I think I've figured it out.

I've been running my Tumblr blog for 2+ years now and I have figured out that I mostly use it for music and other media. So, I think I've finally figured out what the purpose of this blog is: A personal blog. Normally I am not one to post personal things on a blog or website (unless, of course, it's Facebook but only because where else can you get personal on the Internet but Facebook?) but I've decided that this one can be more personal.

Last year was a banner year for me. I got engaged in February, married in August, and had a huge Honeymoon in Madrid, and a big Christmas with my parents and in-laws. The biggest part though was getting married. It took me a long time to find "the one" and I am 100,000% sure this one is the one. I met my wife in 2009 when I first moved to Birmingham. We met at training for our current jobs and hit it off. Two years later we are married and here we are 4 months into our marriage and both of us are having so much fun. Just last weekend I took my wife to Atlanta for her birthday. Below is a short recap of our activities in the wonderful Southern city of Atlanta, Georgia.

We went to the High Museum of Art for the Picasso to Warhol exhibit and stayed overnight at the Highland Inn on N. Highland Avenue. After the exhibit and a quick lunch at Houston's (Anna's fave) we walked the streets of this cool neighborhood called Little Five Points taking in second-hand shops, antique shops, record stores, and other quirky cool places. We went to dinner at Osteria 832 and skipped down the street a minute to a cool bar called Eclipse di Sol next to our hotel for drinks and a Saints game (not a Saints fan by the way, just wanted to see a playoff game). Sunday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and went to the Perimeter Mall for lunch with friends and did some light shopping. All in all it was a fantastic weekend with my wife. We had such a blast and really we did it all in just an overnight.
Things like that are what make being married fun. We get to go on small excursions together and it's nice. We can make plans to do something like that and just go. Making long-term life plans with someone is a really great feeling too and it's something I've found I really like about being married. I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go or what I wanted to be before I got married and truthfully I still don't. But what is awesome is that now I have someone to help me figure it out and we can figure it out together. We are in the same boat and are each using a paddle to move us along the river of life (wow, that was an amazing metaphor).

In conclusion (because this post kind of has no direction) being married is awesome and it's like the best decision I've ever made. I say that with 100% confidence (which is rare). If you can step away from yourself and be selfLESS and instead of selfISH and actually love someone totally and completely, you can make a marriage. It can be difficult sometimes but it's mostly amazing.

I guess this is what I am doing now, posting personal stuff like this. I guess this is what this blog is going to be about. 2012 is going to be a great year and I think I am going to try to document it on this blog and through my Tumblr as well. Stay tuned.

TIME TO PLAY CATCH UP.

I haven't put a single word to this blog in a really long time. I've decided it's time to post again. Since the last time I wrote anything I've gotten married and am adjusting to the wonderful world of marriage. So far, so good. Living in a small, one bedroom, one bathroom apartment with my wife has posed some challenges (i.e. we don't have enough room for practically anything) but we are getting accustom to the minimal space.

Living in a smaller place has it's benefits though. I have much less "crap" then I did before. What I mean by that is: I am downsizing. Getting rid of old ridiculous t shirts I have had since college, junk I kept in my desk and closet forever, upgrading to an actual kitchen table rather then eating off the coffee table, etc.  Sort of making my former bachelor apartment into an actual home with some help from my awesome wife. She is better about finding places for things and making more sense of things then I am.

It's kind of fun to be able to decorate with a second set of eyes. Before, I just kind of had sporadic pictures and posters on my wall but together we are coming up with better ideas for decor in the old apartment. We can't really paint or make any real changes like that in the apartment but we can put up nicer pictures and less posters. The wife says she doesn't want a "college dorm". Fair enough.

Although my lease runs out in December, we will probably stay here (unless some major job change or something occurs) for another year. The rent is cheap, the neighborhood is perfect, and we are just getting settled in so why move after we just got everything where we wanted it? Right?

Hey, at least we don't live in this apartment:


On another note: I am going to try to post on this blog more often when I figure out what direction I am headed with it. I still use my Tumblr for things too but I guess right now this blog is more of a "personal" blog although I think there are too many of those to begin with. Oh well. I guess I can do it too. We'll see.

Fashion Uniforms.

I work at a bank and at a bank you see a lot of the same people come in every single day. There is a guy who comes into my branch every day to make a deposit for a certain angry-teenager/dorky-gamer/gothic-metalhead store in a mall near by. He is a really cool guy but he looks kinda scary if you don't know him. I was in my coworker's office when he came in the other day and my coworker was ripping this guy about what he was wearing. The guy was wearing a sleeveless metal band t shirt, super skinny black jeans, black low top vans, and he has super long greasy hair and he is covered in tats.

My coworker commented on how this gentleman wears almost the same thing every day, and the coworker would know because he does actually see this mall worker every day. Before I responded to his comments, I thought about something: I kind of wear the same thing every day and so does my coworker. Our normal attire is your basic office "shirt and tie with slacks or sometimes a suit". It's basically a uniform. Pretty boring, pretty standard, but we get to ditch the tie on Fridays in lieu of a "golf shirt" or just a button down. I made a joke on my twitter just last Friday about this very thing: "It's Friday which means businessmen across America will try their best to look like Tiger Woods".

I told my coworker my thoughts and he agreed with me but still made fun of the guy because he "looks ridiculous". He even made the assumption that the guy probably drives some sort of Mustang or an old Datsun or something. Turns out he was close. The guy drives a beat up Firebird.

Either way, I think fashion uniforms can be good. My fiancee' gives me a hard time because sometimes I take longer to find something to wear then she does only to end up looking like I hardly tried and looking like I did the last time we went out. Our mall worker friend probably NEVER has trouble picking out something to wear. He knows what he wants to look like and he know what he has to work with. He probably doesn't spend time attempting to match or to pick out just the right t shirt with this particular pair of black jeans. He doesn't worry if he has already worn something similar last time he went out or looks the same as he did yesterday. I imagine he just pulls out the jeans, grabs a shirt off a hanger (or off the floor), slips on his beat up vans and walks the f out the door! Easy right? And he probably looks totally different from everyone around him.

One person I consider not only a fantastic musician but a fashion icon (and my personal fashion hero) is Albert Hammond Jr.

In the early days of his band The Strokes, Albert OWNED the suit with Chucks look before any of these fashion snobs did and he did it very well. In fact, I would go so far as to say Albert has helped shape the current state of men's fashion with his look. I read once that Albert said his motto for his look is to "always look like you are about to go on stage". Guess what, Albert is pretty much wearing a uniform when he straps on his Olympic White Fender Strat and plugs in for a performance: Suit jacket and trousers, T shirt, and Chucks.

I have always made an attempt to go with that motto and I always look to Albert when I am going out or when I am just bumming around. Albert also has a stronghold on the T shirt and jeans/pants look as well. To me anyway.

Another example of the "fashion uniform" is from my favorite fashion movement: the Mod. In the '60s in England, the Mod ruled the streets. Checked Ben Sherman shirt (or Bennie), slim blue Levi's 501 jeans (the original "skinny jean" [if you were wondering where the skinny jean originated, your welcome]), and of course Tan Clark's Dessert Boots (or Dessies). This was the Mod look in England back then and when it was cold they threw on a parka when it was chilly, a Barracuda jacket. Now call me crazy but that sounds like a uniform to me. When I am picking out or even buying my clothes I try to model my entire wardrobe after the Mods. To me there is no better look for a modern man with good fashion sense.

You could spend hours shopping and looking for the perfect outfit for you and wear it one time and then never look at it again OR you could buy a few things that look really good on you and wear them everyday, even if they kinda look the same.

I think seeing this mall worker dude come in everyday wearing nearly the same thing and me having a conversation with my coworker opened my eyes to this concept.

Bottom line: uniforms ain't so bad.

FIRST POST OF THE NEW BLOG!

Hello friend. Thanks for stopping by. This is a new blog for me outside of my current Tumblr. I have been managing that blog for over a year but I decided to start this one as well!

Although my blog will probably full of music posts, I'll be posting tons of other things I am interested in as well.

Please comment if you like!

Not real sure how to start this thing so I guess I'll just post a rad video from my favorite band of all time, The Who.

Dig it!

MOD FOR LIFE.