Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
The other day I was hopping around Nashville doing deliveries for Uber Eats (click here to learn why Uber Eats is better than Postmates) and came across this slow, un-sporty vehicle.
OK, OK, I’m being facetious. It’s a beautiful car worth somewhere around the $200,000 mark, give or take 10 years salary. But something else also happened while I driving around. This…
Yeah, that’s a bug in my Yeti tumbler! I don’t care if you have a McLaren, a Mercedes, or you just ride around on a Bird scooter, finding an insect in your drink will ruin your day. Plus, I can’t stop thinking about how many times I drank from it before noticing the bug. Gag. I guess using those lids with the Magslider really pays off sometimes. FYI, you can pick up one of those lids on Amazon by clicking here, and before you have an experience like I did, I suggest you order one soon!
There’s a woman I dated a long time ago and I know one day she’s going to get engaged. It’s something I think about, wondering how I’ll react when I hear the news. Some days I I’ll be OK with it, and other days I think it’ll be devastating. It’s not like I’m competing or anything… hoping to to get a mark in the W column if I get married before she does. I mean, at this point, any “marriage” competition I’ve had with anyone has ended up as a loss for me. I’m 41 and single!!!
There were semi-valid reasons she and I broke up and I know part of what’s happening with me since then is sort of what’s in the song “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)” by Baz Luhrmann… specifically what’s in bold here:
Be careful whose advice you buy but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
In other words, I may be looking at the relationship through rose-colored glasses. I know for a fact it wasn’t all peachy all the time. I can’t explain why I still have dreams about her or if it means anything at all. In my low points, I think I missed my chance at love and marriage because she’s going to get engaged and it should’ve been me. That thought alone makes my heart sink.
I’m this close to accepting that, because I’ve sort of screwed up my love life, I’ll be paying for it the rest of my days on earth. I didn’t mean to make this post such a downer (sorry!), but then I figured, why not reveal a little more about what goes on in my mind and heart concerning relationships.
When I first wrote about this music video (Who’s the dude in the video), it was at 1.8 million views on YouTube. Now, less than a year later, it’s up to 17.2 million views. Congrats to Ingrid on her success with this song and video!
Anywho, that post I referenced above was about the guy in the video. But you might be wondering who the lead actress is. Well, her name is Kathryn Walters.
She comes from a family of 6, according to this Vimeo video she posted in 2019.
She’s either engaged or married to a guy named Mahlon Stoltz, a singer/songwriter in Nashville. They both live in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are links to their Instagram pages.
But on the flip side of that, here’s a list of songs that no longer apply to life as we know it. Thanks to radio host Michael DelGiorno for the idea for this one!
Loverboy “Workin’ for the Weekend”
Lyrics: Everybody’s working for the weekend… [nope, wrong! Everybody’s unemployed *ahem* furloughed]
The Beatles “Come Together”
Lyrics: Come together right now… [metaphorically, yes… physically, don’t you dare!]
Kool and the Gang “Celebration”
Lyrics: It’s time to come together / It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure [again, let’s not and say we did, mmmmk]
Beastie Boys “Fight for your Right”
Lyrics: You wake up late for school, man you don’t want to go / You ask you mom, please? but she still says, no! [remember when everyone laughed at the idea of homeschooling?]
Flo Rida “My House”
Lyrics: Hear a knock on the door and the night begins / ‘Cause we done this before so you come on in… [stay home, woman, he isn’t worth spreading the virus!]
Rihanna “Umbrella”
Lyrics: You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh [this is clearly against all social distancing recommendations]
Jack Norworth “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
Lyrics: Take me out to the ball game / Take me out with the crowd. [remember sports?]
Brooks & Dunn “Hard Workin’ Man”
Lyrics: Come Monday morning I’m the first to arrive / I ain’t nothin’ but business from nine till five… [sure, the first to arrive in your living room with a laptop]
Willy Nelson “I’ve Loved You All Over the World”
Lyrics: I’ll always follow my heart / Wherever it takes me… [actually, no you won’t. Ain’t nobody goin nowhere]
Band of Merrymakers “Gather Round”
Lyrics: So come join the crowd / Gather round, gather round [if you want to get people killed, then sure, gather round! Hug! High five!]
Every now and then I’ll get asked a question that I sometimes have trouble answering. It’s actually funny to me because I’ve seen a trend in my life that goes right along with the subject matter in Out of the Wilderness…. and it’s this:
Everything.
Now, you might be asking yourself, “How is ‘everything’ a trend in his life?” Well, to be totally honest I haven’t thought through the details of this post so just hang on and we’ll get it to make sense together mmmmmk? (hopefully)
Take the work I do for a living. I was once employed in a more traditional workplace where my hours were set for me and each day I had to fill out a timecard. Nothing wrong with that at all! But at this point in my life I’ve discovered having a variety of work fits better. I edit videos. I dog sit. I drive for Amazon and a few other delivery services. I check black boxes in crashed vehicles.
I say all that to now say this… my blog is about whatever is going on in my life at the time. If not that, it’s random thoughts crossing my mind on any given day. Or it’s about music. I love music. In fact, check out this post when you have a second…
This is the point where I admit there are a few things I don’t write about. I love sharing personal things with you but there’s a line I don’t cross often. Dating, for instance. I’ll write about it but in those cases, it’s typically about a past relationship, or at the very least disguised as a metaphor. I’m not good at metaphors so most likely, any woman I write about is safely in the rearview mirror. I’d love to divulge more personal, current notions and even some of my fears and successes when it comes to dating, but I believe most of that is private when it’s still happening. I hope that makes sense.
So to answer the original question… “What do you write about?” I guess my answer would be…
Out of the Wilderness 