A recurring theme kept happening today. It started with the podcasts that I was listening to, and it ended with Hillary Clinton's speech at then Democratic National Convention. That theme was public service. I have always been a long standing proponent of RAK (random acts of kindness), and charity. Public service however is a different kind of charity. It's giving of yourself in a selfless way. Giving you time, is maybe the most selfless thing that you can do. It's easy to give a contribution to a cause, but when you give your time to that cause, you are giving so much more. Don't get me wrong, this isn't belittling giving contributions. I'm just pointing out, that when you give of yourself, you give much more.
I was listening to Greg Fitzsimmons podcast today, and he was talking about a charity bike ride he did about a month ago. It was for a group called Best Buddies. It helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The founder is Anthony K. Shriver.. That last name might sound a little familiar. Yes, it is those Shriver's. You know, the ones related to then Kennedy's. This all brings me to the public service of the Shiver's and the Kennedy's. There is a reason that the Kennedy's are seen as America's Royal Family. The Shiver's and Kennedy's also founded a little thing none as the Peace Corps. You may know of their great outreach programs that help underdeveloped countries, and people living in poverty. The Kennedy's also founded the Special Olympics, to give a spirit of victory to those with disabilities.
Greg mentioned that at one point during the weekend, that he had a chance to talk with Joe Kennedy Jr. Joe, told him about how when he was young he went to the Dominican Republic to dig latrines for Haitian workers that were living in deplorable conditions in the Dominican Republic. He talked about how, even though he was blessed with a silver spoon at birth, that with that spoon came responsibly to help out those that are less fortunate than you. He gave of himself, like most of the Kennedy, and Shriver children have done throughout the years. They could have thrown money at the situation, but instead, the gave of themselves as well as the money.
I know what you are saying. "They have money and can take the time because of that to do these things.". Yes, they do, and I don't expect anyone to head off to a foreign land to dig latrines. Here is what you can do though. Look around for a cause that you can relate to. Once you have it picked out, go to them and find out information about how you can volunteer. Maybe just do it 1 day a month for a while, to see how it goes. If that works out, and you can afford more time, move it up to twice a month.
You will be losing time, but you will gain so much more in return. If you are helping out people, you will see how you affect their lives, and the smiles that are on their faces because of your kindness. If you are helping out animals, you will see the love that they give you in return, and the joy you will get, when you see them go to a forever home. Those things, those are priceless, and are worth far more than any bit of money.
Take a chance, and give of yourself. Peace in and goodnight.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
The Girl with the Mousy Hair.
Since I didn't post a Favorite Song of the Week last week, I'm going to kick this off with one, but first, a little about this artist and the brief history I have of with this particular song. The artist is Aurora, and I first heard of here when the song I'm going to play for you was put at the end of an Episode of "Girls". I was mesmerized at how good it was, and a small part of me wondered if it was because of the imagery of the final scene in that episode. It all went together so well. My wonders were turned to reality when I heard her perform yesterday on the Howard Stern show.
Howard was also a fan of the song. He heard it in the same place that I did. On my 365, I directed people towards this song. I don't remember if I had a link to Youtube or I just told people to look it up. Howard a few days after I had done that, played the song on his show, and talked about how much he loved it. He brought it full circle on Monday's show when he had Aurora on. I knew nothing about her, as did everyone else in the listening audience. I had just heard the song. To say that I fell head over heels in love with her from this interview, would be an understatement. I wasn't the only one either. Many people called in today to say the same thing. Here is the thing about her, she is wonderfully weird. She talked about how she doesn't have a significant other, because she collects dead moths. Her accent is adorable, she is from Norway. When asked if she had ever met Bob Dylan, it came up because she mentioned how much she appreciated his talent, she said she had met him in a dream. She was truly unique and original. She sees life through different eyes, and that is alluring.
On to the song already. The song is a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars". It is haunting an beautiful. In the version she did on The Howard Stern Show, you could hear the slightest bit of nerves creep in, and it gave it an even more intimate feel. She was exposing everything in it, so that is the version I have for you. Oh, real quick before I play the song. I learned a new trick by playing around with this little blog here, and I learned how to put an embedded player into it. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's a huge feat for me. I highly suggest that you listen with headphones on, so that you can hear every little nuance in her voice. It does make a difference. Without further adieu here is Aurora with "Life on Mars".
The studio version of this song is fantastic, but this version just brings it to a whole other lever. David Bowie when asked about what the song was about said, "That it was about a Sensitive young girl's reaction to the media". This song was finished before he died, so I hope that he got to hear it. I believe that he would say, that he must have written it for her to sing. She is, that young girl. If you read this on Tuesday night, you may have a chance to see her perform on the Stephen Colbert show. I believe she will be doing one of her original songs, called "I Went Too Far". It's a very good song as well, and I hope you get the chance to see her sing in live on that show. Look her up, she is well worth your time. Here is a link to her site to help you out. Aurora She has a video of her single up on there for you to take a gander at. Quick funny story about when Howard read out her site. He said aurora dash music dot com. She was blown away about the dash. She had no idea what that little thing was called. They told her that the real name is a hyphen but they shorten to dash. She said that dash was a beautiful word, and she loved it. Like I said wonderfully weird, and easy to fall in love with.
I could talk about Aurora all night long, but that was yesterday, and today was the first night of the live shows for America's Got Talent. The live shows are where the exceptional part from the very good, and tonight was no exception. My opinion for the best act of the night, was the opening act, Jayna Brown. She is only 14 years old, but she commanded the stage and crowd as if she were a seasoned pro. Here is the video of her performance.
Let me know what you think. I think she is destined to be a star. I could see her being a Whitney Houston type. She has a voice that can sing anything, and make it sound like a chorus of angels.
With those two songs, I believe that I have taken up enough of your time tonight, but if you have a little more, go back up to that soundcloud clip from Aurora, and click on the Howard Stern name to the right of the arrow. I believe they have a good deal of her interview on there. You too, can fall in love with her. Peace in and goodnight.
Howard was also a fan of the song. He heard it in the same place that I did. On my 365, I directed people towards this song. I don't remember if I had a link to Youtube or I just told people to look it up. Howard a few days after I had done that, played the song on his show, and talked about how much he loved it. He brought it full circle on Monday's show when he had Aurora on. I knew nothing about her, as did everyone else in the listening audience. I had just heard the song. To say that I fell head over heels in love with her from this interview, would be an understatement. I wasn't the only one either. Many people called in today to say the same thing. Here is the thing about her, she is wonderfully weird. She talked about how she doesn't have a significant other, because she collects dead moths. Her accent is adorable, she is from Norway. When asked if she had ever met Bob Dylan, it came up because she mentioned how much she appreciated his talent, she said she had met him in a dream. She was truly unique and original. She sees life through different eyes, and that is alluring.
On to the song already. The song is a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars". It is haunting an beautiful. In the version she did on The Howard Stern Show, you could hear the slightest bit of nerves creep in, and it gave it an even more intimate feel. She was exposing everything in it, so that is the version I have for you. Oh, real quick before I play the song. I learned a new trick by playing around with this little blog here, and I learned how to put an embedded player into it. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's a huge feat for me. I highly suggest that you listen with headphones on, so that you can hear every little nuance in her voice. It does make a difference. Without further adieu here is Aurora with "Life on Mars".
The studio version of this song is fantastic, but this version just brings it to a whole other lever. David Bowie when asked about what the song was about said, "That it was about a Sensitive young girl's reaction to the media". This song was finished before he died, so I hope that he got to hear it. I believe that he would say, that he must have written it for her to sing. She is, that young girl. If you read this on Tuesday night, you may have a chance to see her perform on the Stephen Colbert show. I believe she will be doing one of her original songs, called "I Went Too Far". It's a very good song as well, and I hope you get the chance to see her sing in live on that show. Look her up, she is well worth your time. Here is a link to her site to help you out. Aurora She has a video of her single up on there for you to take a gander at. Quick funny story about when Howard read out her site. He said aurora dash music dot com. She was blown away about the dash. She had no idea what that little thing was called. They told her that the real name is a hyphen but they shorten to dash. She said that dash was a beautiful word, and she loved it. Like I said wonderfully weird, and easy to fall in love with.
I could talk about Aurora all night long, but that was yesterday, and today was the first night of the live shows for America's Got Talent. The live shows are where the exceptional part from the very good, and tonight was no exception. My opinion for the best act of the night, was the opening act, Jayna Brown. She is only 14 years old, but she commanded the stage and crowd as if she were a seasoned pro. Here is the video of her performance.
Let me know what you think. I think she is destined to be a star. I could see her being a Whitney Houston type. She has a voice that can sing anything, and make it sound like a chorus of angels.
With those two songs, I believe that I have taken up enough of your time tonight, but if you have a little more, go back up to that soundcloud clip from Aurora, and click on the Howard Stern name to the right of the arrow. I believe they have a good deal of her interview on there. You too, can fall in love with her. Peace in and goodnight.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Let's Ride
Now that that's out of the way. i have to mention something real fast. I woke up this morning, and checked in on here, to see how page views were going, and I noticed an extraordinarily large amount of views came in overnight. There seemed to be no reason for it, because no particular post got all the views. They seemed to be spread out amongst all of them. I then turned my attention to the traffic source. I can see where the views came from, as far as a link from a website or what not. I noticed that there was a redirect link on some half off deals site. It appears that someone like this up to that redirect. Although I appreciate someone doing that, I don't really want that. I'd much rather have people view this because they wanted to, and not because they were redirected to it. So, thank you to whomever did that, but please don't do it again. If you did it because you like reading this, the best thing you can do, is to just keep reading. I like the page views, but they won't change my life in any way. I"m just happy if I can make someone else happy.
Let's get on with what happened over the last few days. After work on Friday, I went to the bank to deposit my check, and found out that my checking account had been drained. Since it was the weekend, there was nothing I could really do about it, so I have to wait until Monday. There is a good chance that this is my fault, and I double clicked on submitting a payment to a credit card or something. I'm going to look into it, but until I get to the bottom of it, I won't be going out much.
A good buddy of mine, came to the rescue to salvage the evening, and invited me out. I told him I wasn't much up for it, since I had only the money I deposited in my account, and that I was going to hang low for a while, but he wanted to go out. He finally talked me into it, and I headed to his house to start the evening.
He made dinner, and we split a bottle of wine (yes, i know this is sounding way too much like a date, but it wasn't). One of his lady friends was texting him the whole time, we were hanging at the house, so we went to meet up with her and her friends. We ended up at a little bar, well, it wasn't all that little. It was a little too spacious. It was a very bad attempt at a dive bar, but they had 3 pool tables, so we took over one of them and started playing. His friend, at some point, came up to me and told me that she was going to be my wingman, because my buddy was real bad at it. Her words not mine, but they aren't far from the truth. I can tell you this, she was no better than he was. He really didn't do anything except talk to every woman in the place, and she picked all the woman that I wan't attracted to at all. This is the dilemma of my dating life. I'm apparently the only person that knows what I like, or even has the most remote idea of it. I admit it, I'm picky, and I think what happened to me when I was 9-10 has a lot to do with that. As a result of all these attempts to be my wingman, I drove my buddy home with the woman he was going to sleep with that night, and then I continued on my merry way to my house alone. Now, that sounds like a bit of sour grapes, but trust me, going home alone, is all that I really wanted to do.
The next day, which was Saturday, I went on a ride with a couple of friends. They were on one bike, and I was of course on Saki. This was the first time, I'd ever ridden with someone. I can't say that I'm a fan of it yet. I can say, that I don't like playing follow the leader. I want to be in the lead, that's all there is to it. I'm pretty sure that it is some kind of control issue, but when I was lead rider, I loved it, when I was tail rider, I hated every minute of it. I had no control of the pace, or where we were going, I just followed, and that kind of defeats the idea of the freedom of a motorcycle. I guess, that I'm just not a pack rider. I'm pretty much a lone wolf in my life, why would I think I would be any different on a bike.
One note about the ride. When the lanes opened up on a Causeway, I got into it. I took off from my friends, and I was flying. I quickly got it up to 100mph as I was coming up to a bridge. It took it's time getting up to 110mph when I was going over the bridge, so I decided that it was beginning to top out, plus my friends were struggling to keep up. I throttled down, and it took a good while before they got on my rear wheel again. Saki handled it like a dream. It was stable with minimal shake, which was mostly from the road itself and nothing to do with the suspension or steering of the bike. It felt great. The whole ride the bike felt great. When I would approach a light or stop sign. I would simply take my hands off the grips to let it naturally throttle down. Saki went as straight as an arrow. I gained a lot of confidence that I didn't have on Saki before. It's still very new for me to be on a sports bike. I had only ridden dirt bikes and cruisers before. I like the sport bike a lot better than all those other ones. There is just a sense of being more of a part of the bike than on a cruiser or a dirt bike. If you've never ridden one, take a chance and give it a try some time.
Today, I got to spend some real good quality time with a dear old friend. She is like a sister to me, and I don't get to see her as much as I would like to. We both have pretty busy schedules, but when we find the time, we always make the most of it. The thing is, it's all about talking, and great conversation. We have had some really great conversations over the years, and never seem to hit a dead zone, where neither one of us has something to say. The conversation just flows. I think that is how we became friends. We just sort of clicked from the start, and it was always easy to talk to one another. Anyway, to get to a point before this goes on forever. I was going to be her first human subject for photography. Yes, she has photographed people before, but this was going to be the first time doing it, thinking in a professional sense. She's really good at what she does, although there isn't a whole lot you can do with the mug of mine. Here is a link to her Instagram account for her photography Elie Wolf Photography Take a look at what she has, and if you have an Instagram account, follow her, you won't be disappointed in what she puts up there, with the exception of that human shot. Once again, not much you can do with this.
I'll see you all on Tuesday night, with a "Favorite Song of the Week". I know I missed it this past week, but it will be back in full force this week. Peace in and goodnight.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
A Day in the Life.
Last night was very strange. For the first time in a year, I did not write, and it felt really odd. I know what you are thinking. You didm't write Tuesday night, you just copy and pasted. I did do that, but the format didn't work on here quite as well as I wanted it to. The post in preview was going well beyond the border, and was bleeding into darkened areas on the template. I had to edit it, and retype everything word for word. I did get to correct a few mistakes as well, so it all paid off in then end. I'm sure that I will get over it, but I may have to rethink my three times a week post idea. We will see how it goes first.
I got a new vest in today for riding. It's chest and back armor, so that I have a little protection when it is too hot to where a jacket. It's an Icon Stryker vest. I'll try to get a picture of it for Sunday nights post. I tried it on, and it feel real comfortable, but the real proof will come when I ride with it on. I"m hoping that the rain chances tomorrow are low enough to roll Saki out to go to work on.
I honestly thought, that by breaking this up, it would be much easier to write, but I don't have a lot to say tonight. I guess I could do a little promotion for my Instagram account. Thanks to the brilliant idea of a friend of mine, I am posting a "Picture of the Day". I was doing that on Facebook, but when I deactivated that account, that fell away. Actually I stopped it last week before I left for Denver, but I have brought it over to Instagram. If you want to follow it, and see a picture that is either; funny, inspirational, touching, or just down right cute, click on this link. Counterfeit Squirrel on Instagram
For right now, I am only posting one picture a day, so if you go to the top corner, and hit the three dots and click on "turn on notifications" you will get an alert when I post. I may randomly post a second picture from time to time, but that will usually be something that I think is worth sharing. for instance, I might post a picture of the new Icon vest, or something like that.
I will go through what will seem to be phases from time to time. I might get a few animals in a row, or funny signs outside of bars, but that is just how I find them. I don't have photo credits for the pictures, because that is how I find them, but if I ever come across some with a photo credit, I will pass that along. The idea behind it, is to brighten your day, and to be notoriously positive. I think this world needs a little of that right now, and this is just the little bit that I can provide.
Which reminds me, speaking of the world needing positivity right now. This is on the other spectrum of that. I still have not found a full list of the victims of the Nice attack. If anyone out there knows of such a list, please pass it on to me. Either leave it in the comments, or email it to me. I believe my email address is in the very top right hand corner of this.
I"m going to see an old friend of mine this Sunday. She has masterfully taken up photography, and has asked me to be her first human subject. I'm not all that fond of getting my picture taken (let's face it, i'm not all that photogenic), but for her, I'll do anything. She has been there for me in some of my darkest times, so if getting my picture pays her back in any way, I'm in. I'll ask her permission to share the picture on here this Sunday night, if at all possible.
That's really all I have for you tonight. I hope for an adventurous weekend to report on for Sunday, but I can't make any promises. Peace in and goodnight.
I got a new vest in today for riding. It's chest and back armor, so that I have a little protection when it is too hot to where a jacket. It's an Icon Stryker vest. I'll try to get a picture of it for Sunday nights post. I tried it on, and it feel real comfortable, but the real proof will come when I ride with it on. I"m hoping that the rain chances tomorrow are low enough to roll Saki out to go to work on.
I honestly thought, that by breaking this up, it would be much easier to write, but I don't have a lot to say tonight. I guess I could do a little promotion for my Instagram account. Thanks to the brilliant idea of a friend of mine, I am posting a "Picture of the Day". I was doing that on Facebook, but when I deactivated that account, that fell away. Actually I stopped it last week before I left for Denver, but I have brought it over to Instagram. If you want to follow it, and see a picture that is either; funny, inspirational, touching, or just down right cute, click on this link. Counterfeit Squirrel on Instagram
For right now, I am only posting one picture a day, so if you go to the top corner, and hit the three dots and click on "turn on notifications" you will get an alert when I post. I may randomly post a second picture from time to time, but that will usually be something that I think is worth sharing. for instance, I might post a picture of the new Icon vest, or something like that.
I will go through what will seem to be phases from time to time. I might get a few animals in a row, or funny signs outside of bars, but that is just how I find them. I don't have photo credits for the pictures, because that is how I find them, but if I ever come across some with a photo credit, I will pass that along. The idea behind it, is to brighten your day, and to be notoriously positive. I think this world needs a little of that right now, and this is just the little bit that I can provide.
Which reminds me, speaking of the world needing positivity right now. This is on the other spectrum of that. I still have not found a full list of the victims of the Nice attack. If anyone out there knows of such a list, please pass it on to me. Either leave it in the comments, or email it to me. I believe my email address is in the very top right hand corner of this.
I"m going to see an old friend of mine this Sunday. She has masterfully taken up photography, and has asked me to be her first human subject. I'm not all that fond of getting my picture taken (let's face it, i'm not all that photogenic), but for her, I'll do anything. She has been there for me in some of my darkest times, so if getting my picture pays her back in any way, I'm in. I'll ask her permission to share the picture on here this Sunday night, if at all possible.
That's really all I have for you tonight. I hope for an adventurous weekend to report on for Sunday, but I can't make any promises. Peace in and goodnight.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Day 365 Diary / Journal Entry
This will be the one and only time that I do a repost. What is coming next, is the final entry of my 365 Project. I have kept this blog a little less than personal so far, but that is about to change in a big way with this post. This is something that I've kept to myself for some time now, and saved it for this moment. It marks the end of the 365 and the. shall we say, Grand Opening of Counterfeit Squirrel.
Here it is, the final entry at long last. I've been thinking about this post for months now. How wass I going to start it? How was I going to put things in order warthog an order in my head? How was I going to make sense of the senseless? I guess the start is now covered, the rest however, remains to be seen.
If you've read this on a regular basis, you have seen me talk about the book and movie, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". There is a reason for that, beyond my love of it, and that is because when I read the book, it was a trigger for me. I can remember posting a status update about how I couldn't stop reading it but I knew I should because of the state of mind it was putting me in, or something to those affects. I nearly read the book in a few hours, but I had to stop, I forced myself to stop, because the flood of memories that were beginning to come bak to me.
I had a connection to Charlie, the main Character. We were both molested at a young age. Mine wasn't by someone in my family as he was, but by a neighbor girl that was much older than me. AS I read the book and saw where it was going, memories that I must have blacked out, began resurfacing. I was shocked, by shocked only describes how clear the memories were when they began coming to me.
I was 9 or 10, you may remember that age range rather well. That is the time of the birthday that went awry. It seems a lot of things were going on against me at that time, but I only remembered that miserable birthday party, that wasn't one. She was neighbor girl that was 16 years old. for some reason, her and her friends would hang with me and my friends from time to time. I never really understood it then, and I still don't now. We were little kids. We liked hanging out with them, because they were pretty, much older girls.
I don't really remember yet, how it all started, but I can remember a few things at this time. That is why I keep watching the movie, because I hope that its brings more memories to me when It does, and for the most part it has. I haven't reread the book yet, because I'm a little worried about the memories flooding in too fast. What I remember wan't innocent, but I don't know that I wasn't unwelcoming of the attention. The reason I say that, is because of the things we would do. She would sneak me into her bedroom t night, and have me lay under her bed and watch her change into her night clothes. Once her parents were asleep, she would sneak me back out of the house. A few times, she would make me with her through the window. I'm sure now, that was because it would have been too difficult to sneak me in. I know, this all sounds like nothing much, but that is only a few of the things that would go on.
ON several occasions, she would have me perform cunnilingus on her. She would tell me what to do, and how to do it. She would give me directions, and I would comply. We would also have these make-out type of sessions, where she would pull my hand under her shirt, and tell me how to caress her. I don't belly we her had intercourse, or at least that memory hasn't come back to me yet. I don'e even remember her touching me, I just remember her having me do the things I listed above.
Now that these memories are coming to me, things are starting to fall into place a bit. The why I have never had a successful relationship. Why I am so non-aggressive towards women (i want them to be the dominant one). Last but not least, why it is so hard for me to ask a woman out.. I tend to keep coming around until I know for sure that they want to go out with me. I don't know if any of the makes sense, but it has, in a way to me, and beefcake of that, I have found peace within myself. I've accepted what happened, and who I've become as a result of it. the fault lies with me, but not by my own doing.
I"ve been holding on to this for a very long time now, and I now I should have wrote this all out before, but I wanted to end this with something big, and I can't think of anything bigger than this. I held on to it, even though I shouldn't have, but now, it is finally time to let it go. The way so many things have left me through this entire process of the 365. I relive this will leave me as well. Even as I write this I can feel a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders. I amy be free of this.
I look back now, and see, that this has a lot to do with my depression and anxiety. I don't think that will go away, not by any means, but when I came to terms with this, I felt different. My depression was less, my anxiety wained. It's still there but not as strong. The grip is loosening on me, and I feel like the sky is the limit now.
With this ending, and the CS, now truly beginning (i know i've been posting there for a couple of months now, but this was always going to be the, grand opening if you will), I can move forward, and never look back. I hope you all find a journey as enlightening as this has been for me. I want you all to find love, compassion, and understanding. Those three little things will serve you better than anything else this world has to offer. I love and care for you all. Peace in and goodnight.
Here it is, the final entry at long last. I've been thinking about this post for months now. How wass I going to start it? How was I going to put things in order warthog an order in my head? How was I going to make sense of the senseless? I guess the start is now covered, the rest however, remains to be seen.
If you've read this on a regular basis, you have seen me talk about the book and movie, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". There is a reason for that, beyond my love of it, and that is because when I read the book, it was a trigger for me. I can remember posting a status update about how I couldn't stop reading it but I knew I should because of the state of mind it was putting me in, or something to those affects. I nearly read the book in a few hours, but I had to stop, I forced myself to stop, because the flood of memories that were beginning to come bak to me.
I had a connection to Charlie, the main Character. We were both molested at a young age. Mine wasn't by someone in my family as he was, but by a neighbor girl that was much older than me. AS I read the book and saw where it was going, memories that I must have blacked out, began resurfacing. I was shocked, by shocked only describes how clear the memories were when they began coming to me.
I was 9 or 10, you may remember that age range rather well. That is the time of the birthday that went awry. It seems a lot of things were going on against me at that time, but I only remembered that miserable birthday party, that wasn't one. She was neighbor girl that was 16 years old. for some reason, her and her friends would hang with me and my friends from time to time. I never really understood it then, and I still don't now. We were little kids. We liked hanging out with them, because they were pretty, much older girls.
I don't really remember yet, how it all started, but I can remember a few things at this time. That is why I keep watching the movie, because I hope that its brings more memories to me when It does, and for the most part it has. I haven't reread the book yet, because I'm a little worried about the memories flooding in too fast. What I remember wan't innocent, but I don't know that I wasn't unwelcoming of the attention. The reason I say that, is because of the things we would do. She would sneak me into her bedroom t night, and have me lay under her bed and watch her change into her night clothes. Once her parents were asleep, she would sneak me back out of the house. A few times, she would make me with her through the window. I'm sure now, that was because it would have been too difficult to sneak me in. I know, this all sounds like nothing much, but that is only a few of the things that would go on.
ON several occasions, she would have me perform cunnilingus on her. She would tell me what to do, and how to do it. She would give me directions, and I would comply. We would also have these make-out type of sessions, where she would pull my hand under her shirt, and tell me how to caress her. I don't belly we her had intercourse, or at least that memory hasn't come back to me yet. I don'e even remember her touching me, I just remember her having me do the things I listed above.
Now that these memories are coming to me, things are starting to fall into place a bit. The why I have never had a successful relationship. Why I am so non-aggressive towards women (i want them to be the dominant one). Last but not least, why it is so hard for me to ask a woman out.. I tend to keep coming around until I know for sure that they want to go out with me. I don't know if any of the makes sense, but it has, in a way to me, and beefcake of that, I have found peace within myself. I've accepted what happened, and who I've become as a result of it. the fault lies with me, but not by my own doing.
I"ve been holding on to this for a very long time now, and I now I should have wrote this all out before, but I wanted to end this with something big, and I can't think of anything bigger than this. I held on to it, even though I shouldn't have, but now, it is finally time to let it go. The way so many things have left me through this entire process of the 365. I relive this will leave me as well. Even as I write this I can feel a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders. I amy be free of this.
I look back now, and see, that this has a lot to do with my depression and anxiety. I don't think that will go away, not by any means, but when I came to terms with this, I felt different. My depression was less, my anxiety wained. It's still there but not as strong. The grip is loosening on me, and I feel like the sky is the limit now.
With this ending, and the CS, now truly beginning (i know i've been posting there for a couple of months now, but this was always going to be the, grand opening if you will), I can move forward, and never look back. I hope you all find a journey as enlightening as this has been for me. I want you all to find love, compassion, and understanding. Those three little things will serve you better than anything else this world has to offer. I love and care for you all. Peace in and goodnight.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Rocky Mountain High
This is coming in rather late tonight. I've been fighting with my internet connection. This is also going old school tonight. That is where I type this up from my Mac instead of my MacBook.
I want to start of tonight, by mentioning the horrific act that took place in Nice, France. Once again, hatred has reared it's ugly head, and once again, many innocent people lost their lives. As soon as I find a complete list of the victims, I will post it here. There are only a few names available at this time, but I urge you to ignore the name of the person who did this act, and concentrate on those who were victims of it. The person that did this, needs to be forgotten, he needs to be unknown. The people who died as a result of this cowardly act, those people need to be honored by remembering their names. They are the light in the darkness.
I got back from my short vacation tonight, and it was marvelous. I'll give you the summary of everything that happened. I landed in Colorado and was picked up by one of my favorite people in this world. We headed of to the house to put my bags up, and then we went for breakfast. After that,w as a few rounds of putt-putt golf to waste some time before we had to head to Red Rocks for the Twenty One Pilots concert. It was amazing.
This was taken right after we got to our seats. Mute Math was about to go on stage. If you take a look at those clouds off in the distance, they were providing their own light show, which became even more impressive when the sun went down. Pictures really don't do justice to this venue. It is a gym of a concert venue. You will find nothing like it in the world, and I'm so glad I got to see Twenty One Pilots there.
The next day, we headed into the Downtown Denver area, to take a tour of Coors Field. I'm a big fan of the Rockies, so to get to see the ins and outs of the whole stadium, was kind of a big deal for me. The team was off for the Allstar Break, but they have tours all the time when the team is away. I think it was a little cooler, to see the place with only a crowd of about 20 people or so. We had the whole park to ourselves.
We went everywhere; in the press boothes, the visitors clubhouse, the luxury suites, and even the field, as you can see by the pictures. It's a beautiful stadium, and if you like baseball, and you find yourself in Denver, definitely go and watch a game there.
From there, we made our way to a small baseball museum called the National Ballpark Museum. The mainly focused on ballparks that were built at the turn of the last century, and they had artifacts from just about all of them. It was a small place, but it housed some impressive stuff. it's right down the street from Coors Field, so once again, fi you find yourself in Denver and you like baseball, look up the museum. It would be a great thing to do before heading to the ballpark.
My Brother's Bar was next on the schedule. We walked their from the museum. It took us a little under a half hour. It is the kind of bar I would find myself in on a weekly basis. It is the epitome of the dive bar. It is also where Jack Kerouac went when he was in Denver.
Last but not lease for my second day in town, was Lakeside Amusement Park. It's a very old amusement park, and looks every bit it's age. It is rumored to be haunted, but I didn't get that feeling at all, however, this picture tells a story. It's an abandoned ferris wheel that sits right in the middle of the park. It is mostly state fair type rides, but they have a really cool old wooden coaster called the Cyclone. I'm sure it is a take on the one in Coney Island, but that doesn't make it less cool. I got to ride it twice, with the final time coming to end the day at night. It was wild, we sat in the front car, and I could swear that the wheel left the track a few times. That's just good old fashioned fun right there.
The next day was a bit more relaxing. We only did a tour of Coors brewery, and then headed to a great burger place called Bob's Atomic Burgers. We got some burgers to go, which were really good, and headed to another brewery right across the street from Coors. It was called Barrels and Bottles. I had a Melvin IPA, and an Orange Creamsicle Blonde. Both were really good.
Today was my last day there, and we took it down an even lower notch, and headed to the dog park. This was no ordinary dog park though. It went for miles, and head trails zig zagging across the whole thing. There were small streams and lakes for the dogs to play in, and it was just fun watching all the dogs having such a good time.
My flight was delayed by 2 hours, so I'm writing this at 3 in the morning now, so I'm going to wrap it up here, and get to writing the 365 then some sleep. Remember that this Tuesday, starts the new schedule on here. I will now be posting Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. The 365 wraps up on Monday, and I will be deleting my Facebook account on Tuesday night directly after posting on here. I hope you enjoy the ride that we are on. Peace in and goodnight.
I want to start of tonight, by mentioning the horrific act that took place in Nice, France. Once again, hatred has reared it's ugly head, and once again, many innocent people lost their lives. As soon as I find a complete list of the victims, I will post it here. There are only a few names available at this time, but I urge you to ignore the name of the person who did this act, and concentrate on those who were victims of it. The person that did this, needs to be forgotten, he needs to be unknown. The people who died as a result of this cowardly act, those people need to be honored by remembering their names. They are the light in the darkness.
I got back from my short vacation tonight, and it was marvelous. I'll give you the summary of everything that happened. I landed in Colorado and was picked up by one of my favorite people in this world. We headed of to the house to put my bags up, and then we went for breakfast. After that,w as a few rounds of putt-putt golf to waste some time before we had to head to Red Rocks for the Twenty One Pilots concert. It was amazing.
This was taken right after we got to our seats. Mute Math was about to go on stage. If you take a look at those clouds off in the distance, they were providing their own light show, which became even more impressive when the sun went down. Pictures really don't do justice to this venue. It is a gym of a concert venue. You will find nothing like it in the world, and I'm so glad I got to see Twenty One Pilots there.
We went everywhere; in the press boothes, the visitors clubhouse, the luxury suites, and even the field, as you can see by the pictures. It's a beautiful stadium, and if you like baseball, and you find yourself in Denver, definitely go and watch a game there.
My Brother's Bar was next on the schedule. We walked their from the museum. It took us a little under a half hour. It is the kind of bar I would find myself in on a weekly basis. It is the epitome of the dive bar. It is also where Jack Kerouac went when he was in Denver.
Last but not lease for my second day in town, was Lakeside Amusement Park. It's a very old amusement park, and looks every bit it's age. It is rumored to be haunted, but I didn't get that feeling at all, however, this picture tells a story. It's an abandoned ferris wheel that sits right in the middle of the park. It is mostly state fair type rides, but they have a really cool old wooden coaster called the Cyclone. I'm sure it is a take on the one in Coney Island, but that doesn't make it less cool. I got to ride it twice, with the final time coming to end the day at night. It was wild, we sat in the front car, and I could swear that the wheel left the track a few times. That's just good old fashioned fun right there.
The next day was a bit more relaxing. We only did a tour of Coors brewery, and then headed to a great burger place called Bob's Atomic Burgers. We got some burgers to go, which were really good, and headed to another brewery right across the street from Coors. It was called Barrels and Bottles. I had a Melvin IPA, and an Orange Creamsicle Blonde. Both were really good.
Today was my last day there, and we took it down an even lower notch, and headed to the dog park. This was no ordinary dog park though. It went for miles, and head trails zig zagging across the whole thing. There were small streams and lakes for the dogs to play in, and it was just fun watching all the dogs having such a good time.
My flight was delayed by 2 hours, so I'm writing this at 3 in the morning now, so I'm going to wrap it up here, and get to writing the 365 then some sleep. Remember that this Tuesday, starts the new schedule on here. I will now be posting Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. The 365 wraps up on Monday, and I will be deleting my Facebook account on Tuesday night directly after posting on here. I hope you enjoy the ride that we are on. Peace in and goodnight.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
From Denver to New Orleans.
I'm heading to Colorado tomorrow. What am I excited most about? Is it seeing my favorite band at Red Rocks? Is it seeing one of my most favorite people in the world? Nope, it's that I finally get to take my portable squatty potty with me. I bought a couple of them a while ago, just for going on trips. This is the first time I will get to travel with it.
I've had a squatty potty for a few years now, and it is truly the greatest purchase that I've ever made. If you have heard or seen commercials for them, you might think that they are kind of embellishing. I can tell you, that they are not. It works as advertised. It puts your body ini a more natural position. I'll fill you in on how well it works when I get back Saturday. My plane is supposed to land after ten, so that should get me home close to midnight. Just in time to write a new post.
Next Tuesday, starts the new schedule on here. I will begin position three times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. The Saturday post will go away for now. If I see a reason or if people tell me that they want it back, I will gladly start posting on that day again. Next Tuesday will be the one and only time that I will be doing a repost. It will be from the final installment of my 365 project. I've been saving a big reveal for that post. I figure that it's a good way to go out on there, and a great way to start the new schedule on here. I hope that you enjoy it, because it's going to be something very private and personal.
I was watching America's Got Talent tonight, and it was the first round of the judge's cuts. It's basically the final round before they begin the live shows. They used to call it Vegas Week, but they are doing it differently this year, and I'm not sure I like it. All the acts used to have to come out in front of only the judges and perform. Now they have a crowd watching them. I think just doing it in front of the judges alone, is much more intimidating than performing in front of a crowd. It is what it is though, and I wanted to share with you the act that I liked the best. It was a young female comedian Lori Mae Hernandez. She is very funny, and writes her own material. She says that she is very shy at school and around other people, but you wouldn't know it at all by watching her act. She has stage presence, like a seasoned veteran. She controls the stage and the crowd. Take a look and see what you think.
I was watching Ride with Norman Reedus this week, and he was riding motorcycles through Louisiana. Louisiana, is one of my favorite states. The main reason, si because of New Orleans. It is a city of wonder, and that was his final destination in this episode. It got me thinking of all the great music that has come out of there, and all the great artist as well. You got, Fats Domino, Louie Armstrong, The Nevelle Borthers, Dr. John, Harry Connick Jr., Better Than Ezra, Mute Math, and so many more. Even Jimmy Buffett did a stint busking there for a time. Probably my favorite artist out of all of them, is Professor Longhair. He was style incarnate, and could play the piano like nobody's business. so My Favorite Song of the Week, belongs to him. Here is "Go To The Mardi Gras".
Peace in and goodnight.
I've had a squatty potty for a few years now, and it is truly the greatest purchase that I've ever made. If you have heard or seen commercials for them, you might think that they are kind of embellishing. I can tell you, that they are not. It works as advertised. It puts your body ini a more natural position. I'll fill you in on how well it works when I get back Saturday. My plane is supposed to land after ten, so that should get me home close to midnight. Just in time to write a new post.
Next Tuesday, starts the new schedule on here. I will begin position three times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. The Saturday post will go away for now. If I see a reason or if people tell me that they want it back, I will gladly start posting on that day again. Next Tuesday will be the one and only time that I will be doing a repost. It will be from the final installment of my 365 project. I've been saving a big reveal for that post. I figure that it's a good way to go out on there, and a great way to start the new schedule on here. I hope that you enjoy it, because it's going to be something very private and personal.
I was watching America's Got Talent tonight, and it was the first round of the judge's cuts. It's basically the final round before they begin the live shows. They used to call it Vegas Week, but they are doing it differently this year, and I'm not sure I like it. All the acts used to have to come out in front of only the judges and perform. Now they have a crowd watching them. I think just doing it in front of the judges alone, is much more intimidating than performing in front of a crowd. It is what it is though, and I wanted to share with you the act that I liked the best. It was a young female comedian Lori Mae Hernandez. She is very funny, and writes her own material. She says that she is very shy at school and around other people, but you wouldn't know it at all by watching her act. She has stage presence, like a seasoned veteran. She controls the stage and the crowd. Take a look and see what you think.
I was watching Ride with Norman Reedus this week, and he was riding motorcycles through Louisiana. Louisiana, is one of my favorite states. The main reason, si because of New Orleans. It is a city of wonder, and that was his final destination in this episode. It got me thinking of all the great music that has come out of there, and all the great artist as well. You got, Fats Domino, Louie Armstrong, The Nevelle Borthers, Dr. John, Harry Connick Jr., Better Than Ezra, Mute Math, and so many more. Even Jimmy Buffett did a stint busking there for a time. Probably my favorite artist out of all of them, is Professor Longhair. He was style incarnate, and could play the piano like nobody's business. so My Favorite Song of the Week, belongs to him. Here is "Go To The Mardi Gras".
Peace in and goodnight.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Just A Not So Average Post.
It's been a rough week, but it seems that things may have finally calmed a bit. There were many horrific deaths around the country, and they created a less than pleasant dialogue. Actually, it was more like many monologues. Dialogue means that there was a discussion, but this was defiantly more about opinions being shouted with no compromise. I'm not going to dwell on that though. The one thing I am going to do though, is list the names of the victims. I believe that their names should be known, and remembered. This is how I honor the fallen. I will never post the names of those who commit these horrific acts. They are worthless to me, and should not be known or remembered.
Alton Sterling
Philando Castile
Lorne Ahrens
Michael Krol
Michael J, Smith
Brent Thompson
Patrick Zamarripa
Remember their names, and honor them the best that you can, in whatever way that you can.
Violence only creates more violence, and I have to believe that truly deep down, no one wants violence. It is only through fear of difference that violent acts happen. This leads me back to my post earlier this week about Love, Understanding, and Compassion. Those three things have never caused violent acts. They have only caused acts of kindness, and we need more of that in this world. I wish I could say that these acts are an escalation, but I don't believe that they are. I believe that we are only becoming more aware of them because of the technology we have today that allows us to view it. There is an old adage that says, "things will get worse before they get better.". I hope that this is the worse, and that soon it will get better.
Let's get on to a different topic. I got the new back up helmet in this week, and can finally show you pictures of it. It isn't as comfortable as my Arai, but it isn't bad. Even though it has less venting it still has decent air flow. Oh, I should mention that it is an HJC IS-17. The IS refers to an internal shield, which works rather well. I can ride with the main shield up, and drop the internal down, which gives me even more airflow into the helmet. Leaving the main shield up though, causes a bit of whistling. It is painted with graphics to make it look like Iron Man's helmet, so the cool factor is definitely there. Well, I'll just let you see for yourself.
Side view with main shield down.
Front view
Rear view
Front view with internal shield down
The one main problem I have with this helmet, is that the cheek pads are very tight on it. I'm sure after wearing it for a while and breaking it in, it should get more comfortable, but it is going to be my back up, so comfort isn't quite as important. It is slightly heavier than the Arai, but not enough to cause any problems. The amber shield is great for early morning or night time riding. It dulls any light flare that you might get, and in the day time, the internal shield, which as you an see is smoked, works great to keep the sun out of your eyes. It isn't glasses friendly, so I will be only wearing it when I have my contacts in. All in all though, it is a great helmet for the price.
I head off to Colorado this week, to see Twenty One Pilots for the seventh time. I leave Wednesday morning, so I will have one more post for you before I leave. I fly back home next Saturday, and should be back in plenty of time to tell you all about what happened on my very short but much needed vacation. Until then, peace in and goodnight.
Alton Sterling
Philando Castile
Lorne Ahrens
Michael Krol
Michael J, Smith
Brent Thompson
Patrick Zamarripa
Remember their names, and honor them the best that you can, in whatever way that you can.
Violence only creates more violence, and I have to believe that truly deep down, no one wants violence. It is only through fear of difference that violent acts happen. This leads me back to my post earlier this week about Love, Understanding, and Compassion. Those three things have never caused violent acts. They have only caused acts of kindness, and we need more of that in this world. I wish I could say that these acts are an escalation, but I don't believe that they are. I believe that we are only becoming more aware of them because of the technology we have today that allows us to view it. There is an old adage that says, "things will get worse before they get better.". I hope that this is the worse, and that soon it will get better.
Let's get on to a different topic. I got the new back up helmet in this week, and can finally show you pictures of it. It isn't as comfortable as my Arai, but it isn't bad. Even though it has less venting it still has decent air flow. Oh, I should mention that it is an HJC IS-17. The IS refers to an internal shield, which works rather well. I can ride with the main shield up, and drop the internal down, which gives me even more airflow into the helmet. Leaving the main shield up though, causes a bit of whistling. It is painted with graphics to make it look like Iron Man's helmet, so the cool factor is definitely there. Well, I'll just let you see for yourself.
Rear view
Front view with internal shield down
The one main problem I have with this helmet, is that the cheek pads are very tight on it. I'm sure after wearing it for a while and breaking it in, it should get more comfortable, but it is going to be my back up, so comfort isn't quite as important. It is slightly heavier than the Arai, but not enough to cause any problems. The amber shield is great for early morning or night time riding. It dulls any light flare that you might get, and in the day time, the internal shield, which as you an see is smoked, works great to keep the sun out of your eyes. It isn't glasses friendly, so I will be only wearing it when I have my contacts in. All in all though, it is a great helmet for the price.
I head off to Colorado this week, to see Twenty One Pilots for the seventh time. I leave Wednesday morning, so I will have one more post for you before I leave. I fly back home next Saturday, and should be back in plenty of time to tell you all about what happened on my very short but much needed vacation. Until then, peace in and goodnight.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Love, Understanding, and Compassion
I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I have another helmet arriving tomorrow. I've been keeping this one a bit of a surprise, so I haven't really spilled any details about it. I can say, that it didn't cost as much as the Arai, and it is a bit heavier, but it should be a great back-up helmet, if anything happens to the Arai.
Another weekend passed and of course there was another terrorist attack. Suicide bombers in Iraq claimed the lives of over 200 people. The news about this attack has been rather non existent. Is it because that it is Iraq and we aren't supposed to care about them? How are we not supposed to care about innocent human beings being slaughtered? My heart goes out to all the victims of these heinous attacks. I just saw that there were bombings in Saudi Arabia today. I don't have any of the details on those, but I can imagine that it is more of the same, senseless death to quench the thirst of blood hungry madmen. They aren't doing this for religion, they are doing it for greed and nothing less. Then proof of this is what you see happen when they take over a city. They pillage, plunder and steal everything they can. They don't free the followers of their fate, they kill them as examples, and that is if they are lucky. The unlucky ones are usually the women of all ages, that are systematically raped, and forced into marriages with these madmen. They don't care about their religion, they don't care about peace, or love, or anything like that. They only care about getting what ever they want, and if they have to kill you to get it, then so be it.
I have always treated people as I would want to be treated. It has served me very well in this life, and I've made many friends of people that would probably not have given me a second thought. I am a pacifist, but do not let that confuse you, I will fight when I need to, but I will always look for a way not too. I think that through love, understanding and compassion, we can solve all things. I went to that Twenty One Pilots concert last Friday, and saw the most diverse crowd that I've seen anywhere, and they all came together to enjoy music, and joy. Twenty One Pilots message behind the message, has always been love, understanding and compassion. That is why all those people came together, and greeted each other as friends. When you are a Twenty One Pilots fan, you are part of the Clique. You are together. I believe that with love understanding and compassion, the entire world can come together. Fighting only leads to destruction, not just for the weaker of the foes, but for everyone involved. Even if you win, you come out a loser because of what the act you performed cost of your humanity. How much do we have to kill, before we are no longer human, and have become something else. I think that when Charles Darwin developed his Theory of Evolution, that this isn't what he had in mind. Are we to evolve into a warlike species, or would that be more of a devolving trait? We have to find a better way.
For my favorite song of this week, I've chosen a song by one of my favorite artist. She goes by the name Danielle Ate the Sandwich, and she plays the ukulele. She wrote this song recently and posted it late last night. I think it says quite a bit, and falls right in with what I've been talking about tonight. Here is Danielle Ate the Sandwich with "Peace to you Brother".
As I always end this and my 365 with my short little phrase, that I truly believe in, peace in and goodnight.
Another weekend passed and of course there was another terrorist attack. Suicide bombers in Iraq claimed the lives of over 200 people. The news about this attack has been rather non existent. Is it because that it is Iraq and we aren't supposed to care about them? How are we not supposed to care about innocent human beings being slaughtered? My heart goes out to all the victims of these heinous attacks. I just saw that there were bombings in Saudi Arabia today. I don't have any of the details on those, but I can imagine that it is more of the same, senseless death to quench the thirst of blood hungry madmen. They aren't doing this for religion, they are doing it for greed and nothing less. Then proof of this is what you see happen when they take over a city. They pillage, plunder and steal everything they can. They don't free the followers of their fate, they kill them as examples, and that is if they are lucky. The unlucky ones are usually the women of all ages, that are systematically raped, and forced into marriages with these madmen. They don't care about their religion, they don't care about peace, or love, or anything like that. They only care about getting what ever they want, and if they have to kill you to get it, then so be it.
I have always treated people as I would want to be treated. It has served me very well in this life, and I've made many friends of people that would probably not have given me a second thought. I am a pacifist, but do not let that confuse you, I will fight when I need to, but I will always look for a way not too. I think that through love, understanding and compassion, we can solve all things. I went to that Twenty One Pilots concert last Friday, and saw the most diverse crowd that I've seen anywhere, and they all came together to enjoy music, and joy. Twenty One Pilots message behind the message, has always been love, understanding and compassion. That is why all those people came together, and greeted each other as friends. When you are a Twenty One Pilots fan, you are part of the Clique. You are together. I believe that with love understanding and compassion, the entire world can come together. Fighting only leads to destruction, not just for the weaker of the foes, but for everyone involved. Even if you win, you come out a loser because of what the act you performed cost of your humanity. How much do we have to kill, before we are no longer human, and have become something else. I think that when Charles Darwin developed his Theory of Evolution, that this isn't what he had in mind. Are we to evolve into a warlike species, or would that be more of a devolving trait? We have to find a better way.
For my favorite song of this week, I've chosen a song by one of my favorite artist. She goes by the name Danielle Ate the Sandwich, and she plays the ukulele. She wrote this song recently and posted it late last night. I think it says quite a bit, and falls right in with what I've been talking about tonight. Here is Danielle Ate the Sandwich with "Peace to you Brother".
As I always end this and my 365 with my short little phrase, that I truly believe in, peace in and goodnight.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Skeleton Clique
I had this brilliant plan of posting a bunch of photos of the new helmet with a review about it. I failed to take any more photos other than the one after I got it, so it will have to suffice for the review. Also, I have a few photos from the Twenty One Pilots concert last night, as well as a video of what I thought was the best act of America's Got Talent. I didn't want to burden you with a bunch of pictures and videos. I'm trying to keep it to a minimum, so on with the helmet review.
There it is in all it's beauty. The new Arai XD-4. I also got my new Icon Overlord gloves in there. Quickly on them. They were discounted to a cheap price, and I wanted to try a glove a size down to see if they would fit better and not have all that extra dumb that my normal gloves have. It worked out perfectly. The fit is a little extra snug, but I expect them to break in in no time.
On to the helmet. I got the chance to test it out in probably the one set of conditions that I didn't want to test it out in. That would be the rain. I really wanted a few hundred miles under my wheels before I got Saki in the rain, but the weather snuck up on me this Thursday, and I had to ride home in the rain. The helmet worked great. It is light enough that it doesn't affect me at all, and the fit is exceptional. I don't have that claustrophobic feeling that I have gotten in every other helmet, with the exception of my half shell. The venting was great. The front vent got plenty of air to my face, while the side vents minimized fogging on the shield. Since I did get a little bit of fogging, I alleviated that problem by simply cracking the shield. The visor didn't obstruct my view at all. I had read a review that said it would cause you problems when you were stopped at lights, and that it would keep you from seeing them. I didn't have that problem at all. It also didn't catch any drag when I turned my head to check on traffic behind me. It is definitely the best helmet that I have ever owned. If you need a helmet, and are questioning whether or not this is right for you, I say give it a shot. It's not cheap, but if you are going to spend money on any accessory for riding, the helmet is the one to spend it on.
Last night, I saw my favorite band at the Amway Center in Orlando. The show was better than I even expected it to be. In part, because of the woman I met standing in line to get in. She is an outstanding person, and I hope to see her again some time. Enough of that though. let's get to the show. I had floor tickets, so I knew I would have a good shot at standing somewhere with a great view. When I walked in, I noticed a small stage down on the floor. I had seen Fall Out Boy do that once before. They played a small set there, and let the fans at the back of the floor have a chance to get a little closer to the band. I'll get to more of the floor stage later. The opening act was a band called CHEF'SPECIAL. They were a reggae type band from Norway, and they did a great job of getting the crowd warmed up, and ready for the main show. They had a great sound and got people moving to the beat.
The second opener was Mutemath. Thanks to the woman I met, I found out that they were a big influence on TOP. They started their set with the drummer coming out to the kit, and taping his headphones to his head like a madman. My new friend pointed this out to me, it's because he goes insane on the drums, and there is no other way to keep his headphones on. That was a show in itself. At about the second song, I came to the conclusion that I was mad, that I hadn't been listening to these guys. They were great, and they really charged up the crowd. Great songs, lot's of energy, and their closer was simply amazing. The entire band with the exception of the all purpose guy (he played guitar, keyboards, and anything else you could possible play) surrounded the drum kit, and all of them played it at once. The other guy had some sort of machine that he was playing all kinds of samples and sounds from. The whole thing was mind-blowing. I wanted more, but isn't that the best way to leave the crowd? Always wanting more?
Twenty One Pilots took the stage, and the place exploded. The crowd went out of their minds, myself included. This was the best show that I've ever seen them do, and I've seen them 6 times now. The played their newest song from the Suicide Squad soundtrack "Heathens", and it gave me chills. The entire crowd new every word and sang along with it. The song is only a couple of weeks old. That is what this band does to you. You want to know every lyric to every song. My new friend had other friends there, that had seen 5 of the current tours shows so far, so they knew when things were happening, so at the right moment, we headed to the floor stage, to have a great view. I was in the second row behind the barriers at that point, and I did the one thing that I don't ever do at concerts, I took out my phone and took pictures. I felt the compulsion take over me, and I let loose. Here is what I got from that area.
Pretty close right? The did about 15 minutes of a set there, where they played some of their older songs, mostly off the first self titled album, and the unreleased album Regional. Once they were done there, they made their way back to the stage, and I had to take a couple more pictures, because we worked our way back that way for the rest of the show.
Not a bad place to stand. I'm not going to tell you all the stuff they did during the show, because it is really one of those, you had to be there moments. I can say this though. I have no idea how they are going to pull some of the stuff off at Red Rocks, which is where I will be seeing them in 11 days. Even if they can't pull off certain things, it's still going to be an amazing show. I had such a great time, and met some wonderful people. That is the way it is when you are part of the Skeleton Clique.
I'm going to finish up tonight with a video from America's Got Talent. The performer is named Brian Justin Crum, and he is a singer, maybe singer is a bit of an understatement. He took on a Queen song, and I'm one to be critical of anyone who tries to take on the legend that is Freddie Mercury. Freddie was the greatest voice in rock history. You an argue you with me all you want, but you will not change my mind on this, so when someone does Queen they better bring it. I don't think they have to sound like Freddie, but the definitely have to have extreme talent, and this kid does. Just watch for yourself and see what you think.
So what did you think? I think the kid is good and he laid it all out there. I want to see what he does next. Peace in and goodnight.
On to the helmet. I got the chance to test it out in probably the one set of conditions that I didn't want to test it out in. That would be the rain. I really wanted a few hundred miles under my wheels before I got Saki in the rain, but the weather snuck up on me this Thursday, and I had to ride home in the rain. The helmet worked great. It is light enough that it doesn't affect me at all, and the fit is exceptional. I don't have that claustrophobic feeling that I have gotten in every other helmet, with the exception of my half shell. The venting was great. The front vent got plenty of air to my face, while the side vents minimized fogging on the shield. Since I did get a little bit of fogging, I alleviated that problem by simply cracking the shield. The visor didn't obstruct my view at all. I had read a review that said it would cause you problems when you were stopped at lights, and that it would keep you from seeing them. I didn't have that problem at all. It also didn't catch any drag when I turned my head to check on traffic behind me. It is definitely the best helmet that I have ever owned. If you need a helmet, and are questioning whether or not this is right for you, I say give it a shot. It's not cheap, but if you are going to spend money on any accessory for riding, the helmet is the one to spend it on.
Last night, I saw my favorite band at the Amway Center in Orlando. The show was better than I even expected it to be. In part, because of the woman I met standing in line to get in. She is an outstanding person, and I hope to see her again some time. Enough of that though. let's get to the show. I had floor tickets, so I knew I would have a good shot at standing somewhere with a great view. When I walked in, I noticed a small stage down on the floor. I had seen Fall Out Boy do that once before. They played a small set there, and let the fans at the back of the floor have a chance to get a little closer to the band. I'll get to more of the floor stage later. The opening act was a band called CHEF'SPECIAL. They were a reggae type band from Norway, and they did a great job of getting the crowd warmed up, and ready for the main show. They had a great sound and got people moving to the beat.
The second opener was Mutemath. Thanks to the woman I met, I found out that they were a big influence on TOP. They started their set with the drummer coming out to the kit, and taping his headphones to his head like a madman. My new friend pointed this out to me, it's because he goes insane on the drums, and there is no other way to keep his headphones on. That was a show in itself. At about the second song, I came to the conclusion that I was mad, that I hadn't been listening to these guys. They were great, and they really charged up the crowd. Great songs, lot's of energy, and their closer was simply amazing. The entire band with the exception of the all purpose guy (he played guitar, keyboards, and anything else you could possible play) surrounded the drum kit, and all of them played it at once. The other guy had some sort of machine that he was playing all kinds of samples and sounds from. The whole thing was mind-blowing. I wanted more, but isn't that the best way to leave the crowd? Always wanting more?
Twenty One Pilots took the stage, and the place exploded. The crowd went out of their minds, myself included. This was the best show that I've ever seen them do, and I've seen them 6 times now. The played their newest song from the Suicide Squad soundtrack "Heathens", and it gave me chills. The entire crowd new every word and sang along with it. The song is only a couple of weeks old. That is what this band does to you. You want to know every lyric to every song. My new friend had other friends there, that had seen 5 of the current tours shows so far, so they knew when things were happening, so at the right moment, we headed to the floor stage, to have a great view. I was in the second row behind the barriers at that point, and I did the one thing that I don't ever do at concerts, I took out my phone and took pictures. I felt the compulsion take over me, and I let loose. Here is what I got from that area.
Pretty close right? The did about 15 minutes of a set there, where they played some of their older songs, mostly off the first self titled album, and the unreleased album Regional. Once they were done there, they made their way back to the stage, and I had to take a couple more pictures, because we worked our way back that way for the rest of the show.
Not a bad place to stand. I'm not going to tell you all the stuff they did during the show, because it is really one of those, you had to be there moments. I can say this though. I have no idea how they are going to pull some of the stuff off at Red Rocks, which is where I will be seeing them in 11 days. Even if they can't pull off certain things, it's still going to be an amazing show. I had such a great time, and met some wonderful people. That is the way it is when you are part of the Skeleton Clique.
I'm going to finish up tonight with a video from America's Got Talent. The performer is named Brian Justin Crum, and he is a singer, maybe singer is a bit of an understatement. He took on a Queen song, and I'm one to be critical of anyone who tries to take on the legend that is Freddie Mercury. Freddie was the greatest voice in rock history. You an argue you with me all you want, but you will not change my mind on this, so when someone does Queen they better bring it. I don't think they have to sound like Freddie, but the definitely have to have extreme talent, and this kid does. Just watch for yourself and see what you think.
So what did you think? I think the kid is good and he laid it all out there. I want to see what he does next. Peace in and goodnight.
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