Hello, my name is Philip. I am a member of Generation X in mid-life. Sometimes I can’t believe how quickly the decades have passed, but then I make a ’70s or ’80s pop culture reference and can judge from the blank stares of younger folks that I came of age in a different era.
This blog breaks the number one rule that most of those “Blogging 101” references provide. It is “general interest,” lacking in a particular specialty. I am–by my very nature–an eclectic guy. I find connections in things that no one else seems to get. A good bit of the time, it causes people to roll their eyes at me, but once in a while, one of those little asides turns into something creative.
I love to express myself and am looking for ways to push the envelope in terms of my writing skills. There are a host of passions that interest me: books, movies, music, politics, history/culture, faith/spirituality, eating/drinking and travel. I tend to think out loud and offer my two-cents worth on just about anything, hopefully not in a way that is annoying or whinny. Rather, I value the meaningful connections that happen when people open themselves up to sharing their ideas and experiences.
I grew up in rural Western Kentucky with a pretty Mayberry kind of childhood and then moved around a bit in the Bluegrass state during my young adulthood. Yet, I have been in Nashville long enough that it feels like home at this point. I live here with my patient and supportive partner and have a pretty full and enjoyable life for which I feel blessed. I also have a close-knit immediate family who all live nearby and a pretty cool extended family on both sides in Kentucky and scattered other places.
After a liberal-arts education with a couple of different twists and turns, I found my way to the book industry. I work in marketing for a wholesale distributor headquartered outside of Music City. My job involves technology, but I am not really obsessed with gadgets and screens. Rather, I value the digital world as a means to an end, a way to communicate and engage. So, I know how to do the Internet thing, but if the World Wide Web crashed tomorrow, and we had to go back to the era of rotary phones, I would be okay.
I guess I could sum up things by saying that I am the sort of guy who savors every moment and detail. To quote the late great John Lennon, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Whether I am at work or at play, being serious or funny, I am determined to find meaning and purpose. After all, it’s not a dress rehearsal.
Coloring Outside the Lines 