He died a rich man

Cousins Cindy Delich (left) and Melanie Haney, whose daughter Karissa graduated from Boone Grove on Sunday.

There are only so many days in a life.
There’s a wife and there’s kids and
there’s a roundabout by the cemetery. 
In between, you wear a red hat in 
the wintertime and ride your bike
when it gets warm.

It’s 10pm on Monday night. I did some completely average radio this morning. Station manager Debbie and my sister Jennifer the accountant and even Ryan the head producer all were out today. That meant that I actually had to work. I answered phones, took out the trash, looked up invoices, drove a surprisingly strong deposit to the bank. 
 
I love radio. I don’t like working in the radio office.
 
The summertime project continues. A number of them do. I have surrendered to the fact that our biggest strength is the energy that we have created around WJOB. In marketing, Christina, Darya, Mark and I have been working on building a new website and writing commercials for Krazy Kaplan. 
 
There’s also a ton of talented broadcasting students around for the summer. In the past, I have shunned many of them. We just don’t have room for all of them. But that’s not really the case now that we have moved so heavily into video. Many hungry young broadcasters are coming to understand that they don’t have to get paid to earn something. I’ll let you know more on how this unravels as the summer goes on.
 
For now, there’s a couple of projects that, believe it or not, I can’t talk about. It’s just best that way. I know that I pledged to the three or four of you to be open and honest about My Radio Life for the summer. Part of the pledge is to tell you about how it’s going in creating a marketing department and changing the nature of media in northwest Indiana. 
 
But I really do think we’re on to a couple of things. And to speak about them prematurely does not put the projects or the people in the best possible position to succeed. Just know that I am not writing as many blog entries to the three or four of you because I really am working on two major projects. Odds are that neither one will ever become beautiful, but you never know.
 
That is the goal, after all – to create something beautiful. There’s a ton of things I could detour to in order to simply make money. I am, at the heart, though, a romantic. I put forth that work is a statement to yourself, a purpose, a mission – not just a way to make money. It’s one of the remnants of growing up in the 60s. Self fulfillment and service to your community above making money and spitting on the environment. 
 
That hippie stuff doesn’t die. I got some of it from my uncle Dennis, who lived with us when I was a kid. He went on to leave his hippie days behind. He got a construction management degree from Purdue Cal and wound up as project manager on stadiums and prisons around the country. He died a rich man, a good man. I guess I too would like someone to say that about me when I die.
 
He died a rich man, a good man…. with the emphasis on the good. 
 
Tomorrow, the three marketers and I have a pretty important meeting. We’re going to see a man about a horse. It could help define what direction we take our new media. The old media is pretty much set. After 14 years of owning WJOB am1230 – (and now also adding 104.7 FM), we’ve pretty much set the radio part of the operation. There’s a certain amount of cost that you will have to endure to run a couple of radio stations. And there’s pretty much a set range of dollars that will come through the door to advertise and buy time on the radio stations. 
 
And I’m okay with this. 
 
But there’s something greater than just two radio stations. There’s a spirit behind it that won’t die, that is good and pure and beautiful. It’s called WJOB. I get the feeling that we can reincarnate this spirit into some really beautiful things for generations to come. 
 
We’ve started it already. The streaming video on Facebook Live is a game changer. And it has attracted all sorts of creative talent. There’s 38 different locally-produced shows on WJOB. There’s dozens of radio hosts, budding filmmakers, sports announcers, marketers and more associated with the WJOB spirit. 
 
I’d like to talk more about the WJOB spirit and all that it means to the Calumet Region. But a hot Latina just came into the bedroom and laid next to me.
 
“President Trump and Korea’s Kim Jong Un just gave their remarks after their summit meeting. You should listen to them for the show.”
 
I should probably go downstairs and flip through the news channels. This morning, I wasn’t prepared. It was raining outside along Indianapolis Boulevard. I really didn’t want to go out there and stand and get all wet. Besides, when it’s raining, it looks schlocky to be standing out there, soggy and defeated. When it’s snowing or sunny or just plain gray out, it’s a pretty good visual to stand out there with massive semis going by behind me. 
 
But not when it’s raining. It’s like this. It’s okay to ride your bike on a bitterly cold, sunny day. And it’s even acceptable to ride your bike during a soft snow. But it sucks to ride your bike with a sideways, damp, cold rain in your face. And it sucks to stand outside talking on the radio and video when it’s like that, too.
 
People aren’t fun if there’s
too many of them.
 
Concentric circles collide
until you start
hating yourself.
 
Wash the outside of your soul. 
Turn it inside out.
Do it again.
 
Eventually, you will
get what you deserve.
 
A hotel room by the
interstate and a 
washed out blond
with smoker’s laugh.
 
A pile of blow the
size of her fist.
 
In the end, the mission is to create something good for the Calumet Region. We have something already that is good and pure and beautiful. That is WJOB radio. It started in 1924. It was here during the stock market crash and the Battle of Dunkirk. Martin Luther King spoke on WJOB. So did the Kennedys. So did John Anastopoulis and Millie Pilot. 
 
The spirit won’t die. It lives on radio… and where else? I don’t know the answer to this. But I sure as hell feel like a lot of people are depending on me to figure it out soon. Good night.