Nashville/CMA Fest 2016, Day 3

Man, writing these things at 3 in the morning ain't easy....

So today was decent. It still lacked the excitement/stimulation/thrill that Monday had, but to be honest, that level is pretty hard to reach, or at least unlikely. Today consisted of live music all day at the festival Kickoff Concert featuring Sirius XM Highway Finds at the new Ascend Amphitheater, followed by a couple other shows downtown, and ended with me going out to a couple bars.

The highlights of the first part (kickoff concert) was seeing Kalie Shorr (an artist who I had recently discovered) for the first time in person, and having Clare Dunn appear to notice me in the crowd and wave to me. The highlight of the second part (downtown club/bar shows) was seeing and meeting Hailey Steele (another artist I had recently discovered) for the first time, and watching Craig Morgan and Adam Sanders in their show (as well as a couple special guests that Craig brought out). The highlight of the third part (going to bars) was meeting a couple girls, one of who recognized me from Whiskey Jam on Monday, as I had run into her there.

So that's about all I have to say about Wednesday. See you guys tomorrow...

Nashville/CMA Fest 2016, Day 2

Well, overall, today wasn't quite as exciting as yesterday, at least from a social perspective. HOWEVER,  there were still some noteworthy moments, certainly from a music perspective:

The first half of our day consisted of a lot of touring. First, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Next, RCA Studio B. And finally, the Grand Ole Opry. All three were fun and informative, and I enjoyed learning about some of the history of country music (though I had done some of those tours before, so it wasn't all new info and experience for me, whereas for my mom it was).

After that, we went to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game. It was fun. We had pretty good seats, and it was fun to see the artists competing and interacting with each other. 

After this, we had a bunch of dead time before we went to the Opry that night. We chose to kill it by going to Whiskey Jam at Losers, followed by dinner at The Row while watching Steel Blossoms (a female duo that I follow and had seen the previous night at the same place). 

Then it was the Opry. Our seats were amazing--easily the best seats I've ever had there. We were in the 3rd row just left of center. The music didn't disappoint either. The lineup was Darius Rucker, Jeannie Sealy, Lindsay Ell, "Whisperin'" Bill Anderson, Charles Esten, Carrie Underwood, and Chris Janson. Everyone did great, but the ones who stood out the most to me were Charles and Chris. The reason was somewhat the same--I had not seen either of them before, and was surprised and impressed by their performance. With Charles, I knew of him, but never followed the show (Nashville). With Chris, I knew his songs from the radio, but was not particularly a fan of any of them. Both were very energetic and highly enthusiastic in their interaction with the audience. But both were also great singers. Chris stood out to me the most, and "won" the night, if I had to vote. But at the same time, Carrie was flawless, Bill was funny, and Lindsay impressed me with her guitar ability. Great show overall.

After the Opry, my mom and I took an uber back to the hotel, where we dropped her off, and I continued back to downtown to try to find some more fun to end my night. I didn't end up finding much. The most notable thing that happened was that I ran into John Stone, an artist who plays Tootsies sometimes, and happened to be playing tonight. I said hi to him after he finished, and he invited me to come back the next two nights.

One other highlight from today that I want to mention, has to do with the softball game. I took some pictures and video while at the game, and posted some of them on social media. Well, one of them was a video of Cassadee Pope getting a hit. She happened to see it, and decided to retweet it with a quote of her own. This was really cool, because she doesn't do a whole lot of that. In fact, of all the times I've tagged her, I believe this is the first that she has ever responded to me in any way (including a couple pictures I posted of her from the softball game). So that was really cool. I can use that as discussion material when I meet her later this week. Plus it caused my twitter notifications to blow up for the rest of the day, which was fun.

So now it's Wednesday (was too tired to finish this post last night). Should be another day filled with live music. I also have some friends who will be arriving or otherwise available to hang out today, so let's see if I can meet up with some of them. Cheers to another great day in Nashville!

Nashville/CMA Fest 2016, Day 1

Wow....What. A. Day. This was our first day here in Music City, and what a day it turned out to be. This was my first time in Nashville in THREE YEARS, and my mom's first time ever. Needless to say, there was a lot of excitement for both of us. And man, did today live up to the hype. Forgive me for boasting, but I'm gonna give you a rundown of today's events. Can't believe it turned out so well...

We got into Nashville at about 3:30pm local time. From there we went to our hotel, checked in, and got situated. Then we went into downtown for the first time and met up with my friend Tiffany, who just moved here from California a couple months ago. We walked around for a bit, then got dinner at Puckett's. Dinner was great. I had BBQ, and there was live music, including a female singer who I took a liking to, and subsequently talked to after she finished. Her name is Nessa Survant.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to drop my mom off (she was tired after little sleep the night before), and then Tiffany and I headed to Loser's for Whiskey Jam. Whiskey Jam was awesome, as they always have a big show during CMA week (this year they have three). We didn't see the whole thing, but my favorite act was Adam Sanders. He performed some of his own songs, as well as at least one song he's written that have been recorded by other artists. The most notable, and my favorite, was "Ain't Worth the Whiskey", which he wrote with Cole Swindell and one other guy, and which Cole recorded and released as a single, and ended up going to #1. That was really cool to see.

Tiffany left after Adam finished, and I stayed a bit longer to finish my drink, and then headed to The Row to see a female duo I've been following, called Steel Blossoms. Cool story behind that....They followed me on Twitter a while back. I followed them back, and subsequently checked out their music. I took a moderate liking to them, and ended up communicating with them sporadically on Twitter. When I found out they would be performing during my time here, I messaged them and told them about it, and that eventually led to me going to see them tonight...They sounded great. The coolest part for me was the fact that they knew me by name. In fact, they said hi to me while performing on stage (in between songs) after I walked in. That was simply awesome. Then after they finished, they came up and talked to me for a bit, and ended up taking a picture with me with their own phone. I thrive off of interaction with artists, so to experience such personal interaction with these girls was thrilling. Sure, they may not be well known. But they're still professional musicians--and good ones at that--who pay enough attention to their fans/followers to know them by name, despite having never met me in person. That's awesome.

After that I went back to Loser's for a bit, because my friend Blake informed me of two friends of his--Heather and Kim--who now live in Nashville (but formerly lived in CA) and were working at Whiskey Jam tonight. I wasn't sure if they knew me or not, but as it turned out, once they saw me, they both got very excited and came over and greeted and talked to me. That was followed by a picture, and Heather asking me to two-step with her, which I did, to Jerrod Niemann, who was the final act of the event. After that, I met a guy named Rob, who recognized me from a recent concert I was at in CA. He works for a major artist (I'm gonna keep the details to myself), but he was super nice, and he and I exchanged info. Then after that I met a girl named Jordan, who was very nice, and turns out is also a singer songwriter. I may meet up with her, as well as Heather and Kim, and maybe even Rob, later in the week.

After all of this, I went over to downtown again, to Tootsie's, where my friend Scott was playing. As soon as I walk in and he sees me, he invites me up on stage with him, as is our tradition. Bear in mind, I am the last person who deserves to be up on that stage. Nevermind the fact that it is a legendary stage where so many great artists have stood and performed....I can't sing....So for me to be up there was definitely not something I deserve. On the contrary, Scott is an amazing guy; so kind, that despite my poor ability, he invites me up anyway, just to shine the spotlight on me a bit. We sang a few songs, and then I got a drink and walked around a bit (including checking out Tootsie's new third floor rooftop patio, which did not exist the last time I was here). Eventually I left and came back to my hotel, but not before Scott ended up inviting me on stage yet again to sing some more. I tell you, that guy is so generous,

So in closing, today was pretty epic, and far greater than I saw coming. If this trip continues like it did today, I might die from overstimulation haha. I guess this town loves me as much as I love it ;-)

Garth Brooks Concert Review

On Saturday, November 7th, 2015, I went to a Garth Brooks concert for the first time. It was in San Diego, at Valley View Casino Center (formerly the San Diego Sports Arena). I had never seen Garth perform live before, so this was my first exposure to him of any kind in-person. 

As you can imagine, I had high anticipation and expectations of how he would be and what I would see. After all, he’s won multiple Entertainer of the Year awards at the CMA and ACM Awards, and is widely considered an exceptional performer and entertainer—one of the best in country music history, and perhaps even all musical genres.

Well, he definitely didn't disappoint. My friend Valerie and I did have two 6’5” football players in the two rows in front of us, which limited our view and allowed me to see Garth only about half the time, but aside from that, the concert was awesome.

The most notable element of the show, which made it and his performance stand out the most, was the energy. I’ve been to a lot of shows, and seen almost every famous live act in country music, including possibly all of the nominees for Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs and ACMs in the last five or 10 years, and I have never seen anything quite like this. Garth Brooks had more consistent and nonstop energy and enthusiasm than anyone I’ve ever seen. And don’t worry, he only played for two hours, this being the third show in as many nights, with another one coming up the next night, AND one more THIS SAME NIGHT AFTER MY SHOW!! It’s not like he needed to conserve himself or anything…

Seriously, it was very impressive. And it wasn’t just him either. I’ve never witnessed an audience so loud and consistently electric. Everyone in that building was cheering during every song, knew all the words, and stood almost the entire time, even though they all had seats. Obviously it helps that he has so many well-known songs and hits (he is one of the most successful artists in music history), and that he is touring for the first time in 15 years and was visiting San Diego for the first time in 19 years. But all of that notwithstanding, it was an audience response that was exceptional.

And to his credit, he encouraged it and took advantage of it. Audience interaction and involvement, at least in my opinion, is a key element to what makes any artist a great live act and entertainer. Garth did plenty of that. He let us sing choruses, sing verses, held a cheering competition between sections, and yelled and cheered during every other song, further energizing us, which in turn further energized him. He even pointed it out early in the show, saying that he had to do so many shows in so few nights, so we would have to carry him. And carry him we gladly did.

Another thing I loved about him was his song choice. Though he left a few out that I would’ve liked to see (“If Tomorrow Never Comes”, and “Beaches of Cheyenne”, to name two), he was smart in that he stuck almost completely to his old stuff. In fact, he only played ONE song off his current album (in comparison to which everything else is “old”, since this is his first studio album of all-new material in almost 15 years). And he knew what he was doing—he stated early in the show that when he goes to shows, he goes for the old stuff. 

Adding to the uniqueness of the show was his band and crew. He thanked his crew member (John was his name) every time he handed him a guitar between songs. And among his band (background singers included; and he introduced everyone extensively), every single member has been with him for 20+ years (one of the funny moments of the show was when he introduced “the rookie” of the band, who has been with him for 21 years I believe). That’s astounding. Granted he took the last 15 years off of touring, so assuming he wasn’t omitting those years, that statistic is a little skewed. But at the same time, the fact they they would all come back and tour with him again after all that time away is surprising and impressive. Another cool moment was when his wife Trisha Yearwood introduced one of his background singers, who she said was a songwriter as well. Trisha performed one of her songs, and had her come out and sing part of it center-stage by herself. She (the background singer) was clearly very appreciative, and it was a really cool moment to watch. 

In closing, I want to mention that Garth and his team market his shows as “The Garth Experience”. Prior to the show, I figured that was just a creative and more-or-less meaningless slogan. But after seeing his show, I can attest that it is definitely an accurate expression and description. It was unlike any show I’ve ever been to. Unbridled and consistent enthusiasm from both Garth and the fans for two hours. I don’t know how much of what he does is an act or is scripted, but however much of it is or isn’t genuine almost doesn’t matter. I mean I hope it’s genuine, and I wouldn’t want to see exactly the same show the next time I see him, but regardless, he gets that energy and enthusiasm from somewhere (I don’t know where), and I believe he truly enjoys it (at one point in the show he said something to the effect of being very happy and thankful that he got to do this earlier in his career, and now again 15 years later). So even if some of what he does is a bit scripted or manipulative in order to get the crowd into the show, it’s almost like who cares? His job is to perform and entertain, and he clearly does that. 

The Inspiration Issue

I inspire people. I've heard it all my life. I've heard it in playing sports, I've heard it in dancing, and I've probably heard it at other times and places as well. I've had multiple pieces done on me in newspaper and television when I was growing up talking about how I was an inspiration because I was playing sports. But I'm not trying to inspire anyone. I'm just living my life and doing what I like to do, and for some reason people seem to find that inspiring.

Ok, I get it. People see me and realize I look different. They assume I've had a difficult life, and either know or assume that I have an extensive medical history. They see how I've "overcome" all these "obstacles" and "challenges" and live a normal life "despite" them.

I put those words in quotes for a reason. You see, I don't view my life as all that difficult, and I don't view my medical history as challenges or obstacles. My life is what it is and it's all I know. I mean I do owe praise to God for a positive attitude, and to my parents for putting me in a somewhat sheltered environment (Christian school kindergarten through high school) where I experienced pretty much no bullying and was fortunate enough to always have friends. But otherwise, my life is what it is. I had a different level of consciousness and awareness as a child than I do now as an adult. If I were going through all this medical stuff now, I think I would view it differently than I did experiencing it as a child. I would probably consider living a normal life after that to be more inspirational than doing it the way I have.

Allow me to take a moment to give those of you who don't know (which is most of you) a brief explanation of my medical history. I was born with a thing called Treacher Collins Syndrome. This is a syndrome (or condition, to use a more common word) that results in underdevelopment in the facial area. For example, two noticeable areas of underdevelopment on me are my ears, which are significantly underdeveloped and lack an outer ear canal, and for which I wear bone-conductive hearing aids, and my cheeks, which lack bones, and for which I have an implant on my right side (we tried the left too, but it didn't work out very well). The white thing around my neck is called a tracheostomy tube, or trach for short (pronounced "trake"). It's a device through which I breathe. I have a hole in my neck, and the tube of the trach goes in the hole and down my throat a bit. It's purpose is simply an additional airway, because for all intents and purposes I can't breathe through my nose, and as a child I was not getting enough air through breathing through my mouth alone. Nowadays I'm able to get sufficient air through my mouth alone, and generally keep a cap on the trach and do not use it except at night when I use it to get extra air for higher quality sleep.

I've had dozens of surgeries growing up to try to improve both appearance and functionality in my facial area. I haven't had any since I was 17 or 18, and don't plan on having any more in the future (primarily because the insurance ended when I turned either 18 or 21). My condition is purely physical, with no mental effects at all. This is very important to me for people to understand, because I hate it when people assume there's any kind of mental impairment, though I can't blame them, especially with my speech not being clear. Another thing I hate, or dislike, is for people to use the term disability or deformity in reference to me and my condition. I have no disability as far as I'm concerned, and the word deformity is a disgusting word that really rubs me the wrong way, at least in reference to myself.

All I'm trying to do is live a normal life, and all I want is to be viewed and treated normally. Please DO NOT give me special treatment or befriend me or act toward me out of pity, charity, or sympathy. I am only interested in people who are genuinely interested in me regardless of my physical appearance. If I suspect you're acting out of the aforementioned motives, I may actually resent you, or at least lose a little respect or favor for you, because I pretty much resent and detest the idea of people acting out of those motives toward me. Their motives may be good, and I can't really blame them and am kind of a hypocrite because I do the same thing, but nevertheless, I hate it being done to me, so please don't.

So if people want to view me as an inspiration, that's ok I guess. I can't control what people think, but remember, I'm not really trying to be an inspiration. Maybe I should embrace that a little more, but as of right now, I'm just trying to live my life like anyone else, just doing what I want to do, and only be an inspiration in the same ways anyone else could be, such as pursuing things that I love to do, and not because of my physical appearance and medical story.

My Last 30 Years

Sooo, I've been alive for three decades. That's a long time! As they say, it definitely goes by fast. I can't say it feels like yesterday that I was in high school or college, but it doesn't feel like my 29th birthday was that long ago, either.

I've experienced a lot over my first 30 years of life. In some ways I've experienced more than most, in some ways less, and in some ways about average. My first 10 years of life were pretty eventful, with lots of medical history, between surgeries and doctor appointments, which extended into my teens. This certainly made for a unique and sometimes challenging childhood, but thankfully it was a very happy one, as I was blessed with a positive outlook, and surrounded by a loving and positive environment of lots of caring family and friends. I made my first friends in kindergarten, and we're still friends today.

My middle ten years were fairly happy as well. They saw me go from middle school into high school and then to college. Things got a bit more challenging socially during these years. I still had plenty of friends, at least through high school, but I started to become more self conscious about my appearance, and also had a desire to be part of the popular crowd, which I sometimes felt difficult to fit in with, as I am not a pure extrovert, and tend to be kind of quiet in group settings. My self consciousness hit a high point in college. This was because, though I was at a Christian school (which was also the case previously, kindergarten through high school), I was now at a place where I knew almost nobody, and had to make new friends. This was an exciting challenge which I was very much looking forward to going into college, but it took a little longer than I hoped. I made many acquaintances during my freshman and sophomore years, and got along with my various roommates fine, but it wasn't until my junior year that I found friends (and roommates) who I really connected with and became close friends with. I am thankful that I found them; they are some really good people, and we are still friends today.

In addition to the usual routine of school and friends, my childhood also included an active sports lifestyle. This started with baseball at age six, which lasted a couple years, until I quit. Then at age nine, I took up hockey. I played hockey (roller and ice) consistently until about age 17, when I sort of phased out physically. While still playing hockey, I also took up golf, starting at age 12 or 13, and played consistently through high school, where I played for my school all four years. My last 10 years have not been as eventful athletically, as I played some intramural sports in college, and a couple hockey and golf leagues outside of school, but that's about it. The latter half of my last 10 years have introduced me to a new "sport", though, in the form of dancing.

I found dancing (country dancing, to be specific) about five years ago. I had already been into country music for a few years, and eventually I decided to check out country bars. It started out slow, and I didn't learn any dances until a while after I started, but eventually I got hooked on it, and started learning, and haven't looked back since. I added more country bars and more dances and more friends, and it eventually comprised my entire social life. I'm not quite as active or passionate now as at times in the past, but I still do it and enjoy it, and am open to continuing to learn new moves and dances, including different styles of dance other than country.

Speaking of country music, an interesting sidebar is that my life has included a variety of musical tastes thus far. It's seen everything (in rough chronological order) from pop (Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, N*Sync), to "punk rock" (Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Yellow Card), to Switchfoot, to my current interest in country music. Also interesting is that I've observed that with both music and sports/hobbies/interests, I tend to be really passionate and involved in one for a certain amount of time, and then I stop and move onto something else. Usually this time period is a few years. I suppose this is both a good and bad thing, since it means that I will be a very avid fan or participant in whatever I'm currently interested in and will go at it full-force and try to master it, but that my interest may wane over time, and I might eventually stop and move onto something else. Currently I'm at 4+ years of dancing, and 7+ years of country music, and I don't plan on quitting either anytime soon!

In addition to music and dancing. my most recent decade has seen some other transitions. I graduated from college, lived in two other states, and progressed in what is now my current job. My out-of-state  residencies were both short-lived, one for a predetermined 10 weeks in Colorado as part of a summer program, and the other for what ended up being five and a half months in Idaho. With the latter, I could have stayed longer, but I lost my job a couple months in, and made the difficult decision to move home instead of stay and find another job. What made the decision so difficult wasn't so much the job situation, but other factors, such as it being a beautiful place with a winter climate that I love. That climate is why I moved there in the first place. I'd love to go back there again to visit, and maybe someday to live. But for now, I live here in Southern California, where I enjoy working in my current job involved in a couple of my family's businesses.

As is common after college, my life has settled down into a fairly regular routine. It consists of work and fun with friends, which for me is dancing. In some ways it appears I'm a bit behind when it comes to milestones or progress, as almost all of my longtime close friends are married with kids and financially independent, and I am not. This could be viewed as a shortcoming on my part, but I'm working my way toward financial independence, and have goals and plans. As for the marriage and kids, I certainly desire to get there someday too, but that part is a little more out of my hands. I've pursued a few girls over the last few years, arguably for the first time in my life, and while I haven't had any amount to a romantic relationship yet, I'm hopeful that I will find one someday. It is a bit saddening to me at times that my friends are so far ahead of me in the stages of life, and I allow it to create a bit of a distance between us and reason not to spend a lot of time with them, as they are doing their own thing, and have different interests/schedules/commitments than me. But it is what it is, and they are still very cherished and valuable friends. Because not only are they still great people, and caring for me as ever, but now they also have valuable experience and wisdom in terms of life and love.

Overall, I can't really complain about where my life is at, 30 years in. I have more than I need, and lots of great, caring, loving people around me. Do I wish certain things were a little different? Yes. And am I completely happy? No. Can I be a better person and do I have areas I need to improve? Yes. But life is what you make of it, and it's a journey for all of us (that sounds really cliché). So as I begin year number 31, I guess I just need to continue to set goals and plans and try to accomplish them, and try to take things one step at a time, and not worry about what I can't control. Before I know it, I'll probably be celebrating another 30 years! Let's hope they're good, and that I experience self-improvement and progress, and make decisions that promote happiness.

A Look Back at 2012

Looking at the big picture, 2012 has been a good year. I certainly ought not complain. In terms of the basic necessities and things that matter most in life, it's been all good. I've had my health, have lost no family or close friends, had shelter, clothing, food, and a job. I've pursued my passions and had a lot of fun and made lots of new friends doing so. By and large, 2012 has been perhaps one of the best years in recent memory for me.

Early 2012 featured an annual trip with some friends to Bass Lake, CA to visit some other friends of ours who live up there. It was a fun trip as always. We traveled into Yosemite National Park, went hiking, and had a good time. 

Spring of 2012 also included a few concerts, namely Lady Antebellum, Gloriana, and Dierks Bentley. All were good. For Lady A and Gloriana, I was right up next to the stage (for Lady A I was actually IN the stage because of the cool stage setup they had where a small number of fans could buy tickets for an in-stage pit area called the "Inner Circle"), which is always fun. 

Then at the end of April was Stagecoach. It was a hell of a good time. This was the third year in a row that I've gone to the festival, and it was was by far the best. The lineup was incredible, I ran into probably about 75 people I knew, I got to drink all day and dance all night after the concert. It was amazing. 

Middle 2012 was a pretty good time as well. I traveled to Nashville for the second year in a row for CMA Music Fest in June. Like Stagecoach, this was also the best time I've ever had there. 2011 was amazing and certainly unforgettable as well, but this trip was arguably better, for completely different reasons. 2011 was my first-ever trip to Nashville and CMA Fest. So as a die-hard country music fan and enthusiast, this was an incredible experience, since Nashville is the mecca of country music, and CMA Fest is, as it is marketed and which I would find to be true, "the ultimate country music fan experience", and the biggest and best country music festival in the world. I visited everywhere I could and experienced several of the significant sites and venues in the city, and saw a whole lot of live music and met a bunch of country artists, including big stars such as Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean. 

But 2012 was, like I said, a completely different experience. The reason why this was the case is that, in addition to the fact that I had been there before and seen lots of things already, I got to experience this trip with a group of people. Both times that I've gone to Nashville, I've gone alone. But on this trip I happened to meet some people on my second or third night in town, and that changed everything. They invited me to hang out with them the rest of the night, and that ended up continuing for the remainder of the trip. Every day they invited and welcomed me to hang out with them. They introduced me to all their friends (some of whom live in Nashville; they themselves are mostly from New Jersey), and for the remainder of the trip I had a go-to group of people and a community to hang out with and be a part of. Instead of doing everything alone, I was with people. This was an incredible experience. Because although I'm used to and willing to do concerts and trips like this alone (because of my passion for the music), it's a lot more fun doing it with people. In fact, I enjoyed hanging out with them so much that I sold my ticket for the last three (out of four) nights of the main concerts at the festival, simply because I enjoyed hanging out with them more and and didn't want to miss out on any of it. These people were so kind to me, and introduced me to so many people, who were also so kind to me, and I can never repay them or thank them enough. My network of Nashville acquaintances and contacts has grown exponentially because of them, and I will never forget the amazing time I had with them. I have since kept in touch with them and have gotten to see them once since this trip, when I went and visited them in New Jersey in September. I plan on seeing them again soon, this next summer in Nashville if not sooner.

Summer 2012 also featured my first ever trip to the river. I went with some friends from my hometown area. It was just a weekend trip, but nevertheless was a lot of fun. We went on a group float down the river for a few hours, and hung out at night at the motel pool and the casino. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to go back to the river some more this next year, with them and anyone else that wants to invite me. 

Then came the Fall of 2012. Three notable events from this time of the year were my birthday (28th), and celebrations for my 50th and 100th nights of dancing in a row. That's right, in a row. I managed to string together what ended up being 102 consecutive nights of dancing. Not every night was at an actual country bar or dance facility (I think those comprised 93 of the 102 nights), but every day or night for 102 days I managed to do at least a partial-song's worth of a line dance or two step. The celebrations for all three of these occasions (50th, 100th, and my birthday) were at some of my favorite country bars. I invited lots of people, many of whom showed up, and had a great time. 

Now we're into the Winter, and the end, of 2012, and the beginning of 2013. My Thanksgiving and Christmas were good, both the usual tradition of gathering with family. New Year's was a fun time last night, as I spent it with a friend and a bunch of other friends, celebrating the one friend's birthday (which was yesterday) and New Years combined. As for today (New Years Day), I don't have much planned, just working and maybe going dancing or bowling tonight. However I may also stop by my brother's house this afternoon to watch some of the Orange Bowl college football game, which is part of an annual tradition (he has people over every New Years Day to watch the football games).

All told, 2012 has been a lot of fun, and free from any major problems. I got to pursue my primary passions in life of country music and dancing, going to several concerts and two music festivals, and dancing almost every night of the week. I've gotten better at dancing, made a few new dance partners, found a great new country bar in The Ranch in Anaheim (which opened in December 2011), and am still enjoying myself about as much as ever with all of it. 

Transitioning and looking ahead into 2013, my life will probably continue to be much the same as it was in 2012, as far as my plans are concerned (obviously you never know what could happen that is unforeseen or out of your control). But there are a few things I might like to change. Let me address this by giving a little recap of where things are in certain area of my life, and where I would like to see those things go in 2013.

Professionally, I'm in decent shape. I co-own one of my family's businesses, and that's going well. Looking forward, it would be good for me to move forward in my career, either with this business, or with songwriting, or both, or something else. But it's time that I start being a little more proactive with this, rather than being complacent and not trying very hard to progress or move forward, which I've been guilty of in the recent past. 

Socially, I'm arguably a bit out of balance. My social life literally consists entirely of dancing and the friends who I have from there. I'm somewhat okay with this, as dancing is one of my biggest passions and I'm still enjoying it about as much as ever. But at the same time, I realize that I am probably neglecting my close, longtime friends from home a little bit, and should spend more time with them. They may be married and have their own lives and different interests and such, but still, I ought to make more of an effort to spend time with them than I have been recently. I should also probably look into broadening my hobbies and activities, or at least my social circles. Dancing is great for meeting people, and there's lots of really cool people there, many of whom share my interests in country music and dancing; but while all of that is great, it might not hurt for me to look elsewhere also, such as a bowling league, softball league, or church, especially considering that the places I go dancing are not close to me, and hence, neither are the places where most of my dancing friends live, which is a natural obstacle for friendships. Despite this obstacle, however, I would also probably be best to try to develop some of my dancing relationships, and become closer friends with some of them and hang out with them outside of the country scene. Part of the reason for my lack of closeness with them is that I tend to be a wanderer or mingler at the country bars, hanging out with several people or groups of people throughout the night, rather than sticking to one group. While I enjoy this, it doesn't help with developing friendships and close-knit community, so I might want to consider changing that behavior as well. 

Speaking of church, my spiritual life is in a perhaps interesting place right now. It's not very active, which would appear to be a bad thing, yet I don't really have a problem with it. For those of you who don't know, I've been a Christian for most of my life, with my church attendance, and my effort toward my personal relationship with God (and, I feel consequently, my closeness with Him) fluctuating up and down throughout my life. Lately both my church attendance and my effort toward my relationship with God have been minimal-to-non-existent. I've basically been content living my life the way I want to live it and doing what I want to do, and have not really consulted God about any of it. While my life has had many negative and unhappy moments, and while I may be far from being as content and fulfilled and happy as I maybe could be, I still do not feel a great need or desire to change what I'm doing. My life is largely a happy one, and though it is predicated or dependent on things that maybe it shouldn't be (namely, looking forward to events in the near future like a fun night of dancing or a concert, or a maybe a love interest if I have one at a given point in time), I am not yet to a point where I feel I want to turn to God and look to Him for my happiness, contentment, fulfillment, and peace in my life. But this may be about to change somewhat. I'm considering checking out church again on Sunday nights (for the aforementioned social reasons if nothing else), so we'll see where that goes. 

Personally, my life is in decent or okay shape. I still have close friends, albeit with perhaps a slight barrier present, in that literally just about all of them are married. I have tons of acquaintances through dancing. This feels great, because I know somebody wherever I go and people are always saying hi to me and such, which makes me feel popular and wanted, which is nice. However as I said earlier, not many of those relationships are developed very far past the acquaintance level, which is by my own doing and lack of willingness to commit to a single group of friends. This leaves me occasionally feeling lonely or bored, even while I'm at the country bars. A bigger source of loneliness, however, comes from my love life. I'm currently in a spot where my love life holds a primary focus in my mind, in that I tend to allow it to have heavy influence on much of my emotions and my happiness. I know this should not be the case, and that I need to put my main focus and find my happiness from other sources and let love take care of itself and happen in it's own time. I'm just a little tired of waiting, as I have yet to have my first girlfriend or even my first official date. I'd love for 2013 to bring me success in my love life, but I know I just need to be patient and confident, and the success will come sooner or later.

As far as resolutions go for the New Year, I actually made a list with as many as 10 resolutions. I was planning on sharing them by way of a blog post, but after a friend advised me that it would be very unlikely that I would keep all of them, I'm going to choose to officially state only one: to improve my punctuality. If you know me, you know I stink at punctuality and timeliness. I'm last minute or late to literally almost everything. So over the next year, I'm going to try to improve with that. I'm not saying I'll get rid of it completely. But if I improve, I'll consider that a victory. 

Well, there's my recap of 2012 along with an outlook into 2013. Hope y'all have had a good year; here's to what will hopefully be another and perhaps even better one!