John Hendow

Shortly after midnight last night I decided to pour myself a shot of single malt and take in the view. Having arrived at the age of 46 I have nothing to add to the millenia of accumulated human wisdom. However, of some things I am certain:

1. I am blessed with good health. The thing about this is there isn’t a particularly identifiable justification for it. I didn’t earn it, I simply got dealt a decent hand. I have a few minor mileage-related issues (occasional sore back, imperfect vision, increasing use of the word “whippersnapper”), but overall I appear to be on target for a pretty long run of happy living. Thank you, genetic programming.
2. I am surrounded by amazing wonderful people. Great family, awesome wife, fabulous friends. I was thinking of how many people in this world that I love… it’s a big bunch of humans, and I am very fortunate to have so many that I call friends. Thank you for sharing your lives with me.
3. I am very lucky to have such a strong passion for music. It’s possible to spend your entire life wandering around the planet without finding your muse. Mine smacked me on the head as a kid and since that young age it’s been a huge focus for me. I love playing music. My parents thought I would outgrow this interest. They also used to tell me that I would reflect on my favorite music from my teenage years and wonder how I ever could stand such crummy stuff. We’re talking about KISS, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Miles Davis and Rush. I’ll absolutely cop to having had crappy taste in a lot of stuff as kid, but I still love all that music. I really wish I had kept my KISS lunchbox.
4. I successfully escaped the turmoil of youth without losing my grounding in what it felt like. People tend to dismiss what young people think and feel, telling them they’ll eventually look back at and (with the perspective of an adult) recognize that things weren’t all that big a deal after all. It’s arguably true in retrospect, but that doesn’t invalidate what we felt at that age. It really DID matter. I hope I never forget that when I talk with young people.
5. Monty Python is funny. Groucho Marx is funny. Spike Jones is funny. Some stuff is funny and timeless. If I ever stop laughing at Monty Python you have my permission to clobber me with a 16 tonne weight.
6. Dinosaurs are inarguably cool. My 2nd grade teacher gets credit for turning me on to dinosaurs. Thank you, Mrs. Carey, wherever you are.
7. The 1965 Mustang is the second coolest car ever made. It is only surpassed by the 1966 Batmobile from the TV series. If I’m allowed to buy a car for my midlife crisis, it’s going to be the Batmobile and I will drive it to work every day. I might even dress like Batman and pull up next to policement at stop lights and say “greetings, fellow crimefighter”.
8. Beer and coffee are actually tasty. I didn’t believe this in my youth because the only beer I could get ahold of was Olympia (ack) since that’s what my dad liked, and he used to drink instant coffee (ack). Since then we’ve both grown up and now we both enjoy better beer and better coffee.
9. My parents are actually pretty cool. I still hope they’re finally going to tell me they adopted me from a passing group of mysterious traveling minstrels (thus explaining my music thing). Oh, and the part about how the minstrels were insanely rich and now are completely dead except for me, thus making me the sole heir to their zillions of dollars. But until such time as they inform me of my true heritage, I’m pretty pleased with them as parents.
10. Despite my occasional jokes about being raised by penguins, I really do appreciate the years I spent in Catholic school. The experiences, friendships, and moral grounding was valuable and meaningful. I am also glad that I transferred to a public high school and graduated with a combined perspective. Those years among the nuns and priests were actually not so bad. Although I still have an irrational fear of rulers.