New Year, New Life...

I haven't posted anything in a while, so I felt like I should. I have just been so occupied with some things and writing has honestly slipped my mind for the past few weeks. I haven't been super busy with "doing" things; rather, I've been been occupied by "thinking about" things.

Lately, I have come to the conclusion of what I am going to do with my life. I've been battling with myself on what I should do and what would be best for me. Well, I found the answer...

I am going to quit my job at the end of the year. Earlier last night, I booked a bus ticket to go back to Cleveland for a Christmas visit, which will begin on Christmas Eve, so I will be quitting my job before then. Once I quit my job and enjoy some time with my family back in Cleveland, I will return to Chicago and look for a job that pays me an adequate weekly salary. I honestly don't care what that job will be, I just need money. I am sick of getting my ass kicked at work for 80+ hours a week and bringing home a joke of a paycheck. Money doesn't make me happy. Work doesn't really make happy either. So, fuck it. I'm going to get a job that pays me enough money to pay my rent and hopefully a little more, so I can save up a bit. Once I establish what job I will be working at, I am going to put myself on a strict daily routine in order to achieve my main goal as quickly as possible. That goal...

MUSIC

I am going to practice my guitar playing for a minimum of 2 hours a day. I don't care how tired I am and I don't care what else I have to do that day; I will be playing guitar and practicing for at least 2 hours every single day. While I am practicing and continuing to get better, I will study and perfect the art of writing and reading music. I will study harder than I ever have before and I won't give up, no matter how grueling and mentally exhausting the process may be.

(I also plan on working out again. I'm uh, a little, how do you say, "out of shape"...??? So, I'm going to get back into my baseball workout routine and reclaim my health.)

I have a 3-year plan which I have set for myself and at the conclusion of those 3 years, I plan to have a band put together that will hopefully be good enough to begin touring. I don't care about money and I don't care about fame, groupies or TV appearances. I just want to play some fucking good music, entertain people all over the world and help them escape from their shitty lives for a few hours each night. In turn, they'll be helping me escape my shitty life, as I'll be playing my songs in front of people who want to hear them. That's all I want. I just want to be able to reach out to just one person and put a smile on their face. Even if it's just one person and that smile is just for one moment, I'll know that my music was what put it there. That's all I want from this.

I'm tired of living for other people and as of January 1, 2009 I will be living my life for ME and nobody else.

On a slightly different note:

My mom has been really upset lately, because this will be the first Christmas my family will go through without my grandmother; my mom's mom. My grandma died not too long ago and Christmas was always her favorite time of year, so my mom has been taking it kind of hard recently. She has been crying everytime that I've talked to her on the phone because she feels like Christmas will be really lonely, as my grandma won't be there and I'll be here in Chicago...or, so she thinks.

As I mentioned before, earlier last night, I booked a bus ticket to go back home to Cleveland. I surprised my mom last year by going home for Christmas, but this year will be a bit different. This year, I'm not going to tell my dad either. He was the only person who knew I was coming home for Christmas last year, but not this year.

I am leaving on Christmas Eve (day) and I will be arriving in Cleveland around 4:30PM that night. My dad has the day off and my mom works until 6PM that night. But, by the time my bus arrives, I transfer to the local train and get onto the "Circulator" (which is a neighborhood bus), it will be well after 6PM, so my mom will be home from work and both of my parents will be sitting there...all alone. So, I plan on walking from the last bus stop to my parent's house, which is only a few blocks away. Then, I'll knock on the door (hopefully when they're eating dinner, because I want to be "that guy"), my parents will come to the door and...SURPRISE!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I don't know why, but I'm really excited to surprise my mom. I'm even excited to surprise my dad because, well, he's kind of hard to surprise. He always seems to know everything, which makes it hard to surprise him. But, NOT THIS YEAR!!!

Christmas has always been a very enjoyable time of year, but I've noticed that ever since I moved away from home, I enjoy it even more. I guess it makes you appreciate your family when you don't get to see them but once or twice a year.

Happy Holidays!