While visiting with my oldest over Father’s Day brunch (with the appropriate Mimosa’s of course), we covered a wide variety of topics. The environment, workspace availability for artist types, his upcoming trip to New Orleans and Arkansas (houseboat on a lake with friends—kinda cool I thought) and the ongoing drought the west is experiencing. His last comment is the one that initiated the longest conversation though; he found himself reminiscing over the 90’s. He was actually born in 1986, so he would have been 14-years old at its conclusion in 1999, but it had a memorable affect on him none the less. As he offered snippets of references, I asked for more detail. He smiled and said “The time before internet on phones, and if you had a favorite TV show, you watched it when it premiered, commercials and all, not streaming like everything is now”. Continuing, he said “Back when movies were original and not always reboots and the story had content, not just special effects”. As we compared memories, I joked about having a pager and what a pain in the ass that was, especially that period were I had both, a pager and a cell-phone because coverage was so spotty on the phone, you needed the pager for emergencies. And I wasn’t a doctor, just a salesman! I opined that he and his younger brother probably grew-up at the perfect time. Technology was really getting traction but hadn’t taken over yet so they learned how to navigate it while still enjoying an appreciation for in-person real-life experiences without a game controller. We both agreed to missing the tactile sense of reading a newspaper, or album liner notes, even on a CD, really anything that engaged the brain for longer than 10-seconds. He is my kid and I’m grateful.

Lisa found this in a thrift-shop for $20 and sent me a picture. I had been half-seriously looking for art to hang in the office and she thought I might like it. I couldn’t afford original pieces and refused to hang cheap reproductions just for the sake of having something, so I just kept my eyes open. This wasn’t a “one-off” or anything particularly valuable, but it did have a cool psychedelic vide so I decided to check it out. I have an ongoing habit of continually updating and redoing my office. Generally it is to redo or organizing the space. After living with the decor for a time, I tire of the layout and/or the clutter and decide to mix it up. In the beginning of the first iteration, I installed every item I had saved over the years. It was easy enough since I had ample room and endlessly adaptable shelves that allowed for everything from an Olympic snow-globe to a custom painted Fender guitar. Later, after finding my father, I displayed many of his personal items that were gifted to me by his surviving sister-in-law Eileen. Once again, an invisible seed is planted and it is time to reimagine the space. The “art” was an abandoned table top in a design discontinued, but perfectly suitable for my needs. The chain of events began trying to determine where it should hang and what needs to head to storage. Sometimes the process is fairly quick and other times it drags on. This time was a 2-day process and only required one box going to storage along with a table. Two other boxes are destined for the shredder and one more found space in an enclosed drawer. I asked Lisa if she had any idea why I continually redid the office to see if she had an answer. “Not really, other than you just want to change it up” was her answer. I’m sure there is more to it and thought deeply about an answer. My conclusion is that perhaps it is the one space in my life that I have control over, so I exert that authority whenever I feel anxious or a little lost. Back to the art. I had already decided which music to play after hanging this piece and christening it into its new home. The first album was Iron Butterfly, the second, Pink Floyd “Meddle” side 2. Maybe if I had all the appropriate equipment, I could stream Hi-Res music instead…, but I doubt it.

As I write this, there are 26,402 realtors in Utah, and more gaining their license everyday. Today, there are 3,142 homes available in Utah, 846 in Salt Lake County and 293 available in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, it is a competitive market. My challenge is in creating a persona that differentiates between those 26K and remains true to self. I’m not implying any improprieties on other agents part, only in maintaining a factual and believable presence. Case in point is Instagram. Like most businesses I have an account. Like many, I post infrequently because I don’t create that much different content specific to Instagram and really don’t want too. I keep up on Facebook personal/business OK because there is a measure of personal enjoyment to it, but any other site beyond that is nothing special—superficial at best, and any savvy poster on Instagram knows that. In other words, the only person you are fooling is yourself. Connecting with people in a sincere and maintainable manner is my objective, not trying to post something that almost shows disrespect. So my quest continues—seeking that ideal balance of personal engagement and relevance without appearing stupid or desperate. Wish me luck.