Looking back on a quick decade
Just a few weeks ago while browsing the book section at Costco (conveniently, albeit confusingly, located between bulk athletic socks and DVD box sets) I spotted Michael Chabon's new collection of essays on modern manhood and fatherdom.
Without much thought I dropped "Manhood for Amateurs" into the cart and have spent the last few weeks reading these smart little jewels of humor that are fiery, like shots of whiskey, but that I can seemingly consume without ill effect.
Chabon is as snappy as ever, but this work is intensely personal and it somehow got me thinking about when I first heard of Chabon and heard him speak roughly ten years ago at a Jewish book festival on an otherwise dreary December night in Walnut Creek, Ca. What startled me most was that this had happened nearly a decade ago and how my life had changed in the ensuing years.
Today I find myself passionately married, living in Seattle, working as an art director and caring for a small but affectionate beagle - all this is several apartments, three cities, two roommates, one college degree and many lifetimes away from the 17-year-old who sat rapt at the thought of working as a professional writer. When a decade slips away this quickly I have to wonder where my priorities lie, and ask myself if I have lost track of the person I longed to be.
Technorati: Newspaper | Journalism | Blogging | Writing | Media
Without much thought I dropped "Manhood for Amateurs" into the cart and have spent the last few weeks reading these smart little jewels of humor that are fiery, like shots of whiskey, but that I can seemingly consume without ill effect.
Chabon is as snappy as ever, but this work is intensely personal and it somehow got me thinking about when I first heard of Chabon and heard him speak roughly ten years ago at a Jewish book festival on an otherwise dreary December night in Walnut Creek, Ca. What startled me most was that this had happened nearly a decade ago and how my life had changed in the ensuing years.
Today I find myself passionately married, living in Seattle, working as an art director and caring for a small but affectionate beagle - all this is several apartments, three cities, two roommates, one college degree and many lifetimes away from the 17-year-old who sat rapt at the thought of working as a professional writer. When a decade slips away this quickly I have to wonder where my priorities lie, and ask myself if I have lost track of the person I longed to be.
Technorati: Newspaper | Journalism | Blogging | Writing | Media
