Comments:
Hey, gang! Wow, I think the last time I was communicating with the majority of you in any way via computer it was with an Apple IIc!
It's also kind of mind-blowing to think that the last time many of us saw each other:
* Ronald Reagan was president
* the world map contained the Soviet Union, and East & West Germany
* Johnny Carson hosted "The Tonight Show"
* the World Wide Web was three years away
* "The Simpsons" was just starting as vignettes on "The Tracey Ullman Show"
* the world was blessedly Lohan- and Spears-free (we had our Tiffanys and Debbie Gibsons, and we liked them well enough! At least they waited until they were in their 30s before they took off their clothes in magazines)
Sometimes it seems like such a different, long-ago time that it might as well have been the Mesozoic Era ...
Plenty of good changes over two decades; a number of questionable ones. I love iPods, HDTV, cell phones, DVDs, Internet, a certain degree of CGI special effects, etc., but I am glad that I grew up and went to school in a somewhat slower-paced time, and certainly during a time when I didn't need to pass through a metal detector on my way to class.
Obviously, the music has changed a lot. I'm not one of those old-timers who just automatically says the music was better when he was younger, but in the case of pop music at least, I have to say that is true. The pop music today is just awful, and I can proudly say I've never seen an entire episode of "American Idol" (though it's one unfortunate part of my job to at least be aware of such shows). However, I have grown to enjoy other types of music that have evolved over the past 20 years, especially along the lines of electronica, ambient, experimental, etc. So there's always some good to go along with the bad in any change, I guess.
With changing times, of course, comes personal change, and I've grown in my career with the Tribune company, which I've been with primarily during my 12 years in Milwaukee (I spent one year working in Chicago). It's a lot of fun, and I've made some good friends here and elsewhere through the travel I do, and I get to keep up my creativity (although I'm a little more "management" now, I try to ensure that I maintain some writing responsibilities, as that's what I enjoy doing the most). Outside work, aside from friends and other activities, I keep pretty busy with my "kid" -- my Irish setter/retriever mix Neely ( I'll post her picture soon, and I'm sure you'll agree that she's the greatest dog ever). MIlwaukee itself has actually grown and evolved since I've been here, and it's fun, but I wouldn't rule out more change as I keep my eyes open for some new scenery, either. Who knows what another 10 years will bring, aside from more wrinkles!