When Wandering Off Course Becomes the Path
The Friday High 5
Sometimes I think about how much of my life has been a result of happy accidents. Occasions where, had I turned left instead of right, I’d be living an entirely different life. Would perhaps even be a different person.
I guess that’s life in a nutshell, but it is interesting to think about.
I move to a tiny, Bavarian-themed Northern Michigan town the summer before 10th grade. During the school year, I change my schedule to take World History. Because the class is already in progress, all the choice seats are claimed. I’m forced to sit in the front. The teacher takes my proximity as a sign of eagerness, and calls upon me often. Even when I don't volunteer as tribute.
Whenever the girl behind me misses class, I slide back a seat. I become friends with the girl two seats behind me. We start dating two years later. We’ve been married 25 years.
I’m in college but have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. I think I want to do something in business (though if I’d listened to my heart, I would’ve double-majored in History and English and damned the job prospects). I try Accounting, and then Finance, and decide I'd rather be homeless.
During my Junior year, I randomly bump into someone I know from Middle School. I admit I'm lost on my career track.
He's getting a computer degree with a business slant. He encourages me to do the same.
“Isn’t programming hard?” I ask.
“Nah, it’s super easy dude.”
I discover I really enjoy programming. It's a form of creativity, of bringing something into the world where nothing was before.
I’ve worked in IT my entire career.
Life is exciting and full of promise when we’re young. As you get older, there are ever-fewer forks left to take. The tracks have been laid and the train rumbles relentlessly forward. Getting off remains an option, but inertia and routine keep us in our seats, even if the view is boringly familiar.
I’ve been working from home since December 2020. It’s a privilege and a dream come true, but even working in your pajamas loses its luster eventually. When every day is almost exactly the same, time loses all meaning; with that lost perspective, life itself gets fuzzy around the edges.
If magic exists, it does not live on well-trod paths; the bustle and roar of industry leave no place for it. Magic needs silence to flourish. It favors crooked alleys and ill-lit apothecaries and the dark nook of libraries where the perfume of aged paper is the strongest. There’s a reason most fairy tales take place in the woods, where the shadows are deepest.
There is uncertainty in braving the unknown. But without stepping off the path, there can be no adventure.
Six years ago, I was a self-published novelist trying to find readers. A random Gary Vaynerchuck podcast—don’t judge—convinced me to try writing on Medium. I didn’t find the fiction readers I was looking for, but what I found was something better. I discovered I loved writing about pop culture.
And in a roundabout way, that led me to this newsletter. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.
All the best things in my life happened due to chances that seemed insignificant in the moment, but made all the difference in the end.
Become a supporter for $3 a month!
Subscribers gain access to an ever-growing list of exclusive articles.
You can extend the value by filling out a brief reader survey.
Every Friday I share 5 things I enjoyed this week. Also, high fives are inherently cool, and I think we can all agree Friday is the bestest day. Hence the Friday High 5. 🙏🏻Cobra Kai: Season 6 - Part 2
The names of these shows, man. They’re filthy with extra punctuation.
We are in the final episode or two—I haven’t looked ahead—and Cobra Kai is bringing it. I haven’t been the happiest with all the crazy turns this karate soap opera has taken. I think it works best as a Johnny Lawrence vehicle in which Daniel LaRusso is a side character, but Cobra Kai usually has it the other way around. I’ll have more to say about that in a week or two, once I wrap up the show.
I don’t want to spoil anything if you aren’t caught-up, but man. This baby is firing on all cylinders.
Kinda Pregnant
We landed on this movie last weekend while looking for something funny to watch. And after I fired it up, it dawned on me that I don’t think I’ve ever actually enjoyed an Amy Schumer film. I’ve tried several but her whole “look at me” vibe rubs me the wrong way, I guess.
So maybe I set myself up to be pleasantly surprised, but I don’t think so. This movie is genuinely funny and heartwarming.
Schumer plays a woman who kinda sorta accidentally poses as a pregnant woman and decides she likes the attention she gets. So she keeps running with it. And then she falls for a guy, and yeah. Bit of a problem.
I laughed a ton. Great Saturday night movie.
Suits
We started Suits at least a year ago and powered through the first 6 seasons (it was legitimately all we were watching for several months). And then during season 7 we got burnt out. The sameness of it all was too obvious to ignore. Mike does something stupid. Harvey gets pissed. Louis does something even stupider. Harvey gets pissed. Donna is above it all.
We started up season 7 and I’m happy to report it’s good again. I mean, it’s still the same formula. But absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Gelato from Aldi
I know—I’m as surprised as you are.
We ran into Aldi after dinner one night to grab a loaf of sourdough bread. And since we were there, I decided to check the freezer section because sometimes they have Oreo ice cream cake.
No Oreo cake. But they had a cartons of gelato. One in particular caught our eye: cherry amaretto.
I don’t have the words to describe how good it was. Kinda embarrassing since I’m a writer, but I know my limits.
Anyway, we’ll be going back to Aldi soon.
The Union
I didn’t have the best hopes going into this one, but the premise was interesting. Mark Wahlberg plays a construction worker who’s recruited into working for a CIA-type unit that is comprised completely of blue collar people. Because they’re invisible in their ubiquity, or something. Hey—I didn’t say it was a good premise. Just that it caught my eye.
Halle Berry plays his boss / ex-girlfriend. Imagine if Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker had dated before all the Force training. That seems like a horrible analogy but the romantic chemistry is not far off.
On the Netflix action movie scale, this one falls in The Gray Man tier. Pretty bland, pretty forgettable, didn’t completely hate it.
Your turn!
What’s giving you good vibes this week? Let me know so I can check it out.
The White Lotus-- Love Thailand. Like Walton Goggins in anything and miss Jennifer Coolidge in anything. Hate all the ugly Americans.
I watch movies and shows - my wife watches sports, and that's about it. Occasionally, I convince her to sit down and watch a movie with me. I try to choose something I think she'll really like or I let her pick, which is what we did the other night. She picked "Inside Out 2." She wanted to see it in the theater but I didn't remind her when it was out, so we missed it... and it was my fault. (Maybe she'll let me live that down now...?)
So, we watched the movie together while sipping gin and tonic... and we both really enjoyed it! People who got all hung up on it not delving into the true complexities of teen emotions and whatnot? C'mon, man. It's a Pixar movie. Go watch an Indie film or something. (I almost completely judge a movie by how entertained I feel while watching it.)
(SPOILER ALERT)
Anyway, during the climactic scene, when Sadness says, "Joy... Riley wants you," I lost it. All of the stress I've been under just came gushing out. After all the horrible things my coworkers and I are being put through, it felt like MY sadness was recognizing that I desperately need more joy in my life. Not more sadness or anxiety or anger. I need more joy.
Eric - thanks for all your work on All the Fanfare. I look forward to seeing your emails in my inbox. They bring me just a little bit of joy - and that's what many of us need right now.