Earlier in the week, my dad gave me an interesting idea- so this will be my follow-up for it. His idea was as follows- reflect on your life and on the music that has influenced it. What songs play in the back of your life? And since I've really nothing better to talk about and 3 posts to write today- here is my attempt at designing my life's soundtrack. I doubt it'll be much, since I listen to music daily and have only been alive for 14 years... but I'll try my best.
The Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin This is the first song in my soundtrack of life. Sounds weird, right? Well, allow me to give you a little backstory. Ever since I was born, I've been raised on rock n' roll music. One of my dad's favorite bands is Led Zeppelin, and thus it often played. I loved the opening of the Immigrant Song, and so my dad would often put it on at night on the big stereo in our living room and he and I would dance to it. The memories of this are among some of my earliest and my happiest. Reflection - Mulan Not ALL songs that played were rock, however. I recall having an album of songs from Disney movies when I was little, and I remember playing 'Reflection' from Mulan incessantly because I loved the lyrics and knew them all by heart. Who am I kidding- I knew all the lyrics from that CD by heart. That song just happened to be my favorite. Drift Away - Dobie Gray In all honesty, I'm not sure if the version of this song that I recall was by Dobie or not. It may have been a cover, but oh well. The original is certainly the best. This song seems to be always in the background- it's not always on the radio, but I never forget it and on the rare occurrence that I do hear it on the radio, I love it. In particular, I remember hearing it on a long car trip to NJ from NH twice in one day and really being happy about it. There Was A Little Mouse Honestly, I don't know whether to count this as a nursery rhyme or a song. The only reason this song is appearing in the middle of my soundtrack is because it holds more meaning to me now that my sister exists. My dad always used to sing it to me when I was small, and when my sister was born, the song (and tradition of singing it in the car) was reborn. It holds good memories for me, both in my own childhood and my sister's. I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack This song holds a special meaning to me, because it's a song I strongly remember my mom enjoying (and relating to me). I don't know how exactly I know this, but I do. She mentioned it a lot and I remember her playing it a lot for me. Embarrassingly enough, it's one of the only songs I will cry to to this day. Wow, this list is harder than I thought it would be. Who knew it was so hard to remember songs that have played in your life? The Trooper - Iron Maiden Hoedown - Emerson, Lake and Palmer Both songs mentioned above played a significant part in my life for a bit, as they were competition songs. The Trooper was my go-to song for nunchucks for a long time, and Hoedown was the song my dad and I once did synchronized weapons to. You don't often find people who can synchronize nunchucks and make it look good, so I cherish that memory. As for now? I think that's where my soundtrack has left off. As I've gotten older, my soundtrack has blurred out into my music preferences, and I no longer truly hold songs close to me. I relate too much to lyrics to the point that honestly, my soundtrack would become long and the meaning the songs have to me would fade. So for now, this is my life's soundtrack... and this is how it will remain until I find a song with meaning, true meaning, to me once again. - Maddie
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Today I read a new book called ''Good Hunting Blue Sky''. Blue Sky was looking for meat. He saw a big fat turkey. He aimed his arrow at it, but it missed and off flew the turkey. He kept on walking. Then he saw a big deer. But his aim was off, and the arrow missed, and the deer ran away.
Blue Sky found animal tracks-they were very big. They belonged to a great big bear. Blue Sky scooted up a tree and when the bear left he climbed down and did not see any more animals. When he was going home he heard a crackling noise. It was getting closer, and closer then, a wild boar came out of the bushes. Blue Sky knew what to do- RUN! He jumped in the air and and when he came down he was on the boars back.The boar ran into the village. His Daddy shot the boar. Mama got the meat ready and cooked it. Daddy called all the villagers to eat and celebrate. When they were done eating, the chief made a man's name for Blue Sky. Form then on he was called Big hunter. Ashleigh Last night Maddie and I stopped by Cathedral of The Pines. There were some nice cloud formations out and we wanted to see if we could get any good pictures. While there, we decided to walk around, and I took some random pics of other beautiful things. Like I said, the other day, you don't have to go far to see beauty. It is all around you. So far, I have heard from one of you looking to do a guest post about the beauty in your area. To make life easy, you do not have to write your post in any particular format. Just send me ten to 15 pictures with a little description such as where the picture was taken what town and state you live in etc. If you want some personal information added, please send a short paragraph telling us about you, and you can even add a picture of yourself. I will then put it in the editor and post it giving you full credit. One rule, however. Don't send pictures from somewhere where you do not live. In other words, don't send me pictures of Mexico, if you do not live in Mexico (If you live in Mexico, that is fine). Instead, send me pictures from where you do live. Trust me, there is beauty everywhere... it just doesn't always take the same form. So gather them up and send them in! Your posts will be in addition to ours, not just taking the place of ours. So if you like our writing, rest assured you will still be seeing that as well! Now, without further ado. Here are some pictures from my walk around Cathedral of the Pines last night. Cathedral of the Pines is about three minutes from my house by car. When the clouds are overhead, it can make it seem dark. That is Mount Monadnock in the background. There are beautiful flower gardens at the Cathedral too. Here is a picture of Maddie sitting on a bench, and then snaps of some of the flowers we saw there. A couple more of the flowers we saw, and then a snap of a chipmunk that didn't seem to mind we were there. The last pic is a shot from the parking lot at Cathedral of the Pines. If you look out towards the road, you can see the mountain that we live on in the distance. You can get a better view of our mountain from Rt. 119, but I am always driving, so I can never get a good pic. I will pull along the side of the road one day and take a picture though. It never hurts to show off our nameless mountain. If you ever wondered why we call this blog Mountain Rants, now you know! One final thing before I go. I want to give a final shout out to my childhood friend Chuck Rogers who died yesterday. He was 50 years old, only three months older than me, in fact. Rest In Peace, Chuck. You'll be missed.
I really want to go somewhere. Do you know where I want to go? I want to go to a zoo but I also want to go to a Aquarium to see fish like seahorses, and dolphins. I want to see giraffes, zebras, and elephants at the zoo.
Ashleigh I like Monster Highs. My favorite Monster High is Laguna Blue, but everyone just calls her Laguna. She can go under water and she has fins Just like any Fish. She is just a toy But in Movies she has and dose all of these things.
Ashleigh Take some time and smell the roses. See what's around you. Soak it in... and make it a part of you. Nowadays, everyone seems to be somewhere where they are not. I live in a beautiful part of New Hampshire. People come here year round for vacation. During the summer, there are the lakes and hiking trails. Mount Monadnock is one of the most climbed mountains in the world. During the winter, there is ice fishing, snow mobiling, skiing and warm nights around a fire... well, maybe not too much at my house since I am kind of lazy about building the fire, but I digress. The locals walk around here saying that they want to move to Florida or almost anywhere else but here. I just don't understand it. The beauty around this part of New Hampshire is amazing! Every day when I go out, I smile while I drive. No traffic, beautiful views, wildlife, and friendly people. Who could ask for more! People, I have said it before and I'll say it again. If you are not happy with where you are living, then move. Just make sure you know why you are moving. If you are running away from personal problems. They will continue to find you, unless you deal with the problem Moving to a beautiful mountain setting did not stop my wife from drinking herself to death. We didn't move because we thought it would... but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You need to face your problems, not run away from them The pictures in this post are what I see when I look around my area. They are not in any special order. They are just pictures that make me happy to be living where I live What makes you happy? Think about it, and really know the answer to that question before you go moving. I did, and I believe I made the best move of my life. Possessions do not make me happy. Beauty and memories do. All of these pictures were taken within a few minutes of my house. There is beauty all around you, Not just in New Hampshire, but where you are too!. If any of you would like to do a guest post and show pictures of the beauty in your area, leave me a comment. I would love to share your scenic pictures of your area. It would be awesome if we could get pictures from a number of different states. The beauty is around you folks. All you need to do is take the time to become aware of it.
Good night, Wayne Dear ______,
While our friendship hasn't existed for that long, I feel like I've known you my whole life. You understand me in ways that literally no one else does and I'm so thankful for that. We can honestly discuss everything- from future jobs, dreams, and even politics and social issues. There aren't many people who I can talk openly with about that- and I'm glad you're one of them. We share most opinions and I'm pretty sure we've both added on to the opinions of the other as well. If by chance we don't share opinions (which is rare)... we don't yell at each other and we simply move on from it. You're one of the only people I can go to with my drama and issues and rant with for hours on end. I live for our "tea parties" and endless roasting of people. It's pretty cool that we dislike the same people- and that you know people who I don't. It's always good to have a heads up. All things aside, I find it amusing that we've only met a few times after 2 years of friendship. I guess it just goes to show that friendships can survive metaphorical distance and lack of seeing each other. However, the few times we have managed to hang out have been amazing and I'm happy to say that we click just as well in person as we do online. At this rate, there's nothing more to say. I'm so happy that I can call you my best friend and I would legitimately trust you with my life. Thank you for all the support and for making me laugh when I thought I was going to cry. - Maddie Honestly, there are probably millions of articles spread across the internet by now about best friends, their importance, and how "mine is better than yours". Let's just count this as my addition to that over-pile of posts, because honestly, my appreciation must be spilled forward. Now, I have 2 people who need to be appreciated- so I'm making this a two-part post. The second half will be readable tomorrow. Lets go.
Dear _____, You've known me for an incredibly long time now, more than half my life, actually... and that says a lot. You've been with me through my lowest lows and celebrated with me at my highest highs. You've supported me in shadow and walked proudly with me through the light and I can't thank you enough for your acceptance and loyalty over the course of these 8 years. You're always there to listen to me, no matter what the time, or the situation. I live for our late-night deep talks about life and our issues, and even more so for our crazy mid-day rants about things that others would find pointless. Your sense of humor is one-of-a-kind and unmatched, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. We may not constantly spend time together; but our hangouts are quite cherished when we do. You don't just KNOW all of my best stories, but you've lived them with me. Our wanderlust is great and honestly produces some of the best memories I have, and I'm so glad I can experience and share them with such an awesome person. You can make any time happier just by being there and your unique personality adds a lot of color to my somewhat boring way of life. At the end of the day... I'm glad that I can let my hair down and be my entire self around you. It's something I can't do with everyone, trust me. No amount of words could ever provide the amount of gratitude you deserve for all you do for me- but please just remember, I'm always here if you need me. No matter how insignificant something may seem, if it's bothering you, let me know. You can always rant to me. Thank you for everything. - Maddie These final 3 "things" are not quotes, but thoughts of my own that I am choosing to bring forth without inspiration. These are the final 3 things that I believe so many adults have forgotten.
I'm not even going to mark these off with numbers. I believe that too many adults have forgotten the sensation of being young. Too many have forgotten the days where grades didn't matter as much as time spent with friends, and the times where young love seemed to be filled with hope. Too many have forgotten the rush of late nights and the thrill of adventures never told to parents. Too many of you have entirely forgotten that time when you're young is extremely precious. You only have ONE chance to be young, one chance to make your own mistakes. You're only given one chance to create the stories you will someday tell your children. You've forgotten that not all kids are horrible examples. Some of us are very innocent. Just because some of us make poor decisions... it doesn't define the rest of us. We don't all want to throw late-night parties or sneak out to get drunk and stoned. We don't all want to waste our lives pointlessly. Sometimes, when we hang out, we just want to laugh and enjoy each other's company- not do illegal things. Sometimes, we just want to talk shit about that ONE annoying person that no one likes. Sometimes, just sometimes- we just want to be allowed to sit outside at 3 am and watch the stars while talking with our close friends. Right now, I want every adult to close their eyes and for just one moment, let go of every adult thing about them. Just try to remember what things were like when you were a teenager- without any adult biases. What were your dreams and goals then? What did you want more than anything? What did your parents never know? What memories did you make to tell your kids and more importantly, what lessons did you learn to pass on? Don't even tell me in the comments. Just think about it. - Maddie These are just going to be simply longer quotes, no expanding.
Things that the older generation may have forgotten since their youth- or maybe, never knew. They're interesting ways of looking at life. 4 - "Today in science, we learned that you can never gain cold. You can only have an absence of heat. It made me think that maybe hatred doesn't exist... maybe it's just the absence of love." 5 - "Sometimes people use "respect" to mean "treating someone like a person" and sometimes they use "respect" to mean "treating someone like an authority". And sometimes, people who are used to being treated like an authority say "if you don't respect me I won't respect you" and they mean "if you won't treat me like an authority, then I won't treat you like a person". And they think they're being fair, but they aren't... and it's not okay." 6 - "I know you’ve lost someone and it hurts. You may have lost them suddenly, unexpectedly. Or perhaps you began losing pieces of them until one day, there was nothing left. You may have known them all your life or you may have barely known them at all. Either way, it is irrelevant — you cannot control the depth of a wound another soul inflicts upon you. Which is why I am not here to tell you tomorrow is another day. That the sun will go on shining. Or there are plenty of fish in the sea. What I will tell you is this; it’s okay to be hurting as much as you are. What you are feeling is not only completely valid but necessary — because it makes you so much more human. And though I can’t promise it will get better any time soon, I can tell you that it will — eventually. For now, all you can do is take your time. Take all the time you need. " 7 - "I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art. " Title seem familiar? It should. I'm doing a follow-up/twist to my dad's blog post from earlier today; about things that the younger generation won't realize until they are older. I can't quite say I agree with his title- much of what he mentioned, I've already come to know. Then again, maybe it's just because I'm an old soul. Oh well. LET'S GET INTO SOME QUOTES!
I don't quite know yet if I'm going to elaborate on the quotes or just add them. I may just throw my two cents in on ones I feel the need to explain. At this rate, it's late at night and I'm ready to roll with whatever. 1 - "Just because my path is different, doesn't mean I'm lost." I feel like too often, adults press their children (and no, Dad, this is NOT aimed at you) to be copies of them. They expect them to look a certain way, act a certain way, and fit the norms of a culture that is not their own. So many parents I know restrict their children from making their own choices about things that really SHOULD be their choice- from the simplicity of appearance to the seriousness of religion. Most adults have forgotten that in their youth, they too probably wanted freedom to be themselves and to not conform to their parent's expectations. Each generation is different. And each generation has their own unique trends and personalities. Just because they aren't a carbon copy of what you were like growing up doesn't make them a heathen. 2 - "There is no need to have it all, just make the best of what you have." I also believe that adults dwell too much on the monetary aspect of life. I feel as though I've covered this in a separate blog post before; if you care to go find it, you can. What everything comes down to is that at some point, you were also a child or a teenager. You probably weren't concerned about what job you had or were going to have or what your future paycheck might be (unless you had the pushy, over-bearing and controlling parents; please see above). You probably just wanted to be carefree and happy and make the best of what you had- which was probably the minimal amount of money and good friends. What changed? What made you lose that... simplicity? I honestly hope I NEVER allow money to become more important to me than happiness. I'd easily settle for less as long as I could be happy doing what I did rather than make a large paycheck and be miserable. 3 - "The only way to have a friend, is to be one." Many adults don't have friends... at least, not close ones. From what I've seen, adulthood draws everyone apart and while that's understandable, it's also rather depressing. Just because you get a job doesn't mean you should let everyone you once cared about drift away. And while you shouldn't ever have to chase after a true friend; you shouldn't let them slip into the void, either. Sometimes, to maintain friendship, you have to be the first one to reach out. I think adults just assume everyone else is busy adulting and thus refuse to rekindle friendships. Well, this concludes part 1. Part 2 is going to be a collection of longer quotes; but without explanations. I've finally figured out how I want to do this. - Maddie Okay, I am in a funky mood tonight so I thought I would put up ten ideas that I think are true now that I am fifty, that I really didn't think too much about when I was younger. Some of them will be quotes that express an interesting idea, while others will just be stray thoughts by me. When I know who said a quote, I will attribute it to them so that you can read up on them a bit more if you want to.
I think these ideas and snippets can all stand on their own, so I am not going to elaborate on them. Think about them, and then let me know in the comments if you agree with my assessment. 1. "The years teach much, which the days never know." This is by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 2. "Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life." - Ben Franklin 3. "Happiness depends on ourselves.' Aristotle 4. "The things you thought were special when you were younger, will likely not be the things you think are special when you are fifty." Me! 5. "You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Albert Camus 6. "Do or do not. There is no "Try"" - Yoda - Yes I mean the puppet from Star Wars! 7. "Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid to not try." 8. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't know it well enough." Albert Einstein 9. "You are confined only by the walls you build yourself." 10. "Suffering is a choice. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Although this last one is not always true, I find that much of what causes me emotional pain really was a product of my decisions. Now with that said. These are things that I find are believable and interesting. For me, at this moment, they are true. Add some of your own truths in the comments. I really know nothing about my readers... other than my sister and my Mom. I do not know the age range of the people who read this blog, nor do I know where you are from. If you have a moment, add a pearl of your own wisdom. All I ask is that you also leave an age or an age range if you are uncomfortable leaving an exact age, and where you are writing from. It can be as vague as a state, or as pinpointed as a city or town. Please, no street addresses! Thanks. PS - The picture I used above really has nothing to do with this post. It is a picture of my daughter studying a painting at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. When I look at that picture, I always get the feeling that she was looking for answers... not so much in the painting, but in life. Hopefully, these quotes maybe help her find some answers she can live with. Today I read a new book called ''STOP THAT BALL!'' One day, a little boy was hitting his red ball with his bat. He hit it so hard it went over the fence and onto a sand truck. The truck started to go down the hill, and the boy chased after it. The truck came to a stop at a construction site. The truck emptied the sand, and the ball came out with it. Before the boy could get his ball it bounced away again! He had to chase his ball all over town! Finally, it came back to his house! Someone had put in back on the string and he was happy he could play again. He started to play and when he whacked his ball it flew over the fence again!
Ashleigh "Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds." The above is a short quote from William Wordsworth, who was a poet in the 19th century. I'm pretty sure most people already know where he was coming from with this quote, too- your thoughts are what make the greatest impact on your life, as they influence the choices you make and therefore the path your life will inevitably take. I'm sure most of you have heard the quote "every day you wake up and make a choice- to be positive or negative" or something along those lines, and honestly, it is quite true.
If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you should know that I'm an advocate of positivity and try to encourage people to live their lives as happily as they can. I'm one to always try and notice the little things in life; the silver lining in every dark cloud and the good in every situation; so on and so forth. I may seem a bit redundant, but it's only because I've seen the change that looking at things positively can have on lives- including my own. I've talked a few times now about my bout with depression about a year and a half ago; and how coming to terms with my past truly got me through it. I chose to take something incredibly shitty and use it to help myself and others in similar situations- I found my own silver lining (after about 4 years). In reality, if you were to ask ANYONE who knows me if I'm an optimist or a pessimist, they'd say neither. I'm a realist and I choose to see things exactly as they are- no more, and no less. And while you may wonder how someone can be a realist and yet so positive... it's because I choose to see life itself for what it is. It's something everyone goes through, one way or another. All of us LIVE. No matter the time. None of us know how much time we're given on earth, and I'd rather spend my time as well as I can. I've found that I don't achieve nearly as much when I'm upset or stressed out, and thus I am constantly in pursuit of things to make me happy. Because even though I may see things for what they are... it doesn't mean I zone in on negativity and ignore the good things. I can still look at a sunset and see its beauty; and I can still dance in thunderstorms while simultaneously accepting the fact that my generation is completely SCREWED. - Maddie "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." That's a quote by Albert Schweitzer. Albert won a Nobel Peace Price back in 1952. He was both a theologian and a philosopher, which kind of sounds like an interesting combination.
There are lots of ways to define success. In fact, I think if you ask ten people to define success, you are likely to get ten very vague but different answers. My idea of success when I was younger was much different than my idea of success right now. When I was younger, I figured if I had lots of money, a pretty wife a big house and time to party, then I would be extremely successful. Obviously, I wasn't thinking very deeply about things back then! That was when I was in my teens by the way. Going back even further, my definition of success was tied to how well I was doing playing sports and how big I could get my baseball card collection! Nowadays, it is easy for me to see that my ideas of success were flawed. They were flawed because I was not looking past the moment. All of those things, were things I wanted at that moment. Nowhere was there a thought about what was best for my future. Nowadays, I define success by how much time I get to spend with my daughters, and what I can teach them to make their lives easier in the future. Helping them to successfully complete their goals both in the present and for their futures gives me an immeasurable amount of happiness. It helps me to define a part of what I believe it means to be successful. It is not my only definition of success though. I also define success by how much ability I have to accomplish tings that I like to do. My ability to take karate classes two times a week and to help teach two other classes is a sign of my own personal success. My ability to take my daughters different places to allow them to grow and see new things is also a sign of my own success. Almost none of the things that define success to me has to do with material things. My car and my truck are both just tools to me. They get me from point A to point B. My house, is a sort of store of my wealth and a place where I can safely raise my family. The antiques and nice furniture that I own are more vestiges left over from my earlier life, A lot has happened to me over my fifty years on earth. My wife has died in my arms, my father and grandmother have both passed away, and I have both started and lost businesses and jobs. Through all of that, I can still look out my window and at times say that I am happy... and mean it! I think Albert had it right. Happiness is the key to success. If you want to be successful, then you first need to find a way to be happy. You can make millions each year and still feel that you are missing something. Look at Robin Williams or Kurt Cobain. Happiness doesn't come from where you live or what type of car you drive. It comes from inside.After many years, I think I can say that I am finally at peace with myself. And that, after my children, is likely the greatest feeling of success that I have ever felt. I like to play with my Daddy. Daddy and I play a lot. We play ball and some times go for ice-cream together. One time, on my 6th birthday, Daddy got me a game called Pie-In-The-Face. Daddy, and Maddie loved it, but I was afraid of it. I ran away from it, but my sister was pulling on my legs, and I was holding on to the stairs. Daddy and I play other games too. I like to play with Daddy.
Ashleigh first
fərst/Submit number 1. coming before all others in time or order; earliest; 1st. "his first wife" synonyms: earliest, initial, opening, introductory I was talking to my friend earlier today and (not too surprisingly) we wound up talking about relationships and love. Before I go one step further with this post; I'm going to ask you to not automatically rip into me for being 14 and talking about this. Age is a number and I try to live by the stanza that age doesn't define maturity. In any case, while we were talking she said something quite interesting that got me thinking. "Your first love isn't really who you first give your heart to, it's the first person who breaks it." I've never really thought of it that way, you know? I think it's simply because first is classed as- well, you can read the definition. Coming before all others in time or order. I guess you just assume that your first crush is your first "love", since love really isn't something to be defined until you meet the one you TRULY love. But I suppose that your first heartbreak would be a good way to class that. Now, despite the fact that love is something hard to pin down- I wanted to talk today about something that IS. While love may be hard to put in a timeline fashion, kisses are not. And while some people may think this is really freakin' stupid, I don't. I honestly don't think your first kiss should be considered your first kiss, you know? I mean yes- in the timeline sense, the first person who kisses you is technically your first kiss but for sentimental purposes, I think your first kiss is the first kiss that is genuine. And by that, I mean the first kiss that isn't completely awkward, forced, and un-enjoyable (as most first kisses tend to be, according to many of my friends and my own experience). By genuine I mean that it should come naturally and should be shared lovingly with someone you actually care about- not grudgingly done with a friend in the back of a crowded car. As of now, I've had my first kiss in both senses- and neither of them have any idea that I have this philosophy OR even who they are. But I know. And at this rate, that's all that matters. - Maddie One night I saw a star and made a wish. My wish was to see a unicorn with wings. Suddenly, a unicorn with wings came out of the sky. The unicorn landed in our yard. I ran outside and got on its back. I held on tight as she flew through the the air. We flew way up into space and I could see Mars, and Jupiter. They were very big. It was cool to see them up close. I saw many big stars too. This is my story about when I wished upon a star.
Ashleigh "Show me your friends and I will show you who you are.” This seems to be a bastardization of the proverb "Show me your friends and I will show you your future." Either way, the quote hits home.
Friends really do tell a lot about a person. When I was younger, I hung around with a tight-knit group of five guys. We all liked to drink and party. While we all seemed to like each other's company, there always seemed to be some dissension among the group. I have told the story of the troublemaker a couple of times now on this blog, and that is not what this post is about. What it is about is that at that time in my life, I was hanging out with a number of guys who liked to drink heavily, and at that time in my life I was an alcoholic. In fact, I think three of us could have been defined as alcoholics at that time, and the other two were trying hard to catch up. As the quote says, show me your friends... Later on in life, I was hanging out with another group of friends. These guys also drank heavily, and I might describe them as functional alcoholics. They were functional in that they were all holding down high-paying jobs, yet partying hard at the bars two to three nights a week anyway. At this point, I too, was a functional alcoholic. I was making a lot of cash, but I was drinking like a fish... just like them. The funny thing is, as time went on, nearly all of us (from both groups) stopped our heavy drinking. None of us hang out together on a daily basis anymore either. We are spread out from Buffalo, to New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York, all the way down to North Carolina and Florida. Many of us still talk every once in a while. Hell, some of us even get together every once in a while to go fishing together and catch up with what is going on in each other's lives. Even so, while we are friends, we don't hang out with each other on a daily basis anymore. The people I hang out with now on a weekly basis are much different than the people I grew up with. Most of them are black belts, or are working their way towards a black belt. Many of them, similar to me, do not drink at all. None of us went to the same schools growing up. None of us work the same type of job, and yet our belts and the training we undergo together or the training some of our family members may be undergoing with us tie us together. No one is getting high. No one is behaving badly because we have had too much to drink. After 22 years of heavy drinking, I have spent the last seventeen years without a drink. My wife had a lot to do with that. My wife was an alcoholic, and I gave up drinking to help her to get sober. She asked me to help her, oh so many years ago. She could never give it up, though, and she drank herself to death three years and one week ago. Sharon was my best friend... yet I could not help her. Although we divorced, I continued to try and help her until the day she died. So who am I? I am still friends with my heavy-drinking friends from my past who have (for the most part) stopped partying and drinking. We don't hang out regularly anymore, but I know which of them I can trust when the chips are down. At the same time, I spent most of my days from 1999 through 2010 with my wife on a daily basis. She continued to sneak alcohol on a steady basis for the eleven years we lived together. At the same time, I never touched a drop. Now, I socialize with a number of people who don't really party or get blasted. So who am I? To me, In front of all else, I am a father. At the same time, I am an alcoholic who has gotten sober. I hope to remain sober for the rest of my life. I am a black belt... and I am really proud of that. I believe in peace over power, and I try to live my faith. On a daily basis, I hang out with my daughters and my Mom. I speak with my sister nearly every day. I am now, for the most part, a recluse. I go out twice weekly to train at the dojo, and I try to go hiking or do something interesting with my girls as much as possible. Other than that, I have no clue who I am any more. In the past, I identified myself as a basketball player, a football player, a student, a partyer, an analyst, a husband and a father. I will always remain a father... and right now, I am a stock analyst. The sad part is that I no longer identify myself with my profession. A lot of the passion for that business has left me now. So who am I? I know who I think I am. I just have no clue who others think I am. And if they told me, I don't even know if I would be able to recognize myself in their words. Below is one more quote from the book of Proverbs. "Homes are built on the foundation of wisdom and understanding. Where there is knowledge, the rooms are furnished with valuable, beautiful things." In the end, maybe I am a builder. And I hope I am setting a strong foundation for my daughters. Last night Maddie and I went to the Disturbed/Breaking Benjamin/Alter Bridge concert at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire. We had a great time! We left in the early afternoon so that we wouldn't have to rush during the 2-plus hour trip to get there. After reaching our seats, we got a pleasant surprise. At first, we were a little disappointed with our seats since they did not match up with the seating chart that we used to buy them. They were further back than we anticipated. The map we used did not have a mosh pit, so all of the seats looked like they were one section closer than they really were. We decided to make the best of it and sat down at our seats about thirty minutes before the show was to begin. No one had sat in our row yet and there were only a few others sitting in the section around us. We just chatted for a bit, and watched people walk up the aisle and look for their seats. It was at this point that a man walked up to us and asked if we wanted better seats. He said two of his friends couldn't make the show and so he was just giving the tickets away. He said that the seats were better than what we had and that we could just have them. He gave me the tickets, and then walked away, he didn't wait to see if I would offer him any cash or anything. Well, Maddie and I took the tickets and started walking forward. At that point I hadn't really looked to see where the tickets were located... I figured I would just ask the usher. When we got to the usher, he looked up really excited and said, wow, you got great seats, these are the second row! I was stunned. We walked up to the second row, and the guy who gave us the tickets was there sitting in the seats he had given us. He looked up and said, "oh" I'm sorry, I gave you the wrong ones." Here are yours, and he handed me two other tickets. They were front row tickets! I said "these are for the front row, are you sure you don't want them? He looked at his friend and said "No, you guys take them and enjoy them!" And so we did! The tickets he gave us were the first row of seats above the mosh pit. (where people have standing room only). We were elevated a bit so that we could sit and our view was in line with the stage and we were above everyone's heads who were standing in the mosh pit. I just want to give a shout out to the generous man who literally made our night about one hundred times better than it was already setting up to be! Maddie has twice said that this was the best concert she had ever been to. The man seemed very happy that he had made us happy. After settling into our seats, I walked back to the man and offered to give him some cash for the tickets. He just smiled and said, "no, just enjoy your night. No money necessary." In the future, I hope that I can pay this act of generosity forward and give someone else a seat upgrade. I will likely never have front row tickets to give to someone, but I am sure I will have good seats, that will provide an upgrade for someone at some point. Alter BridgeThe opening band for the concert was Alter Bridge, a group I didn't know, but should have! Alter Bridge is made up of the three original members of Creed (two guitarists and the drummer) and Miles Kennedy as the lead singer. I love Creed, and was unaware that they had broken up, since they still tour on occasion. Alter Bridge has a harder, edgier sound than Creed, and Miles Kennedy definitely brings a lot of energy to the vocals (that's him in the red T-shirt). His voice actually reminds me of a young Bruce Dickinson, the leader singer for Iron Maiden. Needless to say, Alter Bridge really rocked, and I am really into the band. In fact, I am listening to them while I write this post. If you like heavy metal... or you like Creed, then you really need to go see this band! Moreover, for those of you who don't know, Miles Kennedy often works as the lead singer for Slash's group Slash.and the Conspirators. Breaking BenjaminAlthough better known than Alter Bridge, I did not think Breaking Benjamin did as good a set as the opening band! There were a couple of problems. To start, for the first couple of songs, you could barely hear the lead singer. The mike didn't seem to be working properly and the music overwhelmed the vocals. The second problem is that when you hear a number of their songs in succession, it becomes painfully obvious that they use the same beat and similar guitar riffs in nearly all of their songs! While what they played was okay, it seemed like they were a band that had gone stale. In fact, about halfway through their set, they did a cover of an old Nirvana song. While they did a good job with it, they did nothing to make the song their own. It was almost like they were trying to play it exactly like Nirvana played it, with no changes to make it unique. A very far cry from what Disturbed has done with Sound of Silence! DisturbedWhen Disturbed hit the stage, they brought down the house! These guys have been playing together for twenty years, and it shows. They play their songs with fervor, and really seem to enjoy what they are doing. The show we went to was their twentieth anniversary show to the day! They celebrated by playing the first song they ever recorded together. It ended up being the only song I didn't know out of all of the songs they played! Down With The Sickness, Sound of Silence, and Indestructible, were my three favorites from the set. When Disturbed did their version of Sound of Silence, they truly showed the difference between playing a cover and truly making the song their own. While the words remained the same, and the tempo was similar, that was about it, Lead singer David Draiman has such a powerful voice that he makes the original version sound as if it is being sung by two school girls. Don't get me wrong, I still like the original version too, it's just that side by side the meaning of the songs seems to get altered. And that is what doing a cover is all about. Taking something that is well known, and making it your own. Disturbed was successful with its cover, while Breaking Benjamin was not. All said, I believe the total show was well worth the money, and that if you are into heavy metal, then you will definitely enjoy seeing Disturbed and Alter Bridge. Breaking Benjamin... not so much unless they really begin to pick up their pace. The next show for us is Rob Zombie and Korn at the end of the month. In This Moment will be the opening act. I hope they can pick up their pace as well. They have good music and should be a great show, but the lead singer spends so much time on changing outfits that it throws off the tempo of the set. I was disappointed with them last time... I am hoping they fix it this time through.
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