UCM biology major Eva Gann poses in one of the biology labs. Photo by Taz Hall / Muleskinner
I’ve been wanting to move into features for a long time and finally had the chance to do so with a big feature profiling four students and their tattoos. Here is an excerpt.
As tattoos and tattoo culture gain popularity and acceptance, more and more young people are getting inked. There are many students with tattoos, and they are getting bolder with placement. It’s not so taboo anymore to have tattoos visible on arms and legs, which creates a Technicolor student body. As spring hits and students dress for the weather, it can be surprising to see how many students have tattoos. While there are probably hundreds of inked students, it’d be impossible to highlight each of them. The Muleskinner staff picked four students to highlight not only the uniqueness of their tattoos, but their lives as well. It’s students like these who make UCM such an interesting and special place to get an education.
Head over to muleskinner.net and check out the profiles here.
There are many times in life where you come to an intersection. You lose your girlfriend of five years. Alright. You take it on the chin. Two weeks later, to the day, your best friend dies. You take it in the heart.
At that point in my life I bottomed out. Fuck school. Fuck work. Fuck life. I made a mess of myself. One of the only people I had in town to turn to scooped up all of my pieces and put me back together, at least the best way she knew how.
Fast forward three years. A random Facebook message. “Hey where are you? I’m in town and I want to see you.”
Huh? I’ve barely heard from or talked to you this entire time. But it’d be good to see you…
When the headlights flash you as you take an epic day ending drag off your cigarette, you pull it out of your mouth and blow it away in some epic orchestrated beautiful moment. You set your laptop on top of the smoldering joints and type away.
You think extremely inwardly and appreciate your current state of mind for helping you deal with what was. and prepare for what’s to come, You smile back on all those accomplishments. The jolts of pure wonder where you did something to get you ahead in the office or when your main squeeze tosses you a loving smile from across the room. Those moments where you’re victorious.
You think about moments that have past. You appreciate them. You come to know that’s why you are the way you are and you accept that. You hold it in your heart. You know, in your heart, that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You know that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You know that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You know that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You know that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You know that everything that has happened up and until this very point has mattered.
You mean? yup. What about? yeah. that too. You mean? True. Well, there was that one…
You know in your heart that you’ve gone through hell to get where you’re at. And that you’d crawl through a mile of broken glass with a smile to do it all over again.
So it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. I’ll preface this post by saying that it’s been a wild month. I stepped in as the managing editor of the school paper and got it off running. We successfully launched the Muleskinner’s website and are working on launching an app. But the point is that it’s been insanely busy. I work between 60-80 hours a week at the paper, am taking 16 credit hours of classes and I still work part-time at Hastings. Not trying to smear it in your face, but just letting you know I am honestly busy. That being said, let’s get into the post.
So last weekend, my brother came to visit and as we were sitting around B.S.ing he received some messages along the lines of “bitches be thirsty” and “swerve.” I didn’t know what those thing meant so we started making fun of the ridiculous language of the music world and how it starts dumbass trends like “swag” and “going ham.”
I dislike rap because the music is all trash to me. There is no heart, no real message. There are exceptions, but in a general sense the genre is all the same. I do have over 100 rap songs in my library from artists such as Atmosphere, Three Six Mafia, Joey Sunday, and Tupac. I do like the composition, the music, the lyrics or whatever. But I would give a general consensus that I don’t like rap because the music has no soul to me. It doesn’t speak to me on a primal level like most music. So to investigate what caused terms like these to become popular I was directed to this video:
Now, I listened to it a few times. My brother even pulled up the lyrics so we knew exactly what is being said in this song. And really I was disappointed. I know Kanye West is one of those pop-rap artists that churn out garbage records that the MTV kids buy up in bulk. But people have tried to argue with me about how good of a rapper he is. And he might be, but as soon as I heard this song I discounted any notion I had of him being a decent and worthy artist.
Does every artist produce a trashy song or album? Not that I listen to. Are all songs that the artists I listen to good? Not necessarily. But the stuff I listen to speaks to me on different levels. When I want to hear that kind of stuff I turn to artists like Psychostick or Eminem, because I know the subject matter that I’m getting into. Maybe, I’m just so disconnected from rap that I should have expected this kind of stuff. Or maybe I’m right, and they just put a beat to garbage lyrics because the idiot masses will snatch it up and make every trash record multi-platinum because those other cool kids said it was cool. So, I put a post on Facebook about it because my thoughts were “this is shit, I should say something about it” and here’s where that went:
You know, some people agreed. Some people got angry at what a friend of mine posted. I’m sorry, but if the genre perpetuates stereotypes about bitches, 40s, smoking weed, money and, of course, excessively drops “n-bombs” then what do you expect? I’m sorry that the culture of your music perpetuates stereotypes in a world where very few want to stand up and be an example of how not to act. You can’t get mad when everything people subject themselves to as part of that culture empowers them to say and do those things. Hell, one of my favorite rap songs is “Damn it Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” and there’s more n-bombs than anything in that song.
I thought this Facebook post would simply blow over. But Friday night, five days later, I was sitting at my house with a couple of friends, one of whom was irritated about the video post. He then played the Kanye West song and made fun of my taste in music. You know, the one that includes a library of some 30,000 or more songs across all genres. Oh no, they just make fun of me because I like metal. I’m sorry you don’t take the time to listen to songs such as “This Calling” by All That Remains. I’m sorry you don’t feel the message behind “Broken Hands” by Lamb of God. I know you didn’t listen to “Iron Army” by In This Moment, even though I suggested it because it reminds me of my group of friends. People shouldn’t pretend to be an expert on something they have no experience with. I will guarantee I have listened to and given a chance to more rap most people who like rap would give to country or metal. Does that make me better? No. Does that mean I can speak about shit like this and not sound like an idiot? Yes. So, when you’re trying to throw musical tastes in my face, come up with something that proves this is a trash song. One of my favorites:
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. It’s been an insane three weeks. Since the Obama visit to my college campus I’ve had a lot of extra responsibilities and a lot to do to prepare for the start of the fall semester. But, instead of boring you with everything I’ve had going on I want to tell you a bit about myself, and how I operate.
I’ve always been the stubborn one. I’ve had to learn the hard way. Just ask my parents, I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, especially during my teenage years. Now that I’m 28 years old, I’m no veteran of life but I’ve found my own path. It took a lot of prodding and a some life-altering events, but I feel like I’m in a better place now than I’ve been in my entire life.
Growing up in “America’s Hometown,” Hannibal, Mo., it was easy to fall into a meaningless life. I haven’t lived there in over six years and I still refer to that place as a black hole. Temptations there are plentiful. Alcohol, drugs, women and plenty of other things to tempt someone away from success. But really, it’s the weak-minded that are caught in the pitfalls of such places.
I moved out when I was young. Stubborn and dumb. I had a tussle with my father about my curfew, I was 18, I made my own rules! It was stupid to think I could support myself, working at Pizza Hut and attending classes at a local community college. After a year and a half I had an altercation with my roommate, somewhat of an infamous air freshener to the face incident. I moved home. I quit Pizza Hut. I suffered a bitter break-up with a girl I had been dating for over two years and I locked myself in my parents’ basement for a few months. I secluded myself to online video games and got really close with some friends I met over the game.
As I started to climb out of my depression I started working at the local Walmart. It wasn’t the greatest, but the pay was decent and they made me a customer service manager after a couple months. Soon thereafter I started dating again. And this girl would be part of the events that shaped me into the person I am today.
Years went by, we went on vacations. In 2007, my girlfriend moved to Florida to go to school and play volleyball. One of my best friends had been living in the Kansas City area since we graduated high school in 2003. When my girlfriend left I moved to Liberty. It was liberating being out of Hannibal. I was with people I trusted and truly having the time of my life.
It wasn’t without its issues. My relationship started to be plagued by trust and distance issues. She ended up transferring to UCM. We worked things out. And then my aunt died suddenly of a heart attack.
Aunt Rose was my favorite relative. She was able to relate to me in a way many others can’t. She got through to me. In my angst I had thick walls up, I didn’t trust many people. She always told me how smart I am, and how many more opportunities I’d have with a college degree. Without getting on my soapbox about how great of a person she is, I will say that it was strictly her words, and prodding from my girlfriend, that brought me to UCM in 2009.
Since then, that relationship fizzled but I still appreciate it. We were kids who grew up. I’ll always have a love for her because of what she did for me. The thing I’ve learned is that you can’t do anything on your own. During my adventure that is life, doors have opened and closed. Relationships, romantic or otherwise, have come and gone. I still maintain a relationship with the people that have helped me the most, and mean the most to me.
My best friend since first grade, who got me out of Hannibal, and I still talk to each other all the time. We don’t hang out as much as I’d like, but we’re both very busy. Another great friend, who got me into writing back in ninth grade, is the person doing movie reviews for digitalBURG. Since I’ve moved here I’ve met a lot of great people, all of whom I appreciate.
There are some relationships that become toxic, and require you to cutoff. I’ve gotten to the point, and partially because of my emotional issues, that if I feel a relationship isn’t reciprocal or has come to a point where it brings me down or holds me back I simply sever it. It’s kind of heartless, but I have a lot on my plate. I’m due to graduate college in December and I’m still trying to decide if I’m staying for grad school or not. I have a lot of opportunities in Warrensburg to continue my work with the college paper, so it’s a very likely possibility.
One of the things that not a lot of people know about me, unless you’re a part of my inner circle, is that I like to open the door to others. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m the old guy in my group of colleagues, acquaintances and associates. I know I have opportunities in the professional world and I’ve worked my ass off to get them. But now it’s my turn to pay it back. Not everyone has been through what I have to get to this point. My best friend in this town is someone of similar credos and now we work in tandem to help other people win.
It’s about taking the chance to give people opportunity. Finding those that deserve the same opportunity. Grabbing people who maybe, through no fault of their own, have had to sacrifice chances to get by. And that’s what is the most rewarding. Putting a team of people who had never met together and putting 12 names on Obama coverage instead of two or three. Helping people get recognition they deserve.
I’d hate to get rudimentary and quote a movie, but “Sucker Punch” is a movie that really moved me, especially toward the end of the movie. So here’s a couple quotes to give you an idea of how I feel.
Sweet Pea: This can’t be. We did everything right.
Baby Doll: A map, a fire, a knife, a key, one thing more, one thing more. It’s me.
Sweet Pea: What?
Baby Doll: Oh! It’s me, of course it’s me. It’s the only way this ever could have been prevented.
Sweet Pea: What do you mean?
Baby Doll: I’m saying you go home, go to your family. You tell your mom what Rocket said, make her happy. Go out and live a normal life. Love, be free, you have to live for all of us now.
Sweet Pea: Baby, no, you can’t…
Baby Doll: Yes Sweet Pea, you’re the strongest. You’re the only one of us who ever had a chance out there. You’re going home and leaving, that’s how we win. It’s OK, it’s better this way. Now listen, I’m gonna walk out there and when they come after me, you go, OK?
Sweet Pea: There’s gotta be another way.
Baby Doll: No, this is right. This was never my story, it’s yours. Now don’t screw it up, OK?
And then the commentary as well, which is here in video form. If this doesn’t light a fire within you, nothing will.
Last week I blogged about the opportunity I had with President Obama visiting the school I attend, the University of Central Missouri. I must admit that I was completely nervous and stressed out. I am the managing editor of the school newspaper, The Muleskinner which also makes me the de facto managing editor of our community news website, digitalburg.com. The weekend before Obama’s visit, my faculty adviser was out of town with his boys at Boy Scout Camp until Tuesday, which means all the preparations became my responsibility.
Monday I was in the Muleskinner newsroom with my design editor and I was working on a story about how local officials were weighing in on the Obama visit. Johnson County is a very red part of Missouri so I was trying to get decent comment out of the local Republicans to no avail. My designer offered to help in any way she could so I asked her to make an itinerary for Wednesday so we would know who would be where and when. While she was doing this we realized that the cutoff for everyone to be in the area where the president’s speech was and the time Air Force One landed at the local Air Force Base had a 10 minute difference, so we would need a separate team to cover the AFB. A bit later we also realized we didn’t have anyone to cover the student Union, where the speech would be broadcast live.
It was a scramble to find people, but by 9 p.m. we had the spots filled. Only there were 7 people I had never worked with involved in this mass project. I wanted three or four stories accompanied with a photo gallery and video highlight. After we made it through the security checkpoint, we found out that we weren’t given riser space for our film cameras because we weren’t a TV station. We lucked out and we were able to grab space on one of the two risers, our secondary camera was a young woman standing on a chair grabbing crowd shots and a side view of the President. The next hiccup came when we realized we weren’t reserved work space in the media pool, which had about 20 tables, chairs and utility plugs set up for computers and the like. So we were along the wall setup on a reserve table, our live-tweeter had to do it via mobile phone and I had to take notes the traditional way, chicken scratch on a pad of paper. It was frustrating but we pulled it off.
My faculty adviser told me that our work will probably garner some awards during next years SPJ and MCMA competitions. The president of our university even congratulated us. I couldn’t be more proud of the coverage we provided. Given, I would have liked it on a faster timetable but with the dedication spawned by this event, I expect things to improve as we the semester progresses. Thanks to everyone involved, and thanks for reading!
Late last week, I received a confidential phone call letting me know that “White House staff” would be coming to Warrensburg, Mo., the town I live in. Within minutes, a local newspaper revealed that the president would be among those staffers. Automatically, it was all hands on deck. As managing editor of the University of Central Missouri’s newspaper, The Muleskinner, it is my duty to make sure that we provide the best coverage possible. Within a day or two I had contacted the paper’s staff, which includes two members with out-of-town with internships, and we set a plan of action to provide written, video and photography coverage of the event.
The thing is, as we made the announcements via social media, people are not the least bit excited. As Midwesterners, we don’t have the opportunity to see a sitting president ever. A lot of people upset with Obama’s policies have had a lot of negative things to say and don’t want him in “their” town. Well, a couple of weeks ago Gov. Jay Nixon signed the Missouri Innovation Campus Initiative, SB-381. This allows high schoolers to graduate with an associate’s degree, which in turn requires only two years for a bachelor’s degree. Missouri is the first state to recognize this officially, and the bill allows for state funding. Obama is coming to talk about the economy and recognize UCM as a school that is changing the game with the MIC.
I am not a fan of Obama and his policies. I try to stay out of politics as much as possible. It’s a bottomless argument with no real right or wrong; it’s all opinion. The big thing to me is the fact that a sitting president is coming to our school, our town, to recognize something we’re doing to make the country better for college students in the future.
For me, this is a chance of a lifetime event. Last year, we had oxygen tanks explode causing a house fire in a partitioned home that had multiple residents on different floors, and there was Blaine Whitworth’s murder and the ensuing hearings and trials that I still cover. I also covered the local election for our community news website, digitalBURG.com. A presidential visit is awesome for the resume, but that’s not even the point. UCM is being recognized and I get to deliver it to people on multiple levels. This is the type of thing any journalist would lick his lips at. And I’m at the helm of a team of veteran and rookie reporters bringing it to the main stage. And this is where I thrive.
Be sure to tune into the digitalBURG’s twitter Wednesday for live-tweets of the president’s visit, and check the website for the latest on what’s going on.
My mom, dad, brother and I pose for a “family” photo.
Here’s some more personal information about myself. I am the oldest of 16 cousins. When our family gets together, there are between 30 and 50 of us, depending on which extended cousins show up. This, usually, leads to some intense family discussions and meanderings across the board. As this side of the family is mostly of Irish descent, to say we do our fair share of drinking is an understatement. There are only two times a year we can count on getting together; the Fourth of July and Christmas. I love my family dearly, and I always look forward to these gatherings. However, things have changed a lot in the past few years.
The focus of my younger adult cousins has turned from enjoying the family together to let’s see how jacked up we can be. As the four eldest cousins grew up to the legal drinking age, the drinking wasn’t the focus of family gatherings. I understand there was some frustration when two of us were chastised for drinking before being 21, but personally I have never made it a point to drink heavily any time I was near my extended family. The only exception was a couple of years ago. At about 4 a.m. I was well beyond my limit and made a fool of myself, as anyone would that was emotional about the loss of a family member and was well beyond drunk.
There is a shift though. Now, most of my cousins down to the age of 16 insist on drinking and making other poor decisions blatantly in front of the family. In my experience, there was no lack of alcohol or other vices around my friends at home so I never DARED to do some of the things they do at my grandparents’ house. I would never disrespect my grandfather’s whaler (speedboat) or his deck by doing some of the things they did, and especially not with adults awake a mere 20 feet away in the second floor of Nana and Papa’s house.
I’m not saying that I’m above what they were doing; it’s no secret that I’ve dealt with addiction and made poor decisions, but there’s a time and a place for it. If you can’t go four days without doing something, my advice would be rehab.
The thing all these young adults fail to realize is that it is family time at Nana and Papa’s. Clearly there is a lack of understanding or a lack of appreciation for what those two people have done for us. We have an amazing family life, and it’s because of the legacy they have built for us. I’d never dream of disrespecting my grandparents by doing what they did because I think about Nana and Papa and what they’ve done for me every single day. It isn’t easy being a non-traditional student. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my 28 years, but I wouldn’t be building my successes from the ground up if it wasn’t for their clear example and support today.
I know everyone has their vices, but there’s a time and a place for it and your grandparents’ house isn’t it. I spent 22 hours in a car to see you, and your main concern is smoking pot on a deck? Are you serious? Our late night intellectual conversations have been replaced with a late night rendezvous to catch a buzz? Is this what family time is worth to you?
I’d much rather know what is going on in your life and how things are going than do that kind of thing. I can do that on any Tuesday at home if I feel the need, but there are two visits, maybe 10 days out of the year, I can spend with you, and this is how you choose to spend it. It really makes me reconsider taking the time out of my schedule (7 jobs) to have my time ruined by disrespect to the family and a general disinterest to what you are doing. Be respectful of what your fore-bearers have done for you, especially when the family has gathered at their house to celebrate a holiday.
EDIT: One of my cousins has voiced concerns with this blog as “throwing them under the bus.” I am not trying to get you in trouble, if that were the case I would have promptly walked inside and let your parents know what you were doing. I’m not taking a “holier than thou” stance, simply a smarter than thou position. Everyone knows I have had multiple mix-ups with the law or authority figures. I’ve made the mistakes and learned the lessons the hard way, and you don’t have to. The point is to be smart and be respectful when it comes to what you’re doing. The thing I’ve learned is that actions have consequences. One slip-up with what you’re doing and the law is involved. One mistake and then we’re asked to not come back. I love family time, and I love Nana and Papa very much. But if you mess up and something happens and they ask us not to return because of YOUR actions and not my own, then what? Do I just forgive and forget? No. I’ve never been one to sit by and watch the world go by, I’m an active participant. You’re messing with MY world and I have taken a position against you in the hopes that you see this and realize what you’re doing and how it impacts those around you. I’m not here on a pedestal trying to get you in trouble, if that was the case I’d have just ran to tell your mommy. So please, 18-year-old child, save your lecture, I know the repercussions of this blog and no I will not take it down.
For the most part I try to keep this blog centered on music, but every once in a while I like to throw my viewers a glimpse of my personal life. In order to do that, especially with the title of this post, here is some back story. Two of my dad’s brothers are gay. One of the two has been in a relationship with his partner for around 25 years. A couple years ago at a family gathering, which happened to be when the same-sex marriage debate took off, my uncle’s partner explained to me why it was such a big deal.
According to a post on about.com, under current laws a same-sex couple is denied benefits given to man-woman couples, such as assumption of spouse’s pension, automatic inheritance, automatic housing lease transfer, bereavement leave, child custody, divorce protections, domestic violence protection, exemption from property tax on partner’s death, immunity from testifying against spouse, insurance breaks, joint adoption and foster care, joint parenting (insurance coverage, school records), medical decisions on behalf of partner, certain property rights, sick leave to care for partner, visitation of partner’s children, visitation of partner in hospital or prison, wrongful death (loss of consort) benefits, among others.
There are also 1100 Federal benefits that man-woman marriage recieve that same-sex couples did’t get even if they are legally married because of DOMA, or the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed by President Clinton in 1996.
As my uncle’s partner explained it to me, he said “if, god forbid, (my uncle) was in a car accident and on life support all of the decisions would go to next of kin and not me, and we’ve been together since you were a little boy.”
For me, I love to see everyone around me happy and treated equally. On June 26, The Supreme Court of the United States declared DOMA unconstitutional based on “the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and federalism.” However, neither the ability of states to maintain their own versions of DOMA or parts of it were addressed.
I asked my uncle about what it all means and what happens next and he responded with this:
“The fact that DOMA has been overturned means that when gay couples get married in the States where marriage is legal, the Federal government will recognize them. So gay married couples will have all of the rights that straight married couples get. There are still open questions about what happens when the gay couples move to States where gay marriage has not been enacted yet.”
He also mentioned that “they get all of the 1100 rights we talked about last time…..we think. There are different definitions of marriage pertaining to those rights.”
SCOTUS also ruled that the proponents of Proposition 8 did not have legal standing to appeal a U.S. District Courts’ ruling that the proposition is unconstitutional. The state government had refused to defend the law. Same-sex marriage in California does not resume until the district court removes a stay of effect it issued, pending appeals, that prevents its ruling from reversing the amendment to the state constitution.
My uncle said that “In the other case, the Supreme Court decided that the groups that argued the appeal of the Prop 8 ruling from the Federal District Court in the 9th Circuit, didn’t have the right to do that. They didn’t have standing.”
To summarize, he said that “It means that in California, gay marriages will resume probably around the end of July. It also means that Federal rights will go to gay married couples when the States they live in legalize gay marriage…It will be a long haul.”
For more information on what the SCOTUS ruling did and didn’t do, check out this article by Chris Geidner.
It seems silly to me that people care so much. So many people stand by the thought that “marriage should be between a man and a woman only.” I can understand that traditional thought. But I can’t agree with it. Growing up we are taught that people get married when they fall in love. Well, for couples like my uncle and his partner they are in love, very much so. We live in a world where people have married dolls, a roller coaster and even a dolphin. But it’s looked down upon when a same-sex couple wants to marry.
I hear people often talking about rights and wrongs alongside American law. It seems to me that in a nation built upon separation of church and state, Christian lawmakers, and really Christians in general, seem to be the ones with the biggest problem. I went to Catholic school for eight years growing up and one of the many tenants of Christianity is not judging others. What people do with their personal lives is their own business, and people should be able to do what they want. I’ve also done a lot of research on the economic impact of gay marriages and it’ll literally bring hundreds of millions of dollars to state and local economies. We’re at a time when states and the fed are all strapped for cash, so it makes sense to allow same-sex couples to wed to help stimulate things a little.
Equality, boons to local economies, separation of church and state. In reality, it seems to me that things such as gay marriage are things that America was built on. Land of the Free, we should make it that way.
What do you think? I welcome and respect all opinions on the issue.
My brother, my father, and myself. One of the things we do for pictures is pinch each other’s ass right as a picture clicks, hence everyone’s silly face.
With Father’s Day comes a lot of “my dad is so great,” and “my dad is so awesome” statements. It seems to me like people rarely explain why, or what makes their dad such a remarkable person. So, although Father’s Day has passed (I started this on Sunday!), I’d like to take a minute to talk about my dad, what he’s like and why he’s such a great person. I know the focus of my blog has been music, but without him I wouldn’t be involved in journalism whatsoever.
My dad is an engineer at Watlow Inc. I’m not exactly a mechanical prodigy. Really, I’m the worst person to ever own a set of tools. But, with much patience, my dad and my younger brother help me through any mechanical issues I’m having, from a toilet that won’t flush to a lawnmower that repeatedly dies. Through patience and guidance my dad has done a lot more than help me fix things with mechanical problems.
My dad is a traditional Westerner. He’s the breadwinner and provider for our family, while my mother is the cook, cleaner and nurturer. It’s really not as boring as it sounds!
He’s cool and collected, and doesn’t really say things he doesn’t mean. He’s slow to yell and always wants to hear your side of the equation before offering a response that’s honestly a lot more intelligent than you expected. He’s patient and understanding, but he’s not a softie. If you mess up and turn to him for help, he expects an explanation of why you messed up and what you’re going to do in order to not make the same mistake twice.
Growing up, I was always the stubborn jerk of the family. To this day, I have to learn things the hard way. So naturally I butted heads with my father growing up, both of us “alpha” males. As a young adult I started to realize that my parents truly did want what’s best for me, and I started to take their advice and things they said to push me in certain direction to heart.
As adults, my baby brother and I joke around and make fun of EVERYTHING. We’re the two biggest assholes in the room at any time. We love to laugh and enjoy the brighter side of things. And it’s tiered down from my dad and his brothers. We have the joy of having an enormous family. I am the eldest of 16 cousins so when the clan gets together there’s roughly 35 of us. I’m not saying my dad and his brothers are assholes; my brother and I just have to be bigger and better than those before us. It’s always greatest when dad lectures us about the inappropriate things we say in front of our mother, only to have her same something equally as inappropriate. It’s awesome because most of the time, Dad realizes we’re adults and we’re on our own path now and joins in the fun. He always has the best jokes, accentuated because he’s typically such a hard-ass.
Another big thing is the amount of support I’ve gotten from him, especially when I decided to come back to college and get my degree. Being a broke young adult is not easy, but being 10 years older than kids I share classes with is really frustrating. My dad has been one of my biggest supporters, offering insight and motivating me to stay the course no matter the obstacles. He’s helped me keep the fire alive by critiquing my articles and letting me know that if I need anything to see the course, he’s the guy to assist me.
The best part is when dad fully lets go and enjoys himself. There is one particular evening when we were having family dinner at a nice restaurant in my hometown. I think there was one girlfriend, maybe two (mine for sure, my brother’s maybe) and Dad had some wine with his dinner. After the usual smack talking and poking fun at everything, Dad made an off-color remark about hitting someone upside the head with a biscuit. My brother and I made fun of him as he paid our bill. Once we hit the parking lot, the old man cocked back and threw a biscuit and nailed my brother right upside the head. Since then, it’s been customary for someone to sneak a biscuit and assault the others with it.
There really is an infinite number of things a son can learn from his father. While mechanical endeavors are among them, I think the most is in the form of family life. As a family, the four of us have been through a lot together. Through losses and mishaps we’ve felt the lowest low and at the end of the day, all we have is each other. Through thick and thin my dad has been the foundation, the rock that keeps us all together. He’s quick with a backhand and quick with a hug, but the thing that I’ve learned from him is that there’s nothing more important than family. And being with mine is truly an experience for the ages.
Marchion of Chaos 