I’ve been trying to encourage myself to post a true update of what I’ve been up to. The more time that passes, the more intimidated I become. It’s basically been a year since I have posted any true writings on the internet, beyond stories of chapstick tubes and toilet paper.
I think the lack of updates is directly related to the fact that this time last year (to the day almost), Forever Changed played our last show. Even now a year later, I’m still adjusting. It might just be best to give you a timeline synopsis of the major things I’ve been doing since last June.
June ‘06 - Move out of my parents’ house (yes!) and in with Garrett Payne. Hilarity ensues. I start my first real job in three years at KUMC as a 3rd grade summer camp counselor. Looking back on it now, I don’t know how I handled being responsible for children. I think I just gave them some candy and turned them loose for eight hours.
July ‘06 - fill in with Cool Hand Luke on a few tours. It was a bizarre feeling to reunite with friends from around the country..and know that I probably would never see them again after that. To this day, I haven’t. Sometime in this month I also busted a pinata full of b-rated candy.
August ‘06 - this is where I finally felt like the next step was starting. I enrolled back into Tallahassee Community College (dean’s list every semester, so far) and began a job at the Dept. of Environmental Protection. Literally, saving manatees on an airboat all day...in downtown Tallahassee, FL. In all actuality, I sit in an office room all day by myself, doing work that quite literally, no one else knows how to do. Not that its difficult, its just no one has ever done it. I could not show up, and no one would ever notice. Your tax dollars at work.
Fall ‘06 - I become more involved in a ‘home-church’, playing in the worship band from time to time. Also I revisit my childhood and buy a bike...it reminds me how lazy I can be.
November ‘06 - I hit a deer with my car. I didn’t die, but the deer did.
December ‘06 - my girlfriend, Allison moves into midtown within walking distance to my house. Before she lived about 20 min away in the outskirts of Tallahassee....literally in a barn in the woods. More hilarity ensues. Lots of dinner dates.
January ‘07 - I start playing with a new band, The Twelfth Chapter. Originally just to fill in, and has now thankfully turned permanent. Shows have been played. Demos have been recorded.
February ‘07 - I am asked to loan/rent out my drumkit for the filming of a VH1 reality series called “Man Band”, set to air sometime this year. Members of N’Sync, 98 Degrees, LFO, and Color Me Badd (yes, Color Me Badd) live together in a house and write music together. When I asked the film crew if they wanted me to tune up my kit before I left from unloading, they said “honestly, we don’t even know if anyone’s going to play it. It’s just for show.”
April ‘07 - Wrap up Spring semester of classes at TCC. After sucking up to the right people, I get accepted into the Florida State Univ. College of Business with plans to major in Management Information Systems. I am going to lose a lot of hair in the next two years. My myspace account has been deleted. Facebook is the next target (although they just released some new ‘applications’ to add to my page that might keep me around a little bit longer).
May '07 - Join another band, Kingsley, with old bandmates from way-back-when and some other friends. Much different than The Twelfth Chapter. Music still developing, but I'm excited.
----------------------------
All the while in this time, I lost a little hair and gained a little weight. My diet and exercise routine up until June of 2006 consisted of hardly eating and sweating for an hour every night. Now, I’m healthy (and thankful for that), and with that, I’ve gained a few pounds. Most of my old tour t-shirts don’t fit me anymore.
And man, it’s been rad to be in a relationship with the woman, and actually live in the same town. No more late night phone calls from the back seat of a van.
I’ve become a little jaded towards music. I don’t like going to shows or checking out new indie bands. To be blunt, it makes me sad. And jealous.
I think what bums me out the most about then vs. now is that a lot of my friendships have faded with people I’ve met through touring, and even worse, relationships with people here in my own town and state have weathered away. Even people I would consider to be my best friends have become distant. One good thing about my friendships is I’ve made a lot of new friends, and old acquaintances have become more and more important to me. Things are definitely shifting. It’s weird. It almost feels like I’ve graduated high school all over again, which sounds really trivial to say, but looking back at HS, I was close to so many people that I honestly don’t even think about any more, and it feels like that movement all over again. I didn’t even get a yearbook this time.
H.A.G.S.
-----------------------------
So that brings us to now, June 2nd, 2007. There’s so much coming up that I’m excited about. I’m enrolled in my final classes at TCC and working my same manatee-saving job. I’ve got an amazing home life, a fantastic girlfriend, a home church, and an education -- these are all things that I never even really thought about until things changed for me last year. I put my entire life and every thought into the music of Forever Changed. There is absolutely no bitterness for the way things ended with FC, but man it’s been hard for me to deal with these changes, as good as they are. Any day I get a bad test grade, or work gives me trouble, or when I run out of money, I think about the band and how much I miss it. But, I’m here now, and I’m making the most of it. I’ve learned not to expect anything to happen tomorrow, but to take everything in and trust that the Lord has a very unique and amazing plan for me - most of the time, it’s not completely evident until I look back.
And...that’s all I got for now.
So now you’re all caught up. Who are you, anyway? I’m having a hard time gauging my audience. Whoever you are, I hope you come back. I’ve been challenging myself to be more creative and express myself, but in an honest way. Hopefully that will happen here.
I think the lack of updates is directly related to the fact that this time last year (to the day almost), Forever Changed played our last show. Even now a year later, I’m still adjusting. It might just be best to give you a timeline synopsis of the major things I’ve been doing since last June.
June ‘06 - Move out of my parents’ house (yes!) and in with Garrett Payne. Hilarity ensues. I start my first real job in three years at KUMC as a 3rd grade summer camp counselor. Looking back on it now, I don’t know how I handled being responsible for children. I think I just gave them some candy and turned them loose for eight hours.
July ‘06 - fill in with Cool Hand Luke on a few tours. It was a bizarre feeling to reunite with friends from around the country..and know that I probably would never see them again after that. To this day, I haven’t. Sometime in this month I also busted a pinata full of b-rated candy.
August ‘06 - this is where I finally felt like the next step was starting. I enrolled back into Tallahassee Community College (dean’s list every semester, so far) and began a job at the Dept. of Environmental Protection. Literally, saving manatees on an airboat all day...in downtown Tallahassee, FL. In all actuality, I sit in an office room all day by myself, doing work that quite literally, no one else knows how to do. Not that its difficult, its just no one has ever done it. I could not show up, and no one would ever notice. Your tax dollars at work.
Fall ‘06 - I become more involved in a ‘home-church’, playing in the worship band from time to time. Also I revisit my childhood and buy a bike...it reminds me how lazy I can be.
November ‘06 - I hit a deer with my car. I didn’t die, but the deer did.
December ‘06 - my girlfriend, Allison moves into midtown within walking distance to my house. Before she lived about 20 min away in the outskirts of Tallahassee....literally in a barn in the woods. More hilarity ensues. Lots of dinner dates.
January ‘07 - I start playing with a new band, The Twelfth Chapter. Originally just to fill in, and has now thankfully turned permanent. Shows have been played. Demos have been recorded.
February ‘07 - I am asked to loan/rent out my drumkit for the filming of a VH1 reality series called “Man Band”, set to air sometime this year. Members of N’Sync, 98 Degrees, LFO, and Color Me Badd (yes, Color Me Badd) live together in a house and write music together. When I asked the film crew if they wanted me to tune up my kit before I left from unloading, they said “honestly, we don’t even know if anyone’s going to play it. It’s just for show.”
April ‘07 - Wrap up Spring semester of classes at TCC. After sucking up to the right people, I get accepted into the Florida State Univ. College of Business with plans to major in Management Information Systems. I am going to lose a lot of hair in the next two years. My myspace account has been deleted. Facebook is the next target (although they just released some new ‘applications’ to add to my page that might keep me around a little bit longer).
May '07 - Join another band, Kingsley, with old bandmates from way-back-when and some other friends. Much different than The Twelfth Chapter. Music still developing, but I'm excited.
----------------------------
All the while in this time, I lost a little hair and gained a little weight. My diet and exercise routine up until June of 2006 consisted of hardly eating and sweating for an hour every night. Now, I’m healthy (and thankful for that), and with that, I’ve gained a few pounds. Most of my old tour t-shirts don’t fit me anymore.
And man, it’s been rad to be in a relationship with the woman, and actually live in the same town. No more late night phone calls from the back seat of a van.
I’ve become a little jaded towards music. I don’t like going to shows or checking out new indie bands. To be blunt, it makes me sad. And jealous.
I think what bums me out the most about then vs. now is that a lot of my friendships have faded with people I’ve met through touring, and even worse, relationships with people here in my own town and state have weathered away. Even people I would consider to be my best friends have become distant. One good thing about my friendships is I’ve made a lot of new friends, and old acquaintances have become more and more important to me. Things are definitely shifting. It’s weird. It almost feels like I’ve graduated high school all over again, which sounds really trivial to say, but looking back at HS, I was close to so many people that I honestly don’t even think about any more, and it feels like that movement all over again. I didn’t even get a yearbook this time.
H.A.G.S.
-----------------------------
So that brings us to now, June 2nd, 2007. There’s so much coming up that I’m excited about. I’m enrolled in my final classes at TCC and working my same manatee-saving job. I’ve got an amazing home life, a fantastic girlfriend, a home church, and an education -- these are all things that I never even really thought about until things changed for me last year. I put my entire life and every thought into the music of Forever Changed. There is absolutely no bitterness for the way things ended with FC, but man it’s been hard for me to deal with these changes, as good as they are. Any day I get a bad test grade, or work gives me trouble, or when I run out of money, I think about the band and how much I miss it. But, I’m here now, and I’m making the most of it. I’ve learned not to expect anything to happen tomorrow, but to take everything in and trust that the Lord has a very unique and amazing plan for me - most of the time, it’s not completely evident until I look back.
And...that’s all I got for now.
So now you’re all caught up. Who are you, anyway? I’m having a hard time gauging my audience. Whoever you are, I hope you come back. I’ve been challenging myself to be more creative and express myself, but in an honest way. Hopefully that will happen here.
2 comments:
its good to hear a few real words from you nafan. you are(honestly) talked about a ton and missed greatly. this weird circle of friends that we drift in and out of can be tough. its amazing that we all get to meet and know each other through tours and cd's but it sucks when the bands end and the distance remains.
i can only speak for myself so thats what i'll do. i know a ton of time has passed since we had any real conversation. maybe thats what happens because really, what kind of friends can you be with a person that lives hours away? BUT... know that i still think about you alllll the time and i feel like we could hang out and it would be like no time has passed at all.
im in starbucks and im not making sense.
pollzzzzz
interesting stuff, buddy.
good post.
good. post.
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