Advice…..a buck four ninety per pound.

Over the years of coming up, growing up, determining what I wanted to do in life, I have looked around and tried to be somewhat like the best part of people whom I see. You know, that part of people whom help others in some way, that part that makes you think, “I wish I were like that.” The truth is that I love to help others. Today that isn’t as acceptable as it used to be. Now people won’t accept help unless they are offered a price to pay or the government gives it to them somehow. Help from an average person without cost or ‘strings’ attached? No thanks. They tell you to stay out of their business.

What do you want to come back as?

I don’t know about what you or anyone else believes, but I believe it’s over when it’s over. I’ll go where I go, others will be glad I’m gone, others will miss me, but it’s over when it’s over from this chair. I suppose those who ask such a question are rather dissatisfied with what they are or what has gotten them to the stool next to me while they ask me, “What do you want to come back as?” I’m not sure.

Before it is too late.

Listen to me. If you have issues with your family that you can’t seem to resolve, let them go. They are in the past. If you can’t make peace, then you may have held on to the battlements for too long and there in no way back over them to your camp. You are stuck where you don’t want to be and the only resolution will be that someone passes on. That is no way to see a resolution. That is a game that was lost by both parties. Don’t let that happen. Smile and wave, move on, but don’t walk away.

Doubts? I haz them.

Do you ever ‘hate’ something? “I hate it when that happens?” Does that denote ‘unconditional love?’ I don’t think so. Of course, anyone could say ‘Lighten Up.’ Absolutely, ‘lighten up.’
But the question still remains, “Do you express unconditional love?”

It’s no big deal. Keep ‘em.

I’m one of those people current gun owners are afraid of and consider an obstacle to the process. I can live with that. Honestly, I can. I sleep well not being pre-occupied with the second amendment and it’s implications.

Who really loses in the end?

If you have a friend, and you consider that friend a good enough friend that you follow what they do and hope to do things with them, don’t pressure them. If they are your friend, you don’t need to question that friendship. You just need to be a friend. If you are my friend, do what you like to do. Don’t worry about what I think of what you do. Hell, I’m your friend.

Forgiveness. Use sparingly.

Forgiving is a state of mind, apology is a conversation.
Which do you think is more powerful?
According to the people who has answered me on this, apologies seem to make you look weak or take your ‘power’ away. I disagree. I think it makes one look very strong. Very trustworthy.

Just the facts.

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Regardless of how much I want to get a resolution to this, I have to refuse to go further with this cause. Some questions don’t get answered, some questions don’t need to be answered. Some questions never are heard. Either way, it is no longer important to me.

Forgetting what holds one back.

When we lose a friend or a loved one, family or not, we most often dedicate a bit of our life to making sure we never forget that person, or in some cases, that thing. This is commendable, although, not always an honorable thing to do. At least I feel that way.

Just listen. Please, just listen.

Please don’t force those who have issues you do not understand. You will seem like a bully.

Working on your own. The best way to go.

I have been a drummer my entire life. I was born with the talent. What ever you end up doing involving the arts, I figure, you’re born with. Musician, artist, actor, actress, etc. Given, I had to develop it, but it came ‘naturally.’ I never have had to try to play music.

Auditions. Always use your own gear. Always.

In my life, I have played many auditions where I didn’t get the gig because I couldn’t adjust the throne to make the kit accessible. Many where the bass pedal was on its last audition. Kits that had heads on them and the screws that go into the lugs holding the heads had bottomed out in the lugs and the skins were still too loose. Cymbals that were cracked and had small holes drilled in the end of the crack to keep them from spreading.

“Good Times, Bad Times.” Nothing else to ask for.

My interest in music has always been a bit weird. I’m not fond of noisy music, but extremely fusion oriented music catches my attention. Emerson, Lake and Palmer, John McLaughlin, two artists that immediately come to my mind. Weird stuff like Aorta, King Crimson, Vanilla Fudge also were in the mix. I have never been fond of ‘girlfriend’ songs. I just don’t see a reason to whine about a failed relationship in a tune one writes. Maybe years down the road after you’ve become “The Next Big Thing,” but in the beginning, it seems to me, addressing issues that many identify with aside from their personal and private life and activities is the wise move.

Finally, it’s all over.

This is my final entry concerning family issues. This is the end of my whining, it is also the last of my baggage. It has taken a full year and 12 days to sort this out. There’s just no more.

How do you react? What do you do?

Do you hope to be beneficial to someone? Do you intend to be the best you can be? Do you want to be a better spouse, parent, aunt, uncle, any family member?

What do you want? You, yes you.

Well, what do you want?
What…do…you…want?

Goodbye Old Friend.

Well, 2012 has passed on. (Insert your favorite “End Of Year” cliché here.) According to the Chinese calendar, from February 7, 2012 to February 9, 2013, we are celebrating the year of the Dragon. Maybe that’s why last summer in the US was so scorching hot. Who knows? Oh, the weather guys do. We’ve made …

Now for something different. Internet romance.

This is one of those “Seriously?” subjects. “Internet Romance? Do those really lead to successful marriages?” Even though this is a somewhat leading question, it really is valid.

Breaking lifelong cycles that lead to failure. My eponymous entry.

Don’t accept what others have set up for you, or follow what you “feel is right,” without questioning everything. If people you look up to are failures in some part of their lives, following their lead will give you the results they accepted. Do better. Think for yourself. Realize what is right and leave the failing recipe behind. Do not allow destructive people or patterns to be a part of your life, regardless of your feelings. Ever.

I’m glad you found the answer.

“Traditional wedding vows contain the phrase, “forsaking all others”. The phrase may be omitted from more contemporary vows, but that does not give us a free pass from adhering to the successful design for marriage. Failure to forsake all others has destroyed untold marriages and has crippled countless others.”

I respect everyone and their points of view, but that doesn’t mean their store has what I want to buy.

Respect for others must precede you in all endeavors if you intend to make any changes for yourself, your friends, your family, and most importantly, for those you do not know or have never met.

“Kids are like that. Leave ‘em alone.” So are adults.

If your child is being bullied and you think your child is just weak, you are bullying with your thoughts by not acting. If you are complacent to a victim of bullying, you are a bully.

My Musical Virus.

I think I was barely four years old when I discovered a machine. I could put thin black discs with a hole in the center on a platform that spun. You could touch it and interrupt its function. There was a black arm, with a small sharp pin at the end, that could reach the black disc. There was a switch that you could push which started everything moving. Move the black arm to the black disc and set it down. A wondrous and beautiful sound came from this thing.

Hitting The Streets. Part 1.

This account of my life is in no way intended to insult, berate or denigrate anyone at all. It is an attempt by me to tell a story, to possibly resolve issues in my own life and lend a bit of inspiration to others who may have similar issues in their lives, to find solutions …

Hitting The Streets. Part 2.

This account of my life is in no way intended to insult, berate or denigrate anyone at all. It is an attempt by me to tell a story, to possibly resolve issues in my own life and lend a bit of inspiration to others who may have similar issues in their lives, to find solutions …

Hitting The Streets. Part 3.

This account of my life is in no way intended to insult, berate or denigrate anyone at all. It is an attempt by me to tell a story, to possibly resolve issues in my own life and lend a bit of inspiration to others who may have similar issues in their lives, to find solutions …

Hitting The Streets. Part 4. 2,615 miles worth of streets.

This account of my life is in no way intended to insult, berate or denigrate anyone at all. It is an attempt by me to tell a story, to possibly resolve issues in my own life and lend a bit of inspiration to others who may have similar issues in their lives, to find solutions …

Finding The Ladder.

First of all, this story is not intended to denigrate or berate anyone, least of all, any of my family members. It is also not intended to elicit any sympathy for what I have been through. It is a way for me to ‘put on paper’ an intention to understand the mechanisms in my life …

Think first, speak second.

Think about what you intend to say, while you have the opportunity. Once those words leave your mouth, the vote is cast.

The Little Boy Who Could

A lot of things have happened through my life that will never see the surface of a piece of paper, never be seen on a monitor and certainly will never fall on another person’s ear. Things that are in no way constructive to anyone in any way. I will never reveal those events. Things that I will carry to the grave. Many things that were painful to endure and many that just do not need to be told. Some of the people who were involved in those activities no longer walk this earth, some do. Concerning the content of this story’s actors and participants, their names will not be revealed.

Letter to Margie.

Original post date October 18, 2010 at classmates.com. Repost date August 16, 2012. Margie, Over the past fifteen or so years, I have taken it on myself to locate and make amends with or to re-establish friendships with people I no longer see or visit. You are on that list. Many I have contacted stay …