New Blue Shoes

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So I got this new pair of blue shoes recently and I think they’re the nicest shoes I’ve ever owned. They’re so comfortable and stylish I thought they were worthy of this blog. Have you ever had a favorite pair of shoes? Have you ever had shoes that shine above the rest of your foot ware collection? That’s what these new blue shoes are for me!

They’re made by a company named Allen Edmonds. I bought them on sale but they were still on the pricey side. They were worth the cost to me. I’d been wanting a pair of Allen Edmonds sneakers for quite some time. A store in the Plaza Frontenac mall in St. Louis, Missouri specializes in them and many times I’ve walked past this store and gazed with awe at how nice the shoes appeared. Allen Edmonds shoes when not on sale are quite expensive and when on sale are still overpriced honestly. But, man, I love my new navy blue sneakers.

When we’re traveling we might as well go with style on our life journeys. Our style is our personality and everything about us. Not everyone cares about shiny shoes. And that’s totally fine. Whatever type of clothes or shoes you enjoy remember to enjoy the ride of your life. Go in peace, go with style, go where you wish, go all out, go with love and forgiveness and keep going.

If a person cannot buy expensive shoes at age 42 then when can they?

100,000

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Recently my car reached its 100,000 miles traveled mark. The car is a 2018 Ford Focus. It’s my favorite car I’ve ever owned. I bought it new back in 2018. The automobile has been all around Southern Illinois and into Kentucky and Missouri and even out to Mississippi. It’s carried myself and friends to many fun destinations. It’s gotten me back and forth to my jobs at the university. For 100,000 miles and counting it’s been a reliable transportation system.

Life itself is similar to an incredible road trip! Sometimes we are traveling the right direction and we reach our destination without having to get lost. Sometimes we get lost and have to turn around in some stranger’s driveway. Sometimes we come close to or truly do run out of fuel in the tank. Sometimes some of the places we go we plan to return while other times we tell ourselves we don’t need to ever visit that location again. Yes, life is an open road and quite the adventure.

A lot has changed in the last eight years since I first stepped inside my Ford Focus. Some that used to travel down the same roads with me now no longer do. People enter and exit our lives on a regular basis. There are all sorts of reasons this happens. It’s hard for me to see dear friends depart, but all I can do is say goodbye and wish them the best on all of their journeys going forward. Life will present new fellow travelers. Life is consistently changing and there’s no future in living in the past.

100,000 miles is a whole lot of roads traveled. I guess I’m like that old Beach Boys song, “I Get Around” because it does appear I’ve been many places. I hope the Focus has a whole lot of miles left in it! I hope I have a whole lot of miles left in me! Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the roads. Drive safely. Enjoy the company of your passengers.

A Cigar Aficionado

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Father’s Day was last Sunday and I’m five days late writing this for my dad. It was a good day for my parents and brother and I. We went to a fine local restaurant and celebrated Dad. While at the restaurant Dad got to wanting a cigar, but unfortunately the restaurant didn’t sell cigars.

So today I went to a local bourbon bar after my work day ended and bought him a cigar. I got one for my brother also. Brother and Dad, oh brother, they do love their fine cigars! Moments ago I told Dad about the cigar and he seems excited to be up in smoke sometime soon. Often he’ll take a selfie when he’s enjoying a fine cigar and these photos always make me smile.

Enough about cigars, though. This writing is supposed to be a shout out to my father. Dad’s always been present for my family and I. This means everything! There hasn’t been a time in my life’s story when he did not show up. We all know showing up is around 90% of life. When I was a boy graduating kindergarten he was there with the camcorder in the back of the room. When I was a little older he was there teaching me to ride a bike. When I was older still he was there at the local hospital for me every day after I went through a mental health crisis. When I graduated college he was there. He was there to take my family and I to dinner when I got my beloved and current library job. Jay Brooks, The Happy Traveler, shows up!

Maybe every day ought to be treated like father’s day and mother’s day. Maybe we ought to celebrate those we love on a daily basis. Maybe we all should try to show up. Our world would be a better place if we tried harder and cared more about being the sort of people we are all actually capable of being. The old saying is: Be the change you wish to see in the world.

If you have a father that has been there for you then rejoice in that. If they’re still around then let them know that them showing up did not go unnoticed. People need to give and receive gratitude! Let’s shout our gratefulness from the mountaintops! None of us know how many tomorrows we have so let’s not waste today.

Paducah Part Two: Dry Ground Brewery Free Comedy Show

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So I took another Paducah, Kentucky trip yesterday. This time I was not driving solo. I had a traveling companion in my brother. We were off to Dry Ground Brewery in search of some laughs and some joy through a free comedy show. The comedy show was well worth the journey from Carbondale to Paducah!

I admire those who brave an open microphone. I’ve never done standup comedy. What I have done is karaoke, on rare occasion, and I’ve read my stories and poems at open mic events. Standup comedy will most likely not be in my future because the stage fright would be just too real. I’ll brave a microphone for some things but not all things.

Last night was one of the best comedy events I’ve ever attended! I laughed more than I usually do at a comedy night. During one comedian’s set I even became part of the show. His jokes were good-natured and I played along. My reactions to his jokes had some in the crowd laughing even more enthusiastically than usual. I was happy I could help entertain them. 7 comedians took the mic last night and each one of them had me laughing. I’ve been at shows before where some comedians could only get a slight smile from me with zero laughs at all. And I’m a generous laugher. So cheers to the comedians in Paducah last night!

Laughter is a great thing. We ought to do more of it and our world needs more people trying to lift our spirits through the joy of laughter. It isn’t true that all standup comedy is slightly filthy or vulgar. What is called clean comedians is also a thing. Although I enjoy the risky jokes or somewhat dirty jokes quite a lot and I’m not so holy rolling that I won’t laugh at them. At a comedy show we ought not be ashamed of laughing at what some might find offensive. Honestly, anyone can be offended by anything at anytime in the history of always. Yes, laughter is a wonderful medicine or therapy for our world’s woes.

If you ever become part of the show at a comedy event then just play along. Smile, laugh, perhaps answer the comedian’s question, or come up with your own joke in that moment. A dialogue with a comedian while they’re on stage isn’t necessarily a negative thing if the comic invited the conversation. So let’s just play along and know that if it’s the world’s last night then we had a great time before the curtain fell.

Solo Paducah, Kentucky Trip on June 13, 2026

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Saturday night I decided to make a solo journey to Paducah, Kentucky. Paducah has a downtown area that I love! A musician friend of mine, Leight July, was playing a show at The Old Fashioned Cigar Bar. When I awoke Saturday morning I hadn’t yet decided that I’d be making the over hour long drive to Paducah that evening. I did not have any traveling companion. Often when I journey into Kentucky I have company to enjoy the journey with. This time, though, it was just yours truly.

So during the drive I turned the punk rock music I love up louder than I usually play it. While listening to the music I contemplated the joy in my life currently while also contemplating some changes I’d like to see in myself. It was quite the 75 minute road trip! I am capable of being good company when driving by my lonesome.

When I arrived in town I made my way directly to The Old Fashioned Cigar Bar. I’d never seen the place so crowded before! It was awesome! And my musician friend gave me a shout out from the balcony stage. Which was even more awesome! Of course I had to attain two cigars for my brother and father. They enjoy the fire and smoke of a quality cigar! Now I’m taking a break from alcoholic beverages through the end of 2026. I can have an epic time, however, without booze. It was great to see others getting into the spirits, but it was simply Coke Zero for me for the evening. Leight July was as talented as always! I’ve seen her play shows throughout the years in Southern Illinois but I’d never gotten to see her play at The Old Fashioned Cigar Bar. It was a fun evening and well worth the night drive even after having worked all day.

Sometimes we travel alone. Remember that you are great company to have! Never feel odd about going to a movie or to dinner by yourself. Never think it weird to go anywhere by yourself really. I’ve spent by far the majority of my life in the state of being single. And I’m damn good company. You’re damn good company too.

After her show my friend enthusiastically greeted me and gave her thanks that I’d made the drive to see her set. That meant so much to me! Showing up for those in our lives means a lot. I think we all forget that sometimes. It’s nice to be reminded through kindness and gratitude. So show up even if you are showing up solo.

Mylo and Me Enjoying a Movie

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The other day I sat down with my dog Mylo and watched a movie. Mylo is a full eight pounds of Maltese! He’s a good boy. Honestly, he wasn’t all that interested in the film and he slept through most of it. The two of us were on the cozy couch in my home’s living room. Mylo loves the couch and seems to view it as his home away from his comfy dog bed. So here’s the story of Mylo and me at the movie.

The movie was “St. Vincent” and starred several big name actors and actresses. I’d seen a preview for it back in 2014 and thought it looked like the sort of flick I’d enjoy. Twelve years later I finally sat down and watched it. I’m not going to reveal spoilers or explain what the movie is about. What I am going to do is tell you a scene toward the end of the movie brought tears to my eyes. These tears surprised me. I hadn’t thought the film would affect me in that manner.

A favorite author of mine wrote that we ought to pay attention to the moments in our lives that bring tears to our eyes. That author was Frederick Buechner and I’ve read quite a few of his books. With this moment and with these words I’m paying attention to the truth that movies can still make me emotional enough to cry. I’m paying attention to the truth that I’ve had stuff in my life lately that’s also worthy of tears. The movie tears weren’t merely about the movie. I think the movie tears and my real life heavy stuff and sorrow got all mixed together and caused me to be emotional. I don’t often get to weeping like I did the other day when watching the ending of “St. Vincent” and after the weeping stopped I felt it was worthy of examining and writing about.

Of course our tears can be happy or sad or a mix of both. Maybe a lot of them are bittersweet sort of like life itself. I feel good, though, about writing of my weeping here. I’m not a macho dude and I think it’s stupid for anyone to think a man shouldn’t show emotion through crying. Our world has a lot of heavy stuff in it and sometimes it leaks out through our eyes and this is 100% okay.

Mylo was not brought to tears at any point throughout the film because he was just enjoying a nice nap.

Walking Works of Art

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I was informed yesterday through this blog website that I’ve now been writing blogs for 13 years. So cheers to 13 years! Looking back to 2013 until this present moment, I think the stuff I like to write about currently is similar to what I enjoyed putting pen to paper about all those seasons ago. The goal with my writing is still to spread joy and inspiration. It’s still to hopefully help give others hope. The point is to show the beauty of life through non-fiction and fiction.

Around the year 2006, I was in a creative writing fiction class, and the professor inquired us students to state why we wanted to write. I was the only one that said, “Because it’s fun!” The teacher seemed to enjoy my response to the question. A wonderful thing about writing is that truly there are no wrong answers. People will judge my writings for sure. Some will say they loved it while others will keep silent. Some will think it’s great stuff while others won’t think much of it at all. Some will think I’m a good writer while others won’t ever read another blog or short story I create. And of course this is the way things ought to be with art.

The point of this short blog today is to say I’m happy I haven’t given up on being a writer. Writing brings me joy and I feel it brings others joy also. Joy is a big deal in a world with so much ugly! The ugly stuff need not ruin our days. At times I’ve been negative toward myself because I don’t write every new day. But what if I did not write ever again? Now that would truly be something to be sad about! Because I have a voice and I have quality things to say. So do you by the way. We all have creativity and art inside us. If you create something and someone else causes you to feel it’s not any good then I advise you toss their opinion in the local garbage because it’s an opinion that belongs in the trash. Let’s not give up on doing the stuff we love and that makes our world a better place.

Thank you for showing up today and reading these words. Authors are in need of readers. I’m grateful that anyone in the history of everyone has ever read anything I’ve ever written. I’ll keep on believing in myself and believing in you. There’s much criticism out there in our lives. That’s too damned easy! It’s easy to be a critic. It doesn’t take much thought or care or empathy at all. To build one another up is beautiful and also can be more difficult. Choose the harder road when it comes to humanity. Let’s be encouragers!

Write on! Create! Show love and kindness toward your art and toward the art of others. And let’s realize that we are all walking works of art. Remember that there are no wrong answers when it comes to our artistic creations. 13 years from now you might’ve created more writings or paintings or sketches or music or sculptures than you’d ever dreamed possible. Keep dreaming and keep creating!

From Tennessee to Illinois

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It’s wonderful to have family that I would’ve chosen as friends. Two special family members visited my parents and brother and I on Saturday and stayed until Sunday. Aunt Marcy and uncle Brock from Tennessee came to visit their Illinois Brooks family!

The adult beverages flowed and the games were brought out to enjoy. Fun conversation was constant. Brock and Marcy have remarkable personalities along with an excellent sense of humor. We first met them in person in 2016 and our friendship with them was instantaneous. All of us have met many more times in the last decade.

Dad didn’t know he had a brother until back in 2012. Brock and other siblings were searching for their older half brother they’d heard about but never met. Well, they found him here in Southern Illinois because of a local university website that had Dad’s picture on it. Then a letter was sent from them to Dad with a photo of Dad as a boy. The siblings explained they were looking for their long lost older brother and inquired if the child in the photograph was him. Dad could not deny that it was him as a youth.

It took a few years before we finally got to meet my beloved family in person. For a while it was texts and phone conversations only. Although when we finally met in 2016 afterwards we never looked back and have been close ever since. Brock and Dad have not one but two matching tattoos! They are brothers and friends.

Marcy and Mom get along so well. They both laugh so much, as do all of us really, when we play Cards Against Humanity or Uno Attack. It doesn’t matter who wins, but the competition is fierce in a lighthearted way and even at times diabolical! I thoroughly enjoy how well all six of us get along together. When Marcy and Brock return to Tennessee after their visits I am immediately looking forward to the next time we all get to see one another.

Cheers to the Tennessee Brooks family! Next time I’m going to win at Cards Against Humanity! And if I lose then I’ll still have the epic memories of fun times shared with people I love.

Beverage Choices

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I prefer the word “unique” instead of the word “weird” when it comes to describing a person. I really don’t think whenever I hear someone say that someone else is “different” because it’s such a vague description or insult. Aren’t we all different than one another? Many times whenever one calls another weird or different all that person is really saying is that they dislike them and are attempting to insult them. Insults make our world a worse place.

With my word choice I try to never call anyone weird. I’ve no doubt I’ve been called weird before by people that don’t like me. This fact does not bring me joy or happiness. All I’m doing is being myself. What I am not attempting to do is be like anyone else. I see our world differently than many people I believe. I believe in love and kindness on a major scale and try to be kind and loving toward my fellow life travelers. Where some see me as weird I am certain others see me as unique.

How do we see ourselves? Do we tear ourselves down or do we speak to ourselves nicely? I’ve done both before for sure. We all live inside our own minds. My mind has a horrific disease in it known as bipolar disorder. The medicine helps with that, though. Faith and positive life experiences also help. True friends help. Kind family helps. The people in my life that think I’m unique and like me help. Let’s be exceedingly nice to ourselves in our minds while showing the same grace we are trying to illustrate to others.

An old buddy of mine, I’ve lost touch with over the years, once told me that “weird” doesn’t mean anything. In his opinion one shouldn’t pay attention to weird used as an insult. I loved that he said that and felt that way about the word. It was over 20 years ago that he told me that and I still recall it with joy.

So be unique today and let others judge or love you for it. I am not everyone’s cup of tea and some folks don’t even drink tea. They prefer coffee or juice or water or booze or energy drinks or milk. We all have critics no matter how good or kind we are being. So be one-of-a-kind and fly any freak flag or flags you wish. No one else can live our lives for us. So be yourself and I’ll promise to do the same.

Sky Music

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Recently I was driving to work and two songs played through Pandora that I’ve loved for many years. The first song was “We’ve Only Just Begun” by Run Kid Run. The second song was “Pressing On” by Relient K. These two tunes have some age on them. The first was released in the year 2006 and as I recall the other one came out in 2002. These songs inspired me during my morning commute and I thought the story was worthy of this blog.

A friend told me many years ago that she’d figured out what type of music I like. She said, “You like happy music.” My dear friend is not wrong! She had just gifted me “The Best of Herman’s Hermits” on vinyl and I was so joyful to receive such a fine record. Back then I had not had a record player for long and my collection was just getting started. So how about you? What are some of your favorite songs? Do you have a favorite genre of music? Do you love music so much that there’s simply no time to name all the music you adore because it would take an entire 500 page book? Happy or feel-good music speaks to me more than any other sort of melody.

I’ve sung the blues in my life. I’ve lived the sorrows. I’ve been extremely sad and despondent. I’m a human being and human beings experience these emotions. I think with my heart instead of my mind because my mind has bipolar. The medicine for the mental illness is quite wonderful and I won’t ever have to be hospitalized again. The blues, while I respect them, are not my favorite type of music.

Some of you, actually perhaps most of you, are wondering who Run Kid Run and Relient K are exactly. Well, if interested, you can find their music and music videos on YouTube or many other places too. They’re both of the pop punk genre with a spiritual twist too. A week ago when those two songs played back to back I knew and was determined to have an excellent day. I could have had that excellent day even without those songs, but the music caused me to think a little extra about how beautiful life is. I believe music at its best can help our spirits fly. There I was in my little Ford Focus driving to my beloved library where I work and yet my heart was in the clouds.