A long absence creates a heavy burden

I have been gone from the blog for some time and have been feeling like it's time to get back to things. The long absence has created what I feel is a heavy burden of having to come back to "Life as I know it" with a big bat that is swinging for the fences. Fortunately I'm not taking this all that serious at the moment and can re-integrate myself in any way that I see fit.

I was having lunch with one of my mentors today and our conversation was about how many people can't "just BE." Meaning that some people feel as if they have to change others, change themselves, create false realities to sooth their unrealistic expectations, and so on. With that in mind, I have chosen not to come back with the heavy burden, but rather to come back as many of you would expect me to. I'm going to "just be."

So don't expect any over the top posts of life altering topics, or extremely long posts about what I've been doing for the past 10 months. But stay on the look out for some random musings about "Life as I know it."

Until then, which should be soon........

Marc

Big Muddy Blues and the Mizzou/Illini Game

Next weekend is Labor Day. I'd first like to thank organized labor. The reason is:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

So now we have a day off and a whole weekend to celebrate. All those people who hate Monday and think the weekend is their savior, love the three day weekend.

I however, love the events that make up a three day weekend. Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Labor Day, and the rest of the big weekends make for plenty of free time and lots of special events to play at. I especially love Labor Day weekend.

As a big fan of The Blues, one of the premier events of the year is the Big Muddy Blues Festival. www.bigmuddybluesfestival.com I love going down and getting in the mix. I love just listening to the bands play. I love the harmonica. That is one great instrument. If you know someone who can teach me how to play, that would be sweet. A big bunch of praise needs to go to the Lacledes Landing and the people who have grown and continue to host this festival. The Landing is a Gem that we need to continue to support. There is no better time to get down there and check it out than next weekend at the Big Muddy Blues Festival.

Summer is flying by.......

Has everyone noticed that summer time is flying by? At least here in Saint Louis the weather can take some of the blame, but all the things to do are making it seem so short.

Karen and I have had a whole list of things that we have done. I like the constant activity. Karen tollerates it for a bit then needs a weekend off. We have hit all kinds of stuff though. Lets see......

The wedding: obviously a great time and very time consuming.

The honeymoon: See previous post.

The Buehler/Spink wedding: great friend of mine got married to a great woman. Obviuosly all of the pre-wedding activities were included. The steaming hot (weather not activities) bachelor/bachelorett party, tuxedo fittings, rehearsal and the dinner. This was all encompassing for a couple weeks.

Vacation in West Virginia: This was a great time over the 4th of July. We stayed for the first two days in Charelston with Aunt Kim and Uncle Dave. Their three girls were whipping my but at Wii most of the time. When they werent doing that, Dave and I were trying to not get killed by the fireworks he bought from out of state or something. We went with Kim to a local bar and pizza place to see Dave play some Rock and Blues. The fireworks started a little early at the park down by the river. It was the "Big" show in the city and it took place in the river valley. The sound was intense. I have seen lots of fireworks shows, but none like that. The rest of the vacatoin was spent in the mountains of WV eating big meals and listening to Karen's Grandpa and Grandma talk about the old days. Even I got some realaxation time in. That's saying alot.

Rock the River: I went yesterday to Rock the River. It was a great concert featuring Skillet, Kirk Franklin (who doesn't actually sing) Flyleaf, Lacrea (awsome christain rapper) and so on. I went with many of our church youth group, some church leadership, and a few others that came along. The Arch grounds were home to the tour this year and the beautiful day and scenery made for a most impressive concert. I'm planning a followup post on this one. When god is at work and he has great music to back it up......all is well in that place at that time.

At work we did a new event for Mardi Gras Inc: The Central West End Art Fair and Taste. Typically when we get to hit the reset button after the long cold winter full of events, this year we took on a event that was in need of a little tweaking. This again deserves another post. I'll get on this one when I have less important things to discuss.

We have also had people over a time or two, gone to a couple concerts, had a baby shower at our place, hung with the LaPlant Family, and a few other activities. To be honest we haven't really had some good Marc and Karen time in a little while.

So with all of this in mind, the summer time sure has been flying by. I'm hoping to soak up as much fun before it's over.

Great quote to live by.

I just got done watching "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." It was a great movie, but what took the movie from good to great was the underlying theme that takes place in the last 30 minutes of the movie. This quote rocked me. Between the words themselves and the way that the cinematographer portrayed the monologue, I know I am just one of many people who will be moved in a way that doesn't happen often.

"For what it’s worth -it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it -I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of -If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

Something Lighter for a chage

I love Pandora.com

There is no doubt about it, when I'm not listening to NPR (another post), I am tuned into Pandora.com If you haven't been a guest of their website in the past, just stop what you are doing and go there now. NO REALLY. Just stop reading and go.

If you are still here at this point, I would still like you to get there as soon as you're done and start an account. Afterword, you can find me and all of my stations. From there it should be happy listening.

To summarize as best I can, Pandora.com "the music genome project" as they call it is an online radio station that takes the songs you like and finds other for you that you will love.

Let's start from the top. If you pick an artist that you enjoy and start a "channel" with that artist, Pandora will find other songs from other artists that have similar attributes and play them as well. Now, once you have a song or two behind you it's time to start voting songs off the island. Pandora has a thumbs up, and of course a thumbs down. Once you are listening to a song you can vote that you like it or not. You do not have to vote but it will get you where you want to be musically for that station. It takes over 300 musical attributes that it takes into account. Once you give a song a positive or negative reaction, it will find other songs like it and add or eliminate them from circulation on your channel.

I have all kinds of stations. Funky House, Jazz, like 3 blues stations, an AC/DC rock station, some 90's rock, Miley Cyrus (for Tim's girls), Robert Randolph, at least three Hip-Hop stations (the only place to hear real hip-hop in Saint Louis), some great soul stations, etc. The list really could go on and on, but I know you're ready to move on from this blog post.

Everyone that I have turned on to Pandora.com always comes back to me three months later and says "Do you use Pandora.com?" I always remind them that I had them check it out before they start bragging about it.

Anyway, more light hearted posts on the way. In the mean time, check out my favorite musical resource.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Whats your vision?

Do you have the vision to look beyond where you are today, see things that other people cant see, see new possibilities? If not.......you should.



I wanted to create this blog it inspire not only myself but also others to look beyond the simple reality that we all want to see. To have a vision of the world and the people that surround us that is more complex and has more depth than we typically see. It seems to be more than common occurrence that we have taken things at face value and not considered what the possibilities are. Our quick paced, technology driven, idol worshiping world is on the downward slope. I'd like to think that some of us are intelligent enough to do something about it.

We'll see.

Self Reflection and writting about it.

I was getting a haircut the other day and the friend of mine who does the cutting is in her ever lasting state of chaos. She has several men in her life that she is always second guessing her break from, a great son who has a less than stellar father, two jobs that she is constantly working, etc. In addition, she has been contemplating some serious questions about life and where she is heading. She makes comments about wanting the big house, fancy car, and nice things. She is comically wondering when she will find a man who will pay for it all, and knows that none of that will likely come true. In the end she is searching for "what's next" and how she is going to get there.

I know that this isn't some kind of life circumstance that hasn't been known before but rather a frequently occurring scenario that many young women and men are facing today. The issue is that most of us haven't been taking any time to stop and put forth any effort into some self reflection.

So yesterday I opened up a dialogue with this friend of mine about whether or not she has taken any time to just look at her situation and maybe think about it more than she might like. I've encouraged her to start a journal or blog on how she perceives life. Write about the people, ideas, situations, problems, and other variables that life is throwing at her. Choosing to do the same thing my self, I am looking forward to sharing it with friends and family. Only I've decided to do it in an open forum and accept any praise or scrutiny that comes along with it.

Have studies shown that doing this is effective in achieving personal satisfaction or a healthier sense of self? Will opening up ones mind and heart and getting it down on paper help in life's progression? It couldn't hurt and that's why I'm here.