Graduation ceremonies seem to be to glorify the institution and not the individual, but as I never graduated high school, I thought I’d participate at least once. It also helped me draw closure to my time at AB-Tech, which I needed. I’m so glad to be out of there.
I even got recognized a little: Citizen-Times — Sensible City
A lot has changed since I last signed off here — I’ve been accepted to UNC-A, something I’ve been trying to accomplish for six years. It feels good to have a plan, accomplish a major part of it and move forward with the next step falling into line. Maybe I’m just not used to the feeling of accomplishment, but it feels like an addiction which I will gladly surrender to.
At least I’m a better student then blogger.
One more time. Ahhhhhh… Sunday.
I always try and keep Sundays free from too much economic activity or social obligation. It is a big help to my mental health to be able to sit at home and accomplish personal tasks, catch up on domestic work, practice music, or just relax with a book. And now that the semester has ended for me, I feel particularly light in spirit on this December Sunday.
I should start with yesterday. Yesterday morning I drove to Tryon, worked for my favorite clients and made good money before going to my grandparent’s to socialize and work on my grandfather’s new iMac. Awesome computer, really fun and easy to use and work on. Then I drove home, changed into a festive red and black get-up and went to MoDaddy’s to hear a band that I met last March. The Two Man Gentleman Band, from New York City played two killer sets while I drank whiskey and sang all the words I knew. I love their CDs, and the guys (Andy and Fuller) are great people and very talented musicians as well as snappy dressers (knickers!). I had promised them entertainment of the musical variety and afterwards we went to my friend Woody Pines’ house for a party populated almost entirely by musicians. Woody has an awesome old upright that has a great action for honky tonk and blues, and I sat down at it and kept it hot for nearly 3 straight hours. Sometimes I questions my musical ability, but not last night. I killed it for three straight hours, with only the brief of whiskey breaks. It felt awesome. Like most people, I have a lotof musical potential; it’s nice when it breaks through the clouds once in a while. And the clouds have been breaking more and more often lately.
The past two Sundays I have taken myself out to the Dripolator Coffeehouse, purchased the New York Times and ate a nice big brunch of huevos rancheros with my usual double Americano and Emergen-C. I try and look my best (not always easy after a busy Saturday night) and be sociable with the other Sunday brunchers, and I always leave feeling like a million bucks. It’s a really great way for me to begin the end of my week.
I’ve had lots of new beginnings and milestones these past couple months. Lost an old friend/lousy roommate. New roomate Henry (of the Firecracker Jazz Band and Squirrel Nut Zippers) is an incredible musician and wants to play music all the time at the house. There is so much I have to learn from him. On Thursday, I finished my penultimate semester in my soon-to-be decade-long pursuit of an Associates degree. Probably have 1 A (Music Theory I) and two Bs (Literature Based Research and Cultural Anthropology). Not bad, but probably not enough to bump me up to a 3.0 GPA, which I desperately need to keep my UNC-A hopes alive.
I’m also launching a new business and slowly getting out of the in-home computer biz. Not going to be a lot of long-term money in that, but I’m glad to pick up some random service as it’s usually easy-money. My new business will hopefully launch January 1. I’m really excited about it — I feel it’s the beginning of something really big for me.
Oh and somebody threw their shoes at President Bush today in Iraq.
So, this is my 100th post. To commemorate the occasion I’ve decided to try and break 200 by the end of the year. There’s about 100 days left, so this should keep my busy every day.
I find that I like blogging for a lot of reasons, and I don’t think vanity is one of them. Blogging turns writing and information collecting into a performance art; much more interesting than stamp-collecting to me.
First, it’s fun during the day when I think of something to know that it has a home. Instead of scribbling it down in some notebook that I file on the shelf I can feed it into a living document to be shared.
Second, it helps me hone my writing skills. Writing is a skill that would help me immensely at work and at school. I sometimes can write effortlessly, but more often it is a struggle to get a single paragraph out. Having a format in which I can do anything helps me to get the write juices flowing (pun intended) and silence that little self-doubt demon that’s the bane of so many’s creativity.
Third, it keeps me honest. Because this forum is open to any eyeballs that surf by, I feel sort of accountable for the content, and since the content is derived from my life, I feel that I should keep a clean act.
Fourth, things can be tedious or they can be fun. And if you can transmute the tedious into the fun, you win at life. Blogging is fun now.
Chris Riddle — actor, filmmaker, videographer, and stage director — is one of my oldest friends. We’ve worked on many projects together in the past. Every year he puts together a team for the 48 Hour Film Festival here in Asheville. If you’ve never worked on a 48 Hour film, it’s a blast with the right people. High stress, high creativity, solving complex problems on the fly, and after two days of that you have a fim. It’s really fun. Chris and his wife Sam put together a great team last year — Director of Photography was Mike Belleme, who’s an awesome skateboarder and gaspingly good photographer, (and also in my blogroll). They tapped me for an acting role — though I had no prior screen credits. Now, I think acting is really fun, and I’ve done it confidently — on stage. On film I was totally uncomfortable with myself. We pulled the Romance genre (which is a tough one) so nobody was really thrilled with the story, and my lines made me feel like I had marbles in my mouth. I hate myself on screen. I hope I don’t really sound and look like that. Enjoy.
I thought of this because I saw Mr. Riddle. I kidnapped him and brought him to Asheville to see the Firecracker Jazz Band play at the Rocket Club, and he asked me to be an extra in his next project which is filming tomorrow. He’s filming it at the cofeehouse in Tryon, where we met. The first friends I ever made outside of church or work was at that coffeehouse, and it always feels good to come back there — especially to work with Chris, who was the first guy to ever talk to me there. I was just weird guy in the corner that nobody knew, and when Chris said “The time has come,” I finished it with “the walrus said,” and I often think of that precise moment, when the outside world first recognized me.
Thanks, Chris.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.
My friends and I have been bubbling with talk of a move to New York City. Not immediately or anything, but the prospect excites me greatly. I’ve always had this self-defeating attitude that I was not good enough for New York City, but I’m trying to shed my self-imposed limitations and level up, to borrow an RPG term. As the song goes, if you can make it New York you can make it anywhere, and I’d like to see if I’m made of that stuff. I think there could be a lot for me there.
But I still am feeling the old frustrations, the old struggles, the old weaknesses that peck away at my potential. There’s all these things I feel I could be truly great at, the things I feel I have inside me that I can’t get out — I could be a great piano player, I could be a great designer, I could be a great ________. What stops me?
Me.
And so, I’m on big self-improvement kick again.
ONE: I’m going back to school, and I’m really excited about it. I have a great schedule — just Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m taking Literature Based Research (again, because I’m lazy and a terribly non-prolific writer), Cultural Anthropology (awesome), and Music Theory I (4 credit hours, easy A.) I may yet be able to add a 1 credit Yoga.
TWO: Music has to be a bigger part of my life. I’m playing semi-seriously with a friend of mine, Elias, and we’ve had some killer songwriting collaborations. First time in a long time I’ve felt like I really had a great musical partnership that wasn’t a student-teacher thing.
THREE: Reading. I’ve been reading a great deal more lately. I ran into Malaprop’s I bought an awesome called Osman’s Dream, a start to finish history of the Ottoman Empire. But before I start that monster (660 pages!) I have to finish the Steven Pinker book that Laura bought me months ago, The Stuff of Thought by September 8 because the author will be at Malaprop’s that night. For as much of a nerd I am, I have never been to an author event at a bookstore, and I’m looking forward to it. I should develop a good question for him.
FOUR: I must write. I’m feeling flush with words and prose and have been re-reading some of my old material and I have to say I don’t know why I gave it up.
SUMMARY: Apollonian interests must triumph for this next phase in my life. The endless Bacchanals that have gripped my life and lifestyle must be brought into line with my larger goals. I’m on the verge of something, and I aim to vault myself over the edge.
