Chapter 623: A-Trane the World-Traveling Sailor/Long-Lost Husband...

I'm sitting here on watch, day dreaming (or night dreaming) about my near future. In less than a month I will have traveled all the way around the world. Although this leg of the journey hasn't been that long in the grand scheme, it has felt like an eternity since I left home. In reality I left home about a year and a half ago now, and started this new chapter and path in my life.  Since June 9, 2014, I have spent less than 20 days with Kate. It is really depressing to think about how much time we have lost together.  I cannot wait to get home to her.  Even though home is an interesting concept now, being that it is in a new place entirely.  I have never lived on the East Coast so this will be interesting.
As mentioned before, a little rock 'n roll update. A couple of months ago some big news was released about two of my all time favorite bands Further Seems Forever and Underoath.  Both are reuniting, and although it is not for sure if its just a short time thing, even the shortest period of either of those groups is better than nothing.  I desperately look forward to hearing new music from them and hopefully have the opportunity to see them live.  I especially would like to see FSF since they will be back with Jason Gleason in the driver's seat and I wasn't able to see them back in his days with the band. 
Since we last talked, I have been to Dubai and Singapore. Awesome cities.  I would liked to have done more and explored Dubai a little bit, but it was just too hot. I was able to go up to the top of the Burj Khalifa

which is currently the world's tallest building as well as go on a sunset safari into the sand dunes of UAE.  In Singapore a couple of buddies and I simply blazed our own trail and explored the city without taking part in any of the organized tours that are offered through the ship.  We had a lot of fun and saw a lot of culture. Singapore is beautiful and very easy and affordable to get around in due to a good public transit system consisting mostly of train systems.  I think my favorite parts were Chinatown and the Merlion statue.

I have had some good times with good people in these places, but at the end of the day when I think back on all the fun I had, what trumps all the good memories is the fact that I want to be home. Home is where the heart is. Kate is where my heart is. Kate is home.  Can't wait...

I'm still here...I think...somewhere...

It has been waaaay too long since I have posted.  I don't even know where to begin.  For starters, I no longer live in beautiful San Diego, I resided in the much less-beautiful Glendora for nearly 3 years, but it was a good place to live; just not for me.  I am married now and have been since August 20, 2011.  Kate and I were not planning on living in Glendora for very long but life and financial situations had other plans.

Well since I gave this thing (blog) the philosophy of my musings on 'life, love and rock n' roll" I will give you just that.  Life has not been what I expected or even wanted since graduating college.  I need to be clear on this, as to not lead people astray to the thought that I am unhappy with my life.  I am very glad I married Katie and she daily challenges me and helps me to grow.  I am not happy with where we are right now; we have been in Glendora for over two years now and haven't really accomplished what we expected to in that time.  I will put a lot of blame on myself for how things have turned out.  I wasn't the most motivated person coming out of college, and my personality is naturally kind of care free and go with the flow for the most part, and that led me to not prepare and set goals for myself in the past.  I have gotten better at that over time I think, but I'm still a work in progress.  Big changes are in store in the near future but for discretionary purposes I'm choosing to be very vague.  I'm excited about where I am headed but a little nervous at the same time.  I am not a big fan of change but sometimes the only thing that will shake things up enough for us to grow and move on is a big dose of discomfort and lack of control and stepping out on faith.  I have been in a spiritual drought for some time now and I will take responsibility for not feeding that relationship as much a I should.  I so desperately want to go back...

Life and love seem to go hand in hand now that I'm married.  Rock n' roll, not so much.  I still cherish the memories I have as a young hooligan, going to shows as much as I possibly could afford.  My concert dwelling days have since died off significantly due to lack of time and to the fact that I still listen to a lot of the same music that I did when I was growing up--musically growing up, that is.  I still love spending big chunks of time at the record store and dreaming I had Scrooge McDuck cheddar so that I could continue piling onto my music collection.  Just yesterday I bought some quality compact discs and have been jamming out.  Next week my wife and I are going to see one of my all-time favorite bands, Emery, in Anaheim.  I haven't been to a show in quite some time and am really looking forward to it.

When I read my old posts, look at old pics on Facebook, and when I reminisce to "the good ol' days", I often wonder what happened to that person.  What happened to A-Trane?  What happened to that fun, loving, caring, so full of life guy?  Is he still here?  Did he disappear?  My only hope is that he is somewhere near, encased in a shell of ashes that remain from an explosion of student loan debt, lacking intimate friendships, missing family and working at a soul-sucking dead end job.  There is hope America, but we must find the right tools to get him out of that shell...

I wrote the prior portion before I left for Boot Camp in 2014 and for some reason didn't publish it. I read it again and still like it so I wanted to publish it and now for the rest of the update.

Once upon a time...I started this blog and hoped to document my life and thoughts. I have never been good at consistency with writing, but if you read previous posts, or simply look at the date gaps you can see that. I am quite a bit older (and hopefully a little wiser) than last time I updated this thing.  I come to you right now from my luxury floating steel island, the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Gulf.  I joined the Navy in June of 2014. After Boot Camp I spent 10 months in Pensacola, FL training.  Now I am deployed until late 2015. I am anxiously anticipating getting back "home" to Norfolk, VA. "Home" because I have not lived there for even a day, but my wife bravely moved there recently and is laying down our foundation there until I can join her and help her start writing this new chapter in our lives.  I want to keep this thing updated more routinely than in the past but I know how much of a chore that can become for me.  I will do my best. I am looking forward to our next port visit and enjoying some time off the ship and getting a little more sleep than normal.  This rebirth, if you will, is ending the hiatus from this page. I will continue what my tagline states, writing about love, life and rock n roll.  Next post I will cover some rock n roll. Til then...