Look, but don't touch.
Posted on January 18, 2012 with 2 comments
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This is some seriously screwed up weather, y'all. I could go on, but I guess that's Thomas' job. And I'm kinda down in the dumps today, anyway.
by Thomas Bensberg, Weather Blognosticator
High of 56 and an overnight low of 23 and more red bolts shooting out of the sky today. Talk about some weird weather.
12-18-2012
Okay, this is blog Day 2, because above is as far as I got in Day 1. Now Thomas' forecast is all irrelevant and old news and stuff. My bad. Lets kick it off with some laughs.
This video pretty much says it all:
This strikes hard at a guy like me, because I am on Plan A right now, right this very moment, and I have been on my Plan A since October 10th, 2008. That was the day I walked out of my job at a Fortune 500 company that I'd been at for ten years, and I've never looked back since.
And please, don't mistake that for a statement of pride. It's not that I'm not proud of who I am and what I do, because I am. But I say this as a statement more of self-acknowledgement. The reason I am who I am and do what I do is because I choose to do it.
There was a time when I found a job and proceeded to mold myself into it, to let myself become the job. Because it paid well. There were medical benefits. And people "accepted" me because I was doing what was expected.
I don't do that anymore. That day, I found myself, and I created a job for myself that IS me.
But I know exactly where Tonya is coming from on this. It's not uncommon for me to look back and be amazed at how many hours I've worked in a month, and how much money I didn't make. There really are no days off for me. There are times when I realize I literally have performed work in music for 90+ days non-stop, between teaching, gigging, writing, recording, etc.
It isn't easy, the hours are long and the money sucks. In fact, this is the hardest I've ever worked, the most scared I've ever been, and the most uncertain I've been about my future. The bizarre thing is that I've never been happier, or more sure about my role in the world.
Yeah, I could go out and get that second job, deliver pizzas or whatnot. But something inside me has always stopped me from doing that. Part of it was because that would be "easy" and I'm used to working hard at things that matter. But the other part wasn't clear until Tonya said it above: Some part of me knew that if I did that, I would lose focus. And I love my focus. I live and die by my focus.
People so often forget that death is inevitable. All their focus, all their worry is aimed at avoiding something that cannot be avoided. But those who accept their own mortality are more like to, say... I dunno... eat raw meat. (DAVE.)
Life isn't about just staying alive as long as you can. Not to me, anyway. To me, it's about doing everything you possibly can, realizing that even though you never know how much time you have, you know it won't be enough to do everything you want.
So you better move your ass. You better get up, go out there, and do everything you possibly can that fulfills you and makes the world around you bigger and better.
Check out David McLean's Blog, Skinny Devil Universe. He's making me post my January Lifestyle Challenge goals and whatnot. But hey, at least Tonya Kay is cool. Anyway, be sure to check back at his blog until you see my post.
RULE #1: You can pretty much accurately judge people by the way they treat their pets.
RULE #2: People who don't have pets are not to be trusted.
RULE #3: There's absolutely no good reason to call that beanbag game "cornhole."
RULE #4: It turns out, blondes actually DO have more fun.
RULE #5: You always have the rest of your life.
RULE #6: Lettuce is basically a big waste of time.
RULE #7: Everyone over the age of 30 has had his or her life turned upside-down at least once.
RULE #8: The best music has the worst distribution, but it also has the most sophisticated fans.
RULE #9: Listening to fat, sweaty potty-mouths laughing obnoxiously at their own stupid jokes on the radio is no way to start your day.
RULE #10: Nobody in Europe has ever heard of Grey Poupon. Dijon is just a city in France to them.
RULE #11: Sales forecasts are a funny little blend of optimism, desperation, and fiction.
RULE #12: When you get really pissed off, go ahead and write the email, but then delete it.
RULE #13: There's nothing unlucky about the number 13. Get over it.
RULE #14: In the end, we all have the same amount of luck.
RULE #15: No sane person ever admits to being a bigot. That's why bigotry exists.
RULE #16: The odds of any given event occurring are exactly 50%. Either it'll happen, or it won't.
RULE #17: The path to anyone's heart is through your own.
RULE #18: American Idol is the single most compelling example of why the electoral college is important.
RULE #19: Too few people understand the difference between an automatic and semi-automatic weapon.
RULE #20: Polls serve no purpose other than to fraudulently skew election results.
RULE #21: You don't have to give up your own beliefs in order to tolerate someone else's.
RULE #22: It turns out that pretty much everything can give you cancer, and also prevent you from getting it. The studies prove it.
RULE #23: It turns out that most "studies" are crap.
RULE #24: Believe it or not, the acceleration lane is for accelerating.
RULE #25: AC/DC saved us from disco.
RULE #26: Nirvana saved us from hair metal.
RULE #27: No-one who mocks Buddhism understands Buddhism.
RULE #28: Learn art history.
RULE #29: Find out why your "check engine" light is on and get it fixed. It's cheaper than a car.
RULE #30: No-one's cruise control is getting enough use these days. It's a surprisingly good stress reliever.
RULE #31: The Golden Rule is the most important rule in heavy traffic.
RULE #32: Harvey Keitel's only real objectives in his movies are to cry, and show us his penis.
RULE #33: The death penalty is the most perfect example of irony.
RULE #34: Punk rock brings needed balance.
RULE #35: What happens in Vegas, stays on the Internet.
RULE #36: Trusting your government to take care of you is like trusting your car to drive for you. Remember who's really calling the shots and suffers the consequences.
RULE #37: "Clerks," "Mallrats," and "Chasing Amy," right now, in that order. Go.
RULE #38: When roommates/coworkers/family members appear to have reached their maximum tolerance, give it one more push. You win. Submitted by Anonymous
RULE #39: Girls are scared of bugs. Boys like to kill things. Humanity reigns.
RULE #40: A cat can get his head stepped on 50 times, and still fail to grasp that stairs are a dumb place for a nap.
RULE #41: We should be able to fire the U.S. President as easily as NFL teams can fire a head coach.
RULE #42: Never challenge David McLean to anything. You will lose.
RULE #43: Rule #44 will be a true statement.
RULE #44: Rule #43 was a false statement. Take your time.
RULE #45: Musicians all need to help and look out for each other. Because no one else really will.
RULE #46: You can't really live each days as if it's your last. But you can live each day as if it matters.
RULE #47: Anything that isn't impossible has to happen eventually. Million-to-one shots are hit every day.
RULE #48: Always looking at the bright side is like looking at the sun. It's tempting, hard to do, and eventually you realize you're blind.
RULE #49: If you can't say something at all, don't brush with your mouth full of dirty looks when I'm talking to you.
RULE #50: Murphy's Law is no joke. That shit is real.
RULE #51: Billy Corgan. Willie Nelson. Bob Dylan. Janice Joplin. Kurt Cobain. You don't have to be a great singer to sing great. Sing away.
RULE #52: Sleep is the most important stupid thing in the world.
RULE #53: If two or more people are deciding where to eat, and all parties say "it doesn't matter to me," the first person to reject any suggestion is 1) a liar, and 2) now responsible for making the decision.
RULE #54: Decide who you are, and be that person. It really is that simple.
RULE #55: If you're part of the majority, you're probably part of the problem. Solutions are rarely popular.
RULE #56: People make decisions based on incentive. Figure out what someone's incentive really is, and you can predict his behavior.
RULE #57: If you elect a career politician, expect his or her politics to be focused on his or her career.
RULE #58: Just because something is inevitable or true, doesn't mean yo have to like it.
RULE #59: Self-worth, like any valuation, is always relative.
RULE #60: We need more pirate radio stations.
RULE #61: Be you.
NAMM starts tomorrow in Anaheim, CA. From their website:
NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), commonly called NAMM in reference to the organization's popular NAMM trade shows, is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry. Our association—and our trade shows—serve as a hub for people wanting to seek out the newest innovations in musical products, recording technology, sound and lighting. NAMM's activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages.
I'm leaving from Louisville Airport here in a few hours to head out there with Steve Sizemore and Matt Ballenger of SSG, looking forward to a productive and educational week. This is a huge, invitation-only event, and we are honored to have been asked by Gretsch Guitars to attend as featured artists.
My plan is to blog from the road, probably including Saturday and Sunday editions. I've never been to this event before, nor have I been to California for that matter, so I really have no idea what to expect. So I can't make any promises, of course, but I will do what I can. This is my first road trip with the band where I will have my own laptop with me, containing all my blog templates and files, plus a smartphone, all of which will make productivity far more likely.
Plus, we're not scheduled to play any shows (although we will surely be doing impromptu performances) so I don't have to worry about a gig schedule or late-night fan appreciation events (damn, that is an excellent disguise term for what really goes on) and should be able to keep up with things better.
"Should" being the operative word, there.
To be frank, while I've read quite a bit about it over the last 48 hours, I am not educated enough on this to express my opinion coherently. Click the STOP SOPA image to read from someone who is. What I can tell from my research is that this legislation grants far too much federal power, and is another step toward a police state.
We can't have this, and it must be stopped. Stealing intellectual property is bad. Undermining fundamental freedoms and liberties is way, WAY worse. We have to address the former without sacrificing the latter, plain and simple.
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