#winowillie

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My 46th year.

I see a lot of things being posted in reference to this past year. Mostly negative. I by no means have all the answers in fact this year I’ve worked on my self more than any year of my life. Trying to combat depression, new normals, and life challenges. I found myself being frustrated and worn down because I just wanted to be happy. I didn’t want to have to work everyday to be happy. To put effort into pulling myself together. I just wanted it to be here waiting for me. “Hey Kevin! Here’s your sunshine Wednesday waiting for you already in progress.” More so than not I didn’t wake up to that. Perspective is everything though, I actually needed to pivot and appreciate the little things and the great things in life. First of I start and end my day in bed next to my favorite person I’ve ever met, my wife Dana. We constantly see what we don’t have, we need to notice things we have that others don’t. I had someone mention this year how in the big scheme of time warm showers are a relatively

modern feature, and it’s incredibly safe to say we’re lucky to have that. Why do we rush through it? Why not play music and take our time and use it as a time out from our phones and society? So I started doing that. Pause. Indulge. Most people are cutting their next piece of steak before they’ve swallowed their last one. Savor the moment. Put your fork down, get off your phone. Light a candle, maybe what you’re waiting to say will be different if you relax and actually listen to your friends. Never pass up a chance to shut the fuck up and learn. We are incredibly lucky to have people around us with different views, opinions, and beliefs. We are lucky to change our opinions as we age. Good ideas come from all over. Knives and forks are disposable, people are not. I miss the days when facebook was littered with cat videos and I didn’t have to read my mailman carrier’s views about abortion. My Grandpa Eddie told me when I was 18 not to share my viewpoints with just anyone. Only share them with people I’ve been around a camp fire or my kitchen table with. Our feelings are too valuable to be thrown around the world like used deli numbers. Again I think we need to listen, be kind, and savor now. Today is going to be a great day. The calendar is simply a reference point of time. There are no bad years. Every year is a gift. Close your eyes when you’re being hugged. Feel the warm water, smell the fresh bread being baked, embrace to good. Let the rough moments in life be opportunities for growth and strength. Lord knows we haven’t gone through this year without losing loved ones. We are lucky to drink champagne Tuesday night, it’s the drink of champions, survivors, and celebrations. Enjoy it, you deserve it all that is great in our world. Happy New year, thanks for your love. Cheers. 🥂

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I’ve found that life isn’t exactly looking back on years so much but it’s more looking back on different stages in life. We sachet from one moment to another and hopefully we start a new chapter while we retain the good parts and people from our previous adventures we can continue our path enriched and happy. We deserve a clean slate to start again and starting a new chapter isn’t contingent on talking shit about your last chapter. It’s where you came from and it most certainly helped shape you into who are now. Give yourself the gift of grace to enjoy everyone who’s in your life actively. Don’t torture yourself and your loved ones with the imperfections of your past. You deserve to be present in your best moment with the people that care about you and sit at the fire pit with you, ride with you , belly up to bar with you and most definitely sit at your dinner table. These people that are in your circle and your call log deserve to see you at your absolute best, YOU deserve to see yourself at your best and hate looks good on no one. Kindness is the strut of strength that we all deserve. Wish the best for everyone, both your family and friends and the cunts of your life. Because if everyone is doing well there’s less bullshit to sort. Improve yourself daily and live life at a better altitude. We don’t have more time, all we can do is improve the quality of our remaining time. Drink and live well!

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Happy Birthday to the King of hardy parting! Cheers Wino, you’re the Best drinking buddy I never had! 🥃🏁

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1996 Chicago Illinois. I was 18 years old. I now have a 19 year old and a 17 year old that I love dearly. In 1996 I was told by my mom that I need to get a fuckin job. I worked at Old Orchard Mall at American Eagle Outfitters but this was the what are you doing with yourself talk. Trish made it weird some but not without reason. I had to figure a gig out. A career that could provide passage though life. My dad said he’d get me into the elevator union. That sounded fantastic. He built the elevators in Sears Tower and the John Hancock. I’d be honored to get into that line of business. My mom was really fuckin with me though. It wasn’t even June, I told her “Hey, we do well, but we aren’t gonna be to the point where I’m not going to have to work. So give me this summer to hang with my boys. My mom said, yeah I get that so she did. I piloted my 1986 Caprice through countless adventures some how we always had gasoline and beer money. Half way through the summer the Trish came at me hard. She’s all up on the job shit. I’m like Mom, it’s July what the fuck. She’s like “Yeah!! Everyone is going to be looking for a Fuckin job at the end of the summer, and you won’t have one if you wait that long.” She didn’t sugarcoat it, and she wasn’t wrong. So I thought well, I have fun at the mall with my boy Dave but I need a JOB job. If I’m stopping my summer of Metallica, Jagermeister, Cherry Coke, and Mission Impossible I need to make as much cabbage as possible. I need to consult my Uncle Mike. My uncle was absolute gold. He said yeah, I’ll get you at the liquor warehouse at Judge & Dolph in the split isle on 4 ten hour days on 3rd shift. You’ll be able to get booze for cost plus tax you start tomorrow. Oh fuck. Okay. It was awesome. My favorite thing about this job was that I’d get off work in the morning and traffic would be horrendous going into the city so I’d slide by my Uncle Mike and my grandpa for Coffee in the morning. I in that 7 week period got so much knowledge from both of them. My Grandpa Ed Doyle was a former Illinois house representative. Him, my pops, and my Uncle Mike were the pinnacle of Chicago street knowledge. Blue Collar people skills. The art of giving a fuck about your pals. I’d drink coffee I didn’t enjoy because my grandpa made it, and I’d listen to advice I didn’t ask for but I needed it. My uncle would say stuff like “People suck Kev, pay attention to who calls you. When they call you and why. Most people suck at keeping in touch, until they want something. Don’t be that piece of shit. Call your boys, ask about their Moms. Remember shit about their life. This is the stuff no one does. Because people are lazy. Don’t do that, you’re from better stock than that. Take care of your boys. Be a good friend.” Keep in mind I had a Velcro wallet and in that wallet I had a sheet of paper with my “important” phone numbers on it. I had a Mountain Dew Pager so cellphones were still 2 years away from me and my friends. My uncle was right though. My Grandpa Eddie told me, “Everyone thinks our world is black or white, you can’t be more wrong. Everything is just shades of gray. Nothing in life is that easy. You as a man have to pay attention and listen. Navigate the gray. The path will show itself if you’re actually looking and listening.” I had more lessons over coffee with my guys but really both men said the same thing. Life is about listening, life is about love. Caring about eachother and not waiting to talk. Listening in a lost art. Listening is more important than talking. I’m bad at interrupting. I am trying to work on it. I’m constantly trying to be a better listener. I’m still trying to digest the outstanding advice I was lucky enough to get 27 years ago and apply it to my Wednesday. I found in these discussions that if you’re a giver you actually get more if you’re doing it right. Caring is the patch to a rich life. They were and are legendary and I was lucky to have 7 weeks of bad coffee mixed with amazing advice. It helped shape me into the Jagoff I am today. Look after eachother and take care.

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I’d like to say Happy Birthday to Mr Wino Willie Forkner. Since I was young my uncle Mike took me to live WWF events every time they came to town. I watched colossal personalities like MachoMan and Roddy Roddy Piper take the stage and own the room and take on other giants like Hulk Hogan, and André the giant. I loved the interaction with the crowd, the back and forth energy. Macho Man wasn’t threatened by anyone, Piper was no different. They were their own men. David Lee Roth wasn’t humbled by Eddie Van Halen, together they thrived, they didn’t compete. These were men that lived life big enough they never read the room. They were the fuckin energy in the room. Wino was one of those men. Once upon entering an energy spread. People were captivated by his spirit and the party instantly smackfucked into a malfunctioning gravititron that everyone wanted in on even though they knew they night would most likey shit the sleeping bag. His spirit was so genuine they followed. He was his own man and didn’t watch others reactions, didn’t ask for feedback, he took on the mantra of popeye, “I yam what I yam.” That is my favorite thing about Mr Wino Willie Forkner is he was pure, he wasn’t perfect but he was himself. Optics weren’t in his vocabulary. He was himself, 35mph over the speed limit, a product of our nations finest generation that was forged and refinished by a camaraderie that could only be found during Earths greatest war. Our social savage returned home and showed America how to tilt Bottles and twist throttles. Legends make your jaw drop, they don’t try to fit in. I read something that somes this up very well. “If Tetris has ever taught me anything it’s when you finally fit in you disappear.” Be true to yourself, fuck what other people are doing. Wino never cared, he was too busy being himself and loving the ones who loved him. Happy Birthday Wino, I still wish I could have known you personally. The stories left behind are constant and fantastic. Cheers. 🇺🇸🥃🏁🥃

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You escape to Michigan like Tim Allen always said, beautiful trees and roaring rivers, winery’s and distilleries, small hardware shops and parades. Sounds great. At our quietest moment motorcycles roar and Hooligans overtake this quiet innocent town. Men wearing bottles stormed in with hands that smell of gasoline and breath that’s flammable. People tense up until they feel the love in the room. It’s still bout da brudderhood! If you want to party with some fun lovin genuine people find chapter 65. They disco dancing.

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“Some spirits have no container.” -Boozefighter Gumball

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You earn the bottle they can’t see. You earn the one your brothers see the weeks before they vote to pull you inside of their family. It wasn’t put there, there aren’t steps to obtain it. It happens organically through mutual love and respect. This bottle in your heart can’t be taken away from you. If it exists it will always be there because you will have an undying love. You’ll be unable to quit. Unable to be discouraged. You’ll always find a way to continue to love this family. A different angle. A new approach to a lifelong love that you were incredibly lucky to find. Never forget how the cold beer felt going down your back. If you don’t get tired and frustrated from time to time you aren’t loving this enough. Know where to get fuel for your torch, know where to visit, what rides to attend, who to party with and who to fuckin lean on when you’re down. We should be teaching our prospects how to stay, not how to patch. How to coexist with people you don’t get along with but still love. How to love brothers with different availability without resentment, how to say more with a hug instead of a pointed finger. Because this is a lifelong stumble. Divorce isn’t an option, quitting is never an option. You can’t appreciate the good fuckin hootch without some malort here and there. Help eachother thrive and rage wild. Boozefighters up! -Boozefighter Gumball Ch170