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C25K – Intro

Another day, another challenge.

I’ve decided to start the Couch to 5K program (said to take you from being a couch potato to being able to run 5K) using the app by Bluefin Software on my iPhone. Like most diets and exercise programs, I’ll be starting “tomorrow”! I plan on documenting my thoughts, feelings and results once or twice per week.

Let me preface this journey by telling you that I’ve never been a runner. I’ve never been good at it and I’ve never enjoyed it. By the end, I’d like to just once say I’d choose running over gouging out my own eyeballs. It’s a long shot but hey, I’ll take a chance and reach for the stars.

I’ve run out of excuses. I finally live in a nice subdivision, the weather has been beautiful and my dog has more energy than she knows what to do with. It’s time. Encouraging comments and words of hope will be greatly appreciated. I’ll keep you in the loop.

Friendship in a Facebook Fantasy: A Social Experiment

If I’m going to pray for you, I’ll do it before I go to bed when I’m talking to God, not all over Facebook.

If I need your sympathy and compassion, I’m going to ask, not update my status.

If you need someone to talk to, let’s do it over a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Moose Tracks, not IM.

If you’ll let me, I’ll give you hugs, not *hugs*.


It’s a tough thing trying to separate your real life from your Facebook life. To most people it doesn’t much matter but lately, I’ve been faced with making some difficult decisions regarding my social well-being and when it comes to relationships that mean anything at all, the issue becomes exceedingly important. I see so many of my “Facebook friends” using the medium to accelerate their reputation while posing as an honest and enduring character. And I only know differently because I have the pleasure of spending thorough hours with these people in real life. It would be better if I didn’t. If I wasn’t dealing with these people real-world so often, I’d mistake them for the most caring and compassionate group I’d ever seen. I’d beg to be a member of their circle! But as I acquire social knowledge, maturity and sensibility, they become overwhelmingly transparent.

Whoever decided that “ignorance is bliss” was a flippin’ genius.

But then, it sometimes seems…

Attempting to morally strengthen your own person because you’ve endured miles of hurt and pain from those around you only leads to hypocrisy.

I cannot win. But, neither can you.

I recently learned that a sure sign of insanity is performing the same action over and over again, receiving the same result but each time, expecting different. The last thing I want to be considered is insane. But why? The last thing I *should* want to be considered is unhappy.

The moral of this sad story is that you control your own thoughts, actions and results. You have a choice in all of this. You can either embrace realism and your lost faith in those around you or be an ignorant and trampled-upon (but possibly happy) robot. I choose the first one, but the cause, effect and bittersweet reality of it all is you’re a free-willed, untamed and wildly unstable spirit and ultimately, we’re all the same.

WILL WORK FOR FREE

For those of us who have a steady job, a steady paycheck and are in it for the long-haul: For those of us who WANT IT and don’t NEED IT, who are seeking knowledge and professional connections in an industry that can thrive on new ideas and technology, something “we”, as a young and sometimes geeky generation, have grown up being accustomed to.

Do you bring your iPad to the bathroom with you?

Some may call it “free”, but I’m beginning to believe that when delivered from a reliable and credible source, that type of knowledge and those connections are invaluable.

I’ve been in Nashville for almost two years now and have recently bought my first house. With the extra room, I’ve gone through 5 housemates who were all looking to work in the industry, all the while speaking down upon me for being a police dispatcher, something completely unrelated to my $42,000 college degree.

The difference between them and me? I’m still here.

I’m finally established enough that I can support myself, I’ve got a great group of newly made friends and I’ve got the time and motivation. I refuse to fall into a “comfortable rut”; I want to do music. I want to do BUSINESS in MUSIC.

It sounds like a win-win. Some company will be granted a hard-working, respectable and willing employee with no financial obligation. I will earn that invaluable knowledge. And I’m happy scrubbing toilets or making coffee, as long as I’m learning the business as well. I’m craving those relationships and opportunities formed on fairness, open communication and the credible exchange of information.

I don’t just want this for myself; I want this for people who are like me: people who are comfortable and self-sufficient enough to do this because they WANT to and can expect a fair trade in return. We seem to be a rare breed, but we do exist.

I have music contacts. I know a few people in the industry. So how do you draw the line between portraying your talents as a respectful, courteous and motivated job-seeker versus an overly-excited wannabe, just like everyone else? I don’t want to be like everyone else. “Everyone else” is also not getting hired and I’ve still got my dignity. And although I have seen it work, I’m not about to sleep my way to the top. Stupid morals.

I’m not opposed to sacrifice. Hell, I moved across the country with my physically abusive boyfriend who left me here alone after a week. There are people out there who work harder than I do. There are people who are smarter and friendlier. My pride rests in being a constantly-evolving combination of valuable traits including: personality, efficiency, intelligence, diligence and morality. I won’t stop trying to be the best.

And that’s why I’m asking you, online community. Because I don’t know most of you. Because as much as I would like your opinion of me to matter, it doesn’t have to. Because if you can’t help me, nothing is lost. Comments, connections and criticisms are welcomed and encouraged.

Bathroom Blog #9

"Team Bathroom Blowholes! Save the whales!" Bathroom graffiti at a ballpark in Joelton, TN

"Gentlemen, use this as a lesson in all aspects of life."

Thanks to Angi B. and Jody M. for this Bathroom Blog!

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

Bathroom Blog #8

No, you're just a racist.

I got there and was saddened to find that I had been beaten.

J. Wall, I'm at a loss for words here...

Thanks to Ryan S. for this Bathroom Blog!

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

Bathroom Blog #7

Even though my grandparents lake cabin in northern Minnesota had indoor plumbing, the outhouse (Toonieville) received a fair amount of use. I remember a cellophane covered box with four corn cobs inside. Instructions said “use two red cobs, then use white cob to see if you need to use the remaining red cob.”

Thanks to Rick G. for this Bathroom Blog!

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

Bathroom Blog #6

"No regard for the seat..."

Goodlettsville Station #41 in Goodlettsville, TN. Thanks to Ryan S. for this Bathroom Blog!

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

Bathroom Blog #5

Don't throw your cigarette butts in there either; it makes them soggy and hard to light.

Sinclair Gas Station in Kadoka, South Dakota taken August, 2011. Thanks to Rick G. for the photo and Ken T. for the caption.

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

Bathroom Blog #4

Belize City, Belize taken March, 2011. Thanks to Rick G. for this Bathroom Blog!

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Submit material to the Bathroom Blog! Attach photos, videos or links to alexz@makingmusicwork.com.  If you send me a photo of your dung, I swear I’ll hunt you down. Unless it looks like La Joconde or Spongebob or something.

My Latest and Greatest Cover Letter

Writer’s Note: Feel free to steal this and use it as your own, but only if you’re as fly as I am. I can’t guarantee it’s going to get you anywhere, except maybe banned from public restrooms.

The Top Ten Reasons (and a bonus) Your Company Would Benefit By Hiring Me:

  1. I’m organized. You should see my iPhone. I prolly have 800 apps and they’re all organized into folders on my desktop. I was tempted to leave a few stragglers when they didn’t fit into obvious categories like “Photography”, “Games” or “Finances” but I got creative and even added a “Randoms” folder. I could organize computer files and paperwork all day long. I’d even organize things that don’t normally need organizing like cars in the parking lot or the liquor collection you secretly keep under your desk.
  2. I’m creative. My final project for college photography was a collection of naked people. They wore paper grocery sacks over their heads. The print is hanging in my kitchen so I have company every morning with my coffee and breakfast cereal. And don’t worry, I don’t photograph people unless I have their permission so you can rest assured I won’t be hiding out in the restrooms.
  3. I’m punctual – grammatically and otherwise. “Always on Time” (Ja Rule ft. Ashanti) is one of my favorite songs. And I purposely spelled “prolly” in #1 above incorrectly to be funny and hip, although being funny and hip prolly won’t be on this list.
  4. I smell good. I promise to wear deodorant and shower every day. If you think that’s not important, you haven’t worked with a stinky. I also carry three bottles of perfume in my large purse in case you already have a stinky working for you. I’d be happy to deploy my stealth powers and get them when they’re not looking.
  5. I’m intuitive. I’m not quite as intuitive as a psychic, but pretty close. In fact, I can prolly assume that you’re going to hire me. If you won’t, the next guy(/gal) will and (s)he who does will live a life of happiness and good fortune.
  6. I’m easy to get along with. I have over a thousand Facebook friends and I know more than 27 of them in real life. I can’t wait to friend request you and my other new coworkers. I’m a good friend, very loyal (I won’t block or delete you unless you do something really mean first) and I promise to “like” most of your photos, even if I don’t like them in real life. I’ll even ReTweet you if it means a promotion.
  7. I’m kind. The last job interview I went to was versus an 80 year old man who was wearing a tuxedo. I walked out halfway through because if I got a job over a man old enough to be my grandpa wearing a tuxedo, I wouldn’t forgive myself. Maybe he’s got medical bills and prescriptions to pay for. Maybe he’s a widower. Heaven forbid, he might have been a one-hit-wonder!
  8. I’m frugal. For five years now, I’ve been emptying the change from my pockets into a 3-foot-high plastic Corona bottle that sits next to my bed. It’s almost full and will soon weigh twice what I do. I also check 17 different sale-a-day websites at least 5 times every day, just in case.
  9. I’m fun. I enjoy letting out my inner-child, no matter if in public or private. Not the last time I went to Wal-Mart but the time before that, I jumped at the opportunity so quick to join a group of non-english-speaking siblings in a game of tag, I won before they even suspected I was ‘it’!
  10. I’m honest. I know I’m not really funny or really intelligent or really much of anything but what I am is sincere. I’m kinda funny. I’m kinda intelligent. I’m kinda cute and I can read at an 8th grade plus reading level. I kinda deserve a really good job and I’m betting you prolly deserve a kick-ass employee.

And a bonus (didn’t see that one coming, did ya?): I can type 93 words per minute – 94 on a really good day. Do you realize what that means?  That means I could type the entire Bible in 6 days. I could probably text the Bible in less than two weeks. I’m a child of technology. I can type faster than most of my friends can read and at least 87% of my friends are high school graduates. Honestly, tell me I am not gifted.