Some people make dinner reservations, buy new outfits and toast with their friends and loved ones at the stroke of midnight on December 31st, while for 2010’s end and 2011’s beginning, some hardcore fans and punk rockers gathered to rock out with punk legends, The Dead Kennedys.
The State Theater wasn’t packed but it was pretty full New Years Eve. Dead Kennedys t-shirts were outfitted on almost every other body, with a few leather-clad fans, many glued mohawks, an Operation Ivy, Casualties, or other punk rock band shirt here and there as well. There was a clearly designated area for the pit to break loose and everyone was excited for the combination of the New Year and the Dead Kennedys performance.
The Pinz, a Jacksonville band, made up of three lanky guys in very tight pants, opened with a sound similar to what would happen if Operation Ivy and Alkaline Trio had a baby. They were well received; they had a strong style and definitely warmed the crowd to the punk that would overtake the State Theater for the rest of the evening.
Dead Cat Lounge hit the stage later and they were awesome. These guys were so happy to be opening for the Dead Kennedys and so into bringing their music to a great punk crowd that that energy just blasted the crowd and kept the night rolling onto the New Year. With many “F*** Yous” sung, it could only get more and more rowdy from there, but in the best way. The bass guitarist had the words “Kill Me” etched onto the frets of his guitar; the lead singer had a scowl throughout most of the songs but looked ferocious rather than ridiculous and made friends with the fans when they brought everyone up on the stage to head-bang and rock with the band.
With lyrics like “We call it the American dream, I call it shit,” you really can’t go wrong. Not to mention they rocked a song that was an ode to the tattooed roller derby girl. This was the punk rock so many fans had fallen in love with all those years ago, and it was only the second band in!
The Spears hit the stage a little before 11pm and the lead singer just instantly looked irritated and pained. He had a mean, pouty face the entire set and just wailed, screamed, thrashed and riled up the entire room. He asked questions like “How are you?” and then told the crowd, “I don’t care” he made fun of a fat guy in the crowd and really had that punk-angst about him that the crowd just ate up. With songs entitled “Nothing’s Fun Anymore,” and a fast, unmerciful guitar riffs, drum beats and bass lines the Spears were a hit!
The Spears finished their set around 11:20 and the onstage scramble to ready the State Theater for the Dead Kennedys began. The crowd grew restless. At 11:35 it seemed like they were ready and the fans were definitely ready. The audience slowly realized that the Dead Kennedys were indeed playing a New Years Eve show, therefore they would not be taking the stage until exactly midnight. The countdown began about 25 minutes later and then there they were: The New Year and the Dead Kennedys dominated the State Theater and the crowd lost it.
The mosh pit went wild, the fans were in awe and I had one moment of slight dismay as I realized that Jello Biafra had not joined them. In sheer excitement I overlooked that he had not been included in their current “member information” on the website and when he didn’t come out and scream Happy New Year, all I could do was join the masses in the New Year’s Celebration and punk extravaganza that had begun.
At the chance of discrediting myself and coming off like a bad reviewer I will confess that I don’t remember a single song that they played. Not because I partied too hard or wasn’t paying attention, but because I was so into the show! I didn’t take a single note I just rocked out and watched as it all unfolded. Later I pulled out some of my collection and did a re-cap with my husband. We argued about whether they played this or that, but as he spent most of his night in the pit and I stayed back taking it all in, we both felt like epic failures for not being able to recall any names. Accepting my defeat, I even looked to the internet for some help, no set lists have been posted and the buzz on the show was minimal which leads be to believe that the show was so amazing that the true punkers, aside from their seriously hardcore fan base, evidently had a similar reaction to and experience with the show.
The mosh pit was a shining example of the punk camaraderie from the earliest shows. No one was trampled, everyone was having fun, there were no cheap shots mean people out to mess up fans. The old school rockers, besides the legends on stage, were amped up singing along and seemed to be reminiscing all at the same time. New Years Eve is about saying goodbye to the old and bringing in the new but the Dead Kennedys seemed to work in the opposite way with amazing results.
Watching Klaus Flouride and East Bay Ray on those guitars was like something out of the punk hall of fame. I definitely had the Wayne and Garth moment of “We’re not worthy.” D.H. Peligro, their dreadlocked drummer, seriously commanded that drum set! He may not be a part of the original DK lineup but he has earned his stripes! And Skip is no Jello but he still brought out the vocal energy that made the DK legends to begin with. The fans seemed to agree.
They started the New Year off with a bang and ended their set in the same way. The Dead Kennedy’s love of the music pulsated through every note and the fans fed off that energy. The sweaty crowd was rejuvenated and the drinks were flowing. It was a divine exhaustion in everyone by the end of the night. If toasting with the Dead Kennedys isn’t a badass kick off into 2011, I don’t know what is!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Unbearable Write-ness of My Being
Sometimes I think that I haven’t enough time to think and other times I feel like I’m thinking too much. It is quite the anomaly. Lately I’ve been feeling like my mind is on the brink of extinction, or perhaps at least has become an official entry on the endangered species list.
I see all these old friends, new friends, ex-friends, best friends, acquaintances and friends of friends of friends developing their lives, staking claims, and moving up and on throughout the days, weeks and months and every now and then I wonder if I’m missing something or if something is perhaps missing me. I justify it by saying that, “The times they are a changin’,” but it still gives me pause.
People have been giving me advice or at least encouragement recently to add to the confusion as well. Others have been asking what I want out of life, the places and people; wanting to know my expectations. I haven’t any anymore. The thing is I can write about my every thought, stress, worry, desire and frustration but the best way to describe my life is that you have to understand that you just can’t understand. That basic principle is the best way to love me, which is how my husband does it! Ha!
One of the greatest things about the human race is our ability to tell stories. One of the amazing things about America is that these stories become over-dramatized, cinematic and take on forms of their own. My best friend Else said it best when she said there are three sides to every story: what the first party says, what the opposing party says and what actually happened. If you can’t hear or understand both sides, than how can you be expected to take in what actually happened?
My mind has been spinning with “would haves,” “could haves,” “should haves” and “maybes” but que sera, sera, what will be, will be, people! I could sit here and tell you my life story, all the “you think you know but you have no idea,” details and all the stuff that no one should know. My secrets are what keep me unique and interesting to myself. If everyone knew every single thing about me I may become boring! How scary!
I can confess to you that in my almost twenty six years on this earth I have been through a lot of therapy and firmly believe I will probably need more! Ha! After battling with depression and being looked down upon, scrutinized and chastised by many for seeking help, and yet praised by a strong and select few, people with similar issues come out of their shell. I seriously fought against every idea that I may need to be put on some kind of “fix it” pill but accepted the possibility it may come to that.
Out of the woodwork came all these friends and family members who admitted they were on anti-depressants. These were people I thought had it all together and weathered the storm without even a raincoat. To find out they needed help gave me the push I needed to actually work through it all. I have no regrets about taking the time to heal myself. Unbeknownst to anyone but my husband, I was on a very dangerous, mentally destructive path a few years ago.
As I hit the forks in the therapy road they seemed to be littered with more and more speed bumps and potholes but one thing was for sure: after years of being afraid to feel what I wanted to and constantly making stupid decisions to derail myself from the major choices necessary I chose me and I chose “we.”
If you read my “Men-y Mistakes” entry you know that I almost let my then boyfriend, now husband, slip away and if we hadn’t hit the counseling trail and navigated it together, we could have never ended up as in love as we are today. When I was drowning he gave me some water wings and let me wade my way back to safety while he made us a sandcastle palace on the shore. (This is a good point to snicker and think, “what!?”)
As people have been suggesting things to me lately I’ve had to put them into advice piles in my mind marked “to be considered,” “not gonna happen,” and “oh, definitely!” With New Year’s resolutions running rampant on Facebook statuses and general conversations I’ve stewed over a lot and I’ve come to this conclusion: I have to believe that everything happens for a reason, whether we like it or not. The world moves with or without you but I know it will let you know when it means for you to join in.
We all make mistakes and shit happens but I think every single human deserves his or her happiness, whatever that happiness may mean. I have days where I want to find that company from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and have certain memories erased and re-write the context of situations but that’s just not how it works. I refuse to live in regret. My life is filled with about a half dozen fat elephants in the room as I sit; it really just depends on whom I sit with.
Perhaps I should just give into my silly ambitious dreams and be the next David Sedaris and write books about the random occurrences and fucked up situations I’ve encountered throughout my life to make readers like me feel an ounce of normalcy. A great man whom I had the pleasure of having as a support in my life for an important period of time, Scott Coupe, told me that normal is what you know. What I know is that even in the years of therapy to come there are some wounds that should just be allowed to heal naturally. You can’t save a person who doesn’t want to be saved and you can’t make a person change, get help, or do anything they don’t want to do.
In this country of ours we pump people with pills while the hippies advertise holistic and spiritual healing. In between there are the freaks like me writing blogs about letting things go!
It’s hard to let go of the rope you are hanging by when there is a knot tied at the end with a person sitting in your way asking, “Are you sure about this, I mean that’s your decision?” I pride myself on my bravery to hop off and respond, “Yeah, that’s my decision, and if it turns into a disaster at least it’s my disaster and no one else’s!” I will tell you it’s hard not to smack the person who’s in your way, in one manner or another, on the way down though, (yes you should laugh again please.)
Lost yet? You should have read the title: “The Unbearable Write-ness of my Being!” Come on now, if I can’t rant on a blog, what’s the point? Besides I’m unraveling some good stuff here!
Back to story-telling, my crazy mind and others advice rounds to the idea of family. One of my biggest struggles to date is the “idea” of family. I closed so many doors when I was thirteen struggling with the definition of trust: there are people you can admit your insanity to and people you cannot. By age 18, I thought I was a pro at the truth thing, by age 19, I thought I should adopt the freewheelin’ philosophy of being open and honest, which brought in a whole lot of support but by 26 I’ve now reevaluated all those beliefs into a combination of two theories: keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and there is such a thing as getting too close and sharing too much…now to master the balance between it all!
Friendship is a strange thing. I’ve learned that when you live like a gypsy, as my best friend, Angela likes to call me, you find out first hand who your true friends are and which relationships will stand the test of time. Family is a whole different story. One of my favorite quotes growing up that I found is, “Friends are the family you chose for yourself,” but there is something to be said about those in your bloodline and immediate family that I’ve recently discovered. Blood is much thicker than water and no matter what happens in your life, when you are tied to someone genetically, whether they like it or not, they will always be a part of your world.
It’s risky to choose another family over your own, or to expand your ideals of that family because bonds that are “water-based” dry up quicker than you think. Finding support systems outside of your relatives is important but when you share too much and the intensity is high, things can crumble before you. This I’ve experienced, and once that fragile glass hits the hardwood floor, no amount of gorilla glue will put it back together as it once was.
I may have completely lost it or at least lost the attention of my reader but through this entire thing I have come to an awakening. I own my fucked-up-ness and I don’t think a lot of people can do that. I flaunt my flaws to make them unique and appreciated. I live my life one day at a time because in my experience, it’s all you can do. My husband laughs at me for somehow still being a planner as I hold that philosophy close to me but that’s just another facet of my fucked-up-ness. I let my freak flag fly. The world can take me as I am or move on without me but it will come grab me when it’s ready to appreciate the unbearable likeness, write-ness, wrongness and insanity that are my being…my being me!
I see all these old friends, new friends, ex-friends, best friends, acquaintances and friends of friends of friends developing their lives, staking claims, and moving up and on throughout the days, weeks and months and every now and then I wonder if I’m missing something or if something is perhaps missing me. I justify it by saying that, “The times they are a changin’,” but it still gives me pause.
People have been giving me advice or at least encouragement recently to add to the confusion as well. Others have been asking what I want out of life, the places and people; wanting to know my expectations. I haven’t any anymore. The thing is I can write about my every thought, stress, worry, desire and frustration but the best way to describe my life is that you have to understand that you just can’t understand. That basic principle is the best way to love me, which is how my husband does it! Ha!
One of the greatest things about the human race is our ability to tell stories. One of the amazing things about America is that these stories become over-dramatized, cinematic and take on forms of their own. My best friend Else said it best when she said there are three sides to every story: what the first party says, what the opposing party says and what actually happened. If you can’t hear or understand both sides, than how can you be expected to take in what actually happened?
My mind has been spinning with “would haves,” “could haves,” “should haves” and “maybes” but que sera, sera, what will be, will be, people! I could sit here and tell you my life story, all the “you think you know but you have no idea,” details and all the stuff that no one should know. My secrets are what keep me unique and interesting to myself. If everyone knew every single thing about me I may become boring! How scary!
I can confess to you that in my almost twenty six years on this earth I have been through a lot of therapy and firmly believe I will probably need more! Ha! After battling with depression and being looked down upon, scrutinized and chastised by many for seeking help, and yet praised by a strong and select few, people with similar issues come out of their shell. I seriously fought against every idea that I may need to be put on some kind of “fix it” pill but accepted the possibility it may come to that.
Out of the woodwork came all these friends and family members who admitted they were on anti-depressants. These were people I thought had it all together and weathered the storm without even a raincoat. To find out they needed help gave me the push I needed to actually work through it all. I have no regrets about taking the time to heal myself. Unbeknownst to anyone but my husband, I was on a very dangerous, mentally destructive path a few years ago.
As I hit the forks in the therapy road they seemed to be littered with more and more speed bumps and potholes but one thing was for sure: after years of being afraid to feel what I wanted to and constantly making stupid decisions to derail myself from the major choices necessary I chose me and I chose “we.”
If you read my “Men-y Mistakes” entry you know that I almost let my then boyfriend, now husband, slip away and if we hadn’t hit the counseling trail and navigated it together, we could have never ended up as in love as we are today. When I was drowning he gave me some water wings and let me wade my way back to safety while he made us a sandcastle palace on the shore. (This is a good point to snicker and think, “what!?”)
As people have been suggesting things to me lately I’ve had to put them into advice piles in my mind marked “to be considered,” “not gonna happen,” and “oh, definitely!” With New Year’s resolutions running rampant on Facebook statuses and general conversations I’ve stewed over a lot and I’ve come to this conclusion: I have to believe that everything happens for a reason, whether we like it or not. The world moves with or without you but I know it will let you know when it means for you to join in.
We all make mistakes and shit happens but I think every single human deserves his or her happiness, whatever that happiness may mean. I have days where I want to find that company from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and have certain memories erased and re-write the context of situations but that’s just not how it works. I refuse to live in regret. My life is filled with about a half dozen fat elephants in the room as I sit; it really just depends on whom I sit with.
Perhaps I should just give into my silly ambitious dreams and be the next David Sedaris and write books about the random occurrences and fucked up situations I’ve encountered throughout my life to make readers like me feel an ounce of normalcy. A great man whom I had the pleasure of having as a support in my life for an important period of time, Scott Coupe, told me that normal is what you know. What I know is that even in the years of therapy to come there are some wounds that should just be allowed to heal naturally. You can’t save a person who doesn’t want to be saved and you can’t make a person change, get help, or do anything they don’t want to do.
In this country of ours we pump people with pills while the hippies advertise holistic and spiritual healing. In between there are the freaks like me writing blogs about letting things go!
It’s hard to let go of the rope you are hanging by when there is a knot tied at the end with a person sitting in your way asking, “Are you sure about this, I mean that’s your decision?” I pride myself on my bravery to hop off and respond, “Yeah, that’s my decision, and if it turns into a disaster at least it’s my disaster and no one else’s!” I will tell you it’s hard not to smack the person who’s in your way, in one manner or another, on the way down though, (yes you should laugh again please.)
Lost yet? You should have read the title: “The Unbearable Write-ness of my Being!” Come on now, if I can’t rant on a blog, what’s the point? Besides I’m unraveling some good stuff here!
Back to story-telling, my crazy mind and others advice rounds to the idea of family. One of my biggest struggles to date is the “idea” of family. I closed so many doors when I was thirteen struggling with the definition of trust: there are people you can admit your insanity to and people you cannot. By age 18, I thought I was a pro at the truth thing, by age 19, I thought I should adopt the freewheelin’ philosophy of being open and honest, which brought in a whole lot of support but by 26 I’ve now reevaluated all those beliefs into a combination of two theories: keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and there is such a thing as getting too close and sharing too much…now to master the balance between it all!
Friendship is a strange thing. I’ve learned that when you live like a gypsy, as my best friend, Angela likes to call me, you find out first hand who your true friends are and which relationships will stand the test of time. Family is a whole different story. One of my favorite quotes growing up that I found is, “Friends are the family you chose for yourself,” but there is something to be said about those in your bloodline and immediate family that I’ve recently discovered. Blood is much thicker than water and no matter what happens in your life, when you are tied to someone genetically, whether they like it or not, they will always be a part of your world.
It’s risky to choose another family over your own, or to expand your ideals of that family because bonds that are “water-based” dry up quicker than you think. Finding support systems outside of your relatives is important but when you share too much and the intensity is high, things can crumble before you. This I’ve experienced, and once that fragile glass hits the hardwood floor, no amount of gorilla glue will put it back together as it once was.
I may have completely lost it or at least lost the attention of my reader but through this entire thing I have come to an awakening. I own my fucked-up-ness and I don’t think a lot of people can do that. I flaunt my flaws to make them unique and appreciated. I live my life one day at a time because in my experience, it’s all you can do. My husband laughs at me for somehow still being a planner as I hold that philosophy close to me but that’s just another facet of my fucked-up-ness. I let my freak flag fly. The world can take me as I am or move on without me but it will come grab me when it’s ready to appreciate the unbearable likeness, write-ness, wrongness and insanity that are my being…my being me!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A Home For The Holidays
How is it that after Halloween things just snowball and then it’s a whole new year? Thanksgiving has always been a favorite American pastime of mine because it’s the one day you can eat too much, drink too much and start the merriment with no judgment. Plus there’s pie.
I’ve always liked Christmas. When I was younger we would spend Christmas with my uncles and cousins and share in a huge gift exchange where my cousins and I would all rip open our toys to instantly make a mess. My parents and I decorated the tree, my dad made a feast and sometimes my sisters would come home. I always remember it being warm in our big old house from my childhood. I always wished for snow on actual Christmas and it never happened, but there were still many amazing Christmas stories created.
We all have good Christmas stories and bad ones. The holidays are crazy times. They are filled with fun, celebration, love, tension, stress, anxiety and then some. One of my greatest Christmas stories from my childhood was when I was about 11 or 12. I had been collecting dolls from American Girls and I had Samantha. This year I asked for her clothing trunk and it was one of the most expensive things that was a part of the collection. I realized that if my parents bought it for me that the box would have the American Girl return address so I started watching the mail for boxes came.
One day one came that was the perfect size and I was so excited. I told my dad I knew that’s what it was and he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s what it is.” Later as I was acting like a know-it-all about the box my dad said, “Oh yeah this is that lamp that your grandma said she was sending for the living room.” My dad reached down to the corner of the box, slit a hole, dug in with his fingers and pulled out a chord with a plug. My heart dropped. On Christmas morning he asked me to help him open that box…and there was Samantha’s trunk! It was an amazing Christmas moment.
Most of my recent Christmas memories worth keeping close to my heart involve my husband.
For as long as I remember in our relationship we’ve ended up spending every Christmas together, even before we started dating. Our first Christmas that we were dating my dad let him spend the night with us and he bought me a jewelry set with my favorite gem, a moonstone. It was earrings, a bracelet, and necklace and ring. Sadly two of those pieces of jewelry were stolen but the memory is still there.
We’ve always loved spending the holidays together. It’s like so long as we are together we are “home,” no matter where we are.
We both come from split up families and when we lived on the West Coast, splitting everything between households was too stressful. Somehow we always did it though. Whether it was his dad or my dad, my sisters or my step-mom’s, my husband and I were together through it all, even before we were married.
The holidays are tough and they always stir up emotions and memories. I feel more sentimental throughout the holiday season than most other times of the year. Sometimes I feel more Grinch-y than in the Christmas spirit but with my man by my side it usually passes.
When my parents split up my dad ended up with all the Christmas ornaments from my childhood. He gave them to me when I moved out. My husband’s ornaments are with his mother so I like to buy him at least one every year. It’s when we pull them out that the memories start flowing and the shapes and figures trigger a lot of specific experiences.
I love Christmas movies, I love the cold, the snow, the smell of the tree and I definitely feel fortunate that I’m not a Grinch at heart. People ask if we are going home for the holidays, and then they ask which place would be home. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and my uncles and cousins are all there. I met my husband in and my entire immediate family lives in Oregon but neither of us feel like we have a specific “house” or space to call home there.
Inevitably our home for each holiday is just “us.” Wherever we can be together, at dad’s, at uncle’s, sister’s, at our apartment, in a hotel room, wherever, so long as we have each other, we are home for the holidays creating more and more amazing memories and positive emotions to carry us through the years. Corny but true!
I’ve always liked Christmas. When I was younger we would spend Christmas with my uncles and cousins and share in a huge gift exchange where my cousins and I would all rip open our toys to instantly make a mess. My parents and I decorated the tree, my dad made a feast and sometimes my sisters would come home. I always remember it being warm in our big old house from my childhood. I always wished for snow on actual Christmas and it never happened, but there were still many amazing Christmas stories created.
We all have good Christmas stories and bad ones. The holidays are crazy times. They are filled with fun, celebration, love, tension, stress, anxiety and then some. One of my greatest Christmas stories from my childhood was when I was about 11 or 12. I had been collecting dolls from American Girls and I had Samantha. This year I asked for her clothing trunk and it was one of the most expensive things that was a part of the collection. I realized that if my parents bought it for me that the box would have the American Girl return address so I started watching the mail for boxes came.
One day one came that was the perfect size and I was so excited. I told my dad I knew that’s what it was and he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s what it is.” Later as I was acting like a know-it-all about the box my dad said, “Oh yeah this is that lamp that your grandma said she was sending for the living room.” My dad reached down to the corner of the box, slit a hole, dug in with his fingers and pulled out a chord with a plug. My heart dropped. On Christmas morning he asked me to help him open that box…and there was Samantha’s trunk! It was an amazing Christmas moment.
Most of my recent Christmas memories worth keeping close to my heart involve my husband.
For as long as I remember in our relationship we’ve ended up spending every Christmas together, even before we started dating. Our first Christmas that we were dating my dad let him spend the night with us and he bought me a jewelry set with my favorite gem, a moonstone. It was earrings, a bracelet, and necklace and ring. Sadly two of those pieces of jewelry were stolen but the memory is still there.
We’ve always loved spending the holidays together. It’s like so long as we are together we are “home,” no matter where we are.
We both come from split up families and when we lived on the West Coast, splitting everything between households was too stressful. Somehow we always did it though. Whether it was his dad or my dad, my sisters or my step-mom’s, my husband and I were together through it all, even before we were married.
The holidays are tough and they always stir up emotions and memories. I feel more sentimental throughout the holiday season than most other times of the year. Sometimes I feel more Grinch-y than in the Christmas spirit but with my man by my side it usually passes.
When my parents split up my dad ended up with all the Christmas ornaments from my childhood. He gave them to me when I moved out. My husband’s ornaments are with his mother so I like to buy him at least one every year. It’s when we pull them out that the memories start flowing and the shapes and figures trigger a lot of specific experiences.
I love Christmas movies, I love the cold, the snow, the smell of the tree and I definitely feel fortunate that I’m not a Grinch at heart. People ask if we are going home for the holidays, and then they ask which place would be home. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and my uncles and cousins are all there. I met my husband in and my entire immediate family lives in Oregon but neither of us feel like we have a specific “house” or space to call home there.
Inevitably our home for each holiday is just “us.” Wherever we can be together, at dad’s, at uncle’s, sister’s, at our apartment, in a hotel room, wherever, so long as we have each other, we are home for the holidays creating more and more amazing memories and positive emotions to carry us through the years. Corny but true!
Next Big Thing 2010
For a decade now, Tampa Bay’s alternative rock station, 97X has brought an amazing array of bands together for an all day concert event. Dubbed the Next Big Thing, this year’s show lived up to its name and its reputation, presenting a stellar list of bands playing over twelve hours of live music at the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre.
The local band winners, Set it Off and Not Tonight Josephine, kicked off the morning followed by American Bang who caught most listeners on their way in, warming them up for the long and rocking day ahead. Finger Eleven hit the main stage next with their steady and strong chords and lyrics playing crowd-pleasers like “One Thing,” “Living in a Dream,” and “Paralyzer.” This early in the day the Amphitheatre was looking a bit sparse but with the main acts much later in the day, more would arrive.
I was ready to check out the “underdogs” of the day. As an avid 97X listener I’d been hearing songs from the Sick Puppies, Chevelle, The Dirty Heads, and Cage the Elephant constantly and was ready to see them in action. There was quite the array of musicians and in turn, of fans.
My only complaint was the stage set-up. As this was my first Next Big Thing I was under the impression that it would be a Warped Tour kind of setup where they would just cut that main stage in half so music could be constantly playing. However, much like Bamboozled Road Show, there was a stage just inside the gates to the right which hosted bands like Neon Trees and A Day to Remember and the two stages were far apart.
The day also had these spontaneous acoustic performances of bands throughout the day between the main set times, held in random areas of the Amphitheatre. At first it was great because it felt like a sneak peak of the show to come but when we got later into the day and that band had already played, hearing those songs over again was like listening to 97x for 8 eight hours straight: a bit repetitive and tiring.
The Neon Trees battled some technical difficulties sounding off at first, but bounced back to impress the fans and “Prove that this stage was better than main stage,” as the lead said. They had a girl drummer who presented the crowd with some sweet beats and provided some eye candy for the guys in the crowd. Of course they played their hit “Animal,” which everyone sang along to, but also showed their individuality and signature sounds with “Love and Affection,” and “Your Surrender.”
Random vendors and 97x representatives kept the crowd wanting more music and more stuff by launching free key-chains with slingshots, shooting t-shirts and other keepsakes into the crowd throughout the day. Switchfoot hit the main stage in the middle of the day and couldn’t help but open with “Meant to Live,” covered the Beastie Boys, “Sabotage,” which was a decent tribute, and also played “The Sound,” and “Dare You to Move,” rocking the fans through them all.
Overall, by the middle of the day it felt like the Next Big Thing was a kind of a parade of the already overplayed songs on 97x paired with an opportunity to expose the actual talent of the bands, or perhaps it just proved I need to stop listening to Fisher and Boy every morning and change it up from time to time!
A Day to Remember came on loud and proud. The syncopation with the head-banging went from being kind of cool to rather obnoxious after about three song in, but the minor chords and metal-esque ballads accompanied by the strained screeches of the singer made for an energetic, entertaining and together performance.
Paper Tongues hit main stage and kicked off their set with a tuneful guitar solo and brought a wonderful energy as they danced all over that stage; even the drummer stayed standing for half the set. “Higher,” “Ride to California” and “Rich and Poor” won over the audience. Their bubbly set seemingly kept a lot of the fans afloat and refreshed their attention for the better part of the afternoon.
One of the bands I’d been waiting for, Against Me!, took the stage and played an epic set including my all time favorite song, which was quite fitting, “Sink, Florida, Sink,” and raged some “Teenage Anarchist,” and “Don’t Lose Touch.” The lead’s voice was simply amazing, and they heightened the energy levels, provoking some crowd surfing.
The Dirty Heads kept the fans relaxed and were really laid back musically and personally, but impressive live. Their funky nature really came out during “Neighborhood,” “Paint it Black,” a Rolling Stones cover, and for their hit, “Lay Me Down,” which the crowd knew verbatim.
Sick Puppies came on directly after and their girl bass player seriously dominated the stage and wowed the crowd. They just got harder and harder with every song waking up the crowd after the chill set with the Dirty Heads, during hits like “You’re Going Down,” and “Maybe,” especially.
Cage the Elephant followed the Sick Puppies as the sun went down. They played a set of newer songs going from somber to loud and fast then back down again. They had a great time on stage and the lead’s solid and melodic voice moved them from songs to song and genre to genre.
Sometimes sounding more indie than alternative their music was kind of manic expressive going from something comparable to the Shins, to a punk rock montage, to minutes of ambient noise like the Mars Volta, to something reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins, but rocked regardless and certainly kept your attention. With “Back Against the Wall,” “Aberdeen” and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” they left no rest for the crowd either.
Chevelle came on before the last two and most anticipated acts of the evening as, by far, the oldest band of the bunch. They started kind of slow and then hit the crowd with “Jars.” Chevelle has always had a deep, clean, succinct and potent sound. With the sun long gone and the chilly night closing in, their energy alone warmed the crowd during songs like “Letter from a Thief” and “Sleep Apnea.” They played hits from their entire catalog and blew the audience away.
Finally we reached the point where The Black Keys would take the stage. This duo immediately blasted the crowd with a raw, grungy alternative sound that got the whole crowd standing and moving. They were one of the best bands of the day, by far. They commanded the audience’s attention and made playing like that look effortless. The lead molded his voice uniquely to fit the mood and tone of songs like “Your Touch” and “Chop and Change” perfectly. Although their progressions were bluesy they managed to possess a soul sound during songs like “Everlasting Light,” where vocals have an almost feminine sound to woo the crowd even more.
They really revived the evening in many senses. The cold and restless crowd was ready for some excitement and the Black Keys brought it. When they played “Tighten Up” the crowd went nuts and everyone was dancing. Their stage presence was lively and hypnotic. They really felt the music and that feeling radiated throughout the fans. I could have listened to them for hours!
Last, but for most of the Next Big Thing attendees, anything but least, My Chemical Romance took the stage. As soon as Gerard hit the catwalk area I was sure they really just put that there for him. To be honest and possibly annoy a few fans, I never really got into My Chemical Romance, but they put on an epic show last night so any bias I may have had shot right out the window when they opened with “Na Na Na” and the crowd lost all control. They seriously revved up the audience, taking the show to a whole new level/
They were entertaining to say the least. Gerard with his crazy red hair, tight pants and flamboyant over- the-top, punk-rock presence just grabbed the attention of the crowd and had them drooling all over each and every song. His voice carried through the amphitheatre all the way to the interstate and warmed the hearts of every teen girl. The pit must have been 100 degrees when they rocked out “Thank You for the Venom,” “Planetary Go!,” “Give ‘Em Hell Kid,” and “House of Wolves.”
The poetic lyrics, Gerard’s intense gaze and their face melting guitar riffs and drum beats shattered any doubt I’d ever had about My Chemical Romance and certainly made the long and cold day worth it for their hardcore fans. They were in high demand because of their recent new album release. They played the current hit off of that album, “Danger Days, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,” “Sing” and the crowd did just that. “Look Alive, Sunshine” was among some of the other ones they featured from that album but they still played the older stuff like “Teenagers.”
Of course after such an amazing performance the crowd begged them for more luring them back onstage for an encore of “Cancer” and “The Kids from Yesterday.” For Tampa Bay’s My Chemical Romance fans they got an early fix of live entertainment straight from the new album and got to revisit some classics with Gerard and company.
Their performance was intoxicating; a perfect end to a great musical day. So 97X’s Next Big Thing 2010 was a complete success but definitely leaves an amazing amount of acts to follow for NBT 2011!
The local band winners, Set it Off and Not Tonight Josephine, kicked off the morning followed by American Bang who caught most listeners on their way in, warming them up for the long and rocking day ahead. Finger Eleven hit the main stage next with their steady and strong chords and lyrics playing crowd-pleasers like “One Thing,” “Living in a Dream,” and “Paralyzer.” This early in the day the Amphitheatre was looking a bit sparse but with the main acts much later in the day, more would arrive.
I was ready to check out the “underdogs” of the day. As an avid 97X listener I’d been hearing songs from the Sick Puppies, Chevelle, The Dirty Heads, and Cage the Elephant constantly and was ready to see them in action. There was quite the array of musicians and in turn, of fans.
My only complaint was the stage set-up. As this was my first Next Big Thing I was under the impression that it would be a Warped Tour kind of setup where they would just cut that main stage in half so music could be constantly playing. However, much like Bamboozled Road Show, there was a stage just inside the gates to the right which hosted bands like Neon Trees and A Day to Remember and the two stages were far apart.
The day also had these spontaneous acoustic performances of bands throughout the day between the main set times, held in random areas of the Amphitheatre. At first it was great because it felt like a sneak peak of the show to come but when we got later into the day and that band had already played, hearing those songs over again was like listening to 97x for 8 eight hours straight: a bit repetitive and tiring.
The Neon Trees battled some technical difficulties sounding off at first, but bounced back to impress the fans and “Prove that this stage was better than main stage,” as the lead said. They had a girl drummer who presented the crowd with some sweet beats and provided some eye candy for the guys in the crowd. Of course they played their hit “Animal,” which everyone sang along to, but also showed their individuality and signature sounds with “Love and Affection,” and “Your Surrender.”
Random vendors and 97x representatives kept the crowd wanting more music and more stuff by launching free key-chains with slingshots, shooting t-shirts and other keepsakes into the crowd throughout the day. Switchfoot hit the main stage in the middle of the day and couldn’t help but open with “Meant to Live,” covered the Beastie Boys, “Sabotage,” which was a decent tribute, and also played “The Sound,” and “Dare You to Move,” rocking the fans through them all.
Overall, by the middle of the day it felt like the Next Big Thing was a kind of a parade of the already overplayed songs on 97x paired with an opportunity to expose the actual talent of the bands, or perhaps it just proved I need to stop listening to Fisher and Boy every morning and change it up from time to time!
A Day to Remember came on loud and proud. The syncopation with the head-banging went from being kind of cool to rather obnoxious after about three song in, but the minor chords and metal-esque ballads accompanied by the strained screeches of the singer made for an energetic, entertaining and together performance.
Paper Tongues hit main stage and kicked off their set with a tuneful guitar solo and brought a wonderful energy as they danced all over that stage; even the drummer stayed standing for half the set. “Higher,” “Ride to California” and “Rich and Poor” won over the audience. Their bubbly set seemingly kept a lot of the fans afloat and refreshed their attention for the better part of the afternoon.
One of the bands I’d been waiting for, Against Me!, took the stage and played an epic set including my all time favorite song, which was quite fitting, “Sink, Florida, Sink,” and raged some “Teenage Anarchist,” and “Don’t Lose Touch.” The lead’s voice was simply amazing, and they heightened the energy levels, provoking some crowd surfing.
The Dirty Heads kept the fans relaxed and were really laid back musically and personally, but impressive live. Their funky nature really came out during “Neighborhood,” “Paint it Black,” a Rolling Stones cover, and for their hit, “Lay Me Down,” which the crowd knew verbatim.
Sick Puppies came on directly after and their girl bass player seriously dominated the stage and wowed the crowd. They just got harder and harder with every song waking up the crowd after the chill set with the Dirty Heads, during hits like “You’re Going Down,” and “Maybe,” especially.
Cage the Elephant followed the Sick Puppies as the sun went down. They played a set of newer songs going from somber to loud and fast then back down again. They had a great time on stage and the lead’s solid and melodic voice moved them from songs to song and genre to genre.
Sometimes sounding more indie than alternative their music was kind of manic expressive going from something comparable to the Shins, to a punk rock montage, to minutes of ambient noise like the Mars Volta, to something reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins, but rocked regardless and certainly kept your attention. With “Back Against the Wall,” “Aberdeen” and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” they left no rest for the crowd either.
Chevelle came on before the last two and most anticipated acts of the evening as, by far, the oldest band of the bunch. They started kind of slow and then hit the crowd with “Jars.” Chevelle has always had a deep, clean, succinct and potent sound. With the sun long gone and the chilly night closing in, their energy alone warmed the crowd during songs like “Letter from a Thief” and “Sleep Apnea.” They played hits from their entire catalog and blew the audience away.
Finally we reached the point where The Black Keys would take the stage. This duo immediately blasted the crowd with a raw, grungy alternative sound that got the whole crowd standing and moving. They were one of the best bands of the day, by far. They commanded the audience’s attention and made playing like that look effortless. The lead molded his voice uniquely to fit the mood and tone of songs like “Your Touch” and “Chop and Change” perfectly. Although their progressions were bluesy they managed to possess a soul sound during songs like “Everlasting Light,” where vocals have an almost feminine sound to woo the crowd even more.
They really revived the evening in many senses. The cold and restless crowd was ready for some excitement and the Black Keys brought it. When they played “Tighten Up” the crowd went nuts and everyone was dancing. Their stage presence was lively and hypnotic. They really felt the music and that feeling radiated throughout the fans. I could have listened to them for hours!
Last, but for most of the Next Big Thing attendees, anything but least, My Chemical Romance took the stage. As soon as Gerard hit the catwalk area I was sure they really just put that there for him. To be honest and possibly annoy a few fans, I never really got into My Chemical Romance, but they put on an epic show last night so any bias I may have had shot right out the window when they opened with “Na Na Na” and the crowd lost all control. They seriously revved up the audience, taking the show to a whole new level/
They were entertaining to say the least. Gerard with his crazy red hair, tight pants and flamboyant over- the-top, punk-rock presence just grabbed the attention of the crowd and had them drooling all over each and every song. His voice carried through the amphitheatre all the way to the interstate and warmed the hearts of every teen girl. The pit must have been 100 degrees when they rocked out “Thank You for the Venom,” “Planetary Go!,” “Give ‘Em Hell Kid,” and “House of Wolves.”
The poetic lyrics, Gerard’s intense gaze and their face melting guitar riffs and drum beats shattered any doubt I’d ever had about My Chemical Romance and certainly made the long and cold day worth it for their hardcore fans. They were in high demand because of their recent new album release. They played the current hit off of that album, “Danger Days, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,” “Sing” and the crowd did just that. “Look Alive, Sunshine” was among some of the other ones they featured from that album but they still played the older stuff like “Teenagers.”
Of course after such an amazing performance the crowd begged them for more luring them back onstage for an encore of “Cancer” and “The Kids from Yesterday.” For Tampa Bay’s My Chemical Romance fans they got an early fix of live entertainment straight from the new album and got to revisit some classics with Gerard and company.
Their performance was intoxicating; a perfect end to a great musical day. So 97X’s Next Big Thing 2010 was a complete success but definitely leaves an amazing amount of acts to follow for NBT 2011!
Friday, October 29, 2010
“Sounds like a Country Song”…Life as I go it… “Taking the Long Way Around”
With my sisters entering their forties, aunts and uncles hitting the big 5-0 mark and my slightly senior parents inching towards seventy, I’ve been wondering lately, “When did I wake up an ‘adult?’” I don’t really consider myself or my husband a grown-up per-se, and I thought getting married was the most adult thing we’ve done but as I hear stories and updates from family, friends, frenemies, foes, and acquaintances, I can’t help but ask myself, “Am I missing something?”
As a stubborn, Irish, redhead riddled with childhood circumstances that caused me to grow up with extreme caution, hyper-organization and an aptitude for a somewhat zealous life-planning scheme, I have always done things my own way. With constant evolving ideas of my future and changes in my teen years, none of my dreams or aspirations panned out quite as I thought, so far, but I definitely have lived a life with many tales to tell, and I’m only a quarter of a century old.
First I wanted to be an acrobat, which never worked out and somehow conformed into a desire to attend college at the University of Oregon. Then my teenage years brought on an obsession with becoming a lawyer and attending Pepperdine. My sisters championed a whim to attend Berkeley, and in the midst of this I was wrestling with these ideas and ideals of how men would fit into anything I wanted.
I always wanted to get married but I had major issues with picking the completely wrong guys. After my first boyfriend completely screwed me over in more ways than one, I decided I’d be cool and live the Sex and the City life and then when I wanted a baby just ask my best friend, who happened to be a cute, gay male I once had a crush on, to be a sperm donor and leave out that whole relationship sticky-ness altogether!
Somewhere between ages 16 and 19 I ended up working towards my original childhood dream of attending the University of Oregon, landed an amazing boyfriend, somehow decided I wanted to be a music writer, worked through college as a nanny for the best family on the planet, and came to the conclusion that marriage and children could wait until I was at least thirty.
Drama, drama, drama, yadda, yadda, yadda, the entrance into my twenties was filled with tears, fears coming true, and a seemingly endless line of personal and family obstacles for me to conquer. In the midst of it, I committed to a sane relationship with my, rock, my man, my current hubby, Eben. While dating we had about 9 months apart including a brief hiatus when some best friends left us all behind to grow up and be in love, and when I spent a term in London to study and do an internship.
After all that, and a whole heap of other drama, during a 2008 trip to Florida to visit family we decided that we’d commit to spending our lives together, get the hell out of Oregon and just be together after I graduated in 2009. We moved in with my “aunt” – you know one of those family members that isn’t blood related but might as well be. We started saving and in early 2009 when it seemed like everything had turned to shit, planning our escape was the light at the end of the tunnel. Eben snuck in a marriage proposal, we planned a wedding in three months, got married in front of (almost) all the people we love for one big goodbye, good luck and moving on party to ensure that everyone knew we weren’t completely insane and we drove away in a Penske truck filled with our life and treasures towing the car that had taken us through all of our memories and then into our future!
I’m one of those people who just has to believe that everything happens for a reason. Otherwise I may have suicidal tendencies. So, in the wake of losing best friends to other relationships, losing a parent to bad behaviors and bullshit, leaving our world behind to salvage the only love I had ever truly known, losing a bunch of stuff when the car was broken into at the beginning of the journey, we just had to continue to do things my own way and take life detours to get to that new horizon.
I had a great friend tell me she admired the courage it took to just pick up and go. Most people couldn’t do it. Sometimes I look back and don’t know how we did it either…
We have family members who are having first and second children, buying and remodeling houses, getting new cars, and worried about fancy medical insurance and somehow we just missed that boat. I’ll confess that I’ve had babies on the brain lately. My body has kicked into gear and I’m feeling that I’m at my prime for motherhood but we’re just not ready.
I pretend that’s what I want but I think and think about it for hours and I think I may have missed the memo. Is there something fundamentally screwed up about being okay with a simple existence in my mid-twenties?
Occasionally I get frustrated. Some people my age have new cars, higher paying jobs with full medical coverage, predictable schedules, and holiday pay or whatever. I wonder if that’s what I should be leaning towards or looking for.
Now when I think about what I want to be when I grow up I think about moving back to Oregon, getting an awesome little house in South Eugene, Eben opening up his dream restaurant, me helping with that, freelance writing for some Oregon publications and having little, stubborn, Irish, redheaded kids to call our own.
I’ve always “Taken the Long Way Around,” like that Dixie Chicks song, that I totally love. I could never do anything like anybody else. It's my way or the high way! My best friend calls Eben and I “gypsies” because we just go and do what we want. My uncles think we are crazy and irresponsible because we live in an apartment and not a “real house.” When I hear about friends our age that used to party harder than you can imagine, spend all their money on game systems, nights out at the bar, tattoos, piercings, and concerts, are now getting married and having babies it just makes me sigh.
I can’t even imagine it! Eben and I can’t even fathom taking on a dog, let along anything else! We may be on the “short bus” of getting into this adulthood thing but I just don’t see the rush. I’d rather wait and stave off a lifetime of debt then dive into it now. What's the hurry?
Eben got the best job he could get for himself in Tampa and is working with the kind of Chef he wants to become. I got a job at the same restaurant, which is giving me the kind of experience you can’t buy, the kind of experience I thought I may never get and that will come in handy no matter what happens to us. We share one car right now and save so much on the high Florida insurance prices, which has its pros and cons, but we live simply: two bedroom apartment central to everything, tucked back into a good part of Tampa but not too expensive. We don’t buy useless stuff, we can afford to go out when we want and enjoy the luxury of staying at home and unwinding just the same. We like the simplicities of life and cherish what we have worked for and earned. So when I want babies or puppies or start feeling like we missed a spot the "grown up boat" I remind myself that we don’t have it so bad.
Yeah, like the rest of America, we have a couple thousand dollars of consumer debt, but it's from moving down here. Neither of us have school loans or school debts. We make enough money to cover all the bases. We are healthy and happier than we ever thought we could be. We have an amazing group of friends, family and supporters who share wisdom and loads of love with us. We have each other, a roof over our heads, a working vehicle and an optimism that is kind of contagious.
So, am I jealous of old Joe Somebody back home trading in his old car for a family-friendly vehicle, or of high school buddy Jane Doe being pregnant and decorating the nursery with her boyfriend? With a glass of wine in my hand on a Saturday night out with friends talking about going to a theme park or concert the next day and knowing I don’t have to get up until 10am on Sunday, I can honestly confess that jealousy doesn’t really come into play. Besides, competing with old friends, foes, or anyone else is just a waste really; a fleeting thought.
We are all loved, lucky and blessed in our own ways. And, since I’ve always done it my way, enjoyed the roads ahead and the ones I’ve left behind, I’ll continue to “Take the Long Way Around!” I’ll let you know how it is when we get there…wherever we go, there we are!
Taking The Long Way Around By THE DIXIE CHICKS
My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes where their parents live
But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow
I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel
I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow
By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to
No I, I could never follow
It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now
But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way aroundI'm taking the long way
Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself
But I, I could never follow
Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
As a stubborn, Irish, redhead riddled with childhood circumstances that caused me to grow up with extreme caution, hyper-organization and an aptitude for a somewhat zealous life-planning scheme, I have always done things my own way. With constant evolving ideas of my future and changes in my teen years, none of my dreams or aspirations panned out quite as I thought, so far, but I definitely have lived a life with many tales to tell, and I’m only a quarter of a century old.
First I wanted to be an acrobat, which never worked out and somehow conformed into a desire to attend college at the University of Oregon. Then my teenage years brought on an obsession with becoming a lawyer and attending Pepperdine. My sisters championed a whim to attend Berkeley, and in the midst of this I was wrestling with these ideas and ideals of how men would fit into anything I wanted.
I always wanted to get married but I had major issues with picking the completely wrong guys. After my first boyfriend completely screwed me over in more ways than one, I decided I’d be cool and live the Sex and the City life and then when I wanted a baby just ask my best friend, who happened to be a cute, gay male I once had a crush on, to be a sperm donor and leave out that whole relationship sticky-ness altogether!
Somewhere between ages 16 and 19 I ended up working towards my original childhood dream of attending the University of Oregon, landed an amazing boyfriend, somehow decided I wanted to be a music writer, worked through college as a nanny for the best family on the planet, and came to the conclusion that marriage and children could wait until I was at least thirty.
Drama, drama, drama, yadda, yadda, yadda, the entrance into my twenties was filled with tears, fears coming true, and a seemingly endless line of personal and family obstacles for me to conquer. In the midst of it, I committed to a sane relationship with my, rock, my man, my current hubby, Eben. While dating we had about 9 months apart including a brief hiatus when some best friends left us all behind to grow up and be in love, and when I spent a term in London to study and do an internship.
After all that, and a whole heap of other drama, during a 2008 trip to Florida to visit family we decided that we’d commit to spending our lives together, get the hell out of Oregon and just be together after I graduated in 2009. We moved in with my “aunt” – you know one of those family members that isn’t blood related but might as well be. We started saving and in early 2009 when it seemed like everything had turned to shit, planning our escape was the light at the end of the tunnel. Eben snuck in a marriage proposal, we planned a wedding in three months, got married in front of (almost) all the people we love for one big goodbye, good luck and moving on party to ensure that everyone knew we weren’t completely insane and we drove away in a Penske truck filled with our life and treasures towing the car that had taken us through all of our memories and then into our future!
I’m one of those people who just has to believe that everything happens for a reason. Otherwise I may have suicidal tendencies. So, in the wake of losing best friends to other relationships, losing a parent to bad behaviors and bullshit, leaving our world behind to salvage the only love I had ever truly known, losing a bunch of stuff when the car was broken into at the beginning of the journey, we just had to continue to do things my own way and take life detours to get to that new horizon.
I had a great friend tell me she admired the courage it took to just pick up and go. Most people couldn’t do it. Sometimes I look back and don’t know how we did it either…
We have family members who are having first and second children, buying and remodeling houses, getting new cars, and worried about fancy medical insurance and somehow we just missed that boat. I’ll confess that I’ve had babies on the brain lately. My body has kicked into gear and I’m feeling that I’m at my prime for motherhood but we’re just not ready.
I pretend that’s what I want but I think and think about it for hours and I think I may have missed the memo. Is there something fundamentally screwed up about being okay with a simple existence in my mid-twenties?
Occasionally I get frustrated. Some people my age have new cars, higher paying jobs with full medical coverage, predictable schedules, and holiday pay or whatever. I wonder if that’s what I should be leaning towards or looking for.
Now when I think about what I want to be when I grow up I think about moving back to Oregon, getting an awesome little house in South Eugene, Eben opening up his dream restaurant, me helping with that, freelance writing for some Oregon publications and having little, stubborn, Irish, redheaded kids to call our own.
I’ve always “Taken the Long Way Around,” like that Dixie Chicks song, that I totally love. I could never do anything like anybody else. It's my way or the high way! My best friend calls Eben and I “gypsies” because we just go and do what we want. My uncles think we are crazy and irresponsible because we live in an apartment and not a “real house.” When I hear about friends our age that used to party harder than you can imagine, spend all their money on game systems, nights out at the bar, tattoos, piercings, and concerts, are now getting married and having babies it just makes me sigh.
I can’t even imagine it! Eben and I can’t even fathom taking on a dog, let along anything else! We may be on the “short bus” of getting into this adulthood thing but I just don’t see the rush. I’d rather wait and stave off a lifetime of debt then dive into it now. What's the hurry?
Eben got the best job he could get for himself in Tampa and is working with the kind of Chef he wants to become. I got a job at the same restaurant, which is giving me the kind of experience you can’t buy, the kind of experience I thought I may never get and that will come in handy no matter what happens to us. We share one car right now and save so much on the high Florida insurance prices, which has its pros and cons, but we live simply: two bedroom apartment central to everything, tucked back into a good part of Tampa but not too expensive. We don’t buy useless stuff, we can afford to go out when we want and enjoy the luxury of staying at home and unwinding just the same. We like the simplicities of life and cherish what we have worked for and earned. So when I want babies or puppies or start feeling like we missed a spot the "grown up boat" I remind myself that we don’t have it so bad.
Yeah, like the rest of America, we have a couple thousand dollars of consumer debt, but it's from moving down here. Neither of us have school loans or school debts. We make enough money to cover all the bases. We are healthy and happier than we ever thought we could be. We have an amazing group of friends, family and supporters who share wisdom and loads of love with us. We have each other, a roof over our heads, a working vehicle and an optimism that is kind of contagious.
So, am I jealous of old Joe Somebody back home trading in his old car for a family-friendly vehicle, or of high school buddy Jane Doe being pregnant and decorating the nursery with her boyfriend? With a glass of wine in my hand on a Saturday night out with friends talking about going to a theme park or concert the next day and knowing I don’t have to get up until 10am on Sunday, I can honestly confess that jealousy doesn’t really come into play. Besides, competing with old friends, foes, or anyone else is just a waste really; a fleeting thought.
We are all loved, lucky and blessed in our own ways. And, since I’ve always done it my way, enjoyed the roads ahead and the ones I’ve left behind, I’ll continue to “Take the Long Way Around!” I’ll let you know how it is when we get there…wherever we go, there we are!
Taking The Long Way Around By THE DIXIE CHICKS
My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes where their parents live
But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow
I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel
I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow
By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to
No I, I could never follow
It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now
But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way aroundI'm taking the long way
Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself
But I, I could never follow
Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Thursday, October 28, 2010
An Evening with Styx
October 23, 2010 Styx performed at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall to bring back the 80’s one note at a time. The stage setup was filled with impressive instruments and amps, something one crazed Styx fan just found to be so awesome that he told me they would sound even better than before.
Styx wasn’t just playing the hits; theirs was a set list that fans had been waiting for. This Styx tour was all about playing their early albums “A Grand Illusion” and “Pieces of Eight.” To introduce the fans to this whole thing, a Star-Wars like video intro played describing the formation and rise of the great band we all know as Styx.
Ruth Eckerd was full with Styx super-fans, some of whom even brought their children. Without an opening band, Styx took the stage promptly at 7:30pm and the crowd went crazy. They were all there: Tommy Shaw, James "JY" Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman, Ricky Phillips, and even their original bassist Chuck Panozzo came out to play on a few songs. They all looked like they walked right out of the late 70’s and it seemed their hair hasn’t changed much since the 80’s.
Tommy rocked the guitar and Lawrence had a keyboard stand that rotated so he could rock any which way he pleased. Todd played an intimidating-looking drum set like a pro and wowed his fans with each beat. JY and Ricky shredded some sweet solos and kept the hits rollin’ throughout the set and when you added in Chuck they had quite the guitar arsenal to blow the crowd away.
Although I’ll admit I didn’t know every song, it didn’t seem like most of the audience knew them verbatim either, but Styx made it possible for you to enjoy the show no matter what fan status you held. You could feel the bass in every song and the vocals and harmonies sounded as clear as they did on disc. When they played “Come Sail Away,” the entire audience was up singing, rocking and amped up for the rest of the albums.
The great thing about these two albums is that they were reminiscent of an 80’s rock opera or psychedelic trip, but was still completely unique. There were these strange, yet fun, hidden stories in each tune, and the members of Styx were just so committed to their music that it made for an epic performance.
They had video interludes of flipping each side of the album, graphics to go along with each song and even some pictures and footage from the late 70’s to keep the crowd’s attention. Between the two albums they had an intermission so fans could keep the beer flowing and so Styx could rest and do some wardrobe modifications.
The crowd was definitely ready for part two when Styx reappeared. There was one woman in a sequined, disco-ball-looking shirt that didn’t sit the entire evening. She danced and sang the entire night. Air-guitarists were everywhere!
Although the super-fan right next to me claimed that I could never understand the greatness of Styx and why this night was so cool, and also said I was too young to deserve to be there, it was a great experience to be had. Since Styx has pretty much hit 80’s icon status, it’s nice to see that they’ve earned the right to do what they want. On this tour, all they wanted was to give the fans what they’d been asking for all along. They ended up doing even more than that.
After they played both albums they rocked us with a Beatles cover of “I am the Walrus” and closed out with “Too Much Time on My Hands.” Sadly they did not rock “Mr. Roboto” but I guess a tour such as this has given them the right to choose not to play that. “The Grand Illusion” and “Pieces of Eight” are great albums and hearing them back to back, seeing them performed live with such enthusiasm for the work made Saturday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall an Awesome 80’s night!
Styx wasn’t just playing the hits; theirs was a set list that fans had been waiting for. This Styx tour was all about playing their early albums “A Grand Illusion” and “Pieces of Eight.” To introduce the fans to this whole thing, a Star-Wars like video intro played describing the formation and rise of the great band we all know as Styx.
Ruth Eckerd was full with Styx super-fans, some of whom even brought their children. Without an opening band, Styx took the stage promptly at 7:30pm and the crowd went crazy. They were all there: Tommy Shaw, James "JY" Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman, Ricky Phillips, and even their original bassist Chuck Panozzo came out to play on a few songs. They all looked like they walked right out of the late 70’s and it seemed their hair hasn’t changed much since the 80’s.
Tommy rocked the guitar and Lawrence had a keyboard stand that rotated so he could rock any which way he pleased. Todd played an intimidating-looking drum set like a pro and wowed his fans with each beat. JY and Ricky shredded some sweet solos and kept the hits rollin’ throughout the set and when you added in Chuck they had quite the guitar arsenal to blow the crowd away.
Although I’ll admit I didn’t know every song, it didn’t seem like most of the audience knew them verbatim either, but Styx made it possible for you to enjoy the show no matter what fan status you held. You could feel the bass in every song and the vocals and harmonies sounded as clear as they did on disc. When they played “Come Sail Away,” the entire audience was up singing, rocking and amped up for the rest of the albums.
The great thing about these two albums is that they were reminiscent of an 80’s rock opera or psychedelic trip, but was still completely unique. There were these strange, yet fun, hidden stories in each tune, and the members of Styx were just so committed to their music that it made for an epic performance.
They had video interludes of flipping each side of the album, graphics to go along with each song and even some pictures and footage from the late 70’s to keep the crowd’s attention. Between the two albums they had an intermission so fans could keep the beer flowing and so Styx could rest and do some wardrobe modifications.
The crowd was definitely ready for part two when Styx reappeared. There was one woman in a sequined, disco-ball-looking shirt that didn’t sit the entire evening. She danced and sang the entire night. Air-guitarists were everywhere!
Although the super-fan right next to me claimed that I could never understand the greatness of Styx and why this night was so cool, and also said I was too young to deserve to be there, it was a great experience to be had. Since Styx has pretty much hit 80’s icon status, it’s nice to see that they’ve earned the right to do what they want. On this tour, all they wanted was to give the fans what they’d been asking for all along. They ended up doing even more than that.
After they played both albums they rocked us with a Beatles cover of “I am the Walrus” and closed out with “Too Much Time on My Hands.” Sadly they did not rock “Mr. Roboto” but I guess a tour such as this has given them the right to choose not to play that. “The Grand Illusion” and “Pieces of Eight” are great albums and hearing them back to back, seeing them performed live with such enthusiasm for the work made Saturday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall an Awesome 80’s night!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
You say aioli , I say aioli, let’s call the whole thing off! My Life In a Restaurant
“Would you like to try that burrito, ‘wet style?’” is a completely different question than, “Would you like fries with that,” okay? Restaurants are my husband’s whole world. I feel like everyone always wants to work in a restaurant at some point because you can make good tips. I always thought I had the personality for it but never had the opportunity.
When my husband and I take leaps we take big ones. When we moved to Tampa, Florida almost immediately after my graduation from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and literally right after our wedding we had no idea what would happen but we knew our destination was Tampa. We had family in both Tampa and St. Petersburg so we know we wouldn’t be completely alone but we certainly had an amazing adventure ahead of us.
The original plan was to get me a job that paid the bills, get him a job that paid rent and then get my man into Culinary School at the Art Institute. 2 weeks after we arrived and moved into our new place, one week after we started looking, my husband got a job at a Sushi place not too far from home. About two and a half weeks after I started looking, I got hired at a place in a hospital that sold “medical apparel,” aka scrubs. Retail was easy for me and seemed pretty cool. We were settled into reality ready to dive into the unfamiliar.
My husband’s job sucked. That place was a health code violation and he single-handedly cleaned it up and turned it around. He negotiated himself a raise and felt pretty good. The hours were kind of tough but he made it work. Then on payday he noticed not only did he not get the raise but they had paid him a dollar under what they’d originally agreed on in the first place. His worthless boss said “I pay you what you’re worth, and that’s what your worth.” Needless to say, my husband knew better and left gracefully and angrily hoping Tampa had something better to offer.
He spent three days at home making progress on little household projects and combing the listings on Craigslist setting up interviews and applying for new positions. I checked on Craigslist one afternoon and saw something that looked awesome and promising. It was a small, family-owned Mexican Grille about 10 miles away from our place that was only open 11am-9pm and was closed on Sundays. Since the bulk of my man’s experience was indeed Mexican and Latin-based, I knew he was a shoe-in, so long as any knowledge of the Spanish language was not necessary, because he barely knew anything.
He walked in, had the interview, and was hired within 48 hours. He rocked it, and it was the perfect fit for him. He really could not have found a better job. I was sitting pretty at the scrub store and freelance writing for a local alternative, trendy paper doing music reviews and getting us into free concerts.
About a month and a half into his employment at this amazing lil’ Mexican Grille, he was already on the fast track to management and an interesting opportunity came up. The front of the house was short a person and I was looking for a second job. My husband knew I could do it and that I’d always wanted a restaurant job so he threw out my name.
The owner only had one question: “Can you work with her?” We contemplated it. We discussed it..a lot! Before our wedding, before we went through all this relationship drama and getting past it all, we couldn’t have worked together for five minutes, but this time, it felt like it was doable. So we did it.
Where my husband was in his element, boy was I out of mine. The closest thing I had to restaurant experience was Burger King right near the University of Oregon campus, which has been long closed down because we failed all our health code tests. Plus, I wouldn’t exactly call that a real restaurant job. They call it fast food because of all the short cuts the employees take to get the customers out of their faces and on their way!
I dove right into the Mexican Grille and almost ended up drowning more than a few times. The first 3 months were terrible. It was so hard and my boss and I totally had a problem communicating on many levels, leaving me to consistently come out as the bad guy, or the one coming up short. I never had any problems working with my husband. For a long time, he was the only friend there I had.
Working the two jobs was treacherous. I was always tired, never had time to do anything and Sunday was the only day I ever had off. By the time Sunday rolled around I had to do laundry, get caught up on housework and I just wanted to be with my husband. We barely had the energy to leave the house.
For six months I killed myself at both the scrub store and the restaurant. I thought I would do better to put more effort into the scrub store, since my co-workers and managers actually liked me there, than to go the extra mile at the restaurant only to end up being fired from the scrub store and be left with only the restaurant to save me.
Right after the New Year, my life at the restaurant got better. I stopped letting things bother me so much and I got into a rhythm, comfortable with my position and started getting good at my job
and finding things I actually liked about it. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, really. Things got really bad at the scrub store after January and I just wanted to make it to my one year and then move onto greener pastures.
I got fired from the scrub store right before my birthday and the first visit we were making home to Oregon to see family. Getting fired ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. As a great friend, Lonnie Stoner, once said to me, “It’s a blurse: a blessing and a curse.” I was down a steady paycheck but something had happened at the restaurant that very same week that was kismet, or some kind of sign.
The same week I got canned for being an ambitious scrub store salesgirl the front of the house manager from the Mexican Grille had put in her two week’s notice for leaving the company. Not only did this mean we were short an employee, but I actually had a chance to do well at the restaurant now because this particular manager hated me from the start and always had it out for me. The clouds had just lifted!
The day we left for vacation I threw myself at the mercy of the restaurant owner and told him, if he trained me to work a different position I would work hard and shine for him, I would do what he wanted from me 6 months ago, only even better.
He was skeptical, a little bit unsure but also a little bit stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was less of a gamble than someone completely new. I’d gotten this bad reputation with him as someone who was just there for a paycheck, liked to play more than work, and always had a list of excuses in my back pocket ready to get out of trouble.
Some of those had merit. The restaurant felt like my husband’s realm and I was just a small part of the whole thing, inconsequential really. I never felt like I actually fit in, and I always felt like I had far more weaknesses than strengths in this business. Also, after years of being a nanny I had become an expert at “turning on the happy” and was good at being silly. So, when things got crazy tense at the restaurant and I wanted to run away forever, I’d make guests and employees laugh just so I could laugh with them, which can look kind of bad if you aren’t in on the joke.
As far as the excuses thing, I’m a major explainer. If you start accusing me, I get defensive and I will always tell you exactly what happened, which if you aren’t in the mood to listen, sounds a lot like an excuse. There were a lot of miscommunications and misrepresentations of my comments, issues and personality traits too weighing against me. But, the boss man agreed and I was ready to move forward.
Six months after all of this, I’m actually happy asking over and over again if our guests would like to try that burrito “wet style.” It still bothers me when people pronounce the Grande burrito as “Grand” and when people emphasize the “a” in cilantro, but these are things I can deal with.
When I entered the world of the Mexican Grille and stepped into my husband’s hopes, dreams, and career happiness, I wanted to kick some major ass completely unaware of the notion that the restaurant might instead completely kick my ass. However, I prevailed!
The owner saw it in me. He knew I could hack it, and I do. I worked with an amazing team. It’s hard to mesh with that many people and often at times I feel like there is always someone on my “shit list” but I’d rather be annoyed with them than work without them.
It often is like that movie “Waiting” and I have almost freaked out on many people, and definitely have come unhinged letting out an attitude or shrill statement here or there. No joke, you don’t want to piss off a short red-head. I have days where I feel depressed and like I am going nowhere but then I think about how I built myself into the restaurant structure from nothing and if the owners want me there, what more is there.
I’ve never had a single argument with my husband about anything that happened at the restaurant. We never take that home with us, but we do complain about work…a lot! Sometimes it seems like that is all we can talk about, but then again, it’s a great thing we share.
I never expected to fit into the world of food service. I thought that would be my husband’s thing and I would just come into his restaurant one day to eat and feed the kids because I can’t cook, but now I feel like I want to work towards being a part of it. We have a great couple we look up to as perfect examples of how it all works. I’d like to think that when we grow up we will be like the owners of this amazing restaurant.
I’m not saying that this is an easy job. Anything but easy really, and there is always something to be done! But, I like my job. Ninety percent of the time I feel competent, happy and confident. I’ve met a lot of really great guests, made friends and really know the restaurant. I love working for the owners, and most days I think they like that I’m working for them. I like all the people I work with. The team is great. Sure, we clash, we annoy, we fight, we snap, we yell, we stomp but at the end of the day we are a team and having someone is a lot better than no one.
If you asked me 3 years ago, I could have never even remotely predicted my life, my plan, or my lack thereof would ever bring me here. My husband would definitely say the same. We have our good and bad days but we have a vested interest in this place, this life, this industry. Sure these jobs may not be a forever kind of thing, but we are learning things we will need to make it to forever, and we are forever grateful for the experiences and the people we have supporting us through it all.
My life in a restaurant is anything but ordinary, but then again neither are the items on the menu at my beloved Mexican grille. Sometimes I feel like life has left us behind when I hear about the things that other married couples and friends our age are doing, but then I remember that we left our old life behind to try something new, and something new is exactly what we found…and we even got more than we bargained for. At least when you live your life in a restaurant, you live life to the “fullest!”
When my husband and I take leaps we take big ones. When we moved to Tampa, Florida almost immediately after my graduation from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and literally right after our wedding we had no idea what would happen but we knew our destination was Tampa. We had family in both Tampa and St. Petersburg so we know we wouldn’t be completely alone but we certainly had an amazing adventure ahead of us.
The original plan was to get me a job that paid the bills, get him a job that paid rent and then get my man into Culinary School at the Art Institute. 2 weeks after we arrived and moved into our new place, one week after we started looking, my husband got a job at a Sushi place not too far from home. About two and a half weeks after I started looking, I got hired at a place in a hospital that sold “medical apparel,” aka scrubs. Retail was easy for me and seemed pretty cool. We were settled into reality ready to dive into the unfamiliar.
My husband’s job sucked. That place was a health code violation and he single-handedly cleaned it up and turned it around. He negotiated himself a raise and felt pretty good. The hours were kind of tough but he made it work. Then on payday he noticed not only did he not get the raise but they had paid him a dollar under what they’d originally agreed on in the first place. His worthless boss said “I pay you what you’re worth, and that’s what your worth.” Needless to say, my husband knew better and left gracefully and angrily hoping Tampa had something better to offer.
He spent three days at home making progress on little household projects and combing the listings on Craigslist setting up interviews and applying for new positions. I checked on Craigslist one afternoon and saw something that looked awesome and promising. It was a small, family-owned Mexican Grille about 10 miles away from our place that was only open 11am-9pm and was closed on Sundays. Since the bulk of my man’s experience was indeed Mexican and Latin-based, I knew he was a shoe-in, so long as any knowledge of the Spanish language was not necessary, because he barely knew anything.
He walked in, had the interview, and was hired within 48 hours. He rocked it, and it was the perfect fit for him. He really could not have found a better job. I was sitting pretty at the scrub store and freelance writing for a local alternative, trendy paper doing music reviews and getting us into free concerts.
About a month and a half into his employment at this amazing lil’ Mexican Grille, he was already on the fast track to management and an interesting opportunity came up. The front of the house was short a person and I was looking for a second job. My husband knew I could do it and that I’d always wanted a restaurant job so he threw out my name.
The owner only had one question: “Can you work with her?” We contemplated it. We discussed it..a lot! Before our wedding, before we went through all this relationship drama and getting past it all, we couldn’t have worked together for five minutes, but this time, it felt like it was doable. So we did it.
Where my husband was in his element, boy was I out of mine. The closest thing I had to restaurant experience was Burger King right near the University of Oregon campus, which has been long closed down because we failed all our health code tests. Plus, I wouldn’t exactly call that a real restaurant job. They call it fast food because of all the short cuts the employees take to get the customers out of their faces and on their way!
I dove right into the Mexican Grille and almost ended up drowning more than a few times. The first 3 months were terrible. It was so hard and my boss and I totally had a problem communicating on many levels, leaving me to consistently come out as the bad guy, or the one coming up short. I never had any problems working with my husband. For a long time, he was the only friend there I had.
Working the two jobs was treacherous. I was always tired, never had time to do anything and Sunday was the only day I ever had off. By the time Sunday rolled around I had to do laundry, get caught up on housework and I just wanted to be with my husband. We barely had the energy to leave the house.
For six months I killed myself at both the scrub store and the restaurant. I thought I would do better to put more effort into the scrub store, since my co-workers and managers actually liked me there, than to go the extra mile at the restaurant only to end up being fired from the scrub store and be left with only the restaurant to save me.
Right after the New Year, my life at the restaurant got better. I stopped letting things bother me so much and I got into a rhythm, comfortable with my position and started getting good at my job
and finding things I actually liked about it. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, really. Things got really bad at the scrub store after January and I just wanted to make it to my one year and then move onto greener pastures.
I got fired from the scrub store right before my birthday and the first visit we were making home to Oregon to see family. Getting fired ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. As a great friend, Lonnie Stoner, once said to me, “It’s a blurse: a blessing and a curse.” I was down a steady paycheck but something had happened at the restaurant that very same week that was kismet, or some kind of sign.
The same week I got canned for being an ambitious scrub store salesgirl the front of the house manager from the Mexican Grille had put in her two week’s notice for leaving the company. Not only did this mean we were short an employee, but I actually had a chance to do well at the restaurant now because this particular manager hated me from the start and always had it out for me. The clouds had just lifted!
The day we left for vacation I threw myself at the mercy of the restaurant owner and told him, if he trained me to work a different position I would work hard and shine for him, I would do what he wanted from me 6 months ago, only even better.
He was skeptical, a little bit unsure but also a little bit stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was less of a gamble than someone completely new. I’d gotten this bad reputation with him as someone who was just there for a paycheck, liked to play more than work, and always had a list of excuses in my back pocket ready to get out of trouble.
Some of those had merit. The restaurant felt like my husband’s realm and I was just a small part of the whole thing, inconsequential really. I never felt like I actually fit in, and I always felt like I had far more weaknesses than strengths in this business. Also, after years of being a nanny I had become an expert at “turning on the happy” and was good at being silly. So, when things got crazy tense at the restaurant and I wanted to run away forever, I’d make guests and employees laugh just so I could laugh with them, which can look kind of bad if you aren’t in on the joke.
As far as the excuses thing, I’m a major explainer. If you start accusing me, I get defensive and I will always tell you exactly what happened, which if you aren’t in the mood to listen, sounds a lot like an excuse. There were a lot of miscommunications and misrepresentations of my comments, issues and personality traits too weighing against me. But, the boss man agreed and I was ready to move forward.
Six months after all of this, I’m actually happy asking over and over again if our guests would like to try that burrito “wet style.” It still bothers me when people pronounce the Grande burrito as “Grand” and when people emphasize the “a” in cilantro, but these are things I can deal with.
When I entered the world of the Mexican Grille and stepped into my husband’s hopes, dreams, and career happiness, I wanted to kick some major ass completely unaware of the notion that the restaurant might instead completely kick my ass. However, I prevailed!
The owner saw it in me. He knew I could hack it, and I do. I worked with an amazing team. It’s hard to mesh with that many people and often at times I feel like there is always someone on my “shit list” but I’d rather be annoyed with them than work without them.
It often is like that movie “Waiting” and I have almost freaked out on many people, and definitely have come unhinged letting out an attitude or shrill statement here or there. No joke, you don’t want to piss off a short red-head. I have days where I feel depressed and like I am going nowhere but then I think about how I built myself into the restaurant structure from nothing and if the owners want me there, what more is there.
I’ve never had a single argument with my husband about anything that happened at the restaurant. We never take that home with us, but we do complain about work…a lot! Sometimes it seems like that is all we can talk about, but then again, it’s a great thing we share.
I never expected to fit into the world of food service. I thought that would be my husband’s thing and I would just come into his restaurant one day to eat and feed the kids because I can’t cook, but now I feel like I want to work towards being a part of it. We have a great couple we look up to as perfect examples of how it all works. I’d like to think that when we grow up we will be like the owners of this amazing restaurant.
I’m not saying that this is an easy job. Anything but easy really, and there is always something to be done! But, I like my job. Ninety percent of the time I feel competent, happy and confident. I’ve met a lot of really great guests, made friends and really know the restaurant. I love working for the owners, and most days I think they like that I’m working for them. I like all the people I work with. The team is great. Sure, we clash, we annoy, we fight, we snap, we yell, we stomp but at the end of the day we are a team and having someone is a lot better than no one.
If you asked me 3 years ago, I could have never even remotely predicted my life, my plan, or my lack thereof would ever bring me here. My husband would definitely say the same. We have our good and bad days but we have a vested interest in this place, this life, this industry. Sure these jobs may not be a forever kind of thing, but we are learning things we will need to make it to forever, and we are forever grateful for the experiences and the people we have supporting us through it all.
My life in a restaurant is anything but ordinary, but then again neither are the items on the menu at my beloved Mexican grille. Sometimes I feel like life has left us behind when I hear about the things that other married couples and friends our age are doing, but then I remember that we left our old life behind to try something new, and something new is exactly what we found…and we even got more than we bargained for. At least when you live your life in a restaurant, you live life to the “fullest!”
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