Tunes for the Backseat Crowd

Do I sometimes resemble one of those parents trying to force their music/taste on their kids in order to impart some sort of taste/cool factor by way of osmosis? Guilty as charged. In my defense, a lot of it is organic as I always listen to tunes in the car and when the boys are with me, we take turns. Sometimes it's Greasy Kids Stuff(great comps) and sometimes it's Dad's choice although the two backseat critics(especially Thing 1)have exercised their power of veto on more than one occasion. Dinosaur Jr., for example usually does not go over too well. Roadrunner? Always a popular choice. Thing 1 was requesting it and singing along with it at age 2 and Thing 2 has been known to fervently car seat pogo when it's playing. So boys...this one's for you.

For the Missus

I write about some of my passions, surfing, music, beer but generally speaking, I’ve avoided too much of the truly personal. In those moments when I do write about, say, my little clan, it’s about my lads while THE most important person in my life hasn’t gotten much press. I am referring, of course, to Mrs. Meezy.

As of December, we have been married for 6 years, although we have been together for a little over 10 years.

At the time of our meeting, our intrepid hero was not feeling so intrepid. I had been out in LA for 5 years and when I arrived home for the holidays in ‘02/’03, I had been out of work for three months, having been laid off from my job at FX Networks. A job I’d held for almost three years. There had also been no traction in regards to my fledgling screenwriting career. Out there, everyone has a script. I had also been stuck in the black hole that is LA’s dating scene for a lonnnng time. There is plenty to do as a young single person in Los Angeles but life out there can be isolating, as I found out.

So it was that I arrived back on the East Coast for the holidays with my tail between my legs but with the steely resolve that at 33 years of age, I was going to be an eternal bachelor.

Little did I know...

New Year’s Eve arrived and I found myself at The Druid in Inman Square, Cambridge with “The Bollocks” and his lovely wife. Although there were a number of lovely young women in attendance that evening, I was sticking with my steely resolve. Besides, see how well you do when you're attempting to chat up a NE girl but then have to admit that you live in LA. Picture the scene where Daffy Duck tries to upstage Bugs Bunny and gets nothing but crickets for his troubles and you should have a clear picture of how that bit of information usually went over.

However...

Fifteen minutes after my arrival and "she" walked in. She wasn't backlit and fans weren't blowing her hair around but I was instantly drawn to her. She was very pretty, dark brown hair, nice smile, bright blue eyes and to cap it off, when I sidled up to get a closer look, she went and ordered a Stella Artois. I was done for. Now she had noticed yours truly as well and was subtly trying to get my attention and although I am not a shy person by any stretch of the imagination, choking out even a “hello” was proving to be impossible. She then asked me to take a picture of her and her friends and we spoke and then adjoined to another bar and I walked her home and took her out on what would be the best date of my life two days later and a day before I would fly back to the West Coast.

For the next 9 months we flew back and forth across the country(admittedly, she came West more than I flew East)to see one another until she made a decision that she had actually been pondering for some time and moved out West.

The End?

Hardly.

One move West, another back East, two more moves from Somerville to Arlington and finally Dedham, MA, a house, two kids, countless laughs, some tears, some yelling, a lifetimes worth of “good conversation” and no end in sight. She’s my best friend and a large part of why I’ve made the advances that I’ve made in my life. She knows the above story all too well. She’s lived it and it’s been told a million times but the best part is that it’s far from over.

Happy Valentine's Day my Love!

PS -

Even if I said I wouldn't put up any pictures of you, you're incognito behind those shades and yet...your beauty is still readily apparent.