Been Busy!

Well, I haven't been on here in some time now, and I figured I should toss up an update on what's been keeping me busy. I've been delving into a few side projects for both fun and for profit. I've been playing around with motorcycle part design and fabrication on a few local bikes, I guess all of the work I've done to my own started catching some recognition and a few individuals approached me to help on similar projects of theirs and I happily obliged. Aside from that, I've also been playing around with some composite part fabrication and mold-making out in the garage to make replica's of some rare car parts to sell for profit.







I've also been taking on a few new hobbies (surprise surprise, I know). I recently aquired a 1972 Schwinn Varsity road-bike that I've been putting some miles on for leisure based excercise, it's been a lot of fun. I plan to tear the bike down over winter and totally restore it, I located a very close match for the paint color and a set of brand new decals.


next hobby on my list is kayaking....I really enjoyed a few canoe trips with friends and I think I am going to try to get myself a nice $250 or so kayak in the near future for personal use, we have so many creeks and streams and the harbors down at the waterfront I think it would make for some really fun times.

Besides all of this stuff, I've just been up to the usual activities....playing open mic twice a month or so, working out 4 days a week, golf, meeting/seeing new people, etc.

OH! I almost forgot! I had a super awesome "staycation" about two weeks ago now, A good friend from ohio rode his motorcycle 340 miles to come stay with me for a week and we rode all over the area to all kinds of destinations, got him all cought up with local family members, and had some really fun rides. Everywhere we went people were stopping us to chat about our bikes and how they remember them in their hay-day and how it was great to see us young guys keeping them on the road and appreciating them. Had a FANTASTIC ride out route 240 from cheektowaga all the way to springville where we checked out a vintage cycle shop I heard about through a friend of my dad's, it was an awesome day.







It's been a really fun summer so far, and we're only halfway through it!

Are Hobbies/Talents a Blessing or a Curse?

I'll be the first to admit I have WAY WAY WAY too many hobbies/interests. I 100% think of myself as a real "jack of all trades master of none". Honestly, 90% of the time, I wholeheartidly love and enjoy my hobbies....but sometimes, SOMETIMES, it comes back to bite me in the ass. where I run into trouble, is that I decide I want to try to learn/make/do something....I research it, and jump in head first to see how I land. If I do terribly, at least I tried. Sometimes it comes out moderately OK, and I decide how I would do it differently next time and maybe some random amount of time later, I'll try again. Then there's that third possibility....I give it a shot, and it comes out seriously impressive given a first timer attempt and I realize I found something else I am really good at.

Now you're probably wondering, "what the heck is so terrible about that?". I'll tell you what....someone notices my work, and asks if I would be interested in making another one of whatever it is I made that came out great, and makes a monetary offer I cannot refuse. I do this person a kindness and make them one, only to box up something I put pride into and allow someone else to enjoy it. I actually like that part of it. Anyways, what happens is, someone else hears I did this for that person, and asks if they give me the same compensation if I would make another one. Of course, I'm not going to turn down decent sums of money that outweight the time I would put in to make one. The problem comes in when this snowballs, and I am too nice a person to start telling people "NO", I instead ask them to wait a week or two and remind me.

This has become the case with a few different things I have dove into and tried. I am 25yrs old currently, and I am finally at a point where I have acheived a serious number of the goals I set forth for myself a long time ago....and it would be nice to sit back, relax, and enjoy myself a bit doing some things for ME. The problem is, I seem to have begun building a name for myself and I'm a touch overwhelemed with the demand....and I had really high hopes that this summer might be one of the most meaningful and memorable of my life and that I really want to make it count. But alas, my talents are seeming to haunt me and possibly jeopardize that possibility. So that leaves me asking.....is this really a gift? or is it a curse?

I suppose when it comes down to it, I need to learn how to start turning people down, regardless of the fact I tend to enjoy the "work" involved.....but my time is more important to me than that. I'd really hate to look back and realize my twenties were all work and no play. I'd like to live my live free of regrets or "what-if's"

Anyway, feel free to comment what YOU think talents are....

Growing up, and Realizing it.

I have made HUGE life changes over the last 6-8 months, not necessarily thinking of what those changes meant...but more-so making them because I felt they were what I wanted/needed to do. Sitting here and kind of reflecting on how my life is right now to how it was 5yrs ago made me realize....I am growing up A LOT, and I don't think I am upset about it. As an 18yr old kid with an obsession with cars and speed, I spent thousands of dollars on the first decent car I bought myself. I moved out into an apartment, worked a crummy job, etc. I found myself in roughly $6-7000 in debt within a year and a half of this, not understanding the consequences of those actions. It took me 3 yrs to pay all of that off, I had to move back home, work three jobs the first summer, and then two jobs the next. Finally, I was back on my feet for the most part. I started feeling good and spending money/credit again. a year later, $3k in debt again. Did I not learn? I guess only to an extent. I sold off all the fancy parts from the car, traded the car in on one I wouldnt feel the need to change, sold two of my motorcycles, and started putting money in the bank.

that brings me up to about a year ago now. I finally landed a career-oriented job that I enjoy most of the time, and decided it was time to buy a house.....renting is for the birds. 6 months of searching and I found what I was looking for. I am now 25yrs old, single, a homeowner, and as of this friday I will be 100% credit card debt free. It's a REALLY awesome feeling to realize how much I have accomplished, with fairly simple means. I truly enjoy my life every day I am here now....I get to come home to a place I OWN, spend my free time tinkering on cars and motorcycles in MY garage, have friends over, relax when I want to, do side-work when I want to, come and go as I please answering to no one. I am at a point now where I almost forget what it feels like to be sad or disappointed. Maybe this is how Charlie Sheen feels and why he always says he's "WINNING" haha. I couldn't be more grateful to have been able to get where I am, I guess the trick now is to maintain this and move forward....and figuring out what the next goal I want to acheive is. Maybe it's time to put myself back on the market more seriously....I feel my biological clock ticking...I don't want to be a 30yr old bachelor in 5yrs haha.

anyways, long story short....contrary to popular belief: growing up is awesome if you do it right and don't waste a single opportunity. To quote a great song..."Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up, these are the best days of our lives"

That's all I've got for now until I have enough thoughts to assemble into something readable again.....

Until next time.

Random Thought

So lately I write about stuff that's somewhat serious and everything, but I just have this crazy thought haha.

So, this happens quite frequently.....I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk at work. At least twice a week, I will have been sitting at my desk for HOURS, and when I go to get up and walk around, my stinkin' shoe is untied! I have not moved from my desk for them to work themselves loose, I have not moved for the "ears" of the tie to get caught on something to pull them apart. What is this phenomenon? I sometimes seriously beleive there really ARE little shoe-knomes that come and untie my shoes while I am diligently working at something.

And before you say it could just be something wierd with the shoes or laces.....it happens regardless of the shoes I am wearing, and regardless of wether or not I have tried new laces.

It's a conspiracy I tell you!

"Talking" and "Conversation"

For some reason lately I have been quite inspired to think about conventional society and the way people interact. I noticed something....that there is quite a huge difference between "talking" and having a conversation. Ever notice when you want to get to know someone, you almost 100% of the time are stuck in "small talk" and trivial jargon? Why is it so hard to just cut through all the bullshit and talk about REAL stuff?

"how was your day?"
"did you enjoy the nice weather we had the other day?"
"what's your favorite color?"

These questions are pretty unfascinating and don't tell you anything about the person answering them. So, why is it so "wierd" and difficult to get right to the questions you REALLY want answered? How do you make that transition? I recently noticed rather out of the blue that I FAR more enjoy talking to someone that is willing to ask questions beyond the standard trivial small talk. I like when my thoughts are challenged, when I can discuss the way I think about something and hear someone else's analysis. It made me wonder how and when the transition takes place when you meet someone....

How long before someone is comfortable enough to ask a REAL question? What are the chances the other person actually answers honestly, if at all? How do you know where someone's limit is as far as their comfort level of things to discuss?

Actually, I am just now remembering a situation I experienced while attending college. A complete stranger came up to me while I was sitting on a bench outside reading/studying and asked if I had a few minutes. He immediately asked me what religion I was, what my thoughts on God were, and what extend of a higher power I beleive in. Looking back, I had felt EXTREMELY akward about this conversation...but I did answer all of his questions honestly, and we had a little debate for maybe 5-10 mins. I feel bad now because I was so wierded out at the time, but this person gave me probably the most meaningful conversation I had all week at the time.

I think now that I have realized that's the type of exchange I prefer with someone, I somewhat wish I could go back and re-do that conversation a bit. Maybe even thank him for the debate and at least get his name. Nonetheless, I can't help but think that if I were to approach someone in a similar fashion they might be wierded out just as I was, regardless of topic. What makes people this way? Are we all this way? Born this way? Maybe we get raised and conditioned this way.

Methinks it's time to try being more direct with conversations and see how people react. Ask some crazy off-the-wall questions and see what happens.

I'll report back how it goes after a few tries haha

In a particularly good mood

As of late, I must say life is pretty awesome, so I figured I would share.

So I spent all of last week preparing my new house to move in. Old wallpaper was putting up a pretty darn good fight but in the end I prevailed, though not without completely chopping the crap out of my thumbs from gripping the putty knife so brutally. Moved all of my stuff in on Saturday, painted the kitchen, and set all of my stuff up where I wanted it. Did final cleanup and whatnot sunday morning, and then went and watched the superbowl at a buddies house.

Besides that, alot of the things I have been working towards have been falling into place just as I have been hoping for a long time. It feels good to know that I made a lot of correct decisions to arrive here. A year ago I was not very optimistic I would get to this point, but I worked hard for it and here I am.

I was supposed to have a room mate move in to my house with me, but things didn't work out as he planned so it's going to be cutting it pretty close financially, but I am up for promotion so it shouldn't be a strain for too long.

I'm looking forward to making changes and putting my personal touches into the house to make it my own. I think this summer is going to yeild a lot of great experiences and fun times.

My music is coming along, we almost have a complete line-up now for the band....we picked up a great bassist recently that works really well with our dynamic, now all we need is a great vocalist to tie up the loose ends and really get to writing more. I'm excited that this is finally coming together too, I went a long time wishing I could play more and learn things from other musicians and it's finally looking like a possibility. Not having cable/internet/TV at the house means I will spend more time practicing and learning new techniques and finding new sounds to use for my own writing.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading about the most recent fruits of my labor! I'll update again soon hopefully (if I don't get super involved in house stuff and whatnot)

How many lines do we walk?

So, after some rather deep conversation something struck a bit of a chord within me. The discussion was about the differences between Truth, Brutal Honesty, and Downright Rudeness.

It became immediately apparent that the lines that separate these three things are not only thin, but very grey. It ends up being more dependant on the person on the receiving end; that is to say how easily upset they are and how apt they are to letting someone hurt their feelings.

Each person has thier own perception of what is truth, what is brutal honesty, and what is rude.

The issue, is that not everyone's perception of these is the same......so who's perception is the right one? Is anyone's?

So after sleeping and thinking about this some more, I find myself wondering just how many other situations this applies to. How many lines are we each walking on a daily basis? hourly? every minute? every second?

I find myself wanting to ask people what they consider the difference to be between truth, brutal honesty, and rudeness now that this topic has come up....and maybe after that, I'll find some other "lines" to poll about.

Sometimes I really just think as a society we have all grown too "soft"....that we have all come to a point where we are so concerned with all the opinions besides our own that what other people think is capable of hurting our feelings so easily. We have evloved into a "bleeding heart society" and now governments, agencys, committees, etc. all create "rules" and "regulations" and "standards" to "protect" everyone's feelings. We are censored; forced to comform.....to be "politically correct".

It is rediculous......what happened to being able to be yourself? If I hurt someone's feelings....who's fault is it?

Is it my fault for saying it? Is it yours for caring what I think?

What if someone asks me a question, and at the end of the question says 'be honest'.....and I say something honest, but it is inherently a put-down? Am I at fault if I hurt their feelings? or can they value my honesty and accept it? afterall, they asked for my honesty right?

So what about you? Do you live your life expecting everyone to have something nice to say all the time? Do you like everything to come with a grain of salt, or a grain of sugar? Maybe there is no right answer, maybe it all depends on context....but what then, can be standardized?

There-in lies the beauty of human interaction.