Of Ghosts, Posts, Baristas, and Crossing the Finish Line

Yes, a second post today. I wasn't planning on writing this one, but I wanted to commemorate a moment that's been 15 years in the making... and a conversation with a barista who went above and beyond.

First, I want to acknowledge a huge debt of gratitude to three people without whom this moment would not have occurred. I don't think I could have written it without their love and support, even when I wasn't really offering much progress in return. Words hardly seems sufficient... but, here is a huge thank you. ❤️

This moment commemorates the completion of a blog post I've been working on for the past three weeks. It's all done, minus a few minor gaps that need to be dashed off, probably in an hour or two of writing. It's the final piece of the autobiographical series of posts I called The Chronicles of Cass. 

I wrote nearly 25 pages on Saturday, and over 40 pages today (all by hand - that was how I wrote the entire post, ~ 100 pages total). I was determined, once I started, that I was going to finish this once and for all, and do it today. And I did. 

I wrote it all in one five hour session at a Starbucks down the street from my friend F, where I'm staying for the moment. I only stopped once, when one of the baristas came over and quietly put a fresh iced coffee on my table. I hadn't touched the one I'd purchased three-plus hours before. I thanked her and offered to pay, but she shook her head.

"Whatever you're working on must be pretty intense," she said, adding, "It's none of my business, of course."

"It''s OK," I told her. "It is intense. It's for my blog. It's something I should've written a long time ago."

"It must be important. You like you've seen a ghost, to be honest," she said.

I had to laugh a bit.

"I guess I have," I said. "I'll probably write a post about this conversation, if that's OK with you."

It was. 🙂 So, one more thank you to C, the friendly barista who knew just what I needed at that moment.

I plan to start typing up this massive post tonight... if I don't fall asleep first. Ghosts can have that effect on you, I guess, especially once you're ready to bid them adieu.

***

A few songs about spirits to round up this post. First, a lovely song from The Psychedelic Furs, from their classic Mirror Moves album - "The Ghost In You":

Robyn Hitchcock, a personal favorite of yours truly, does a terrific cover:

Speaking of personal favorites, here's one from the Indigo Girls. This is a song from Rites of Passage, called "Ghost." 

That does it for this one. Until next time, then...

Musings: It's All About Community

This is an older post I drafted some time ago that for some reason has never been  published.

Until now. 🙂

It's sort of a placeholder while I work on something really big (see below). Meanwhile, I thought this was interesting enough (I hope) to share. So, follow along below after the jump.

Read more »

Vignettes: The Nerf Ball Conventions

So, I've been writing furiously since I began to emerge from the dark period I referenced previously. I have quite a backlog of topics I want - need, in some instances - to write about, just for myself, as I'm making up for lost time, 

This isn't one of those posts... but it is about those posts. 🙂

Curious? Follow along below.

Read more »

My Letter To Me

As promised/threatened in the initial post of Cassidy's Quest: The Reboot, I'm going to make an effort to write on a regular basis again. This is a short one, the result of a recent writing exercise in which I took part. The assignment: write a letter of compassion/like/love to yourself. I decided to do something a bit different and write a letter from pre-transition me to myself, Cassidy. Here's what he/I had to say. 🙂

Read more »

No Better Than This

This is apropos of nothing I've been writing about, but these assorted clips are as good as it gets. 

First up are Marty Stuart and his incredible band tearing it up on Letterman back in 2011. (The guitarist in the cowboy hat is Kenny Vaughan, btw.) I've watched this seven times in a row tonight. You will not see a better performance than this. Enjoy!

This is a much quieter song and performance, but equally intense in its own way. Kim Richey has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard and is a superb songwriter to boot. This is my favorite song of hers, from back in 1999. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Next, an insanely catchy number from Utopia, led by the brilliant Todd Rundgren. Check out those amazing live harmonies. You won't be able to get this song out of your head, but it's so good you won't mind.

Utopia made a charming, ultra-low budget video for this back in 1982. I love their warped sense of humor.

Finally, the title track (and title of this post) from John Mellencamp's terrific 2010 album:

That is all, folks. We will resume our normal programming in a few more days. 🙂

Feeling Better

As promised in a previous post, here's a (necessarily) brief update on exactly what has made this blog a content-free zone the past five years. (I also simultaneously published a post about my family during the same time period.) Follow along below the fold.

Read more »

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

After my re-introduction post a few days ago, I thought I would follow up with a catch-up post attempting to briefly summarize the past five years since I last posted here. I'll likely expand on at least some of these in greater depth in the weeks and months to come. I thought I would simultaneously publish two posts: one about myself and this one, about my family. You can find the one about myself here. And follow below the jump.

Read more »