six degrees

i bumped into some old friends last night at a surprise birthday party. after much talk in what has been coined "fast eddie's garage" and a fair share of his magical elixir, i come to find that these friends actually grew up and at one point were very close to my buddy DC. we're all talking about music and life in general and another mutual acquaintance's name comes up, which then lead to DC's about five degrees later. here i thought my friend Bilbo was from up north and the entire time he's been raised this far southwest. anyway, it was a cool experience to say the least.
i've been hard at work on the Invisible Children benefit. we're three weeks into a nine week promotional campaign and i'm focused right now on getting the music in people's hands. one of the bands, hundred year storm, finally released their debut major label record on 08/22 so there's a better chance people will have different means of checking it out. hopefully the teaser CDs i'm making will be just enough to spark further interest.
i also found out that the other band, sleeping at last, is now booked to play grand rapids three times in two months. it seems cornerstone college and another venue had the same idea of bringing these kids to town, of course after we'd already forged ahead and booked them. i'm hoping people check them out at one of the other shows and end up attending our as well due to the band being that good. i know what they're capable of so i wouldn't be surprised.
the Invisible Children camp just released their another short documentary entitled Grace, which is the second installment of eight total. so far they've released Innocent and Grace. this entire experience has definitely been very humbling and i encourage anyone and everyone to check out more of IC's efforts as time permits.
my housemate is officially moving out next friday. i can't say i'm pleased about it but i also can't exactly say that i'm able to support him for free anymore. in my honest opinion, he took advantage of the living situation and was completely irresponsible to me and our friendship. i trust we'll be fine because i care about our relationship to the point where i'm not letting something like this affect me much. at the same time, it's been a big kick in the pants financially, and it shows little signs of stopping anytime soon without another housemate that actually pays some of the bills. oh well, worse has happened... one day at a time, that's all i can do.

i'm unbelievably blessed to have good medical insurance but i'm still finding ways to make the $3,800 bill work into my budget. losing my housemate definitely hasn't helped the situation. this is of course in theory because he never paid me anyway so it's not as though it's going to be that different. however, my point is it will be difficult to make this work without a major overhaul. again, without medical insurance it would have been closer to the tune of $50,000. i've bitched long enough about the cost of my insurance premiums and such but it's times like these that i'm overly anxious to scream from the rooftops about it's level of support. this present an interesting dichotomy, let me tell you.

BJ's still busy being a boy. he's very brave and taking on more and more adventure as time passes. it all began with climbing up daddy and now he's comfortable with taking on bigger obstacles. this of course means taking several spills as well so BJ had a surprise visit to the dentist the other day to make sure he didn't permanently damage anything. one of his many falls took him head first into a coffee can size tin the other day. his Mom called me with the news and i remember thinking at what point do people leave big tins like that laying around. it then hit me, my ex father-in-law leaves a big tin of bird seed in the far corner of their dining room so he can fill their bird feeder from inside the house, otherwise squirrels get into the feed and have their way with it all. well, BJ seemed to want to experiment with what it would be like to be a squirrel and get into the seed. ok, not so much but it was definitely interesting news, nonetheless.

time to get ready for church... hope everyone's weekend is going ok.

pulled off the shelf...

...on my way to work so i don't have time to say much besides i found a CD on my shelf last night that i listened to a LOT and then it began to collect dust. the CD is by a band called SouthFM and it's entitled "Swallowing the Pill." check out more at www.southfm.com

good day.

the rents paid a visit...

BJ and i had some surprise visitors (my parents) yesterday. they brought him some new toys and clothes so he made out like a bandit! the new hit are the weebles figures by playskool. i remember having the vintage weeble wobbles as a kid and they sure have come a long way. instead of being these egg shaped toys with painted faces they have now graduated to actual dimensions and clothing. BJ had an absolute blast with those things so i can only imagine how many more good times are ahead with them.
my Mom and i ran some errands and ended up finding a cool little tikes toy chest on sale for BJ. it sure keeps the house more tidy, which is something i can really appreciate. BJ seems to like it and i definitely like the fact that he's learned how to pick up after himself, too.
BJ was in much better spirits after my past two times of having him he was either coming off a bad cold or being eaten by bumblebees. he's still on the latter stages of his cold but it didn't seem to get in his way of a nice time.

i've still been recovering slowly but the weekends are a good time for me to try and store some energy. it's been brought up by a few people that i might be anemic again since i've had so many operations recently and i've been laid up, and i certainly believe this might be. let's hope the doctor is able to tell me more this week at my follow-up appointment. i'm not excited about the continued care from a financial perspective but i know it will be beneficial to me. it's just that right now i am literally wading through about nine different medical related bills that i have no resources to pay at the moment. fortunately the hospital is working with me on some payment plans but i'm still at a loss for how exactly that's going to work. this becomes my daily re-direct to how God asks us to let tomorrow's problems be tomorrow's problems and handle the challenges of the present day. i have tried and will continue trying to do exactly that.

my buddy DC had a show last night with his band the estradas. all of the guys played their arses off but the sound was really difficult to hear. this is a real shame because i could tell they were having a really good time. oh well, there were a lot of people there that i hadn't seen in a long time so i was happy to catch up with them.
DC and his fiance' Em have been hard at work, trying to plan and execute their wedding in late october. my buddy KW and i are going to dj the event and we're looking forward to all that is sure to follow. DC and Em are easily one of the greatest couples together, remind me a lot of Rod and Alys, who are in many ways a prototype of what marriage should be. i'm really happy for all of them. in some ways it's difficult to see others doing so well but on the other hand i'm sincerely pleased for their accomplishments. it's very close to something i feel guilty about but i know they understand that i would never wish any of them into bad fortune, especially not just because i need company in the deep end.

i haven't given you a music recommendation in awhile so here's something relatively new that i've been diggin' on again most recently: fort minor - the rising tied

check it!

yellow and black attack

what a day... long day at work, which has been the trend lately... pick up BJ and he's not feeling well from a little cold, and if that wasn't enough he then manages to be introduced to a few angry bumble bees! yes, my boy is now the proud owner of a swollen eyelid... i felt so bad for him. it sucked because i could see it happening and there's not much i could do about it but try to comfort him. good thing i had some benadryl around the house. i didn't know anything about these little chinese secrets such as baking soda or mud, or even a wet aspirin pill on the affected area. leave it up to me to call my buddy Greg, who's been a father for almost four years now. thankfully G was able to bring me back to reality since i was rather worked up from not knowing what else to do for BJ. BJ's mom was not answering her cell phone that i called three times, which was extremely frustrating... but i know it wasn't on purpose. i apparently called just after she checked her phone to see if somebody had tried and supposedly it was on vibrate so she wouldn't have heard it. no worries, i know she would have wanted to take the call just as much as i had hoped to talk to her so it's all good... BJ's in good care now, hopefully winding down for the evening.
i'm exhausted, as usual... going to finish catching the last half of the tigers game and call it a night.

is it friday yet?

find it on the history channel

i never figured on finding myself watching much of the history channel but lately they've had the most interesting documentaries about 09/11/01. it's not that i necessarily want to constantly be reminded of what happened but these programs have successfully put another constructive spin of the events that took place. in fact, the three short films i've seen thus far have given the most inside look at how the day unfolded that september. many of the testimonials have been from the survivors that were either pulled out of the wreckage or managed to escape on their own accord, however some of the stories are told through the eyes of their widows. the latter tends to be quite a bit more emotional but the former bring to it a new respect for heroism, truly making unselfish sacrifices.

i'm slowly beginning to store energy again. my follow up appointment with the doctor is next week so hopefully he can shed some light on why i haven't been able to do much since the operations. i suppose when you think about it, it might just speak for itself but maybe he'll have some more insight.

should be a nice day today. hopefully BJ and i can go for a nice walk together.

WTC

it's really hard to believe that next month will mark the 5th anniversary of 09/11. i'd been to a few movies that ran the new WTC preview beforehand and i'd been building up to checking out what Oliver Stone came up with to document this tragedy. much to my surprise the film really didn't focus on the horrific side of that event, rather it was written from the perspective of two of the survivors that were buried 20 feet under the rubble. i was very pleased with the accuracy and overall attention to detail that Mr. Stone captured, not to mention the positive spin that he places on an otherwise tragic series of events.
this film really sheds a different light on what most of the world viewed that september, paying real tribute to the way that all walks of life came to the aid of fallen men and women, in hopes that it would be one less casualty lost to the hand of terrorists.
i recommend that each of you take in this film when time permits.

thinking back on that september morning, i'm reminded of how i woke to my sister-in-law screaming loud enough to alarm the neighborhood. however, i recall a great deal of similar emotions coming from every direction, almost in unison. the breathtaking cries were easily the most awkward way i have every been introduced to another day, but it would of course become even more unbelievable.
the day was just like any other, i planned to get an early jump with my sister-in-law so she could take me around town. it was my first time to LA and we had the typical touristy things in mind, at least she did because she was kind enough to offer to escort me around the places i had only previously seen on television. she and my brother had of course tired of all the attractions as they had made their home twenty minutes outside of downtown LA for almost five years prior to that point. nevertheless, the idea was to take me out so i could see everything for myself. i wasn't necessarily up late the night before but i didn't get a quick jump as i had intended. in fact, as i had already mentioned, the following day began with much more than anyone could have imagined.
rather than have you grow tired of all the intimate details, i can tell you that the next few days were clearly unlike any others i had in my life. the entire city known for it's bright lights and hot night life had been limited to all but police and fire engine sirens. the entire area was ordered to be evacuated and it wasn't long after that the police chief issued a lock-down.
i still look at some of the pictures i took that day that have the date stamped and think back to what was going on thousands of miles east of my location, not knowing quite how to feel about the terrible loss we'd encountered as a nation.
i made it down the walk of stars and onto the chinese mann theater walkway before my sister-in-law and i were escorted out of the city as part of the evacuation. the idea was associated with uncomfirmed reports that LAX airport was potentially another target.

i was of course pleased to be spending extra time with my family considering the airport was shut down completely, however i wasn't the least bit excited about the circumstances surrounding the reason i was grounded. this also didn't do too much for my level of confidence in flying. it took a little over two and a half hours to get through security clearance the morning of my flight back to michigan.

i am reminded of the inconveniences i felt on the day our nation's freedom was breached. at the same time, my experiences are unimportant compared to thousands of people in harm's way.

i salute the men and women that gave their lives so others could live theirs to the fullest. it is my belief that God works in very mysterious ways but there's no mistaking the calculated effect of the messengers and rescue workers that He sent in the face of danger.

may the heroism of those people and their legacies live strong, and may we all cherish the life He gave us and do our part to preserve this great nation, bringing creedence back to the meaning behind the land of the free and home of the brave.

TGI MF F!

i am beyond glad that friday is here. this presents the best chance i have to get some things done around the house and try to focus on storing some energy for the next work week. i looked up some information on the internet about kidney disorders and the like, and i was pleased to find that (although i do not technically have a disorder) the fatigue i'm experiencing is very common and almost expected. i suppose it makes sense when you really think about it, one of my vital organs was on a siesta for almost two months and now i'm asking it to kick back into gear and tolerate my daily activities. oh well, i've overcome worse.

i've definitely felt more vulnerable these past several weeks, not sure exactly why. it's similar to meditation and how you need to find your balance or everything feels a little compromised. my balance has been favoring gravity lately more than anything so quite a bit feels heavy. rumedial tasks have become a little less graceful and seem to be taking quite a bit more focus.

the doctor said that our brain is like a muscle, exercised daily, sometimes at ridiculous intervals (i suppose it depends on what you're doing). in that respect, he speaks of how we can mentally exhaust ourselves in the same fashion we physically expend our energy in a marathon, or if you're like me... during a routine walk around the neighborhood. apparently it takes significantly more to replenish the psychological than it does the physiological. of course there's always the element of sleep stages and how one treats the physical energy or lack thereof, and the other tends to our medula oblongata. well, that is of course if we're sleeping correctly in the first place... perhaps that has more to do with what's going on with me than anything else, seriously. a time will come where i have restful sleep on a regular basis but for now the idea seems outside of reach.

didn't notice the time, have to bail before i'm late for work...

and so the promo begins

another long day so i'm real pleased to find the weekend one day away. the promotional campaign officially began tonight for the benefit show i'm doing for Invisible Children. both bands have added the date to their respective websites and the phone is already ringing with preliminary questions.
i need to try and get some rest... that's about all i have going on at the moment.

clerks II

i finally got around to seeing clerks II with my friends rod and alyssa. of course you must expect the gratuitous nature of kevin smith to get rather riske' the majority of the time, and yes... he does. this movie is brilliant but not for the light hearted. i had to continue to tell myself that it's only a movie so that i would separate the entertainment and not measure it against my values. anyway, check it out if you're not easily offended.
this past weekend was the first that followed my time back to work. i spent most of it trying to rehabilitate myself because the week took so much out of me. BJ was over saturday but he didn't seem to be feeling too well so there wasn't a lot i could do to make it better. those days/feelings are some of the worst because i want to badly to make a difference, especially since my time with him is limited. hopefully he will feel better today when i pick him up after work.
the heat wave that made it's way through this area these past few weeks seemed to finally let up sometime in the afternoon yesterday. that could be another contributor to why BJ wasn't feeling well, who knows. i know he loves to be outside and it was far too humid and hot for him to run around on saturday. we spent most of the day inside the house.

i also managed to catch the film lady in the water, which i highly recommend. i guess since i hadn't been to the picture show in several months, i wanted to check out two over the weekend.
besides, with the flock of films that are out right now, focusing on relationships/weddings/romance, i needed something of a thriller to offset the scales. i wasn't about to observe once again how quickly i'm reduced to tears with your typical date movies. it's pathetic really but time will take care of what needs to be healed.

the benefit show for Invisible Children has been contractually finalized, thank God. the two artists taking part will be Sleeping At Last and Hundred Year Storm. once i have the signed contracts returned from their agents, the 45 day promotional campaign begins. hopefully the kids will take a more significant role in getting this to the masses because i have less time on my hands now since i'm back to work. we called a meeting this thursday night to go over the action plan so we're at least going to have everything mapped out for the group.

i should get ready for work.

two lights

the new record by fff is phenomenal, i recommend it to everyone. i'm still trying to get re-acclimated to work and it's got me running in circles at the moment. i'm hoping to have a better handle on things by next week.
more to come, possibly later today or this weekend... hope everyone enjoys this friday.