There was a time when Tuesday was my favorite day of the week. That seems odd for a guy like me who doesn't respond well to fulfilling the obligation of going to work or, at the time period I'm referring to, school. Sure, everyone loves Friday. For most of us, it's the end of the work week. Whether that end comes for your job or the classroom, it's a universally cherished day (not for servers or mall workers though. Fridays really suck for them). Saturday is great because it's the first full day off of the weekend (again, not the best day for servers and mall workers). It's generally a day where couples will go out for dinner and a movie, or maybe a group of friends will hit the bars for a few drinks and laughs. Sundays are nice, too. Some like to go to church. Others like to sleep until noon and just lay around all day doing nothing. Sunday in the fall means football.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All great days. So why Tuesday?
Tuesday was a day for new musical releases. Probably still is. I wouldn't know anymore.
I can remember being in high school on a Tuesday knowing one of my favorite bands had an album coming out. I would think about it all day. I'd sit in the classroom, not listening to a thing my teacher was saying. I did at least give the appearance that I was taking notes. But if you were to open up my notebook at that time, you'd maybe find about two lines of notes that were related to a lesson. The rest would be top twenty lists of my favorite bands, lists of songs, lists of songs from a particular band, hand written guitar tabs, and lyrics that I'd written. On these certain Tuesdays to which I continue to refer, I'd usually be ranking my favorite songs performed by whatever band had a release that day.
When it hit three o'clock, I'd bolt for the parking lot. I'd hop in my red 1985 Camaro Z28 (or beg my mom to take me to the mall after I got off the bus prior to having my driver's lisence) and head for the exit faster than I probably should have in a school parking lot. The mall was only about a ten minute drive from the school, but it would feel much longer. I'd curse at every red light and tail-gate anyone going the speed limit or under. During the drive, I'd constantly glance at my tape deck with disgust. I liked this car, but it didn't have a CD player. This created a major dilemma. "Do I get the CD or the cassette? Of course the CD is better quality, but if I get the CD, I can't listen to it until I get home!" Ultimately, patience would win and I'd always go for the CD. I'm a guy who likes to progress with the times tech-wise. Cassette tape? In 1996? Pfft. Yeah, right. I'd hand over my hard earned (HA!) money and claim my prize.
With album in hand I'd park and jog to the door. I'd barely acknowledge my mom and head straight to the bedroom. Next came the unwrapping of the cellophane. Wretched stuff. It just prolonged the process. After getting past the wrapping, of course there would be that stupid sticker on the edges of the case. I could just pull the it open, but that would risk cracking the jewel case! Frustrated, I'd pick the corner of the sticker with my short fingernails until I could finally get a grip and pull it off. Finally, there's the disc. I'd pop it in the player, start from track one (NO SKIPPING AROUND) and listen to it straight through while lying on my bed, reading the insert. It was blissful. A pure joy.
Where did that go?
As I've stated, I like to progress with the times. Now when I want music, I either enter a credit card number in iTunes online, or purchase $25 iTunes card from a store. I just download it and load it into my iPod. I haven't purchased many physical albums in the past few years. The most recent is Diamond Eyes by the Deftones. I just happened to be in Best Buy.
I used to have jewel cases and cd books all around. Cases strewn about the floor board of the passenger side and back seat. Now, I have this little gadget that contains every album I own. It's so efficient. The stupid little thing sounds great in my car through the auxillary port, too. I even have a docking station that's replaced my CD player for the house. I just plug the little hunk of metal with a screen into the dock and press play. It's nice. I really do enjoy this new way of listening to music. But as far as purchasing music, like one particular blues legend sang, "The Thrill is Gone".
Sure, I could recapture it and run to town every time a new release hits the shelf, but why? Laziness always wins out. Or if you prefer a kinder, gentler term for it, convenience is always the victor (yeah, those two words are quite related) . All good things must come to an end at some point. I'm not going to be one of those guys who hang on to the past ("I only buy vinyl") and consider themselves "retro-cool". Besides, it's fun to let one way of doing things fade into another. It creates memories... nostalgia. I absolutely love it when something triggers nostalgic feelings in me. If I didn't progress, would those feelings hit me as often? I don't think so.
Yep. I'm gonna stick with the iPod way of doing things. Besides, the despicable music industry doesn't deserve the time and effort it takes for me to drive to a store. But that's for another blog...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Big Three-Oh
So, I turned 30 about a month ago. I know. It's so old. I've never been intimidated by the prospect of reaching this monumental age. I feel the same physically I did five years ago (actually, I probably feel healthier than I did five years ago. I lost fifty pounds between April 2008 and January 2009. I've managed to gain fifteen back... oops!). Durning my mid-twenties, I began to hear stories of "revelations" and "freak outs" as the age approached or shortly after it arrived. I would think to myself, 'not me, it's just another year.' I proved myself right, for the most part. I don't have any feelings of depression. I don't feel old in the slightest. But I would be lying if I said there weren't a few inklings of anxiety whilst lying in bed, assessing the current state of my life.
"What have I accomplished, really?"
"Am I as far along in life as I thought I'd be ten years ago?"
"Shouldn't I already have found my career?"
"Shouldn't I already have children?"
"Does any of this crap that has been important to me throughout my twenties really matter?"
Yeah... that stuff.
I realize we live in a different time. I realize people aren't getting married as young and are having children at a later age. Hell, I got married at 22 and the reaction I most often get is, "Wow! That's young!" It's an odd thing.
My parents were married in 1977 at ripe old age of 18. When I was 18, I was quite single and didn't have much on my mind other than who I was going to find to illegally purchase alcohol for me on the weekend. I worked as a projectionist/shift manager at a movie theater making $6.05 per hour. I did go away to college in Evansville for one full year. Yeah... didn't work out.
My mother gave birth to me at 23 and gave birth to my sister less than two years later. By the time she turned 25, she had two children and had been married for seven years. When I was 25 I was plugging around Kokomo and Indianapolis on most weekends in a thrash metal band, still partying with friends every weekend, serving at a restaurant, and having the guys over to play Dungeons & Dragons once a week. I did take some online classes at Ivy Tech for a while, though. Yeah... didn't work out.
Now I'm 30. By the time my mother and father turned 30, I was already in first grade and playing little league baseball. Dad was working his way up the ladder towards an engineering career (sans college degree, might I add). As of now, I'm working at a call center. I spend the better part of my day getting cursed at and getting told where to go when I die all for answering the phone and reading from a computer screen. Rather than thinking of advancing up the ladder, I spend my day brainstorming a plan for getting out of that God-forsaken place. But I must admit, I'm all talk. The pay is good, and the benefits are second to none. That's kind of hard to leave. I have no one to blame but myself though. I'm what you'd call a late bloomer, I guess.
To my credit, I am a home owner, have two vehicles, two dogs, and have been married for seven (going on eight) years. So I'm ahead of the curve in that respect based on the current standard. I guess I should feel good about that. I still haven't quite figured out that property tax thing though. I guess you're supposed to pay those on time.
I still flip-flop constantly on career aspirations. I have a lot of things I'm interested in. I love theology. But I'm not sure I can invest the time it would take to become a theologian. Not because I don't have the time, but I don't know if I can motivate myself for that long. I love computers and technology. This is a more viable option as it would take less schooling to obtain the degree I need to land a decent job. But that's something I've tried before. I lost interest fast. I didn't neccesarily lose interest in the subject, but I lost interest in doing the work involved. I also like writing and literature. I've considered a degree in that area. I think I would love being a high school English teacher. I don't see that happening either.
I would never say that I regret becoming so enthralled in music, but I do think it is directly related to my indecision. I've put more into music than anyting else since the age of 14. I've been incredibly serious about becoming a musician as recently as six or seven months ago. But for the past... probably four years... I have went round and round in my brain trying to decide if I even want to do that. It turns out, I don't have the burning desire for that anymore either. I'll never stop playing. I'm 100% sure that I will begin writing again (I haven't really written for about three years). I may even start something new. We'll see.
Eh. I don't know.
My plan for now is to just coast. That's what I've always done. I've been happy to do it, too. I've enjoyed my life for the most part. I don't really care about having a lot of money. As long as I have enough to enjoy dinner and a movie with my wife, and a little extra for some video games, I'm good. Career-wise, I'll probably shed my skin from time to time for the rest of my life. That's the way we do things nowadays. I would like to bring those kids into the equation at some point. Don't worry, we're working on that... hehe.
"What have I accomplished, really?"
"Am I as far along in life as I thought I'd be ten years ago?"
"Shouldn't I already have found my career?"
"Shouldn't I already have children?"
"Does any of this crap that has been important to me throughout my twenties really matter?"
Yeah... that stuff.
I realize we live in a different time. I realize people aren't getting married as young and are having children at a later age. Hell, I got married at 22 and the reaction I most often get is, "Wow! That's young!" It's an odd thing.
My parents were married in 1977 at ripe old age of 18. When I was 18, I was quite single and didn't have much on my mind other than who I was going to find to illegally purchase alcohol for me on the weekend. I worked as a projectionist/shift manager at a movie theater making $6.05 per hour. I did go away to college in Evansville for one full year. Yeah... didn't work out.
My mother gave birth to me at 23 and gave birth to my sister less than two years later. By the time she turned 25, she had two children and had been married for seven years. When I was 25 I was plugging around Kokomo and Indianapolis on most weekends in a thrash metal band, still partying with friends every weekend, serving at a restaurant, and having the guys over to play Dungeons & Dragons once a week. I did take some online classes at Ivy Tech for a while, though. Yeah... didn't work out.
Now I'm 30. By the time my mother and father turned 30, I was already in first grade and playing little league baseball. Dad was working his way up the ladder towards an engineering career (sans college degree, might I add). As of now, I'm working at a call center. I spend the better part of my day getting cursed at and getting told where to go when I die all for answering the phone and reading from a computer screen. Rather than thinking of advancing up the ladder, I spend my day brainstorming a plan for getting out of that God-forsaken place. But I must admit, I'm all talk. The pay is good, and the benefits are second to none. That's kind of hard to leave. I have no one to blame but myself though. I'm what you'd call a late bloomer, I guess.
To my credit, I am a home owner, have two vehicles, two dogs, and have been married for seven (going on eight) years. So I'm ahead of the curve in that respect based on the current standard. I guess I should feel good about that. I still haven't quite figured out that property tax thing though. I guess you're supposed to pay those on time.
I still flip-flop constantly on career aspirations. I have a lot of things I'm interested in. I love theology. But I'm not sure I can invest the time it would take to become a theologian. Not because I don't have the time, but I don't know if I can motivate myself for that long. I love computers and technology. This is a more viable option as it would take less schooling to obtain the degree I need to land a decent job. But that's something I've tried before. I lost interest fast. I didn't neccesarily lose interest in the subject, but I lost interest in doing the work involved. I also like writing and literature. I've considered a degree in that area. I think I would love being a high school English teacher. I don't see that happening either.
I would never say that I regret becoming so enthralled in music, but I do think it is directly related to my indecision. I've put more into music than anyting else since the age of 14. I've been incredibly serious about becoming a musician as recently as six or seven months ago. But for the past... probably four years... I have went round and round in my brain trying to decide if I even want to do that. It turns out, I don't have the burning desire for that anymore either. I'll never stop playing. I'm 100% sure that I will begin writing again (I haven't really written for about three years). I may even start something new. We'll see.
Eh. I don't know.
My plan for now is to just coast. That's what I've always done. I've been happy to do it, too. I've enjoyed my life for the most part. I don't really care about having a lot of money. As long as I have enough to enjoy dinner and a movie with my wife, and a little extra for some video games, I'm good. Career-wise, I'll probably shed my skin from time to time for the rest of my life. That's the way we do things nowadays. I would like to bring those kids into the equation at some point. Don't worry, we're working on that... hehe.
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