Second Childhood: 12/17/2004 - A Review Of The Past Year

My Catch Phrases
From late December 2003 until August, 2004, my catch phrase was "Is your mom hot?"
From August 2004 until early December, 2004, my catch phrase was "Damn, that sucked... oh well."
Currently, my catch phrase is "Who loves his monkey?"

Tag Lines
Most of the year, I did not have a tag line. Then I stole a tag line from an article about Flea from the Red Hots, and I use this tag line as my own - "A man armed with four strings and the truth."

Girlfriends
I have had two significant girlfriends over the past year, not counting anything that may develop within the remainder of December. This isn't to imply that the other girls were insignificant, but of the other girls that I went on a date with, one is now married to another man, another turned out to be a close friend, a third I went out with solely as the wingman for a friend on a double date, and yet another I met while out with a friend, then we all went out to dinner, she said that she was 22, and I freaked out.
The above list doesn't include New Prospect, since I have absolutely no idea what's up with that.

Hobbies
The band has been productive this year. We've written maybe ten songs over the course of the year. Plus I've had two tons of funs writing the emails to the band mailing list. I called the ladies "Funk Honeys" in the last email. Are you a Funk Honey? Then you get Jell-O shots!
Bass playing: I just dug up an mp3 of me from 2003. The result of listening to this mp3 is both bad and good. It is bad because I am horrifically embarassed that I was so incredibly bad approximately a year and a half ago. However, it is good because I think that if I have come this far in the past year and a half of casual playing, then I'm going have all of the Funk Honeys to myself in another year.
Writing: I've taken to writing on this blog quite a bit. I guess it's cathartic, but I do find myself holding back sometimes since some of my readers know me personally. I'm not exactly hiding my identity on here, either, so I'd imagine that anyone who might think to themselves "I wonder who has a blog in my home town" will find me quite easily. So I'm forced to internalize the deep inner struggles, such as my unnatural lust for women with glasses, the spontaneous cravings for cocaine, and the visions of the infernal ninjas. I've already paid my tribute to the warlord this month, ninjas! Wait... they're gone... ?!

Self Improvement
I had decided around this time last year that I was too introspective, and that it was getting in the way of my ability to just get out and enjoy things. I have nothing else to say about that.

Work
I had also decided around this time last year that I was going to take one year and not be so aggressive about career growth. Let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. Boy Howdy, those chips sure scattered all willy-nilly, didn't they? I ended up spending an entire year getting incredibly behind in my career. Word to the wise: if you go with the flow, you'll end up all wet, man. Rage against the machine!

Funniest Moment Of The Year
The first thing that comes to mind is seeing Biloxi Blues with Boo. I had no idea what I was in for. There was a scene in which our young protagonist... umm... commissions the services of a woman of ill repute. As I have mentioned in the past, Boo is an oasis of all that is good and right in the world, and there I was watching a young boy losing his virginity to a lady of the night. I sat, shocked and appalled, while Boo delighted in my expression of shock and... appallation? She laughed while I sat agape, unable to fully comprehend the scene in front of me. I think she likes to see me jump.
I was also surprised that he wasn't yelling his own name. Am I the only one that does that?

Downer From 2004
My Aunt Charlotte died this past year. February, if I recall. Charlotte Zwerin was a documentary film editor and then director, and was perhaps one of the most influential people in the genre of cinema verite. A nice essay was written about her by Gerald Peary, however, in reference to Mr. Peary's statement about Charlotte's presumed shyness, Charlotte wasn't exactly shy. Charlotte was perhaps a difficult person to know to some, but she was an artist by her nature. Those with the same tendencies as her would find her to be a outgoing, interesting, and interested companion.
The last time I saw her, she presented me with some articles about the software development industry that she had clipped for me. She found it to be fascinating, and only wanted to talk about what I did for a living. The woman who has edited, directed, and produced multiple four star movies found me to be more interesting. That was what made her so good at what she did. She was genuinely interested in others.
She always spoke very highly of her brother, my grandfather, and she is correct. He is a great man. Charlotte wanted to share the greatness of others with everyone.
I now own a small portion of her jazz CDs, and some marketing materials for her last movie, which was about Ella Fitzgerald. I was lucky enough to visit her in New York and see her in the final stages of making that movie.
I'm incredibly thankful for her life.

Inspiration
I usually take the last few weeks of the year to reflect and find inspiration that will push me through another year. One inspiration that I have just found is John 5. No, not the chapter in the bible, the guitarist.
John 5 is one year younger than me. He has played professionally with David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, Lita Ford, KD Lang, and he had at one time started a band with Rob Halford, the former lead singer for Judas Priest.
I went to school with John. His real name is John Lowery. He's a good guy, with a friendly smile. I had heard that he had a crush on my first ex in junior high. He was skinny as hell, I think I remember his first tattoo, and I recall him showing up late for class because he had been gigging in Canada the night before. We were 17. Actually, he was 16, I was 17.
I don't mind if I never establish as incredible of a reputation as John, but I see him playing and it seems unquestioned in his mind - he is a musician.
That inner understanding of knowing what you are is inspirational. I admire John. I respected him when we were younger, and hope that his success continues endlessly.

Goals For 2005
Following is a rough draft of some of the goals I have for myself next year: