Guilty Pleasures

Friends,

There’s a certain gratification that comes from imposing order on chaos. Whether it’s crafting a story, assembling a puzzle or building a project, every completed stage is delightful, even though there may never be a “finished product”. One of my guilty pleasures, genealogy, has mutated beyond a one-dimensional search for ancestors into a quest to tackle the social fabric that connects me to the world. My genealogical web (family tree seems an inadequate metaphor) has metastasized into a large and eclectic collection of interweaving connections between folks with varying degrees of affiliation. Think of it as seven degrees of JP González. The only rule for getting added is holding some relation with someone who is already on the tree. As you might imagine, this means a good chunk of folks on the tree hold little or no blood relation to yours truly. Still, it’s satisfying to connect the dots and, particularly rewarding when I get to merge individuals. A son is also a husband (perhaps married several times), and a father who, thus, may appear multiple times – depending on the context in which he was found and added. Another rewarding activity is purely circumstantial: it’s when the quantity of people in the database reaches a memorable number. I recently surpassed 66,666 individuals (which warrants celebrating with a screenshot). To help put that into perspective, if we were talking about donuts, that would be 5,555.5 dozen!

I’m betting you too fall down the rabbit hole once in a while. What secret obsession gets you carried away? Or, are you that unicorn that leads a perfectly balanced life? In either event, I’d love to hear from you, so drop me a note whilst celebrating national donut day by scarfing down that pumpkin spice donut (or cruller?)

Happy National Donut Day!

P.S. Not sure what to do to celebrate? Get a free donut at a participating purveyor, or, better yet, stay at a donut-themed hotel room!

Comments

Ashes to Ashes

Friends, I don’t know about you, but my household tends to use things a tad beyond their reasonably useful life. Cars, razors, pillows... heck, we squeezed the last BTU out of our home’s 25 year old thermostat —15 years is for rookies. This week we bid our fire pit farewell. Structurally unstable and rusted to the core, this contrivance was well on its way to returning to the soil. Memories of s’mores, cigars and shared spirits come rushing back, as does the six foot tall cardboard peach burned atop it, which caused the first stress fractures in the waning days of 2019. Good times! I suppose nothing lasts forever, but memories can add a sense of permanence to the fleeting. So go, grab a donut and make some new memories!! Happy Friday!

To an end to Covid Games

Friends, As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to remember and be grateful for another year of life – there’s much for which to be grateful. Sure, some things could have gone better (they always can), but on balance things were good. At the González household, the cathartic process of capturing this year’s essence to burn at midnight is wrapping-up. This year’s theme, “Covid Games from home” uses Squid games (Netflix’s unlikely breakaway hit) as a way to mock the two main Covid variants of concern (Delta and Omicron) and commiserate about working from home with all the weirdness it carries along. Comfy slippers combined with dressing-up from the waist up for zoom meetings (not to mention the quarantine fifteen). As I hope for lots of snow and no wind (lest we need to call an audible on the midnight burn) my thoughts turn to my friends in Boulder county and hopes for a quick recovery. May 2022 bring an end to confinement and lots of opportunities to share donuts. Happy Friday!

BIrds of a Feather

Friends, The early bird catches the worm, however, as the sun rises I’d much rather have a Denver omelet than a diet of worms . Ready to fly the coop, my ducks all in a row, I ponder one more time whether a bird in hand is truly worth two in the bush. Egged-on by my quest to tuck away a nest egg, I’ve decided to change industries and hope that, like the phoenix, my career will also rise from the ashes of change. After all, I’m no spring chicken –my crow’s feet and gray bely my age – however, I have to trust my judgment and believe you can’t catch this old bird with chaff (whether or not folks think me an odd bird for my actions). And so I shall attempt to soar like an eagle, aware that counting my chickens before they hatch would be ill-advised. As I learn to talk turkey in the language of cybersecurity, I will endeavor not to hide my head in the sand, choosing instead to be like a duck – calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath! And while my excessive use of bird-inspired

Friday Donuts

Search This Blog