I'm Baaaaack! And another year/decade/half century older...

Okay, so you a few of you have noticed I haven't posted in over a month, and have inquired why. It's taken me a while to figure it out myself; I mean it's not like there aren't plenty of assorted idiots, assholes,and just plain batshit crazy folk walking around giving me material to speak on, and I do have plenty of ideas and opinions to write about - I just haven't done it. But why?

Well, at first I thought I was just tired. I mean, I did recently have another addition to the house, with the arrival of my newest grandson, Kevin. But his older brother, "Hurricane" Darius has been around for a couple years now, and he has a patent on making me tired, so this new one isn't adding much to that, for the most part. Then I thought, oh I've just been so busy...but hell, I'm ALWAYS busy with something, and that hasn't stopped me from blogging.

Finally, I had to face facts and get over my denial: I turned 50 last month, and for all the weeks of insisting to anyone who asked that it was no big deal, just another day, I wasn't going to feel any different, etc., somewhere in my subconscious it actually WAS a big deal. And though I didn't feel depressed about the birthday, or succumb to overthinking / overanalyzing what it all means, and though I had a great time at the party my family threw for me (THANKS! LOVE Y'ALL!), on some level I think the milestone did have an effect on me, and temporarily threw me into a brief state of paralysis by (unaware) analysis.

Anyway, I'm baaaaack! and I'm FIFTY, DAMMIT. I've been on this earth a half a friggin' century, since before there were personal computers, cell phones, texting, sexting, instant messaging, iPods, iPads, DVDs, CDs, mp3s...before anyone ever heard of rap, hip hop, disco, punk, grunge metal, or New Jack Swing...before reality TV, HBO, Showtime, MTV, or satellite radio...before the major North American sports leagues all had 30 or more teams, before a man walked on the moon, eight years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, and two years before the passage of the Civil Rights Bill -- and a few decades before anyone thought they'd be alive to see a Black President of the United States.

So yeah, I'm OLD! But I embrace it, and everything on me still works pretty good (wink), including - maybe especially - my brain (you know, since it's the one part that gets used on a regular basis). That means you will be hearing more from my half a century ass in the very near future. You have been warned...