I Drop Truth Bombs: The Daily Adventures of Joel

Asked by Anonymous

The happiest I’ve ever been. I can say that wholeheartedly. My parents told me that the other day, too, when they popped into town. “This is the happiest we have ever seen you. Good things are happening for you.”

I am home. In so many ways I am home. 

My heart is full. And happy is the heart that is so.

Asked by Anonymous

I feel like I am being set up, here, but I will indulge you with individual responses:

I want stability.

I need to get my ass in the studio and get to work on music with the boys.

I long for peace of mind.

I must have Hempler’s pepper bacon with eggs for breakfast with my lady, or we get cranky.

I desire to continue this ride of amazing I have been blessed with as long as I can. :)

Asked by Anonymous

It’s interesting to me that this is the first question in my inbox since I took a bit of a sabbatical, as I have been pondering this a lot lately.

When I was growing up, I knew basically two things about myself: 1) I wanted to get married and 2) I wanted two kids. That’s a weird thing to think about growing up. “Hey, I want offspring, too!” I think I always thought kids were like puppies that would talk back to you, or something.

The older I have gotten, and the paths that I have chosen to get me to the point I am at today, have made me more open to the idea of not having kids, actually. I think that if I lived the life that I dreamed I would by 30, that would be a definite must, but I could never raise a kid in my current condition. That’s fucking with another human’s life. You need to be absolutely ready for that shit. If you are not, you best be more than ready to hand off that life to someone who is prepared. And at that point, why? Why even consider having kids if you are not a stable person? I just don’t see that as a healthy choice. (This is my personal stance, for the record. Do not get butt-hurt.)

When it comes time to get married and all of that stuff, I don’t think the desire to or not to have kids will be a deal breaker for me. 10 years ago it would have been. I think I would rather live my life with someone that I could happily share every moment of my life with, even as a lonely old couple, than put that kind of pressure on a relationship. I know that there is a biological clock ticking somewhere that might make having kids more difficult as I get older, but if I am not ready to have little humans by then, so be it. It’s not the end of the world. 

Plus, being an uncle kicks ass. You get to drop truth bombs on other people’s kids without worrying about the consequences (usually). :)

Asked by Anonymous

For hours on repeat? Lately it has been “Gone” by Vacationer (the just released an EP yesterday, but that single has been out for a few months now), but I would have to say overall, #1 choice of all time would have to be Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Aloha Oe.” That is deep within my soul. Great question!