Bucket List - episode one

Life is short and I ain't getting any younger. So I've started working on my bucket list... Not that I have a list, per se... I'm just adding things to it as I go.

I've already done a few things that I wanted to do before I die, including visit several different countries, and meet my favorite musicians,

I'm working on two of my big ones right now, and they sort of relate to each other in a weird way. The first is writing a book-hopefully more than one, but it's a start. I'm actually almost done with the first draft, so I am actually going to focus on the second thing.

Ghost hunting. Or the more pc 'paranormal investigating'. Don't want to make a career out of it, but definitely a hobby. I wouldn't be doing it to prove to myself that ghosts exist-I already know they do from my own experiences.

It's more about validating those experiences, and searching for the unknown and unseen. It is also a way to confront my own personal fears.

Am I afraid of ghosts? Absolutely not. What I do have a fear of is leaving my back open an unguarded. If you know me, you'd know that I don't like to sit with my back to a room, and if there's no choice, I will always choose the seat facing the most people.

So being locked down in a dark building pricks at that fear, because in the dark, your back is always unguarded-unless you're up against a wall. So that will be hard for me, ghosts or no.

So, you might ask, how is someone who is as jumpy as a jackrabbit around human beings going to go on a ghost hunt? Good question. I have to figure out how to disengage that fight or flight response that kicks in when my back is exposed. It will be a challenge.

This will sound crazy to most people but it is something I've always been interested in. It will also double as book research, as my story has paranormal themes.

I have found a local paranormal group that has agreed to let me tag along on an investigation after a meeting to make sure I'm truly serious [sane] about it.

I'll keep everyone updated!

Upcoming Events

I know, I have been a bad, bad blogger. Things are just so busy right now. Work is crazy as this is our super busy season, and I am the lone ranger of the graphics department. But that's job security! This summer is going to be crazy busy with all kinds of fun and exciting events!

My nephew Liam's third birthday party will be tomorrow. He is really coming out of his shell and not nearly as shy as he used to be, so I am excited to get to see him play with all his friends at Monkey Joe's. He's a spunky little thing.

Next Friday, while my husband is apparently going to take a curling class (yep, ice shuffleboard), Amanda and I are going to go to the Double Door to see some bluegrass. Yeehaw! I am finding now that smoking indoors has been outlawed in NC, I am able to enjoy going to clubs and bars a bit more. I never realized just how much my claustrophobia was enhanced by the giant cloud of smoke.

Coming up in July, on the 3rd & 4th we are going to the music festival at the Whitewater Center. On the 3rd, we will see Langhorne Slim (preceded by the Overmountain Men, headed up by Bob Crawford of the Avett Brothers). And on the 4th, we will see the New Familiars, and the headliner, personal fave ANDERS OSBORNE!! Been wanting to see him again since Amanda and I saw him perform with Voice of the Wetlands at the Visulite last month. Awesome soulful blues/rock and a super nice guy too. I'm hoping before the music starts, we will get to go rafting again.

Also in July, beach week (well, weekend for me) with the Davis clan. It will be great to see all of our nieces and nephews who come from over yonder in Iowa and Florida (you know, far, far away). There will be much games, golfing and probably shopping. Who knows what else!

Coming up in August, James and I will be racing in the Warrior Dash out at Rural Hill Farm. A 3 mile run/obstacle course, after which there will be much beer, food and music. It will be hot, and I might die from the running, but it will be a blast. I am hoping old friend Travis Dancy will be able to find out what bands are playing (or maybe new friend Micah Davidson will). As it is, we are pretty much planning to hang out both days and party.

In September, I will probably go see Paul Thorn with Amanda and her hubs (I'm kind of inviting myself) :-D

Meanwhile, I am working on my GD/Photo portfolio & website, because I am thinking of branching out in to some freelance work. Not so much for the money, but to get the chance to do some art for industries that get more exposure, such as music, sporting events, etc. It's a lot of work to do on the side, but I'm hoping it will lead to great experiences.

My book is resting on its laurels for the time being, as I don't want to force it out, so we will see what happens next at a later date.

Last but not least, I got my new ink last night. Emily from Cosmic Tattoos did an awesome job on my design, and I couldn't be happier with it. Even when the power went out for an hour right in the middle! If you've ever gotten a tattoo filled in after it's been sitting and getting sore for an hour, you'll understand how painful a situation that is. But it was worth it. And I will be keeping Emily in my thoughts as she goes into surgery today.

So that is my summer in a nutshell. I am sure more cool things will happen and I will report the breaking news. Have a good weekend, all.

Better Late Than Never

So I haven't posted in a long time. But let's face it, who's really reading this anyway? A lot has happened since my last post. Work has been crazy so I haven't had much time for anything but eat. sleep. work. eat. sleep. work. Which is a cycle I don't miss from working at ITAH. But unfortunately this is our busy season. Not much time for writing right now, unfortunately. :-/

I've been going to a lot of concerts lately, too. It's funny, because I don't really like concerts, considering my claustrophobia, agoraphobia, and general anxieties.... but I'll deal with it if it's someone I really, really like. And apparently this is the year that everyone I really, really like is coming to Charlotte.

First was Jonny Lang of course. You can read about that in a previous post. Next was the Avett Brothers who actually sold out Bojangles Coliseum. They were amazing, as always. But we were really far away, and sitting around some really obnoxious people. But I will always be there when they come to Charlotte, no matter how many panic attacks want to come out. James went with me to that one, of course.

Next was a favorite of mine, Tab Benoit and Voices of the Wetlands Allstars. I went with my buddy Amanda, same one who went to Jonny with me. I've got her addicted to Tab almost as much as I am. Anyway, VOWA is Tab's non-profit organization and music side project. While the show was absolutely awesome because we were right up front, basically touching the stage, I really want Tab Benoit to come back to Charlotte with his band and play his music. Because it is made of awesome! So I have been making a general pest of myself by posting on FB, emailing booking agents, managers, potential venues, etc, to make sure that people know there are a lot of fans out there. Then maybe Jonny will swing by again soon, too. This has also inspired me to try to make the trip down to NOLA next year for JazzFest. This year, Tab Benoit & The Avett Brothers played at the same time, different stages, so that would have been a disaster for me!

After that, Amanda and I went to a FREE concert in Charlotte for a personal favorite of both of ours, Josh Kelley!!!!! I have been listening to Josh Kelley since James and I started dating, so his older music reminds me of our early years. That concert was outdoors, and super fun although they ONLY had COORS! Blech. Josh is usually very fan friendly so we stalked for awhile, but he never came out. Also saw Gary Allen on that one, who I don't really listen to, but he puts on a really decent live show.

Coming up next, Amanda (assuming I can convince her), Chad and I will drive to Asheville to see Adele on June 18th!

After that, Anders Osborne is headlining a FREE concert at the WWC on the 4th. He is a sick guitarist too. He plays with Tab on the VOWA project, but his solo stuff is bluesy rock and he is a really, really cool guy. He came out and talked to fans at the VOWA show! He also interacts with fans on his FB page.

That is probably it unless OCMS comes to Charlotte, or until Tab Benoit comes back. Of course, my goal whenever I go to a concert or anywhere where there will be famous people, is to meet and possibly get pictures with, any of said famous people. So stay tuned for my stalking adventures.

In other news, my cousin Andrew married a wonderful lady named Tiffany, and I got to have an adventure out west to Jackson Hole, WY to see it!

My childhood friend Travis got married as well and that was really great to see.

My cousin Philip has moved back up this way to raise some hell (and go to school) so that is awesome, as we rarely got to see each other before.

Well, my battery is dying so that is the best recap I have. Stay tuned for more fun filled posts! Hopefully....

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I need to get back into the swing. I have so much to write about. My trip to Wyoming, my writing progress, various family members in town, friends going insane. There is just not enough time in the world. I need to write a big, long post but alas, I still don't have time today either. I might as well wait till after the Tab Benoit concert tomorrow anyway. So wait with baited breath until then.

As the pages turn ;)

I have been banging out my story lately. I can hardly write fast enough as the events happen in my head. I know it's not coming out perfect, but once I get to the end, I can go back through and beef it up--and fix the crap. I feel like I need to get to the end first so that the storyline doesn't get hung up and changed in the fixing of the details. It's hard to do though because it's a long story. On the flip side, I don't want to rush it and make the story sound forced.

I will roll like a freight train
And blow like a hurricane
Gonna run like a Mustang
Don't stop, don't stop for anything
-Jonny Lang

Btdub this was blogged on my iPhone.

Tribute to Jonny Lang

A lot of you out there have probably never even heard of Jonny Lang. Even if you're not into blues, I can tell you that you're missing out. I never new exactly how much until the other night, when I finally got to see him live after listening to him literally since I was 16. That man is probably the most dynamic single live performer I have ever seen.

And that's not even that this post is really about. I've never been one of those groupie chicks, and if you know me you'll know that my claustrophobia and agoraphobia makes me someone who doesn't usually care for concerts at all. So there are only a few artists that I would actually care to see live. I'm normally the type of person who kind of snickers at people who write letters to folks like Christina Aguilera or the Backstreet Boys saying how their music changed their life, blah blah blah. Not that anything is wrong with those artists (they are actually both still on my ipod), or those people (whatever keeps you going, right?), but I always thought it was kind of silly because that type of commercial music doesn't seem to have much of a deeper meaning to me.

I do however have one of those stories about Jonny Lang, and if I knew how to write to him, I probably would. I'll be the first to admit, I had a tough adolescence. While it didn't go nearly as bad as it does for some (i.e. sex, drugs, teen pregnancy, not finishing high school, running away, etc.), I was struggling with things like depression, anxiety and other disorders that we just didn't have names for yet. And now in hindsight, I can see that it even started much earlier than that. Music was always an escape for me, and when I was 15-17 I went through a time period where I was into classic Jazz and Blues, like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Billie Holliday, etc. I'll never know why my Mom picked this, but one day she brought me a modern blues CD and it was Wander This World by Jonny Lang. I had never head of him and I don't think she had either, but my mom had always had a talent of grabbing random movies that no one had heard of that usually ended up being good, so I gave it a shot.

This album became a constant companion and while I listened to other things, this is the one I always went back to when I was struggling with things. It also lifted me up that Jonny and I are nearly the same age, so being a 16 year old struggling through high school, it was awesome to have a role model that was my age.

Anyway, that's the back story of why I have always and will always love Jonny Lang's music. My husband, bless his poor little heavy metal lovin' heart, will tell you he's even been forced to listen to it some. So I was only a little embarrassed that I teared up a little when he first came out on stage. It was like the culmination of everything, good and bad, that I've been through in my life, and the music that has always been playing throughout it. And there it was. Live. As I like to say: words fail.

The thing about Jonny's performance is that the music never stops. One song just morphs into the next and it is never silent. If he needs a drink, or a guitar switch, the band keeps playing. Each band member gets a solo, and if they're not playing a particular song, he's just riffin' on the guitar or scattin' along with it. Nothing like it.

Another great thing about this show was the fact at there were men and women of all races, ages and backgrounds all coming together because of one amazing band! And I got to see a young boy just a little younger than I was when I first started listening to Jonny, and that makes me so happy. The cycle continues!

And while I'm not a fan of stand up shows because of the
claustrophobia, I'm glad this one was because we were SO close. Just two "rows" of crowd in front of us, so we literally got eye contact quite a lot. Yeah I know, stupid groupie thing to say. :D Anyway, I just felt the need to write about it because it meant so much to me. And even if you don't know Jonny Lang, but you like blues or just music in general, this is a show worth seeing!

The Reader's Trance (followup)

I reread one of my scenes today, and I was able to trigger the trance response by reading my own work. It was only little bits at a time, because I kept getting the urge to edit, but it still happened. This is a very good thing. Maybe it is the writer's curse not to be able to imagine a scene and describe it at the same time. Maybe you have to do it frame by frame and if it creates a scene when you read it back, you're gold! Awesomeness is abound, faithful readers.

Back to work, back to work.