It's been a minute....

I realize I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been crazy busy! Work, trying to help Brooke plan our wedding, band and a host of other things. Its so easy to get caught up in the ever changing world around us. Its a shame when that happens. A true shame because we miss out on the moments in life that really matter. I'm really trying to be a better person and cherish what some might think are little moments that don't mean that much. Well, they mean alot to me now. Brooke and I have dealt with so much this year. I'm not complaining but, its been rather overwhelming at times. I've come to learn that its during those times that we have to step back and take a deep breath and try our best to understand this journey we call life. I realize now that its so important to cherish the time you have with your family and friends and to not let petty shit get in the way. You know, we all take life and ourselves way too seriously. This is the only one we get (as far as I know). Why not enjoy it? Why not do the things that you want to do? I just feel really good about where I'm at right now and where I and Brooke are heading.

where do i go from here?

Its funny how when you're a bit younger you don't really care about jobs and making money. At least I didn't when I was younger. When I was 19-21, I was quitting jobs left and right. I just didn't care. All I wanted to do was work a bit to have money so I could go to shows and travel a bit. That was really all I was concerned with. Well, now its a different story. My beautiful wife to be and I have had a lot of conversations here recently about starting up our own business. I've realized, as I get older, that at some point you have to start letting go of some things and move on to the next phase in life. I'm getting married in October and will officially have a family to support. We've got 2 pitbulls and plan on having a kid in the next few years. So, needless to say, I've had to change my thinking a little bit when it comes to jobs and a career.

Being the person that I am and still holding on to my hardcore ideals and values, we've decided the best thing to do is to start our own business. I've got issues with authority. So, this is perfect!! I get to work hard and be my own boss. Brooke and I also just really want to have something that we can pass down to our kids. We've both had to struggle with working shit jobs and getting fired and laid off and just never feeling secure or comfortable at some of these places. We don't want our kids to have to go through that. So, with this, they'll have security and a place that they can always work. What we've decided on, I believe, is a bakery/bistro. Last year, after I asked Brooke to marry me, she got a second job to help save money for the wedding. With everything I had going on, I wasn't really able to get a second job. Plus, someone needed to be home more to chill with the dogs and keep the house clean (yes I've become a house husband and I'm ok with that!!!). I felt bad though that I wasn't bringing extra money in for the wedding. So, I started making cookies and selling them to the ladies where I work. It started out well and I started noticing that I was pretty good at making cookies. Before I knew it, I was talking to my mom about helping me out. She makes the most amazing cakes and pies!!! She makes a strawberry cake that will blow your friggin mind! So, I was making cookies and brownies while she made cakes and pies. The holidays came along last year and we did pretty well. Just with that tiny bit of success, we decided that we were going to work towards opening a bakery. Brooke is also a culinary talent and is really good with thinking on her feet and just pulling some kind of amazing recipe out of thin air. Seriously! I don't know how she does it but, she can just look in the pantry and fridge or freezer, and just come up with something great. So she and I have been cooking together a lot lately and we just quickly realized that what we should do is have the bakery and incorporate a bistro aspect to it. We've had to slow down with everything a bit because of how busy we are with planning the wedding and everything. After the wedding, though, its on like donkey kong!! There's nowhere else left to go but to the top! We're very excited about this venture. I'm glad that the two most important women in my life are working on this with me. We just really feel like this suits us as well. I can't stand that there aren't more small businesses and mom and pops type businesses in the south. To me, that's what this country truly thrives on. The man or woman or family that started their own business from nothing and are self made. That's the American dream.

slowing the pace

I recently made the decision to stop booking shows. I really just don't have the time for it anymore. I would have to say that the biggest reason that I stopped is because of a lack of appreciation and a lack of respect. Let me explain this. I don't want anyone to appreciate me for booking shows. I could care less about that. I've never booked shows for my benefit. So get that out of your head. I tend to book bands that no one else here will book. In return, I get 15-20 kids out for the show. All I've ever wanted was for kids to appreciate the fact that different bands are coming to our city. I wanted kids to realize there are more bands in the scene than the ones they jock. I wanted kids to be open minded about different styles of hardcore and different types of people. Above all, I wanted kids to show support for touring bands and show support for their scene. As far as the respect issue goes, respect the fact that touring bands want to come to your city. I think it shows nothing but disrespect to not support touring bands. Yes, I already know all the arguments. Yes, I understand that not everyone can make it out to every show. I understand we all have other shit that we've got to take care of sometimes. What no one can argue with though is the fact that I could book a show one night and have 15-20 kids show up. There could be a show the very next night and if there are bands playing that kids here jock, there will be 200-300 kids there. Explain that to me! There's nothing else you can say because we all know that its true. Alot of people feel like the Atlanta scene is a joke at this point. I kind of agree with them. I feel like part of the reason people feel that way is because of shit like this. Venues get double booked because people that run certain venues don't communicate with promoters. People forgot how to promote. Everyone talks shit on the forums. There's just no community anymore. There was a time in Atlanta where we had a community. Even though not everyone got along, we all went to shows and had a good time. It also didn't really matter what the show was. We all just wanted to go because it was a show. I'm starting to trail off here. Let me wrap this up by saying that Atlanta has the potential to be great again. But, its going to take alot of hard work and effort on EVERYONE'S part. People need to actually support this scene and not be flaky little shits. Say what you want, you know I'm right.

well, here we are....

I finally broke down and decided to start a blog. I wanted to have something separate from the band blog. There are things and there will be things that I will want to share or reflect on that really have nothing to do with Hard Luck. That being the case, I chose to have my own blog. This first entry is nothing more than a way to let you know that I'm doing this. That's all. There's not much on the brain right now as I'm at work and being here just makes me feel brain dead half the time. So, hopefully I'll have more to say a little later.