Goodness! The end of the year is fast approaching and 2018 is just around the corner. For me, among other things, that means my annual payment for this blog’s plan is due soon. For that reason, and no other reason right now, I’m writing and publishing something else before then. I’m not sure what this is going to be about – I might just write a bunch of unrelated ramblings or I might just compose a well thought out essay about people who write bunches of unrelated ramblings. Or I might not.

One thing I’ve noticed as I look back over the years I’ve been writing here is that every year I’ve written a post explaining or trying to justify my failure to write anything on a consistent basis. I can do that again here, but I’m not. It’s been said, over and over, so no point in repeating it.

Despite the fact that I am in my sixties now – my age, not my IQ, for all you comedians out there – I still am interested in a lot of things. For example, I still watch college football every year, almost religiously. It’s been awesome the last few years. See, I am a Clemson Tiger fan. I grew up just a few miles from Clemson, SC so it’s just a natural thing and once again the Tigers are headed to the college football playoffs.

I also like to learn. In fact, I try to make it a point to learn something new every day. It’s not hard to do with the technology we have available to us these days. Although much of what I learn on a daily basis just comes from reading or seeing something new while browsing the internet, I still take time to participate in some formal learning . Much of what I’ve done in the last year has been some online classes at Saylor Academy. In addition to Saylor, I am planning on enrolling in some new courses at Coursera in 2018.

Of course, I still have an undying love and interst in music, and I think that’s what’s going to wrap up this post. While I am interested in all types of music, I love rock and roll and bluegrass. But, there’s something of a caveat here. Rock and roll to me pretty much means what is now considered “Classic Rock.” I suppose that some new music fits the definition of rock and roll, I just don’t think it measures up to the bands that recorded music in the 60”s, 70’s, and 80’s – the exceptions being the artists that started then that are still releasing new music today. The best example I can give is John Mellencamp, who is my favorite musician of all time. So I think that’s what I’m going to end with, a song from Mellencamp. It’s appropriate, given my age and my ailment wracked body. Hope you enjoy it.