2014. The year that felt like nothing happened, but in actuality a shit ton happened. Or is that every year?
Starting off this year in review I'd like to discuss:
GROWING UP
In a way, I feel like I've become an adult this year. This seems to be the theme of my recap. It's a nice feeling. A foreign feeling. A small feeling that for the first time in my life I see the appeal of adulthood, and how ephemeral being a kid really is. I still remember thinking the opposite as a kid. Thinking that childhood was the only time period of any real merit or value, and that adults were simply our servants and just kind of waiting to die (I mean, I didn't have that exact thought, but that was the nature of my selfishness).
First, I am finally starting to see the importance of trying to let go of old grudges (I think I enjoyed holding onto them a bit too much before). The people who committed these 'offenses' aren't even the same people who offended me anymore. Everyone is evolving, and although the majority of douches are going to continue being douches, I owe it to myself to give some people the benefit of the doubt that they are trying to improve.
I know I am trying. This year was definitely a year of making a concentrated effort to think less like a child and more like a responsible, maybe even impressive, citizen. Obviously, I am never going to give up my childlike ways of loving adventure and mischief (see this article in the rft which may or may not have been me:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/12/we_dont_see_nothing_wrong_with_this_altered_construction_sign.php).
However, I have tried to be less emotional in my decision making (which is kind of impossible, but I am trying OK! I'm very emotional! I CANT HELP ITTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrghhhhhh).
Ahem.
Anyways, having a steady career has done wonders for my growing up. For my self worth, happiness, and sense of duty. I have been learning so much over the past year and a half. Handling the stress of the trauma/surg floor has crossed over into my life and made me better at handling all situations. I still have a long way to go, but I'm seeing improvements. I wish I had time to tell all of the stories...
The good nights when I have patients cry and tell me how much they appreciate my care (my 3rd month as a nurse I won the floor award for patient recommendations, and once a family member bought me crab rangoons and I almost cried I was so happy), when I push someone to do something and they thank me (the time I had a 7'2" patient who didn't want to get out of bed, and I helped him up and he was so happy), when I get IVs in a difficult vein (that one milestone night when I put in two Ivs back to back without having to ask anyone else for help), when I call docs with suggestions and they agree with my assessments (the night I got a patient who was already septic, and I got orders for antibiotics, pain meds, and fluid bolus' all while calming his overly dramatic family down and putting in an extra IV, and then shipping him off to the ICU for closer monitoring. Oh yeah, and my second cousin was the doctor on the case), when I bring down temperatures and heart rates and blood pressures (it is such a good feeling to see the medications and the care I give actually work right before my eyes), when I get to see my patients get better and leave. The bad nights when I have to call a MET team (or two), when my patient has to go to the ICU, when I have to ask someone else to do turn team for me because I'm too behind on meds, when I can't seem to get any IVs in, when a patient I've been breaking my back for all night complains about something trivial that isn't in my control and I just want to scream.
Man. Nursing was an unexpected path for me, but it has turned out to be the most rewarding decision I've ever made. It is surprising how many good aspects of myself it is awakening and bringing to the surface (as a person who is known in some circles as being the "late one," I haven't had an absence or tardy in 5 years at Mercy). I was almost a shell of a person before nursing. I was timid. I was half awake much of the time. As weird as it sounds, I think becoming a nurse has made me into a man. Hah. That's a sentence you don't read every day!
...Aside from work, I am also trying to take better care of my body. I am currently giving smoking cessation a go, and I joined a gym for the winter to bulk up my muscles. I also bought my first suit, which makes me feel very adult at events like weddings. So compared to last year, I am in a much better place both physically, emotionally, and mentally (and yes, even sartorially).
This next section will be entitled...
TRAVEL!
This year was really the first year in maybe 3 or 4 years that I am exiting the year feeling satisfied with how I spent my time. I made the most of it. I traveled a lot!!!! Which is something I looooonged for during nursing school.
I went to:
1.Wisconsin, to snowboard with my dad, Spending a weekend with my dad turned out to be one of the best decisions of the year. We are starting to bond more than ever and I actually get the feeling like he likes my company as a person and not just a son.
2. New Orleans, because I had never been. Aubrey went with me and she showed me her old stomping grounds. We sang music under the tree of life. We put an X on the stone of miss levaou just like our song says. We had po' boys. I went on a ghost tour. We had a drink at the oldest bar in USA (maybe?). We busked for $5! We had beignets. But the highlight was just the road trip, singing weezer songs with Aubrey and catching up on life.
3.Kansas, to visit Carrie and the boys. It's so great to see them all happy and in a good place, but holy damn. I miss them at least once a week. The weight of my miss list is starting to make every single day a sort of nostalgic haze, going in and out of present reality and a longing for the people who make it worth being awake. Aubrey actually pointed out to me this year (during our road trip) that I am one of the most nostalgic people she knows. I can't decide if that's good or bad, maybe a bit of both.
4.Tennessee, to visit the Thomas's. My mom's sister's family. They are some of my favorite people on the planet as well. I went to my cousin Erika's wedding. She got hitched to a f**king awesome dude. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a harsh judge when it comes to first impressions, and this guy Jarred just won me over immediately. Makes me pumped he is part of our family. And it makes me happy to see my cousin happy.
5. Oklahoma, to visit Dan. I was able to see his new house and his new innovations in construction. He is essentially doubling the square feet of a house he bought by turning the attic into more floor space. He also introduced me to the Starbucks golden ticket. I also got to feel the baby kickin' in Brie's belly just weeks before August was born. Also, we watched this show called 'Impractical Jokers,' and while we were out at a garage sale we reenacted some of the scenes (putting our noses on strangers).
6. Florida, for a much needed true blue vacation after the longest winter of my life. Nothing baaaad really happened over the winter, but it was by far the loneliest I've ever felt in my whole life. It was lonely. And it was so fucking cold. It was like Chicago cold. And did I mention lonely? Yeah, 2012/13 was the year of dating and loving being single. 2013/14 was the year of realizing I actually hate being single, and want a family. This winter helped me to be more willing to give up my bachelor life (staying with the theme of growing up). Anyways, Florida! We rented a 3 story house off the beach for a week. We just played games, went to the beach, and chilled out. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. I hope one day, once Dan and Jon's family's are more established and maybe if I ever get one, that we can all rent a house together for a week like that.
Another cool thing that happened in Florida. My mom brought a video camera and recorded the whole thing. Everyone was annoyed. "Put down the camera!" "Don't film me!" That kind of thing. Buuuuuut when we got home I found a video editing program and made all her clips into a 30 min movie, with songs and captions! Thus a new passion for video editing was born. I've been editing like crazy ever since.
7. Illinois, to visit Mark and Megan and Aubrey. Three of the most impressive humans I know. I always feel a little intimidated by them all, and I think I always want to be hanging out with people that are probably too cool for me. That's my goal, anyway.
8. And finally California, for a combined birthday adventure and Zack visit. I really wanted to see him (I am admittedly shit when it comes to keeping in touch via phone. I need face to face). Also, I turned 30 this october and it was a big deal so I wanted to remember it with a travel story. This decade marker hit me kinda hard emotionally/mentally. I thought it was just the big 3.0. that was making me feel introspective and heavy, but my dad says that every decade b-day has been that way. He said even when I turned 10 I just kept saying things to the effect of "Wow, double digits, I'm really old now." Hahah. But seriously. I am. I am old now. My whole life I've thought of anyone 30 and over is just old. Once you hit 30 you cease relevancy. God...does anyone else think like this?? I sure hope not. I feel like my brain is just starting to function properly, and now more than ever I have the opportunity to become relevant. Or at least useful to society.
These tangents!
So yeah, California was quite an experience. It was the first time I did a big travel adventure without a travel companion. So in ways it was wonderful, and in ways it was just dreadful. I flew into Cali and had a rough welcoming. It's not worth getting into, but I had to deal with shady taxi cabs and then Zack was in a great deal of pain so we couldn't really go out to celebrate my b-day.
Luckily, we had a wonderful time just hanging at his apartment drinking, smoking, and playing music. That's all I really wanted from my time with him anyway (although I did wish I could have gone to the beach). Then I rented a car and drove up highway 1 to San Fran. Again, this was such a bittersweet experience. It was amazing because I was able to see a city I had never seen before! The golden gate bridge (shouldn't it be gold?), the painted ladies, Alcatraz, the redwoods, etc! However, once again, my host was not fully available. I was staying with a friend of a friend. I could tell she was a lovely and intensely interesting person, yet she seemed like she was miles away in her head. She was all work. Although, in her defense I will say she took me to this amazing restaurant called Leopold's (I think). I don't like German food usually, but this place! If you go to San Fran, go there. You're welcome.
So that was a little bit about my travels. What else happened?
Well on the home front, after the longest winter, I decided I needed to move or find a roommate. The very same week I made this decision, an acquaintance texted (is texted a word?) me asking if I knew of anyone in need of a roomie. Sooooo that was very fortuitous! Hannah came over and loved the place and she has been my room mate ever since. I called her my roommate, but her dad says she is technically my flat mate, since we don't literally share a room. (Speaking of 'literally,' Hannah misuses the word 'literally' more than anyone I've ever met (again, with the tangents! Argh)) It hasn't even been a year, but so far it has been great! She has helped me learn how to live with a woman and she has helped keep me sane. She even brought a beautiful dog named Harvey into my life. We have had a few parties. We had a whiskey night and a game night. We've had some movie nights at home gossiping about our latest date fails (like the time I had a date stolen by a middle aged biking bird watcher, or the time my car died on a first date, or the time a bike cop told me to stop making out in the street) We purchased a big white board calendar to set goals for ourselves. I put a black X on days when I don't smoke. I put a blue X when I do sit ups that day. At the end of the month if we reach our personal goals we go have a steak night. Steak nights are the best! A quality flat mate is the best!
Ah yes, artistic endeavors of 2014.
I guess we will call this small section:
CREATING
Well, I mentioned the film editing. I also gave painting a go during the longest winter. My first painting attempt was set by the trashcan in anger. Luckily my good friend Peggy saw it and said she liked it so much that she wanted it, and ended up hanging it on her living room wall : D That was very encouraging and convinced me to keep trying.
The bands both finally completed recording for their respective albums. I expect them both to be out by 2018. I've already moved on emotionally and mentally though. I have another 10 songs I am ready to begin recording. Looking forward to 2015! We had a couple interesting gigs this year...We were paid $1000 to play a private event in the basement of Vin de Set. 3 sets over 2 hours. It was a unique show. Charlie even sang a song! Very cool. We also played an outdoor show at an Alive magazine event on Washington avenue. A drunk guy asked to play with us. And then there was the gig at the prestigious Sheldon concert hall. What an honor and a treat. The sound guy told us we could play there again anytime we wanted.
Any other great stories to remember Greg?
MISC. STORIES
The birth of NORA!!! My sister gave me my first niece. She was born on Carrie's b-day, just 1 hour shy of being a premee. Me and Char roadtripped to go see her.
Loufest! Holly got me a free ticket and we spent the whole weekend together sneaking flasks in our underwear and getting super drunk. And also the black keys show when she got so drunk that she threw up on my shoe and I had to carry her back 4 blocks to the car. Aaaaand the Arcade fire show with Aubrey, when we snuck down to the front and danced under the confetti!
Oh I want to remember that on one particular very good date, I was watching a meteor shower and I saw one that was so close I truly saw a tail of fire following behind it. It was magical and I've never heard anyone else say they've seen that.
The year of HIMYM. I will always associate that show with this time period of relating to Ted.
I also want to remember that one meal at Pi's pizza when we first went out with Sarah. That was a great night.
And going over to Katie's house after Botanical Gardens (Bo Gards) for a little dance party. Oh! And making out in the hammock. That was a much needed moment in my life.
And that night with the tornado warnings at work where we took the patients all out into the hall two times in an hour.
Obviously, Ferguson. While there is so much to be said here, I will just leave it to a couple things I learned. I finally understood white privilege. I don't feel guilty, I feel thankful. I have not recognized how fucking lucky I am to be white and male until now. Though I do think it's extremely sad that white privilege is truly a thing. I also realized that you can be accidentally racist, and that a lot of people I know are racist. That there are ugly parts in beautiful people. And that there are ugly parts in myself that I need to deal with (trying to learn not to be so reactionary when people say ignorant things...again, GREG, stop being so emotional!!!!). This brings to mind the sage advise from Deck about the ying and the yang of people. So effing good.
The scary night when Katelyn had a car wreck and she was shaking and crying. And I had to leave my heavy team of patients to go cry at her bedside.
GODDAYUM. It really pays to take a couple hours to sit and reflect. A lot happened this year. A lot of great stories. A lot of great people in my life. It goes so fast that I don't realize just how much happens in a short year. I think the addition of a smart phone and netflix in my life has been a bit cancerous. I am in this perpetual state of feeling that I am missing out. That I must keep my hands busy. That I need to be making my nights epic and noteworthy. When after reflecting in this blog, if anything, I probably need to spend a few more nights in 2015 just sitting at home quiet and in thought.
So 2015. My hopes for you?
I hope that you are just as epic as 2014. I hope I keep traveling. I hope I keep creating. I hope I keep growing. I hope I keep being too nostalgic. But I hope that I spend more time appreciating the good moments and people right in front of me too.
I hope that I find someone to share those good moments with (I think this has been my hope for the last 4 years, which is discouraging, but I will not give up). I realized the other night exactly what it is I miss about my friends. When I had Zack and Dan and Michael and Jon (and Kelly) in my life, the reason they were so wonderful was this one important thing. When we hung out, it didn't matter what we did. It mattered that we were together doing it. And that's what made every night with them seem important to me. Even sitting on the porch doing homework felt 'epic' with Dan and Jon. Nowadays I am completely surrounded with people who only want to hang out if it's in their best interest, or if the fun factor is greatest for them. I find this to be the most infuriating thing about life/people. I've actually stopped hanging out with a lot of people because I feel like a 'friend accessory' to them. I don't know if this is a symptom of modern life or just adult life or both. I sure hope it is a modern life problem and not just a fact of life in adulthood. Because people should still be able to make time to truly be together.
Right now, as I see it, people kind of suck. Even the closest people in my life will not hang out with me the majority of the time because it's not advantageous. Or they just don't want to leave the house. ...this fact of life is just disheartening. People don't just MEET anymore. They must PLAN first. They need that promise of some time worthy endeavor. I loooooong for friends who want to meet first and then plan. That's when the good shit happens.
Anyways, that is my final hope. I finally find people who just want to be in on the adventure no matter where it leads. People who just want to be with me. If anything 2014 has showed me that I have worth and I believe that I am worthy of love and time. So I will keep hope alive that I will find those of like heart and mind. 2015 is the year hope does not die. And 2014, thanks for teaching me so much. ...I'll miss you so much : )
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
2013 in review :0
Today I was struck with a strong desire to do a year in review, to try and remember some of the highlights that I will inevitably forget. When I logged on, I realized I didn't do a year in review for 2013!!! SO. I will probably forget a great deal of the important things, but I need to try. So here it is, 2013 in review, belated! This is mostly for my own sake, so sorry if this reads super boring.
In 2013 I graduated nursing school. This is most likely why I never blogged again. Nursing school was one of the most energy draining/rewarding experiences I will ever have. It is a marathon. It is financially stressful. It is a social sacrifice. It is a bonding time. It is a test of patience.
From nursing school, what I remember a year and a half later, and what I want to keep remembering, is the people. Bethany, Jeff, Erin, and Lara. Those were my 4 closest companions. The whole crew was amazing, but these 4 were rocks who never stopped encouraging. I don't want to forget Erin helping me with our lab presentations. I don't want to forget Bethany's study dates at Kaldis. I don't want to forget the celebration the night before graduation with Lara! I don't want to forget that I graduated MAGNA CUM LAUDE, even while working at Mercy and keeping 2 bands going.
And then there is passing boards. While I want to remember this because it was a defining moment and a personal highlight of perseverance, I kind of wish I could forget the feelings of stress. I still remember that day a year and a half later. It took me 5 HOURS, and 265 questions to pass.
The stress didn't end there! I jumped right into my first professional full time job (I mean, aside from that whole sales debacle). My boss brought me into his office and said, "Do you want to keep working here after you graduate?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Great, you've just been interviewed."
I hit the ground running. And then immediately tripped on my own feet. And then fell flat on my face. Working as a nurse on a trauma/surg floor is apparently extremely difficult! After my month of training my boss told me I wasn't ready. So he put me on the night shift. I'll be honest I was devastated at the time. All of my favorite people were on days. I was one of the few people to be offered a day position right out of school. I screwed up.
But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I ended up loving the night crew way more. I ended up learning so much (time management was and is my main struggle...when 5 people need 5 different things at the same time, it's tough!) Plus, I get paid more!
...what else?
Speedboats played some big shows. We opened for a ton of well known bands. The biggest highlight being, we got to perform UNDER THE ARCH! It was a jack daniels sponsored event, and I ended up getting the number of the prettiest jack daniels girl (and almost had a panic attack when I saw Kelly, but that's not important anymore). Arthur played one of the most fun shows when we performed at the Tower Grove farmers market. That was just such a great day playing music and then grabbing brunch at Russell's with Aubs and Charlie afterwards.
With nursing school in my rear view I decided to travel a little to celebrate. I went to NY for the first time. In NY I met up with the Thomas's (my cousins and aunt and uncle) and we did a ton of sight seeing. I went to the world trade center memorial, the NBC building (and SNL stage!), saw Lion King on broadway, Time's square, Macy's, and the Empire State building! We even did a little boat tour around the statue of liberty. Then I met up with my old friend Michael Becker and he showed me around the 'hip' district. He took me to a party at the famed Jane hotel. This was actually a miserable experience because everyone there looked down there nose at me and I just wanted to leave the whole time. But it should be noted it was a cool building, and happened to be the dock that the survivors of the Titanic were taken to. Then I met Chelsea and she showed me her NY world. This was amazing! She showed me Juilliard, she took me to Alice's bakery, walked around Central Park (and saw John Lennon's memorial), magnolia bakery on bleaker, either the met or the moma i cant remember now (but i saw a jackson pollack!) We rented bikes and went around Williamsburg.
The only sad thing that comes to mind from that year is the fact that my sister and brother in law(one of my few remaining close friends in stl) moved to KS.
I know I'm forgetting a lot, but this is all for now!
In 2013 I graduated nursing school. This is most likely why I never blogged again. Nursing school was one of the most energy draining/rewarding experiences I will ever have. It is a marathon. It is financially stressful. It is a social sacrifice. It is a bonding time. It is a test of patience.
From nursing school, what I remember a year and a half later, and what I want to keep remembering, is the people. Bethany, Jeff, Erin, and Lara. Those were my 4 closest companions. The whole crew was amazing, but these 4 were rocks who never stopped encouraging. I don't want to forget Erin helping me with our lab presentations. I don't want to forget Bethany's study dates at Kaldis. I don't want to forget the celebration the night before graduation with Lara! I don't want to forget that I graduated MAGNA CUM LAUDE, even while working at Mercy and keeping 2 bands going.
And then there is passing boards. While I want to remember this because it was a defining moment and a personal highlight of perseverance, I kind of wish I could forget the feelings of stress. I still remember that day a year and a half later. It took me 5 HOURS, and 265 questions to pass.
The stress didn't end there! I jumped right into my first professional full time job (I mean, aside from that whole sales debacle). My boss brought me into his office and said, "Do you want to keep working here after you graduate?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Great, you've just been interviewed."
I hit the ground running. And then immediately tripped on my own feet. And then fell flat on my face. Working as a nurse on a trauma/surg floor is apparently extremely difficult! After my month of training my boss told me I wasn't ready. So he put me on the night shift. I'll be honest I was devastated at the time. All of my favorite people were on days. I was one of the few people to be offered a day position right out of school. I screwed up.
But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I ended up loving the night crew way more. I ended up learning so much (time management was and is my main struggle...when 5 people need 5 different things at the same time, it's tough!) Plus, I get paid more!
...what else?
Speedboats played some big shows. We opened for a ton of well known bands. The biggest highlight being, we got to perform UNDER THE ARCH! It was a jack daniels sponsored event, and I ended up getting the number of the prettiest jack daniels girl (and almost had a panic attack when I saw Kelly, but that's not important anymore). Arthur played one of the most fun shows when we performed at the Tower Grove farmers market. That was just such a great day playing music and then grabbing brunch at Russell's with Aubs and Charlie afterwards.
With nursing school in my rear view I decided to travel a little to celebrate. I went to NY for the first time. In NY I met up with the Thomas's (my cousins and aunt and uncle) and we did a ton of sight seeing. I went to the world trade center memorial, the NBC building (and SNL stage!), saw Lion King on broadway, Time's square, Macy's, and the Empire State building! We even did a little boat tour around the statue of liberty. Then I met up with my old friend Michael Becker and he showed me around the 'hip' district. He took me to a party at the famed Jane hotel. This was actually a miserable experience because everyone there looked down there nose at me and I just wanted to leave the whole time. But it should be noted it was a cool building, and happened to be the dock that the survivors of the Titanic were taken to. Then I met Chelsea and she showed me her NY world. This was amazing! She showed me Juilliard, she took me to Alice's bakery, walked around Central Park (and saw John Lennon's memorial), magnolia bakery on bleaker, either the met or the moma i cant remember now (but i saw a jackson pollack!) We rented bikes and went around Williamsburg.
The only sad thing that comes to mind from that year is the fact that my sister and brother in law(one of my few remaining close friends in stl) moved to KS.
I know I'm forgetting a lot, but this is all for now!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Year in review 2012
the end of the year is here again so as usual i find myself reflective of the year past, and contemplative for the year ahead.
since school is on break i have time, so let's jot down some memories and highlights from 2012:
The good: Had a childhood dream realized when Nate invited me to play hockey with him on scott trade center ice! I scored goals with kelly chase and terry yake (former blues). definitely comforted me during the nhl strike. I joined another band (the breaks) and had a lot of fun writing songs for other people, and learning to perform as the sole lead singer. The first show at a new venue (voce) was tons of fun, and i found myself having one of my best vocal performances yet.
The band progressed wonderfully, even if no one really noticed but us. We released our cd, a dream come true! It made RFT's top 50 stl releases of the year. i don't really think that's saying much, but the fact that we were recognized is at least comforting. We also played at many new venues like plush and firebird and gramophone and had the honor of playing AUCW, as Simon and Garfunkel. I finally stopped throwing up before shows! We started recording the new album, and it is soooo fun!
Had some lucky opportunities to see some great concerts. i made up for a lack of quantity with super high quality. I saw radiohead, fiona apple, and paul mccartney. i hope to take all three memories to my grave, as they were all inspiring and unforgettable. I also saw Louie CK at the fox. it was my first time experiencing the awesomeness of that building, and i was laughing the whole time, so it was pretty great! Aaaand at the halloween party i saw nelly finally. it's only fitting since i live in st louis.
Also, after over a year of struggling to get the government to help me pay my student loans i was finally able to open the communication channels and i will be getting around 6k that i almost didn't get. and that is HUGE.
The bad: As aforementioned, i dealt with some sickness, and with some stress at school. I had the bat debacle happen...basically a bat snuck into my house multiple times and attacked me (crawling under doors to get to me even!) I was haunted at one point! I had my first car wreck which is a terrifying experience. And obviously i'm still trying to understand Tony's passing.
The ugly: ...Kevin's mom?
Random memories i dont wanna forget: After years of trying to get over past loves, i finally got back up on the horse this year. I went on a couple dates, and had some fun. And even more importantly, so did Charlie. One of the more memorable dates for me was going to art hill and painting the basin onto a canvas at dusk. I also had an amazingly weird float trip with char and chelsea. we climbed up a bluff off the river and came upon a bunch of creepy rusted out metal statues in the middle of the woods (one was a woman hugging a horse who had fallen on its back, while others looked like WWII bombs...i swear it!) I also made zack's bday video, which i plan on reprising every year..
More random memories: I want to remember dancing in jessie's kitchen, practicing our justin beiber slide glide. i want to remember finding old love letters in the ceiling of dad's basement and pouring over them in the summer twilight. i want to remember kevin moving in at gma's place, adding some new energy to my living situation. and him getting me shwasted on my bday. i want to remember kevins 30th, where we had a bouncy house in the front yard, bbq and darts and beer pong in the back, jam sessions downstairs, makeout sessions in the bedroom, and limos out front. i want to remember making 500 bucks at the singing competition at mercy hospital. and of course the euphoria of passing ATI exams, which can not really be explained or replicated.
I think i got all of the highlights.
Looking on to the next year, i find once again that what i want out of 2013 is to start working on lasting relationships. I want to reconnect with friends and family. i also want to travel. i hope to finish the album. i plan to move into my own place. i will most likely have to buy a new car.
But i just read over last years reflection and find it is still a burning desire for me to appreciate the present moment. be thankful for the people i DO have in my life. for the roof i DO have currently over my head. for the car i DO have now. for the success professionally and scholastically that i AM experiencing. I reallllly need to be more thankful and more driven to wake up each morning with purpose. If you read this all the way through then god bless you, let's go get coffee sometime, and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life. I love ya'll and i love life, and from the bottom of my heart i hope you love your life too.
since school is on break i have time, so let's jot down some memories and highlights from 2012:
The good: Had a childhood dream realized when Nate invited me to play hockey with him on scott trade center ice! I scored goals with kelly chase and terry yake (former blues). definitely comforted me during the nhl strike. I joined another band (the breaks) and had a lot of fun writing songs for other people, and learning to perform as the sole lead singer. The first show at a new venue (voce) was tons of fun, and i found myself having one of my best vocal performances yet.
The band progressed wonderfully, even if no one really noticed but us. We released our cd, a dream come true! It made RFT's top 50 stl releases of the year. i don't really think that's saying much, but the fact that we were recognized is at least comforting. We also played at many new venues like plush and firebird and gramophone and had the honor of playing AUCW, as Simon and Garfunkel. I finally stopped throwing up before shows! We started recording the new album, and it is soooo fun!
Had some lucky opportunities to see some great concerts. i made up for a lack of quantity with super high quality. I saw radiohead, fiona apple, and paul mccartney. i hope to take all three memories to my grave, as they were all inspiring and unforgettable. I also saw Louie CK at the fox. it was my first time experiencing the awesomeness of that building, and i was laughing the whole time, so it was pretty great! Aaaand at the halloween party i saw nelly finally. it's only fitting since i live in st louis.
Also, after over a year of struggling to get the government to help me pay my student loans i was finally able to open the communication channels and i will be getting around 6k that i almost didn't get. and that is HUGE.
The bad: As aforementioned, i dealt with some sickness, and with some stress at school. I had the bat debacle happen...basically a bat snuck into my house multiple times and attacked me (crawling under doors to get to me even!) I was haunted at one point! I had my first car wreck which is a terrifying experience. And obviously i'm still trying to understand Tony's passing.
The ugly: ...Kevin's mom?
Random memories i dont wanna forget: After years of trying to get over past loves, i finally got back up on the horse this year. I went on a couple dates, and had some fun. And even more importantly, so did Charlie. One of the more memorable dates for me was going to art hill and painting the basin onto a canvas at dusk. I also had an amazingly weird float trip with char and chelsea. we climbed up a bluff off the river and came upon a bunch of creepy rusted out metal statues in the middle of the woods (one was a woman hugging a horse who had fallen on its back, while others looked like WWII bombs...i swear it!) I also made zack's bday video, which i plan on reprising every year..
More random memories: I want to remember dancing in jessie's kitchen, practicing our justin beiber slide glide. i want to remember finding old love letters in the ceiling of dad's basement and pouring over them in the summer twilight. i want to remember kevin moving in at gma's place, adding some new energy to my living situation. and him getting me shwasted on my bday. i want to remember kevins 30th, where we had a bouncy house in the front yard, bbq and darts and beer pong in the back, jam sessions downstairs, makeout sessions in the bedroom, and limos out front. i want to remember making 500 bucks at the singing competition at mercy hospital. and of course the euphoria of passing ATI exams, which can not really be explained or replicated.
I think i got all of the highlights.
Looking on to the next year, i find once again that what i want out of 2013 is to start working on lasting relationships. I want to reconnect with friends and family. i also want to travel. i hope to finish the album. i plan to move into my own place. i will most likely have to buy a new car.
But i just read over last years reflection and find it is still a burning desire for me to appreciate the present moment. be thankful for the people i DO have in my life. for the roof i DO have currently over my head. for the car i DO have now. for the success professionally and scholastically that i AM experiencing. I reallllly need to be more thankful and more driven to wake up each morning with purpose. If you read this all the way through then god bless you, let's go get coffee sometime, and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life. I love ya'll and i love life, and from the bottom of my heart i hope you love your life too.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
summer on a string
as usual, i just am exploding with new happenings and i find myself with very little time to sit and write it all down. but i know im starting to forget great memories so i need to try and put some it on the ole blog, even tho i should be taking an online test, writing an email to my instructor, and eating supper right now. oh well...this very moment is just an example of my summer of hanging on by a string.
first lets tackle the band. we sound like a real band now. when we play it feels like being in a band! and oh man...what a big feeling. we added a drummer (good buddy chris), and for our last show we somehow convinced our friend sean to make us look even cooler by playing bass for us. we played at the firebird, which is a legit venue where touring bands come, and we knocked it out of the park! a reviewer for playbackstl was there since we were opening for a touring band and she said we were a pleasant surprise and wrote a flattering paragraph on us (http://www.playbackstl.com/concert-reviews/11592-the-mynabirds--070112)!
the show before that was a bit of a disaster though...the sound was just off the whole night and it made for awkward stage moments and frustrated stage communication with the soundguy. i'm only writing this to remember the ups and the downs....we decided to take the rest of the summer off because we want to record the second album which is exciting as hell. we think it will be called 'island of the lotus eaters' and it will be very themed with island imagery and thoughts on memory and longing.
at work i've started a new journey that is just making me all the more excited about my future in healthcare. i am in pca (patient care associate) training, which is basically nurses aid training. it has been full time, and i am barelyyyyy hanging on to my sanity juggling a band, school, and work. but it is so worth it! i bonded with my pca class a lot. the instructor said she's never seen a class bond so quickly, and also told someone else that we are her favorite class she's ever had.
the new job itself is making me just so happy about my current path. i am so happy i was a transporter and got to know the hospital and all it's people, but now i am happy to have a new color of scrubs and new responsibilities. i am slowly but surely starting to think maybe i can handle the role of RN.
in my first week i had 2 very memorable patients, but im not sure how in depth i am able to go in an online setting so i should probably not tell those stories here. one of them, i will say, had ulcers and sores on almost his entire body and handled the pain with such grace and humor that i found myself holding back tears while i talked to him. pain makes everything hazy and confusing and angry, and to see this guy smile and joke through tears was just...inspiring. it's an honor to care for people like that. ...i also bathed a 600 lb gentleman, and sat in on a minor surgical procedure they did in a patients room! quite a first week.
not too much misc. news. i had two weeks were i was having weird symptoms that kept me bed bound. since i live alone it was a scary 14 days. i had fevers, dizziness, pain in my groin that made it nearly unbearable to stand straight, a bruise like rash on my shins that hurt like someone had beaten me with a hockey stick, and a swelling ankle. all during FINALS! then like that, it just went away. i got to model for stl style again. found out my buddy dan is on tulsa's news station now as a correspondent. my nephews keep getting cuter and cooler. makes me want to have some kids.
school has been one of the most difficult things i've ever done. my life is: wake, go to work, make sure i've studied for this weeks test, write this weeks paper, prepare for this weeks medsurg clinical, plan and attend this weeks community clinical, practice guitar for a bit or go to practice, make sure the house is spotless in case there is a showing (mow lawn too), study a bit for end of semester ATI exams (3 of them), set up a meeting with financial aid lady, and with gov't lady who is suppose to help with tuition, and my clinical instructor (which unfortunately seems to be weekly events because no one else has their shit together), and if there is time i also like to eat and shower and pay bills. occasionally i have to deal with annoying things like check engine lights, but who doesn't. each day i wake at 6 and without fail i never turn off the lights until 1am at the earliest.
i am loving all my classes though. community may not be teaching me much about my future career, but it is teaching me a lot about humanity in general. we get the opportunity to help at homeless shelters, food pantries, and charity events. it is such a good thing to serve. whenever i am at the homeless shelter i just realize how blessed i am to have a roof over head, and money to go get food any time i please. not to mention i have people in my life who love me and are happy. i could very easily find myself penniless, homeless, and alone. but i am not. and it makes life seem rural good when you think about that.
needless to say there is not enough time for loved ones. which is frustrating because that was like my only goal for the new year. there is no time to give the truest quality of my friendship to those i care about. i am a work horse. i am not complaining, because i really am loving the feeling of holding onto life's horns and riding it like a bull. i just know it will be so nice once i can go on vacations again and spend time with people i care about and all that. 10 more months baby.
i will leave you with my favorite quote of the year by regina spektor. it sounds stupid until you think about it, and then it makes you want to enjoy the moment very much: "today we're younger than we're ever gonna be."
first lets tackle the band. we sound like a real band now. when we play it feels like being in a band! and oh man...what a big feeling. we added a drummer (good buddy chris), and for our last show we somehow convinced our friend sean to make us look even cooler by playing bass for us. we played at the firebird, which is a legit venue where touring bands come, and we knocked it out of the park! a reviewer for playbackstl was there since we were opening for a touring band and she said we were a pleasant surprise and wrote a flattering paragraph on us (http://www.playbackstl.com/concert-reviews/11592-the-mynabirds--070112)!
the show before that was a bit of a disaster though...the sound was just off the whole night and it made for awkward stage moments and frustrated stage communication with the soundguy. i'm only writing this to remember the ups and the downs....we decided to take the rest of the summer off because we want to record the second album which is exciting as hell. we think it will be called 'island of the lotus eaters' and it will be very themed with island imagery and thoughts on memory and longing.
at work i've started a new journey that is just making me all the more excited about my future in healthcare. i am in pca (patient care associate) training, which is basically nurses aid training. it has been full time, and i am barelyyyyy hanging on to my sanity juggling a band, school, and work. but it is so worth it! i bonded with my pca class a lot. the instructor said she's never seen a class bond so quickly, and also told someone else that we are her favorite class she's ever had.
the new job itself is making me just so happy about my current path. i am so happy i was a transporter and got to know the hospital and all it's people, but now i am happy to have a new color of scrubs and new responsibilities. i am slowly but surely starting to think maybe i can handle the role of RN.
in my first week i had 2 very memorable patients, but im not sure how in depth i am able to go in an online setting so i should probably not tell those stories here. one of them, i will say, had ulcers and sores on almost his entire body and handled the pain with such grace and humor that i found myself holding back tears while i talked to him. pain makes everything hazy and confusing and angry, and to see this guy smile and joke through tears was just...inspiring. it's an honor to care for people like that. ...i also bathed a 600 lb gentleman, and sat in on a minor surgical procedure they did in a patients room! quite a first week.
not too much misc. news. i had two weeks were i was having weird symptoms that kept me bed bound. since i live alone it was a scary 14 days. i had fevers, dizziness, pain in my groin that made it nearly unbearable to stand straight, a bruise like rash on my shins that hurt like someone had beaten me with a hockey stick, and a swelling ankle. all during FINALS! then like that, it just went away. i got to model for stl style again. found out my buddy dan is on tulsa's news station now as a correspondent. my nephews keep getting cuter and cooler. makes me want to have some kids.
school has been one of the most difficult things i've ever done. my life is: wake, go to work, make sure i've studied for this weeks test, write this weeks paper, prepare for this weeks medsurg clinical, plan and attend this weeks community clinical, practice guitar for a bit or go to practice, make sure the house is spotless in case there is a showing (mow lawn too), study a bit for end of semester ATI exams (3 of them), set up a meeting with financial aid lady, and with gov't lady who is suppose to help with tuition, and my clinical instructor (which unfortunately seems to be weekly events because no one else has their shit together), and if there is time i also like to eat and shower and pay bills. occasionally i have to deal with annoying things like check engine lights, but who doesn't. each day i wake at 6 and without fail i never turn off the lights until 1am at the earliest.
i am loving all my classes though. community may not be teaching me much about my future career, but it is teaching me a lot about humanity in general. we get the opportunity to help at homeless shelters, food pantries, and charity events. it is such a good thing to serve. whenever i am at the homeless shelter i just realize how blessed i am to have a roof over head, and money to go get food any time i please. not to mention i have people in my life who love me and are happy. i could very easily find myself penniless, homeless, and alone. but i am not. and it makes life seem rural good when you think about that.
needless to say there is not enough time for loved ones. which is frustrating because that was like my only goal for the new year. there is no time to give the truest quality of my friendship to those i care about. i am a work horse. i am not complaining, because i really am loving the feeling of holding onto life's horns and riding it like a bull. i just know it will be so nice once i can go on vacations again and spend time with people i care about and all that. 10 more months baby.
i will leave you with my favorite quote of the year by regina spektor. it sounds stupid until you think about it, and then it makes you want to enjoy the moment very much: "today we're younger than we're ever gonna be."
Thursday, February 16, 2012
looking back, looking forward, trying to be in the moment.
we move on at break neck speed to 2012!
man, it's already februrarury. i can never adjust to the fact that every single year seems to go by even faster than the previous year. i can't believe that essentially, i spent an entire year focusing on school and work. never thought that would be me. i'm certainly not complaining, it was a great year, but i just look back and feel like so much of my time shouldve been devoted to finding and cementing lasting relationships. i watched a tv show called 'how i met your mother' and they were discussing passing the 'porch test.' whether you could see yourself hanging out on your porch with your friend when youre an old geezer. these are the people i want to gift my time to from now on. seems obvious, but for some reason in the past 4 or so years i have just been enjoying meeting new people so much that i have hopped from group to group, and none of the groups have held onto me tight enough to keep me around. (again, im so grateful for all the people ive met, but i miss relationship depth)
ramblin!
anyways. 2011 afforded me the opportunity to do alot of great things. obviously i began nursing school, got two grants, and began playing gigs with my band. another pleasant surprise was that i got the chance to roommate with my brother. i guess i should recant a bit. in terms of family i really am happy with the way i made them a priority last year. i barely had free time, and when i could make it happen i would hang out with my nephews, evan and liam, who are hands down the cutest kids ever made. sorry every other person ever born! and i've had a blast over the last year realizing how much i care for my sister and brother in law. they are definitely porch worthy.
but anyways, yeah, i was just feeling pretty trapped in my mom's basement which is NOT an ego booster, and charlie offered to let me room with him for cheap. i jumped at the chance and we ended up having 6 great months. i've been pretty fortunate to room with a great majority of the favorite people in my life. there are defintely a few others who i would like to get to live with but having had the chance to live with carrie and nik, dan and jon, zack, (tom and mom) and now char...i just am really thankful for my living situations.
me and char had a great summer. we played music, we went running and biking, we had a twilight zone night most nights, we danced while doing dishes, we drank on the stoop with the neighbors (who got me through a really rough patch of time), we danced in the rain, we made unused music videos, and we even played a little floor hockey. i miss it already.
again, i feel i should recant my first paragraph a bit. while i need a small crew for my future porch, if i was able to have a st louis sized porch, i would keep everyone i know around. i have met some of the most sincere and beautiful souls these last couple years. i don't even have time to discuss all the funny and cool people i have met in school (jeff, erica, jenny, among others) and out on the town (dozens of people come to mind, you know who you are), but one of the more interesting groups was the improve anywhere crew. we started off just imagining some funny scenarios in 2010, and it blossomed into a group that was performing at shows and galleries, modeling for websites and retail shops, and even making the news! here's a sample of the modeling i got to do, hahah, that is just so funny to me...
http://stl-style.com/_product_62179/Cherokee_People
that's all of the exciting things, but there has been a few difficult moments for sure. my grandma's dementia condition finally got to the point where we had to move her into a safer facility. it has been a very difficult transition for all involved. my mom has sacrificed most of her free time finding a new place for gma, getting her settled, taking care of her, and preparing gma's possessions for sale. the patience and unconditional love my mom has in her is inspiring. that woman never stops teaching me! ...but yeah, i moved into gma's house while we clean it up. it has been a weird experience. i keep trying to be ready to say goodbye to this house, but every time i imagine leaving for good i get teary eyed. i love change, but i fucking hate change too. i wish we could move on and just freeze places and people so we could come back and visit when we feel lost. at least we have the technology of pictures i guess. but that's almost more sad than not being able to go back. there was just so many good memories at my gma's house... man im rambly today.
another happening has been nothing short of tragic. one of my favorite people in the world had to experience the passing of her husband, tony, who was one of the strongest and kindest men i've ever had the honor of meeting. i mean this wasnt just some nice guy. this guy was the definition of man. he was strong in every sense of the word. he was a marine, a climber, a drummer, and a cancer survivor. he was a writer, an engineer, an artist, a gentle and passionate husband, and even a poodle enthusiast. he kept his dignity while facing death, which seems to be the real test of character. the guy always made you feel like a million dollars (or whatever it is now with inflation). he ended up losing the battle with GVHD. i've seen it before with my mom's best friend. i will never understand why people die young. it makes everything a little more real. everything a little more finite and temporary. a little more precious. watching a man like tony succumb to death made me realize again that i need to wake up with more purpose. i need to be the best transporter i can be. i need to be the best brother/son/friend/lover i can be. i need to be the best student i can be. i just need to focus on living right now. i need to be grateful for every breath i get the pleasure of sucking in and pushing out. i need to be grateful for every smile, kiss, and conversation i get to experience. i want to hug everyone a little tighter and dig a little deeper into their lives. i want to savor every good sip of whiskey, every rainy day, every mind blowing melody, every warm blanket on a cold night with a little more conscious appreciation.
we are so. fucking. lucky. to be alive. is there a point to it all? is God pulling strings? will i be as healthy and happy and alive tomorrow? i can't say. but i do know i am feeling it right now from my brain to my fingers and all throughout. i am just so happy to be here, and i hope i can keep making the most of the little time i get left. here's to 2012, let's hope life keeps giving me new and unexpected experiences, lets hope i can start cementing porch relationships, and lets hope i keep waking up with a purpose and a hunger for life!
man, it's already februrarury. i can never adjust to the fact that every single year seems to go by even faster than the previous year. i can't believe that essentially, i spent an entire year focusing on school and work. never thought that would be me. i'm certainly not complaining, it was a great year, but i just look back and feel like so much of my time shouldve been devoted to finding and cementing lasting relationships. i watched a tv show called 'how i met your mother' and they were discussing passing the 'porch test.' whether you could see yourself hanging out on your porch with your friend when youre an old geezer. these are the people i want to gift my time to from now on. seems obvious, but for some reason in the past 4 or so years i have just been enjoying meeting new people so much that i have hopped from group to group, and none of the groups have held onto me tight enough to keep me around. (again, im so grateful for all the people ive met, but i miss relationship depth)
ramblin!
anyways. 2011 afforded me the opportunity to do alot of great things. obviously i began nursing school, got two grants, and began playing gigs with my band. another pleasant surprise was that i got the chance to roommate with my brother. i guess i should recant a bit. in terms of family i really am happy with the way i made them a priority last year. i barely had free time, and when i could make it happen i would hang out with my nephews, evan and liam, who are hands down the cutest kids ever made. sorry every other person ever born! and i've had a blast over the last year realizing how much i care for my sister and brother in law. they are definitely porch worthy.
but anyways, yeah, i was just feeling pretty trapped in my mom's basement which is NOT an ego booster, and charlie offered to let me room with him for cheap. i jumped at the chance and we ended up having 6 great months. i've been pretty fortunate to room with a great majority of the favorite people in my life. there are defintely a few others who i would like to get to live with but having had the chance to live with carrie and nik, dan and jon, zack, (tom and mom) and now char...i just am really thankful for my living situations.
me and char had a great summer. we played music, we went running and biking, we had a twilight zone night most nights, we danced while doing dishes, we drank on the stoop with the neighbors (who got me through a really rough patch of time), we danced in the rain, we made unused music videos, and we even played a little floor hockey. i miss it already.
again, i feel i should recant my first paragraph a bit. while i need a small crew for my future porch, if i was able to have a st louis sized porch, i would keep everyone i know around. i have met some of the most sincere and beautiful souls these last couple years. i don't even have time to discuss all the funny and cool people i have met in school (jeff, erica, jenny, among others) and out on the town (dozens of people come to mind, you know who you are), but one of the more interesting groups was the improve anywhere crew. we started off just imagining some funny scenarios in 2010, and it blossomed into a group that was performing at shows and galleries, modeling for websites and retail shops, and even making the news! here's a sample of the modeling i got to do, hahah, that is just so funny to me...
http://stl-style.com/_product_62179/Cherokee_People
that's all of the exciting things, but there has been a few difficult moments for sure. my grandma's dementia condition finally got to the point where we had to move her into a safer facility. it has been a very difficult transition for all involved. my mom has sacrificed most of her free time finding a new place for gma, getting her settled, taking care of her, and preparing gma's possessions for sale. the patience and unconditional love my mom has in her is inspiring. that woman never stops teaching me! ...but yeah, i moved into gma's house while we clean it up. it has been a weird experience. i keep trying to be ready to say goodbye to this house, but every time i imagine leaving for good i get teary eyed. i love change, but i fucking hate change too. i wish we could move on and just freeze places and people so we could come back and visit when we feel lost. at least we have the technology of pictures i guess. but that's almost more sad than not being able to go back. there was just so many good memories at my gma's house... man im rambly today.
another happening has been nothing short of tragic. one of my favorite people in the world had to experience the passing of her husband, tony, who was one of the strongest and kindest men i've ever had the honor of meeting. i mean this wasnt just some nice guy. this guy was the definition of man. he was strong in every sense of the word. he was a marine, a climber, a drummer, and a cancer survivor. he was a writer, an engineer, an artist, a gentle and passionate husband, and even a poodle enthusiast. he kept his dignity while facing death, which seems to be the real test of character. the guy always made you feel like a million dollars (or whatever it is now with inflation). he ended up losing the battle with GVHD. i've seen it before with my mom's best friend. i will never understand why people die young. it makes everything a little more real. everything a little more finite and temporary. a little more precious. watching a man like tony succumb to death made me realize again that i need to wake up with more purpose. i need to be the best transporter i can be. i need to be the best brother/son/friend/lover i can be. i need to be the best student i can be. i just need to focus on living right now. i need to be grateful for every breath i get the pleasure of sucking in and pushing out. i need to be grateful for every smile, kiss, and conversation i get to experience. i want to hug everyone a little tighter and dig a little deeper into their lives. i want to savor every good sip of whiskey, every rainy day, every mind blowing melody, every warm blanket on a cold night with a little more conscious appreciation.
we are so. fucking. lucky. to be alive. is there a point to it all? is God pulling strings? will i be as healthy and happy and alive tomorrow? i can't say. but i do know i am feeling it right now from my brain to my fingers and all throughout. i am just so happy to be here, and i hope i can keep making the most of the little time i get left. here's to 2012, let's hope life keeps giving me new and unexpected experiences, lets hope i can start cementing porch relationships, and lets hope i keep waking up with a purpose and a hunger for life!
Monday, December 12, 2011
coolest gig yet
welp, i kinda gave up on the blog, clearly. it seems that like 2 people read it so its not worth devoting time that i dont have to keep it up to date. but today was just a really fun day i would like to remember so im going to document, and ill throw some cliffnotes in real quicklike.
over this year the band began playing shows! the first gig came when a friend who works at a bar asked us if we were playing still and if we wanted to open for someone. we quickly asked my brother charlie if he would be willing to learn the songs, and to my pleasant surprise he was excited about it! weve played about 7 shows in 4 different venue, and we have grown in leaps and bounds. charlie used to shake uncontrollably on stage and now he dances like the hippy free spirit he was meant to be. i used to be scared to look at an audience and now (when the audience is nice, anyways) i am free to be myself and joke around and talk! we even got my friend chris to start playing drums with us at shows, which really makes us sound like a true band.
i played a show with another band and sang one song. the owner of the venue (the firebird) later said to charlie that it was the best local vocal performance he had seen.
we finished our demo record and put it up for free download at arthurandthelibrarian.bandcamp.com we are too poor and busy at the moment but we fully plan on making a cd, and david deck will be getting the very first copy free of charge for his support and encouragement.
we already have a second albums worth of material and are thinking of saving up gig money and going to a real studio for this one.
we were asked to play at the xmas party for st louis' music magazine 'eleven' magazine! that should be quite fun.
-----
nursing school is going swimmingly so far! i just finished my third semester, and second semester of clinicals and am looooving it. i am connecting so well with my patients and learning more than i thought i would have at this point...still soooo much i dont know. nurses are amazing. i want to be a good nurse so bad.
we finished 'demos' this year, which was the most stress inducing portion of the schooling.
i am still transporting at st johns, but have recently approached a manager about becoming a nurses aid. im ready for the next step.
school has been so full of tough moments and information that at times i feel very fragile and will tear up at the silliest moments (im like one of those girls who starts crying at a hallmark commercial. its weird). this career is definitely going to give me a thick hide. ...seeing death is a weird experience. i dont have time to explain that in depth unfortunately...
----
anyways, today is why im blogging. me and charlie had a gig of a different sort. we played and talked about music to a 2nd grade class at st. stephens. we had prepared 2 songs (cant buy me love, and charlie's jaguar and the fool song) and figured they would be bored after that. boy were we wrong! after our two songs and discussion, almost every kid raised their hand with questions. then they started requesting more songs! we played another song and answered another whirlwind of questions! then they asked for more songs! so we played impending doom. when they asked what the name of the song was charlie said, 'impending moon.' : ) then they asked for yet another song! we didnt have any songs ready that were really 2nd grade appropriate, so we played not in nottingham from the disney robin hood. i changed the lyrics on the fly to, 'cant there be some happiness for me? maybe at st steves.' : ) at that point we had been there about 50 minutes fielding questions and playing, so we said we had to go. some of the kids asked if we were on youtube and wanted to look us up (what? second graders?)
the class gathered round and we took a picture with them : ) a kid looked up at charlie and said, 'can i go home with you guys?' hearts=melted. then as we were putting our guitars away they all clapped and asked for more songs. many of them came up and gave us high fives while 3 of them came up nervously and gave me a hug. oy! more heart melting. one girl came up and said i should be a music teacher and that we were really good at music, and handed me a little piece of paper that said, "you are awsome, Aislin."
it was a good day.
over this year the band began playing shows! the first gig came when a friend who works at a bar asked us if we were playing still and if we wanted to open for someone. we quickly asked my brother charlie if he would be willing to learn the songs, and to my pleasant surprise he was excited about it! weve played about 7 shows in 4 different venue, and we have grown in leaps and bounds. charlie used to shake uncontrollably on stage and now he dances like the hippy free spirit he was meant to be. i used to be scared to look at an audience and now (when the audience is nice, anyways) i am free to be myself and joke around and talk! we even got my friend chris to start playing drums with us at shows, which really makes us sound like a true band.
i played a show with another band and sang one song. the owner of the venue (the firebird) later said to charlie that it was the best local vocal performance he had seen.
we finished our demo record and put it up for free download at arthurandthelibrarian.bandcamp.com we are too poor and busy at the moment but we fully plan on making a cd, and david deck will be getting the very first copy free of charge for his support and encouragement.
we already have a second albums worth of material and are thinking of saving up gig money and going to a real studio for this one.
we were asked to play at the xmas party for st louis' music magazine 'eleven' magazine! that should be quite fun.
-----
nursing school is going swimmingly so far! i just finished my third semester, and second semester of clinicals and am looooving it. i am connecting so well with my patients and learning more than i thought i would have at this point...still soooo much i dont know. nurses are amazing. i want to be a good nurse so bad.
we finished 'demos' this year, which was the most stress inducing portion of the schooling.
i am still transporting at st johns, but have recently approached a manager about becoming a nurses aid. im ready for the next step.
school has been so full of tough moments and information that at times i feel very fragile and will tear up at the silliest moments (im like one of those girls who starts crying at a hallmark commercial. its weird). this career is definitely going to give me a thick hide. ...seeing death is a weird experience. i dont have time to explain that in depth unfortunately...
----
anyways, today is why im blogging. me and charlie had a gig of a different sort. we played and talked about music to a 2nd grade class at st. stephens. we had prepared 2 songs (cant buy me love, and charlie's jaguar and the fool song) and figured they would be bored after that. boy were we wrong! after our two songs and discussion, almost every kid raised their hand with questions. then they started requesting more songs! we played another song and answered another whirlwind of questions! then they asked for more songs! so we played impending doom. when they asked what the name of the song was charlie said, 'impending moon.' : ) then they asked for yet another song! we didnt have any songs ready that were really 2nd grade appropriate, so we played not in nottingham from the disney robin hood. i changed the lyrics on the fly to, 'cant there be some happiness for me? maybe at st steves.' : ) at that point we had been there about 50 minutes fielding questions and playing, so we said we had to go. some of the kids asked if we were on youtube and wanted to look us up (what? second graders?)
the class gathered round and we took a picture with them : ) a kid looked up at charlie and said, 'can i go home with you guys?' hearts=melted. then as we were putting our guitars away they all clapped and asked for more songs. many of them came up and gave us high fives while 3 of them came up nervously and gave me a hug. oy! more heart melting. one girl came up and said i should be a music teacher and that we were really good at music, and handed me a little piece of paper that said, "you are awsome, Aislin."
it was a good day.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
fall semester, new year, tuition paid for, music progress
hah. well since the last time i posted a lot has happened. it is a new year, for starters. fall semester went swimmingly. it was quite easy and i met a handful of cool people who are joining me in nursing school, some of them even working at st johns. so its been a very supportive atmosphere, whenever im feeling lost i have a network to lean on.
im just gonna hit the highlights since my time is brief and im at bread co. i am actually on my new laptop that i got for xmas! i got it mainly to start working on song ideas while aubrey is away. however, me and aubs have still been playing music and recording whenever we are in the same town. we have an albums worth of songs done and will be making a cd soon titled, 'reverend white pigeon speaks on love and the end of the world.' and the cover art will be said pigeon courtesy of miss aubrey, who is quite the artist.
among her other skills, she is a talented networker and knows people at a radiostation in seattle, and a dj at loyolas college radio station. we were played on that station already and hope to get some more air time soon! so yeah, music is going great.
and though it would seem things cant get better, i found out some more wonderful news in this young new year. ive been communicating with a lady through missouri career sources ever since i was on unemployment, and she finally came through for me, and will be assisting me with the REST of my school bills! did i even talk about the labor grant? ohhh my lord. ok, so long story short, i got into a nursing program through the dept. of labor, and they are paying for 60% of my tuition. im not even going to talk about how my advisor didnt tell me about it, but suffice to say not only am i already into nursing school without having to be on any wait lists, i am getting everything. everything...paid for by the govt, because im broke. it seems like a sign from God that im heading in the right direction. before this all happened i could barely tie my shoes without asking someone for help (parents, friends) in areas i didnt understand. but now that ive decided what i want to do with my career, ive felt a weird new confidence that has made me a bit of a man of action. i wouldnt say this is in all areas of life, but its good to know im not completely useless.
those are the biiiig things in life, lots of fun stuff happening on the side, my brother moved into his own place, i started doing events with an improve group, i sold my car (which ive been trying to do for many months), and ive had quite a few fun roadtrips up to chicago.
heres a link to our website and to the radiostation that miiiight play our stuff again (on thursdays from 4-6) :
http://www.wix.com/howardaubrey/arthurandthelibrarian
http://wluw.org/ (click on the cloud at the top to listen)
im just gonna hit the highlights since my time is brief and im at bread co. i am actually on my new laptop that i got for xmas! i got it mainly to start working on song ideas while aubrey is away. however, me and aubs have still been playing music and recording whenever we are in the same town. we have an albums worth of songs done and will be making a cd soon titled, 'reverend white pigeon speaks on love and the end of the world.' and the cover art will be said pigeon courtesy of miss aubrey, who is quite the artist.
among her other skills, she is a talented networker and knows people at a radiostation in seattle, and a dj at loyolas college radio station. we were played on that station already and hope to get some more air time soon! so yeah, music is going great.
and though it would seem things cant get better, i found out some more wonderful news in this young new year. ive been communicating with a lady through missouri career sources ever since i was on unemployment, and she finally came through for me, and will be assisting me with the REST of my school bills! did i even talk about the labor grant? ohhh my lord. ok, so long story short, i got into a nursing program through the dept. of labor, and they are paying for 60% of my tuition. im not even going to talk about how my advisor didnt tell me about it, but suffice to say not only am i already into nursing school without having to be on any wait lists, i am getting everything. everything...paid for by the govt, because im broke. it seems like a sign from God that im heading in the right direction. before this all happened i could barely tie my shoes without asking someone for help (parents, friends) in areas i didnt understand. but now that ive decided what i want to do with my career, ive felt a weird new confidence that has made me a bit of a man of action. i wouldnt say this is in all areas of life, but its good to know im not completely useless.
those are the biiiig things in life, lots of fun stuff happening on the side, my brother moved into his own place, i started doing events with an improve group, i sold my car (which ive been trying to do for many months), and ive had quite a few fun roadtrips up to chicago.
heres a link to our website and to the radiostation that miiiight play our stuff again (on thursdays from 4-6) :
http://www.wix.com/howardaubrey/arthurandthelibrarian
http://wluw.org/ (click on the cloud at the top to listen)
Friday, August 6, 2010
summer school ending, 90 days at st johns, singing competition
well the last 3 months have been very busy but fruitful for sure.
i have my last class of the summer tomorrow and will end up with three A's in three classes. i cant believe i did so well in stats, but human growth psych and anatomy were both reeeeally awesome classes that i enjoyed immensely.
anatomy is just an amazing thing to learn in general. knowing the intricacies under the skin makes you feel more at one with your body (thats not the wording im looking for but thats the basic gist), and i really love to learn about it. for my last paper in psych i had to apply 12 learned concepts to a movie and i chose magnolia because i forgot about royal tennenbaums. but i had a blast breaking down the characters and got a 100 percent!
st johns has been quite an adventure. its been very somber this week (if you didnt hear, one of my coworkers was murdered in the parking garage...long story), and im glad for the weekend break to get outdoors and maybe go peach picking with charlie.
i had my 90 day orientation at st johns today. so far so great. love the atmosphere and the work. ive realized lately tho that my department is frustrating for me because i am walking by myself all day only passing my co workers in the halls. so it is tough to get to know people and make friends that way, and the few i have clicked with have changed depts. its a confusing question when people ask me if i like the job bc i do like everything about it, but at the same time i am left wanting that interaction each day.
i really crave relationship. i mean who doesnt? but its been a tough few months bc i feel miles away from any transparent intimacy. people have become too busy and crabby and all i want to do is share some love and interaction! gaaah.
what could be exacerbating (?) the problem is the fact that i just read dharma bums a few weeks ago, and the spirit of that book just makes me want to live! ray is all about sucking the marrow out of life. he travels he loves he drinks he writes and dances. i want all of that plus the responsibility. ...im really trying to teach myself to live in the present moment even more than i already do. the past and future can really distract me from the perfect day at hand if i dont make a conscience effort to smile. but i do.
in musical news, i turned in a demo for a singing competition through joy fm. if im selected in the top 10 finalist i will perform at six flags on the air on the 14th. my demo was preeeetty terrible, so either God will have a hand in things, or the competition will have to be awwweful. nevertheless, i am pumped about putting forth the effort. i recorded an original song and will find out if i made the cut monday morning (theyll announce it on the website). if i do play, please turn on your radio on the 14th.
i could go on and on, but i have to wake up in 6 hours for my last test!
deck, thanks for the link! that was a very encouraging read.
carrie, thanks : ) my favorite invented word so far is unisexy. use it!
i have my last class of the summer tomorrow and will end up with three A's in three classes. i cant believe i did so well in stats, but human growth psych and anatomy were both reeeeally awesome classes that i enjoyed immensely.
anatomy is just an amazing thing to learn in general. knowing the intricacies under the skin makes you feel more at one with your body (thats not the wording im looking for but thats the basic gist), and i really love to learn about it. for my last paper in psych i had to apply 12 learned concepts to a movie and i chose magnolia because i forgot about royal tennenbaums. but i had a blast breaking down the characters and got a 100 percent!
st johns has been quite an adventure. its been very somber this week (if you didnt hear, one of my coworkers was murdered in the parking garage...long story), and im glad for the weekend break to get outdoors and maybe go peach picking with charlie.
i had my 90 day orientation at st johns today. so far so great. love the atmosphere and the work. ive realized lately tho that my department is frustrating for me because i am walking by myself all day only passing my co workers in the halls. so it is tough to get to know people and make friends that way, and the few i have clicked with have changed depts. its a confusing question when people ask me if i like the job bc i do like everything about it, but at the same time i am left wanting that interaction each day.
i really crave relationship. i mean who doesnt? but its been a tough few months bc i feel miles away from any transparent intimacy. people have become too busy and crabby and all i want to do is share some love and interaction! gaaah.
what could be exacerbating (?) the problem is the fact that i just read dharma bums a few weeks ago, and the spirit of that book just makes me want to live! ray is all about sucking the marrow out of life. he travels he loves he drinks he writes and dances. i want all of that plus the responsibility. ...im really trying to teach myself to live in the present moment even more than i already do. the past and future can really distract me from the perfect day at hand if i dont make a conscience effort to smile. but i do.
in musical news, i turned in a demo for a singing competition through joy fm. if im selected in the top 10 finalist i will perform at six flags on the air on the 14th. my demo was preeeetty terrible, so either God will have a hand in things, or the competition will have to be awwweful. nevertheless, i am pumped about putting forth the effort. i recorded an original song and will find out if i made the cut monday morning (theyll announce it on the website). if i do play, please turn on your radio on the 14th.
i could go on and on, but i have to wake up in 6 hours for my last test!
deck, thanks for the link! that was a very encouraging read.
carrie, thanks : ) my favorite invented word so far is unisexy. use it!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
pond, st johns job, maryville, music.
well hello again. quite a few happenings, so i feel i should jot a few memories down here while i have a moment.
first a funny story, if i didnt tell you already. starts with my sister having her second boy (liam!). her and nik were preparing to leave the hospital so i was in charge of evan for the afternoon. we went to the park. after the playground we walked around the pond watching the ducks and turtles. there were more turtles than i had ever seen at once sun bathing on a log. we sat right next to them and watched until i had the thought, "hm, i bet evan would get a kick out of seeing how they go into their shell and whatnot" soooo, i crawled up to the edge, waited for the perfect moment and snagged one. it was a glorious moment that lasted all of two seconds because the next thing i remember is being on my back underwater sinking and cursing (while holding the turtle up out of water as if it couldnt breathe under). i threw the turtle ashore and searched in blindness for the land. as i went to pull myself out i grabbed the turtle again. finally i got out but the turtle got away and i was green from head to toe from the algae or seaweed. green beard. green glasses. green clothes. ew. i started laughing and looked to evan assuming hed be laughing, but no. no, he was looking at me thinking 'crazy uncle arty...sigh' basically, my phone was ruined. so i got a new one. the end.
on the day i got my phone i also got my job at st johns. this could very well be the first step in my future. my career. ive applied for maryvilles nursing program which will start in a couple weeks and will reek havoc on my wallet. but im excited about having clear direction for once. i only hope im not missing God in some way, because i still dont feel like i know what im doing ever. but it makes me happy to think about doing nursing. i start the patient transporter position may 3rd so we shall see.
aubrey is moving soon and taking with her another piece of my heart and my musical partner. it sucks. balls. i dont know what to do with my time or music now. i really hope i can keep the positive momentum that she began with my music tho. ive grown alot as a singer and writer in the past few months...thats the silver lining i suppose...not gonna go into this on a public forum.
as far as slade and tucker, thats also a sad tale. they are pretty involved in their own lives and dont have time for the band. it is truly unfortunate because we write some fun ditties and i hope someday theyll be enjoyed by more than 3.
im off now to go watch 'the importance of being earnest' because it is ridiculous that ive never seen or read the play. have a good one and keep smiling! gotta have the bad to enjoy the good (thats what im telling myself)
first a funny story, if i didnt tell you already. starts with my sister having her second boy (liam!). her and nik were preparing to leave the hospital so i was in charge of evan for the afternoon. we went to the park. after the playground we walked around the pond watching the ducks and turtles. there were more turtles than i had ever seen at once sun bathing on a log. we sat right next to them and watched until i had the thought, "hm, i bet evan would get a kick out of seeing how they go into their shell and whatnot" soooo, i crawled up to the edge, waited for the perfect moment and snagged one. it was a glorious moment that lasted all of two seconds because the next thing i remember is being on my back underwater sinking and cursing (while holding the turtle up out of water as if it couldnt breathe under). i threw the turtle ashore and searched in blindness for the land. as i went to pull myself out i grabbed the turtle again. finally i got out but the turtle got away and i was green from head to toe from the algae or seaweed. green beard. green glasses. green clothes. ew. i started laughing and looked to evan assuming hed be laughing, but no. no, he was looking at me thinking 'crazy uncle arty...sigh' basically, my phone was ruined. so i got a new one. the end.
on the day i got my phone i also got my job at st johns. this could very well be the first step in my future. my career. ive applied for maryvilles nursing program which will start in a couple weeks and will reek havoc on my wallet. but im excited about having clear direction for once. i only hope im not missing God in some way, because i still dont feel like i know what im doing ever. but it makes me happy to think about doing nursing. i start the patient transporter position may 3rd so we shall see.
aubrey is moving soon and taking with her another piece of my heart and my musical partner. it sucks. balls. i dont know what to do with my time or music now. i really hope i can keep the positive momentum that she began with my music tho. ive grown alot as a singer and writer in the past few months...thats the silver lining i suppose...not gonna go into this on a public forum.
as far as slade and tucker, thats also a sad tale. they are pretty involved in their own lives and dont have time for the band. it is truly unfortunate because we write some fun ditties and i hope someday theyll be enjoyed by more than 3.
im off now to go watch 'the importance of being earnest' because it is ridiculous that ive never seen or read the play. have a good one and keep smiling! gotta have the bad to enjoy the good (thats what im telling myself)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2 more roadtrips, searching for work, music
over the past month its been a struggle to not feel the pressure of not having a job. ive been trying to appreciate my freetime rather than feel lazy. other than applying for jobs and looking into getting into school again, i have gone on a few more roadtrips.
i went to nashville with my mom. i was feeling distant from her and thought what better way to reconnect with someone than a trip? we had a great time and some good heart to heart talks. although i still think she is struggling with the fact that i am not the same little boy she used to take trips to nashville with. its tough on me...knowing my mom wishes i was like the old me. but what can i do? i must move forward.
i took a trip to tulsa all by myself to see dan. i saw his new house and how much improvements they had made on it. played boardgames with his fam, went sledding,went to a going away party for someone i didnt know, and drove home listening to the 7 mixed cds aubrey made for me.
last week, me and aubrey went and played at a metro stop to start preparing playing in front of people. we are sounding good and almost ready for a performance id say. carriage house on the other hand...is a slow work in progress. new songs have been hard to come by, but two im very happy with is one about a wind up bird and one about a phantom limb.
ive been racking my brain for nearly a month now, and i cant think of any position that would be better for me than greg the murse (male nurse). so ive begun looking into programs at umsl. thats all for now
i went to nashville with my mom. i was feeling distant from her and thought what better way to reconnect with someone than a trip? we had a great time and some good heart to heart talks. although i still think she is struggling with the fact that i am not the same little boy she used to take trips to nashville with. its tough on me...knowing my mom wishes i was like the old me. but what can i do? i must move forward.
i took a trip to tulsa all by myself to see dan. i saw his new house and how much improvements they had made on it. played boardgames with his fam, went sledding,went to a going away party for someone i didnt know, and drove home listening to the 7 mixed cds aubrey made for me.
last week, me and aubrey went and played at a metro stop to start preparing playing in front of people. we are sounding good and almost ready for a performance id say. carriage house on the other hand...is a slow work in progress. new songs have been hard to come by, but two im very happy with is one about a wind up bird and one about a phantom limb.
ive been racking my brain for nearly a month now, and i cant think of any position that would be better for me than greg the murse (male nurse). so ive begun looking into programs at umsl. thats all for now
Friday, January 8, 2010
into the new year.
ive spent the first few days of the new year looking back at 2009. i was pretty shocked when i looked back at how fast this year had gone by and how much i had actually done with it. i was rarely home, spent alot of time meeting new people, dancing and socializing out in public, which was never really my thing. so in that aspect, 2009 was a great year for me growing in confidence in myself.
it was a pretty fantastic year overall, the good and bad. i was in a movie with george clooney, i was a dj, i got a new car, i met a ridiculous amount of new cool people, and i started playing open mics in st louis. i experienced firsts like romantic heartbreak and getting laid off. i started a potential band. i gave blood. carrie got preggers, jolene had a baby, nobody close died, dan got a house, jessie got married, jon got engaged. i may be pretty broke, but my life is so full of great people and moments.
in 2010 i look forward to getting a place i can call my own for a short season. hopefully i will find direction, prioritize and get some things accomplished!... if not, thats okay too, its bound to be a great year either way. i would like the band to gig once or twice, i would like to get a direction career wise. i would like to finish a few short stories, but that seems unlikely at this point.
so far the new year is getting off to a hopping start and i hope it stays this way. i went on a snowboarding vacation with jessie, a friend of mine, and it was fantastic. i was shocked at how fast i picked up some of the techniques and just had a blast. i even finished the trip successfully going down an expert hill. certainly one of my new passions in life. i have also had the great fortune of spending time with aubrey. we sit in front of her fire place smoking, talking, and playing music (she plays the uke and her mom plays the clarinet). not a whole lot better in this world than music by the fire with good company.
also, just a few updates. usfidelis ended up closing their doors a week or so ago. i am currently unemployed and very excited about the possibility of living and working near st louis city. today i am applying for a few more nursing assistant jobs. i am seriously contemplating that direction right now, and want to see if i can handle it. i just want to be able to stay happy, which seems to be an interesting struggle all adults face.
finally, if you havent seen up in the air yet, and you want to try and see me (i did end up making the cut!) then keep an eye out about 3/4 of the way thru the movie when he goes to chicago (it will say chicago on the screen) to see the girl. when he is leaving chicago walking to the right in the airport i am clearly sitting in the background for about 1.5 seconds. haha
quote for the day: give me a break with your could haves and should haves -from the movie whatever works
i love life and see good days.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
very busy, heres some cliff notes.
the past 2 weeks have been eerily good times. last week i got a mini promotion, i got out of my 5th consecutive ticket, i discovered 200 missing dollars on a paycheck, i was asked to dj again, i took a roadtrip to chi with charles, and i got to go to the secret spot (a little cave under a creek waterfall in the woods) with some great new people in my life (nate and aubrey). amongst other great nights of course.
i really havent been getting much sleep at all because each night seems to be a new adventure! ive been trying to prioritize my time and decide what activities are worthwhile, but its so tough. at this stage in life i have a bunch of different groups of good friends. so each night is something different, not to mention getting fam time in on the weekends! im even making friends at work again, and its just getting ridonk.
speaking of work, i read this book recommended by aubrey called the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde a few weeks ago. it is fantastic. its got so many provacative quotes and thoughts on art, aging, and the influence of a mentor.
carriage house is having a blast practicing. we certainly have musical chemistry, which i havent experienced much in my life, so its great. we had our first paranormal happening last night at the church too. at the end of practice the light over the balcony turned itself on, and slade said he didnt even know where that light switch was! creepy. today it was off again.
also, evan is just getting cuter. how does he do it? i dont know. but every night i come home he has come up with some new word, laugh or action that just tickles my soul. we played a version of hide and seek last night that i cant even describe properly. we basically laughed the whole time.
and finally, i read a hemingway quote today that said 'happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing i know.' it kinda made me feel dumb for enjoying my life so much right now. but oh well, i am self aware enough to realize im not intelligent, and i think that puts me a step ahead of most unintelligent people anyways.
i really havent been getting much sleep at all because each night seems to be a new adventure! ive been trying to prioritize my time and decide what activities are worthwhile, but its so tough. at this stage in life i have a bunch of different groups of good friends. so each night is something different, not to mention getting fam time in on the weekends! im even making friends at work again, and its just getting ridonk.
speaking of work, i read this book recommended by aubrey called the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde a few weeks ago. it is fantastic. its got so many provacative quotes and thoughts on art, aging, and the influence of a mentor.
carriage house is having a blast practicing. we certainly have musical chemistry, which i havent experienced much in my life, so its great. we had our first paranormal happening last night at the church too. at the end of practice the light over the balcony turned itself on, and slade said he didnt even know where that light switch was! creepy. today it was off again.
also, evan is just getting cuter. how does he do it? i dont know. but every night i come home he has come up with some new word, laugh or action that just tickles my soul. we played a version of hide and seek last night that i cant even describe properly. we basically laughed the whole time.
and finally, i read a hemingway quote today that said 'happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing i know.' it kinda made me feel dumb for enjoying my life so much right now. but oh well, i am self aware enough to realize im not intelligent, and i think that puts me a step ahead of most unintelligent people anyways.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
open mics, poptart girl, great weekend
quick update. the last week or so has been pretty fun so i gotta report. last thursday i played an open mic with clare. we played a beatles cover in our own style and an original duet. it was surprising how many people were there, and it was nice to have a few of them come up and say they really enjoyed our songs. nothing better when you feel that someones compliment is heartfelt.
tuesday was the highlight of my week tho. i found out that i still have a pair! i went to the city to say bye to kevin and he got me into another free show (dr dog.) that marks 6 consecutive shows i havent paid for, i believe. thats divine provision my friends. it was a grand show, those guys have mastered harmonizing the guitar parts, and that was something ive always wanted to do. at the show i ran into my friend alison and her buds. so we all decided we should go somewhere to eat. everything was closed but someone mentioned that pinup bowl had poptarts. i was so hungry that it sounded like the greatest idea in the world.
so we went to pin up and i Bee lined it to the bar and asked for a pop tart. there was a ridiculously cute girl sitting there and so i pretended not to see her. but something happened that never happens, she talked to me. "that is the cutest. ive never seen anyone order a pop tart here. thats so cute." apparently her dogs name was pop tart also, so small world huh. soooo, after talking a bit i got my powdered sugared blueberry pt and i said it was nice meeting you and returned to my friends. then i thought what the 'ell, and went back and got her number. which is the very first time i have asked for a strangers number. very fun. nothing will probably come of it, but at least i have a cool story.
and this weekend was also a blast. i had a great saturday night hanging with new friends, and sunday was just what i needed. i spent almost the whole day lazing around.
well, first i played soccer with alison's coed team. it was an eye opener. ive been socially smoking, or smocially soaking as some would say, for about 5 months. and it caught up to me. i couldnt run at ALL, and it was so painful, which in turn made me a dreadful soccer player. at one point i actually just fell right on my face while dribbling (no one guarding me either). soooo, yeah, i am really inspired to start taking care of my body again. we shall see.
and finally tonight, i recorded some song ideas on abbys computer and it just sounded aweful. i cant believe how much i love my music when im playing it and how dumb it sounds when im listening. i am at a crossroads now trying to figure out what im doing that makes my writing sound so silly. hopefully, time will tell!
i love life and see good days.
tuesday was the highlight of my week tho. i found out that i still have a pair! i went to the city to say bye to kevin and he got me into another free show (dr dog.) that marks 6 consecutive shows i havent paid for, i believe. thats divine provision my friends. it was a grand show, those guys have mastered harmonizing the guitar parts, and that was something ive always wanted to do. at the show i ran into my friend alison and her buds. so we all decided we should go somewhere to eat. everything was closed but someone mentioned that pinup bowl had poptarts. i was so hungry that it sounded like the greatest idea in the world.
so we went to pin up and i Bee lined it to the bar and asked for a pop tart. there was a ridiculously cute girl sitting there and so i pretended not to see her. but something happened that never happens, she talked to me. "that is the cutest. ive never seen anyone order a pop tart here. thats so cute." apparently her dogs name was pop tart also, so small world huh. soooo, after talking a bit i got my powdered sugared blueberry pt and i said it was nice meeting you and returned to my friends. then i thought what the 'ell, and went back and got her number. which is the very first time i have asked for a strangers number. very fun. nothing will probably come of it, but at least i have a cool story.
and this weekend was also a blast. i had a great saturday night hanging with new friends, and sunday was just what i needed. i spent almost the whole day lazing around.
well, first i played soccer with alison's coed team. it was an eye opener. ive been socially smoking, or smocially soaking as some would say, for about 5 months. and it caught up to me. i couldnt run at ALL, and it was so painful, which in turn made me a dreadful soccer player. at one point i actually just fell right on my face while dribbling (no one guarding me either). soooo, yeah, i am really inspired to start taking care of my body again. we shall see.
and finally tonight, i recorded some song ideas on abbys computer and it just sounded aweful. i cant believe how much i love my music when im playing it and how dumb it sounds when im listening. i am at a crossroads now trying to figure out what im doing that makes my writing sound so silly. hopefully, time will tell!
i love life and see good days.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
carriage house
small progress has been made and it excites me so much. i have begun practicing with clare, if we actually start getting gigs we've decided we want to be called 'arthur and eleanor.' we have 3 songs down pretty well so far. however, i also have had 2 practices with these fellows i met named slade and tucker. they are very cool people and have great taste in music. we've been talking about getting together to jam but finally started meeting a couple sundays ago. we meet at a carriage house behind the church slades dad owns off hanley road. so for now we are calling ourselves such (altho, it kinda reminds me of carol house) its really been fun. i LOVE making music, and its two different experiences playing alone and playing with others. both good, but very different energies.
tonights get together went so well that i am now impatient. i want to start having full songs together so as to open for other bands. but alas, we have a long road ahead. we have lots of half songs, and, while slade has a great singing voice, we also want him to be our drummer, and he is just starting. so time will tell.
also, this weekend at a party with friends 2 cards players showed up. i dont watch baseball so i didnt know it was anyone worth mentioning, but apparently ryan franklin is kind of a big deal. he and todd w something were there and looked bored the whole time.
more importantly, zack was in town for his sisters wedding, and we had a good ole time as usual. we were able to catch up on all kinds of stories about the past 6 months. we also went bowling with kev and that is quickly becoming an annual tradition for when we are together. i shot the best of my life (172) but still somehow ended up losing all bets placed...again!
ugh...its 130 and i have to wake up tomorrow. theres more im sure, but ive gotta hit that hay.
tonights get together went so well that i am now impatient. i want to start having full songs together so as to open for other bands. but alas, we have a long road ahead. we have lots of half songs, and, while slade has a great singing voice, we also want him to be our drummer, and he is just starting. so time will tell.
also, this weekend at a party with friends 2 cards players showed up. i dont watch baseball so i didnt know it was anyone worth mentioning, but apparently ryan franklin is kind of a big deal. he and todd w something were there and looked bored the whole time.
more importantly, zack was in town for his sisters wedding, and we had a good ole time as usual. we were able to catch up on all kinds of stories about the past 6 months. we also went bowling with kev and that is quickly becoming an annual tradition for when we are together. i shot the best of my life (172) but still somehow ended up losing all bets placed...again!
ugh...its 130 and i have to wake up tomorrow. theres more im sure, but ive gotta hit that hay.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
priorities, moving on, DJing
deck! how was cali? hows the new house? im pumped for you and miss you terribly man. i appreciated your priorities list. i asked a few people and you were the only one who responded. i still am working on mine but i know that creating music and spending as much quality time with people i love are probably the top two in my life right now. obviously i dont want it to be that way. i want God to be there in the number one spot....but im just being honest. im finding i operate the best when im striving for honesty not perfection.
i do really like those things you strive for deck, and it confirmed why i respect you more than most anyone ive ever or ever will meet. those are pretty much words to live a life by "be a humble man of faith, who loves his wife genuinely, raises children of strong character and gives more than i take." mm mm mmmm right now i guess the goal is to be a humble man of faith who loves himself and those around him genuinely and gives more than i take.
i am at a little bit of a loss right now. i love that i am self aware enough to know my priorities are out of wack, but frightened i will never remember how to be alone with God on a regular basis. frightened that i am starting to become ok with not understanding so many things about life. for instance, my bro in law tried having a convo with me about politics during a long car ride. and i just went mute. i didnt care and i didnt want to care. i dont understand governments and i dont see what good it would do even if i did. so have i just gotten mentally lazy? yep. i think thats it. this is the most introspective ive been in months! haha
i just read someone elses blog and it encouraged me to instrospect again....fyi
lifes been good. dont know if i mentioned this, but i saw this terrific movie called 500 days of summer and it really struck a chord with me. its basically about a failed romance and it helped show me other people have felt the pain i have, and it gave me great comfort and hope for the future. breaking up is the suckiest experience, and i certainly hope i dont have to endure that many more times in my life. cant even imagine divorce.
but anyways...
the real reason im even signing onto my blog tonight is because i finally had a blog worthy occurrence! friday night i experienced a first. something i didnt even think i would have the opportunity to do, so i didnt even bother putting it on a 'to do before i die list'. but now i can AND cross it off.
ok, enough preface... i was a DJ!
i got off work on friday at 730. and was planning on having a long shower and taking it easy (either chilling with charles or just going right to bed bc i was pretty sick all day) then i got a text at 8pm from my good friend Doug, who is the DJ mastermind behind a couple dance parties in st louis. the text read "hey totally random....but think you'd be down for djing tonight @ 80s club? i can give you a crash course/$80 and tips. Lmk?"
i couldnt believe it. i still cant. what a cool opportunity. so i said what time?
i got there about 10 and he showed me the way it works. split screen with one song thats playing and one in cue. i just had to pick an 80s tune drag it to the cue, check the levels to make sure it wasnt too loud or quiet, and then fade from one song to the next. it was pretty easy, but very intimidating and nerve racking. definitely the time of your life, dont get me wrong, but scary knowing the party rests upon your fingertips.
many many cute girls requesting silly songs. im still working on appreciating 80s music, but i am pretty much a convert after that night. i hate all the good lookin girls distracting me in life btw. its just knowing that right now everyone is a potential future. i dont like it. its overwhelming. i wish girls had to wear badges or something that explained what was really going on behind the pretty face. like "clingy" or "drama queen" or "petty" this way you wouldnt even have to waste time thinking hmmm im super nervous about talking to her bc u could simply find out the crazy before wasting any time. ...if im honest, im probably still too damaged to even be thinking about girls at all...yeah, im tired of thinking about the future. forget this paragraph. im just keeping my eye on what today brings for now (okay, technically tomorrow, since its 1am, but you know what i mean).
also some guy tipped me 10 to play thriller! haha
and finally, im reading travels with charley at work. falling in love with steinbeck all over again. and i had a convo with an old fam friend yesterday about writing and realized i have alot of new life material. so i need to get back on the writing horse! thats an exciting thought if i can get some discipline and remember how to use my brain.
all in time.
i do really like those things you strive for deck, and it confirmed why i respect you more than most anyone ive ever or ever will meet. those are pretty much words to live a life by "be a humble man of faith, who loves his wife genuinely, raises children of strong character and gives more than i take." mm mm mmmm right now i guess the goal is to be a humble man of faith who loves himself and those around him genuinely and gives more than i take.
i am at a little bit of a loss right now. i love that i am self aware enough to know my priorities are out of wack, but frightened i will never remember how to be alone with God on a regular basis. frightened that i am starting to become ok with not understanding so many things about life. for instance, my bro in law tried having a convo with me about politics during a long car ride. and i just went mute. i didnt care and i didnt want to care. i dont understand governments and i dont see what good it would do even if i did. so have i just gotten mentally lazy? yep. i think thats it. this is the most introspective ive been in months! haha
i just read someone elses blog and it encouraged me to instrospect again....fyi
lifes been good. dont know if i mentioned this, but i saw this terrific movie called 500 days of summer and it really struck a chord with me. its basically about a failed romance and it helped show me other people have felt the pain i have, and it gave me great comfort and hope for the future. breaking up is the suckiest experience, and i certainly hope i dont have to endure that many more times in my life. cant even imagine divorce.
but anyways...
the real reason im even signing onto my blog tonight is because i finally had a blog worthy occurrence! friday night i experienced a first. something i didnt even think i would have the opportunity to do, so i didnt even bother putting it on a 'to do before i die list'. but now i can AND cross it off.
ok, enough preface... i was a DJ!
i got off work on friday at 730. and was planning on having a long shower and taking it easy (either chilling with charles or just going right to bed bc i was pretty sick all day) then i got a text at 8pm from my good friend Doug, who is the DJ mastermind behind a couple dance parties in st louis. the text read "hey totally random....but think you'd be down for djing tonight @ 80s club? i can give you a crash course/$80 and tips. Lmk?"
i couldnt believe it. i still cant. what a cool opportunity. so i said what time?
i got there about 10 and he showed me the way it works. split screen with one song thats playing and one in cue. i just had to pick an 80s tune drag it to the cue, check the levels to make sure it wasnt too loud or quiet, and then fade from one song to the next. it was pretty easy, but very intimidating and nerve racking. definitely the time of your life, dont get me wrong, but scary knowing the party rests upon your fingertips.
many many cute girls requesting silly songs. im still working on appreciating 80s music, but i am pretty much a convert after that night. i hate all the good lookin girls distracting me in life btw. its just knowing that right now everyone is a potential future. i dont like it. its overwhelming. i wish girls had to wear badges or something that explained what was really going on behind the pretty face. like "clingy" or "drama queen" or "petty" this way you wouldnt even have to waste time thinking hmmm im super nervous about talking to her bc u could simply find out the crazy before wasting any time. ...if im honest, im probably still too damaged to even be thinking about girls at all...yeah, im tired of thinking about the future. forget this paragraph. im just keeping my eye on what today brings for now (okay, technically tomorrow, since its 1am, but you know what i mean).
also some guy tipped me 10 to play thriller! haha
and finally, im reading travels with charley at work. falling in love with steinbeck all over again. and i had a convo with an old fam friend yesterday about writing and realized i have alot of new life material. so i need to get back on the writing horse! thats an exciting thought if i can get some discipline and remember how to use my brain.
all in time.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
open mics and a quick summer.
well this summer was definitely the fastest few months of my entire life. it has been a blur of work, playing music, and spending time with new people. i wish i couldve just skipped over july to be perfectly honest, so im glad that it went so quick.
august was a mix of good times and work... i could have my time line mixed up but i think about a month and a half ago carrie (my sister) found an open mic night in downtown st charles. then i went online and found another one, which inspired me to start practicing my songs again. its been really exciting over the past month+ ive been practicing my songs alot and playing once or twice a week.
playing out is very rewarding. it either goes really well and you can see people enjoying it, or it goes really aweful and you can learn what not to do for the future. not to mention you get to meet other musicians and see other people doing the same thing.
the first one i was so nervous that i couldnt really properly breathe/sing. it went well enough tho, people seemed to enjoy it, and a girl that also played piano came up and said she liked it.
then after 3 open mics in 3 different locations i got pretty comfy in front of people (which i didnt think would ever happen, so that was exciting in itself). i performed silly songs like rocky raccoon and hit me baby one more time as well as my original songs. and its cool to get input...one guy told me i was pitchy, one told me i sounded like fray (which seems like a critique to me), yet little things like seeing the barista come over from the bar to watch are really encouraging.
...
super sick of the job. going to begin job hunting in the city within the week. im pretty tired of commuting to everywhere i need to be, especially with an suv. i have no time for little things like journaling or running or watching a movie. i bought running shoes so i could start running this summer and i havent run once. ugh!
i probably have tons of stories, but right now im too tired to remember.
august was a mix of good times and work... i could have my time line mixed up but i think about a month and a half ago carrie (my sister) found an open mic night in downtown st charles. then i went online and found another one, which inspired me to start practicing my songs again. its been really exciting over the past month+ ive been practicing my songs alot and playing once or twice a week.
playing out is very rewarding. it either goes really well and you can see people enjoying it, or it goes really aweful and you can learn what not to do for the future. not to mention you get to meet other musicians and see other people doing the same thing.
the first one i was so nervous that i couldnt really properly breathe/sing. it went well enough tho, people seemed to enjoy it, and a girl that also played piano came up and said she liked it.
then after 3 open mics in 3 different locations i got pretty comfy in front of people (which i didnt think would ever happen, so that was exciting in itself). i performed silly songs like rocky raccoon and hit me baby one more time as well as my original songs. and its cool to get input...one guy told me i was pitchy, one told me i sounded like fray (which seems like a critique to me), yet little things like seeing the barista come over from the bar to watch are really encouraging.
...
super sick of the job. going to begin job hunting in the city within the week. im pretty tired of commuting to everywhere i need to be, especially with an suv. i have no time for little things like journaling or running or watching a movie. i bought running shoes so i could start running this summer and i havent run once. ugh!
i probably have tons of stories, but right now im too tired to remember.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
scatterbrained update.
most likely i will leave out all of the important details. but i feel i must at least put forth effort to update again. usfidelis has been completely restructured in order to stay legit, which is awesome idealogically. in practice it's aweful. the management is just kind of a joke, and the last two weeks have been a living nightmare.
i have had 4 different managers in 2 weeks, i was promoted to the call backs sales then to the main sales floor for 3 days and then back to callbacks. ive been through at least 7 'training' sessions where they tell us all of the things that have changed and what we must do to keep our jobs. lots of people have quit, even sam! and my sales have been nothing short of humiliating. and the power trips we must endure are maddening.
my buddy chad got demoted even tho he has the highest closing percentage on the floor for absolutely no clear reason. and the manager i had would tell me that putting notes into a file for more than 5 minutes was bullshit and tell me that i shouldnt be kicking my 'little ball' (soccerball) around instead of studying the scripts and focusing, even tho 5 minutes prior he was saying to be relaxed and overly friendly on the phone. the inconsistencies are outrageous everyday. they tell us to make a friend on the phone and then tell us in the very same breathe to get thru the script quickly to get to the "NO" so we can rebuttle them. what?
anyways, now thats off my chest, i am still enjoying the challenge of sales. to do it correctly is a major rush. and i had my best day in a month on friday! also my newest of managers is actually a great guy.
outside of work i housesat for dad recently whilst they went frolicking throughout europe. good fun and a good lesson on responsibility. taking care of a hyper dog is just infuriating. but i loved coming home to the city each night and i loved playing piano each night with a nice jack and coke or glass of oj. i even learned to enjoy waking up 20 minutes early to take wesley for a walk in the park. also, while in venice charlie proposed to julie on a bridge!!!! how effing romantic is that. maaaan, i love that kid!
i am still being pleasantly surprised with how much i learn to love st louis more each year. the city has much more open doors once you are a bit older too. im learning this more and more as well. finding gems like london calling and the fucking bike club. not to mention all the little spots you can go like the loop, the cwe, clayton, washington ave, grand, and all the beautiful parks. and i keep meeting new and interesting people too, which just gives me so much hope for humanity and the future of my life (shout out to some cool people ive met: doug, eleanor, erin, tyler, and chad).
a bit melancholy that mj passed on, he was a mad genius and ultimately a tragic story that may be forever misunderstood.
....yet, happy that mars came out with a new disc, and i just found out im going to coldplay and pitchfork in july!
speaking of concerts. i also got to be a part of 2 more free concerts and this time legitimately. one was santigold (the picture) and that was just tons of fun, the other was the dittybops at madart gallery (where kevin sprayed a glowstick all over me...thats what she said).
i love life and i see good days.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
good days.
well life is great. i have been number 4 in the department the whole month, and am most likely going to try my hands at being a salesman next month! i dont know if you've noticed or not, but there have been 3 front page headlines, and one today show interview that totally bashed us (us fidelis). it has been alright tho, business hasnt been affected at all, and our businesses practices have become way better. so while i am embarrassed of my companies past, i am excited about the future.
i have decided i want my next car to be a nissan xterra, now i just have to find out which one exactly.
this weekend was fun. saturday was a bbq at dads where i found out jeff and jolene are moving to st lou and are having a freaking baby! then i went dancing all night, which is probably the first time since 7th grade that i went out just to dance (sans prom). it was a blast. ran into rach, whom i havent seen in a criminally long time, she is so skinny! its crazy. she looks so youthful and happy.
then today i went to laumier park and soaked up the fresh air and good company. then i played ping pong and painted carrie and niks basement a bit. great weekend all in all.
cant think of any interesting stories for now, but if i do, ill come back. miss you all!
i have decided i want my next car to be a nissan xterra, now i just have to find out which one exactly.
this weekend was fun. saturday was a bbq at dads where i found out jeff and jolene are moving to st lou and are having a freaking baby! then i went dancing all night, which is probably the first time since 7th grade that i went out just to dance (sans prom). it was a blast. ran into rach, whom i havent seen in a criminally long time, she is so skinny! its crazy. she looks so youthful and happy.
then today i went to laumier park and soaked up the fresh air and good company. then i played ping pong and painted carrie and niks basement a bit. great weekend all in all.
cant think of any interesting stories for now, but if i do, ill come back. miss you all!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
social bug
i have been bitten by the social bug. its wonderful. over the past 3 weeks or so i have been going out like crazy and i cant even keep track of the nights. so if i repeat a story, i apologize. one weekend, i actually stayed on 4 different couches in 4 nights. great fun.
so one weekend i went to a bon fire at the dollarhides, and saw the cottage of my dreams. then that sunday i went and played bingo at Pi. it was very interesting because the number caller was dressed in drag. this was a very weird experience bc i thought i was going to just play bingo, but really he.....i mean she, would take a 15 minute break between each game to "dance" (walk around the room in high heels flirting with guys) and "sing" (lip sink to songs like big girls dont cry). after this, me abby and my new friend tucker went to the house she was sitting and drank lots of wine and smoked alot and played music. the reason i want to remember this night is bc we spoke in english accents the whole time and it reminded me of wonderful nights in london. they called me gerzshery all night and it quickly became my favorite nickname of all time. i was late to work the next day, but it was worth it.
ive been spending time with tons of new and cool people like abby and tucker, slade, the journey girls (emily, janessa, dena, cher, and ashley), work people like spanish and brad, and old friends like katie and and kevin. its been great. i love new seasons like this.
so heres a couple more quick stories about my night life:
one night there was a victor wooten concert at the pageant. dont ask me who invited me or how i knew about it or why i came to the loop because i honestly dont remember. but i do remember seeing emily at the front door when i tried to just waltz in. the lady at the door said the boxoffice was closed so i couldnt enter (which was lame of her, bc the concert was half over anyways). im terrible at taking no for an answer, so i asked emily for her ticket. she said she didnt feel comfortable doing that. somehow she ended up handing it over... so i went to the other door. the guy at this door, luckily, looked very much like drugs had fried all of his useful brain cells. his jaw was slacked open and he was hunched there gazing at me. i handed him the ticket and he said, this has already been swiped, where is your stamp? (i didnt know you needed a stamp on your hand) so i just stood there and raised my eyebrows and lifted my shoulders as if to say, i dunno where it escaped to. he looked at me for a few seconds and then just stamped my hand...hahaha. then my cousin walked by, and i said AMANDA! and looked at the burnout gate keeper and said, hey that's my cousin! as if he cared. then in my moronic state of excitement i asked amanda, what are you doing here? she said, i love victor wooten, what are you doing here? and i responded, I just got here!
...i immediately looked back at the door keeper realizing what i just said. he started stuttering something and so i turned quickly and entered the venue. it was awesome. ireally hope this blog isnt incriminating evidence.
cut to a week later, i went to see the journey girls again for emily's bday extravaganza. they were at a concert at the pageant. so i went to the loop to wait for them to get out. but at the midpoint of the concert they came outside to say hi to me, and they came out so full of energy. they all hugged me, and dena called me a ray of sunshine or something ridiculously nice like that, and they were talking about how fun it was dancing in there....so of course, i began thinking about the week previous. i tell them i want to go in. and i cant remember if it was my idea or dena's, but dena licked her hand and we pushed our hands together to get the stamp to rub off. it didnt really work, but it showed enough stamp to where i felt it would.
so one of them gave me their ticket and i walked up and looked at my hand and said, 'aw man, dang, my stamp mustve washed off in the bathroom' or something and the new door person said, 'no problem at all, hey Johnny give him a new stamp!' then i was in like flin!
after the concert i danced some more. the journey girls all jumped into my dad's van and we headed to maplewood. there, we met up with a bunch of other cool people. at this place called cusamanos, and we all danced goofy and it was great times. i met a few more new people, such as a gal from work, april and her home schooled friend jess.
im tired now, so this post ends here. at work, i ended in the top 20 for march. and am presently in the top 10 for april! (out of 200+) my boss reprimands me alot for showing up late on saturdays, but he also said that if i keep working hard, i will get promoted quickly, because 3 managers have asked about me already!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
so many titles, i cant pick one...lets go with happy st pats
okay, so a brief update on the job. it started out feeling more like 8 hours of recess. sam allowed us to watch movies between calls, we (the spanish dept and i)juggled with a mini soccer ball, me and my new music friend paul played guitar at lunch, i played the freerice game online, and there was just an overall sense of merriment and casualness all around. i dont know if i mentioned this also, but the building itself is an old mall which has been renovated and now has a trampoline, bball court, game room with pingpong and videogames, a huge cafe/open area, and a workout room. so yeah, less of a job, more of a party.
but before i get into that, i should mention the first whole week of work i was real sick. i was throwing up and sweating like mad at night, i was too dizzy and pained to stand or walk in the day, and still tried a few times to come in and be a friendly voice.
i survived. so the next three weeks were filled with this fun time with my good friend sam at the helm and plenty of fun people to keep me busy. then i got the news. a night shift was being implemented. sam was taking the new post. what followed was very unexpected. not only was he taking his guitar with him, he was taking more than half of our team of 25 people and moving to the other side of the mall. : (
so today was day one without them. it was tough. sams office is stripped of the frank sinatra posters and character. the office is quiet without my dwight-like cubicle neighbor josh and my other cubicle neighbor who talks like he is black. and my new boss is actually concerned with my job performance...what? sam would actually pull me away from calls to come hang out in his office and play guitar for him. this guy is screening my calls and critiquing me.
its more of a job now, but i am still really enjoying it. in the past two weeks i have moved up from being 110th or so out of 210 to being number 17 for the month. so i am hoping i will continue to prosper. if i do, i will be promoted in a matter of months to the sales floor.
so thats work. in my social life, i have met many new people recently and it has been a welcome addition in the craziness of life. most notable are the journey girls. 4 gals who are all uniquely interesting and fun. i went to sashas wine bar with them once and the next night was invited to a sneak peak of watchman. it was fun. we actually kind of had to sneak into the sneakpeak. we butted.
tonight i hung out with them again for st pattys day. which is rapidly becoming one of my most beloved holidays. it never fails to bring a sense of excitement. the green, the booze, the nostalgia. it is after all the day of my first contact wearing in london! i was actually suppose to be seeing maps and atlases for free, but the show filled before i got there~! sadness down the windowpane...
but the night was not ruined. i went and had a grand ole time in the cwe. went back to the chase garage for the first time since i left and saw its improvements. saw dan akroyd at sub zero promoting his new vodka. i saw the coneman himself. and i also had an interesting talk with a man named rich and his lady nancy. i jokingly asked him if he had 'earned' his beads and he straight faced told me that he didnt have to earn anything, bc he made 50 an hour. i laughed and asked what he did. he was a painter (gray haired, beard, hippyish). then he got really cool and introduced us to nancy, the love of his life. they told us the story of how they met bc she needed a painter and he did it for her for free, then she made him dinner. and something about how she played oh danny boy on the flute and made him cry. it was beautiful.
also, in my social life, i played a few hockey games in my friend josh's league for him. on the day of the championship we had to play a game to get into the champ game. in o.t. i scored a one timer. it was exhilerating. then in the big game we had a huge brawl. as it was being sorted out by the refs one of the opposing players came onto our bench and sucker punched josh. 6 of our guys then jumped him and the refs and owners freaked out. josh was bleeding, everyone was holding up fists. it was over. we didnt get to finish.
its 3 in the morning...i gotta stop typing even tho i want to tell the story of the victor wooten show...later.
but before i get into that, i should mention the first whole week of work i was real sick. i was throwing up and sweating like mad at night, i was too dizzy and pained to stand or walk in the day, and still tried a few times to come in and be a friendly voice.
i survived. so the next three weeks were filled with this fun time with my good friend sam at the helm and plenty of fun people to keep me busy. then i got the news. a night shift was being implemented. sam was taking the new post. what followed was very unexpected. not only was he taking his guitar with him, he was taking more than half of our team of 25 people and moving to the other side of the mall. : (
so today was day one without them. it was tough. sams office is stripped of the frank sinatra posters and character. the office is quiet without my dwight-like cubicle neighbor josh and my other cubicle neighbor who talks like he is black. and my new boss is actually concerned with my job performance...what? sam would actually pull me away from calls to come hang out in his office and play guitar for him. this guy is screening my calls and critiquing me.
its more of a job now, but i am still really enjoying it. in the past two weeks i have moved up from being 110th or so out of 210 to being number 17 for the month. so i am hoping i will continue to prosper. if i do, i will be promoted in a matter of months to the sales floor.
so thats work. in my social life, i have met many new people recently and it has been a welcome addition in the craziness of life. most notable are the journey girls. 4 gals who are all uniquely interesting and fun. i went to sashas wine bar with them once and the next night was invited to a sneak peak of watchman. it was fun. we actually kind of had to sneak into the sneakpeak. we butted.
tonight i hung out with them again for st pattys day. which is rapidly becoming one of my most beloved holidays. it never fails to bring a sense of excitement. the green, the booze, the nostalgia. it is after all the day of my first contact wearing in london! i was actually suppose to be seeing maps and atlases for free, but the show filled before i got there~! sadness down the windowpane...
but the night was not ruined. i went and had a grand ole time in the cwe. went back to the chase garage for the first time since i left and saw its improvements. saw dan akroyd at sub zero promoting his new vodka. i saw the coneman himself. and i also had an interesting talk with a man named rich and his lady nancy. i jokingly asked him if he had 'earned' his beads and he straight faced told me that he didnt have to earn anything, bc he made 50 an hour. i laughed and asked what he did. he was a painter (gray haired, beard, hippyish). then he got really cool and introduced us to nancy, the love of his life. they told us the story of how they met bc she needed a painter and he did it for her for free, then she made him dinner. and something about how she played oh danny boy on the flute and made him cry. it was beautiful.
also, in my social life, i played a few hockey games in my friend josh's league for him. on the day of the championship we had to play a game to get into the champ game. in o.t. i scored a one timer. it was exhilerating. then in the big game we had a huge brawl. as it was being sorted out by the refs one of the opposing players came onto our bench and sucker punched josh. 6 of our guys then jumped him and the refs and owners freaked out. josh was bleeding, everyone was holding up fists. it was over. we didnt get to finish.
its 3 in the morning...i gotta stop typing even tho i want to tell the story of the victor wooten show...later.
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