The Soundtrack of Life

I. Love. Music!!

Music is... PASSION! For better or worse, every lyric ever written is backed with emotion, desire, and LIFE. It has the power to pull you in by lifting you up, dragging you down, and everything in between.

Music is... NOSTALGIA! One verse, one lyric or even one note can send you thru time. It's magical! Maybe it's "For You I Will" that will always remind you of one of your favorite Spring Breaks with your High School Sweetheart, "Rich Girl" (the original!) that takes you back to 3rd Grade and learning to reggae dance with your friends, or "Glamorous" that makes you laugh about when your best friend was first becoming your best friend. Music's instantaneous time travel ability is light years ahead of science!

Music is... ROMANCE! A sweet melody sets the tone, changes your heart rate and heightens your senses.

Music is... FUN! Pump up a nasty beat and you're READY to go out, have fun and rock the night away.

Music is... AN ESCAPE! Blast your speakers and drown out the world, take a break from your challenges, over power the little voices and just be.

Music is... PENSIVE! A powerful verse can lead you to an epiphany about your life, bring you straight to tears, or empower you to make a change.

Music is... THE SOUNDTRACK OF LIFE! Use it to get excited, evoke emotions you're struggling with, remember, or soothe you.

If there was one talent I could possess that I surely don't, it would be to sing & play guitar! It's such a productive, AWESOME way of channeling your passion while reaching out to others. My *wide* selection of tunes is my way of making up for it... Whether it be Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, Rock, Reggae, Country, Frank Sinatra, Contemporary Christian, Kids Songs or anything in between (other than screaming metal - I just can't do it), I'll listen and get lost in it. That's my way of saying a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the incredible artists out there... It is the soundtrack to my life in so many ways...

Go see any live band. Lounge in lawn seating at a concert. Dance all night to a great DJ. Use your music app to listen and sleep. ...those are my favorite ways to use music as the soundtrack in my life...

How is music the soundtrack of your life?

You Know You Travel Too Much If...

You’re on a plane and you’re bored… you can’t bear the thought of starting another book, and apparently there’s no movie or audio connection!  What do you do?!  Well, I don’t know what YOU do, but I did this (a few years ago):

You know you travel too much when:

1.    You know that 311 means 3oz liquid bottle in a 1 quart bag and only 1 per person

2.    You don’t “want to get a pad and pen and write this down” because you know where you parked (…at the East Economy, Road Runner lot, Garage B, Level 4, Row D)

3.    You get your laptop and 311 bag out before you’ve even gotten to the front of the line to show the TSA guy your ID

4.    You have ever wondered why the stalls in airport bathrooms aren’t wider than average

5.    You know that oxygen masks will fall from overhead and that you need to fully extend the rubber tubing to start the flow of oxygen (oh, and breathe normally – right, THAT’S how I’ll be breathing)

6.    You’ve ever paid a bill late because your money is on hold by 2 hotels and 3 rental car companies in 4 different states across the country

7.    You find yourself volunteering knowledge to random strangers about airline terminals, shuttle bus stops and luggage carousel protocol

8.    You laugh when travel virgins try to slam an overhead shut on their gigantic suitcase and then have their bag wheeled away to gate check anyway

9.    You have ever used the term travel virgin

10. You’ve figured out what jargon such as pushback, cross checks and all calls are

11. You can tell when you’ve begun your initial descent before its announced

12. You know that when the first chime rings after takeoff it means you’ve reached 10,000ft and use of approved portable electronic devices is now permitted

13. When you adjust the recline of the driver’s seat in your car, this runs through your head: “please return your seatbacks and tray tables to their fully upright and locked positions” (no?!  just me?!)

14. You have ever recognized a flight crew member from a previous trip

15. You only know the official name of your home airport, the rest are just 3-letter codes

16. You have ever had trouble asking for directions to the airport because, again, you don’t know its name

17. You understand plane etiquette and would never bring your McFish sandwich on board

18. You put headphones on and shove the wire into your pocket so the 29 year old chick next to you who’s being forced to move back home to mommy and not marry her suicidal fiancé doesn’t try to tell you that whole story… because that sounded like a long day!

19. The highlight of your day can be an early shuttle arrival, boarding that begins only 5 minutes late, or, the Cadillac of highlights, the email alert with your 1^st class upgrade

20. You’ve ever considered doing a travel stand-up routine… but in airports and with your laptop case out for tips, not a guitar case

21. You’ll celebrate the day all airports segment security lines and you can breeze through “expert”... or at least in your elite, priority line!

22. You’ve ever gotten the urge to kick the back of the knee of the 1^st person in the check-in line for the self kiosk because they won’t go to an open computer because there is no person there

23. You give the “REALLY?!” look to the jerk still on their cell as the plane is pushing back

24. You’ve ever had the urge to open the Emergency Exit door just to jump on the slide… then move away from the aircraft of course

25. You laugh at the people who stand directly in front of the belt where the bags come out and then have to mow people down to grab their bags because it’s just too close

26. You know to keep your ID and Boarding Pass with you to walk through security

27. You don’t get “bag checks” because you didn’t hear the man-robot repeating over and over again that your laptop goes in a bin on its own

28. You see more movies on planes now a days than in theaters

29. Your body never knows when to be hungry or awake because it switches time zones too frequently

30. You’re enamored by compact yet spacious travel gadgets and bags because they’re just so smart

31. You know how many preferred miles you get for a trip home, or to Denver, Dallas or Raleigh for that matter

32. You know that 2hrs at an airport before a flight is just a waste of life

33. You know where to find a Starbucks in every concourse of the airports you frequent

34. You keep your receipts on the rare personal trip and realize that later that it’s YOU who’s paying for that one

35. You can “express pay” for parking at lightning speed and still make it onto that 1^st elevator up to your car with the amateurs who will pay at the exit

36. You know which airports have free WiFi and when to bring a book

37. You’ve ever reminded yourself that you have a logo on when there’s a kid SCREAMING behind you

38. You now see lost luggage as an opportunity to shop and you’ve mastered what you need to purchase… you keep your cell charger in your carryon anyway, so there’s that

39. You know that EWR is Newark, YYZ is Toronto and ORD is Chicago but have NO idea what FICA stands for

40. You know when to walk on the far side of the concourse hallway to avoid having to lie to those Master Card people again about already having both their business and their personal card

41. Free flight offers from credit card companies aren’t motivating because you have plenty of your own miles and rarely even use those… but wait, will it count as preferred miles?!

42. You want to page yourself to the paging assistance location just to hear robot lady say your name

43. You know that B or E on your seat assignment is the truest test of travel patience

44. You question your sanity in paying rent for an awesome apartment you rarely get to sleep in and leasing a car that lives at East Economy (Garage B, Level 4, Row D)

45. You know that 98.3 and 97.5 stop tuning in once you’re on the 202 approaching PHX

46. Without being told, you know to initial the 3 spaces to deny all coverage and the space to show you did the walk-around looking for scratches through the paint of at least 5 inches at Enterprise

47. You measure time in miles accumulated and know how many more miles you need to reach your next level of elite status

48. You’ve ever taken time to calculate how many more trips and which destinations will help you raise your elite status

49. You’ve been all over the country but all you’ve seen are gyms, hotels and different Chili’s

50. You keep telling yourself that it’s great to travel this much but you WILL STOP if the TSA guards ever learn your name!

Ahh… you’ve arrived!  Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to (insert city here) where the local time is approximately (#).  Please remain seated with your carryon’s stowed until we are safely parked at the gate and the captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign indicating that it’s safe to move about the cabin.  Thank you for flying with us tonight and we look forward to seeing you on a future flight.  Welcome to (city)!

"Adults" You Say?

Here's how life goes... You make choices. Based on those choices, things happen. When things happen you either A: like the result or B: don't like the result. Now comes the, evidently, tricky part... You either get to deal with the unwanted consequence or b, you do something to change it. Interestingly enough, secret option c of "bitching about it ad nauseum"  is NOT an option.  A little preliminary whining while you're (efficiently) deciding what to do, sure. That's what friends do, right? Listen to you talk through life's issues and help you make a decision. That's the key tho - making a decision. Refusing to suck it up, accept responsiblity and do something about it, not okay. Capisce? (That's "capeesh" for my non-Italian friends.) ;)

I find that children can understand and abide by this concept, yet I unfortunately know many full grown "adults" who don't.

Ironically, those "adults" have the choice to laugh at this post, deny its validity and continue to behave that way. Then I, in turn, will make the choice to stop having extensive conversations with you. I can think of many fun and productive things I can do with my time than listen to an adult martyr continuously victimize themselves and suck the life out of my day.

So I repeat, deal with your circumstances in a positive, productive manner or take action to change it. I am not the only person who would benefit from this change... You will too. Try it out.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, in a faraway land—okay, enough of that!  This blog won’t be a series of fairy tales.  My life has never been a fairy tale so there isn’t one to tell.  WAIT!  ...before you go running off with the impression that this is going to be an overly dramatic, soul-sucking blog, take a chance and trust me when I say, it’s not.  I’m not that person either.  I know what you’re thinking (creepy, right??), “so who are you then??”.  Great question!  I have a much better answer to that question than I ever have before...

I am...

PASSIONATE.  When I have an opinion about something, everyone knows it.  On the other side of the coin, apathy is my worst enemy.  I’m a native New Yorker and also Italian... it comes with the territory!

OBSERVANT.  I’ve always been interested in how people think, why they make certain decisions and what motivates them.  Basically that equates to me being an avid people watcher for as long as I can remember.  Then I went to college, took some psych courses and learned the names for social phenomenon’s I’ve always had a hunch about.

LAID BACK.  Seems contradictory that someone who is so passionate can also be laid back... I assure you it’s possible.  I learned a long time ago that the small things in life aren’t worth stressing over!  Especially the things beyond your control like a cancelled flight, bad service in a restaurant or a long line for a rollercoaster.  Chill out people!

POSITIVE.  Almost all the time, I'll see the positive side of a situation or cirumstance.  I can't go through life with a black cloud over my head and let tragic or frustrating events take over my life.  I am very rarely a person who feels or acts defeated, victimized or helpless.  I am a firm believer that whether you say you can or you can't, you're right!  Create your own path and determine your own destiny and attitude by accepting the consequences of your choices and moving through life with your head held high.

A FRIEND.  I take great pride in the fact that for as long as I can remember, everyone has come to me for everything... even when I was probably too young to be listening to adults talk about the things they chose to share with me.  I also take great pride in not being the sugar-coating, bright-side-of-the-moon friend.  If you ask my opinion and I am close enough to you, I am going to give you an honest, blunt opinion... even if it may be hard for you to hear.  True friends will always do you this courtesy.

I’ve been wanting to blog for a long time.  Well, I’ve wanted to write and share my ideas, perspectives and life experience for a long time.  Blogging is the modern day solution since I’ll probably never get around to writing the proverbial book.

I’ve experienced a lot of life, learned a lot about people and have discovered how to find true happiness and satisfaction in life...

Welcome to my blog and to my brain... wear a helmet, and laugh at life along with me!