Cyclical...

I have so much to talk about that I don't know where to begin...but I have never really been all that faithful to starting at the very beginning of something anyway, so I guess that is what works for me.

We all (hopefully) have someone that empowers us....someone that loves and supports us unconditionally, no matter how much we fuck up and no matter how stupid our decisions are. That same someone will be the first to congratulate you on an accomplishment, or know before you do that you are going to succeed at something.
I am fortunate to have several people that fit that bill - but extremely fortunate to have had one of them in my life as long as I did.
On Monday, September 14th, the Lord took my grandmother (Mamama) into the light. She had been sick with cancer, Multiple Myeloma, since 2004 and had her good and bad days.
Only July 16th, she went into an emergency surgery and my entire family was told to prepare for the worst. Long story short, she survived the surgery but decided against any further heroic measures, medical treatment, or nourishment - essentially making the decision to pass away naturally. On July 17th, hooked up to a ventilator and several monitors, she said her goodbyes to each of the members of my family. And then they removed the machinery.
Over 2 months, 4 more goodbyes, a very long, unpredictable summer and one of the hardest letters I have ever written later....Mamama passed on from her life here on Earth.
I don't even really have it in me to write more about it, and really it has nothing to do with Behind the Lens....and everything to do with Behind the Lens.

2 days after Mamama passed away, I was sitting in a Panera, checking my email, getting ready to do my "real job" and lo and behold I read something that puts my emotions in the kind of limbo they did not need to be in in a public place...
Jason Castro is coming to Roanoke...my stomping grounds...for a cancer benefit event.
I know this might sound silly, but one of the things I have wanted to do since the inception of my little business/hobby is tape Jason...for real.
And I don't know if I will get to do that or not, I haven't done the research.
But the jolt that went through me when I saw this event announced is a little hard to describe.
And then, I scrolled through my phone and the first person I wanted to call was Mamama....and I couldn't. And that hit me like a ton of bricks. But I know she knows.
She got up there (with Patrick Swayze, of all people!) and made the right friends (a genetic gift she passed along to me, thank goodness) and pulled some strings. So she knows. And even if I don't tape that show, she will be with me and my Mom there, in spirit.

Moving along, to another cycle, this one a little less heavy - but still just as important.
There are 2 dates in the Behind the Lens/my little business history that are very important.
Sept. 20, 2008 was the first one - which was the day I saw Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights for the first time.
Know what I did to celebrate today?
Saw Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. Granted...it was 3 minutes of JT playing the harp with Sons of Bill in a venue at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival that had a sparkly pink castle on stage, with an audience (bless them) of an average age of probably 42...It was still seeing them, getting a hug and a chat in, and delivering some baked goodies to a band that is and always will be like a steady heartbeat for me. It was special, in my little world.
This is going to be a "very big band" [/Jeff Bebe, Almost Famous] and you all mark my words....and days like today will be fleeting.

But after they left, I hung around the fest and am glad I did for 2 reasons -
Trent Wagler & the Steel Wheels and Ian Thomas

Didn't I say I wanted to "discover" a new band each month? And my "silent goal" was to cover as many genres as possible.
Mission accomplished for Sept.
Stay tuned for the video that I learned, thankfully not the hard way, that I shouldn't have been able to take.

Until then...enjoy my videos from my random jaunt last week. SOJA and The Movement are in Cali until the end of the month, and then trekking back East, hitting a bunch of cities. Please take a look at their schedules, check out of the H.D.T (I am not telling what that acronym means publicly, by the way...) if you can. Tell them I sent you...






Next up...a trip to Baltimore for "real work", then Villanova this weekend.
Then Silversun Pickups next week.
Then Jason Castro, who will be with another Idol, Blake Lewis.
Then hopefully Citizen Cope, before another SSPU sighting.

Also, keep an eye out for me to get serious-er about my biz...meaning links and stuff.

And who knows what else...because my life, while very good, is also crazy.

Until next time...
"I dig music." [/Russell Hammond, Almost Famous]