Whatever it takes....

A little over 17 years ago I first met one of my heroes. A musical legend to me, the artist so many that I love look up to, want to be, and much like myself, have been inspired by.

That man is Steve Earle. We were in Galway, Ireland, in a what was then a tiny little venue, much smaller than what is it today. Still a great place if you are ever in the finest city in Ireland, do look it up.

Steve spent a good amount of time in Galway, which if you've ever been you'll understand, writing music, writing his novel, relaxing and taking in the magic that is West Ireland. On the last weekend of his stay, right before he went back to the US for Christmas he played a gig in a room that then only held maybe 50 people. The show was immense, we were sat right down the front, so close that I flinched when one of his guitar strings snapped.

At the end of the show, as is common at Roisin Dubh from all the gigs I have seen there, it is form for the band, singer etc to stick around, and have a few drinks and a chat. I obviously needed to talk to Mr Earle, so hung out and waited for a moment when he was not being chatted up by one of the women he befriended in his time in Galway.

I finally got my chance, he acknowledged me, we chatted a bit, I think he was relaxed by my relaxed demeanor, those who know me know I speak to everyone the same, and we chatted for a good while. He showed an actual interest in what I had to say, I told him I had no idea what I was doing with my life, and hadn't found anything I especially wanted to do. His words have stuck with me, and replay over and over  again when I need them.

I asked how I would know when I am on the right track, and he simply replied with "because you'll do whatever it takes to keep doing it". Sounds simple right?

There are times when life has been awful frankly, times when I've been on the verge of giving up, in all of my adventures I have kept those words with me. "Whatever it takes". I am sure it's a motto of some faction of the US military, but I have applied it to my every day life, wherever I have been, Steve Earle is with me.

I am in the process of writing about my 'lessons' both professional and other. As most people know I lived abroad for a good few years, in several countries, met some outstanding people, met some absolute arseholes, learned who I am, learned a lot about people, you;ve all heard it before, but being stuck in New Orleans with less than a dollar to your name, on a holiday weekend, staying in a dingy hostel, starving and thirsty, you need words like "whatever it takes" to get you through it. A week later I was in Nashville singing live Karaoke on the same stage that the night before Miranda Lambert was singing Karaoke.

"Whatever it takes" was most needed when I opened the restaurant. There is no finer an example than working two jobs, eight hours and six hours, then opening the restaurant. Night porter at Ettington Park, then home for an hours sleep, back up to go collect parcels and deliver for Hermes. Three hours sleep in the afternoon before up again to open the restaurant. Most people don't know I lived like that, it was tough for sure, but very necessary to continue to exist. I will in the coming weeks write all about those experiences, but for now just know, that's how I lost three and a half stone! Spoiler alert!

Sacrifice is the only way to succeed. I learned that a long time ago. Working for yourself isn't for everyone, I've learned that recently again. It's often terrifying, frequently emotional, always tiring, and at times lonely. But if you keep great people nearby, are willing to sacrifice things, and are willing to do "Whatever it takes" you might just have a chance.

I'll leave you with something I read the other day "If you dare to live for a while like others wouldn't dream of living, then in time you will live as others wouldn't dare to dream about" Or something like that.

Peace and Love

Wow, it's been a while!

Good heavens, I don't seem to have been here for a while do I?

I fully intend to start writing here this week, have quite a bit to say and am regaining the vocabulary to do so! I feel like my brain is tired, like aged a little. The answers don't come quite so easily anymore. I hope that is product of my surroundings, rather than the onset of old age....

Good to be back, keep ya posted!

dB

If you have kids in your car, please don't drive like a prick

I am sick to fuck of blokes who drive like douchebags while having stickers on the back of their car letting the world know they have a child on board.

If that is the case, why the fuck did you just pull out in front of me at a roundabout, then grin when I got pissed at you?!?!

If you want to destroy your pathetic, pointless, catastrophe of a life, that is your business, but your 5 year old child on the back seat has to deal with your douchebaggery. Whilst death may be more than deserved to you you jumped up little prick, your child never had a chance.

So please, don't pull out in front of me and grin, because one day I will be in "the shed" and there is an enormous chance I will hit you, and I will give every ounce of strength I have to direct the hit straight at you. You and only you, then if you look like you might walk away, I will park up, get out and slap the shit out of your face.

That is all.

Thanks.

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For God's sake. Who teaches these fucking children at school?

Showering before the Jacuzzi

I have been spending quite a bit of time at the gym of late, and have observed some less than pleasant traits amongst some of my fellow gym users.

Now I go to a fairly nice gym, not cheap, but I get the best equipment, a great steam/sauna/jacuzzi setup, and there is a lot to look at whilst being there. By that I of course mean it has views of the golf courses.....

It's the jacuzzi where the place falls down. Nothing wrong with the jacuzzi as is, it's huge, very warm, bubbly, everything you would want it to be. My problem is people who get out of the sauna or the steam room, and walk straight into the jacuzzi.

Now, there are signs everywhere asking before you enter the jacuzzi or pool, please shower. Why the fuck would this not be the case if you have just sweat the grime off your balls? Why would I want to share in the moisture that is your underarms?

Am I wrong? I am new to the whole gym thing, but surely that is rank.

I am not even going to mention the blow-drying of the plums in full view of the locker room. That is wrong.

I am back.

As many of the people reading this will know, I am a generally disillusioned chap. Lost in the world we live in, not quite sure where I fit in, what I want to say, to what extent I will go to stand up for my beliefs, you know the kinds of things you'd like to think people think about.

Except they don't do they? Let's take the Average Joe. I have always hated that expression, hoping upon hope that there isn't an average, that we all offer something different, and that no two people can behave the same way under experimental conditions. Sadly my findings offer the contrary. I am often bewildered by the sheer stupidity of people, the arrogance to the point of detriment of some people, and the acceptance of mediocrity, stupidity and general patheticness.

I haven't always gone about my life as a decent person. I have been an absolute cunt to some people, some of whom didn't deserve it, several who did. So I think I am in a position to speak for both sides. I know what it is to have power, to have a hold over someone, and to be able to control people without them knowing. The latter isn't anywhere near as hard as you would hope.

I am a 33 year old man, living in a small "provincial" town. Whoever decided on that espression for anywhere outside of London needs a knock by the way. Even here in my town of fifteen thousand people there are all factions of society. There are people who live in million pound houses, and there are those people who live for the day their benefits get forwarded, and they can spend the afternoon in Lloyds, not the bank you understand, no the upscale version of Wetherspoons, where the characters from the Levelers' song "Hope St" hang out. Don't get me wrong, 5 years ago I loved those places. Breakfast from 8am, then if I could man it we could drink through until 1am the next day. Wow. What a country we live in we all cried.

I now cry that out for quite the opposite reason.

Perhaps I am getting old? Maybe my experiences have changed me? Could this be what happens to everyone at some point?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a drink. I own more wine than my local pub does. I love a night out with the fellas, when circumstance allows of course. I just don't see the draw of being in a room with sweaty, drunk people rubbing themselves against me.

I am finding it very difficult to find many women/girls who are attractive anymore, and I have figured this to be about the dress code currently. There seems to be only a couple of ways of dressing at the moment, either like you are in a Shangri-La's video from the 70's, like you are in the Breakfast Club, or like a New Orleans street rat. I don't get it.

On things I don't get, why oh why oh why do the media insist on shoving these thick arseholes in my face all the time? People who can't speak properly should be there for entertainment, but not hosting TV shows, not shouting at me patronisingly over the airwaves. I am sick to the back teeth of hearing nonsense being uttered by people I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire, and for all intents and purposes paying for it.

I have left open ends here deliberately, I will come back and address these points over the next month or so. I imagine I will be seeing responses from people, either defending fuckwits, or telling me I need to be more understanding, please if you wish to make a point, do it with dignity, and back your point up. I will argue valid points, I will argue just for the sake of it, but I won't argue with asinine posturing.

That is all.

Look after yourself.

Coming to America

As I wander around, talking to people, watching people, and maybe obsessing a little on the stupid things people say and do, I find myself wondering if people here know and appreciate how lucky they are. I don't believe they quite get it.

Last week I was in New York, not a city I especially like but it has it's charms, it's comparisons to London are huge, the general attitude of people, the hurriedness of everyone, the stink of the place when the sun comes out. The one thing it does beat London at though hands down is the A/C on public transport. I heard on the news earlier a guy saying that he has no A/C in his apartment, so for a couple of hours a day he gets on the Subway and just travels to the end of one line, then comes back. In NYC you have 2 hours to complete your journey, which costs $2.20, bargain for 2 hours of comfort.

I digress, whilst I was in New York I found myself wondering if the people who live and work there appreciate that to almost the whole world New York is the promised land. People all over the world want to live in New York, we see it in movies, TV, books and even the newspapers. The most famous sports brand in the world is the N with 2 'Y's of the New York Yankees, Wall St is known the world over, the skyline is one of the most recognizable on the planet, and everyone knows what happened on September 11th 2001, the images from that day will forever stick in the mind of all of us.

So I have been talking to people asking about America in general, do they understand that a good percentage of the planet look up to America, would love to live here, and follow the day to day news from here as much as news in their own country.

I have found that people love their country, or their little part of it. People are of course patriotic, that is one thing everyone knows of Americans, but have nothing to compare their world to. A lot of people I have spoken to have never left the country, several people I have spoken to have never been to Chicago, which is 4 hours away. Again, people all over the world would love to go to Chicago, and will probably never get the chance. I tell people this, and they seem genuinely shocked. "It's just Chicago". Which it of course is, but it is a place people have seen on TV, have read about, and to many offers a lifestyle and freedom many can but dream about.

This is of course not an American thing, in the UK I know people who live near me who have never been to London. We live an hour away. An hour 20 on a slow train. London is probably the most famous city on Earth, the crossroads of the world, offering some of the most famous landmarks in Europe, perhaps the world, has one of the best public transport systems in the world.

I am not a huge fan of London, I think English people should give it a go, live there for a while, that's all most people can deal with, it was for me. A year, that was my lot. A friend of mine went with his girlfriend thinking it was what they should be doing, lasted a year, and have now moved back to rural life. It's not for everyone, quite the contrary, I also know people who are there, and are stuck there, work, family, don't know anything else.

The one thing I do know for sure though, most people in London don't appreciate what they have, and I wonder if people in New York do. Over the July 4th weekend I have seen first hand how proud Americans are to be American, I just wonder if they appreciate what that means, and that there are hundreds of millions around the world who would take their place in a New York minute.