributions good and bad.

Existing within this ambiguous state is called being human. Few things are clear-cut, good and bad can be found just a few layers deep. Taken to the extreme, any hobby or distraction could be classified as an immoral waste of resources depending on the perspective of the objective observer. It is worth exploring these questions and doing the moral calculus individually. But in a broader sense, who is to decide what past-times are beneficial and which are not? The strict alternative might be to seek joy only in toil and work, but few are capable of doing so. Somehow we all seek the spirit of a life well-lived.  

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

The Friends We Made Along the Way

As one of the 6.5 people who read this blog, I suspect you also had elaborate plans to see the Gophers in the Rose Bowl.

There aren’t a lot of things you have the benefit of planning for decades – retirement and maybe one’s death if you’re particularly frisky in your morbidity – but Goldy and the crew were extremely generous in giving us time to nail down every last detail. A Minnesota child born on January 1st, 1962, the last time the Gophers played in Pasadena, was ejected out of the womb outfitted in a maroon and gold onesie and promised a lifetime of college football glory. Second Rose Bowl in a row, national championship winners the year before, the smug satisfaction that comes from cheering for a perpetual winner was this their manifest destiny.

That child has been an AARP member for twelve years, just qualified for social security, and is using the money they never had to spend on a Pasadena trip to buy a winter condo on the Alabama coast. What a ride that must have been: from expecting a national championship in childhood and adolescence, to early adulthood in the penury that was Gopher football in the 80s and 90s, almost reaching the mountaintop but falling to their metaphorical death at 41 in 2003, convincing themselves Brew and Kill were the answers in their 50s, to hitting 60 and having college football pull the rug and make getting to the Rose Bowl a near impossibility. Truly a life arc sponsored by Lexapro, ketamine, and Headspace.

Monday, September 23, 2024

Tailgates & Tums

The vibes were immaculate.

The tailgates lots around the stadium were filled with heavy traffic of smiling, excited Gopher fans. Black and gold flags, tents, and shirts were in the minority on a day of August weather, the earliest in the season that Floyd of Rosedale has ever been contested. A late afternoon downpour failed to dampen spirits or send people packing; nervous energy and cautious optimism followed the crowds to Huntington Bank Stadium.

Friday, August 23, 2024

An Ode

I identify a difference between “happiness” and “joy”. I associate “happiness” with a state of satisfaction relating to a specific event or thing; seeing a dog playing or getting a free order of breadsticks. “Joy” denotes something greater; a wider state of mind and being that envelopes you with contentment.