The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

[Schulzy]

Do you ever stop to consider your life and the choices you've made, wondering where you would be or what you might be doing if you had chosen differently? Doing that today.....

[Addicted To Pain]

Do you ever stop to consider your life and the choices you've made, wondering where you would be or what you might be doing if you had chosen differently? Doing that today.....

YES. But at the same time, I wouldn't exactly go back and change things, because then other good things might not have happened.

[Addicted To Pain]

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[Dan Dando]

You certainly do over think these things, Maxim.

[Timotheus]

She said thanks to you wishing her luck. Please don't follow up with a message saying you don't have a crush on her, lol.

[Timotheus]

I'm super proud of you! The energy you put into getting where you are right now is aspiring!

[Addicted To Pain]

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[zazthespaz]

Happy National Gurthie Day!

[anguyen92]

Do you ever stop to consider your life and the choices you've made, wondering where you would be or what you might be doing if you had chosen differently? Doing that today.....

Going back to this, no. That's like if I go back in time and change one thing, what would it be and how would events in the future play out. That's not to say everything is rosy and perfect in the now, but when it comes to where I am at now, and where will I be professionally, personally, emotionally, what my hobbies are, etc., I'm well content on life as it is at the moment.

Happy National Gurthie Day!

Gurthie was 8 years ago!!! Holy crap, back then I was just starting my 2nd stint at Cal Poly Pomona. Now I have a job that some people think I'm good at for the last five years.

[gbruin]

Do you ever stop to consider your life and the choices you've made, wondering where you would be or what you might be doing if you had chosen differently? Doing that today.....

I do it a lot, not so much in regret of past decisions (there is always some of that) but more so that when a similar situation comes along again, I can make a better or more informed choice.

[TenaciousBe]

She said thanks to you wishing her luck. Please don't follow up with a message saying you don't have a crush on her, lol.

I wasn't going to. I just missed my chance to ask if we could catch up sometime.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott

You know what? You have a great opportunity now. Was her "thank you" the last message exchanged? If so, this would be a great time to drop another text along the lines of "Hey, how did the concert go? I had planned to come watch, maybe see if you wanted to hang out afterwards, but something came up and I couldn't make it. Want to meet up one of these days?" The worst that can happen is she doesn't answer (not likely) or says no (which I bet she doesn't if you guys were having good conversations in the past). If you guys have sort of drifted apart and haven't talked a lot lately, maybe she wants to catch up but feels weird about asking to do so and needs that nudge?

Source: Am a 43 year old dude who regrets not reaching out and offering to be a better friend many times over the years. I know it feels hard, but rejection (even at a friendship level) isn't the end of the world. Better to ask and be shot down than to just leave yourself wondering what might have been for the rest of your life. Good luck, and keep us updated!

[TenaciousBe]

Do you ever stop to consider your life and the choices you've made, wondering where you would be or what you might be doing if you had chosen differently? Doing that today.....

Absolutely! I'm 43, married, with 3 stepkids and a bio daughter, and I've thought many times about the butterfly effect going all the way back to about 4th grade that got me to where I am. 4th grade is when this kid named Josh moved to town, and happened to move into my best friend's neighborhood. Thanks to being neighbors, they became friends, which of course meant we all did - lots of playing baseball / football, trading baseball cards, bike rides around town, maybe some Nintendo now and then - early 90s stuff. When the aforementioned best friend had to move away, Josh and I became quick besties. All through Junior High and High School, we were pretty much inseparable. Until right before senior year, when he, too, had to move away. By now it was '97, the internet was in its early stages, so we at least got to keep in touch through email and whatnot. All he really wanted to do was move back after that year, but his parents roped him into at least trying one year of community college down there. Well, in that year, he made some friends with his Pizza Hut coworkers, one of whom introduced him to some new music, which will be relevant in a few more sentences. He moved back to Minnesota the following year, and since I had flunked out of my first year of college, we decided to just get an apartment together and be roomies, and get boring factory jobs while we figured out what our next steps in life would be.

Now, while I'd been in college that year, I discovered this bomb-ass music store that bought and sold used CDs. Picked up so much good music through that place - and while we were there one day, Josh suggested I buy this CD called "My Own Prison," by a new band called Creed. Well, I did, and hot damn, did I fall in love. They quickly became my (our) favorite band, and I followed them through their entire rise and fall. Josh tragically passed away in a car accident later that year, and while I legitimately loved the music, holding onto it was also a great way to hold onto his memory.

I moved to this small town in Iowa after that, to live with my Grandma for a bit and try out a community college down here. And during these years, I watched as Creed disintegrated (literally before my eyes - I was front row at The Concert That Shall Not Be Mentioned in Chicago). And since I was such a huge fan of the guys, I pledged my allegiance to Tremonti and Co., and followed their journey to what would become Alter Bridge. And during those early ODR days, they had a contest on their website - join the email list, and get entered into a drawing for an autographed PRS Tremonti SE guitar! Well, lo and behold, little ol' me won that contest!

***

Pictured: Me and my crazy hair showing off my prize possession with the band!
***

Now, throughout the entirety of my life, I'd had this little dream of being a musician. It always felt like just that, a dream, something unattainable, because I had no formal music training of any kind (beyond elementary school music class) and I had no idea how I'd ever learn how to play music, or find a band to sing with since I live in this small town in BFE, Iowa. So, over the next couple of years, I took this shiny new toy and, even though it was signed by the band, I couldn't help but tinker around with it and try to learn a few songs by tab. I didn't really learn songs, per se, mostly just little riffs and a chord or two, just enough to dip my toe in the water. That is, until I overheard a couple of friends at my workplace talking about getting together to start up a band. Now, I didn't have any illusions of being good enough to be in a band, so I asked about just coming over to hang out and be part of the entourage. They said sure, and when I mentioned that I had a guitar (I don't remember if I mentioned how much skill I didn't have), they said to bring it on over!

So I did. And by the end of the day on October 1, 2006, I was officially the guitarist in a shitty garage rock band called Wikked! (Fun fact: you can hear one of our songs on the TABN Community Album.) As I said, I didn't know how to play anything - but as it turns out, neither did anyone else. We basically invented our own music from the ground up. And in doing so, we cultivated this friendship, not only amongst ourselves but with our various families, friends, anyone we could suck into the vortex of what I would dub our "Wikked Familia." And thanks to learning more about Tremonti and his strange alternate tunings, I discovered that Open D5 tuning (DADDAD) was AMAZING for just taking one finger, either barred or on one string, and running it up and down the fretboard to create chords - and when I played with various settings on my amp, I managed to fart out a whole bunch of songs. I've always had a pretty good knack for rhythm, timing, and structure, that side of music theory, so becoming a solid rhythm guitarist came pretty naturally.

We cranked out so many songs that we ended up dropping our first album within a year or so. And we couldn't just keep this magic to ourselves, so we started putting on shows. As I mentioned, we live in this small town in the midwest, so finding venues for original rock music wasn't always easy. And so, we did what any reasonable shitty garage rock band would do -- reserve the bandshell at our local city park, and put on our own shows for the aforementioned Wikked Familia, as well as everyone else in town as, apparently, the sound traveled halfway across town from what I hear.

Well, a few blocks away lived this woman. She was married, with 3 kids, but it wasn't a very happy marriage. A controlling, narcissistic husband kept her mostly cooped up in the house - but when she heard this loud rock music playing outside, she had to investigate. She later found out that the lead singer was someone she had been friends with in her high school years, so when we did another show a few months later, she gathered up her kids and brought them to check it out. She talked to him afterwards, and while we were all wandering about, he introduced me to her as well. I thought she was gorgeous, but of course, as is my luck, she was married with kids. We ended up befriending on Facebook, and being casual acquaintances, but I didn't think anything more would come of it.

With her marriage being on the rocks, it eventually gave way. He moved out and left, and she had this newfound freedom to make friends and have a life again. In our casual acquaintance, we had discovered that we had a lot in common - a love for biking, yoga, coffee, similar music taste, and so on. So we decided to get together for coffee one afternoon, and it went well. We didn't have particular intentions on anything beyond friendship, but sometimes things happen. The Wikked thing had fallen apart a couple years prior, but since I'd learned a few more cowboy chords, I was now off doing my solo acoustic vanity project called Moonrise Blue. And since I happened to have a show coming up a week later, I invited her to come along with me (it was at a coffee joint in Rochester, MN, about an hour away). She managed to talk the ex into actually watching the kids for a few hours, and she came along to be my honorary roadie / videographer. I think it was pretty clear that some feels were starting to happen, and her watching me attempt to be cool, I believe, pushed her over the edge. A couple weeks later we shared our first kiss, and the rest was history.

Our seven year kissaversary just so happens to be about a week ago, and today I sit here, happily married with those 3 kids and a 5 year old bio daughter who's growing to love singing. It's funny how times can change, rearrange, and it all comes full circle, as they say.

[Schulzy]

Tenacious, I love stories like yours. All the ups, downs, and sideways that brought you to the place you are today. I'm turning 40 in a few weeks and find myself back in the Midwest, living just outside of Des Moines, Iowa after being in Massachusetts for almost 16 years. I was digging through my old laptop tonight. Found a ton of old AB photos and videos from when I first discovered the band in 2004 and the early shows I went to in 2007. I remember being so excited to see the guys perform up close. Crazy to think how much has happened since then. I have a new brother in law as of 2020, and a beautiful new niece born this year. It's great to be near my family again.

[Addicted To Pain]

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[zazthespaz]

That was a neat story Brian! Funny how those little things pan out.

[TenaciousBe]

Tenacious, I love stories like yours. All the ups, downs, and sideways that brought you to the place you are today. I'm turning 40 in a few weeks and find myself back in the Midwest, living just outside of Des Moines, Iowa after being in Massachusetts for almost 16 years. I was digging through my old laptop tonight. Found a ton of old AB photos and videos from when I first discovered the band in 2004 and the early shows I went to in 2007. I remember being so excited to see the guys perform up close. Crazy to think how much has happened since then. I have a new brother in law as of 2020, and a beautiful new niece born this year. It's great to be near my family again.

Welcome home! I'm in north central Iowa, near Mason City/Clear Lake.

[Schulzy]

Welcome home! I'm in north central Iowa, near Mason City/Clear Lake.

Thanks, man. My parents and one of my sisters live in Mason City. My youngest sister, her husband, and my niece live in Albert Lea, MN. She works at a dental office in Garner. You going to see AB in Minnesota in February?

[Addicted To Pain]

I never thought that the first Alter Bridge/Alter Bridge-related song I'd hear on the radio would be something from Tremonti Sings Sinatra.

[anguyen92]

So it seems like Twitter is going down the Tubes soon. Would we get a bump in activity here?

[zazthespaz]

So it seems like Twitter is going down the Tubes soon. Would we get a bump in activity here?

Interesting thought, never considered that. Maybe a little bit more traffic from the bored clickers. Instead of "I'm bored, let me see what's happening on Twitter" they'll come to TABN instead? Probably a small amount of people, if any, though.