Jon Hakes. Writer. Official Online Outpost.

Sorry for the delay in following up on my last post.  I’ve been busy, busy, busy, with fatherhood, getting situated in our new home, and, thankfully, the work of writing stories.  I trust that those of you have been waiting for the results of my poll with bated breath had your breath sufficiently un-bated when you passed out.

At the closing of the polls, the top vote-getter was Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good,” so I’m happy to announce “Life’s Been Good” as my Retroactive Moving Theme Song.  Fittingly enough, I did hear the song again on the radio the day after the end of voting, which is probably now a less interesting point, given the non-immediacy of my reporting here.  I’m sure that this high and dubious honor will follow Mr. Walsh into the Halls of Valhalla, where he can write an ambivalent sequel song about his new, catastrophically more opulent existence.

I’ll drop by again soon-ish for updates on other sectors of life.  I’m working through a couple of new story drafts, both of which I hope to submit in the near future.

From Monday, July 30th through Wednesday, August 1st, I drove a moving truck from Florida to Wisconsin, with stops in Alabama and Indiana.  At the time, I think I calculated that I had spent about twenty-two hours in the cab of that truck.

I listened to a whole lot of radio during that time, changing from station to station as I passed in and out of range.  I tried to stay mostly on classic rock stations and stations (at least partly) featuring 80’s and 90’s music.  Surprisingly, in all those hours, I only heard six songs more than once (and each of those only twice).

Therefore, I have come back, two weeks later, to present you with the names of the six songs, and ask you to vote one of them my Retroactive Moving Theme Song.  You can tweet your vote @HakesJon, or use any other communication method you can think of, provided you already know my other contact information (please, no more messenger muskrats).  Voting will remain open until midnight next Thursday, August 23rd.  Write-ins are acceptable, but I reserve the right to arbitrarily alter the vote count at any time.

The finalists are, in no particular order:

1.  Listen To The Music – The Doobie Brothers

Why it fits:  I did indeed listen to the music, hence the poll.

Why it doesn’t:  I strongly suspect that The Doobie Brothers recorded this song in 1972 with the express purpose of appearing in this poll, and I don’t like pandering.

2.  Life’s Been Good – Joe Walsh

Why it fits:  I am entering a new phase of life as a stay-at-home father and writer, so life is pretty good right now.

Why it doesn’t:  I have not yet experienced any of the rich guy perks/problems in the song.

3.  Follow You Down – Gin Blossoms

Why it fits:  Anywhere Alyssa has gone, I have followed her.

Why it doesn’t:  I have yet to tell her that I wont’ follow her THAT far down, and I’ve already followed her to the Deep South.

4.  I’m Gonna Be (500) Miles – The Proclaimers

Why it fits:  I did travel almost a thousand miles on this trip.

Why it doesn’t:  Almost none of it was on foot.

5.  I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

Why it fits:  The drive was a challenge.

Why it doesn’t:  It wasn’t THAT hard, and I don’t want to be melodramatic.

6.  Livin’ On The Edge – Aerosmith

Why it fits:  It’s nerve-wracking, driving a 24′ truck, towing a trailer with your car on it and trying to stay in your own lane.

Why it doesn’t:  See above note on melodrama.

Turns out the life of a Stay-at-Home Dad/Writer is pretty hectic, so I’m up in the middle of the night, presumably because I’m stressed out at not getting enough of my own work done during the last few days.

We finally have internet at the house.  The delay was mostly due to me trying to figure out the best way to go, and having to divide the research over a week or so.

It was sort of weird being disconnected for roughly two weeks.  Frankly, I was surprised that it was that big a deal.  I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem.

I’d probably be moving things around in the office right now, but the office is just down the hall from the baby’s room, and one must always tread lightly around a sleeping baby.

I’m going to go do some work offline, but I’ll probably check in again later in the day.  I seem to remember promising something about a moving-related poll.

Just want to confirm that, as of about five minutes ago, I continue to exist.  We’re getting our internet set up at the house tomorrow, so I will be posting more frequently (assuming that I have things to say that will be of interest to at least one other person). 

It’s been a busy week, including a family wedding (Alyssa’s family) yesterday, but we’re getting settled, and my new office in the house is only a mid-range disaster area (relative to MY norm). 

Also, happily, I’m making progress on a new draft of a story I’ve been working on for quite some time.  Hope to finish up in the coming week.  But I sort of hope for that every week.

Well, we made it to Wisconsin, and we’re settling in at the new place.  Still trying to get things up and running, including internet service at the house, so I’ll have to wait until later to post something more substantive.  Stay tuned.