2016

It’s been a hot minute. Saw Star Wars, not once, but twice and that was as good as I knew it would be. I rang in Christmas and New Years in California away from family, but it was not a bad time of year unlike 2014. No, instead I found out I am not moving out of country. Granted I accepted that I could very well be living abroad for a few years, but shit happens.

The first week of 2016 has just barely started. I still have no idea where I am going, but that is fine. By the end of the month I hope to have concrete plans. Controlling only what I can control and let the shit I can’t control has always been something I am unable to reconcile. It took me four years to understand that fact.

For example, I can’t control who will be elected President in 2016. I can raise my voice as much as I need to and cast my vote, but ultimately I am a single voice.  Thankfully,  the country is becoming more involved in the political process than even in 2006.  A basic understanding of politics is important because the decisions that are made impacts everybody. When the election concludes the man or woman who is elected to the highest office in the land is my Commander-In-Chief, whether this person is Republican or a Democrat. People will still gripe. They will be unhappy. “Trump is a fascist, bombastic, and etc…., Sanders is a socialist with no basic understanding of economics (granted if this man got the nomination and ran in the general election he would have my vote), and Hilary is a liar.”   I identify more with the Democrats more so because none of the Republicans present solid views and solutions. The GOP sound more like children complaining about not getting their way. They have the largest majority in Congress since 1929-1931 and what has truly been accomplished? The 113th Congress (we are in the 114th Congress) was classified as having the highest disapproval rating since 1974. Republicans and Democrats cannot and will not negotiate on anything. The GOP is fractured and is nothing more than a Nationalistic Party spouting off hate and ignorance.  They are unhappy with the past 8 years and essentially “what we have here is a failure to communicate” between both parties. Even though the major political parties are both guilty of egregious error; the GOP has both houses of Congress and in their rhetoric they have proclaimed they will spend the last year of President Obama’s second term dismantling everything he has ever done. They would rather repeal everything and offer no alternative to better America. The GOP nominees for President are no better and it is truly terrifying what many of them are suggesting what they will do when they get White House. At one point I respected the Republicans and this was over one-hundred years ago when Teddy Roosevelt was the President of the United States.  Oh well.

I digress, everybody has a choice and there are some things that are just simply beyond your control. In no way is this meant to turn political in any shape or form and my opinions are just that, my opinion and I am slightly annoyed at our lawmakers.

Negativity aside, in just 11 months the new Star Wars movie will be coming out. Essentially the film is a heist film about the rebels stealing the Death Star plans. Who is excited? This guy is! 2016 is a huge year for nerds. Batman Vs. Superman. Suicide Squad. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Captain America: Civil War. Deadpool. Etc.

By my 28th birthday, I am going to try and wrap up my first book. Does this mean I will publish? TBD, but it has been a joy to write and then on to the next one. Next step is to figure out where I will go with this whole adulting thing. Only time will tell, but I am confident that this will be an amazing year where anything is possible. This has been the first year in quite some time where I feel a sort of optimism about the future. Everything has always been a careful listing of pros and cons. Often times I would contemplate the list and usually it would mean nothing would get done, but sometimes you have to leave things to chance and that’s what I will try and do this year.

Until later,
-Rich

Stone Temple Life

Good Morning All,

I write this with the realization that 2015 is almost over and the 2016 is upon us. Did you all do everything you wanted to do this year? The real pressing question is: did you fully live your life as if the next day could be your last? I ask this because life is just too short and who is to say there is another. This is a terrible, terrible example, but I heard word that Scott Weiland, former leader singer of STP (Stone Temple Pilots), passed away. I know of his countless drug issues. He accepted his faults and lived his life the best he could and ran with it (at least that is how I see it). The cards he was dealt unfortunately did not mean he would see 50.

Core and Purple, the first two albums of STP, along with No. 4 produced countless hits, among them: Interstate Love Song, Plush, Sex Type Thing, Wicked Garden, Creep, Big Empty, and so many others. The band were contemporaries of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and so many other grunge acts. For a time they were identified by critics as just another member of the Grunge Movement, but this could be no further from the truth.

Of course like any other major rock band before them and since then there is always controversy to be had. The internal strife in STP led Weiland joining with Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum to form the super group Velvet Revolver. The band release two albums, Contraband and Libertad before shortly disbanding. The sad unfortunate truth is that in Libertad they began to find their voice, but the dream ended far too soon. Weiland returned to STP and released a final album with them before leaving the band a second and final time. Of course all this information can be found on Wikipedia, however the real point of this is too show just how much of a life can be had in such a short amount of time.

Over the past 12 months I became a sort of renaissance man, enlightened may even be a better word. I am leaning further and further into my artistic side trying to find my niche. I have started a book which currently sits at 165 pages (unfortunately given the nature of it I am going to move on from it for now and start a new project), I draw and paint. I am beginning to become more interested in music and possibly learning to play an instrument. In the past 8 months I have been to 7 concerts with finishing up the year seeing Muse. I am closely following politics, not because I want to, but because I need to be educated about the chuckleheads who want to dictate how we live our lives. 2016 may be an even bigger election year than 2008 was. The first woman could very well become President, close to a hundred years after suffrage was passed in the United States or we could very well have our first Jewish President. I will not label Bernie Sanders as a socialist (granted he is one), the man is a politician whose ethos is steeped in common sense and of helping his common man. Now we are not going to debate the flaws of socialism (there are plenty) or the character of Hillary Clinton in the hopes to dissuade me from these two and vote Trump or Carson who have zero political experience and spout racist bigoted views in line with KKK.

My personal renaissance is happening because at some point in the next few years I want to quit my job and actually start my career. Exploring my own interests could very well precipitate in what I hope to eventually do.

I don’t want my life to be dictated by a negativity where the only gain is monetary gain. I want to go into work each day and say, “Damn, I absolutely love doing this.” Too many people go to work just because of the paycheck and end up dying never truly living and I realized that is what 2014 was. You could point out to me and say that, “Rich you are far too naïve to understand how the world works. It has been like this for centuries.” But I will respond, “That is only because that is what we allow it to be.” Life should be so much more than the monotonous plodding that we subject ourselves to on a daily basis.

Eventually every single person on this Earth will die and I ask myself everyday: “How do I want to leave it? What will be my legacy? What difference did I make?” Going to work, paying off the loans until your 45 for the piece of paper degree, working at a job that you will most likely hate, and hopefully saving enough to retire by 70 (that is probably going to be the magic number someday) is really no way to live. That is just existing. I almost want to think that Scott Weiland for all the addictions knew that and related that in his music. The legacy he built will live on through his music and children.

Friends live your lives. Pick up a new hobby. Learn something new and rock on.

-Rich

Worldly Travels.

Good morning all,

In the next few months my life is taking a momentous change. Good bye to Netflix. Good bye to reasonable weather. Hello to sweating my ass off and tax free cash. The orders are in and unless something unforeseen happens I shall be making my way to Bahrain for the next 18 months.

I will do something I have not done in 4 years at this point and that is travel the world. I am absolutely thrilled about this.  In my first year working for my job I went to 9 different countries, but since then I haven’t been away from the states. I joined my job so I can learn about different cultures and their respective histories by traveling the world.

There is no intention on my part to become a lifer. In a way this new job is my last hurrah before I move on to continue my higher education. Someday I would love to continue my travels abroad in a new job setting. Why limit yourself and not expand your horizons? Life is far too short to hold yourself back.

In the time I am gone I wish to finish my book and then move on to my next one. The first one is just that a first book of a young inexperienced author and I don’t imagine it will be published, but the lessons I’ve learned from writing my novel is too good to pass up. Reading my book and a person can see what I’m trying to do. I feel as thought I’m trying to do too much at once. Realistically speaking I don’t imagine I’ll be writing full time post my current job,  but wouldn’t that be absolutely amazing? However, being an accomplished writer in my mind is that of random luck, having a good story to tell, and some skill.

A Masterful Trainwreck of None

Good morning All,

The last month has been busy to say. I am putting the final touches on returning to a job which I am anxious to begin. In my time waiting for these new developments I have began reading Aziz Ansari’s novel Modern Romance”  and his new television show Master of None which shares many concepts from his book. Both of which are case studies into what it is like to date in 2015.  I highly recommend both of these.  Another movie I recommend is Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck

All of these are raunchy to say the least, but they are true reflections of where the dating culture is nowadays. They are testimonials to just how hard it is to date and to find that one person. The humor in both these excellent pieces of entertainment are self deprecating and are written seemingly as reflections and autobiographies of their stars. Both are geared towards people in the age range of mid-20s to early 30’s. You can almost see the doubt and uncertainty that Schumer and Ansari go through as they traverse modern day life. To say that I understand what their characters go through is an understatement, but then again I can believe that almost everybody can relate in one way or another.

Trainwreck and Master of None are not just their way to showcase their sense of humor, but are also a means to critique modern society. Social media plays a massive role in how people date, for better or worse. Twenty years ago tweeting, facebooking, im-ing, pming, youtubing, texting, and etc. simply did not exist.  In order to even set up dates a phone call to the intended person’s house was to be made and the stigma of possibly talking to the parents was added to sweeten the deal, but then again this was just ten years. Granted by the time I got to college dating began changing to incorporate many of these things and skipped the weird calling home stage and proceeded right to text as seen below:

“Hey Jane, wanna go on a date?”

“Yeah, sure 🙂 .”

“Sweeeet. I’ll pick you up at nine.”

This exchange like so many others make everything so impersonal. Both people will go in and overanalyze every spelling error, smiley, sentence content, and so forth. And this is not even the date. This is not even to suggest where these two met or even how long they’ve been “talking”. In today’s day and age odds are they met through any one of the major dating sites tinder, blendr, okcupid, pof, and that’s not even all of them. Pictures may be exchanged and by the time the date is both people will have a preconceived notion in their mind of the other person which will determine if they will “hook up” or even date. After the first date (the second falls under this window since the first will mean both are more than likely nervous) the two will determine one of three courses: stay friends, hook-up (FWB), or actually date. Of course at any point this may change at any given point. Usually this decision is made in the first ten seconds of a date simply because of the fast paced nature of our lives and what we want in a significant other.

Life can not be generalized by a simply blog entry. Truly living and observing the experiences that everybody has is the only way. Different societies and cultures all have different ideals and morals concerning love. Arranged marriages, religious convictions, family values, and etc. paint different pictures of what is expected of people all over the world. I write only of what I see here at home (America) and some of my own experiences and the experiences of my friends.

Is this a means to critique dating and romance? Not at all. It is just way to express my support and admiration for what Aziz Ansari and Amy Schumer did and how I can relate. So when you have time check out their shows and movie. Both are ridiculously funny and honest.

Until next time,

Rich

Zenful Ramblings

Good Day All,

I like to limit these so I don’t make write exclusively about the same thing. I sit here at work listening to some No Doubt and Eagles, surely an eclectic range. The beginning of next month I will be seeing Garth Brooks in concert which I am truly excited for. It is bound to be a pretty good show

This is the third week of taking part in the Automatic Body program which as I have mentioned in other posts as being developed by Nutrie. I have significantly cut down on alcohol and keep no booze in the apartment due to money and my own health. We will see where this goes. My ultimate intention is to be healthier.

In the past two weeks I have made several important decisions and by the end of the month I will know what will be happening in the next part of my career. Over the past few weeks I have been afflicted with varying degrees of writer’s block, but I am still making steady progress in my book which is still untitled. The basic premise is that of a disgraced police detective, now bartender, hunting for a serial killer. For me the story is not a run of the mill detective story, but a character analysis about the redemption of a man broken by his own actions. The book sits at 160 pages and the story has yet to peak so the length of the book is still undetermined. I am sitting on another story and I may take a break from my Untitled Story to take a crack at this one, but only time will tell.

Another important item I have been working on is educating myself about the candidates of 2016. I will not spout out my own personal views, but I implore each of you to learn about the candidates and their views. The bombastic attitudes that many of the candidates have are not worth any rational person’s time. Don’t vote for somebody just because they sound good and don’t be prejudicial in your vote. We are in 2015 and should be past certain things as racism, however that is not true.

Remember, The Force is With You, Always

-Rich

Last bit of Musings and Star Wars

Good morning All,

September was a busy month. I spent most of my time away from “blogging it up” as I so want to eloquently put. I went to concerts, explored California to a greater degree, and just lived life. I reflected more on life and myself, you could say I am more zen-like, but I’ll just chalk that up to the trials of the past year. Maybe this California living has helped as well. The experiences that you live builds wisdom and maturity, not age.

Yesterday was my 27th birthday. A year ago I was not where I wanted to be and I am still pushing forward in so many ways. I am finding newer avenues to express myself. The book I am writing is moving along and hopefully I’ll have a first draft done by January (more than likely it will be February). I am still not entirely certain where I want to go with it, but I already have yet another idea brewing for a story.

I feel that I have become more aware, not so much because I wanted to, but because I needed to be. Part of it was boredom and the rest was to educate myself. I feel that the Presidential election next year is far too important to simply throw yourself behind a candidate based on flashy rhetoric or empty-handed promises. I am sure in the year that follows my views will become known on here, but I will leave it at that since politics and religion are things best to be avoided.

So my question I want to ask you is simple: “Are YOU truly happy?”

Now, you don’t have to answer me specifically, but go into the bathroom and ask yourself, “Am I truly happy?” If you answer no, then you need to ask yourself, “Why?” Is your job unfilling? Are you living beyond your means and drowning in debt? Are you stuck? Now I implore you to ask yourself, “What do I need to do change?” Nobody else is going to make that change for you. That my friend is on you. I have written about Nutrie and Automatic Body at length in this blog and I will do it again. They offer an escape from the grueling monotony of how life has been perceived for you. The benefits to help others and the economic benefits are just too enticing to ignore. This could be your way to move forward. More freedom. Less restraints. Endless possibilities. Is this real, you may ask that? And I encourage you to. I encourage you to be skeptical and questioning, but don’t allow that to stop yourself from untapping your full potential.

Please understand that this blog is meant to explore facets of everyday life: pop culture, politics (to a degree), life, books, etc. You could even argue that this is a continuation of my previous two posts and that is fine. Let’s see if I can break away from it and go on to better things without being too preachy.

A plus side is after nearly 2 years of production the best movie of the year is just 2 and a half months away. And yes I am referring to Star Wars. I grew up on the original Star Wars movies before Lucas started editing the crap out of it.  I was younger when Phantom Menace came out there was undeniable excitement that I missed out on. I didn’t realize that geek-dom was anticipating this movie for twenty years since I was 9 year olds and couldn’t accurately understand the magnitude of that release. Of course Episode 1 hit and the letdown hit. I saw the movie and I didn’t truly understand then why it sucked. The magic was not there. The CGI-ness overwhelmed the story and the true could be said of the other 2 prequels. Yes, even Episode 3. I hold Episode 3 in warm place in my heart because that is when shit started happening. I am confident that JJ Abrams will kill it. The new Star Wars movie feels just like what Star Wars should be. I know everybody in geek-dom has weighed down on this movie and the subsequent releases through into 2020. I just want to be heard.

Peace,

Rich

Meant to Live for So Much More

Good Morning Gang,

This past weekend I have continued my musical adventures and attended my first ever music festival in Del Mar, California. The festival was a 3 day festival with over 100 acts, food, drinks, and merriment and a tribute if you will you. A score of big names kicked off the inaugural festival of Kaaboo.

No Doubt rocked out and Gwen Stefani proved she still had it after a career spanning three decades. Zac Brown Band, another headliner killed their set list as they continue to show they are more than just a country band. The Killers closed out the festival yesterday playing everything from Mr. Brightside, All These Things That I’ve Done, and some Creedence. They were the one band that I absolutely needed to see and I am glad that I was able to. The headliners were great, but the other acts that were there were in no means less impactful to me.

Neon Trees and Tyler Glenn’s (their lead singer) enthusiasm and stage presence was something that I did not expect as a sometimes listener, but I am sold. Their magnetism and their origins in SOCAL spoke to me. The fact that many of the other bands were Cali. natives was important for me as I identified closely with their lyrics and their songs. Switchfoot is another such example and the title of this post identifies the ethos and philosophies that their music espouses. Music is life people. The expressions and thoughts that many bands put into their music are truth and speaks to many people. Maybe that is why I have attended half a dozen concerts in the past few months.

Foster The People got political and real, but sometimes that is not a bad thing. I hate political agendas and while my beliefs are quickly becoming known through social media as I become more and disillusioned with the status quo, it is still annoying to speak about but it is refreshing to see a band you their celebrity to speak about the civic duty of voting.

Life is so short that every moment needs to be lived as if tomorrow is the last. Why stress about money, politics, and religion? What is the point? Maybe the band that made the deepest impact is Switchfoot. Many could argue that they are Christian Rock and so what. Just remember that the trivial things are not things that you should stress out about. The negativity just needs to be cut out. So many people live a life of monotony, myself included, but why live that way. Society has devolved to the point that money and how people think you should live your life are the single most important things. Tell me I am wrong. It is fine, I give you permission. I can see why hippies are so free and at ease with their lives, makes me respect them.

I implore each and every one of you to find what makes you happy. Not a false sense of happy, but the one where are you truly at ease and have found your center. Cut out the negativity and wasteful people and find that Zen. It is harder than it sounds because I am still learning what the Zen in my life is.

Well until next time. Now it’s time to write some more of my book. Let’s see just where this goes.

-Rich

Not Much To Say

Hey Everybody,

Lately, I have not had much to say. This is not because I didn’t have anything to say, but it was because I just needed time to think. In the past few weeks a few things happened.

For starters I got promoted last week after serving in the military for four years. If you told me last year that I would have made it to this point then I would have laughed. Starting in August of 2014  my personal life and professional life intersected in the worst possible way and it culminated in January of this year. I felt lost and I had to reevaluate everything. I feel more together now. Life has too much to offer to be stressed and to be influenced by negativity. So I started cutting the wasteful negative people (please excuse my lack of tact) out of my life.

I have slowly started getting out more. Going to concerts and meeting new people, but for me it is torture. I have never liked putting myself out there, both in friendships and relationships. People have disappointed me. Some have done so intentionally, but others have done so without realizing it. My expectations for people vary and are dependent upon time based on how long I have known them. Friends that I knew for ten years are no longer friends for several reasons. I grew as a person and they stopped. There are special cases where I would place a lot of time and energy in a person after knowing them for a short while (with success), but often times it just leads to disappointment. I have always been an excellent judge of character which has always been both a blessing and a curse.

My countdown starts. 3 years to figure out my life and where I want to go. What I want to do. Will it be a master’s degree? Travel the world? A job? All of the above? This is the first time in a real long time that I don’t have a plan and that fact scares me. As a military man I have always needed a deep and thorough plan and this was true before I even joined. Now a plan is all well and good, but no deviation from the plan is just stupid and unhealthy. Inflexibility creates narrow mindedness and limits your potential.

Today’s society has the expectation that you graduate high school school, go to college and get a piece of paper decreeing you are able to function in the outside world, get a job to pay back the debt from college, have a family, and keeping that said job for 40 years in the hopes that you can retire with enough money in the bank.  Each generation the expectations of how you live your life have changed based on gender, race, economic factors, culture, and etc. I could go on about this, but this would quickly turn political and I want to stay away from politics in this particular post.

Well until next time,

Rich

Weekend Sabbatical to Santa Clara

All,

The past few days have been pretty damn busy. In just two days I managed to drive just over a 1000 miles to Santa Clara, California. For those who do not know Santa Clara is about an hour outside of San Francisco. I viewed this trip not only as a present to myself for my soon-to be promotion, but also the means to close the door on the entirety of last year and most of this year. In the simplest of terms the last year and most of this year was a huge bitch.

I could go into why, but I won’t delve too deep into the details. I will just say my anxiety got the better of me.

The concert, itself, was truly awesome. We saw Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan. These two acts did not disappoint. Just watching them rock out and get slightly buzzed on stage was one memorable experience. You may say what you want about country music, but they sure as hell know how to have a GREAT time.

I guess the plan now that the longest year of my life is over is to attack the rest of 2015 head-on. I already have drafted up a list per say to do this. It is a means to be successful post-navy.  Considering I have just entered my fourth year in the Navy, I am now seriously thinking on my plans after the navy and what I want to do.

I guess I will break it down through a list which I am sure will expand:

• Further my knowledge. Knowledge is power after all.
• Grow my money. This serves as means of lessening my debt and having long term financial stability.
• Get into better shape. This goal is obviously meant to better myself both physically and mentally. A cool thing about this is that this goes hand in hand with the second goal listed.
• Finish my book. Write more.  I now see writing as more than just a hobby. Will I be successful? Who knows, but I absolutely love doing it. Why I haven’t written in 6 years is beyond me.

I am absolutely thrilled about where the rest of this year is going. Words can’t describe where I want to go and what I want to do.

Until next time,

-Rich

Musings on Life and Everything Else

Good Afternoon Everybody,

I write this as I am watching New Girl. You know the show with Zooey Deschanel where she moves in with 3 room mates after her latest relationship fails? Yes that one. No, this post isn’t dedicated to my own love life even though it could be. It is more pointed towards her room mates and the where they are at in their lives and how it relates to myself. To me they represent the general feeling of where my life is going. For my age group I am moderately successful. I live have a 2 bedroom apartment by myself. I have a decent paying job, although at this point I could not imagine seeing myself making it a career.

In some regards I feel like Schmidt, the Jewish lothario who is moderately successful given his age, but is too high strung and overly anxious at times. Fits me to a tee.  The one thing that differs between us is his happiness with his job and where he is going.

I am generally unhappy with my job and I relate more deeply with Nick. I am by no means a perennial slacker and not struggling financially, but I tend to be quite grumpy and this dissuades people from getting to know me. Now don’t get me wrong I’m quite thankful for where I am at this stage in my life.  I also understand that without my job I could be much more worse off. I don’t live in a gutter and I can put food on my table as a result of what I am doing now. However, I have been thinking a lot lately about the future.

Think about it: there is only one life to live. Why work for a good portion of your adult life at a job you absolutely hate? What is the point? I am by no means a lazy person and I understand the value of hard work, but I desire job satisfaction more than anything else. Is that too much to ask? I could work at a low paying job as a career, but as long as I enjoy my job, feel, like I am making a difference, have a place to call home, and food then I am good. Instead society has this expectation of working for 40 years, make money, pay taxes, and have a family.  The next foreseeable step in these chain of events is expiration. Making it through life as I just described is how you are a success in society’s eyes. But what if there is a better way? What if there is a way to go against the norm?

What if you could make money and enjoy all the things that life has to offer? Travel the world. See different cultures. Write a book. And do so much more. Well this is all possible. Before you exit this post in bewilderment at the audacity of this guy’s ramblings just read a little further. There is a way. I am not suggesting you will be richer than you can possibly imagine. I am offering you the chance for stability, to help people, and enjoy your life just a little bit further. In my earlier posts I have spoken about Nutrie. The company’s singular purpose is to help people. Their FREE fitness program was designed by Kim Lyons from the Biggest Loser. The concept is simple: One Small Change per week over a period of 24 weeks. This is all accomplished in part through their Automatic Body application.

Now what does this have to do with you? How is money suppose to be made through a Free Fitness Program and Application? Where is the money? You cannot think of Nutrie in terms of this. This company is an investment in yourself. You have to understand that this is about helping people and not just your pockets. I could go into business models and the incentives that Nutrie provides, but that is not fair. That does not accurately depict what Nutrie stands for. Instead I will pose these questions to you: “Why is this guy so enthusiastic about this company? Is this too good to be true?” I will answer the second question and say that this is definitely not a scam. This is the real deal and this is coming from a pessimistic realist. Now I won’t answer the first question I posed because I am going to call on you to answer this question for yourself.  Find out what Nutrie could mean to you.

Later,

-Rich