2015
I LOVED the Force Awakens - Here’s Why:
12/29/2015 12:47 AM Filed in: Blog
Let me first say that this has MAJOR spoilers ahead so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t read this.
32 Years. That’s how long I’ve waited to see what happened to Luke Skywalker. I was eight years old when I saw Return of the Jedi in the theater and I’ll never forget it. I was blown away by the movie and the Star Wars Universe as a whole. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recited lines that weren’t on script or how many times I’ve acted out roles that were “just out of camera range” while running around the yard with a Rayovac “lightsaber” hilt fighting off stormtroopers and Darth Vader.
I can tell you this - it made my childhood awesome.
As my dad once said: “Star Wars for you is like Westerns were for my generation”. He was right. Instead of pistols and horses, I traded up for lightsabers and X-Wings.
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Apple Customer Support Rocks
11/26/2015 12:33 PM Filed in: Blog
About two months after I got my Beats Wireless headphones, the vinyl started to peel away from the ear cups. Last night while I was on Facebook, I saw an ad for beats. I noticed that you could comment in the comments section - so I did. I then went through a quick customer service process with them to get my beats replaced.
Apple Customer support then sent me an e-mail asking to rank my recent social media experience with them.
The following is my reply to Apple:
You guys nailed this.
In no way did I expect you to respond to my issue on social media. An ad for "Beats by Dre" was in my newsfeed and people were posting comments like "You done it, Dre." and "Fo Rizzle, Dre. Beats Da Bomb" and the like.... Since it was basically an ad, I didn't think that this was the arena where I would actually receive help in my time of need. Read More...
The Day I Fell in Love with Star Wars
11/15/2015 01:17 PM Filed in: Blog
Okay…. I don't know the DATE - but I do know the DAY.
I was six years old. My big brother's friend David came to our house to pick up my brother for a jam session or something (they were both budding musicians) and took us back to his house because I'm assuming that's where the drums were… Evidently I was along for the ride this time. When we got there, I met Michael - David's younger brother. He was closer to my age and wanted to show me some "cool stuff" in his room.
Michael showed me his room and I remember seeing the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. A magical 3.75" piece of white and black molded plastic that burned an impression in my mind that I remember to this day.
He called it a "Stormtrooper". I had never heard that word before but it didn't matter.
I knew that I'd never forget it. Read More...
Why I'm a fan of Cobra
10/10/2015 08:54 AM Filed in: Blog
I read this quote from Mr. Rogers and I immediately thought…That's the truth.
I managed to negotiate a peace treaty between GIJoe and Cobra when I was 12. It was a lengthy treaty that involved Cobra canceling their System Neutralizer Armed “Kloaking” Equipment (S.N.A.K.E.) program and GIJoe would agree to remove the USS FLAGG from the Baltic Sea, offering more power to their alliance with Finland and a troop regiment along the continental shelf boundary with Sweden.
It was my first attempt at international negotiations.
Cobra was operating out of a temporary base in St. Petersburg. As distrust began to build between Cobra and GIJoes, Cobra managed to employ the former Autobot, Blaster, as a mercenary to help find the location of the Flagg’s planned maneuvers. Blaster had undergone severe depression after the death of Optimus Prime in August of that year and refused to follow the Autobots under the leadership of Rodimus. He felt like Ultra Magnus was the rightful future leader of the Autobots so he left them with the understanding that he would now only fight for what he “believed in”. Read More...
Goodbye 1409 Jordan Drive
02/19/2015 11:42 PM
Tonight is our last night at 1409 Jordan Drive. We built this house and we moved in almost 10 years to the day.
We sold the house on Christmas Eve. I haven’t really written about it (on social media) because we didn’t want to make too big of a deal out of it. It’s a little surreal. It’s the last night in the first house we built.
So as I walk through the house and start to stare at the bare walls and empty closets, it still hasn’t all sunk in yet. The movers come tomorrow and I imagine that after I start seeing mom’s buffet out of our kitchen or our bed out of our bedroom make it’s way into the storage warehouse, I’ll begin to process what’s going on. As it stands right now, Sebastian is snuggled in Packer’s bed and Packer is sleeping at my feet on the ottoman. It feels like business as usual. I can tell that they know that something’s up.
It’s 11:50PM and it’s about 26 degrees outside. We moved in on a cold winter day - we’re moving out on a cold winter day. Read More...
Goodbye, Christmas...
01/11/2015 10:51 PM
I hate to see Christmas go. I really do. It’s the saddest thing for me to see people taking down their trees (especially when it’s the day after Christmas - or GOD FORBID CHRISTMAS DAY!). It’s always been my favorite time of year and it’s always held so many warm memories for me that I just can’t bear to see it go.
Every year I read A Christmas Carol and this year was no different. I read it rather quickly this year (it’s a short read, anyway) and still had a few days left before Christmas. I knew Charles Dickens had written several other Christmas stories but I never read any of his other works. So I started reading another one of his short Christmas works called “The Christmas Tree”. It’s short but dear God - a tough read. I don’t know why, but I really have no idea what’s going on. Maybe it’s because I haven’t finished it. Maybe it’s because I’m really tired when I start to read it. If you’re interested, you can download it all free and legal at iTunes as an iBook. If you get just as confused as I do reading it, let me know.... Read More...
Happy New Year
01/01/2015 01:19 PM
This year has been an interesting year for me. Extremely busy. Extremely. Busy. I realize that I didn’t blog at all in 2014. Sure, I posted on Facebook like everybody else, but I didn’t keep my journal. It simply boiled down to the fact that I’ve been managing Pladd Dot by myself, running all aspects of CMG, Devilcat, Bouncin’ Betty, and Frog Dog, teaching my normal load of 25 students a week, performing well over 100 shows this year, and even driving one of our band routes. Read More...