Be the Adult

...it may just take some massive realignment by the industry. When I was in first or second grade, I saw an ad similar to the title photo and it changed my life. I don't think I knew a single person who owned a motorcycle, let alone a 'Kawaski' (the Polish pronunciation), but I knew I wanted one. That same summer, my next door neighbors (you know the ones- Alice Cooper turned up to 11, beads in their doorway, a KISS mirror on the wall, incense going all the time- it was the 70s, after all) had a friend stay with them for a few days who owned a Honda 400. I sat on the curb in front of their house every day that bike was there. Memorized the tire tread. Burned myself on the hot pipes. Studied the levers and cables and tried to understand how it all worked. As I grew up, the memory didn't turn to passion, but it didn't fade, either. Fast forward about 30 years... Like many people with kids, I started having motorcycle dreams. I'd wake up with the exhilarat

Killer life or couch-ridden exhaustion? Your call. As I wind down one of the toughest projects of my career, I find myself thinking of two things: I work entirely too many hours, and I miraculously have a pretty decent quality of life. I put my kids to bed at night, go running with friends, take the motorcycle or bicycle out on weekends, and generally keep the momentum up. Here's the breakdown: Early morning: Get up early as hell to go running and get kids out the door Morning, Afternoon, Early Evening: Work, work, work Evening: Dinner, hang out with kids for an hour, walk the dog 10:00 PM: Freedom! Quiet! Work panic notwithstanding, here's the free time. Weekends are better, but I only assume 10 hours per day of 'free' activity, since there are planes to catch, bills to pay, and dance recitals, softball/baseball games, and birthday parties. So... many... birthdays... I'm at Target almost every weekend buying some Journey Girl thing or Lego set to celebra