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Midlife Leap II

Midlife Crisis Averted Postponed

The dusty caboose
of my fourth decade
lumbers closer, closer.
Hobo instincts flutter.
Pack light. Jog alongside.
Jump aboard. Stow away.
Still. Stillness in motion.

Antennae Beetle, Narrow B&WI resist; the urge subsides.
The caboose rumbles past.
Silence. Solitude.

A flicker of adrenaline.
What if I could overcome
debilitating bugaboos
and bust forty’s balls?
Vanquish the to do list,
purge my doughy paunch
(literal and figurative),
de-quarantine the drafts,
indulge my latent doodler,
transform the next decade
into a parade of firsts
and at lasts… What if?

I can. I must. I will.
This is my scrapbook,
This is my chronicle.

Mobile Midlife Mashup

Mashup \ˈmash-ˌəp\ : something created by mixing, overlaying, or otherwise combining elements from two or more sources

This is a meditation. A project with uncertain boundaries and objectives. An essay in the most basic sense of an attempt or a test. This is an open notebook. This is a midlife transition lived inside out. This is a record of one man’s effort to transform a midlife crisis into a midlife leap. Glistening with inspiration. Shivering with desperation. This is the detritus of trying. This is the detritus of failing. This is the detritus of trying again. This is the detritus of midlife recycled (and hopefully upcycled) into a song; woven into a tapestry; cut into strips, dredged in paste, and papier-mâchéd into a bridge or an effigy.

Mobile Midlife Mashup

I want to redefine the relationship with my smart phone, the ubiquitous lint covered efficiency gadget in my pocket. I want to stretch it like silly putty. Bend it. Repurpose it. Transform it from practical communications, information and time management tool into whimsical creativity tool. From albatross to sketchbook.

The human hand is the original digital device, the original mobile digital device. These mashups are all “handmade” because they were born on my mobile phone or tablet.

Handmade in the digital age. With old and new digital devices.

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