Stumbling Your Way Finding Friends
By · CommentsTwenty some years ago, I heard a song on the radio that I fell in love with, it reminded me so much of where I was at the time in my life and yes at that time, I listened to a 
lot of country music.
The opening lyrics
There’s a room in my father’s house
Full of old heirlooms
Grandma’s Bible, Grandpa’s trunk
To a total stranger no more than junk
The closest ties I ever knew
Until I met you
Finally one day the announcer said her name – Judy Rodman – quick to go to the store, and quickly disappointed, they didn’t have it. There were no Best Buys or Super Walmarts, that’s when you actually had record stores. Oh, how I miss Full Cyrkle Records!
I had to order it, and still have the cassette to this day.
Well, twenty some years later, stumbling my way through blogging and social networking, I started investigating my stumble friends & people who were subscribed. I found in there a woman with a name that sparked a memory of those years long past.
Judy Rodman – I investigated her blog and realized this has to be the same woman whose music danced into my heart all those years ago.
I sent her a note through stumble upon asking her, and telling her how that song danced into my life all those years back and to this day I still listen to it, yes it was one and the same.
She has been a wonderful stumble friend and her blog is full of information on music and her teachings, she a remarkable woman and musical talent. I am proud to know her.
We have such opportunity in front of us with social networking and it is amazing to me the people it has brought into my life. We all want stumbles and reviews, we all want our blog’s to get noticed, but taking the time to see who is noticing us and helping us out is how it pay’s forward.
This sketch is a complilation of Judy – she sent me a beautiful picture of her playing piano at Bluebird and the one that she uses on her stumble profile. I used these two along with some photoshop work on what her song brings to my mind.
Grandma’s bible and grandpa’s trunk – and the house in the backdrop is my family home where I grew up, one of which my dad built with blood, sweat and tears.
Go look and see who may be in your group of social friends..you may be surprised at what you find.
How Deep are the Waters – Shark Week
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The week has wrapped up at Tech Jaws Shark Week – Frank over there is a good friend of mine and I am always amazed at all the information and people he finds online.
After all, he found me, over at.. the defunct entrecard – Frank has taught me about friends, family and fun.. as well taking me under his wing and teaching me the in’s and outs of blogging. As well as Business Plan’s – which my friend, I’ve done nothing with…yet..
Frank never fails to be a stumble away or an instant message answering my questions! THANKS MAN! CHEERS!
This is a sketch of Andy McKee, I am using this picture of him and him as a reference because this is not normally something I would listen to and online networking is something not all people are into, but the possibilities are so unlimited.
No matter how deep the waters are, we need to test them to find our place.
Stepping into shallow waters is your best bet when it comes to finding your niche. Don’t dive into the pool until your certain the waters are deep enough or shallow enough in some cases. My son introduced me to Andy McKee and when I read his bio – it explains how he brings something new to the industry.
We should all bring something new to our own lives, whether it’s people, hobbies or music.
Frank – thanks for showing me some of the ropes and opening my eyes to many things.. we love you with all our hearts..
Everyone else reading this, learn from others, teach others and never forget to listen to someone that you may not always listen too.. no matter what, there is something they can teach you.
Swamp Blues – Lightnin' Slim
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Lightnin’ Slim or Otis Hicks, left our world July 27th, 1974…
Leaving a mark on Swamp Blues – debuting back in 1954, Bad Luck – If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.
I wasn’t even a glimmer in my dad’s eye..but know I’ve heard the name before, and needed to do a little research, low and behold, I figured it out.
Lightnin’ Slim backed mainly by drums (my new hobby) and harmonica, he had a gritty sounding voice and sang Louisiana Swamp Blues, with tunes such as – I’m Tired Waitin’ Baby, Your Old Enough to Understand and one of my favorites – Rooster Blues
Those tunes bring me back to New Orleans 22 years ago, when mom & I sat and drank Mint Juleps (nasty, nasty drink) in a seedy bar on Bourbon Street.. Listening to the musicians that were born with blues in their blood.
When I listen to someone like Lightnin’ Slim, I am instantly transported into a dark, smoke filled tavern in the south. A tavern that the heat is so thick you can see it, the sound is so profound, it rises through the floor into your toes through the floor boards and grabs you buy the heart so you will sit down and listen. No one listens anymore, they always interject….
One where people meet, to talk and share their stories. Stories of how life brought them to this point, whether that story are sad or true, you get a sense that this is where the heart of blues is and will remain clinging to the walls, or clinging to the worn out bar stools. Their is history there, a history of music and people that walked before us.
Take today to remember someone that walked before you, someone who paved the way, someone who brought something to the table that we often don’t think about.
What Happened to Gravity?
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It’s been all around us and no one seems to have a good solid answer.
Do you recently feel that you do not have your feet planted firmly on the ground?
Are they being cradled by faith or held up by some unknown force?
I have listened lately to several people say things, things that are out of character for them. So many of the stories and feelings are very similar, that I have to question what the driving force is, why now, why so many people have so many questions that are along the same lines?
What is the feeling in the air? Is it the economy? Are the planets shifting? Is it the negativity flying through the air waves on the nightly news?
What happens to us when we feel that our feet are not on the ground? We begin to see things from a different perspective, albeit, that’s not a bad thing. Focus seems lost and concentration is at a minimum.
Are those that are closest to you feeling the same or have your emotions just overflowed onto them? I find that when my feet are not on the ground that I begin to ask questions that I normally wouldn’t.
When our feet are planted firmly, answers do come more easily, but is life supposed to be easy? Is uncertainty part of our growth process? Can we live in a world of constant questioning, no way, can we live with the constant negative spin of the world around us.
When was the last time you turned on the television and picked up a positive story?
Do you hear from co-workers, family members and friends…
“I’ve been wronged”
“They owe me this, that, the other thing”
“That’s not how I would do it”
Take the great depression, do you think that anyone that lived through that era would be able to make a negative spin out of a “free loaf of bread?”
Perhaps our feet may not be grounded, feelings out of sync, questions flying around about the uncertain economy and the future, but somewhere out there, there is someone to hold you up, someone that is in your corner. That is the positive force that we as a country have lost.
Everyone is aware of 9/11, it rocked our country to the core – do you recall the emotion it brought out in people across the country, people became kind and concerned about others, people held doors for strangers, they said good morning, people took time for others…
Someone, something, somehow can help us get our feet back on the ground, it’s a matter of believing not only in others, but in yourself as well.
Spread Your Wings
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This is a piece I forgot I had in my portfolio of paintings and sketches.
This was the first time I worked on wood of this magnitude. This is a sign for Merritt and Associates Equine Hospital in Wauconda, Illinois.
Spreading your wings, this can be in any aspect of your life. Being a self taught artist and self taught blogger I guess that’s a fitting title. We all have the capabilities within ourselves to spread our wings.
I think back often to a scene in Dances with Wolves, when Kevin Costner is on his horse and rides over a ridge, all you see is vast green land, that was the American Frontier. I can’t even imagine how breath taking that would be in real life.
Can you imagine spreading your wings and seeing something like that, I envy those that take big chances, but I also know that you can close your eyes and envision things and that will help bring you closer to spreading your wings.
Start spreading those wings – try a new food, a new drink, pick up a camera and take a picture, buy yourself a domain name and start blogging, share a silly secret with a friend, listen to someone’s story about a sad childhood and just be there to tell them they didn’t deserve that, there are all sorts of ways to spread your wings. We all can’t run off to see the American Frontier but we can make our lives better by trying new things and being open to new experiences.
The Never Ending Quest To Play The Blues
By · CommentsThe following article has been provided to me by Reed Terry and as I sat and read his words the passion for blues came screaming through as if there was a line up of musicians sitting behind me.
Reed knows his players and knows the music scene, check out his link at the bottom of the article for concert news and tickets.
The first time I can remember hearing a guitar lick, in my parents car most likely, I knew that I had to learn how to play. From that moment on, anytime I heard a great guitar player I would become obsessed with having to know what they were doing and how they were doing it. 
Instantly after hearing a guitar solo that would stand out as exceptional I would record it in my mind and try to think about where on the guitar it was being played, then rush home to my guitar and spend hours trying to figure it out. Great guitarist just have a way of standing out from the others, you hear them and it is like they are one of the best storytellers writers or painters, there is just something magical about those who play the instrument the best.
Coming from the “Generation X” age group I certainly do not have stories of rushing around to find vinyl 45′s and wearing the grooves out as some of my favorite guitarists tell, but with the great technology of the generation it was easy to hop on the computer and quickly have access to all the best blues albums and guitarists at my fingertips. This lead to endless hours spent finding the best albums and playing them over and over again till I could play every song as perfect as possible. This seemed to have caused an overload because there was no end to the great guitar players and albums that had to be learned, each day I was discovering more and more and just had to learn them all. To say guitar is addictive is an understatement but reading the interviews with my favorite guitarists they all had done the same thing to learn their instrument, lock themselves in a room with their guitar and favorite guitarist’s albums.
Over the years I have developed a certain love an respect for the Blues. From the different styles, guitars, pick ups and techniques. There have been a handful of what I would consider the most influential and important Blues albums for any guitar player to listen to and study. I know for my playing just learning these albums was the best teacher I could have had.
To learn the Blues and all of it’s history one must start at the beginning and perhaps one of the most important blues albums ever would be King Of The Delta Blues by Robert Johnson. The influence of the album is still heard today in most guitar players and one listen should provide an instant lesson into the history of the Blues, a must have for any Blues guitarist’s collection!
Another album which made me fall in love with the Blues would be Born Under A Bad Sign by Albert King. Albert King has had huge amounts of influence on many great blue guitar players including Jimmy Hendrix. King played a Gibson Flying V through a solid-state Acoustic amplifier which was unorthodox for the era but is considered today to have produced one of the greatest blues tones of all time.
When it comes to amazing Blues guitar then Buddy Guy certainly comes to mind. The amazing album “A Man and The Blues” has enough lessons within it to last a lifetime. Long considered the best Blues guitar player among his pears such as Eric Clapton. His influence runs deep into many of the greatest guitar players on earth and though considered mainly a “Chicago Blues style” guitar player his techniques, sounds and playing go far deeper then such a stereotype.
Probably the most important album for me personally as well as the most influential guitar player to me personally would have to be Texas Flood by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. Considered to be the album which saved the Blues, Stevie was able to bring the heart of Blues Rock to the mainstream at a time when it seemed the Blues would never get mainstream attention again. Heavily influenced by Albert Collins and Jimi Hendrix all one needs to do is listen to the title track to hear and understand the true beauty of the Blues. Texas Flood is still today my favorite song to play on the guitar, a true masterpiece from a man who could make a Stratocaster sing, cry and moan at will.
Probably not in most guitar players top 5 but for me Roy Buchanan is one of the greatest and most underrated Blues players of all time. When I throw in the self titled album around friends they always ask “who is that?” and when I reply with “Roy Buchanan” they have never heard of him. After a listen I do not believe one person I know has not run out and bought the album. A true master of the Telecaster with some of the most beautiful, soulful and just downright amazing guitar songs ever recorded. For any one who has not heard Roy Buchanan I would have to insist that you take a listen to “The Messiah Will Come Again” as well as “Sweet Dreams”.
One final note on great guitarists and great albums would have to be Jeff Beck, not a Blues player and more of an all around guitar virtuoso his impact on guitar playing is not to be understated. Today I would have to put Jeff Beck in my top 3 guitar players of all time and perhaps he gets the number one spot. Beck’s abilities to truly understand the instrument and music are amazing. His understanding that less is more on the guitar is a lesson that most guitar players need to learn, myself included. The first time I heard “Blow By Blow” I realized I discovered something very special and twenty years later that album still blows my mind. The sounds that Beck effortlessly pulls out of his Strat (with heavy use of the whammy bar” are definitely some of the coolest and most beautiful ever to be played on the guitar and many of his latter albums still push the evolution of great guitar playing further.
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Have a Little Cheese with the Whine
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In the suburbs of Chicago since the beginning of March the bad weather days have out weighed the good one’s by 5 to 2.
I don’t quite know what’s in the air, whether it’s the struggling economy – and who isn’t sick of that excuse. Or if there is a shift in the planets, or if the “I don’t give a crap” attitude is spreading like the swine flu.
I’ve noticed a change not only in myself but in others around me as well others around me have been telling me that they feel just down right “crabby” for no apparent reason. Even the checker at goodwill felt it necessary today to tell me her “bad ju-ju”
Got me to thinking, what makes us crabby or down in the dumps and thought I would share some ways to shake it.
So, put down the whine and grab some cheese, I recommend Baby Swiss or top some popcorn with some shredded asiago!
Don’t listen to sad music, no matter what’s going on in your life, throw on some Aerosmith and listen to Steven Tyler Just Push Play!
Go buy yourself a car-jar from Yankee Candle that will bring back a fond memory – THANKS Krissy for the Sun & Sand recommendation – I think I’ll just go hang out in my car, close my eyes and think about Mexico, while listening to “The Guitar Hurricane – SRV – favorite of mine.
Spend one day a week with someone that makes you laugh, just because they are goofy.
Don’t repeat bad vibes or words over & over throughout the day, as Becky would say, let go, let god. Don’t dwell in other words.
Have a beer – Corona Light works well – Share it with your cat if he wants!
Write a note, not an email to someone telling them you have thought good thoughts of them.
Say hello to anyone that crosses your path today or tomorrow.
If your on a diet, eat something small that’s not on it.
Close your eyes for 10 minutes and remember something that made you happy, a time that made you warm & fuzzy. A time that meant something to you that shook you to the core. A time that was spent with a best friend, a finished project, a warm sunny day, a taco, a waiter that never allowed you an empty drink, a waiter that took a bite out of your hamburger.. anything positive that made the corners of your mouth turn up!
Spreading a good vibe is part of the process of creating a good self worth and a good self esteem. My sister always said, it’s a good day when you can wipe your own back end and tie your own shoes.
Over & Out
Magic Carpet Ride
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I can’t believe I haven’t posted in almost 3 weeks, but I have had my hands full! It beat the 12 foot ladder and this 20 x 5 foot mural is my latest creation and the story behind it has been a Magic Carpet Ride!
Atop that 12 foot ladder at Classic Muscle Cars, in burst the carpet guy with a, ” holy crap that’s cool, call me when your done with Tony, I want a picture in my store, do you need a room carpeted?
“Yeah.. I have a small room in need of carpet”
I did some pre-lim drawings after talking to carpet guy and he chose his 55 Chevy – then he came to measure my “small room”, which by the way is the entire upstairs of my house.. and he said.. “whose getting a deal here? This is a lot of damn carpet!”
The barter factor kicked in, and you can now find Tim Adkins – Carpets 4 U II on the web, it’s a work in progress… and I need my son’s room carpeted!
Someone recently made a comment to me about my artwork… ” do you really like doing that? Do you get good money for “stuff” like that?”
Sorta pissed me off, anyone who knows me knows that I like to be creative!
Yeap! Ya gotta do things ya like, you never know where it will take you and what opportunities it will put in front of you. I love marketing and meeting new people from all walks of life.
I’ve met some really decent people while working with Tim in the past few weeks. Amy his secretary is just one of them and yes Amy, I will pull your picture off the site but ya gotta get me a good one and we’ll get it up next week.
We are putting a marketing plan together, you may just hear me on the radio soon!
I also have some cool guest writers coming up so stop on in…
Mark Campbell from SoulShaker a friend of Steve Marriot’s is gonna share a few stories!
As well as some insight on playing music from Reed Terry!
Stay tuned
Congratulations Tech Jaws
By · CommentsFriendships are all about putting yourself out there, going that extra step, a little outside your common ground.
Two people in my life have done that at different times. First off there is Frank, you bloggers know him of the owner of Tech Jaws, I met him when he was still hot and heavy at blogtbt.com – Frank found my blog – as he referenced it.. “a gay looking blog” through entrecard. He loved the content and my art, but the blog design left a bit to be desired. How the hell should I know, I thought, I only used a template, and knew nothing of code or php.
I gave Frank my logins and we spoke several times, but I was still slightly hesitant to meet someone from online in person. It took him over 6 hours to get my blog where it should be and his work on soul-to-soul.com gave it a beautiful scar free face lift. 6 hours of his time on a Saturday, just because he believes in helping others out and being a friend.
A few months later, we hooked up online, asked him what he was up to, and he said..nothin’, as I did. I said, grab your gal pal and come over for a BBQ. He was all in.. now my husband, who plays it a little closer to the vest than I do, is the “
quiet” one, and likes “quiet”…. anyone that’s ever talked to Frank – knows he is not quiet..
I walked into the batcave, aka, the basement, told my husband, my blog groupie and his girlfriend were on the way over, and btw, he is a mouthy Italian, “play nice”
Thus began a friendship – Buck and Frank hit it off, as did “Veronica” and I, (real name Victoria), but we all kept calling her Veronica, hit it off great! (the rum must have been responsible for the name descrepancy.
Frank & Victoria decided that they were going to get married and head down to the court house to do so, that made my heart a little sad. They don’t have family here, and every one deserves a special day. I told my boyz about it, thats Buck and Jake, Jake the “Ordained Minister from ULC” said he would marry them. Frank was thrilled, but the plan had one issue, Jake couldn’t do it legally in Illinois, he is not 18 yet.
A hot tub and a few rum & cokes later, “THE QUIET ONE” said, Ordain me, I’ll do it. Frank and Victoria once again, were all in. Ordained, legal and calls to the county, confirmed it.
I wondered about this, Buck doesn’t like performing anything in front of anyone, and thats sad, he is a kick ass, killer guitar player.
Saturday, May 16th, 2009, Reverend Wayne M. Kleiner Jr. joined together in marriage, Frank & Victoria
With two friends present, a beautiful day, in West Dundee it was a pleasure to see people come together. Seeing Frank just joke around, calm and enjoying the fact that “friends” were around to see him marry his gal and gain a wife.
This tells me, what friendship is all about. Doing something you normally wouldn’t do, sharing a piece of your life, your love and going that extra step.
Buck tells it like it is, and we often talk about friendship, which him and I both have had some really crappy experiences in the past, because we put ourselves out there.. and he looked at me and said…
“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t like Frank.. and I really like Frank.”
Blessings to Frank & Victoria
P.S..after they left our house and the festivities..we want to say, our day was as blessed as theirs for knowing them and being part of their special event… FRANK rocks on harmonica..
A gift for graduation
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When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. ~Henri Nouwen
Today I share with you words from Nicole – she approached me a few weeks back via email and asked if I could possibly morph two separate photo’s into one drawing? Nicole’s story has been told to many people I am close with, my heart was warmed by her passion to make a friend smile and bring a special moment to her friends graduation.
Below are Nicole’s own words of why she did this….
The quote above is a perfect example the relationship with my friend. My friends mother past away last August after she battled three different types of cancers. My friend and her mother were very close more like best friends. She past 2 weeks before her senior year of high school and she wouldn’t get to see her graduate.
That’s way I decided to have this sketch done of her and her mother together as her graduation gift. It shows that they will always be together at heart and will see each other again.