I think I like posting blogs where I ramble on and and with nothing really intelligent to say. But I only like the posts when I am creating it. I look back and read over the post and get upset with myself for posting it, fearing that it will portray me as less of a writer. Which puts me in another intense thought process where I argue with myself on why I am trying to be a better writer. I am no writer. I have no desire to be a writer. But I stress it. I shouldn't. And I continue to.So here I sit, late and night, not being able to sleep. I'm watching Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network. Which actually depresses me. I enjoy cooking so much. It relaxes me to be in a kitchen. Since I currently live with my grandma, her small little kitchen wouldn't suffice my desire. But it will be ok. Once I get my own place in the future, I'll be cooking non-stop. And I am not cocky about really anything, but I am a damn good cook. That is one thing I will be confident in. The only person who challenges me, is my mother. And I'm ok with that.
I'm bothered I can't sleep. I randomly took a nap after work today which is now preventing my highly desired dreaming. I have to get up in 6ish hours to go running before work. Definitely trying to become more healthy and more fit. Trying to eat well, exercise daily, you know...typical stuff. Also trying to detox myself. I am currently using those Kinoki Pads you put on your feet while you sleep. They then take out all the toxins in your body. From people I've heard who use them too, one girls skin cleared up after she started using them. So we'll see how they do. Also plan on buying some of those colon clean out systems. As weird as they may sound, they have a good purpose. Also good for weight loss. Your colon holds around 15lbs of fecal matter that is just stored up over time. Gross eh? But it must be done. Anything I can do to help me be healthier.
Mental and behavior health is important too. I would highly recommend to order any product by Tony Robbins. It will seriously help build your mental and behavioral state to its healthiest potential. I haven't taken the chance to sit down and dive into the program like I want to, but already with the bits and pieces of the program I have done....its already made things much more clear.
I think sleep is needed. Thought processing and typing on my little phone here is becoming difficult. Anyway, I'm out.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tour Memories
So I decided to write some memories here and there to make my blog a little more enjoyable. It will also allow me to remember them for a longer period of time.
These memories are just a few that I have from my days touring with a band called The Trademark. I first became friends with them my sophomore year of high school and a few years later after graduation, we set off on their first tour ever. We did a few weekend tours and a few longer tours. But these are the memories from tour.
We were in Nebraska at one show that had a really big turn out for a crowd. It was awesome. The fans loved it, Drew(bassist) did a guitar swing with his bass that broke off from the strap and shot into the wall of the venue. Just an overall good show. We were all on a high, fans wanting autographs, tons buying merch. I was on filming duty, so I was all over the place. Interviewing fans, and just getting a lot of footage for a possible tour diary. I remember these two girls were saying that they would make out and take off their clothes for the band. So a local fan, myself, the two girls, and if I remember correctly, two other fans went outside. I knew nothing would happen but I was mistaken. They made a deal with the local fan that they would if he stripped down and ran around the city block undressed. Funny thing is, he did. We all made fun and laughed. And we went back inside while he took off running.
We were in St. Cloud, Minnesota another night. We got to the show early and had nothing to do. Browsed the Internet, checked the myspace, responded to emails, etc. Across the street was a sex shop and oddly enough, most of the towns we played in, the venue would be right next to a
sex shop. We went to every one. At this particular one I have some awesome memories. I remember holding up a DVD and handing it to my buddy Riley, telling him I was going to buy it for him. He was super excited. He didn't notice that it was a Chicks with Dicks movie.
I also found a giant purple fist dildo. The first one I had ever seen in my life in person. Picked it up, hid in the aisles, and jumped out trying to punch my friends in the face with it as they came around the corner.
The band we were touring with was a band called Offset. Love that band to death. Such awesome dudes. The lead singers birthday was that day and we all pitched in and bought him a penis squirt gun. Gave it to him on stage. Haha oh the laughs.
We had a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Drew played the show dressed up in a batman costume made for someone 10 years younger than him. Quite interesting. After the show we took off for a 13 hour drive from Fargo to Torrington, Wyoming. Quite the drive. We stopped at some gas stations here and there.
Let me take a break and describe to you how we drove from city to city. After every show, we would load up the van, Drew(bass) and Natty(drums) would get in the back seat. Riley(guitar) would drive and I would co-pilot. That's how it was every night. No one else ever drove, I rarely didn't co-pilot. I had some prescription medicine (that I am not going to release the name because it shouldn't be used how we used it) that we took which would keep us awake. You never feel tired. It makes you feel awake. Not on a hyper boost. Its actually a great medicine when used properly. Bad thing is, You are supposed to take one and it will keep you awake for 12 hours. Its made for insomniacs to take when they wake up so when its time for bed, they'll be able to sleep since they didn't nap or feel tired throughout the day. But if you take another pill when those 12 hours are up.....you'll stay awake. Feeling great. Wide awake. After a few days though...you're body will just crash and you'll sleep for at least a day.
Well right before we left, we took the medicine. And started to drive. We drove forever stopping at gas stations. I was 18. Had bad habits of drinking tons of mountain dew, gas station coffee, and muffins. I ate so many damn lemon muffins. Delicious, yet extremely unhealthy.
Well we drove through the night and Drew woke up around 6am and was chatting with us. I decided it would probably be best if he was wide awake for me to maybe sleep a little. So we switched spots. During my sleep, a mighty war rumbled inside me. Between all the crap food I ate and my stomach. My stomach lost. I wake up and we are driving through the mountains. Somewhere in South Dakota near Mt Rushmore.
I say, "Hey...can we pull over...I need to pee."
Response, "Shut up, Fat."
(My nickname was Fat Dan...so I was called Fat for short. That's another story.)
I say, "I need to throw up."
Response, "Liar...you just said you needed to pee."
Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to convince them I really needed to throw up, I opened the door to the van, leaned out and started to vomit.
Cars behind us started honking, Drew had half his body out the window laughing and screaming "SOMEONE GRAB THE VIDEO CAMERA...THIS IS AWESOME!"
I get back in the van, feeling a thousand times better, and went back to sleep. I would wake up 3 hours later to continue the drive. But somewhere near Mt. Rushmore, my vomit is on a freeway.
Once we arrived in Torrington, Wyoming we found out that the venue for the concert no longer could have the show. A fan told us that we could do the show in his garage at his house. And his parents wouldn't mind. But this was so last minute. There was no way to make sure that people knew where the new location would be. School was out in an hour and we made tons of hand made flyer's. Offset was touring in a motor home while we were in a tour van. We parked both in front of the school. School got out and all the kids came out. Brian from Offset put on his wrestler mask and stood on top of the RV. Screaming at all the kids, telling them to go to Jake's house for the concert. All of us handing out our hand-made flyer's. Turns out, it worked. The garage was packed. It was a pretty big garage too. And it was filled. The parents rocked out with us, the kids had a good time, we made bank on merchandise. Good turn out.
One awesome memory I have was doing an interview with DJ Rossstar. They were the first band he had on the show was un-signed. But it was fun. We had a good time. A lot of really big bands had been in his small little apartment and he is rad. We had just gotten back from the beach before going to his show. So we were a little wet. I think I'll tell you about that....now.
We are from Utah. It was April. The weather was warm. It was still snowing in Utah and cold. We were excited to see the sun and be able to go to the beach. Our pale white bodies put on our swimsuits and Drew and I ventured out into the Pacific Ocean. The locals who were running on the boardwalk in parkas and sweatshirts, probably thought in their head "Crazy tourists."
Because who else would be jumping into 50 degree water and having a good time?
These are all the stories I will post for now. Even though I have many more. And you're probably sick of reading by now as well. Hope you enjoyed it.
These memories are just a few that I have from my days touring with a band called The Trademark. I first became friends with them my sophomore year of high school and a few years later after graduation, we set off on their first tour ever. We did a few weekend tours and a few longer tours. But these are the memories from tour.
We were in Nebraska at one show that had a really big turn out for a crowd. It was awesome. The fans loved it, Drew(bassist) did a guitar swing with his bass that broke off from the strap and shot into the wall of the venue. Just an overall good show. We were all on a high, fans wanting autographs, tons buying merch. I was on filming duty, so I was all over the place. Interviewing fans, and just getting a lot of footage for a possible tour diary. I remember these two girls were saying that they would make out and take off their clothes for the band. So a local fan, myself, the two girls, and if I remember correctly, two other fans went outside. I knew nothing would happen but I was mistaken. They made a deal with the local fan that they would if he stripped down and ran around the city block undressed. Funny thing is, he did. We all made fun and laughed. And we went back inside while he took off running.
We were in St. Cloud, Minnesota another night. We got to the show early and had nothing to do. Browsed the Internet, checked the myspace, responded to emails, etc. Across the street was a sex shop and oddly enough, most of the towns we played in, the venue would be right next to a
sex shop. We went to every one. At this particular one I have some awesome memories. I remember holding up a DVD and handing it to my buddy Riley, telling him I was going to buy it for him. He was super excited. He didn't notice that it was a Chicks with Dicks movie.I also found a giant purple fist dildo. The first one I had ever seen in my life in person. Picked it up, hid in the aisles, and jumped out trying to punch my friends in the face with it as they came around the corner.
The band we were touring with was a band called Offset. Love that band to death. Such awesome dudes. The lead singers birthday was that day and we all pitched in and bought him a penis squirt gun. Gave it to him on stage. Haha oh the laughs.
We had a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Drew played the show dressed up in a batman costume made for someone 10 years younger than him. Quite interesting. After the show we took off for a 13 hour drive from Fargo to Torrington, Wyoming. Quite the drive. We stopped at some gas stations here and there.
Let me take a break and describe to you how we drove from city to city. After every show, we would load up the van, Drew(bass) and Natty(drums) would get in the back seat. Riley(guitar) would drive and I would co-pilot. That's how it was every night. No one else ever drove, I rarely didn't co-pilot. I had some prescription medicine (that I am not going to release the name because it shouldn't be used how we used it) that we took which would keep us awake. You never feel tired. It makes you feel awake. Not on a hyper boost. Its actually a great medicine when used properly. Bad thing is, You are supposed to take one and it will keep you awake for 12 hours. Its made for insomniacs to take when they wake up so when its time for bed, they'll be able to sleep since they didn't nap or feel tired throughout the day. But if you take another pill when those 12 hours are up.....you'll stay awake. Feeling great. Wide awake. After a few days though...you're body will just crash and you'll sleep for at least a day.
Well right before we left, we took the medicine. And started to drive. We drove forever stopping at gas stations. I was 18. Had bad habits of drinking tons of mountain dew, gas station coffee, and muffins. I ate so many damn lemon muffins. Delicious, yet extremely unhealthy.Well we drove through the night and Drew woke up around 6am and was chatting with us. I decided it would probably be best if he was wide awake for me to maybe sleep a little. So we switched spots. During my sleep, a mighty war rumbled inside me. Between all the crap food I ate and my stomach. My stomach lost. I wake up and we are driving through the mountains. Somewhere in South Dakota near Mt Rushmore.
I say, "Hey...can we pull over...I need to pee."
Response, "Shut up, Fat."
(My nickname was Fat Dan...so I was called Fat for short. That's another story.)
I say, "I need to throw up."
Response, "Liar...you just said you needed to pee."
Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to convince them I really needed to throw up, I opened the door to the van, leaned out and started to vomit.
Cars behind us started honking, Drew had half his body out the window laughing and screaming "SOMEONE GRAB THE VIDEO CAMERA...THIS IS AWESOME!"
I get back in the van, feeling a thousand times better, and went back to sleep. I would wake up 3 hours later to continue the drive. But somewhere near Mt. Rushmore, my vomit is on a freeway.
Once we arrived in Torrington, Wyoming we found out that the venue for the concert no longer could have the show. A fan told us that we could do the show in his garage at his house. And his parents wouldn't mind. But this was so last minute. There was no way to make sure that people knew where the new location would be. School was out in an hour and we made tons of hand made flyer's. Offset was touring in a motor home while we were in a tour van. We parked both in front of the school. School got out and all the kids came out. Brian from Offset put on his wrestler mask and stood on top of the RV. Screaming at all the kids, telling them to go to Jake's house for the concert. All of us handing out our hand-made flyer's. Turns out, it worked. The garage was packed. It was a pretty big garage too. And it was filled. The parents rocked out with us, the kids had a good time, we made bank on merchandise. Good turn out.
One awesome memory I have was doing an interview with DJ Rossstar. They were the first band he had on the show was un-signed. But it was fun. We had a good time. A lot of really big bands had been in his small little apartment and he is rad. We had just gotten back from the beach before going to his show. So we were a little wet. I think I'll tell you about that....now.
We are from Utah. It was April. The weather was warm. It was still snowing in Utah and cold. We were excited to see the sun and be able to go to the beach. Our pale white bodies put on our swimsuits and Drew and I ventured out into the Pacific Ocean. The locals who were running on the boardwalk in parkas and sweatshirts, probably thought in their head "Crazy tourists."
Because who else would be jumping into 50 degree water and having a good time?
These are all the stories I will post for now. Even though I have many more. And you're probably sick of reading by now as well. Hope you enjoyed it.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Do you hear wedding bells? Do you now?
I'd like to just give a post to my friends Deadmond and Emily. Just recently heard the confirmation that they will be getting married and honestly, couldn't be happier for them.
I first met Emily through Myspace and we became friends and she would always tell me about her boyfriend at the time named Eric. Man, was he a moron. Emily and I became pretty good friends that lasted over a few years. Fondest memories of her are visiting her at her job at Johnny Carinos, and listening to her talk about her younger brother Trace.
Deadmond I met through my friend Tyson. We randomly went over to his house and I had recently broken up with a girlfriend who cheated on me constantly. So when we arrived and he told me that he knew my ex and such, I instantly had hard feelings towards him. Not really sure why, but mainly didn't trust him. That very quickly passed and we became good friends. I remember going to the Orem carnival with him and also going to the park where there was a random 7 year old kid throwing water balloons at us and screaming "Shit" everytime they didn't pop.
Scott and Emily both needed a job and I convinced them to apply at my job at the time. They were both hired, we all became friends, they fell in love. I won't take any credit for them being able to meet each other.......wait, yes I will. Buhahahaha! Jk. But they are two awesome people who truly deserve the best, and I know they are gonna be happy together. Best wishes Scott and Emily.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chills....
This video gives me chills everytime. I love this version of 'Don't Stop Believin'. Sad, that I can only listen to it on this clip. BUT, I will be watching this show. I am excited.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ea2pMx1lYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ea2pMx1lYw
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Fire.
Lately, been super excited for life. Never have felt like this before. Can honestly say that it is the best feeling in the world. I honestly feel like nothing can stop me right now. I have never had a more clear view on what I want. The best way I can describe it is feeling, almost giddy 24 hours a day. Every weekend I have been hiking in the mountains, being out in nature, trying to make sure that I enjoy every single day I am alive. For someone who has been depressed my entire life, and been discouraged with things that happen to me, its refreshing. I want it all. And I am going to get it.
Woo! LIFE! YEA!
I need to go buy some new shoes. Recently bought some running shoes. Those have helped tremendously in my exercising. Cardio man. It works. Need new jeans as well. My sevens, as seen a few posts back, have been deemed: un-wearable. Is that a word? Let me know.
Seriously....is Lady Gaga from the future? Where does she get these outfits?
Everyone who deals with her appearance must come from the future. Her designer, make-up artist, hair stylist.......plastic surgeon?
Yep....the future.
Here is one thing I was thinking about when I was at Walmart. There are thousands of Walmarts in the country. Now recently at the one I currently shop at, they have cut back their staff significantly. I think they laid off around 30 employees. That's a huge number when it comes to Walmart. When it's constantly busy and out of the 29 check out lanes they have only 5 open usually. This does not include self-check out. But with as much as we rely on Walmart for our needs and all the statistics that have been out there about Walmart being such a huge chunk of our economy that "if they shut down we would go into a recession" and so forth. Here's my question. What if Walmart (who are more tight with their wallet than George Costanza) just sucked it up, and hired 30 MORE people instead of laying off 30. If every store did that, think about how many people in the country would be getting jobs. More jobs equal more people spending money. More people spending money means the United States is no longer in a recession. I know this wouldn't solve all the problems. Like all the morons on Wall Street and all the bankers who gave out bad loans. But still, do you think it would make a difference? Tell me what you think.
Seriously....cannot wait for the blink-182 tour. But come on.....they're touring with Weezer. Don't get me wrong, old Weezer is tight.
New Weezer can suck it. But they should have done a tour their fans would appreciate more.
But whatever, I'm just glad they're back. It's also rad to have Mark update a lot about practicing and such. Mainly because we fans did not have it before. I remember on their last album they had the webcam playing constantly in the studio, and then the video updates.
I think they were probably one of the first bands to do that. Now bands do it all the time. But I guess the comforting thing about Mark's Twitter updates is that, he comes off just as excited as we are. Yes Mark, we're excited. Post more pictures please. More shenanigans? I don't care. *sigh* I love blink-182.
Anywho, lunch break is over....back to the grind. (yes...my lunch break today was from 4:30pm to 5:30pm...a little messed up? Oh yes.) (Think I could say "seriously"....one more time?)
Woo! LIFE! YEA!
I need to go buy some new shoes. Recently bought some running shoes. Those have helped tremendously in my exercising. Cardio man. It works. Need new jeans as well. My sevens, as seen a few posts back, have been deemed: un-wearable. Is that a word? Let me know.
Seriously....is Lady Gaga from the future? Where does she get these outfits?
Everyone who deals with her appearance must come from the future. Her designer, make-up artist, hair stylist.......plastic surgeon?
Yep....the future.
Here is one thing I was thinking about when I was at Walmart. There are thousands of Walmarts in the country. Now recently at the one I currently shop at, they have cut back their staff significantly. I think they laid off around 30 employees. That's a huge number when it comes to Walmart. When it's constantly busy and out of the 29 check out lanes they have only 5 open usually. This does not include self-check out. But with as much as we rely on Walmart for our needs and all the statistics that have been out there about Walmart being such a huge chunk of our economy that "if they shut down we would go into a recession" and so forth. Here's my question. What if Walmart (who are more tight with their wallet than George Costanza) just sucked it up, and hired 30 MORE people instead of laying off 30. If every store did that, think about how many people in the country would be getting jobs. More jobs equal more people spending money. More people spending money means the United States is no longer in a recession. I know this wouldn't solve all the problems. Like all the morons on Wall Street and all the bankers who gave out bad loans. But still, do you think it would make a difference? Tell me what you think.Seriously....cannot wait for the blink-182 tour. But come on.....they're touring with Weezer. Don't get me wrong, old Weezer is tight.
New Weezer can suck it. But they should have done a tour their fans would appreciate more.But whatever, I'm just glad they're back. It's also rad to have Mark update a lot about practicing and such. Mainly because we fans did not have it before. I remember on their last album they had the webcam playing constantly in the studio, and then the video updates.
I think they were probably one of the first bands to do that. Now bands do it all the time. But I guess the comforting thing about Mark's Twitter updates is that, he comes off just as excited as we are. Yes Mark, we're excited. Post more pictures please. More shenanigans? I don't care. *sigh* I love blink-182.
Anywho, lunch break is over....back to the grind. (yes...my lunch break today was from 4:30pm to 5:30pm...a little messed up? Oh yes.) (Think I could say "seriously"....one more time?)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Still the same old me....
One thing I am hoping from this blog is the most complete honest posts from a soul. I will always speak my mind and let you into my world. It will bring us closer as readers and blogger. Let me start off by saying though that no one in my blogs should ever be offended by what I will say for posting it here. This is my diary that I am sharing with the world, and I may have not confronted you with it prior to typing these thoughts. I don't mean to ever hurt or offend someone that I may include in a blog I write. But, these are my most honest feelings of THAT MOMENT so please confront me if you will. We are all human so I know that me calling you out on something may offend you and may upset you. But those are not my intentions at all. That being said....
It's annoying. Today I have been highly annoyed by just about everything. Ive sat and thought a lot about the people in my life and deciding whether or not they should be people in my life. No matter how much I love them. I freaked out earlier today with a Facebook status calling two people out on their behavior, but they will not see it. But I have these two friends that I consider my best friends in the world at this time in life.
So easily I want to say, "Listen, I am frustrated with you." But it won't change anything. I know it won't. I love communication and being able to talk and be social. Not really to strangers. But to my own close friends. I will text them throughout the day saying "Hey man check this out" or "Hey man, what you up to?" Just to talk to him because they are my best friends. I want to see how their day is going or just chat and share ideas. But I will go unanswered sometimes even for an entire day.
One friend is scared of technology and has a phobia of being social. He doesn't like cell phones, or IM's, or social networks because he just doesn't know what to say.
Another friend who I used to have great conversation with until he found a girlfriend. One who has changed him. He can bitch all he wants about how she has changed him for the better and all the bull shit he wants. But honestly, I will not believe for a second that he is truly happy.
AM I A DICK?
Nope. And neither of them can be upset for me saying this. Because both of them have so easily dropped the communication with me from their lives that I can only go off of what I see and hear from them. Its not much. It never is. But let me get a lot more deep and personal here.
Friend number one: If I honestly didn't text him for weeks, I would not hear from him for weeks. I have to initiate it all with him. I don't mind that except I am never getting conversation out of it. I'll be ignored or he'll say he'll check something out but never get around to it. There are albums from artists that we both love and I freak out saying things like "This is an amazing album! You must hear it man." And he'll get excited for it but then will never listen to it. We have albums that are a year old that I can't even talk to him about because he has never listened to it. But its day in and day out with every conversation. So let's see. Starting now, when will he realize I am gone.
Friend number two: One of the closest friends I have had in years. A strong friendship that grew into what honestly felt like a brotherhood. With me coming from a family where I am the only boy with only sisters, it was nice to have that feeling. But in the past year he has developed a relationship with a girl whom he has become very close to. They have a strong relationship. But I never hear from him anymore. Never can get ahold of him. So many times I will be ignored because they are spending time with each other. That's fine. But it's not a healthy relationship when you cut ties with pretty much the rest of the people in your life and make her solely your world. I can't randomly hang out with him without having it be planned. I can't hang out with him without her nagging him that she misses him. Constantly being glued to his phone to talk to her when they are apart. For 24 years old, its a fucking middle school relationship. The girl is nice, has a good personality and all. But for fucks sake, there are huge problems here. He has mentioned too before that it is hard to feel suffocated all the time.
Well no shit? Grow some balls and do your own thing once in a while. Tell her how it is. MAKE her realize that shes gotta grow up and learn how to deal.
All I want is communication. I am just upset with most everyone right now. I don't understand where it all went wrong. I try to be the best to everyone by being there for them, talking to them, just being a part of their lives because they mean something to me. I feel like I am doing doing doing and getting brushed off.
Why is it that I am feeling like I am doing, doing, doing, or I guess you could say trying, trying, trying and not having any success? Why am I constantly feeling let down by people that I truly care about. Am I expecting too much from them? I don't think so. Honestly. I just think that maybe they are too caught up in their own day to day lives to have relationships with me. Emo? Not at all.
I also feel like I am failing at writing because I re-read this over and over and cannot get to the point where I feel that my feelings are properly translated. Somewhere from my heart & brain to my fingertips there is a wire thats not connected.
For the two people I mentioned in this blog, which I'm sure you know who you are. If you read this, you know that I love you. You know that I will be there for you if you need me. I just want to know what the fuck happened and if I am wasting my time here. Am I?
I have nothing more to say right now. I hope today gets better.
It's annoying. Today I have been highly annoyed by just about everything. Ive sat and thought a lot about the people in my life and deciding whether or not they should be people in my life. No matter how much I love them. I freaked out earlier today with a Facebook status calling two people out on their behavior, but they will not see it. But I have these two friends that I consider my best friends in the world at this time in life.
So easily I want to say, "Listen, I am frustrated with you." But it won't change anything. I know it won't. I love communication and being able to talk and be social. Not really to strangers. But to my own close friends. I will text them throughout the day saying "Hey man check this out" or "Hey man, what you up to?" Just to talk to him because they are my best friends. I want to see how their day is going or just chat and share ideas. But I will go unanswered sometimes even for an entire day.
One friend is scared of technology and has a phobia of being social. He doesn't like cell phones, or IM's, or social networks because he just doesn't know what to say.
Another friend who I used to have great conversation with until he found a girlfriend. One who has changed him. He can bitch all he wants about how she has changed him for the better and all the bull shit he wants. But honestly, I will not believe for a second that he is truly happy.
AM I A DICK?
Nope. And neither of them can be upset for me saying this. Because both of them have so easily dropped the communication with me from their lives that I can only go off of what I see and hear from them. Its not much. It never is. But let me get a lot more deep and personal here.
Friend number one: If I honestly didn't text him for weeks, I would not hear from him for weeks. I have to initiate it all with him. I don't mind that except I am never getting conversation out of it. I'll be ignored or he'll say he'll check something out but never get around to it. There are albums from artists that we both love and I freak out saying things like "This is an amazing album! You must hear it man." And he'll get excited for it but then will never listen to it. We have albums that are a year old that I can't even talk to him about because he has never listened to it. But its day in and day out with every conversation. So let's see. Starting now, when will he realize I am gone.
Friend number two: One of the closest friends I have had in years. A strong friendship that grew into what honestly felt like a brotherhood. With me coming from a family where I am the only boy with only sisters, it was nice to have that feeling. But in the past year he has developed a relationship with a girl whom he has become very close to. They have a strong relationship. But I never hear from him anymore. Never can get ahold of him. So many times I will be ignored because they are spending time with each other. That's fine. But it's not a healthy relationship when you cut ties with pretty much the rest of the people in your life and make her solely your world. I can't randomly hang out with him without having it be planned. I can't hang out with him without her nagging him that she misses him. Constantly being glued to his phone to talk to her when they are apart. For 24 years old, its a fucking middle school relationship. The girl is nice, has a good personality and all. But for fucks sake, there are huge problems here. He has mentioned too before that it is hard to feel suffocated all the time.
Well no shit? Grow some balls and do your own thing once in a while. Tell her how it is. MAKE her realize that shes gotta grow up and learn how to deal.
All I want is communication. I am just upset with most everyone right now. I don't understand where it all went wrong. I try to be the best to everyone by being there for them, talking to them, just being a part of their lives because they mean something to me. I feel like I am doing doing doing and getting brushed off.
Why is it that I am feeling like I am doing, doing, doing, or I guess you could say trying, trying, trying and not having any success? Why am I constantly feeling let down by people that I truly care about. Am I expecting too much from them? I don't think so. Honestly. I just think that maybe they are too caught up in their own day to day lives to have relationships with me. Emo? Not at all.
I also feel like I am failing at writing because I re-read this over and over and cannot get to the point where I feel that my feelings are properly translated. Somewhere from my heart & brain to my fingertips there is a wire thats not connected.
For the two people I mentioned in this blog, which I'm sure you know who you are. If you read this, you know that I love you. You know that I will be there for you if you need me. I just want to know what the fuck happened and if I am wasting my time here. Am I?
I have nothing more to say right now. I hope today gets better.
Title: Unfinished
I have sat with this screen opened all day. Waiting for the words to come.
They ditched me. They didn't even call to let me know they weren't coming. Screw you thoughts.....I don't need you anyway.
They ditched me. They didn't even call to let me know they weren't coming. Screw you thoughts.....I don't need you anyway.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thoughtful Thursdays
Just wanted to let everyone know, whoever may read this, that EVERY Thursday will now be listed as Thoughtful Thursdays. Hopefully this will catch on, because I believe it is something that would be beneficial.
Every Thursday do something thoughtful for someone other than yourself. Whether it be as small as holding the door open for someone, or as big as ... well whatever you want to put your big thoughtful limit as. Just take the time to help out someone in your day. If you do it even everyday, awesome! You score points in my book. But try it every Thursday!!
If you are on Twitter, let me know by posting your #thoughtfulthursday good deed by replying to me!
Or email me @ thedanwalker@gmail.com with your good deed.
I'd really love to hear it.
You are awesome!
Every Thursday do something thoughtful for someone other than yourself. Whether it be as small as holding the door open for someone, or as big as ... well whatever you want to put your big thoughtful limit as. Just take the time to help out someone in your day. If you do it even everyday, awesome! You score points in my book. But try it every Thursday!!
If you are on Twitter, let me know by posting your #thoughtfulthursday good deed by replying to me!
Or email me @ thedanwalker@gmail.com with your good deed.
I'd really love to hear it.
You are awesome!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Into the Wild
So lately I have been depressed about going to work. I haven't felt like me spending 8 hours in a call center is doing good for anyone. Especially myself. And what pains me is that this right here, is my life. This is my chance to do anything that I want to do. And at this moment I have chosen to work in a call center and be committed to working so someone upstairs can get paid. It doesn't feel right to me.
The people who call in want only one thing. Money. They are calling me complaining about money, or why they were charged something, or soemthing along those lines. And it seems evil. Like pure evil. Now I am not a religious person at all. But the bible was correct when it said money is the root of all evil.
I hate the fact that I am being punished sometimes for being 30 seconds late according to a computer. We are humans and things come up and we work on our own clock. But all of us are constantly running around trying to make our bodies arrive at some place at a specific time. And with my job, if I clock in 1 minute late, I get threatened to lose my job because it has happened too often.
Now I know you can say, "Well you need to start being more responsible." And that is true. I could get to work earlier and such and do the things I need to do to make myself arrive on time. But with my life, I have a lot of unexpected things come up. A car that doesn't run well, money to put gas in my car to arrive on time, taking care of loved ones around me. Lots of different unexpected things. But honestly, my 30 second tardy wont effect the company at all.
Its come to the point where I honestly believe we are trying to turn ourselves from being people into machines. A well oiled machine that doesn't skip a beat. But that isn't how we are. Our situations are always changing. We are never running the same. Our idle speed changes, when we push on the gas for weeks at a time we eventually burn out. We are not perfect.
When we are kids we have all these dreams. We want to be a million different things and do a million different things. But eventually as we grow up, we are forced to believe in a behavior that is probably the worst thing ever.
Settling.
We begin to believe that those dreams are JUST dreams. They can never be a reality. We begin to settle in believing that they will never happen. But that is the most awful behavior ever. People who settle in relationships because they dont believe they deserve better. People who settle with their job because they don't try to get that promotion or chase what will make them truly happy. People who settle to be treated awful by others because they believe they deserve it.
What can we do to make us truly happy. Why are we told constantly to chase our dreams but we never do. Your destiny is effected in each moment you take action or don't take action. Transform your life today with each moment you take charge of. Make a difference in your life. Get unstuck!
Get unstuck from that abusive physical or verbal relationship you are in. Get unstuck from that dead end job that you go to everyday knowing that you are not happy doing.
Everyone has a story to tell on why they can't do something. We are so excited to tell those stories. I'm done with telling mine. I'm done with listening to yours.
The people who call in want only one thing. Money. They are calling me complaining about money, or why they were charged something, or soemthing along those lines. And it seems evil. Like pure evil. Now I am not a religious person at all. But the bible was correct when it said money is the root of all evil.
I hate the fact that I am being punished sometimes for being 30 seconds late according to a computer. We are humans and things come up and we work on our own clock. But all of us are constantly running around trying to make our bodies arrive at some place at a specific time. And with my job, if I clock in 1 minute late, I get threatened to lose my job because it has happened too often.
Now I know you can say, "Well you need to start being more responsible." And that is true. I could get to work earlier and such and do the things I need to do to make myself arrive on time. But with my life, I have a lot of unexpected things come up. A car that doesn't run well, money to put gas in my car to arrive on time, taking care of loved ones around me. Lots of different unexpected things. But honestly, my 30 second tardy wont effect the company at all.
Its come to the point where I honestly believe we are trying to turn ourselves from being people into machines. A well oiled machine that doesn't skip a beat. But that isn't how we are. Our situations are always changing. We are never running the same. Our idle speed changes, when we push on the gas for weeks at a time we eventually burn out. We are not perfect.
When we are kids we have all these dreams. We want to be a million different things and do a million different things. But eventually as we grow up, we are forced to believe in a behavior that is probably the worst thing ever.
Settling.
We begin to believe that those dreams are JUST dreams. They can never be a reality. We begin to settle in believing that they will never happen. But that is the most awful behavior ever. People who settle in relationships because they dont believe they deserve better. People who settle with their job because they don't try to get that promotion or chase what will make them truly happy. People who settle to be treated awful by others because they believe they deserve it.
What can we do to make us truly happy. Why are we told constantly to chase our dreams but we never do. Your destiny is effected in each moment you take action or don't take action. Transform your life today with each moment you take charge of. Make a difference in your life. Get unstuck!
Get unstuck from that abusive physical or verbal relationship you are in. Get unstuck from that dead end job that you go to everyday knowing that you are not happy doing.
Everyone has a story to tell on why they can't do something. We are so excited to tell those stories. I'm done with telling mine. I'm done with listening to yours.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
You're not that important to me....I guess...
So I recently signed in to my Facebook and Myspace and ventured into my inbox. I decided to go through and delete a lot of messages that were just cluttering up in there and get it a little more organized.
Upon doing this, I realized that there were a lot of conversations with people or messages where people wrote me long, elaborate emails....and I said nothing back. Especially in my Facebook. A lot of messages from people who haven't seen me since high school wanting to know what I have been up to and reconnect. And yet I said nothing. Most of the time the mindset when reading these messages is "I'll get to it later when I can sit down and write back". But I never make the time and when I clean out my inbox, I'm looking at those 8 month old messages where a person was never replied to. I guess I come off as sort of an asshole huh? Maybe I should create more time to re-building those friendships with those people. Or was the drifting apart for a good reason? I am not sure.
Am I the only one who does this? Because it seems that it happens often with my mailbox. I seriously will come across a minimum of 20 messages. Some were even ones that I replied to, was having a conversation with, and then just left them hanging. I didn't ever continue the conversation. I guess I need to look for the cause. Was I just bored with it? Was I just replying to be nice. Or did I just get busy or have something come up that it got put off and forgotten? The answer we may never know. But within the next week I will put a little more effort in responding to them.
Or....so I say....
Derek Woodward
Once upon a time I checked my email....this is what I found. Good advice from a good friend.
You can be happy. You can live the life you want to live. You can become the person you want to be.
This is what I've figured out so far.
Stop assigning blame. This is the first step. Stop assigning blame and leave the past behind you.
You know whose fault it is that your life isn't perfect. Your boss. Your teachers. Your ex-lovers. The ones who hurt you, the ones who abused you, the ones who left you bleeding. Or even yourself. You know whose fault it is — you've been telling yourself your whole life. Knowing whose fault it is that your life sucks is an excellent way to absolve yourself of any reponsibility for taking your life into your own hands.
Forget about it. Let it go. The past isn't real. “That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead.” If we're not talking about something that is real and present and in your life right now, then it doesn't matter. Nothing can be done about it. If nothing can be done about it, then don't spend your energy dwelling on it — you have other things to do.
I may sound cruel, I may sound simplistic, I may sound like I'm saying you should just “get over it,” by suggesting that you should let go of your past. I'm sorry for that. But life won't hold still and wait for you to lick your wounds. The race is still being run. Get up and keep moving. You can't do anything about yesterday.
You can do something about tomorrow. And about the next day. Focus your energies there.
“I don't have time to write.” “I can't dance.” “I can't talk to new people.” “I'm not attractive.”
I hear this all the time. I always hear the people around me sabotaging themselves, drawing lines and borders and boxes around themselves.
To which I say, make the time; dance; just talk to people; be attractive!
Yes, again, it's simplistic of me to say that. But it's simplistic of you to so easily say what you cannot do!
We're excellent pattern-matchers. That's what the human mind does — it's a pattern-matching engine. So we look at ourselves, at our history, at our behaviors, and we draw straight lines between the points — we assume that just because we've done things a certain way in the past, we'll always do them that way in the future. If we've failed before, we'll always fail.
Screw that.
Surprise yourself. No — amaze yourself.
You don't have to keep doing the things you hate. Why go home and beat yourself up for, say, not going over and saying a few words to someone you find really attractive? Can any damage they could do to you by rejecting you possibly be any worse than the damage you're going to do to yourself for missing the chance?
Find the demon.
Do you know what I'm talking about? It's the little voice in the back of your head that's always whispering, “You can't.” You know the demon. You may think you hate the demon, but you don't. You love it. You let it own you. You do everything it says. Everytime there's something you want, you consult the demon first, to see if it will say, “You can't have that.”
What you don't realize is that your demon doesn't know anything. It's an idiot. It's nothing but a parrot, repeating back to you anything negative that it's ever heard, anything that makes you hurt, makes you squirm. If a teacher once told you “You'll never accomplish anything,” it was listening; it hoards words like that and repeats them back to you to watch you jump. It doesn't know what it's saying. It doesn't care.
Exorcise yourself.
You can take me literally or not, as suits you. But do, please, the next time you hear that voice in your head, imagine it, visualize it, as something physical that you can get hold of; tear it out of you, feel its fingers weaken and lose their grip on your spine, and grind it to dust, to nothing, under your boot heel on your way out to dance in the streets.
You can. You think you can't; but it's telling you that. You can.
You don't exist.
You just think you do.
We're nothing but the stories we tell ourselves. We know in our hearts what kind of people we are, what we're capable of, because we've told ourselves what kind of people we are. You're a carefully-rehearsed list of weaknesses and strengths you've told yourself you have.
(Self-confidence, for example, is a particularly nebulous quality you can easily talk yourself out of having.)
You owe no allegiance to that self-image if it harms you. If you don't like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one.
Think about the person you want to be and do what that person would do. Act the way that person would act.
Amazingly enough, once you start acting like that person, people will start treating you like that person.
And you'll start to believe it. And then it will be true.
Welcome to your new self.
You are a product of your environnent.
Most people realize this — usually, in the form of having something else to blame — but they tend to forget one important fact:
Humans are the masters of changing their environment.
What this means is that if your environment affects you, and you can affect your environment, then obviously, you can affect yourself.
Your environment includes people. Figure out who in your life isn't good for you, whose presence tears you down more than it builds you up, whose nearness is poison to you — and get rid of them. Get them out of your life. I don't care if it's your best friend, your boss, your mother, your lover — if they are harming you, if they are doing nothing but reinforce everything bad you tell yourself about yourself, then your relationship with them needs to radically alter or it needs to end.
Your environment includes goals. Don't set yourself pie-in-the-sky impossible goals and then beat yourself up over not achieving them — set yourself goals that will be good for you, not a source of pain. Attainable goals. Set them and meet them. Don't tell yourself you can't — that's the old story, that story you used to tell yourself about what a poor sad victim you were and how you could never change anything about your life. You can meet your goals. This is the new story. Trying to clean your house? Good for you — a clean house can really affect your state of mind for the better. But don't say “Today I'm going to clean the entire house from top to bottom,” when you don't have the time and energy to — don't set yourself up for failure; don't feed the demon. Just say, “Today I'm going to wash all the dishes and clean off the kitchen counter.” And do it.
Don't tell yourself, “This month I'm going to write that novel.” Tell yourself, “Today I'm going to write five pages.” And do it. Take your dreams and break them down into small pieces and you'll have them in your hands before you know it.
And you'll find, as you start meeting your goals, that you like it. That it feels good, makes you feel confident and capable. You'll develop a hunger for it.
Your environment includes yourself — your physical presence. Do what you know you need to do — treat yourself better. Sleep, eat right, exercise. This doesn't mean you have to stop staying out late at night now and then, it doesn't mean you can't have a candy bar, it doesn't mean you have to stop sitting around watching television — it just means start doing the things that are good for you as well as the things that are bad for you, every so often. It's not an all-or-nothing proposition; you don't have to devote your life to being a health nut. Just try eating more fruits and vegetables, the occasional vegetarian meal; go for walks in the park on the weekends. You'll feel better and be more alert if you're a little healthier, and once you start feeling a little better, you'll start wanting the things that make you feel better. You'll see.
Your environment includes your appearance. If you're not happy with yourself, if you're angry with the person in the mirror, it can honestly help to literally change who you see when you look in the mirror. Try a different hairstyle, new glasses, new jewelry, new clothes. It doesn't have to be expensive — there's a whole universe full of possible You's waiting to be found in thrift stores, if need be. If you're deciding to become the person you want to be, then decide what that person is going to look like. Dress the part. It's not shallow, it's not about vanity, it's about self-transformation — even the most primitive tribes understand the value of costumes and masks for ritual, for change, for becoming someone else.
You are not an object. You are a system. Like with any system, if you change the inputs — change what goes into it — you'll change what comes out.
Despite everything I've just said:
Self-examination can be paralysis.
Don't “remember to breathe” — just breathe. It's a Tao thing.
It's the paradox at the center of all this — remember that, “Am I living up to being the person I want to be?”, is not a question the person you want to be would ask.
If I can leave you with just one thought, it's this:
Stop wasting your time fretting over not being happy.
Just be happy.
Best Regards,
Derek Woodward
This is what I've figured out so far.
Stop assigning blame. This is the first step. Stop assigning blame and leave the past behind you.
You know whose fault it is that your life isn't perfect. Your boss. Your teachers. Your ex-lovers. The ones who hurt you, the ones who abused you, the ones who left you bleeding. Or even yourself. You know whose fault it is — you've been telling yourself your whole life. Knowing whose fault it is that your life sucks is an excellent way to absolve yourself of any reponsibility for taking your life into your own hands.
Forget about it. Let it go. The past isn't real. “That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead.” If we're not talking about something that is real and present and in your life right now, then it doesn't matter. Nothing can be done about it. If nothing can be done about it, then don't spend your energy dwelling on it — you have other things to do.
I may sound cruel, I may sound simplistic, I may sound like I'm saying you should just “get over it,” by suggesting that you should let go of your past. I'm sorry for that. But life won't hold still and wait for you to lick your wounds. The race is still being run. Get up and keep moving. You can't do anything about yesterday.
You can do something about tomorrow. And about the next day. Focus your energies there.
“I don't have time to write.” “I can't dance.” “I can't talk to new people.” “I'm not attractive.”
I hear this all the time. I always hear the people around me sabotaging themselves, drawing lines and borders and boxes around themselves.
To which I say, make the time; dance; just talk to people; be attractive!
Yes, again, it's simplistic of me to say that. But it's simplistic of you to so easily say what you cannot do!
We're excellent pattern-matchers. That's what the human mind does — it's a pattern-matching engine. So we look at ourselves, at our history, at our behaviors, and we draw straight lines between the points — we assume that just because we've done things a certain way in the past, we'll always do them that way in the future. If we've failed before, we'll always fail.
Screw that.
Surprise yourself. No — amaze yourself.
You don't have to keep doing the things you hate. Why go home and beat yourself up for, say, not going over and saying a few words to someone you find really attractive? Can any damage they could do to you by rejecting you possibly be any worse than the damage you're going to do to yourself for missing the chance?
Find the demon.
Do you know what I'm talking about? It's the little voice in the back of your head that's always whispering, “You can't.” You know the demon. You may think you hate the demon, but you don't. You love it. You let it own you. You do everything it says. Everytime there's something you want, you consult the demon first, to see if it will say, “You can't have that.”
What you don't realize is that your demon doesn't know anything. It's an idiot. It's nothing but a parrot, repeating back to you anything negative that it's ever heard, anything that makes you hurt, makes you squirm. If a teacher once told you “You'll never accomplish anything,” it was listening; it hoards words like that and repeats them back to you to watch you jump. It doesn't know what it's saying. It doesn't care.
Exorcise yourself.
You can take me literally or not, as suits you. But do, please, the next time you hear that voice in your head, imagine it, visualize it, as something physical that you can get hold of; tear it out of you, feel its fingers weaken and lose their grip on your spine, and grind it to dust, to nothing, under your boot heel on your way out to dance in the streets.
You can. You think you can't; but it's telling you that. You can.
You don't exist.
You just think you do.
We're nothing but the stories we tell ourselves. We know in our hearts what kind of people we are, what we're capable of, because we've told ourselves what kind of people we are. You're a carefully-rehearsed list of weaknesses and strengths you've told yourself you have.
(Self-confidence, for example, is a particularly nebulous quality you can easily talk yourself out of having.)
You owe no allegiance to that self-image if it harms you. If you don't like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one.
Think about the person you want to be and do what that person would do. Act the way that person would act.
Amazingly enough, once you start acting like that person, people will start treating you like that person.
And you'll start to believe it. And then it will be true.
Welcome to your new self.
You are a product of your environnent.
Most people realize this — usually, in the form of having something else to blame — but they tend to forget one important fact:
Humans are the masters of changing their environment.
What this means is that if your environment affects you, and you can affect your environment, then obviously, you can affect yourself.
Your environment includes people. Figure out who in your life isn't good for you, whose presence tears you down more than it builds you up, whose nearness is poison to you — and get rid of them. Get them out of your life. I don't care if it's your best friend, your boss, your mother, your lover — if they are harming you, if they are doing nothing but reinforce everything bad you tell yourself about yourself, then your relationship with them needs to radically alter or it needs to end.
Your environment includes goals. Don't set yourself pie-in-the-sky impossible goals and then beat yourself up over not achieving them — set yourself goals that will be good for you, not a source of pain. Attainable goals. Set them and meet them. Don't tell yourself you can't — that's the old story, that story you used to tell yourself about what a poor sad victim you were and how you could never change anything about your life. You can meet your goals. This is the new story. Trying to clean your house? Good for you — a clean house can really affect your state of mind for the better. But don't say “Today I'm going to clean the entire house from top to bottom,” when you don't have the time and energy to — don't set yourself up for failure; don't feed the demon. Just say, “Today I'm going to wash all the dishes and clean off the kitchen counter.” And do it.
Don't tell yourself, “This month I'm going to write that novel.” Tell yourself, “Today I'm going to write five pages.” And do it. Take your dreams and break them down into small pieces and you'll have them in your hands before you know it.
And you'll find, as you start meeting your goals, that you like it. That it feels good, makes you feel confident and capable. You'll develop a hunger for it.
Your environment includes yourself — your physical presence. Do what you know you need to do — treat yourself better. Sleep, eat right, exercise. This doesn't mean you have to stop staying out late at night now and then, it doesn't mean you can't have a candy bar, it doesn't mean you have to stop sitting around watching television — it just means start doing the things that are good for you as well as the things that are bad for you, every so often. It's not an all-or-nothing proposition; you don't have to devote your life to being a health nut. Just try eating more fruits and vegetables, the occasional vegetarian meal; go for walks in the park on the weekends. You'll feel better and be more alert if you're a little healthier, and once you start feeling a little better, you'll start wanting the things that make you feel better. You'll see.
Your environment includes your appearance. If you're not happy with yourself, if you're angry with the person in the mirror, it can honestly help to literally change who you see when you look in the mirror. Try a different hairstyle, new glasses, new jewelry, new clothes. It doesn't have to be expensive — there's a whole universe full of possible You's waiting to be found in thrift stores, if need be. If you're deciding to become the person you want to be, then decide what that person is going to look like. Dress the part. It's not shallow, it's not about vanity, it's about self-transformation — even the most primitive tribes understand the value of costumes and masks for ritual, for change, for becoming someone else.
You are not an object. You are a system. Like with any system, if you change the inputs — change what goes into it — you'll change what comes out.
Despite everything I've just said:
Self-examination can be paralysis.
Don't “remember to breathe” — just breathe. It's a Tao thing.
It's the paradox at the center of all this — remember that, “Am I living up to being the person I want to be?”, is not a question the person you want to be would ask.
If I can leave you with just one thought, it's this:
Stop wasting your time fretting over not being happy.
Just be happy.
Best Regards,
Derek Woodward
Friday, April 10, 2009
SUSPENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woke up this morning and I noticed that my account with Twitter has been suspended. Not cool huh? But to get it unsuspended you have to write them an email spcifying why you don't believe your account should be suspended. I thought I would share my email to them with you.
Hello,
My account was suspended. My username is thedanwalker. After reading the spam investigation I realized why my account was suspended and do apologize for the aggressive following.
To give a little info on myself and my reasons for aggressive following, I love Twitter. I am addicted to it. I believe it is an amazing tool to allow people to connect to one another in a great and unique way. I had an account over a year ago that I didn't use much and ended up closing it out and creating this one.
As you can see I actively use my account. I respond to every message sent to me or any replies that I may receive. When I first created this new account I had one thing in mind. And that was to make as many people I know create a profile and Tweet along! 50 of close friends, co-workers, and family later I decided I needed to step it up. Most profiles I went to people were only following a small number of people and had an even smaller amount of people following them.
To ensure that us users could benefit from Twitter I began to follow other users. Carefully following only users who appeared to have similar interests as my own. I replied to others messages, and even got replies on my own posts. I've made friends all over, for example in Atlanta, a guy who guitar techs for a band he is close friends with. A girl in Texas who wants to move to Cali but might end up moving to Colorado. But I wanted to connect to even more people.
I refused to allow myself to have people who I follow feel like I was following them for no reason. I want them to know it's a person on the other end who can share conversation and enjoy using Twitter and find its benefit.
I love the company. I love the concept of it. I am TRULY Passionate about making it grow. If I had any technical expertise on the job openings you had I would be applying in a heartbeat.
I'm constantly promoting the growth of Twitter. By making threads in online forums, to making my friends make accounts and watching them become addicted too. I even recently had a friend that is a local artist here and showed him the service and explained the benefits of having an account. Allowing him to connect even closer to his fans.
I'm not sure what you'd like me to say in this email to explain why my account shouldn't be suspended. But I just thought I'd attempt to explain how much I enjoy the service and that I am passionate about making it grow. You can even ask my girlfriend (one of the few I can't get to make an account) how I am always posting and talking about it last night. Yes its sad. Last night I was even talking about Twitter in my sleep. Her brother came home late and woke her up which startled her awake. She asked me what it was and I responded with "the Followers". She began to become a little scared not knowing what I meant where I continues to say repeatedly...."it's the followers". I then finished with "You know....off Twitter". Lets just say she punched me hard enough to then wake me up.
But this is my reason for my account to no longer be suspended. Hopefully I have convinced you to no longer suspend my account. Happy Tweeting and tell Biz hi for me! :]
Best wishes,
Dan Walker
My account was suspended. My username is thedanwalker. After reading the spam investigation I realized why my account was suspended and do apologize for the aggressive following.
To give a little info on myself and my reasons for aggressive following, I love Twitter. I am addicted to it. I believe it is an amazing tool to allow people to connect to one another in a great and unique way. I had an account over a year ago that I didn't use much and ended up closing it out and creating this one.
As you can see I actively use my account. I respond to every message sent to me or any replies that I may receive. When I first created this new account I had one thing in mind. And that was to make as many people I know create a profile and Tweet along! 50 of close friends, co-workers, and family later I decided I needed to step it up. Most profiles I went to people were only following a small number of people and had an even smaller amount of people following them.
To ensure that us users could benefit from Twitter I began to follow other users. Carefully following only users who appeared to have similar interests as my own. I replied to others messages, and even got replies on my own posts. I've made friends all over, for example in Atlanta, a guy who guitar techs for a band he is close friends with. A girl in Texas who wants to move to Cali but might end up moving to Colorado. But I wanted to connect to even more people.
I refused to allow myself to have people who I follow feel like I was following them for no reason. I want them to know it's a person on the other end who can share conversation and enjoy using Twitter and find its benefit.
I love the company. I love the concept of it. I am TRULY Passionate about making it grow. If I had any technical expertise on the job openings you had I would be applying in a heartbeat.
I'm constantly promoting the growth of Twitter. By making threads in online forums, to making my friends make accounts and watching them become addicted too. I even recently had a friend that is a local artist here and showed him the service and explained the benefits of having an account. Allowing him to connect even closer to his fans.
I'm not sure what you'd like me to say in this email to explain why my account shouldn't be suspended. But I just thought I'd attempt to explain how much I enjoy the service and that I am passionate about making it grow. You can even ask my girlfriend (one of the few I can't get to make an account) how I am always posting and talking about it last night. Yes its sad. Last night I was even talking about Twitter in my sleep. Her brother came home late and woke her up which startled her awake. She asked me what it was and I responded with "the Followers". She began to become a little scared not knowing what I meant where I continues to say repeatedly...."it's the followers". I then finished with "You know....off Twitter". Lets just say she punched me hard enough to then wake me up.
But this is my reason for my account to no longer be suspended. Hopefully I have convinced you to no longer suspend my account. Happy Tweeting and tell Biz hi for me! :]
Best wishes,
Dan Walker
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Patience......what the hell is that?
Obviously I have none. Good thing? Bad thing? I would guess that it depends on the issue. But let me tell you what made me think of this. Last night I had to do one of those emergency loads of laundry. The ones where you need to go to sleep but you need clothes to wear the next day. So you put on a load and sleep deprive yourself in order to stay up and change out the laundry so it will be ready by morning. Now I was on my last load in the washing machine. It was on the spin cycle. It was a very small load (2 shirts) so I figured it didn't need to spin for 10 mins. I hit the pause cancel button and it stops. But the machine refuses to unlock the door because the cycle was never completed. So I set the cycle to drain and click start. It starts up. If I would have just waited for maybe a minute or two more, I would have been able to get to bed sooner. But my impatience for the machine to end made me sit there for another 20 minutes while it did a spin and drain cycle. Patience.....non-existent.
I have a pair of Sevens jeans that I have worn for the past year. They are hella comfortable, worn in, and simply make my butt look good. And thats a plus for a dudes butt to look good in 
jeans....isnt it? Doesnt happen often right? I dont know. I'm not checkin out other dudes rear ends. That was more intended for a female perspective. But my jeans have over time developed a hole in the crotch. Once a small hole has now become a massive canyon of denim and boxer briefs. But yet I continue to wear the jeans, even if they do show off my wonderfully sculpted testicles......*crickets*......because I love them.
jeans....isnt it? Doesnt happen often right? I dont know. I'm not checkin out other dudes rear ends. That was more intended for a female perspective. But my jeans have over time developed a hole in the crotch. Once a small hole has now become a massive canyon of denim and boxer briefs. But yet I continue to wear the jeans, even if they do show off my wonderfully sculpted testicles......*crickets*......because I love them.You know how people who drive big, jacked up trucks think they own the road and drive fast and treat cars around them like they are insignificant? Well one of those truck drivers got what was coming to him today. Flipped his travel trailer on the interstate blocking off all lanes and making me late to work. Was I upset though? Not at all. No one got hurt. But the truck and trailer suffered damage. And you could tell this young buck was definitely one of those pricks who you would encounter taking up three parking spots at Wal*Mart.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Movie Reviews
So I have been thinking lately that it would be fun to do a movie review post every so often. I like going to the movies, but rarely ever do. If I made it a point to go, maybe I'd go more. But one thing that makes me unsure whether I should or not is, Im not going to go to all movies that are released. And I think that is what the problem is with most movie critics. They critique movies they do not relate to and have no reason to be watching. For example, I am not going to go watch the Hannah Montana movie and tell you my views on it. Most likely, I would hate it and want to watch something else.
So why are there movie critics out there who do ALL movies? Sorry Roger Ebert. I just can't find your opinion to hold any ground.
So why are there movie critics out there who do ALL movies? Sorry Roger Ebert. I just can't find your opinion to hold any ground.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Twittttttter
No one likes this. I LOVE IT. I'm addicted. I won't lie. We're in a transitional phase where it is still frowned upon to be addicted to technology. But I don't care. I WILL LIVE MY LIFE! But it does give you a nice look into other peoples lives and how they spend their days. Much more interesting than mine. Much much more. Here...let me show you.
Mark Hoppus probably Twitters from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep. And also the 5 times throughout the night when he wakes up for random work out sessions. What's FUNNY about the picture that you see of him to the left, is he is actually INSIDE Twitter. That's when he was at Twitter headquarters checking out the place. And also drinking their alcohol which they didn't even know was there. But probably one of the best people to follow on Twitter. You will be highly entertained by his Tweets, and will receive updates about what bands he is producing, blink-182 updates, and a lot of pointless banter about answering emails(like a boss). Mark is average on posting pictures on his Twitter, but he doesn't floud you with them. One great thing about Mark's Twitter, is he will link you to his blog where you can get more pictures and more information on the daily activities of Mark Hoppus. Whether it be pictures of him at Skywalker Ranch, or him walking down the red carpet at the Australian MTV Music Awards. Mark Hoppus will flood you with more information than you really wanted to know about the old rascal.
Mark Hoppus from blink-182.
Mark Hoppus probably Twitters from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep. And also the 5 times throughout the night when he wakes up for random work out sessions. What's FUNNY about the picture that you see of him to the left, is he is actually INSIDE Twitter. That's when he was at Twitter headquarters checking out the place. And also drinking their alcohol which they didn't even know was there. But probably one of the best people to follow on Twitter. You will be highly entertained by his Tweets, and will receive updates about what bands he is producing, blink-182 updates, and a lot of pointless banter about answering emails(like a boss). Mark is average on posting pictures on his Twitter, but he doesn't floud you with them. One great thing about Mark's Twitter, is he will link you to his blog where you can get more pictures and more information on the daily activities of Mark Hoppus. Whether it be pictures of him at Skywalker Ranch, or him walking down the red carpet at the Australian MTV Music Awards. Mark Hoppus will flood you with more information than you really wanted to know about the old rascal.
Taylor Swift
This is Taylor Swift. My celebrity crush. Hellllllloooooo! Ok Taylor does not update her Twitter that often. I'd say maybe once or twice every other day. But it is really her and you do get to see a lot of her personality in her posts. I usually don't check her Twitter too much, just for the lack of posts. But I will admit her video blogs on her Youtube are awesome. She makes all of her videos herself and they are quite entertaining and funny to watch. So I am no longer promoting her Twitter I suppose. Go check out her Youtube. It'll get you much more into the life of Taylor Swift than you thought you would ever be. Videos of traveling the world and at home for the holidays. Best thing about it all, it makes her seem real. More genuine.
Thrice
I love Thrice. Definitely one of my most favorite bands ever. This band is one of the few artists out there that I actually consider true musicians. They create some of the most beautiful, yet hardest music. Lyrically, Dustin Kensrue is in a league of his own. Topping all others that I can think of. His words have tugged at my emotions more than any other artist I have listened to. But not only do the words effect me, the way the music combines with those words so beautifully make this band highly respected in my eyes. One reason I love to follow them on Twitter, is how they bring you into the studio and writing process. They give you an inside look at the song writing, touring, and concerts. They also allow you to see how much hard work they put into recording. From building componets to receive better sounds in their studio, to showing how they have had to deal with recording and communication through their guitar pickups. Also an artist who will post pictures on a daily basis, giving Twitter a little more excitement than just a regular status update.
John C. Mayer
Probably one of the most fun persons to follow on Twitter. Well... that is when he isn't speaking in German. But John Mayer gives you a view into his world. Also, depending on what celebrities you also follow, you can see his many conversations and comments on them or their Tweets as well. John also likes to post pictures of his daily adventures and things that he sees. One thing that is great is he has in the past given away free tickets to fans for his shows. So thats a plus. Its also nice since Twitter ISNT that huge, you have a much better chance than you would think you have. One person I definitely recommend to follow. He isn't annoying, doesn't post anything that gets in the way, just good quality posts.
You know...thats all I am going to post about for now. Enjoy my thoughts.
You know...thats all I am going to post about for now. Enjoy my thoughts.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
I was driving to work this morning contemplating birthday gift ideas for my mother. I still need to get her something, as seeing that I am about 6 months late on it. But I will get her something none the less. I know of a writer that she enjoys whose books haven't been in print for some 50 odd years. I got her one of those books a few Christmas' ago, and she was shocked to receive it. But since that time she has purchased many books and I am not sure if she owns more of this same authors work.
I thought it would be great to have a database, like you would see online when shopping for something, that tells you whether it is in stock or is owned, but strictly for personal use. Where each holiday, birthday, wedding, etc. you could look up a persons specific database. You could check to see if they have certain items for the gift you have in mind.
That would help me out greatly in buying gifts. But as you can tell, I am bad at purchasing gifts.
Lately, been on a health kick. And by kick I mean KICK MY ASS. Though I am eating healthier (or at least attempting to) which is good. Also been working out a lot. I really wish the weather would warm up because I would like to go running. Good cardio would make all this excess weight drop right off. But we'll just keep on waiting.
Thats it for now.
I thought it would be great to have a database, like you would see online when shopping for something, that tells you whether it is in stock or is owned, but strictly for personal use. Where each holiday, birthday, wedding, etc. you could look up a persons specific database. You could check to see if they have certain items for the gift you have in mind.
That would help me out greatly in buying gifts. But as you can tell, I am bad at purchasing gifts.
Lately, been on a health kick. And by kick I mean KICK MY ASS. Though I am eating healthier (or at least attempting to) which is good. Also been working out a lot. I really wish the weather would warm up because I would like to go running. Good cardio would make all this excess weight drop right off. But we'll just keep on waiting.
Thats it for now.
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