I saw this comment recently in a drum forum I frequent, and it really struck a chord with me…
<QUOTE>The best definition of anxiety I ever heard was, “Anxiety is starting rumors about yourself in your own head, and believing them.” Don’t listen to that lying asshole who lives in your skull. He’s a dick. He’s always trying to ruin your fun and deprive you of anything good with his bullshit. I’ve got one of those living in my own skull myself. What an asshole.<END QUOTE>
I’ve most certainly had my run-ins with anxiety over the years. Sometimes it was near debilitating. Sometimes it’s just enough to make you act like a jerk towards people that don’t deserve it, or make stupid, rash decisions that make matters worse, sooner or later.
I have yet to find a circumstance in which anxiety produced positive results.
What’s worse, just as the commenter suggests, it’s all in YOUR head. We do it to ourselves.
Clearly, I don’t have any answers to combat this as it’s a condition I’m all too familiar with, but the next time it flares up I’m going to do my best to remember this sage (if off-colour) advice. I suggest you do the same, should you find yourself in a state of anxiety. It just might work!
It’s been a weird week… We got back from our road trip late Thursday night, then it was back to the office Friday, which was a whirlwind of activity and turned into a 10+ hour day. Saturday was spent unpacking and fun stuff like laundry…then back to work Sunday for another full day…
And now it’s Monday and again and I’m smack dab in the middle of the real world. Drats.
BUT! I did manage to drag my lazy butt to the gym this morning before work though, so at least I’ve got that goin’ for me. Now if I can just keep it up for the rest of the week!
And I’ve got plans to meet up with one of my oldest, nearest and dearest friends tonight to catch up, so here’s to hoping Monday is painless and quick!
Take care of yourselves out there, and do your best to have a great week! Find something to be grateful for!
Today we ventured further north to Gold Beach, Oregon. The town is small and not unlike many other sea-side towns, but we’ve been enjoying it very much.
The view from our room.
After checking in to our spot for the night, we actually took to the road again, driving up as far as Port Orford, OR, just for the heck of it, to see what’s what.
Today is out actual anniversary – 31 years ago today, we tied the knot – so today is the day we spoil ourselves. Very swanky accommodations, unbelievable high end dinner (so good, words fail me) and just cruisin’ around enjoying each other. There are much worse ways to spend the day, let me tell you!
Tomorrow we’ll goof off a bit, then we’ve got a long haul ahead of us to get home. Sadly, both of us have to work in the morning (and I, this weekend also).
Oregon has been delightful, it most certainly won’t be another 40 years before we return!
This is a trip looooooong overdue! I haven’t been to Oregon in roughly 4 decades, but it’s a place that I’ve held a strong fondness for since the last time I was here. The Mrs. had NEVER been to Oregon, but finally we’ve made it, and it couldn’t be more breathtaking!
Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
We’re staying at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast, right on he water, for a couple days, then heading slightly further North tomorrow.
So far, it’s pretty much been perfect. The weather, the beach, the inn…honestly couldn’t be more content right now.
The waves have not been conducive to surfing, but I don’t mind in the least. It’s been a minute since I’ve been this relaxed, and I’m just gonna soak it in!
This week the Mrs. and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary, and we decided to go somewhere we’ve never been just for the adventure of it. Our first stop, Trinidad, California is roughly 6 hrs north of home, so not too bad of a haul to get there.
We got a late start, and it was well past sundown when we arrived, so we didn’t get to see much of anything upon arrival. However, we were greeted by an astounding chorus of sea lions hooting and hollering from the shores below.
As it turns out, that was kinda the highlight of our stay.
Foggy but gorgeous here.
The area is stunning and if we had time to dilly-dally, there were several places worth exploring but this was just a layover…
Tonight was our second time catching Lyric Born’s live show, but our first venture into Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz.
Opening act was Mak Nova, a female rapper from Santa Cruz whom we’d never heard of. I listened to a few of her songs beforehand and wasn’t terribly excited for the set, but luckily she had an outstanding band that gave up an excellent performance. Mak’s performance was ok…nothing really grabbed me. To be honest, she seemed too well ‘rehearsed’, as in every move seemed calculated and not exactly genuine. But like I said, her band killed it – I especially liked her bassist – so overall I’d say it was a decent set, but I wouldn’t go out-of my way to see her again.
Anticipation was high for LB, his last show was spectacular and we were hoping for a repeat of the awesomeness. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
His band was scaled way back from the last time we saw him – just drums, bass and guitar – and while his band is stellar, it just wasn’t nearly as fantastic as the last time around.
Don’t get me wrong, he was still good. Just not great.
Nonetheless, it was a fun night and a chance to see some musicians at the top of their game, which is always a good time! Beats a night of Netflix, hands down!
Alllrighty then, it’s been a while since the last update, but we managed to get out Thursday night for some great laughs in San Jose.
Anthony Jeselnik has been doing comedy for 20 years now, but he’s not exactly a household name. I myself just heard about him in the last couple years, in fact. But he SHOULD be wildly famous for his act. The man is hysterically funny! That is, if you like “dark” humor. And we (my family) absolutely do!
His opening acts were forgetful, so much in fact I can’t recall their names. The show opener did have one funny bit about her day job as a teacher for inmates in a correctional facility, but other than that it was m’eh. The featured comic up next was another lady whose name I forget, and her act just kinda fell flat. One punchline elicited a smile from me, but honestly I don’t think I laughed once during her set. It was a heavy dose of ‘cringe’ as the kids say…
After the dull second act, I was really anxious for some laughs, and boy did Jeselnik deliver! I was laughing so hard at times it was hard to catch my breath!
His writing is really clever and his punchlines are so unexpected, it’s really something to behold. Like I said, his comedy is dark, ‘gallows humor’, and is most definitely NOT for everyone. Avoid him if you’re easily offended, or you think comedians should censor themselves and maintain political correctness. If you think political correctness and comedy is a match made in the deepest pits of hell, then Anthony Jeselnik may be the comedian for you!
In all, it was a super fun night, great to get out with the Mrs. and our daughter and her bf. Lots of laughs all around!
Jeselnik is on tour right now, if you have the opportunity I HIGHLY RECOMMEND his show!
Roughly 15 years ago I became involved with my local C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Team) and while I considered myself to be living the Boy Scout’s motto “Be Prepared”, after going through the training for C.E.R.T. and working with our local LEOs and EMS/FD, I recognized that while I was better prepared than most, I was not even close to where I needed to be.
This lead me down a very long, twisted, sometimes horrifying rabbit hole in the world of preparedness, survivalism, resource depletion, world events and politics.
In the course of study, I ran across a website by the name of “BisonPrepper” and was immediately intrigued. This guy was unlike EVERYBODY in the “preparedness space” on the web. He was living proof that “conventional wisdom” could be thrown right out the window, and survival could still be possible on next to nothing financially. All you had to do was unlearn everything we’ve been taught was ‘necessary’ and learn to embrace frugality. How was he living proof? He was doing it, living off grid on ‘junk land’ in the wilds of NE Nevada, living without an automobile, without plumbing, without ‘utilities’, basically living without most modern conveniences that the majority of people in “first world” countries deem essential to life. Like refrigeration, for example.
I followed his blog for years and would comment frequently, and James and I would exchange emails occasionally on things that were too big to discuss in a comments section. I bought (almost) all of his books, and while I didn’t agree with him 100%, I enjoyed his point of view and his out of the box thinking enough that I kept coming back for more, year after year. And besides, he was funny as all get out (unless you’re easily offended, that is).
Fast forward to June 2020 and Lord Bison (as he was affectionately called by his loyal minions) announced he was going really off grid, discontinuing his blog and moving to a monthly subscription newsletter via snail mail, so naturally I signed up.
It was at this point Lord Bison and I became friends. We used to correspond frequently via the Post Office, and I’d send small gifts and holiday greetings and what not, anxiously awaiting every new monthly installment. Then suddenly it stopped.
I’ve sent a few letters, sent a few emails and all have gone unanswered. I tried the phone number I had for him and got the old “this number has been disconnected” recording. His last newsletter was in May of this year, or maybe it was April, with a May electronic update (he started doing one post a month after a year or so of Mail only, but I digress) and not a peep since then. Not even a comment on my blog here, which were frequent before his disappearance.
Have you seen this man?
It’s a weird feeling, not knowing what in the world happened to someone that you “talked” to almost daily for a dozen years or so. It’s unsettling to say the least. It’s difficult to wrap my head around how someone important to you can suddenly be gone without a trace…
Jim, you magnificent bastard, if you’re still out there, know that your presence (and your majestic hair!) is missed. Sido mentioned your disappearance a while back, and a few of us chimed in (including Wilder) in concurrence that none of us had heard from you, which is worrisome.
My hope is that you’ve ‘gone to ground’ out in the BiPOD you told us all about, but it gets harder every day to convince myself of that. My pessimism, so finely honed under your tutelage, keeps telling me otherwise. Six months is a long time for someone with as much to say as you do, to keep quiet.
If you’re reading this, let me say ThankYou once again for everything you did for me and the greater collection of Minions. Living through these crazy times we find ourselves in is going to be a bit less frightful thanks to you and your life’s work. I agree with the notion that nobody is ever “fully prepared”, but I can say with 100% certainty that I’m miles beyond where I was when I found you, and my fear of the unknown has DEcreased by 90%, at least. And that is because of you.
Whether we meet again in this life or the next, your next jelly-filled donut is on me Buddy!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, my musical inclination runs more toward ‘alternative’ music, but long before that label was tacked on, we were just called ‘punks’, and if you were part of that clique, listening to the music of the “Top 40” was heresy, much less heavy metal.
That being the case, 80’s metal was sort of my ‘dirty little secret’… I certainly was not a metal head or ‘headbanger’, but I can’t deny a good song, regardless of the genre.
In all honesty, in the case of most metal bands, I like A song of theirs. There are a couple bands that had a few songs that grabbed me. If I had to name one metal band from the era that I actually liked, without question I’d say RATT, was the one. For me, Warren DiMartini was the best lead guitarist in the genre and drummer Bobbi Blotzer was top of the pack too.
Likewise, there were a TON of bands from that era that were simply horrible. Just gawd-awful, cheap imitators, trying to make the record labels some money. And don’t even get me started on “Power Ballads”!!!
Anyhow, here are a few from back in the day that I still get a kick out of. Let your hair down, crank up the speakers to ’11’ and let ‘er rip!
Johnette Napolitano was born this day in 1957, but it wasn’t until 1986 I found out about her, through her band Concrete Blonde. Since then, she’s left an indelible mark on my musical soul.
Concrete Blonde, circa ’86. Nothing like these guys, truly original!
I was lucky enough to see Concrete Blonde live on 3 different occasions, and Johnette was simply amazing. There is an honesty, a vulnerability that comes from her songwriting that is just mesmerizing. (NOT to slight the rest of the band, they are AWESOME!)
A couple interesting notes regarding Johnette and her influence on me…
First, she is the first (and only, until recently) musician that made me cry with a song. Yeah, I always thought people that said “that song made me cry” were full of crap, but I’ll be damned, Johnette did it to me with “Little Sister” from their debut album.
Second, Johnette is the ONLY artist, EVER, that compelled me to write a ‘fan’ letter. This was before email, and Facebook and all that nonsense… I was going through a real tough time; my wife was pregnant with our daughter, my band had broken up, I was actively suing a production company that had ripped me off, (not paying me for “services rendered” at a bunch of gigs I played for their acts) and I was pretty sure at that point that I was DONE with music. So I wrote a letter to Johnette telling her how much she inspired my song writing, and that maybe that inspiration would bring me back to music someday. And while I can’t say she’s ‘responsible’ exactly, I’m still here, making music, almost 30 years after that letter!
It’s one of the crazy things in life, that Johnette isn’t a ‘household name’. She certainly should be. She’s got more talent in a single finger than most pop stars express their entire careers. She’s an artist’s artist, a one-of-a-kind talent, and an absolute gem.
I’m so incredibly grateful for having Johnette being a huge part of my life’s soundtrack, I can’t imagine life without her voice in it!
Happy Birthday Johnette! I wish you nothing but happiness and continued artistic expression. My life is better because of you, even though we’ve never met. Thank you for everything!!
The Boring Old Man 