Gym and Wine
So, it's Friday night! Woo. My plan is to hit up the gym, then make dinner and have some wine before heading to bed. I'm going to get up relatively early tomorrow morning and find a good coffee shop to go hang out at for a few hours. We'll see if I snooze or actually wake up.
I have a Merlot bottle that has my name on it. I'm excited to relax and enjoy it.
I also plan to practice some guitar and tweak some more recordings. I was mixing a little more of this one song last night... It's SOOO close to being done, but it's just not done quite yet.
I think I'll probably work on the book a little too. Basically just relax and work on things. Tomorrow will be coffee and working on more things. Like work more on the book, and tweak more music, or work on cover artwork, or start my taxes... Blah.
I really REALLY want to finish up a new song, any new song, since it's been so long since I finished my previous one, and then I also want to try and wrap this book up too. I've been working on that for a long time too.
Well... It's time to head off to the gym. Then, I have a date with a couple glasses of wine. Maybe wine and some Netflix. I might just skip making dinner and go get take out after the gym. Not sure yet. I might make dinner tomorrow night instead. Maybe go to the store and buy ingredients to make something super fancy. Who knows... It's the weekend, anything could happen!
Degrees of Britney Spears
Last night I went to World Cafe Live to see my friend Jesse play for like the 18339020858933303048th time.
True story. Also true story, I met the guitarist for Britney Spears. He's friends with Jesse. Well, this is the guitarist for Britney when she's playing in Vegas. No lie, I looked up tickets and they range from like 100 bucks all the way up to like almost a grand! So, it's pretty legit.
Basically, I stood in the same space and breathed the same air as the guy who stands beside Britney Spears and plays guitar while she's on stage performing at the Planet Hollywood resort.
I thought it was kind of neat.
Well, so basically the rundown is as follows:
I left work, I stopped at Starbucks and picked up an iced coffee, cold brew. I then came home, changed, fed the critters (my cats) and hurried onwards downtown.
I found a parking spot not too far away... The parking ends at 8pm, so you only have to feed the meter until 8. I put a dollar in the machine and paid up full. Then I went inside.
Unfortunately, even though I got there a good 45 minutes before the show started... I still was not early enough to snag a seat at the bar. I snagged a stand at the bar instead, which means I stood there, at the bar. I ordered a burger, and a delicious wheat beer. I ate, and made conversation with other people in Jesse's posse... We all know each other and have for years.
Even the guitar dude... I'd met him before, he didn't remember me though.
Although to be fair, it was probably 5 years ago or more at another of Jesse's shows and it was only for a moment. SO, I'm considering this the first time that we met. Or the first "official" meet. Also, she wasn't Britney's guitar dude when I met him last time years ago.
Anyways...
I ate my burger, and drank my beer. I had a few good beers throughout the night. I basically stuck with the fancy crafty wheat beers.
I alternated with water to hydrate.
Jesse played his set along with his friend, the guitar player for Britney... Jesse was super fantastic as always... Funny, genius, talented... Rocked it. And his friend is a very talented guitar player as well.
After they played the headlining dude came on. He also rocked... His name is Wrabel. I was very impressed. He has just this super crazy powerful voice that is like... Whoa now... That's what's up!
Very enjoyable.
After the show I was hanging out with Jesse's fam, the usual deal. We all sat and chatted... Jesse's sister and Jesse's friend Zach (the Britney guitar guy) and another friend of Molly's (that's Jesse's sister) and myself all sat at the bar, although they had stopped serving drinks... and we just had water... But anyways so we all just chatted. Of course Molly and I and Molly's friend were like... OMG!!!!! TELL US EVERYTHING ABOUT PLAYING GUITAR FOR BRITNEY...
He was like... "I play guitar for Britney..."
And then he stood all cool looking, and sipped his water.
We were like... "Whoa..." On the edge of our seats gathered around him, "...That's soo cool. Can we like... Touch your coat."
"He was like... Sure."
"We were like... OMG! I can almost feel Britney's presence coming through his presence."
Okay, so maybe that's not exactly how it went. We all just sat there and talked. But still...
It was cool to just sit and talk. It was mostly like... "How cool is Britney on a scale of one to cool."
And he was like... "She's very very cool."
And then we were like... "Like VERY VERY cool?"
And he was like... "SOOOOO VERY VERY VERY cool."
And we were all, "SOOO SO SO SOOOOO VERY VERY VERY VERY COOL?"
And he was like... "SOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOO VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY COOL!"
Which is actually pretty much almost exactly how the conversation went honestly.
Anyways, that's how I met the guitarist for Britney Spears from her Vegas show.
After that, I was then talking with another group of people, we chatted about this cool non-profit that this one husband and wife helped to start... It's called One Simple Wish.
You can read more about it here: https://www.onesimplewish.org
It's pretty awesome.
All in all it was a good night. For a Valentine's Day... It wasn't bad. I survived without having that someone special in my life. I suppose she's out there. After all... 24 hours ago, I didn't know I was just about to meet and sit and chat with the guitarist for Britney... And that's how love works... The day before love walks into your life, you don't know it's about to walk into your life.
You just know, that you don't have love... And then all of a sudden... You have love.
So, in theory not having love is actually a good sign, because that's what occurs right before finding love does happen.
French Woods Mallory And Her Fort Lauderdale Friends
Tonight I stood in for my friend at a camp fair. He's the director of a summer camp for teens.
He was stuck in Maine due to a snowstorm.
I really had no clue how this all worked. All I knew was, I had to leave work early and run home to pick up a box that had been overnighted to my house with promotional materials to place on a table.
The contents of the box included:
-Promotional brochures (which were handed out to anyone passing by that seemed curious)
-A pull out poster that stood about three feet high and clipped on to a metal pole with the poster rolling back into the base like a window shade would roll back into itself. It was freestanding, stood upright, and included a fun little carrying case.
-A hat (Which I never ended up wearing)
-Informational paperwork inside plastic prop up displays
-Lead sheets (which never collected any signatures)
So, the plastic prop up displays broke in transit, then I cut my finger on the plastic shards opening the box. I managed to get them situated on the table without the plastic display cases so that passerby's could read the information.
Anyways, I arrived at the camp fair and was guided by one of the coordinators to my table. I quickly setup the display; rolling out the shade and placing the tent like pole up clipping it in place, fanning promo brochures out, then I placed the informational papers that were previously in the plastic stands that cracked out beside the brochures.
The coordinator instructed me that it would be best to stand in front of the table instead of sitting in a chair behind the table. So, I stood in front of the table with my camp logo'ed windbreaker on.
I began to chat between prospective families with the adjacent camps.
One guy at a table nearby, turns out, actually, his wife went to the same college I did, and she also went there when I was there. Turns out also, that his camp was the same camp one of my college friends worked at.
Everyone had fancy displays, some with videos on loop on laptops. We manned our tables and chatted up prospective parents and campers.
As I chatted with more of the surrounding camp reps... I found out that, in the row I had been assigned...
Tables to my left, and tables to my right, had representatives from Fort Lauderdale. One of them was someone, in my mind, I call French Woods Mallory from Fort Lauderdale. Although, they all know one another. Apparently the camp, though located here in PA, and another up in Mass, is owned and operated out of a base office down in Fort Lauderdale. So, that's where they were all from and all live.
We chatted about Florida. I informed them about my... Previous experience with Fort Lauderdale.
Mallory told me there's more to Fort Lauderdale than an ex. I acknowledged that she's probably right.
Anyways... The night wound down and we wrapped things up. Eventually the booths were closed up and everyone went on their merry way.
I said goodnight and safe flight to Mallory and her Fort Lauderdale friends.
I thought it was funny that this Mallory person also was representing a teen camp as was I...
It's just interesting because this weekend and this morning, I had such intense feelings about that very area that she is from. But as soon as we began chatting, I felt different. I immediately deleted some Facebook status updates I'd made that had made mention of the same area. I felt bad I guess... She seemed nice...
And as she said, there's more to Fort Lauderdale than an ex.
Really though, what amuses me most, is that I wasn't even supposed to be standing there talking to her. I was supposed to be at home, or, anywhere but there. The camp director was supposed to be the one talking to her, not me.
The universe has a strange way. The universe had me bump into this girl, so that those status updates would be deleted. Maybe? Who knows... Seems possible.
Or maybe the universe made me bump into this girl because I'm supposed to text/email/call my ex...
Yeah, I don't think so. I'm not about to do that, especially on the off chance she's completely happy with that guy that she was with the last time I had a peek at her social media. Why would I want to bother her? Probably not a good idea. Plus tomorrow is Valentine's Day. What if she's got dinner plans with him... Or something... and here I am like... "The universe told me to call you!!!!"
Bad idea.
So, anyways... That's the story of how I met French Woods Mallory and her Fort Lauderdale friends.
We didn't exchange information or anything, so off into the night both of us went, never to cross paths again.
Life is like that.
Anti V-Day
I'm just in a bad mood this weekend... Obviously it's Valentine's Day.
I'm just imaging how everyone else is spending it... By everyone else I'm thinking of someone in particular. She's probably spending it with that guy that she's with.
There's probably flowers and whatever. Who knows. He probably flew her to paris for the weekend.
Honestly, I know nothing about him. All I know is he bought her Chipotle Mexican Grill like when they first started dating. Who knows, he's probably some big time dude and all accomplished. He probably pulls at least 100k if not 200k a year at some big time job down in Miami/Fort Lauderdale. That's probably why she likes him.
They're probably engaged at this point. Who knows. He's lucky as hell though, he definitely snagged the most amazing woman I've ever met so far in my lifetime.
Lucky guy.
Oh well. Anyways, I don't know, I went on a date like a couple weeks ago, but she just stopped responding out of the blue.
I don't know, dating just is tough. Most of the online dating these days is like, they take out a checklist and if you don't fit all their items on the list, they call it quits.
And then everywhere I go in person, everyone is already married even.
I'm wondering if maybe some people just never meet someone. Maybe there's just a few of us that just end up alone.
I mean... I guess it's possible.
Oh well.
So let's see, while everyone is off on vacation in Paris for the weekend with the love of their lives, or at the very least, eating Chipotle Mexican Grill...
I sat at home tonight and just had Five Guys. I haven't had Five Guys in a while. I watched some Netflix and had a beer. I'll probably get to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow I'm covering this camp fair for my friend that owns a summer camp. Tuesday night I'm going to World Cafe Live to see my fiend Jesse play some tunes.
So tomorrow night and Tuesday night will keep me busy and my mind occupied instead of picturing that girl off in Paris munching on Chipotle Mexican Grill being all lovey dovey with Mr. 6 figure a year salary.
It's weird though because every now and then I get this like craving to read all her stuff online. I don't though. Like I WANT to... SO BAD. You have no idea. I mean heck, I want to talk to her... SOOOO bad.
But then I'm just like no. What's the point? Why would I want to torture myself knowing that she's all head over in love with this dude. That she's got some perfect fairytale happy ending love story down in Florida.
I don't want to do that to myself.
Anyways, so the best I can do is just keep my mind and myself busy. I'd love to know if one day I could have a fairytale happy ending too...
I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who knows... I guess I just have to take the days as they come and if someone comes into my life, then she comes into my life. If she doesn't. Then she doesn't.
But that's how it goes. You can't make love happen. Some people find love, and some people don't.
And it's very possible that maybe I don't find love.
For now, I just have to keep myself occupied, especially around Valentine's Day, when I'm just feeling all blah.
V-Day
So, the second worst day of the year is coming... Or maybe the third worst. Obviously the worst is November 4th. That's the day my mom passed away.
The second worst then would be her birthday... Followed by Valentine's Day. I've never been a fan. I mean, who knows, maybe years from now I'll finally find love and be all about it. For right now? I'm not a fan.
It just reminds me of all the loves I tried to chase and lost the chase to some other guy.
Oh well.
Love sucks.
What can you do?
I guess the fourth worst day is... Hmmm, well, it's probably the birthday of this girl I once dated. Or, maybe it's the day that we started dating.
Isn't it strange, the days we associate with people?
I mean, so, when I was born, none of the days of the year meant anything. Then suddenly... each one of the days of the year had meaning...
365 days in a year. Some had good meanings... Some had bad meanings. Obviously my own birthday took on a good meaning...
Then of course the first day of school each year was just blah.
This was all when I was a little kid. Fast forward a bit...
Now, nearly all the days of the year have at least some kind of memory tied to them. Obviously different days take on different meaning.
I guess if I ever do meet someone and fall in love... Maybe the day that we met, or the day we get married might mean something, just like other people who have actually found love have their own one year anniversary, or wedding day that means something.
Although, to those who have loved and lost, days that were once good, turn into bad.
I mean, I guess that's just how it goes.
Anyways... This year at least... V-day is a day I'm just not looking forward to.
But, what can you do? I plan to go to my friend's concert and drink a few beers and take my mind off the fact that it's a crap-tastic type of day.
Hopefully it goes quick and the alcohol takes the "sting" off.
I guess if you've got someone special, you're one f the lucky ones. For me at least... I'm not looking forward to Valentine's Day at all. I can't wait for it to be over and done with, that's all I can say.
Today
Today was a busy day. Work, obviously, after work was yoga and then I came home and made dinner... One of my friends was on the Today Show. So, that was REALLY neat. I'm also going to a show of his on the 14th... Which is Tuesday. Some other stuff happened too...
SO, I know my friend that was on the Today Show through this summer camp that I work for still. We were both campers and counselors there together. Well, every year the director of the camp comes down for a camp fair. This year, he can't make it because on top of the foot of snow that Maine just got, they are possibly going to get another 1-2 feet Sunday-Tuesday. So, rather than risk it, the director of the camp has bestowed the honor upon me to represent the camp at the camp fair.
It's about 2 hours, I'm sure it will be a good time. I'm just going to run over there after work. He's overnighting some brochures and a neat looking banner and such. I'll put on a camp shirt and basically, I'm gonna rep the camp at the fair.
My job will be to just have materials to hand out, and then collect leads for the office to follow up on. It's basically your standard recruiting stuff. Basically, perspective parents will be looking for camps to send their kids to during the summer. So... My job is just to be there to offer up this camp as one of their possible choices.
The things I get myself into. Haha, but in all seriousness, I've been associated with the camp since 1999, which is coming close to 20 years. I've been at my college gig now for a decade and I know the open house events they have for recruiting students.
I'm just doing it as a favor for a friend though. I figure as well, it could be an interesting experience. Who knows, I might have a situation in the future where this experience might come in handy for reference.
Never know!
But mostly, I mean, we're talking about a close friend here that just needs a favor.
Anyway, so I'm at home now and I'll probably head to sleep early because the next few days will be pretty action packed. Tomorrow night is a birthday party I've been invited to. Sunday night I'm going to phone chat with the camp director so he can give me the rundown on what to expect. Monday night is the camp fair itself... Tuesday night is my friend's concert...
I was kind of thinking that Tuesday night would be low-key and I'd just kind of chill at the bar and relax with a couple beers and enjoy the show, but since he was on the Today Show today and now his one single is number 2 on the Singer/Songwriter charts sandwiched between two Ed Sheeran songs...
Who knows, there might be a packed audience of new found Philly fans. I guess we'll see.
So, that's my today.
Oh, finally, my Activision-Blizzard shares decided to pop up about 20 percent today. It's now one of my leading stock positions in my portfolio. So, that was neat to see when I checked my investment portfolio holdings this morning on market open.
All in all it's been a pretty good day.
Snow Day
Today was a snow day for work.
I stayed home and slept in... Or, I tried to. The cats wanted breakfast. So, they got breakfast after several attempts to wake me up for a couple hours as I fended them off.
I finally gave in and got up. I made coffee. I worked on lots of office work type of stuff through the day. Later on in the day I went out and shoveled the driveway/walkway and cleaned my car off.
While I was shoveling I listened to a podcast on how to be happy. The one guy they interviewed discussed this book, I think it was called Happy Money, but I'm not 100 percent sure. I didn't catch it all because the scraping of the snow shovel made it hard to hear. I'll listen to it again later.
It was interesting though, he discussed various things that make people happy... Not like ENTIRE life changes, just little things you can do with your life. For example, one of the questions was... Which religion makes people the happiest...
Turns out, they all do equally. It's not about WHICH religion has happier people... It's if you believe or not. The study found that if you, for example, were brought up Catholic and you go to Catholic church... But you just don't actually strongly believe in the faith, you'll be unhappy.
That's kind of one of those "Duh" type of studies.
Basically they said that goes for anything, a job, or a house, or a relationship. If you believe in it, or love it, or are passionate about it... You'll be happy.
So, if you work a job you hate, or are with someone you don't really much like, or you live in a bad living arrangement or hate your roomie...
You won't be happy.
Basically the key to being happy is, live with people you like, or live alone if you like that. Live in a town you like. If you don't like the city, don't live in the city, if you don't like small towns, down live in small towns.
If you don't like your job, find a job that is something you feel strongly about. If you work a job, but you don't agree with the company values or mission, you probably shouldn't be working there.
If you feel strongly about one faith, but you're practicing another, you're probably going to be unhappy.
It's all pretty common sense. Basically he said, don't listen to other people when it comes to being happy.
Follow your own preferences.
This can be tricky though when it comes to family dynamics...
So, his one example of sometimes it's tough to choose your own happiness over someone elses... he talked about an example where this mid 20s kid had been dating same sex for 10 years now, but kept it from his dad... He was completely unhappy but he wanted his dad to be happy... Finally... he came out to his dad, which was bad for a while, but eventually his dad finally was okay with it.
So, I guess sometimes choosing your own happiness isn't easy because sometimes there are other people that you have to consider.
One of the things he discussed as well was, the concept of does money really buy happiness...
Turns out, yes. But, the answer is... When you spend it on other people.
So, if you're walking down the street and you find 5 bucks.... If you went to Starbucks and bought a cup of coffee, it would increase your happiness level. You'd have the coffee, and caffeine would boost your mood.
But, and I don't know exactly how they did this study... But he said, if you instead used that 5 bucks of found money to buy someone else a cup of coffee... the effect on your mood lasts longer and is much stronger.
I guess people felt happy for days, or even weeks after, versus the coffee they bought for themselves where they only felt happy for a few hours, or maybe just a day or so after the fact.
Again, I have no idea how they measured that. But, I guess it kind of makes sense...
So, money buys happiness when you spend it on other people.
Who knew?
And then living your life the way you like also leads to a happier life, but it can lead to being unhappy if there are other factors like having to make a family member unhappy with your decision...
Clear as mud right?
Well anyways, now I'm doing more "office-y" things. I'm also working on more music related stuff. Was doing some cover art things for new songs. And I tweaked a new song. I played guitar, practiced music, and wrote a little bit of music. I REALLY need to finish a new song, it's been forever since I've finished one. So, I'm trying to make that more of a priority lately over anything else.
Because for me? Working on music is what makes me happy.
Also sleeping in does too. But, the cats like their breakfast, which is what makes them happy... So, there's a conflict right there. Choose between cats happiness or mine? I mean, the obvious choice is usually cats.
This morning I compromised.... I slept in some, and then I fed them. I didn't sleep in as much as I wanted to... But they got fed still kind of sort of early-ish... So I think it turned out alright.
So, if you want to feel good, just try to do things that you like to do... carve out a small part of your day to dedicate to doing whatever it is that makes you feel good. And then spend a few bucks on someone else. Oh, and it doesn't have to be a lot of money. It could literally be just a couple bucks on someone, you don't have to go buy someone a car, or give your entire life savings to charity... Just buy someone a small gift every once in a while. Like, buy a few of your coworkers some morning donuts, or pay for a friend's movie ticket. Just a little gesture like that goes a long way.
95.11
So, I made 95 bucks today in an 8 day trade. 95 dollars and 11 cents actually. I COULD have made more. It was actually a bad trade. I thought I had caught a bottom and a top. I was wrong.
SO, 8 days ago I bought 3M shares when it hit the bottom Bollinger Band. Today I sold when it hit a top. I made 95 bucks from the trade.
I'm actually pretty happy with the trade. I'm REALLY happy actually. I mean 95 bucks! That's money I did't have before. And 95 bucks is nothing to sneeze at.
Anyways, right after I bought the shares, I thought I was at what's called a "bottom". That's when the shares don't go any lower, at least in the short term, and they reverse and begin to climb in price again. They kept going down.
I'm not going to lie, it's hard to watch your shares lose value. In fact, soon after I bought the shares, I was out easily almost 200 bucks.
Eventually they bottomed out and then the price reversed course. It then went back up to where I was comfortable to sell. Today I sold at the 95 dollar gain. I was happy with about 100 bucks. The thing is, it wasn't a top, they continued to climb more. If I had hit the top today, I could have made a good 200 bucks. If I had hit the perfect bottom AND the perfect top...
I could have made about 400 bucks.
Getting in at a perfect bottom and getting out at a perfect top is basically almost impossible. I mean, yes there are probably traders in NYC on Wall street that hit it almost every time. But it's hard unless you sit there and trade FULL time. Every single day.
Even those traders get it wrong sometimes.
My goal isn't to make a perfect trade every time. My goal is just to make some extra money from a trade here or there. I have my normal portfolio of stocks that produce the regular dividend income...
Outside of that I've started doing technical trades. I did a technical trade in the Fall with General Mills shares and made like 60 bucks.
It's just a little side thing to make a few extra bucks. Now that I'm out of this trade, I'll be doing some more research and analysis to grab up shares in my next trade. I'm eying up Honeywell, although I have a whole list of stocks that I check up on to look for a good technical trade.
So, even though I didn't get my perfect 400 dollar profit trade, I'm happy with my 95 dollars and 11 cents. Hey, that's nothing to sneeze at! And that's money in my pocket to put towards gas, or groceries or bills that I didn't have in my pocket 8 days ago.
Tim Hortons Coffee
So, a couple weeks ago I was at Wegmans doing some shoppings. I picked up a bag of Tim Hortons original blend.
It's great coffee! I'll have to get it again when I run out. The coffee is just a general everyday type of anytime coffee.
Right now I'm brewing that, and a blue nile blend that is a mix of coffees from around Ethiopia. That's a Whole Foods find.
I'm always looking for new blends to try, or even single origin (look at me getting all expert-esk with my coffee knowledge and lingo). I generally will try coffees that I haven't tried yet at the store. Additionally some of the coffee shops that I go to on the weekends will have bags you can buy to brew at home. I might start picking up a bag here or there.
Anyways, I wasn't sure what to expect with this Tim Hortons coffee, it's not like a super luxurious brand or anything... It's like the Dunkin' Donuts of Canada. I was definitely pleasantly surprised.
Half of me was expecting to start speaking in a Canadian accent as I sipped on my morning cup... But, that did not happen. At least, I'm fairly certain it didn't, eh?
Wait. Hmmm, I guess if everyone has an accent to everyone else... And you're hearing your own self speak, that would most likely sound like you to you, so would you know that you had an accent?
Maybe I did start speaking with a Canadian accent and just didn't know it?!?!?!?!
No Longwood Gardens Wine and Jazz Fest
Today I was looking up when tickets go on sale for the Longwood Gardens Wine and Jazz Festival that I attended last year. Sadly, they don't.
For some reason, they don't seem to be having the festival this year. I'm not sure why, but there's probably a reason. it says on their page that the fest will return in 2018. So, I'll have to wait until next year.
It's okay, I've got plenty of other festy things to do. I'm sure there are other music and wine tasting festivals in the area. I'm going to have to search around to see what's where.
Here's the thing with all these going out activities though... While they are fun, they aren't really accomplishing anything. I mean, I'm better off just going to the local trivia or karaoke week after week because you see the same people again and again and eventually you friend up on Facebook and stuff. Or, pretty much anywhere recurring.
The non-recurring stuff, it's hard to make friends, or, as my original goal, meet that special someone.
Dating sites, even though they are such a crapshoot, are still the only place that I've actually gotten even close to a relationship.
I feel like I've had only a few relationships, or dating escapades even come from real life. For the most part any girl I go on dates with or date... It's always online dating.
I've yet to figure out the best place to go to find a relationship from meeting someone in person. I feel like everyone at the last wine and jazz fest was already with someone.
That's most places though. Most people already have someone.
Who knows? I sure don't! If I would, I wouldn't still be single. I mean, everyone else seems to have figured it out.
I feel like, I'm not going to figure any of it out. I'm not going to have any clue about what I'm supposed to be doing, the clue will just find me. That seems to be how most things go. Everyone always seems to start out with... "Well, it's funny, I didn't set out in that way, I kind of fell into it."
That's true for any kind of "it". Relationships, jobs, careers, where people live. Almost every podcast that is a talk starts out that way.
Pretty much every time I do start talking to a couple out somewhere, and I ask how they met, it's always an accident. It's always a funny story. And a lot of the time, they hated each other at first. That's a common one too.
Or, they didn't think much of it. That's big as well. Careers, relationships, finding living spaces, or moving to new cities... They almost always seem to start out with, well, it was by chance really... Or, it was on a whim.
It's almost as though most of life is whims, chances, and being blindsided. Often too, people find success by things going wrong, or failure. Or, in the case of the Longwood Gardens Jazz Fest... Things just NOT happening. It's almost like, the day I WOULD have gone to the fest is the day I end up somewhere else and that's where/when I meet so and so who introduces me to such and such...
Etc. etc.
Life is weird like that. The things you were expecting and then they get canceled sometimes lead to other things you weren't expecting, like love, or new chapters in life, or whatever.
At least, from the people I've chatted with through the years. It's always that unexpected cancelation. Or the last minute random spur of the moment thing. Or blindsided, by chance and fate and things on a whim.
Or, it was there all along and one day something else clicked and then things changed.
Honestly, there's almost no rhyme or reason to life sometimes. It's weird.
Anyways, that's why I'm not too upset really about no jazz fest... For all I know, that could be the day I end up somewhere else and some other thing happens that takes my life in an entirely new direction... Maybe love, or deciding to move somewhere new, or a new career choice or something, who knows?
Life is full of surprises.