It’s my buddy Matt, his wife Danielle, and their kids Hannah and Donald.
Matt’s a great dude. We worked together for 14 years. Fellow Xavier alums. You won’t meet a more gregarious guy than Matt. He knows everyone, and is always quick to help folks connect. A true “glue guy” in the best sense.
He’s a giver too. When his wife Danielle was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, he took it upon himself to spearhead our company’s involvement in the Ride Cincinnati event that raises funds for local cancer research, education, and care. Heck, he even rode a bike into one of our all-company meetings to drum up more riders and support.
A couple of years ago, he had nice things to say about our Ride ride (no, I didn’t stutter) and about me.
Right back at you, Matt!
Here’s the All-American family today:
Danielle fought the good fight. She was beating breast cancer. But then, a few months ago, the cancer had not only returned but had spread rapidly. She passed away last month. She was 49. So young. So unfair.
“Heartbreaking” doesn’t do it justice. To have been side by side with your life partner through the cancer battle (double mastectomy, chemo, radiation, dozens of doctors visits and tests…) and to hope and pray that maybe you were one of the lucky ones… only to have the cancer come back with a vengeance, and have your whole life upended in the blink of an eye.
And now Matt’s a single parent, raising two young kids. The math doesn’t work nearly as well – not just financially, but also from a practical standpoint. Soccer, baseball, theater, whatever… one person can’t be in two places at the same time. We take “watching the kids” for granted when we have a spouse. When that partner passes away, it creates an enormous void, across the board. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically. Practically. And yes, financially. Friends of Matt have set up a GoFundMe for the puzzle that will always have a piece missing.
“If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you”
My dad faced that same void. Four kids under age 7, and a wife passing away from leukemia at the age of 33. So young. So unfair.
I don’t think my dad ever really recovered. How can you? But I’ll do my best to make sure that Matt, the gregarious guy I know and love, has my support. Not just this month, but ongoing. It’ll take a lot of love and support. Which can be as simple as giving one of his kids a ride to practice.
We can’t fill the void, but I hope we can make it slightly less scary.
This past Friday, several of my college friends and I shared a toast.
Not this kind:
And not this kind either:
Although I wish it were – it’d be a lot less sad.
This was a coast-to-coast toast to our dearly departed friend LJ. Friday would’ve been his 62nd birthday. Instead it was his first heavenly birthday.
My old college roommate Art and his wife Sheila picked up LJ’s wife Patty and went to a church fish fry (’tis the season) where Patty’s college suitemate Joyce and I met up with them. Then we walked to a nearby brewery taproom to raise a glass to LJ.
Because I care about connection (or maybe I’m just a sentimental sap), I asked the rest of the XU crew to send along a photo of them toasting LJ, so I could share the pix with Patty. Raising some spirits to raise spirits.
Unlike when we were in college, this time our XU crew completed their homework assignment with flying colors.
Phil and Suzanne (Patty’s volleyball teammate at XU) were in Sonoma County in California, visiting Katy (another XU alum).
Vinnie checked in from his snowbird perch in Naples, FL.
Closer to home, Mike & Missy posted a toast from their regular Friday hangout in Indianapolis…
And their daughter-in-law Donna and daughter Colleen (who met LJ and Patty in Florida last September) also joined in.
Billy raised a glass in Akron.
Kevin in D.C. got artistic with his shot.
Rick and his wife Chris checked in from Delray Beach, FL.
Walter and his wife Blakey paid tribute in Louisville, KY.
Tom got kids and grandkids in on the action. A sippy cup salute!
Brian was on vacation somewhere, but he still sent his love.
Mike B. – looking much more dapper than usual – also checked in from Indy.
And Mrs. Dubbatrubba – who couldn’t join us at the brewery due to her work schedule – raised a Muskie glass for our Muskie friend.
We weren’t together, yet we were together.
The same holds true for our bond with LJ. Even though we’re no longer together, we’re always together. Forever and ever. Cheers to that!
Operation Epstein Distraction II is underway. The “very stable genius” and the man who ended seven… no, make that eight, wars, has now destabilized the entire Middle East. Because allegedly Iran was a week away from nukes. Even though the aforementioned very stable genius claimed that he “totally obliterated” their nuclear program about eight months ago. Those Iranian scientists are quite industrious — maybe we should get them to work on lowering the price of groceries, or the cost of U.S. healthcare, or on releasing all of the Epstein files.
Here are some great questions:
There’s not a plan. There’s never a plan. Only greed, revenge, ego trips. Elect a person with the impulse control of a toddler and this is what you get. This is what we get. This is what soldiers are dying for…
Here are some more points to ponder:
#5 is the most salient. Wars are easy to start and hard to stop.
Have we learned nothing from Afghanistan? Iraq? Vietnam?
Kudos to the folks who spun up the DraftBarronTrump.com website after the very stable genius started dropping bombs (other than the ones in his diaper).
The very stable genius creates a mess, and we have to clean it up. (Now we know how the White House staff feels after he hurls another ketchup bottle.) This mess will go on for years, if not decades. Why? And now what?
(The tweets above and the link to the DraftBarronTrump website are courtesy of Jeff Tiedrich’s daily Substack posts, which are “The Emperor has no clothes” on steroids. Equal parts profane and profound.)
3 shows. 9 performers. From all over the musical spectrum.
Friday was Wussy with Advance Base and Moontype. Indie rock.
Saturday was a singer/songwriter “listening room” showcase featuring shorter sets from Sami Riggs, Lydia Shae, and Ash Taylor. Country-leaning.
Sunday was a punk show with Snõõper, Shrudd, and Pal. Three short but very high energy sets.
Am I too old for rock and roll? (Jethro Tull said I was.) I don’t think so. But I was on the fence for last night’s show. My buddy Dave and I were supposed to go. Dave’s son Jack works at a recording studio in Nashville and has worked with Snõõper. But Dave’s other son — who also lives in Nashville and is an ace guitarist — was in a car accident over the weekend. Concussion and dislocated shoulder… and totaled car. So Dave went down to Nashville. And I was trying to talk myself out of going to the Sunday show. But our mutual friend Matt took Dave’s ticket. So off I went. And I’m so glad I did. Matt and I brought the audience’s average age up by 20 years, but we didn’t care. In fact, we fed off the energy of the kids in the band and the kids in the mosh pit (yes, there was one!).
I know my music obsession isn’t normal. But then again, neither am I.
There used to be a large pool/amusement park near our house called Coney Island.
They tore it down a couple of years ago (to make room for a new concert shed, btw). But I will always remember the George Bernard Shaw they had painted on a wall that faced the street:
Sub out “going to concerts” for “playing” and that’s me!
On Valentine’s Day, FeedSpot released their list of the “100 Best Indie Music Podcasts.”
You probably didn’t even know that there were 100 podcasts about indie music. (Neither did I!)
But if you scroll down the list… keep scrolling… just a bit more… there, that’s it! You’ll find this gem:
“97X – Rumblings from the Big Bush” is the weirdly-named, shoddily produced podcast that I co-host with my friend and former 97X colleague Dave. I’ve posted about it before:
My 97X buddy Dave and I started a podcast a few years ago, recording episodes in my basement. We had no idea what we were doing. Still don’t, honestly. “Shoestring budget” would be inaccurate. No budget. Actually it’s a “loss leader” given the hosting and website fees we pay. We’ve done very little promotion of it. But somehow, someway, the small-but-mighty group of people who loved 97X found it.
The podcast about 97X seems like a fool’s errand. Very few people listened to the station when it existed, and it’s been off the air for two decades (or a mere 15 years if you include the dot-com era). But the people who listened to the station absolutely loved it. And somehow, some way, despite the lack of promotion (and the weird name of “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush”), they found the podcast. As I tell Dave all the time “every time we publish a new episode, we make 150 people very happy.” Through the pod, we’ve been able to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, talk to musicians we admire (the latest episode features two members of Too Much Joy), and create a place for folks to relive some of their fondest memories. And hanging out with Dave — one of the most naturally funny people I’ve ever met — is always a treat.
Never heard of our podcast? You’re not alone. 99.99% of the world has never heard of it, much less heard it. But for the few, the proud, the folks who remember a tiny “modern rock” station in Oxford, Ohio, the podcast was pretty darn cool. It helped them reconnect with the station, the music, and the people that meant a lot to them.
“I am not sure you guys realize just what impact having this modern rock format has had on my life… your podcast has brought about all of these thoughts, feelings, and memories of the soundtrack of 21 years on my life. I thank you for playing your part in it back then and I thank you for creating this podcast to help me process just what those 21 years have meant to me.”
“Thanks for the pod. It is like finally being able to talk with someone about the treasure that was WOXY.”
We tried to end the podcast a couple of years ago, but we missed it.
Now we’re back with “Season Two”… which really just means more of the same hijinks.
#33 on the FeedSpot list is great. But the measures that matter most to Dave and me are having fun, and creating something that our (admittedly tiny) audience enjoys. We’re still making 150 people happy every time we release an episode. Like Seth Godin says, “that’s enough.”
You probably won’t come up with a better mousetrap. But you might find the empathy and focus to find a small group of people with a more specific problem and solve it for them in a way that earns you trust, traction and word of mouth.
That’s enough.
BTW, the latest episode features our interview with Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, the leaders of the band Wussy, and two of my all-time favorite songwriters.
Kevin Sullivan on War… why? And now what?: “I read your post Damian and I like it very much. As we move from a Saturday morning headline of…” Mar 3, 09:22
Damian on Smartphones are making us dumb.: “Thanks for (not) reading the post, Kevin. And thanks for mentioning several other formats (article, essay, poem) that can train…” Feb 23, 19:55
Kevin on Smartphones are making us dumb.: “You know I didn’t read your post because I don’t need to. The lack of reading of all generations reveals…” Feb 23, 10:32
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