The View From Drew

This is a difficult topic for me to write about as I've never been in one place for very long.  In the past twenty years, I've had seven residences.  There's a long story behind this, which I'll save for another day.  In the meantime, in order to comply with the qualifications of my entry, I'll speak of my current home and about one of my favorites.

When Sue and I went house shopping, she was about four months pregnant with Eddie.  This was about six years ago and we were a little eager to settle the deal quickly.  We searched for about four months before we settled on our home.  At the time, everyone thought we were crazy to be buying a three bedroom ranch with an unfinished basement for $165,000.  Since that time the value of the house has more than doubled, we've finished the basement, and made a number of improvements to the house including new windows and siding.

It's not the house I imagined I'd live in as a child growing up in an apartment in the Bronx.  I always had visions of an upstairs and a downstairs component to the house.  I thought about my kids running about and my hollering at them to slow down.  Well Eddie does, but only from the basement to the main floor.

What I love about where I live now is the house itself.  I love our backyard which is large and wide and closed in, protecting our kids from any harm outside.  I love our back porch where I spend many an evening barbequing burgers and steaks.  I love our finished basement with its playroom for the kids, office nook for me and Sue, and family room complete with 70's style wet bar.  I love coming home to my kids and wife after a long day at school as we prepare ourselves for bed and the next day ahead of us.  It may not be the house I imagined as a kid, but it's definitely a great place to live.

Which brings us to what I miss about my old place.  One of the things I really miss about my old place was the town Sue and I lived in.  We rented a second floor apartment in a private house in Bronxville, NY.  We currently live in Brewster, NY and when we moved here, we were told how the town was about to get a major face-lift.  It's now six years later and the politicians can't get it together to do what it takes to clean up the main town.  We live about five minutes away from Main Street and we barely ever go into the town itself.  We have no sidewalks on our street and we need a car to get just about anywhere.

I miss being able to walk from our house to the supermarket or the movie theatre or the coffee shop.  In Bronxville, Sue and I often would walk just about everywhere.  It was a small, quiet community that had an artsy movie house, small shops, and nice bars.  Brewster features a seedy pool hall, a number of empty shops, and an abandoned movie theatre that has been rumored to be on the upgrade list for years.  Sadly, politics gets in the way of progress here.  We live minutes away from Danbury Connecticut and there are signs everywhere here to "Buy Putnam," rather than give our money to Connecticut, but when you look at the state of many businesses in the area, you can see why it's so easy to hop in the car and visit the Danbury Mall.

I love our home and our neighborhood, save for one annoying person, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the town we live in.  I miss being able to simply walk into town and enjoy the town's offerings.  It's not the same. 

So, after missing last week, let's hope this entry proves strong.

Yesterday was the fourteenth anniversary of the day I met my wife, Susan.  When you look at it, it sounds almost hokey, but there is a weird and wonderful story to how I met my wife.

In 1993, I was dating this girl after breaking up with my four year girlfriend who many know in this journal as She Who Has No Soul.  This girl had also been in a longterm relationship that went sour.  Our dating was convenient.  We liked each other and were good friends, but as time went on, I wanted more.  I started bringing up taking our relationship to the next level, but she was always resistant to the idea.

Valentine's Day was coming along and she called me up to suggest coming along on a bus trip she was planning for single people to Atlantic City.  It sounded hokey, but if it meant spending time with her, I was game.  Then she said the weirdest thing.

"I'd like you to meet this girl.  I think the two of you will get along great."

Huh?  I mean, even if she didn't want to open up our relationship, what we had was pretty convenient and I really wasn't interested in meeting another woman.

I almost didn't go.

When I showed up that morning, it was bitter cold.  Susan was already there.  It was funny.  It was like I knew her forever.  I wasn't the least bit nervous.  This may have been because I was going into this thinking nothing was going to happen.

But it did happen.

We talked as we waited for the others to arrive.  We sat together on the bus and talked the whole ride down.  I showed her the different kind of poker hands in case we decided to try our luck with the tables at the casinos.  She talked about her desire to be in television news and I talked about my little cable access show.

We spent the day together, barely talking to anyone else.  Susan's best friend was with us and she kept teasing Sue all day saying, "Sue Drew.  Sue Drew."

I didn't realize it at the time, but the girl I had been dating was getting jealous too.  It was almost that whatever her plan was to cut me off had worked too well.  She tried to get between us on several occasions during the day.  It didn't work.  (And it didn't end there, but that's a tale for another post.)

We rode the bus home and Susan and some of her friends came back to my place for pizza.  We exchanged numbers and promised to call each other.

I, like a dork, was going to play it cool and wait a few days, but Susan called me the next day.  We went on our first date that Saturday.

I proposed to her that Christmas Eve.

We were married a year-and-a half later.

And now it's fourteen years later.  We have two wonderful sons and a nice house.  I still love being with her and surprisingly she feels the same way about me.

And I think that's what I love about Susan the most.  I can be stubborn, opinionated, crass, and very insecure at times.  She knows this, but she also appreciates the things about me that I cannot appreciate in myself.  A few weeks ago, my LJ Idol entry was about how super I was.  I don't feel super, but Susan helps me to realize I can be if I want to.

And that's why I love her.

On our wedding day, my best man, Andrew, put it best.

"They left Atlantic City with their pockets empty, but their hearts full."

Well, when last we left our intrepid hero, he was struggling with the way to give his readers an idea of how he is awesome.  As someone who teaches English, he tries valiantly to come up with metaphors and imagery that can convey a true sense of how awesome he is.

But there's the rub.

He doesn't feel awesome.  Oh sure, he can trot out testimonial after testimonial from various generous and kind individuals who will attest to his awesomeness, but in the end, he cannot bring himself to proclaiming himself as awesome.

It just isn't in his nature.

He is troubled by such language.

And yet, when the mood strikes him, he can be a pompous jerk, which is not the same as being awesome.

If only he could channel that pomposity into something more positive, he might feel as awesome as some people make him out to be.

Hell, he can't even bring himself to write in the first person this time.

This has been a difficult topic to write which is why it is being filed just under the wire.

And now for a musical number.

Why am I doing this?

I don't know really.  I think it has more to do with my New Year's resolution to be more active on this site and to produce material other than some audio clips and posting memes and You Tube videos.

Anyway, the tag's drewshi, but I'm known on the outside world as John, John S. Drew, Drew, Mr. Drew, JD (yes, there are some who call me JD), Johnny, (only my grandmother called me Johnny actually), and "Hey, Bookworm!" (it's been about thirty odd years since anyone's used that one on me though).

I'm the bartender here.  I bartended for a number of years and I keep this journal just like I kept my bar - no politics and no religion.  The problem with discussing either is that it is never a discussion.  It's an argument at best and an ugly knock down brawl where hurtful things are said at worst.  I have my political views and based on some of the comments I see on these boards, they don't all jive.  Does it mean I'm a monster?  No.  Does it mean you're a monster?  No.  We all see things differently.  It's ironic actually how most people in the world like to view themselves as open-minded and tolerant, but the minute they are faced with something that chaffs against their core beliefs, you are the alien, the enemy and must be put in your place.

I am married some eleven years to the most wonderful woman in the world, beating the US national average by a couple of years.  My wife's name is Susan and she comments from time to time here.  I have two sons.  Eddie is five and Michael is now nine months as of today.  We're not working on the point three as that would be gross, so we'll stay under the average there.

I am a high school teacher.  I teach English to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, although you wouldn't know it from some of the things I post as I write them early in the morning and hit that little send button a little too quickly.  I love my work and have not regretted my decision to switch careers after working in the restaurant industry for so many years.  I am the moderator of the writers club and the school's literary magazine.  I'm considered the cool teacher at school.  (No, really.)  Every once in awhile I get kids who don't know me give me attitude and the other kids love watching me pop my cork at them.  They then show up for their detention, very apologetic as the kids explain to them that I'm not the one to piss off and that I'll usually have their back.  I hardly ever leave the school before 4pm as I have kids in every day to talk, to review, to take tests, or to serve my punishment.  I love it.  My first year students are graduating this year and I'm going to miss them very much.

I write.  It's funny, I used to list this higher on how I identify myself and it's not bothering me that it's taking a lower position.  I am still being creative, only not as much so.  I've written several short stories in media tie-in areas such as Spider-Man and Doctor Who.  I also have a Star Trek novella in the Corps of Engineers line, "Paradise Interrupted."  My favorite form of writing though is the audio drama.  I have written for a number of semi-pro series such as The Old Curiosity Shop and The Justin Case Mysteries and have taken a turn at producing my own with The Dome.  Hopefully, I'll have episode two ready in the near future.

I'm a procrastinator - big time.  I find myself easily distracted, thus this is why this entry is so late.  I am one of the most happy-go-lucky guys on the face of the earth, but when I get angry, it's Hulk time.  Clear a path and let me steam and then watch me change back to Bill Bixby and take stock of what has happened.  I have learned to quickly say, "I was wrong."  That's been the hardest lesson I've ever learned, and I believe if more people could say it, the world would be a simpler place.

I'm a geek.  I watch way too much television.  I don't watch a lot of current television, but rather watch old television programs in their original airdate order.  I call it the Drewshi Network.  For example, last night, I watched Dangermouse, Batman, Buck Rogers, What's Happening, and The Simpsons - all Thursday night shows during the seasons I am currently watching for each show.  Actually Dangermouse was stripped across the week in its second season.  The only new television I'm watching is Medium, Scrubs, and Heroes.  I watch more BBC America than all the US networks combined.  I often dream of moving to England and living there and fortunately, my wife doesn't think I'm crazy.  (Although she's worried about the worshiping at the steps of the BBC.)  My favorite series of all time are The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and Doctor Who.

Hmm, that's about it.

Other than it's time for a musical number.