Briefcase Bonanza

Friday August 7th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL

I continue to unearth scraps of paper with notes I thought were gone forever. I’ve been a stickler over the years for writing ideas down in duplicate or sometimes triplicate or more but keeping track of all those copies has presented a whole new challenge and I stink at it.

I’ve had my computer crash and lose every single bit of information I’ve ever needed on it in addition to having another stolen out of my car. Two scenarios, one result. I’m totally screwed. Now it’s much easier to back things up but for years I’ve been doing it my way.

My way isn’t necessarily the right or the best way and I’m the first to admit it. I tried the best I could to at least have a chance at saving my ideas in case some crisis came up and it always has. The trouble is I’ve put the notes in various boxes and I’ve moved so much it’s pretty much impossible to keep track of where all those boxes are. It’s like a giant puzzle.

Today I found a briefcase I’d been saving but never really used. I was about to throw it out but decided to check inside and see if I’d been stupid enough to store anything I could use inside. I was. I found a notebook sprinkled with ideas from 1996 when I lived in L.A.

I loved Los Angeles and still do but when I lived there I was in a horrible space due to all that was going on in my life then. I’d been fired from a radio job in Reno and was also trying to untangle myself from the infamous bank robbery nightmare. I was preoccupied.

Through that whole ugly mess I did manage to keep notes and I’m very glad I did. I had some very solid ideas then but wasn’t able to follow up on them because of the huge array of problems in my life that required my immediate attention. I wrote them down and there they’ve sat untouched until today. It was like I took a trip in a time machine back to 1996.

My whole life would have been different had I stayed out there and I desperately wanted to but financially I just couldn’t. I was out of money and had to start going out on the road to pay bills and that’s not smart at all. I wasn’t ready to get a day job out there so I left for Chicago with full intentions of going back someday. So far I haven’t been able to do that.

If I had half a reason and a little bit of financial security I’d move back there in half of a jiffy. I love the vibe of California and I know it has problems but where doesn’t? I love it out there and if I had my choice that’s where I’d live. Chicago is great too and it’s easy to live here so that’s why I stay but in a perfect world I’d never have left California in 1996.

This is far from a perfect world though and we all have to do what it takes to survive. If I have to stay in Chicago but am able to make a great living and be creatively satisfied I’ll be fine with that. The main thing is that I’m doing something to keep improving and I am.

The notes from my L.A. days are very interesting. It’s like I’m peeking into the brain of a completely different person. Most of the ideas I didn’t remember at all so I’ll pick those I like and see what I can do with them today. Now I can finally throw that briefcase away.