I’m going to rock your socks down to your toes!!

Stardom is something that I have dreamed about for years. When I was 12 I knew that I wanted to be a Rockstar. And now as I type this and look around, I realize that my dream hasn’t come true yet. Not that I hate my cube, but really if I was living the life, I would be either in between two hot woman, or passed out from the night prior. The reason I bring this up is that last night I was given word that the bass player in the band that I play in, is leaving. Now it’s not for some other band, or anything like that, in fact he didn’t give us an answer or reason. Let me though give you an idea about who this kid is and how I came to know him. In the Denver music scene, you will find kids who have known one another for 10 plus years. Being from Seattle, I was a bit outside of the loop when it came to knowing people when I first came to Denver. Previously to this band, I was in another one that was moderately successful in Denver.

 

After the fold of my last band, I started my search for greener pastures. In my search I had gotten a few calls from some already established bands looking to add a guitarist. In the few bands that I jammed with, it was made very clear that I would be playing what someone else was writing, and if I wanted to add something, I needed to look else where. To say the least it frustrated me, and help me put into perspective what allot of musicians in Denver fall into. It has many names, but I like to call it being a pre-Madonna. Yes the terrible stigma of thinking you are the greatest thing since sliced bread. The bands that I played with all felt that they were the only band in the world doing what they were doing, but traveling around the country you know that for every one band in Denver, there are 20 more doing the same thing in another cities around the country. Frustrated I turned to want ads on Craig’s list.

 

Hitting the online want ads, I felt good that I would meet some cool people who were like minded. At first it seemed like I was on the right track. I met a really cool person guy who now I would consider to be my best friend. We wrote some music, but it didn’t really go anywhere. During that time I also met my now former bass player. He introduced me to some people he knew, and one thing led to another, and bam we were a band. Up until last night things were going really well, and from what I thought we were planning to record and expose the fruits of our labor to the public. After I got the text, yes that’s right text, I was pissed, not only because he was dropping out, but because it was done via text. After I got off the phone with the singer, I thought long and hard about why he was having cold feet.

 

Laying in bed, I remember that the three bands that my former Bass player was in, he quit. I never asked him why, but I did ask the former band members he played with, and they all said he quit within a few months of joining because they said he didn’t like what the band was doing. When thinking about this, everything began to come to light. He mentioned that he wanted to play a certain type of music. I don’t like to define what music fit’s into what, but I am open to playing whatever is brought to the table. I was finally able to get a hold of my former Bass player, and yes my suspicions were, in fact, confirmed. I chalked it up to creative differences, and said goodbye. Once I was done talking I really wasn’t that surprised, and he sounded like another Denver musician who was to big for there britches. I wish him well, but I have met about 300 of these people in Denver, and to my recollect there are no record execs breaking down the door for these people. It’s hard not to have sour grapes about the whole thing, but when you thrive in a music scene that is fickler then most, you get used to it.

 

-Ty

lol,idk,omg,rolf,bff,wtf.. Am I the only person who is confused?

I can’t help but read blogs and other bits from around the web. I have been reading stories and accounts of teenagers and people who are talking through e-mail and text and chat. I have noticed that they are able to have a conversation with another person and form a relationship with someone, but when it comes time for them to have face to face contact they are not able to hold a conversation with the person that they have formed such a deep connection with. This also goes hand and hand with people who break up with people over a text. I had to take a step back and really look at what was going on here. I grew up with computers and I have always had a phone, but I never saw the shift where people communicated better over a text then in real life.

I do understand that when I read something like an e-mail or a blog, I don’t know who these people are. They create a voice from the piece that gives the reader an idea of who they are. Writers have been doing this for years, but really I think this is something different. When I write, I try to have the closest voice to who I am. If I give advice, it’s usually the advice I would give to someone if they met me on the street. I think people are starting to get lost in the anonymity of the image that they create for themselves. First it started with Chat rooms, and then e-mail, and then Friendster, then My Space, then AIM, then text. We have progressed to the point where picking up the phone is taboo. Now, I do have personal experience in this because I had an ex who freaked out on me via text. I picked up the phone to call her, put she refused to answer, when it went to voice mail I got a text message that said she would only talk to me via text. To that I responded with “when you’re grown up go ahead and give me call”. And yeah that was the last thing I said to her.

For me, just like many other adolescent boys, I had to take my fair share of bumps and bruises in the ways of talking with woman. With every awkward approach that I made, the more I became versed in the way of woman, or at least approaching them. I did play a few games of phone tag with girls when I was younger, but the bulk of conversation was done with said girl right in front of me. No way would I ever consider having a long drawn out conversation with someone via text. Words can be powerful, but really what effect can abbreviating “laugh out loud” with “lol” really have. I think this is the least of my worries about this issue. One huge factor is people going so far as to not answer the phone and talk with someone. This brings me back to my ex. Now in no way was she a teen, in fact she was 26 year old woman. In the end it came down to the fact that she acted like she was 16, but I digress. The point is, over the phone, you still have to be able to carry a conversation, and it does require some form of interaction on the part of the talkers.

Also I notice that people are getting depressed over the fact that they are broken up over a text. Really as a society are we that starved for affection and attention that we will take any form interaction. I don’t know if I’m alone, but can you really beat human contact. I have always looked at human contact as the best way to really understand someone. I’m sure back in the day people used to write letters to there loved ones, but each letter would end with the hope that they would see them soon. They never confessed there undying love and said they only wanted minimal contact with that person. At some point we as a society need to take thing back about 15 years. We need to take it to a time when online communication was just starting to really take off. To the time when text messages were sent via a pager, with the assistance of an operator typing it in. To a time when a cell phone was considered a luxury, and only was used by businessman.

This was the time that people were forced to meet up at an agreed upon place, when teens and kids would meet up after school and hang out and talk to one another, and if you were going to be broken up with, it was done face to face or a friend would tell another friend to do it for them. That was how it used to be. So I figure at this rate within 15 years we won’t communicate at all, and all relationships will take place via text. There will be occasional contact for sex and maybe a good laugh, but that will be all. The club scene will die, dating services will fold and the only thing that will exist will be phone services that match people up via text. There will still be My Space so people can air there dirty laundry, but with the invention of You Tube, all confessions and breakups will be taped and posted.

It’s only happened a few times, but I have gone into a bar and seen men and woman, by themselves, going to town on there phone. I figure if you go to a bar alone and decide to carry on a text conversation with someone, what’s the point of even leaving the house. If it’s just for the atmosphere, then turn your stereo up and pour yourself a Cosmo. The kicker is I did go up to the girl and started up a conversation with her. At first she seemed more interested in texting then talking, but I got her attention and we ended up having a conversation. During our conversation she picked up her phone mid sentence, I stopped and asked her if maybe I should go. I began to get up and she grabbed my arm and sat me down. She said sorry and picked up right away I was not cool with her interrupting me to answer a text. We talked a bit and ended up getting her phone number. I told her I have a habit of calling people and talking to them, she laughed and we said good night.

She found the encounter refreshing and was surprised that I would take the initiative to come up and talk to her. To me it was nothing, it is a bar, and that’s what a bar is for, if you didn’t come with someone then you have to expect someone is going to see you in the corner and have enough nerve to talk to you. I will say I do text, but it’s in moderation, as it should be. All the books I have read on how to have a strong speaking voice would be in vain if I didn’t practice it. So I urge anyone who reads this to put the damn phone down, stop communicating solely through AIM and My Space and practice talking to someone face to face. It would be a bit hypocritical of me if I didn’t mention that I do use this blog to communicate, but I practice what I preach and go out on the weekends and week and don’t check My Space or really talk on the phone or text. If I am it’s usually to set up something or meet somewhere. So stop wasting your time creating new abbreviations and get out and swim in the social scene that is the world. I mean wtf?