Simple…because you’re a writer

I’d rather know why you aren’t out in your boat now?

Why does it have to be hard? If you don’t want to give it up and certainly no one else on here wants you to give it up, then why do you think it is necessary? Can’t you ride off into the sunset later whenever it is that YOU decide you want to?

That’s easy….you still have a lot to say thru your writings. Once you run out of stuff you wanna write about, then you’ll go riding or rather sailing off into the sunset. :)

Here are some thoughts from personal experience and sources close to me.

It’s hard to give up something that’s innately part of you. Especially if it’s something you derive pleasure and sense of accomplishment from. It’s part of that creative being. You realize other people DO find value in it. Also, once constraints are removed, it frees you to re-connect with part inside of you that remembers doing it because you loved it.

It’s a community thing. You (probably) feel that this is how you contribute to the community. And in doing so, the community responds. It’s the classic give and take.

I feel it too - every time I think I’m done with retail, I get sucked back in. Why? The customers.. it’s all about the interaction - the close-whispered secrets, the overboard pronouncements of quality (always with a wink), and the extension of my culinary skills to the masses - if I can teach them one thing and have it stick.. I’m happy.

I always tell my customers, if they are not happy with the product - they can come back and throw it at my head. So far, no fish to the face.

I think of my writing the same way. I’d rather hear from the people who disagree with me, than those who do.

In short, I guess it’s an addiction.

IMHO….You have an actively engaged mind. It is evident here in the blog and has been for years to everyone who read Cuppa Joe in the newspaper.

The RT forced the retirement before you were ready to hang up your hat. You were only given a short amount of time to think about it and plan for it… which didn’t give you the opportunity to set a point 5 years down the road to ride into the retirement sunset with travel and relaxation in mind.

Doesn’t matter what you write about because you communicate thoughtfully, honestly, and plainly - people love that. Cuppa Joe is a brand in these parts. Say “Cuppa Joe” and people will sing your praises because of the positive image Cuppa Joe represents…. so its a brand just like Coke, Pepsi, and Hannah Montana (levity…. just a little levity there :-) This venue gives the readership an arena to communicate about the things you write about which couldn’t really be done with the RT.

If you were ready, it would be easier to say goodbye to it all and hop on the boat. You might find it easier to decide whether to keep the blog or eliminate it after you begin your new job.

You’ll know when it is time. I suspect there is something, as a writer, that you still want to convey and this is the best way you know how to accomplish that.

If you choose to stop, you have a lot of folks who have truly enjoyed every word. If you choose to continue, we’ll all still be here to enjoy every word.

Joe–I owe you $1.95. I will deduct it from your next consulting fee.

Joe,
I agree with what everyone else has said here. I don’t think I can add too much. You’ll never stop being the ‘cuppa Joe’ we all are so familiar with. You gotta goof around abit.. that’s life!
You’ve had some time off and you need to have some fun and continue having fun. You have a few more weeks.. take off in your boat, relax your mind, enjoy the beauty of the waters, (It’s something about the water that just soothes your soul,) just being out in the wilderness even if by yourself (on a weekday better than a weekend) ..
Ride into the sunset, think a little more about what you Really want. You often sound excited about this new job coming up and you’re just so used to being “you”.. it’s hard to change, once you’ve been the person & like the person you are after all this time.
You’re gonna do good things Joe and if you have to give this blog up, we certainly understand & we’ll miss it.
Myself, even as I visit other websites, you’ve helped me somewhat and I know others can say the same thing. You seem like a good guy and people admire you for that. You know where you’re coming from most the time.. As for some of us here, well, I’ll just say ‘me’.. I gotta get my life back on track & I admire you for what you’ve done to accomplish that.

We luv ya Joe, you go for it,, the Good Stuff and that’s exactly what your doing.
How many times have we seen editorials in the RT complaining about the columnists here lately? hmm. I’ve read a few lately. And I can’t ever remember any being about you, unless it was good.

Oh, Kat, you made me laugh out loud. Been meaning to ask how your meeting with (I’m whispering now) L-i-z went. You may reply privately. I won’t put it on the blog except by mistake.
But everybody has a good point. There are times when I should just cut loose, but I think I took care of that before I hit 25.
You had good ideas — boat, water, wilderness. That’s why I stayed here — we’re a place where people from cities yearn to come. OK, new plan — tomorrow, fun.

There you go! Good for you!

Joe,
Laugh out loud about what (the editorials)? If that’s it,.. they are so true. Dang …. they can’t pass on to you what I used to complain about ALL the time.. we won’t go there!!
Meeting isn’t until the 27th & I may share, depends. Oh, this isn’t until after the beer ‘feast” @the waterfalls w/ the beautiful bathrooms. LOL. Oh yea, I forgot, it’s at the Coda now.
JOE!! It doesn’t matter how old any of us are here. Get loose & cut loose? .. that doesn’t stop us unless we’re one hundred years old. Maybe some still do after 100? .. in other areas, that is depending on their meaning of cutting loose. (I couldn’t resist)

Gas ‘er up and take off tomorrow (darn, I think it’s suppose to rain tomorrow) but we need it! But hey, that’s the fun part too, get soaking wet, it feels good. If you go, be prepared wherever you like to put in.. the lake is very low right now. What kind of boat to you have?
No matter, just get behind it & hold onto nothing but yourself!

Joe. Keep this blog until it is not fun anymore, then we will understand, We will not like it, but understand. If nothing else, we have all met some new friends.

Ok, everybody tomorrow is Friday, so let the fun begin. I have a 12 pk of Amstel light that I bought 3 weeks ago, so tomorrow night is the time to get into it. Happy hangover.

Please don’t go, Joe

(singing)

Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo…

I’m singing (and boating) in the rain
Just singing (and boating) in the rain
What a glorious feelin’
I’m happy again
I’m laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I’ve a smile on my face
I boat down the lane (?)
With a happy refrain
Just singin’,
Singin’ (and boatin’) in the rain

Perhaps one of the reasons you don’t want to give the blog up is because you know it gives up pleasure reading it. Thanks

MM, Wonderful!
lori, you hit the 8 ball * I think you made it.

There is such a different sense & feeling when you can look up in the rain (and not worry about your hair).. really feel it and love it at the same time. If it’s lightning & thundering , Take me God if you will & must., my thoughts only.
But I have to say, when is the last time any of you danced in the rain or just loved being out in it? Not saying this just because we need the rain so bad.. It’s a real good feeling. Just do it and you’ll feel so refreshed afterwards.

Annette, you still have a 12 pk after 3 weeks?
I still have about 6 of them but take my turn between the Mich, the good sweet drinks & yep, still got some Harp too. Hey, Amstel shows the calorie content but harp doesn’t!

JK,
I used to read the Roke Times online daily, when it had your column. Now it still comes to my in-box, but I usually look at headers and hit delete.

And your writing is bigger than what you do for a living, it’s who you are. It’s a huge part of you that must “out” whether in blogosphere or in writing the great American novel.

Birds gotta swim and fish gotta fly…er, or something like that….

Enjoy your boat.

Ya’ll - - - The 24th is next week!!! What time should we descend upon Coda? I’ve told everyone at work that I’m leaving at 3 p.m. come hell or high water and that no amount of begging, pleading, money, or threatening will keep me here. I’m going to dedicate that evening to enjoying the moment!

There’s something else I thought about before I went to bed last night…. relaxation isn’t something we’ve been socialized to do! My grandparents could sit on the porch glider for hours and hours just doing nothing but talking and nodding off.

My father would relax for 2 weeks per year - we’d head to Myrtle Beach and for 14 days we could eat cookies for breakfast if we wanted and consume as many sodas as we wanted and stay up as late as we wanted to. He’d morph into something we never saw at home…. ever.

When I was 15 years and 8 months he took me to Christiansburg to get a work permit from the courthouse and I’ve been working ever since. I wanted to take Home Ec. in high school and his response was “You will never make a living baking cookies! You’re going to learn to type and take dictation and be forever grateful that I insisted on it.” (I’ve never thrown Mrs. Fields or Famous Amos up in his face….) So, I took business classes and have, indeed, been forever grateful that I learned to type on those old hulking green Hermes typewriters (GOD - when the school got IBM Selectrics we thought we’d died and gone to heaven!!!).

Dad made my brother’s get paper routes; the Roanoke Times, of course! Although, all three of us subbed for the Richmond Times paper box route because it was a lot more fun to see the Greyhound bus drive up and hurl the bundles of papers on to the sidewalk then drive off in a cloud of blue stinky exhaust - - and all we did was put papers in a box and empty the money into a bag. (And the Richmond Times payed better!!!)

The upshot is that the three of us work 10 days a week and the only time we let loose and eat cookies for breakfast is on an occasional vacation out of town. All my childhood friends are the same way. When we attend high school reunions we compare job woes and lament that we have to slow down or we won’t be around to enjoy retirement.

We’re going to have to learn how to let go and enjoy goofing off without feeling somehow guilty or empty (lost) without work.

So, I’m looking at starting on the 24th. Me time on a regular basis so that I can eventually sit on the porch glider and just enjoy the moment.

You paid $1.95 for a newspaper story? Joe, we gotta talk. Next you’ll tell me you pay for music and movies, too.

Joe,
How could you leave us in Autumn?
The most glorious season of all, especially if you live in the blue ridge mountains.
If you stop this blogger animal…
I predict you will miss us.
We will sorely miss you.
If ever you should leave us,
it shouldn’t be in Autumn.
….a fan…

ya know Joe,
I wasn’t abit surprised when I glanced thru the paper earlier this morning. The editorials, that is. You are missed, no dought about that.

Joe,

My guess is you write for the same reason we read what you write–we’re all looking for community. You made the RT human.

DJ

Best thing that ever happened to me, Kat.

Thank you.

Didn’t Stevie Wonder have a song on one of the first albums where he had total controlled called, “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”?
I think he did. Summer, autumn. I didn’t say I was leaving. I’m just thinking about things, that’s all. You know, the seasons of the mind and all of that (plus a propensity to dream up problems when I don’t have any).

Yes, Stevie did “I Never Dreamed you’d leave in Summer.” And one of my favorite music channels is NPR which recently played the song from ‘Camelot’…”If ever I would leave you.” That song has become an earworm so naturally I had to write about what is in my head…plus a propensity to make whatever I write sound lyrical.

Mary in C’Burg - In answer to your question regarding the 24th, I would love to meet you, and whoever else would like to join us, at Coda. How about between 7 & 7:30? I am all for some “me” time, because between work and my family, there’s very little time left for me!

MM - I will be there with bells on! Or should I wear my pink boa?!?!?

nahhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’ll save that for the CSHS/CHS football game a week from today! That is bound to generate an eyeroll or two from my youngest.

She is used to it though… At the breast health program on Monday night I wore a shocking pink wig along with the boa, oversized pink glittered earrings, and pink gloves (not to mention the bright pink scrubs). She was in my office studying during the meeting so when I came upstairs after we adjourned, she glanced up from the computer momentarily and then went right back to work and said something to the effect that she hoped that it wasn’t a genetically inherited trait to dress like that in public.

I think its time for me to learn how to do the Soulja Boy dance so I can keep her on her toes…. I’m losing my ability to surprise her!!!

MM, we’ll redefine ME TIME, deal?

Haha, Mary, I hear you! They just aren’t phased too much by anything you do. The last time I really got my youngest caught of guard is when I was still teaching and wore a fairy costume, (it was Halloween week), to one of her school events. She was in Middle school. I caused quite a ruckus with her peers. She was in total shock and it was very funny! Doing the Soulja Boy dance would definitely get a rise out of her!

Here’s to ME time!! :)

I’m going to be there very hopefully! It’ll be nice to put a face to the names here when we log back in & of course read Joe’s story about all the fun he had, ha!

And no Joe, you can’t leave. Talk about ’stories’…
When I saw a comment come in, I clicked on it. The heading “Once again SW gets stiffed” when PB commented. Welllll, .. I started reading the story and thought ‘this looks too familiar & why would Joe write something so very similar?’.. I kept scrolling down with a question mark on my face to see that 40-some had responded!! I thought ‘WOW, evryone has been busy here!’
Then FINALLY, I realized the date as I scrolled back up ! So I laughed at myself & felt pretty dumbfounded.

So you see, you can’t leave this blog. You make us smile too much. Once you start you job, you can come here a few nights a week, when relaxing to me is a little time on the computer anyway.
By the way, I’ll be the stupid one with my bells on entering the Tavern.. or Annie Moores.. or is it the waterfalls? Will someone come pick me up so I know where I’m going ?? LOL

Kat,

I don’t think PB, if you mean 666, ever commented on this blog. Terrible Joanie did, but that’s inconsequential.

MM? How did CSHS do today? Did you WOO HOO! for Christiansburg for me this afternoon? I was driving a limping Lincoln back from Lynchburg after taking that d**n credentialling exam at Liberty U. (I decided to take it there because I needed all of the celestial assistance I could acquire…. ) This is the first state competition I’ve missed. 2 more football games and 2 parades left before we kiss Marching Band 2007 goodbye.

Joe? is 7/7:30 pm on the 24th kosher w/you? I need to know so I can coordinate the naked woman jumping out of the cake for Andrew. (shhhhhhhhh, don’t tell him!)

That’s the night I wash my hair. I’ll swing by and pick the cake up.

Mary!!!!!!!

HA! I had to swing by after seeing this real quick .. LMAO !
I can’t wait to see what this “tip jar” for Andrew looks like, you need help carrying it in? Oh, wait a minute… if Andrew is gonna have naked women jumping out of ‘his’ cake, I think there should be a tip jar for the women too!
On second thought… we Do need that tip jar for Andrew if Joe is picking up the cake! ha!

Joe tickles me to death.

He didn’t ask me how old the lady was who was jumping out of the cake! I mean, this will be a Wednesday night and all…. Sweet young things are only available on weekends! I did the best I could on short notice!!!

Mary - I’m soooooo sorry to tell you that I missed seeing C’Burg play today. They were playing very early in the competition and CSHS wasn’t playing until 3:15. I tried my hardest to get my husband to leave early. He was involved in working on a project (he is self employed and creative types are very hard to drag away when the creative juices are flowing), so we didn’t get to Pulaski until after C’ Burg played. I did see them receive their awards and WOO HOO’d for them then! CSHS received excellent ratings, but B’Burg kicked our hind parts with a superior (sort of like they did to us in football last week.) It was a fun afternoon and a beautiful day to be outside. The view of the mountains from the stadium were awesome.

Wow, there is going to be more excitement at Coda then I imagined!

where is everybody? okay it’s saturday night. Pamela, you still bringing balloons and Annette, you still bringing the Keg of Harp since they don’t serve it? (I heard they had tables outside & no one will ever know). So who else is comin?
We need a tip jar for Joe too since he has to pay Andrew so much..
Mary & MM, you guys are a trip! I look forward to meeting you, many of you. All I ask for at this point of my life is a little happiness & people who make me smile~

LOLOL !
One old woman will jump outta the cake. Wow, you think it will be Maxine?

For today…
Be happy or make someone!

Katherine. Last night I was getting my botox, hair dyed, new girdle and spray tan. Did I miss something. If I was in Hollywood I could get all that done and look like Jaclyn Smith instead of Phyllis Diller. Got to look beautiful for Wed. I am not sure even if that would help. On the Harp beer, I think we will have to go to Annie’s or whatever the name is and drink it ourselves. What time are we meeting and I hope it is Maxine, she is my hero!!!!!!!

I guess Joe’s secret is out now, thanks to the Roanoke Times, page 2 of the Business Section…

Phyllis Diller had great legs, though!!!! The new Maxine Halloween cards at the Hallmark shop are a hoot!

Joe, I hope you’re out on the boat today.

I have the American Heart Association’s heart walk this afternoon over the hill in Radford, so no restful Sunday for me (however the event will be for a wonderful cause so, no worries!)

Andrew - How much did the POD run you? Were the POD people OK to deal with, i.e., polite-good customer service-things on time, etc.?

Just had to come here to see if anyone else saw the Business section. I’m a lazy slow reader today.

Okay Joe, time for a new story. What exactly will you be doing? Sounds nice & I knew it would be something good.

Annette, you’re funny girlfriend!

And Pamela, good advice. I’m going to make someone happy today & it’s a beautiful day for a trip to the lake.

Congrats on your job with CHIP. We finally know.
It took forever. You sly devil.

I feel so out of the loop. What is CHIP? Sounds like California Highway Patrol and I’ve got a feeling I’m wrong about that….

Do tell!

Joe will look sooooooooooo good in those knee high leather boots!!! Then there’s the Harley and the sunglasses!!!

CHIP stands for Child Health Investment Partnership.

Joe, don’t leave us. I could accept your retirement from RT, but not from your blog. I look forward to it. I don’t get to check it out everyday as I am a caregiver for my mother. You help me keep my sanity!