Musings: Six Months (And Change), a/k/a The Best Is Yet To Come

Happy Saturday!

This is not the epic I mentioned in my previous post; just a quick one to note an anniversary that literally slipped past me unnoticed:

I have been full-time for six months.

Well, six months and change; the actual anniversary was June 13th. But I was immersed in the frantic pace of the past two months and completely forgot until over a week had passed.

That I could forget is testament to how routine it has become to simply be, well... me. :c)

That is not to say I am where I want to be; far from it.

I will write more about this, but these six months have mostly been about recovering from the painful, bruising journey it took just to get to that point.

The ill-advised project I took on that has left me so drained at the moment (I worked nearly 90 hours last week, and averaged 80-ish for the previous 6-7 weeks) represents a turning point for me. It is going to be one of the last times I acted like "him" at his most self-defeating, I suspect. It has been painful, but the lesson will be worth it - once I take steps to make it so. Again, more to follow on this.

For now, I will simply say that not thinking about who I am is wonderfully refreshing. Every once in a while, though, it will hit me:

I did it.

I'm living as myself.

Maybe I'm being read. Maybe not.

But I don't really care.

Because I get to be me now, every minute of every day.

I like myself.

And that's all that matters.

The best really is yet to come, as Tony says.

And I am just getting started.

***

That photo at the top of this post was taken a few days ago. Here's how I looked on the day I went full-time last December - alternately known as The Day Cass Became A Ginger . lol
 

 I don't see a great deal of change, to be honest. Well, other than looking much more worn out in the most recent photo. lol Then again, I suppose we really are not the best judges of how much we have changed, are we? :D

***

My favorite Tony Bennett album is actually two albums - two unique albums in his vast, wonderful catalogue. In 1975 and 1976, he collaborated with the great Bill Evans, a giant of jazz piano, on a pair of duet albums that featured just the two of them: Evans on piano and Bennett on vocals.

Evans rarely accompanied singers, and Bennett typically worked with his own small small ensemble.
Both men more than rose to the occasion. The albums - The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975) and Together Again (1976) - are today rightly considered classics.

I couldn't find a video of this song, but here's a link to their performance of "Make Someone Happy."

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Make+Someone+Happy/3owI8c?src=5

Those vocals on the last chorus always give me chills. :c)

Both albums are now available as a two-disc set, including a disc of alternate versions that are more than worthy additions to their legacy. It's a treasure.