http://www.heygaston.com My tapestry of quotations, musings, aphorisms, and autobiographical reflections Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:03:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 [1] My good friend, Stephen Huneycutt [2], invited Kelly and I to be one of his "Characters of the Day" for his 365 day journey experiencing the sights, sounds, and interactions that happen during his coffee visits in Birkdale Village.  Here are the Links; Day 228 - Gaston the Numbers Guy [3] Day 245 - Kelly the Sweet Southern Bell [4] I must say, being interviewed as well as Stephen manages it was quite a treat.  He helped me remember things that I'd not talked about or thought of in a long time.  I drove up on a beautiful Saturday morning when the sun was bright and the traffic at Starbucks was quite heavy.  Kelly joined the ranks a couple of weeks later but bucked the traditional trend of a "daytime" visit with a stop into Starbucks right before they closed and after Kelly and I hung out with Stephan and his beautiful wife, Shannon.    We had drinks at Corkscrew just across the Quad from Starbucks when Stephen suggested that there was no time like the present to become another Character of the Day "COD").  So fueled with a Martini or three, Kelly went for it - I've always known she was smart! Since our experience we've enjoyed reading the stories of the other Characters at the "Coffee at Birkdale" [5] website, as well as taking part in one of the Coffee at Birkdale "Cast" get-togethers which featured a night of dancing and drinks [6] at a former COD [7]'s house on the lake.  We look forward to the future Cast parties that are sure to come! Thank You Shannon & Stephen! [1] http://www.heygaston.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cb.jpg [2] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/about-me/ [3] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/day-228/ [4] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/day-245/ [5] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/ [6] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/day-152/ [7] http://shuneycutt.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/day-93/ http://www.heygaston.com/coffee-at-birkdale/ I found this on Youtube a while back while looking for a video on the 80's supergroup "Journey". Take the 4 minutes and watch the entire thing if you can - It will blow you away if you like the song (but who doesn't) <><> Don't be Afraid to Sing Along...... Don't Stop Believin' - Journey Just a small town girl Living in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere A singer in a smoky room A smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile they can share the night It goes on and on and on and on {Refrain} Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlight people, living just to find emotion Hiding somewhere in the night Working hard to get my fill Everybody wants a thrill Paying anything to roll the dice Just one more time Some will win, some will lose Some were born to sing the blues Oh the movie never ends It goes on and on and on and on {Refrain} Don't stop believing Hold on to that feeling Streetlight people http://www.heygaston.com/812/ UPDATE - In late January of 2009, the ALL AC/DC Channel was retired by XM - it was fun while it lasted! In the summer of 1980 my cousin Duane could not wait for July 25th that year.  That morning was spent rushing to Kmart to get in line for an album release he could not quit talking about from a band I'd only casually known of.  He spent an entire days pay from lawn mowing on this record whose album title you could not even make out since the completely black cover had only raised black letters for the name.  Upon a closer inspection the name was made boldly clear - Back in Black, AC/DC [1]. I had never actually heard an entire album from start to finish since my exposure to music was hit by hit from Casey Kasem and knowing the first half of the Top 40 Countdown was a prerequisite for any rising Freshman.   Nonetheless, the rest of the summer was spent listening to the album and a music style that I must say I was not all the "In" to at the time; But...... there was something about the grittier Rock with that melodic guitar and distorted sound that spoke to a burgeoning teenager in a way that only such music can. The haunting chimes from the first note of Hells Bells; the 1-2-3-4, high-hat intro opening the title track, Back in Black; and the then soon-to-be uber popular intro to their biggest "hit", You Shook Me All Night Long sparked something in the both of us that I truly believe can only be lit once.  The entire album truly was a work of art.  Taken separately each song could easily stand on its own, but like chapters in a book; taking the time to actually listen to each song made the story in the lyrics come alive. Fast forward 35 YEARS and the passion of that summer's album release MUST have been felt by more than just Duane and I.  Two reason; XM Radio [2] has created an ENTIRE Music Channel (Channel 53 [3]) dedicated to only playing music by the band AC/DC 24/7.  At first I thought the whole idea of having a channel playing nothing but one band's recordings was crazy, but - I'm already hooked. On October 20, 2008 - AC/DC released their latest Album, Black Ice [4].  Upon my first listen, the album seems to reach back to the roots of their early 80's feel.  While I continue to absorb it, I do have to admit (in a somewhat bitter-sweet way) Back in Black and the experience of that time will continue to sit safely atop the altar of one of my favorite musical experiences. And Finally - Major kudos to a band that has been making music almost as long as I have been alive!  "Let There Be Rock"!! [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_in_Black [2] http://www.xmradio.com/ [3] http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/series/acdc.xmc [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ice_(album) http://www.heygaston.com/xm-channel-53-all-acdc/ [1] Around the age of 8 or 9 my parents and I lived in a small subdivision in Woodbridge Virgina called 'Twin Cedars".  The name was cleverly chosen from the two cedar trees greeting residents at the neighborhood's entrance.  Looking back, the trees looked nothing like twins at all and I'm not even sure they were Cedars (then again, the recollections of my 9th year are probably a little foggy).  A more appropriate name would have been "Quad Barrels Subdivision", since my most vivid memory of the entrance is the perpetual existence of those orange and white striped barrels you see near road construction.  OK, enough of my rambling, on to the story.....(Kelly, bear with me...lol) As with any 9'ish year old, I loved sports and wanted to be the next great baseball or football player.  To that end, my parents were cool enough to buy me one of the "Pitchback" devices at which you throw a baseball and it kindly returns the favor to the "pitcher" (at least in theory).   Having something to do in the backyard by myself was a godsend for an only child living in a neighborhood known more for its fraternal trees than its stable of baseball throwing 7 - 10 year old boys._src="http://heygaston.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" class="mceWPmore mceItemNoResize" title="More..."> The instructions on the box read something like; "Throw ball directly at the red target for the most accurate pitchbacks......".  At this point I had to question the premise of this thing's existence.  I wanted to learn to play baseball in real games.  I mean, wasn't the point of being on a 'team" the fact that we could lift each other up and account for small degrees of variances in our performance.  Was it not the job of the person catching the ball to move a little to the left or right if my release was 1 degree off dead center?  It adds a little excitement for everyone not knowing precisely where the ball is going to come.  Right? ......Ummmm....No! So there I go, aiming at the red box and throwing what feels like perfect pitches only to have them fly in God-Only-Knows-Where directions.   My mom would come out and ask how things were going and I would try to convince her that the one they got MUST be broken.  To prove it, I would lumber to my throwing distance, turn around, and let fly a throw that ended up sailing into the neighbors yard.  As most loving mothers would do when their child is struggling, she told me she agreed, and that I WAS a better thrower than that, and to come in and have some Tang. That validation and thirst quencher gave me the boost I needed to throw some more and maybe try to "fix" the now confirmed broken device.  And then, something magical would happen about every umpteenth throw.  The pitchback would take a break from being bitchy and return to the ball to me in what seemed like an effortless exchange between two totally in-sync minds.  It was a thing of beauty............................ As time has past and I've realized that there were some life lessons learned from those hours in the backyard with my new found teacher - Here are a few.................. We truly do get "back" from life, what we "pitch". Just like the ball went way over my head when I got angry to prove my point to mom, life will always kick your ass when you do things from anger, resentment, or pain. It takes practice and experience to realize that losing your balls can come about from being lazy or being too aggressive.  It can be a lazy pitch that bounces perpetually down the driveway, or a hard pitch that flies too deep into those woods that scare the hell out of you; either way - you are minus ONE ball........ That pitch that results in that perfect return IS worth the failures we endure to get there. Those moments of clarity taught in an instant, would never come about if not for all the throws that ended up in the ditch, in the woods, or in the neighbor's yard.  Keep trying.  Keep Playing. The ONLY place you'll get Tang after being upset and whiny is at your Mother's.  The real word doesn't work that way! [2] [1] http://www.heygaston.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/pitchback.jpg [2] http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/bda9a522-2a14-4e04-a101-1db0db8114d8/ http://www.heygaston.com/pitchback-101/ 190 Days - That's how many days its been since my last blog post HERE [1].   The sad part is, that wasnt REALLY a blog post at all, but a simple cut-paste post that I sometimes do when I find something interesting. So if you go back to my last "REAL" blog post HERE [2], its been 204 days. With 204 days to work with, what else Could You (Or Could you not) accomplish? Make a person? NOPE - It would have to be 9 months for that (not counting the time from now till conception is achieved). I'd give up writing this thing all together if "Offspring" could have resulted from my blogosphere absence . Learn a Language? According to the Rosetta Stone [3] - Yeppers (at least well enough to travel). Kelly and I have toyed with the idea of going to Italy, sooo.......... Build a Website? Yes.......hey - some can do it in a day. I registered "HeyCPA.com" a while back and have every intention of publishing it this year. Serve a Prison Sentence? Yep - and 7 months behind bars with Bubba would definitely be quite the deterrent for most people's ill intentions I would think Write a Book? Yes...I actually did this one during the 204 days - I used Blurb [4]to write one for Kelly and it turned out great - (Hey - I just thought of something to Blog about) Learn an Instrument? With 7 months and a couple of hours of practice a day, Trey could be cutting hits left and right.......so that's ANOTHER thing I missed out on...lol INSERT YOURS HERE.... Well - I could go on and on, but the point is, it is amazing how quickly time passes and how easy it is to get sidetracked from your intentions. I have some entries that I will post and possibly "backdate" on here to make them more chronologically appropriate, but let this entry serve notice to all that from Jan 7th, 2008 thru July 29, 2008, I was on a Blog Sabatical. Yeah - that's it - I wasnt being lazy or anything - I was just having "Life Experiences" so as to fill my time with a new inventory of things to write about! There you have it folks, I was on a Sablogital! [1] http://www.heygaston.com/9-words-women-use/ [2] http://www.heygaston.com/plays-with-mud/ [3] http://www.rosettastone.com/ [4] http://www.blurb.com/ http://www.heygaston.com/my-204-day-sablogital/ [1] Here are a list of the 9 words women use the most and what they "really" mean........... Fine - This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up. Five Minutes - If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house. Nothing - This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine. Go Ahead - This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It! Loud Sigh - This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.) That's Okay - This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake. Thanks - A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. Whatever - Is a women's way of saying F#%$ YOU! Don't worry about it, I got it - Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3. Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid if they remember the terminology. Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause they know it's true. [1] http://www.heygaston.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/menwomen.jpg http://www.heygaston.com/9-words-women-use/ [1] Kelly and I have a friend, Paula, who has her own pottery and craft business called "Plays with Mud". You can see some of her work HERE [2]. Her talent is amazing! We pretty much took care of Christmas this year with her work; she showed some of it to us when she and her husband invited us over one evening for a drink or three with some friends. I'm not sure if it was the alcohol, or her salesmanship, but we'd placed 4 orders within no time and felt damn good about it! In looking at how Paula's eyes LIT up when she talked about her crafts, it was obvious this was definitely one of her passions. I wondered then, if there would ever be a point in my life that I would be so lucky to find a passion in some activity of mine that I not only could share as freely with others, but also make some money at such that people couldn't WAIT to pay me for it – she has certainly nailed both criteria. And the name – "Plays With Mud" - perfect! Granted, Paula and my wife, Kelly, name products for a living at their employer, Addison Whitney [3]; but the name has a subtext that goes beyond any professional advantage she may have had in the art of coming up with descriptors….(I learned that term from Kelly too). Every word in the name plays a part in conveying the message of what she does; "Plays" – This gets us started right off the top with what we ALL want in life – To Play! She could have easily said "Works with Mud" or "Builds with Mud" or even "Creates with Mud". But none of these capture the innocence or frivolity of "Plays". Right out of the gate, we realize that this is about bringing FUN to your life and taking things that make us smile and putting them into an object that has much more of a chance at immortality than us all, and reminds us of that which we want most out of life…..to Play. "With" – The transitory term takes us gently to the end with camaraderie and collaboration. No using "At" or "To" or "On" or any other word here that lends one to think of Control or resistance; It would be useless to try and imply that the creator does anything other than go WITH the flow of the material and take the moment she is in, to create a unique and individual piece each and every time. "Mud" – It's dirty, it's real, it's the REAL beginning in a FLUID form that takes shape with intent, vision and effort – it's LIFE. So in analyzing Paula's name, I had to think, what would I come up with? Well – I am going to work on that this year, but I thought I'd throw a few out there just for fun, although based on the list, it's obvious I need to leave this to the professionals! Kisses on Kelly Shoots with Trey Laughs among Friends Works on Spreadsheets Drives a Jag Vents at Gym Runs on Treadmill Shops at Harris Teeter Dances at Villa Plays on Guitar (alt = Piano) Sleeps under Pillow [1] http://www.heygaston.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/mudd.jpg [2] http://www.playswithmud.com/ [3] http://www.addisonwhitney.com/ http://www.heygaston.com/plays-with-mud/