It’s January twentieth. Presidents are inaugurated on this day, but I’m not a President. Instead, I hereby inaugurate this blog, 2nd Chance, and begin the process of determining what it’s all about. It is, of course, about second chances; that’s the premise. But more than that, it will be about what one does with that second chance. Can any of us go back and do it all over? Of course not. But why not do it over now? What has really changed, other than our outward appearance and whatever influence we’ve had on the cosmos in the intervening years.
Thirty years ago I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my life. I had a fuzzy vision of myself as a musician, as a bass player, and as a composer, but I didn’t ever have a clear idea of how I was going to get there. I also had smaller dreams of writing something, but that was on the back burner. No; it wasn’t even on the burner. It was in the back room, in a box tucked under the couch, something that I might think about from time to time. Something that I would more than likely forget.
Except I haven’t forgotten. Between then and now it became clear that I was never going to be a rock-and-roll musician, and a recent hand injury has made that a certainty. Between then and now I managed to get myself a degree in computer science, but I never really wanted to be a programmer. Maybe I entertained thoughts of writing the Next Big Game, but those were fantasies. Like the dream of being a musician, I never had a clear idea of how to get there.
It’s 2011 now, far removed — in human terms — from 1969, the year I first went to college. Far removed from 1975 or so, the year I first got engaged. Not so far removed from 2000, the year I finally got married. Hardly removed from 2009, the year my last company eliminated my job. It is time to do something different, something that I should have done twenty years ago, maybe thirty years ago. It’s time for a second chance.
I should establish some ground rules. I have a wife and a daughter, and I am not about to refer to either one by their actual names. My daughter will be Penelope; I already know that. But what to call my wife? Nothing comes to mind right now, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. I have already given myself a name on this blog, and I think I’ll stick with it for now.