Who do I still think I am??

This one's about Whatever Works Wednesday.

30DBC PROMPT: "Talk about your personal relationship with music; this is not about who your favorite artists and songs are, but more about...what types of music affect you in what ways. Also talk about your own musical talents...do you play any instruments? Can you sing? Do you sing anyway? Have fun with it. Then join blainecindy in the forum post titled, 'MAGICAL MUSICAL MONDAY'. Share your blog entry with us and post whatever musically themed materials you think others might like to know about."

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What's up people? I'm holiday'd out for the time being...I understand the prompt in "Invalid Item"  is for Monday, but I have a good excuse (besides me just doing what I want). I was out of town, chillin' at my mom's in WNY over Easter weekend and didn't really feel like spending the whole time on my laptop. You'll forgive me, because you don't really have any other choice if you're continuing to read this. My blog; my parameters. Glad we understand that.

And who's that dashing fellow seated on the far right next to the fine ladies? Good to know my corner spot's being kept warm by my likeness. So all y'all had your Piano Bar Magical Musical Monday at Andre's, which is a day typically suited for a kid like me. Wish I could say I was celebrating it with you, or that I was too busy gettin' my Polish on in Buffalo for Dyngus Day (which you can learn about here if you're inclined: http://www.dyngusday.com/...basically it's the day after Easter every year, and it's sorta like the Polish version of St. Patrick's Day, but with booze and squirt guns and pussy willows and booze), but I was glued to ESPN for most of the day while I was riflin' through my mom's and brother's cd's for stuff I could add to my digital collection, because that's what I do when I'm doin' nothin' in different places.

If you know me and/or have been reading this area of contained internet congestion for any given amount of time, however, you'll know that I love music. There's something to be said when the right combination of instruments, lyrics, and emotions hit you in a way that tantalizes your senses, sparks thoughts, incites masses or otherwise increases the instances of pleasure between your ears and your brain. You can't fake it (though it's often tried), and trying to capture those sentiments within the boundaries of the written (or typed) word is often futile...like trying to cut down a tree with a butter knife.

Music isn't just entertainment- no. It's release, it's motivation, it's a process. It's a conversation not necessarily spoken, but felt. It's engaging. It's life.

I don't play any instruments, but I wish I had learned at least one when I was younger and could take to it more easily the way only children can. Some of us, like blainecindy, have had the chance to take one up later in their adult lives, but I don't have the resources, the discipline, nor the patience to want to expand my guitar or drum wizardry beyond Rockband for Xbox. My real talent (if you can call it that) and preference has always leaned more toward the lyrical side anyways. I'm more than ok with that. I have a much better time putting words down to melodies in my head than I can try to explain what those tunes should sound like outside of my imagination and translated by actual instruments.

I also have a bit of a natural tendency to want to be entertaining in certain situations, once I'm comfortable in whatever the setting is. That's not to say I can sing- let's not confuse effort with actual talent. I'm, ahem, not a good singer, but that won't stop me from shredding eardrums and mic stands on karaoke night. Throw me a few beverages and watch me menace a microphone for the entertainment of strangers. I'm not afraid of strutting, gyrating, flailing, kicking, or looking like an absolute ass. If your boyfriend laughs or your wasted girlfriend understands where it's comin' from, man then I've done my job for the night. I'm just a slightly different vehicle the songs ride in on their way to you. Maybe not the ideal or preferable way of gettin' around, but neither was your first car, I'm guessin'.

BCF PROMPT: "Write about anything that works for you that others might find helpful. It can be anything that you find helpful in your daily life from writing to cleaning or anything in between."

Huh. I'm not good at this, yet I kinda am...I can tell you a million insane little things to make your life easier, but damned if I'll follow my own advice. You could always Google "Life Hacks" and pull up 5.82 billion articles in ~0.045 seconds (depending on your internet provider, of course) full of the same 30-40 tidbits/tricks to simplify your everyday living. However, none of them are anything I'll ever remember when the rubber hits the road and I could be putting them in play...like that stupid little cut-out notch on the side of plastic wrap and aluminum foil packages meant to keep the roll in place, or the "single serve" dimple thingy on the underside of the lid of a box of Tic Tacs. I don't actually remember the last time I purchased Tic Tacs...there's so many better breath mint options out there anyway; poor form on my part there.

I don't know if this counts as a skill or not, but it's helped me on more than one occasion and it might for you too. Manufactured confidence. You have to bullshit yourself into believing you can do something you (and others, if applicable) know you might not be up to. If you can overturn personal objections and convince yourself that you can overcome whatever obstacles are in front of you, and make that pull seem stronger than the alternatives, you can at least attempt to do/be anything you want. Have I done this with success? Yes. Have I failed miserably? Also yes. But in the end I can let experience be my guide should my intentions of not doing something asinine get overridden by my fantastical desires. [Side note: There are reasons why I'm on prescription medications for anxiety and depression, and more reasons why I've been unable to walk properly on two legs for the better part of the last year and a half, so maybe I'm not the best example to follow.]

Tricking yourself isn't easy, and no, I don't have a surefire method of rewiring a thought process. There's a time and a place to trust your gut instincts and give in to them in the name of "playing it safe", and then there are times where the only way you're gonna get anywhere in life include shoving the safe douchebag within you into a pocket while you traipse along the rotten-fruited pastures of America's well-hidden underbelly. Take a chance; live and learn. Like Hunter S. Thompson once said, "Buy the ticket, take the ride." The operative part of what I said two sentences prior is and learn. If you fuck up and you don't learn, all the confidence in the world (fake or otherwise) isn't gonna mean a damn thing to consequences. But I'm veering off the point a bit. Part of life is about knowing yourself, and that comes through risks and bucking conventional wisdom occasionally...even if it means going against what you know deep down is the path of least resistance. Nobody became great by being average. At least not that I know of...if being great's your thing. And who likes regrets? I don't wanna be old and wondering "What would've happened if I'd only had the grapes enough to...". However you've gotta do it, the truth is you've gotta do it, and whatever works for you...more power to ya.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Let's forget for a minute that I've posted this video 10's of times, or have shared this mini-story almost as often. I was no stranger to the karaoke lifestyle in WNY. It's been a source of many good times, as well as some embarrassing moments. But the greatest experience I ever had was singing this on a Friday night in a bar packed full of people who mostly didn't know me...they nodded and clapped along, fists were pumped, and I felt like I was one with the crowd of maybe 25 or 40 or so in attendance. There's nothing better than nailing a moment with music.

Life is Too $hort so love the one ya got
'Cuz you might get run over or you might get shot.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

I think I watched most of at least six hockey games over the weekend on an actual TV (as opposed to my laptop). Maybe more. You don't front on playoff hockey...it's real. Need to tie this entry up before the start of what could be a contentious Game 4 between Chicago and St. Louis. At first I was torn between the two teams...the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane is from South Buffalo, and the Blues have ex-Sabres Ryan Miller, Steve Ott and Jordan Leopold. Then I remembered that Kaner was kinda a dick to a Buffalo cab driver after his team won the Stanley Cup (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Kane-arrested-after-allegedly-a..., http://deadspin.com/5334113/patrick-kane-reminds-you-why-you-should-never-take-a...), and I bought a Blues jersey nearly 15 years ago when Wayne Gretzky was traded there (and it still fits! At least it fits better than my Tragically Hip "World Container" jersey does.), and all the sudden I'm a fan of The Lou again. Hockey plays hell on your emotions when your favorite/local team finishes last in the league sucks and it's the NHL Playoffs the advent of tourney for Lord Stanley's Cup.

I even managed to watch an NBA game this weekend, because I've adopted the Brooklyn Nets as my favorite basketball team (although it's easier to hate the Knicks instead)...but that was more because there wasn't hockey on at the time and I wasn't willing enough to get off the couch for anything else. If there's anything Brooklyn, I side more on the Beastie Boys over Jay Z (one-time part Nets owner) because "Hello Brooklyn" is hands-own better than anything in the Hova catalog (with the exception maybe for "H To The Izzo" or "99 Problems", but you can't tell me otherwise...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM32R91KMDc). My man Rob Ford even had something to say about the Nets-Raptors series, offering to oblige in a music trade (see how this all ties in? )...http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/22/mayor-rob-ford-seals-raptors-nets-cd-bet. The dinosaur on his chest has likely never screamed as much in his/her life as it did once Ford filled out that jacket. Godzilla may never have roared so much as that waistline or the well-intentioned civic pride behind that blow his, ummm, intentions.

So I see all these writers on WDC doing their thing with, like, real writing and stuff, and dropping links off to Facebook diversions and whatnot, so it's time again for me to ask you to like this, even if we're not Facebook-official friends: http://www.facebook.com/asongadaycuzIcan. Nearing 50 "likes", and I don't know what comes with 100, but I don't have anything more to entice you with other than it's me blathering on sharing music-related info and other fun stuff.

I don't have much more to add, and I'm kinda hungry, so I'm drawing this in for the day. As always, the benefit was (hopefully) mutual. Peace, it's a hell of a town, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!