Posts filed under 'My Life'
My mom is in town for Thanksgiving (as well as my sister and her boyfriend.) When she comes to Florida we always try to make some time to get together with some old family friends, Helene & Charlie. If I remember the story right, Helene and mom were old buddies in college and they’ve stayed in reasonably close touch ever since. Helene and Charlie live near Ft. Lauderdale (kind of) so we try to meet in Vero Beach, which is approximately halfway in between. We also took my grandmother, who knows Helene and Charlie and has been part of this new tradition in the past :)
Yesterday, for no apparent reason, I mentioned Five for Fighting. My sister’s boyfriend, Kevin picked-up on it somehow and mentioned the song “Superman.” It was important enough in our conversation that I went into my room to make my computer play the song for us. Today something strange and wonderful happened — I was reminded of what Superman used to mean to me before 2000.
Back when I was a kid, and I have no idea how this started, someone told me, my brother, and my sister, that Charlie was really Superman. It went so far that one time I remember going to see the “new” Superman movie with Helene & Charlie once and talking to Charlie about “his” movie. It was crazy — when we went to New Jersey to visit them mom used to say “we’re going to go visit Superman.”
Today in our walk, I was reminded of this once again, and the words of the Five for Fighting song came into my head from the night before. I was also remembering that it wasn’t so much the thought that Charlie really was Superman, I was probably too old for that. Instead it was more about liking the idea that he had a great secret and we (the kids) were included in it. I think we really liked that feeling. He may have been only a man, but he’s always been a super friend to my mom and her kids (as has his awesome wife!)
I can’t stand to fly, I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find the better part of me
I’m more than a bird, I’m more than a plane
I’m more than some pretty face beside a train
And it’s not easy to be me
I wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie about a home I’ll never see
It may sound absurd, but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me
Up, up and away, away from me
Well it’s alright
You can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy or anything
I can’t stand to fly, I’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride with clouds between their knees
I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
And it’s not easy to be me.
“Superman”
Five for Fighting
America Town
©2000 Sony
My Life
11/29/2008 at 02:13 ET
So yesterday Andrea called me and left me a message about going to the Daily Grind. This seems like an innocuous phone call, except the Daily Grind is the coffee house from college. I haven’t been there since 2001 and, as far as I knew, it’s almost 900 miles away…
So she called me later in the day to go out that night and I went over to her house. When I got there she was still talking about the Daily Grind. Trying not to sound like a complete ass, “there’s another coffee house called the Daily Grind and it’s in Orlando,” I said. “No,” replied Andrea, “it’s the Daily Grind from college.”
After a little more dialog (which I won’t make more awkward by trying to write it down in a blog post) I finally found out that the guys who started my favorite coffee house in Winchester, VA, had turned their business into a franchise and there was, indeed, one in sunny Orlando.
I recommend everyone go there. The coffee I’ve been drinking for the past seven years is so acidic and bitter. The coffee I had last night was delicious. Check out www.dailygrindunwind.com for more info! Or, just stop by 807 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL.
My Life
04/27/2008 at 11:12 ET
The other day I told you about some of the stuff Mike sent me in advance of the new Dave Barnes album coming out on April 1. What I didn’t tell you about was the poster. You see, it came in this big padded manila envelope, but all I found in it at first was the CD and some stickers. I’m like, “That’s a lot of envelope for a CD…”
Then I noticed the poster. There was this little Dave Barnes poster in there. I didn’t really know what to do with it, because I don’t really celebrate celebrity in a normal way. I don’t think Dave (or any singer, actor, etc.) should be idolized or imitated or fawned after. He’s just a good singer and guitar player and I really like his CDs.
So last night I was sitting around with my roommate Matt. We were talking about the stickers and the blog, and somehow I thought of the poster. Trying to be funny, I said something like, “I’ll take it to school and put it in my locker.” Well, in about two seconds I realized that I actually do have a locker, kind of. (A locker at work, not at school.) Where most people have a set of four drawers to file things in, that space in my cube was empty when I was hired for this role. I looked around and found this storage cabinet instead — it’s very handy since I have almost zero files. Sooooo I brought the poster to work today and put it in my locker. I never did put anything like this up in my locker in high school, who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!
My Life
03/05/2008 at 09:49 ET
The other day a very strange thing happened to me. I got a completely unsolicited e-mail from a guy who wanted me to send him my home address. “Delete it,” right? That’s what I thought at first, but, internet safety rules aside, I gave it a second look. I’m kind of glad I did — it’s pretty cool.
The guy was a representative of a company who produces my friend Dave Barnes (which you know if you’ve read this blog). I’m using “friend” in the pedestrian here — we’ve never met before. I’ve just listened to his music a lot. Anyway, Dave has a new album (Me + You + the World) coming out on April 1. This guy (let’s call him Mike, ’cause that won’t be confusing) sent me an album sampler, a poster, and some stickers. The stickers are that red picture up at the top there.
So I listened to the CD. I was specifically asked not to post the songs (not that I would do that, ever) but I think I’m supposed to tell you about the new album and hopefully you’ll want to buy it. Well, I’ll do my best, here goes… There were three songs: #1 is “Until You.” I don’t get this, because it was on Brother, Bring the Sun. Moving along… #2 is called “Brothers & Sisters.” This is a fine song, and I’m pretty sure Mike M. and I heard it when Two Birds, One Stone was in town, but it’s kind of pop-ish. #3 is called “When a Heart Breaks.” I like this one the best on the little CD. I’ll be listening to it more.
So that’s my story. Pretty cool. In the past week I got confirmation that two people are (kind of) reading my blog. That’s more than I thought…
If you think you’d like to buy the album, check these out:
My Life
03/03/2008 at 19:38 ET
Mike M. got me a gift certificate for Christmas for IKEA. The opening of the store in town has somehow turned me into a little more of an IKEAphile than I think I really am, but I didn’t complain. Mike knew I wanted a few things, but he was pretty sure he knew what I would do with the gift — get new bookshelves. Now, there are a few Christmas gift certificates I haven’t used yet, but I actually went to IKEA (can you say a little too excited about the store or a reason to go there) and got the shelves and brackets. That was a bit of a thing, because after laying out the exact right pattern with the shelves standing on end on the floor with Mike, I found out that three of the brackets I needed were out-of-stock and discontinued. Thankfully, my sister is in Atlanta and within a few weeks I had all the pieces and parts.
It’s taken me weeks to get this project finished, but today I finally have new bookshelves. I’m very excited. I like owning a house and making my room the way I want it. Mike was great. In addition to actually getting me the gift, he went with me to pick out the shelves, came over yesterday when I really needed a hand, drove me to Lowes to get the right anchors, and even came back today to make sure the project got finished-up. I’m really glad he’s my friend :)
My Life
03/02/2008 at 16:36 ET
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