Because One Day The Kids Will Be Grown

one day there will be
no Cheerios under foot
clean floors - lamenting 

sibling cease fire
quiet rooms will soon abound
mayhem now - relish

empty lap and arms
no more attention demands
time ownership – weep

I Need Some Obsession Up in Here

You know what we need in my house. We need some good old-fashioned UHB-sesh-uhN. I’m not talking about going all sociopathic with alters and candles. No candles involved, that’s just unsafe. Nor am I talking about boring habits or passive addictions. Habits are formed. You become addicted.

Obsessions are not passive. Obsessions require motivation. Obsessions require activity - over and over and over again. Obsessed people get sh!t done!

Normal middle class people, we are not obsessed. We are watered-down versions. We keep things in check, we do everything in moderation. We don’t let our kids obsess. We take away their binkies, blankies, and dirty old bears. We don’t want them to put all their eggs in one basket. We sign them up for swimming, soccer, basketball, baseball, scouts, and piano. We make sure they are well-rounded. We send them to elementary schools where they jump from subject to subject. We want them to be safe and happy. We allow them to flick on the TV, DS, Wii, Computer or whatever.

Let’s talk about the obsessed.

Rapper DMX. Obsessed. (If the title of this blog did not put his song “Party Up (Up in Here)” into your head, please insert it now.) A quick peek at DMX’s Wikipedia biography shows you that he has had NUMEROUS personal issues starting at a very young age but that did not stop him from releasing repeatedly successful albums, being nominated for like 10 Grammy’s and winning one.

Also, according to Wikipedia, you know who likes to listen to "Party Up" before races? Michael Phelps. Now, he’s obsessed. You don’t win 18 Olympic gold medals hanging around the house watching TV.

Taylor Swift. So obsessed with starting a country singing career she convinced her family to move from Pennsylvania to Nashville when she was 14. She didn't sit at home and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Obsessed!

People obsessed with eating right? Skinny. People obsessed with exercise? Fit. People obsessed with order? Organized. People obsessed with germs? Clean.

Me? Obsessed? Eh. Not so much.

How about you – Obsess much?

Trapped by Suburban Safety Net?

The Green Day musical, American Idiot, is coming to Philadelphia. I half-watched a commercial thinking that I may like to catch a show when I heard something to the effect of “…follow their dreams or retreat to suburban safety net…” I’ve been pondering this statement over the last few days. Is following your dreams and living in suburbia mutually exclusive? Why do they have to be? Why does living in suburbia have to mean that I’m some sort of artistic sell-out? Am I trapped in a suburban safety net?

No! Sure, it’s easy to fall into a suburban complacency when you are nestled in a cookie cutter development between a Walmart and a Target. It’s easy to drive from soccer to cheer, make dinner, watch a sitcom while folding laundry, go to bed and do it all over again the next day. It’s easy to happily stay in your comfort zone and never take any chances. But this isn’t even using a safety net.

Safety nets are for taking chances. Safety nets are for soaring high above the crowd without the risk of breaking your neck.

I’m not a sellout because of where I have chosen to live. I am a sellout if I don’t do anything with the opportunities I’ve been given. I am a sellout if I don’t take advantage of this huge safety net below me and soar.

I was going to put a clip of American Idiot or maybe Boulevard of Broken Dreams in this blog but as I watched the video mingled with the background noise of Team Umizoomi I thought, "I am too old for this much angst and so is Billie Joe – wash the eyeliner off, man!"

Maybe I am a little bit of a sellout, but f* it. Here’s a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQ8N1KacJc

Have the time of your life – use your safety net, seat belt, helmet, knee pads, whatever – just do it!