Not long ago, I had two passions. Two truly distinct and, at times, all-consuming passions. The first and most important passion was for a person who not only held my world steady, but also kept my head in the clouds at the same time. A person to whom I eventually made the penultimate commitment. And the second passion I had was for a noisy rock-n-roll group who just happened to make music that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Each passion existed on very different levels, but both had the ability to arouse strong and sometimes sobering emotions. And each held on tight in different parts of me.

But now, with some very dark nights finally behind me, I will very soon legally and officially terminate one of those passions. True, the law does not legislate the heart, but it can help it limp along; the flame may have blown out quite awhile ago, but wisps of smoke still come from the wick.

And today I realized something that made me laugh quietly to myself: On the very same day that I hope to put the one passion behind me for good, the other passion will be brightened because of two overused yet uplifting words: new music.

By my simple ability to see that thin irony, I know that there's quite a bit of snap still left in me. I may be grasping at straws here, but sometimes straws are the only things I can reach. So be it.