Like Popeye, "I am what I am"

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“I make no apology” opens each verse of I song I wrote around 20 years ago. That song, No Apology, amplifies that I make no apology for what I have done, things that I have said, the choices I have made, the life I have led, or  the people from where I came. But saying “I make no apology” doesn’t mean I never say “I am sorry.” The first is about me being me. The second is about how being me affects others. Yes, it’s complicated, and over the course of my life I have added to that complication, a lot of times through words and music. 

Words and music have been the constants in my life. They define  my life-paths from the very first song ("Sixteen Tons") I sang in public in my first grade music class; an early career in retail sales; 34 years as a professor of political science/legal studies where one of the courses I taught was music and politics; a corresponding career as an author/scholar, political commentator/analyst, and city-wide elected officeholder; and as a not-often-enough-singer/songwriter who has recorded three CDs of original music. 

Oh, and the cat in the picture? That’s Curly. Curly was my feline soulmate. He was my best friend and buddy. Curly loved me unconditionally, and I returned that love. He was a special, magical, one-of-a-kind cat. For 17 years we were one spirit. He guarded my lap against all intruders. My lap was his safe place and  preferred resting place. When his time came to cross the Rainbow Bridge, he was resting in my lap. It was the last act of love and friendship we shared with one another. I miss him and always will.