Wake Me When September Ends

It’s funny what runs through your mind when you hear a song.  Especially a song that you associate with a time in your life that wasn’t very pleasant.

Wake Me When September Ends by Green Day has a special place in my heart.  I’ve been married…twice, divorced once.  I’m one of the two people that you know that got married that it didn’t work out for.  It sucked.  I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone that I know, regardless of whether I like them or not. To this day that life event is still one of the worst things to ever happen to me, and also one of the best all in the same breath.  It forced me to leave behind everything that I knew and called familiar and that scared the hell out of me.

I drove across the country to Green Day’s American Idiot album.  The pain and angst that oozes from their music on that album spoke to my sole.  It fueled me to keep driving away the pain.  I drove to California, and probably listened to that album 10 times over the course of those three days.  Wake Me When September Ends drew me in by the extreme pain Billie Joe exudes.  He’d rather sleep away a month of his life rather than have to deal with the pain.  I felt much the same way.

The meaning the song has to me, and the meaning that the video exhibit are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  They may not even be on the same page, but it's funny how a song means different things to different people.  Now that I’m happily re-mariried to the real love of my life, I don’t listen to this song very often.  When I do, it’s just to remind me of where I’ve been and where I’m going.

Sleigh Ride

One of the odd things about being a former band geek is the little things that you miss about being a band geek.  One of the things that I miss the most is the Christmas music.  In order to be fully prepared for your holiday concert as a band member, you usually started rehearsing Christmas music around Halloween, through the Thanksgiving holiday and then performances ensued during the first few weeks of December.

Funny, but it always put me more in the Christmas spirit.

I have a few songs that still stir my Christmas spirit up, but the one that I always enjoyed performing was always Sleigh Ride.  Hands down my favorite Christmas song.  Maybe it’s the horse whiney the trumpet player always does.  The crack of the whip, the clip clop of the wood blocks the percussionists play and the syncopated off beats that the alto voices play, it all makes it a magical song.

I hope that all of my readers, and most of you I know personally, are celebrating the season with those that you love.  Whether it be your first Christmas together as a new family; your umpteenth Christmas together with your aunts, brothers, cousins, grandparents, parents, sisters and uncles and other extended family; forging ahead as a young professional and celebrating with friends in a new city or you may not have someone to celebrate the season with.  I hope that isn’t the case, but if it is, know that I’ll be thinking of you on Christmas Day.

Because Christmas is the most special time of the year. 

Merry Christmas!

The Calm Before the Storm

So Kiwi and I are in unchartered waters.  Baby Razz is coming right along, but just isn’t quite ready to join us yet.  So we wait.  I feel like a kid at Christmas again, waiting on Santa Claus to come. Waiting is one of the things that I have the most trouble with in my day to day life.  I’ve gotten better over the years, but waiting for anything is still not my forte.

We’ve been trying to take advantage of this remaining “free time”, doing things that we know won’t be possible or easy when Baby Razz joins us.  Movies, going out to eat at restaurants that we enjoy, you know, the usual couple stuff.

I equate this waiting to hurricane preparation.  Regardless of how many batteries you buy, how much plywood you hang or number of sandbags you fill, you know that chaos is going to ensue.  It’s the adrenaline rush at its best.  The preparation excites you, but the unknown of what is on the cusp of happening is what really drives you. 

Raise your morning cup of coffee to the impending chaos.

Just Do It

Three little words that changed a generation.  Some executive marketing professional came up with this slogan to sell shoes, sweatshirts and anything else with a swoosh on it, and it worked to perfection.  By displaying their marketing genius and prowess, they crippled the generation they changed.

Very few people repair things anymore.  Some things it makes sense to just buy a new one, but as a whole in this country, we are too quick to run out and purchase something new as to repair what was broken.

It comes down to a lack of skills.  I went to my local Goodwill Retail Store today just to look around to see if I could save some money.  You know, we have a baby coming any day now and I want to try to do my part.  Anyways, I find this nice dress shirt.  Expensive retail name brand, no holes, no stains, it was even my size.  The only thing I could find wrong with it was it was missing a button...one lousy button.  Now, news flash here,  on most men’s dress shirts the manufacturer sews on at least one, if not two, extra buttons in case one happens to fall off.

Yeah, this shirt still had those buttons on, but presumably had been donated because of the missing button further up the front of the shirt.

Now you may be asking yourself what Nike’s iconic marketing slogan and a shirt that is missing a button from my local Goodwill Store have in common.  Somewhere along the line, someone forgot how or just didn’t care enough to save himself $30 and sew on a button with a .99 cent sewing kit that you can get at your local convenience store.

There is this thing called Google that can pretty much help you figure out how to do most anything you’ll encounter on any given day.  Maybe it’s my work ethic or that I grew up on a farm.  Maybe it’s because I just don’t like asking for help, but I go out of my way to figure out things.  From the kitchen to my car, a sewing issue or a home improvement project, I take pride in rolling up my sleeves and…well, you know, just doing it.

Dream On

Song #3 in my ultimate box set playlist comes to you from 1992, at least that was when i was first introduced. I was a junior in high school and in the midst of forming my complex simplistic music listening habits.  As a 16 year old trumpet player in my high school band, cool points were few and far between.  Awkwardness was a daily visitor in my world.

Aerosmith had released Livin’ On the Edge around that time.  It was one of the hot records of the year, and of course I was a fan.   There was a mother of a fellow band member who was a single mom, full time student that turned out to be a great friend.  She knew and understood the awkward time period that high school and being a teenager presented.

She gave me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.  Aerosmith’s original 45 self titled album.  There was Steven Tyler in all his 1970’s glory.  Pimply faced, gangly and as awkward as I was.  I was hooked.  Dream On had me enthralled.  I made a cassette tape of that album and wore it out in the tape deck of my car.  I had a ravenous appetite for old school Aerosmith.  Dream On started it all for me.  I’m forever grateful.