Blog? Can We Find A Better Name?

So, here it is. The first blog…

I don’t really know what this word means. I know it comes from Web Log or something. I always feel like a dork saying the word. It sounds like something Dracula would say. So, I’m going to just call this “The Way I See Things…” You can call it what you want. I initially got this idea from the Facebook post that I have posted. A lot of my friends (which includes you if you are reading this) seem to really enjoy what I have posted. I’ve always wanted to write a book based on daily observations. That led me to wanting to write a blog. Then, I thought… “no one would read this…” I was astonished at the response to my post of all my friends that lied and said they would read this.Well, here we are!

A bit about my background. Most of you only know me from one phase of my life. At most, you know me from two phases. I categorize my life in six phases:

1- The First 17 years growing up  in Greenwood, Mississippi. (1972 – 1990)
2- My life at The University of Southern Mississippi. (1990 – 1995)
3- My life as a member of The Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps.  (1991 – 1993)
4- My life with the band King Konga. (1994 – 2002)
5- My life as the Director of emiNence Indoor Percussion Ensemble. (2003 – 2005)
6- My life as a band director/drum monkey at Petal High School. (1999 – present)

Very few people have been there for all six phases. Most people from each phase basically stay in that zone and know very little about the other phases. It is always uniquely bizarre when folks from these different phases meet each other and are surprised to find out all this other stuff about me they didn’t know existed.

There are two common threads to all of them -music and comedy. ha! I love music and I’ve always wanted to be a standup comic. I actually got the chance and chickened out. A friend of mine, George Gipson, was a radio morning show host in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was also a GREAT standup comic who performed regularly at the old Treasure Bay Casino. He offered me a 5-minute spot to open up for him back in 1995. I was excited! I got so far as to write out my jokes and routine. I timed it out and had a KILLER 2 and half minutes!! Wow! That’s only half of the time. Then I got to thinking, “2 and half minutes is a long time to be silent.” Later that week, I went to see Carrot Top at Seymours at Southern Miss. First up, was his opening act: some "nobody." (Those of you that went to USM in the early 90′s remember “The, Comedy Zone at Seymours,” right?) This guy got heckled sooooo bad, campus police had to get involved. That’s when I knew… I should probably leave organized comedy up to the professionals. Yep. Chicken…

I’ll keep this one short until I get the hang of all the features of this blogger. I’ll go more in-depth with the first phase of my life. There is a lot there.

Thanks for reading… I’ll see you next time!

Tony