A Small Victory

Bear Grylls says that survival is all about small victories. I think with life in general all we need are a few small victories to keep us going.

My small victory was completing a year of college without any failed classes. Not only that, but I was able to maintain a 3.6 gpa for the year. This might sound sad to some, but I went through some tough times ever since graduating high school and just wasn't able to buckle down and motivate myself to do well in school. Now, however, I know what needs to get done and am finally doing it.

Spring term ended a couple weeks ago with a cakewalk of a finals week. I was able to go back home for a few days and play in the Father/Son golf tournament with my Dad on Father's day. That was a lot of fun for me. Usually I would try not to impose and just let my Brother play with him (they have a much better chance of winning that way). Matt was out of town that weekend so I stepped in and just tried not to scar the family name.

Spent most of last week searching for a job back here in Eugene. It looks like I might be getting a job at Eugene Country Club!

I'm also taking a Math class and a Personal Health class this summer so I think I'll be kept pretty busy.

Did I mention I hate math?

There's No Place Like the Stage.

I've been playing a lot of music with a number of different groups these past few months.

Aside from my main band (scene in stereo), and the 3 ensembles I play for at school, I've also been playing with a dude I met at Lane and his friend from OSU in their group "Stateside Traffic."

At first I took this gig mainly because SIS doesn't get to play as much as I would like (due to our singers very busy school schedule), but it has turned out to be really fun as well as a good opportunity to get my "Brand" out there. That sounds like a smug thing to say, but it's the word my piano and Jazz Choir instructor used to describe what she has done here in Eugene. This lady is a working musician who drives a Mercedes and rarely works outside the Eugene area. Now, in her case, her success due in large part to her just being better at what she does than most people, but also in large part to her networking and playing for just about anyone and just about anywhere. I'm not saying I want to work towards that over the next 25 years. What I am trying to do is to expose myself as much as possible on this local scene so when someone needs a drummer for any kind of gig, there will be a good chance that this person, company, event comity, promoter has already heard my name.

So far I have been lucky enough to play with these two bands as well as a fantastic singer/songwriter named Shane Holt. Also, Through Viki (the lady I talked about earlier) I have played a wedding, recorded drums for a local musical, & filled in for the Thurston High School Jazz choir.

This year has opened a lot of doors for me musically. And it all came together this week where I had 3 rehearsals with Shane, 2 rehearsals with Stateside Traffic, a choir concert Thursday night, and then a Jazz Combo concert Friday night where I played at 7:30 and then immediately drove back to the UO campus where I played with both Shane and ST on the same bill.

In midst of all this when have I had time to study? Well, I haven't. I better get to it I guess. Bio final in about 12 hours! yay!

Battle Scars, Baby!

So, my last post was about me being excited over some new kick ass Basketball shoes, right?
Yeah... well now I have a broken nose.

A week ago today I was playing in a pickup game at the rec and got elbowed in the face by some Bro who was about 6'2'' 210 lbs. The initial pain was twice as excruciating than when I broke my hand a couple years ago. I felt ridiculous rolling around on the ground like I was having a seizure or something... but it honestly killed. The best way I can describe it is when you are watching a fight scene in a movie and something happing where you just cringe and say to yourself or whoever you are watching the flick with, "Jesus, that would fucking hurt."

Well, despite tears running down my face and stars floating all over the place I decided to stay in the game to make up for maybe being a little over dramatic. Well, I don't think I was being dramatic, but this stuff happens all the time in these games and I didn't want to look ineffectual competitor in just my second week playing with these guys. Also, there wasn't any blood which really made me feel stupid after the display I put on after getting hit. However, I woke up in the middle of the night with a really dried up nose. I went upstairs to take a leak and pick some bogies to find my nose and the area around my eyes incredibly swollen and the sweet boogers I picked to be bloody.

Now by this point I was pretty sure it was broken but didn't want to make to big a deal about it so I just gave it a couple days and by Sunday it looked ok. My nose was still tender but wasn't crooked our anything so I just figure I just had a little cartilage damage or something. Being the impatient fool I am, I decided to hit the courts that night. During my third game, some dude was trying to save a ball and chucked it blindly with me standing right behind him. This time the blood game immediately. I stumbled out of the gym feeling like I was going to faint from the pain. This time, I woke up to black under my eyes which is a sure sign of a broken nose.

I honestly can't seem to go about doing the things I enjoy without getting hurt. Earlier in the year I messed up my ankle while I was training for the Eugene Half-Marathon and now I wait a good month before I can hit the court again.

I know a broken nose is no big deal, and that this post may be a cry for someone to feel sorry for me... but in reality I just wanted to write it down hopping I will look at this in a couple years and laugh at the fact that I spent this much time writing down the play-by-play of how I suffered a minor broken nose.