Where now?

So I realize I have not really contributed much to this blogging experiment even though I read it almost daily. I am kind of disappointed in myself even though I know that I don’t have to post anything if I don’t want to. I’d still like to see some more from myself and some others.

So, this Gauguin picture hangs in my bedroom. If you could look closely enough, in the upper left hand corner are a few words written in French: “D'ou venons-nous? Qui sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous? The words translate to: Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?” Gauguin painted this work after abandoning his poor family and moving to Tahiti.

Then we have this picture...

No, these are not Albanian terrorists or part of Bulgaria's 1974 World Cup soccer team. What we have here is a picture of my dad and three of his brothers. These four men abandoned their homeland to find a better life in the United States. Clearly that must have been a difficult decision because just by looking at them you can tell they must have lived like kings in Greece. They ate big meals for lunch with Greek wine and Greek Coke (which like Mexican Coke is twice as good as what we get here), then they took long afternoon naps before gelling their hair with olive oil and heading to the discoteca. They may not have wanted to come to a new country and learn a new language and social customs but they believed a better life awaited them and they could only attain that life if they took chances. It's unfortunate that they had to give up so many great things in Greece to come here, but that is how things work sometimes.

That leads to the future...

As for where we are all going, its hard to say. Most of us are now spread across the country: Tc is in Iowa, Hatfield in L.A., Soham in Minnesota, Alexis in Florida, and by Wednesday Scabs will be in Kansas City. Only a few of us remain in Chicago. I have to admit I'm feeling a little abandoned. Yet I know that my friends need to take those chances and risks to make their own lives better. So, even though I want everyone to be around I also want everyone to move to a new homeland or create new art or do whatever else we all have to do. That's one of the reasons I like this blog so much. We can do those new things without abandoning what we already have. I am going to work harder to do my part. So specifically to Scabs and Sesh, and somewhat to Soham: Get on board and let's keep this thing going. After that we'll figure out what's next.