Things are starting to look good!

Only one call for an interview so far. I was kinda looking forward to having a job this summer. But that's just fine, because as of right now, it looks like the band thing is gonna work out. I'm actually very happy about this. It makes me feel cool to say "I'm in a band," but even better to say, "and I started it." I might be counting my chickens before they hatch (we haven't even met as a band yet), but the outlook is good. There's still a lot of things to work out before we can even practice (seeing as, we have no practice space), but I have some ideas brewing and the rest of the band should be able to come together to reach a solution. Push comes to shove, we ask for help from some of the other local bands that know what they're doing. I have a plan to get a sponsorship and a gig while simultaneously bringing business to the local mall. And if everything works out, this could be a beautiful summer.

Summer List: 2011 Edition

So, as a general rule, I make a list of things to do over the summer. Generally only 10% of things actually get done, and even then, only with half an effort. But what I have found is that when there is no summer list (ie, 2010), I end up wasting the summer sleeping. So here the list is, in no particular order except the order that I thought of it. Certain things I plan to do have been omitted from the list, because I assume those things WILL happen. This is a list ranging from "not likely" to "plausible".


1. Have a summer fling (or not, don't know what made me think of this one)
2. Build endurance to be able to run 2 miles at a time
3. Do 1000 sit ups and pushups
4. Buy a pair of Air Force 1's
5. Get a goldfish
6. Catch a 10lbs catfish
7. Start a band
8. Get back to 280
9. Get a new acoustic guitar
10. Go to a club
11. Do some inland skimboarding
12. Learn the guitar solo to "Before I Let Go" by Frankie Beverly and Maze
13. Make some money playing guitar
14. Begin writing and production of "A Minute of Your Time" (idea I have for a youtube channel)
15. Screen print a few t-shirts
16. Take at least 2 guitar lessons
17. Work on my idea for a Dorito pie recipe
18. Play my guitar at church one or more Sundays
19. Finish of another pen (if the first one is done)
20. Meet/talk to somebody famous
21. Go to a concert
22. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, or the like
23. Sell my acoustic electric guitar and Blues for Dummies book.
24. Ghost ride the whip, with friends
25. Spontaneously ask a girl out (this being a girl I do not already know. Sorry ladies.)
26. Pay a household bill (looking for some man points for this one)
27. Create and develop my personal style, since I currently have none.
28. Read a large potion of the Bible
29. Figure out how to graduate as quickly as my attention span will allow
30. Learn to drive a manual transmission car
31. Convince my parents get/give me a car, or go halfsies or whatever
32. Get rid of all the clothes that I don't wear
33. Finish my "Meltdown" project. (6 part visual art, with a poem to go with it. alread started, just needs to be finished.)
34. Practice grilling
35. Get my electric guitar set up for heavier gauge strings
36. Practice my slingshot skills
37. Develop a good sleep pattern (over the summer? worth a try)
38. Have a water and/or Nerf war
39. Pick a club to join at school
40. Single handedly prepare a room for my sister and her child
41. Number 40, except with the help of my cousin Brian
42. Figure out how to get rid of the extra roommate I will have at school next semester.
43. Fire and maybe s'mores
44. Travel to Mauldin, by myself, and stay as long as I am welcome and want to stay, instead of leaving when others need to go

45. Actually use my Back-pocket Book of Bad Pickup Lines

Existence points: +50 for reading, +10 for enjoying, +100 for joining in. And I'm over that whole sister-fight, so those you with vaginas can have your 20 points back.

JOSH, THE SHERM

A Revelation from Captain Obvious

Remember in that first blog where I said I considered a themed blog? Well I just came up with a theme, and when it hit me, I felt about three different types of stupid. The thought, "Instead of whining and complaining, why don't you blog about living?" I mean really, that obvious. It's in the title.

So I'm going to blog about living, not really delving into that philosophical question about what living really is, just doing what I call living and writing about it. For me "living" is going to be working on completing my summer list, something I have never fully achieved (or even come close to), but this year's list is slightly more realistic, so we'll see how that goes.

I thing the main two things I'll be focusing on this summer are getting a job and start/operating a band, both of which are starting to look more and more difficult, but that's complain. I digress. I've got a whole list of things that I actually intend to do, and by golly, something on that list is gonna get done. (I'll put the list in the next post.)

Existence points: +50 for reading the whole thing, +40 if you read it without a link on Facebook, +10 if you feel like you'll enjoy seeing where this goes, and a bonus +200 if you give a comment on this, or the two preceding entries.

JOSH, THE SHERM

Daggum Sisters

     My sisters irritate me to no end. It's almost like they have no joy in life if I'm not miserable. And it's not just one, it's three of them, and they operate in a trio when it comes to pissing me off. They're like Lay's chips, can't fight just one, which doesn't even make sense, seeing as they're fighting each other all the time. Clearly they are not true allies, they just chose me as a common enemy.
     Yesterday I got pretty upset. Actually that's an understatement. I was damn near murderous. The reason why I was so mad was kinda ridiculous, and, honestly I'm disappointed in myself a little because I never thought I was one of those people that couldn't take what I dished, but something just snapped yesterday and I couldn't deal with it. The three of them made me the butt of their joke, is what happened. I voiced my opinion, and they laughed in my face for it. I'm pretty sure I've done the same thing to them plenty of times and it's the same thing but it just felt like it was different, mostly because I was the victim.
     Then again, it was different because several factors. First, I don't go about it they way that they do. I never just tell them that their opinion is wrong or pointless, I explain to them why it is wrong or pointless--in an embarrassing fashion, of course, but at least they get an explanation as to why I disagree. Also, I do it with a lot less laughing, or if I do laugh, I set it up so that I'm laughing with them, not at them. Second, I never have a team to back me up on it. That's something they save especially for me. Whether one of them is right or wrong, the other two will back her up whole-heartedly and I can't get a word in edgewise.
     What made it particularly maddening was that, this time, my mother was in on it too, daring to take their side when I solicited her support. I admit, it was my fault for bringing her into the conversation, but that was the only way I had a chance of my sisters believing they were wrong, because a man can never be right alone, he has to have a woman's seal of approval. But Lo!, and behold, my mother says exactly what they said. I went about ape shit at that point, and my mother had the audacity to ask me why I was so upset. I was so insulted by the situation that I just got up and left.
     I'm still kinda perturbed about the whole thing, and I don't really see the situation any different by writing this, but oh well, it's writ' now.

As for existence points, -20 for having a vagina because if you do, you're part of the problem. + 50 for reading the whole thing, and +30 for at least acknowledging the possibility that I could be right.

JOSH, THE SHERM

Take note: this is the first post!

     Soooo...... I'm blogging again.  I did it when Myspace was cool, but I fell off when I got to Facebook, sorta half doing it with notes.  I'm moving in over here, though, to blog on Facebook no more.  I considered the idea of a themed blog, where I have a specific purpose and I blog about one thing that I do on a regular basis. Alas, I don't do any one thing on a regular enough basis to dedicate a blog to it, so I'll just type whatever I think is important enough to post.  But this lack of a consistent theme brings me to a point.
     I am a "jack of all trades and master of none." The only thing I've mastered so far in my life is half-assing. I can half-ass like a champ.  Start a new project? I'm down for that. Join a team? Yes, I will, thank you. Come to a meeting for this club? Sure thing.  The problem is never the beginning. Starting is easy enough. It's the follow through that I'm missing. I've never been so naturally gifted at something that I was an all-star right off the bat, and I've never driven myself to achieve any pinnacle of greatness. I put in that initial effort, just that tiny push that it takes to get going, maybe throw in a little extra work so I don't look like a slacker, and then I just ride that out.
     Clearly this is my fault. I haven't payed the price to be on top. I haven't put in the required work. Still, you would think by now that I would have found my "thing" and been diligently working to hone that skill. The fact of the matter is, I would if I could. I've had hint and suggestion and clue galore about what my thing is but nothing seems fulfilling to me. For example, I love music, I even play a few instruments, but music theory confounds me and I am limited to what I can do with what little understanding I have. I have a real knack for finding out things I want to know, but when it comes down to it, I can only do it effectively when it suits my fancy (I can do research all day, but have wet to write a research paper without breaking something in the process). Writing is another thing. Everyone seems to be so impressed with my writing. They see the finished product and they are pleased with what they see. What they don't get to witness is me flipping shit trying to come up with a topic, then having to flip shit again when I realize my stance on the topic is worthless, invalid, wrong, common, unrelated, incomprehensible, or for any other reason not worth writing about. Writing is another one of those things that I can only do well when it amuses me to do so.
     Case and point, I have yet to find the thing that I am good at and enjoy doing. Until I find that thing I guess I'll keep trying new things and complaining about what I'm not good at.
     Also, I'm going back to awarding existence points. You get 50 for reading the whole blog, +20 for agreeing with me, +50 more if you are in the same non-specializing situation.

JOSH, THE SHERM