Traveling Blues

Blues Traveler

I headed down with an old Clemson buddy to Fredericksburg, VA for a Blues Traveler show. He had never made the commute down I95 on a Friday night and quickly discovered my depiction of the Friday night traffic was correct - it's an unholy patch of interstate.

After some 2-3 hours getting there, we showed up for the Blues Traveler set. The band played something like 90 minutes of music. It was still a good show, and when you toss in some IHOP goodness, it was worth the trip out of DC.

They did a couple of unexpected covers. Greatful Dead, Sublime, and Radiohead. Yeah, Blues Traveler covering Radiohead. Just when I think I've heard it all...something like that happens.

Flamenco Guitar

I picked up my guitar this week and will be spending one of my rest-and-recovery nights (from training) practicing.

I'm not very big on video games these days, and I'm still looking around for new hobbies. I loved the music of Flamenco when I was in Spain last summer. I'm not sure what preempted this decision, but, I woke up Wednesday thinking...Flamenco guitar...yeah let's do that.

Bouldering

I caught up with my sister and a couple of her friends Sunday at the rock gym in Alexandria. We decided to spend the morning bouldering.

Had a great time on the wall. I've been to this rock gym about 3 times this year and I really enjoy the experience. I'm not very good at it but, I'm considering the purchase of some shoes and a chalk bag.

It's a pretty mentally challenging hobby and there's the obvious physical component that attracts my attention. We'll see. Triathlon, scuba, hiking, bouldering...my outdoor hobby list is getting longer...

Freelance Consulting

Like most people in my field, I am occasionally called upon to assist in the endeavors of my friends. Call it professional advice, consulting, or feeding my narcissism.

More and more, there have been opportunities to receive financial compensation for the services I render, but, I'm a softy. Doing 1099 work and book keeping have no appeal for me.

I have no idea what the "going rate" would be for that type of work. Considering my field typically price gouges people...well...let's say I would rather keep my friends. I'd prefer to just keep it to beer, wine, and/or dinner.

Maybe I'm missing out on a sweet opportunity but, I've another angle that's keeps me up well past my bedtime. If that venture doesn't pan out, I'll fall back on a career as a professional triathlete.

Milblogging

I've been working hard to disengage myself from the mass hysteria that the media generates about, well, everything. A lot of it boils down to unsubstantiated feelings and competing view points...the missing piece is evidence, history, or hard facts.

It's becoming increasingly easier to spot out vested interests and competing interests in reporting sources. "Follow the money" they say.

This is giving birth to the "citizen reporter" - the blogging universe. Say what you will about it, people are turning more-and-more to that arena for information.

You do end up with a lot of people reading material from like-minded individuals. The power that choice offers us. Reading only like-minded-opinions from joe-six-pack seems like a breeding ground for all sorts of troubling results, but, it's almost the same way with mainstream media outlets...

I grew up listening to bands that encouraged a lot of, what some would call, independent thought. I took that stuff to heart.

Recently, I was informed that the blog from my 14+ month stint deployed has managed to find itself seated a solid 94 out of 100. It was a bit of a revelation that anyone, beyond the scope of my friends and family would find it interesting, much less place it into contention with the hundreds of other yarns my brothers and sisters in arms have contributed to public consumption.

I was bean-counter during that year. I only went on a couple of missions and only a few more "escort" missions. I sat through countless day-long meetings that felt unimportant and only seemed to fuel the seemingly endless appetites of the over-inflated egos my superiors displayed. This discovery drove my hand back to the blog and I started doing a review of the content. It's amazing what you can forget.

Fortunately, I'm neither ashamed or embarrassed by what I contributed to that journal. I think what was written speaks for itself. The intent was honesty, and to really inform my closest friends and the passers by that it was a time of many mixed feelings, experiences, and sensations.

A couple of people I know got the word and checked it out. I was given some praise for the journal. Many felt it was a window into a world they didn't know existed. I'll take that as a compliment.

In any event, it was a strange turn of events to find that the journal was getting any type of recognition. I feel a small bit of pride. It's good to hear that while I felt my tour of duty as a bean counter was wholly uninteresting, some people are finding insight from that experience. Maybe there is some value to this whole blogging sensation.